JJ is shown standing in front of a whole circuit system of the Las Vegas Arena. The panel door is wide open with each Hexa-gun member name taped across one but The Mercenaries are totaled as the 2 main circuit switches. His hand brushed around each switch before stopping and looking onto the one that is listed as Tiberius Jones.


JJ: Is that suppose to scare me? That some metro pretty boy feels as if he’s the future of this company within the confined wall of Hexa-gun. Allow me to give everyone a spoiler alert.. At Shock Value, Tiberius Jones is a boy stepping into a man’s world. Tiberius is a guy who made his reign off of lesser elitist with a few notable victories. Please tell me.. who was the last credible opposition for Tiberius Jones? Vance Tybull. Other than that there is no credible opponent that Tiberius could ever throw out to compare to the names that The Iconomy has slayn. Names like Tyler Parker, TLA, Carlos Rosso, and even your last credible opponent Vance. Tiberius has been given the scraps of the dogs of Hexa-gun and still has the audacity to call himself a star? But that is not the case at Shock Value because Tiberius steps in the ring with The Iconomy. The men who beat EAWs past, present and future. You’re not the man that they were.. and you’re sure as hell not the man that I AM. At Shock Value, The Icon will claim Tiberius but you may need to prepare with his partners in crime because Tiberius won’t be able to withstand.. Our one night virus! Prepare yourself! We are.. live!


JJ slams the switch to off as the camera pans over to the live circuit electricity as it grows a darker color as if it would blow but it slowly dies out. JJ begins with a very sadistic laugh before drawing over to Luzmala.


JJ: Intimidation is a strong mind game that can lead to many victories and your track record shows that. Pure… Genetic power, that is the name of your game but what does that mean exactly, Luzmala? Am I supposed to coward in fear after what Team DCW went through at Showdown’s Redemption? I did the same thing to Maxwell Dachs just months back with pure ease. The fact that you’d even waste your time against a team with such little relevance shows me you’re just a man who gets his kicks off of watching the weak squirm and fight for any sort of survival. Luzmala, you’ve came to the wrong place for that. The Iconomy will fight you and bring you to your knees. Fear is only a mindset and once you get past it, it then becomes the will to keep fighting. You may be stronger than me, Luzmala.. but you’re not better than me. Everyone has a role within Hexa-gun and yours is very clear to me. You’re a monster. Haha…. We have a monster of our own. You’ve had encounters with him and I’m sure you know exactly who I’m talking about. Eclipse Diemos. The sounds of the whispers has changed him into a whole different person.. Eclipse simply cannot be tamed in the way Hexa-gun has done with you. He is the hammer to the nail in this scenario and will slam in over and over.. and over until he sees fit. Luzmala, you’re no monster. When I look into your eyes all I see is a man who is willing to do anything to feel how powerful he is. Eclipse is far greater than you will ever be. Eclipse is no monster.. He is far darker than that. He is the monsters demons. The night terrors that make you just out of your own sleep, Luzmala. Eclipse will show you just what brutality is.. and at Shock Value, we’ll take you through hells 9 circles to your ultimate demise.


JJ shuts Luzmala’s switch off as the camera pans once more to the live circuit before it begins twirling in a circle pace all the way down the board until it vanishes into thin air. He pulls his hand over Drake Jaeger's switch.


JJ: 5 little pigs.. You honestly amuse me, Drake. You’re very swift with a mic but when push comes to shove that’s about all you get. Fun is exactly what Saturday holds for our side as your blood rushes down our hands. Taking this to extraordinary lengths to all accomplish the ultimate goal, conquering Hexa-gun. You’ve called me out and I’ll be the first to admit I underestimated you, Drake. You caught me at the perfect time with the perfect move to put that match away and yet.. I’m still standing. Hexa-gun stands tall with the past stars aligned with the alleged future in you and Tiberius. I’ve heard what Tiberius believes but please tell me Drake, what is it that you wish you be? You seem to have deep hatred for this company as a whole and fight for your own personal convictions but what are you really diggin for? You claim to see nothing but ignorance in this company so what’s your plan? Clear it out? Please tell me you’re not that naive, Drake? I’ve heard some unrealistic things come out of people's mouths before but that might take the cake. With hatred that deep you’re better off packing your bags and moving elsewhere in which you find more satisfaction. I doubt that’s the true mindset of Drake Jaeger. You’re no different the average, generic, egotistical narcissist who wants nothing more than to be “The Man.” That’s a title you’ll never hear, Drake.  Drake Jaeger will never be the man because he simply isn’t good enough. You may be able to work a microphone, and even compete at a good level.. but good isn’t excellent. A few titles here and there but that’s the extent of your career. Without a doubt in the time Hexa-gun has survived you’ll go down as one member of one of the most dominant groups in EAW history.. that fell to all its victims. For the entire line of destruction you’ve left behind.. you made a grave mistake. You moved on, when you should’ve left us for dead. We’ve risen through the ashes that each of you created and now you’re staring in the face of what real hatred looks like. We’ve been empowered with weapons.. Yeah, I guess you could say this will be fun.


