Dark Match Plot Summary
The story centers on a small-time wrestling federation, SAW. They’re eking out a living and while there are talent scouts that show up, they’re mostly interested in the star attraction – Kate the Great. She’s locked in a feud with Miss Behave, a woman desperate for a title shot and fed up with playing second fiddle.
However, the federation strikes gold when they receive a lucrative offer to head off and wrestle a series of dark matches in a rural, backwoods area in the middle of nowhere. A dark match, for those unfamiliar with the term, means a non-televised event, simply there to appease a live audience, who get exclusive content or matches they may not have otherwise received.
So off the small troupe go, unaware that this could very well be the last wrestling match they ever take part in. Led by an enigmatic man named The Prophet, the truth about what this place actually is and what this guy wants, is soon unveiled, much to the shock of everybody involved.
What happens during Kate’s match with Nick?
In the ring, Kate goads Nick into killing her to finish the match. She struggles initially but then snaps her neck, killing her outright in the water match.
The Prophet is not happy, thinking Kate would come out on top, but it obviously doesn’t pan out that way. He’s very much a Cultist and has his own federation after being backlisted from the league. Back then, The Prophet wouldn’t let Joe pin him, so the latter did what he had to do.
The Prophet has been a ghost since, but obviously he’s rocked up with his own cultist federation. The Prophet is now called The Leader by the people he’s surrounded himself with, and as we soon find out, these are not dark matches but actually all being filmed.
As for Kate the Great, it turns out she’s actually The Prophet’s daughter, explaining why she needed to win. With her gone, The Prophet is determined to get revenge and hit back at SAW no matter what.
How do the SAW gang outsmart the cultists?
Backstage, Rusty encourages Joe to hit him, but only after picking up a shard of glass from the earth match which Enigma is currently part of (and loses).
Enigma is presumably killed and while backstage, Rusty, Joe and Nick work together to kill their captors. As we soon find out, these recordings are part of a larger snuff film operation, not a wrestling movie, and it’s The Prophet’s way of profiting off the bloodshed. He’s been doing this a while now and is set to make a lot of money off this show.
Furthermore, The Prophet is also a die-hard wrestler and bitter over the number of people calling wrestling fake. He’s determined to prove all of them wrong and that explains why these matches are so extreme.
Who wins in the Spirit Match?
Joe gives Rusty and Nick time to formulate a plan while he takes part in an Inferno match. Although he comes out on top, we also learn that Enigma is still alive! Turns out he just pretended to be dead and nobody checked him properly I guess.
Back in the ring, the finale happens to be The Prophet vs Joe Lean. The Spirit Match is basically a modified cage match but with barbed wire round the top. As they fight, Enigma shows up in the recording booth and destroys everything, which destroys The Prophet’s operation.
Nick starts a fire in the barn to goad the crowd out, and although a few do get killed, Nick manages to fight with Spencer and stop him from causing more damage. Enigma shows and dropkicks him, managing to save Nick, but unfortunately he also passes away from his injuries.
Inside the ring, Nick manages to save Joe but not before he gets a wooden stake through the hand. The Prophet is eventually killed, the place burns down and both Nick and Joe manage to get out, with Rusty waiting outside for them.
How does Dark Match end?
While they get away, one of the cultists is still alive and she enacts some sort of ritual that causes a huge earthquake. Unfortunately, this conjures forth a massive hell beast, which Nick decides to fight.
So in the end, the cultists are actually enacting spells and it seems the bloodshed is for a purpose rather than just snuff films. They’ve been doing all of this to try and appease the dark lord and by the end, it seems they’ve spilled enough blood to bring it onto Earth. The irony of course, is that our protagonists have done their fair share of killing too.
Quite what Nick thinks she’ll be able to do in the wake of this monstrous beast is anyone’s guess, but I’d imagine a suplex isn’t going to cut it! Either way, everything is left on a tantalizing cliffhanger.
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