Rain Of Blood (2016)

Rain Of Blood (2016) was a professional wrestling pay per view event produced by War Hawks Entertainment Inc. for their LWL brand. It took place on January 3, 2016 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. It was the first event in the WHEI Rain Of Blood Chronology and their second pay per view. Much like One Night Stand before it, this event was more of a feeling out than anything, although it was after two weeks rather than one.

Seven professional wrestling matches were scheduled for the card. The main event was a Fatal 4 Way Ladder Match for LWL World Heavyweight Championship in which Curtis Axel retained his Championship. Also at the event Adam Rose won a Six Man Over The Top Rope Battle Royal to retain the LWL Zodiac Championship.

Background
The card included matches resulting from scripted storylines whose results were played out by the War Hawks on their LWL brand. Storylines were produced on the War Hawks' weekly show LWL: Lethal Wrestling Legends. Wrestlers portrayed heroes, villains, or less distinguishable characters as the built tension that resulted in a match or series of matches.

The primary feud heading into Rain of Blood was between Curtis Axel, Stone Cold Steve Austin ('97), Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins. With the four of them feuding over the LWL World Heavyweight Championship. On the first episode of LWL: Lethal Wrestling Legends a #1 contenders match between former Shield members Ambrose and Rollins ended in a double count out after the two couldn't stop brawling. An attempt to add Stone Cold as the referee only made things worse, as he laid out both men and announced he wanted a title shot. A frustrated Stephanie came out and said she didn't need this crap as she had her own stuff to deal with. This led to LWL World Heavyweight Champion Curtis Axel coming out and saying he would defend his title against all 3 men. The match was later made a Ladder Match after all four men attacked each other with chairs.

The secondary feud heading into Rain of Blood was between Adam Rose, Sting ('99), Cesaro, Baron Corbin, and War Hawks members "The Sickness" Will York and "The Fury" Devin Ross. With the six of them feuding over the LWL Zodiac Championship. After Rose had insulted all of them in the weeks leading up to the pay per view all 5 of the other men came to general manager Stephanie to get a title match against him. Again having her own problems to deal with she scheduled a 6 Man Over The Top Rope Battle Royal between the six of them at Rain Of Blood.

The tag team feud heading into the event was between the Brothers Of Destruction (Undertaker & Kane) and The Nation Of Domination (Mark Henry & D'Lo Brown). During the first episode of LWL The Nation members got themselves intentionally disqualified in their match against the brothers, which pissed them off. Then during a rematch the next week, they got themselves intentionally counted out. This lead to Stephanie making their match at Rain Of Blood a Steel Cage Match.

The divas feud going into the event was between Cameron and Alicia Fox. With the two of them feuding over the LWL Leading Lady Championship. During the season one draft Cameron was awarded the title for reasons unknown, and she proceeded to rub it in the face of the rest of the roster. Alicia came out and told Cameron to put her money where her mouth is at Rain Of Blood. Alicia refused, but after forcing her to tap out on the second episode of LWL Alicia was granted a Submission Match for the title at Rain Of Blood.

Preliminary Matches
The show opened with Adam Rose defending the Zodiac Championship against Cesaro, Sting, Baron Corbin, Will York and Devin Ross in an over the top rope battle royal. Cesaro was the first man eliminated from the match, he was eliminated by Will following a diving elbow drop from the champion. Devin was the next person eliminated, by Sting, following a Tombstone Piledriver. Will was the next man eliminated following a clothesline over the top rope by Sting. Baron Corbin was eliminated by Sting following a brief double team by him and the champion. In the end Adam Rose eliminated Sting to win the match and retain the title following a kneeling facebuster.

Next, Cameron defended her LWL Leading Lady Championship against Alicia Fox in a Submission Match. Fox dominated the entire match, with Cameron getting in virtually no offense whatsoever. Save for a brief moment in the middle of the match. The ending of the match came when Alicia hit Cameron with an Axe Kick and locked in a Figure Four Necklock to force Cameron to submit and win the title.

After that was an Extreme Rules match between Dude Love and Sheamus. After a brutal match involving baseball bats, ladders, and the destruction of one announce table. The ending came when Dude Love pinned Sheamus with his feet on the ropes after hitting him with the steps at ringside.

Next up was the steel cage match for the tag team titles between The Brothers Of Destruction and the Nation Of Domination's Mark Henry & D'Lo Brown. After some back and forth action between the two teams where everyone tried to escape the cage several times the surprising finish came when both Nation members esacped simultaneously after incapacitating both brothers.

Next up was a Falls Count Anywhere Match between Randy Orton and Andre The Giant. After dominating much of the match Andre pinned Orton outside the ring after slamming his head into the barricade repeatedly.

The penultimate match was a elimination tornado tag team match pitting the team of LWL General Manager Stephanie Hudson-Lytle and WWE Diva's Champion Nightingale against the team of WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon and Nightingale's sister Amber. This turned Amber heel in the process. Nightingale immediately went after McMahon for turning her sister on her. After the referee refused to count several times Sherania fired him and replaced him with a more compitent one. Amber was the first person eliminated following a chokeslam by Sherania. Sherania won the match for her team following a snap DDT from Nightingale.

Main Event
The main event was a Fatal 4 Way Match for the LWL World Heavyweight Championship. With Curtis Axel defending against Stone Cold Steve Austin, Dean Ambrose, and Seth Rollins. The end of the match came when Axel climbed the ladder while Stone Cold was busy with Ambrose and Rollins was incapacitated on the outside and unhooked the championship to win the match and retain.