JJ turns his switch off as the live circuit shoots directly down in a straight line before it disappears. He then glares at The Mercenaries switch. His hand becomes very still as he touches the switch his whole demeanor changes.



[size=13][b] JJ flips the switch as the entire circuit blows and turns into a small fire and all the names taped on the switches fall into the the fire and form into ashes before the camera fades to black before flashing a Shock Value logo.  
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That's the great flaw within men like you, Brian Daniels.

You don't seem to 'get it'.

The way our world works, you don't seem to understand it. 

You're sheltered, far too naive, too much of a simpleton to understand the way reality works in this land of Elite, Extreme, Merchants, Beasts that we inhabit, because this entire time you've wrapped yourself inside of this fantasy where you and only you deserve everything you get. Some say chasing your dream to arrive at a stage as big as ours requires someone to be delusional from the core. And while that might be true, eventually you need to peel your eyes and take a look at the world around you. You just need to wake up and smell the roses... but instead you expect all of your effort to be a quid pro quo for you in the end, you expect that your hard work is supposed to amount to the vision in your head playing out the way it did your dreams, and in your take on this world your stay at the mountain top should go exactly as envisioned. But I too had a vision...

and in this vision I saw hell on my road to redemption.

I saw heaven in the face of the World Heavyweight Championship.

I saw paradise beneath the shadow of a sword.

And I saw a nightmare behind hell's gate.

And I heard their screams from depths inside. 

And I saw men's dreams smolder to ashes. 

But the captors could not be distinguished from the captive.

The prisoners were no different from the guards.

And a voice told me not to pity the damned.

For the wise mourn not for the living nor the dead.

So I walked through the valley of this living hell.

Until in this vision came a startling revelation.

Do you want to know what that revelation was? It was revealed to me something I already knew, but something we choose to ignore deep inside. It was revealed to me that all of this is an endless chase, a winless race, just fruitless ambition. When you reach the level that men like me reach, you will never stop fighting, Brian. It's the sad truth that I realized... you will never be satisfied. I don't exactly know if you'll ever be able to understand that... after all you will never be as great as me. But the fact of the matter is there will always be that -- in some ways -- maddening itch; it is a hunger that cannot be satisfied, it is a thirst for gold that can't be quenched, a LUST for power that can't be subdued no matter how much of a conscious effort you put in. I won't outright question your passion for this business despite even that being questionable to say the least... but my passion eclipses yours in the grand scheme. And this is by no means a peacock strutting, piss racing contest where I flaunt mine while you flaunt what's yours..... The fact of the matter is you will never leave a lasting impression on me. I know your goal is to imprint your minds on the psyche of the masses, myself included, but you'll never come close to even scratching the surface. You will never stop me from pursuing what I already believe is rightfully mine. And there's no amount of doubt you can put into my head, or guilt you can try to instill on my conscience that will make me turn back when I've already gotten this far! 

You come off as, if nothing else, a desperate, pretentious blithering moron who has noooooooooo idea whatsoever what he's even saying. It's as if you're just rambling because you've given up, it's as if you're on autopilot. You start spouting off asking me what Ryan and I did to deserve our shot at the World Heavyweight title, and you take the free pass to throw the first stone at me like you're the one without sin, like you're not the man who had his title opportunity against Tyler Parker handed to him. And now that I'm pointing out this double standard for the world to see you want to scramble to your last-ditch smear tactics and go with the easiest, most repetitive, most obvious attack you can possibly throw at Mr. DEDEDE. Just bring up Road to Redemption 4! You want to take it back to Road To Redemption 4 in a desperate attempt at diverting attention from the fact that you are a complete fucking hypocrite -- and worst of all -- a backwards thinking insecure little worm who knows his run at the top is over in just a matter of days. But whistling dixie on the eleventh hour before doomsday isn't going to prolong the inevitable; the clock ticks whether you acknowledge it or you don't. That's something I know this all too well because I've been reminded of this fact far too often by every paranoid opponent of mine who have nothing else to say to me, and that's pretty much you in a nutshell right now. You're at a loss for words, so you go with cliche's, and not even credible cliche's sadly enough. Forget throwing stones, you're scrambling to the ground for anything to throw at me when all you've got are straws to clutch at and so desperately cling to until you can get within arms reach of me to hit me. But no matter how many fucking little petty wins you've gotten over me in the past you have never been within arms reach of me and you never will.

