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NEWARK, N.J. — Everyone expected the Asylum Match, which sprang from the depraved mind of Dean Ambrose, to be brutal. Few expected it to be so brutal that it would end with Chris Jericho screaming in pain as hundreds of thumbtacks pierced his flesh.
That was the gruesome scene that played out in the final moments of this gory war between two rivals who would go to any depths to destroy the other. How else do two men end up locked in a cage with dangerous weapons like a two-by-four wrapped in barbed wire and a kendo stick hanging high above them?
Jericho accepted Ambrose’s challenge to face him in the Asylum Match, vowing he was WWE’s true lunatic, but the veteran attempted to escape as soon as the bell rang. Unfortunately for Jericho, there was no exiting the Asylum. The only way he was getting out was by going through Ambrose.
Of course, the nine-time Intercontinental Champion may be conniving, but that doesn’t mean he’s not tough. Jericho took some of Ambrose’s best shots early in the bout, and answered with more than a few of his own. And when he finally snatched the two-by-four wrapped in barbed wire from above the Asylum, it seemed like he could back up his big talk.
Ambrose, however, grabbed a pair of nunchucks and began to wield them like Bruce Lee in “Game of Death.” Desperate to escape The Lunatic Fringe’s fury, Jericho again tried to leave the Asylum, which worked in his favor. Although Ambrose caught him at the top, Jericho managed to grab a Kendo stick and batter his opponent. Next, he obtained a leather strap and used that to leave long, red welts across Dean’s flesh.
Jericho came seriously close to victory when he nearly wrapped Ambrose up in a straitjacket, but The Lunatic Fringe fought his way out and clicked into second gear. The madman began to brutalize Jericho, even blasting him with an insane elbow from the top of the cage. Then Ambrose grabbed an innocuous plastic bucket from above the ring.
It was the least dangerous looking of the bout’s assorted implements of destruction, but there was something hiding inside — a small, black bag filled with thumbtacks. Ambrose proceeded to pour hundreds of the sharp tacks all across the canvas and then set about trying to slam Jericho on top of them. The crafty master wormed out of Ambrose’s hands every time The Lunatic Fringe grabbed him, but he couldn’t run forever.
After blinding Ambrose with a fire extinguisher, Jericho went for a Codebreaker, only to be caught in midair by his opponent. Jericho was then slammed back first into the pile of razor sharp steel tacks. Jericho’s screams of pains echoed through the Prudential Center as rivers of red poured down his exposed flesh. His nightmare wasn’t over yet, though. Ambrose grabbed Jericho and sent him into the thumbtacks again, this time with Dirty Deeds.
A merciful three-count followed as paramedics rushed to Jericho’s aid. As for Ambrose? He walked away battered, but with a smile on his face. The question of who WWE’s true lunatic was had been answered.