The music boomed in the background. Peter Gilmour was livid. He'd lost his match, and now he had to wait for his chance at the X-Treme Title. The members of Team Paradoxica who had pulled it all together celebrated around the ring, as Wednesday Warfare went to commercial. The crowd were cheering, they had seen one hellatious match, and they were revved up to see another battle. Team Gilmour made there way back up the ramp as the celebrations continued.

But Smoke Man was not celebrating. He had done what he came here to do. He'd entered as one of the first and had been there throughout the entire match, proving what he was capable of every step of the way, even before Warfare aired. But everything had taken their toll. A wound, which had previously been stitched by a roadside medical team had busted wide open, and Smoke was bleeding in such a way that painted the canvas, and the apron he was hanging over, like a waterfall covering the ground in mere seconds. The XWF medicals had come out and were dealing with him at ringside. Everything was a daze, spinning, blurry, and surreal. They had won the battle. But Smoke didn't feel like he had won the war.

They tried stitching him at ringside, catering to the severely opened wound as soon as possible, but it just was not happening. There was nothing they could do here, they had to get him to the back. And as such, Smoke had his arms placed around two of the medics, and carried up the ramp. He was clearly in the worst condition of them all, and it was clear he was concussed as soon as he stood on his feet at ringside. The adrenaline had already wore off. However, the important thing was that he had pulled through. He'd kneed Peter in the nuts which actually helped with win in the end, the so that was victory enough for him. But there was no celebrating tonight for him.

Where Smoke Man had lost 14 stitches in his match, the wound had reopened and actually expanded. The cut was so resilient to close it took a full hour and 21 tightly packed stitches to finally stop the bleeding. Thankfully, nothing had gotten in, so there was no chance of an infection, miraculously. But the total damage told a much more dire story. Smoke Man had taken so much of a beating, that he was not yet fit to even go home. After being washed, medical decided to put him in their own bed for him to rest in overnight. His wrestling gear, despite being red, was still noticeably drenched in blood, and were placed at his bedside. As Smoke Man lay there, watching the taping of his match, he slowly, and finally, drifted to sleep.

His first match of many was behind him.