And you can grab another fist full of straws and ball them up in your hand in a fit of seething rage and chuck your complete scraps for rhetoric at me and say "heck, all DDD's got on me is his credentials." First of all, YOU'RE FUCK RIGHT I HAVE MY CREDENTIALS ON YOU! YOU AREN'T EVER GOING TO GET ME TO REGRET BEING THE GREATEST WRESTLER TO EVER STEP FOOT IN THE RING! YOU AREN'T EVER GOING TO GET ME TO BE ASHAMED OF MY FIVE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS! HELL, YOU WON'T EVEN GET ME TO ENVY YOUR LAST TWELVE MONTHS IN EXCHANGE FOR MINE, BECAUSE I KNOW ME AT MY WORST DAY IS STILL BETTER THAN YOU AT YOUR BEST!!! Why??? Because at my lowest, at rock bottom, at my least motivated, at my most unenchanted I still have a silver lining to my cloudy day.... the same heart that HAS willed me on through the pain and to my greatest glory is the same heart that beats on my worst day. That's the silver lining I can still find in the storm. It's why I don't walk out of World Title reigns, it's why I don't pretend I'm too good to face Kevin Devastation, it's why I don't need Zack Crash to revitalize my career. I have the gift (and the curse) of the drive that's taken me to the mountain top, and that kind of drive will never ever leave me. My body will fail me first. I'll drop to the fucking ground and die a sudden death first. And for someone who acts as though he's so down to earth and scoffs at self aggrandizing egomaniacs like me for calling themselves 'God' you sure are way out of touch with reality yourself, my friend. You talk as if I came out of the fucking womb with the wrestling industry groveling at my feet. That's not the case, Brian. There's a line from the rapper Jay-Z that goes "you can try to change but that's just the top layer, you was who you was before you got here". I know that line was aimed at those who make it to the world's stage and try to wash away their past, but I'd rather put a different spin on it because I think it applies to me in a nutshell. A lot of people who know me from the beginning insist that I've just done a complete 180. You yourself seem to want to point out Methuselah, in fact I find that many of my opponents have some strange sort of infatuation with "Methuselah" because somehow, someway, that's always been a topic.

But listen to me, Brian.... I've gone through many phases in my career, but there's one thing that never changed this entire time. My desire for the title that, for now, bears your name. The World Heavyweight Championship. ANY World Championship, really; but the World Heavyweight title especially holds sentimental value to me. Whether I was that pseudo dudebro trying to break into the major stage of wrestling or whether I accompanied Fortuneteller Hamasa and made it my personal mission to protect the Land of Elite from the evil eye, my inner passion for that gold belt and everything it represents NEVER died. Speaking of Fortuneteller Hamasa, I'm sure you'd find this story interesting. One time Hamasa asked me to do a card reading so that she could find out which of the seven deadly sins I represented... it came to find out that what I embodied most was Lust. I thought it was odd at first, but when I think about what the thought of being World Champion again makes me feel inside.... how else can you describe it BUT lust? I SALIVATE AT IT. MORE THAN THAT, I SALIVATE AT THE THOUGH OF THE THINGS I WOULD DO TO GET IT ALL BACK. I WOULD GLADLY DELIVER BONE JARRING PAIN, AND I WOULD BE EQUALLY AS GLAD TO ENDURE SUCH PAIN, SO LONG AS I KNOW THAT I CAN HOLD THE CROWN JEWEL IN THIS INDUSTRY IN MY HANDS! THAT'S WHY YOU WILL NEVER GET ME TO APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT I DID AT ROAD TO REDEMPTION 4, NOR WILL I EVER APOLOGIZE FOR WHAT I'M READY TO DO TO YOU AND RYAN TO REPOSSESS THE CROWN JEWEL OF THIS BUSINESS! I've addressed it several times this week, I've made mention to it many times in my career, I'll say it again, one last time for effect: I don't care what it costs. I don't give a damn what it takes! I don't care about what I have to sacrifice, who I have to hurt, I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYTHING ELSE ANYMORE! All I want, Brian......... all I want is that belt. 

All I want is what's yours.

Feel free to liken me to Genghis Khan, or compare me to a marauder, but never not once did I play the role of a 'good guy' or a 'bad guy'. Whether I'm an evil man for the way I think and the things I do are up to interpretation. Just know this: I'll sacrifice everything -- I'll sacrifice my fucking integrity for that piece of gold. And I can rest asleep knowing all the pundits and all of my critics are NOT the World Champion, and that I am the World Champion no matter what I'm forced to do to take that belt home. But what it's important not to forget is that no matter how you slice it it's all fleeting, buddy. All of it goes away in the end. The accolades, the acclaim, the criticism, the kingdom with mile high walls that you may have built by brick and stacked by hand, all of it is taken from you by father time! You're going to learn that well soon enough when your championship is taken from you by THE GAWD! This entire journey that you've been on since your comeback, it DOES NOT have a happy ending. You don't have the chemical makeup for being great, while on the other hand I'm hard wired for success. It's woven into my DNA, and the last thing I'll do is take career advice from someone who wouldn't know how to manage success if it hit him in the face. My advice, in turn, is simple. Save your breath, and save your meaningless perspective, because i do not give a flying fuck what you have to say about me. You're nothing to me in the end, Brian. All you are is a moving target, and on Voltage I hit that target with perfect accuracy once already. All I have to do is kill two caged birds with one stone as we are locked inside High Voltage. And as popular as you are with the EAW Universe, once I take away the one consolation prize for years and years of failure, you'll be nothing to them, too. But don't be too upset about it, after all that's all this amounts to anyway. "Nothing." It's here today, and then a fade to black like it was never here. But this begs the question... despite all of that, which one of us are willing to sacrifice everything? 

*chuckle* I think you already know the answer.

I had a vision.

And in this vision I saw hell on my road to redemption.

I saw heaven in the face of the World Heavyweight Championship.

I saw paradise beneath the shadow of a sword.

And I saw a nightmare behind hell's gate.

And I heard their screams from depths inside. 

And I saw men's dreams smolder to ashes. 

But the captors could not be distinguished from the captive.

The prisoners were no different from the guards.

And a voice told me not to pity the damned.

For the wise mourn not for the living nor the dead.

So I walked through the valley of this living hell.

Until in this vision came a startling revelation.

That heaven and hell are conjoined by hand.

And the living and the dead all dwell the same land.

Salvation and sin work together as one.

We are damned by our own desires.

And thus we are undeserving of pity.

For we starve but cannot die, in this hell of hungry ghosts.

But it can all end Saturday, Brian. Once I take that title away, you're free to finally make your sweet escape. After all you are the prisoner and the guard. in the end you are the master and the slave. You can finally stop suffering for once. Let me be your liberator.

 
 
[ Gatsby is seen at a casino in Vegas, he seems to be deep in thought before he turns to the camera to address the audience ]


In less than a day I am about to step into that ring to compete in a match that might as well be the closest I get to a World Championship match. While it’s true that I’m still the new face in town, and FAR from the man who runs the place…..I don’t undermine my abilities! Look at this place! Slot machines, Poker, Blackjacks, Roulette. You name it this place got it, and what this place also got are people…..desperate people…


These people are stuck I tell you, absolutely mesmerized by the chance, the opportunity to make millions in a single night. Hell, some of them do! It’s an endless cycle. They earn money only to spend it on these petty games of LUCK, only so that they can win big and again spend that money to play more of these games. You get the point. It’s an allusion. There’s no certainty involved. There’s no strategy. See this is different from the match that I’m walking into. There is no luck involved, there is nothing being left to chance here. You don’t and you won’t need a 15-sided dice to make the judgement call on who gets to walk out victorious in this match. Unlike majority of my opponents who are very fine in talking big, I can back up what I say in that ring! Oh I know what I’m going up against alright. I don’t need constant reminders about my opponent’s superiority, I don’t wanna know how dark and mysterious you are. You can be the most demonic SOB in this company and that don’t mean jack when you’re going up against me. A man of my caliber, with my mannerisms, might strike you as a fine gentleman on the outside, a true people’s person. But on the inside I’m just a hungry lion, aged, feral and brute. But what makes me even more deadly…is the fact that I am in complete control and check of my emotions. I don’t flinch when I have to make tough decisions. Competition is competition. We may be best buds outside that ring, but you step in with me you’re signing a mental contract. That contract states that I, Gatsby, will NOT hold back when I go up against you. I will do whatever is required to walk out the champion. Oh and don’t worry, I’m not saying that I’m gonna low blow you when the ref looks away…believe me I have more dignity than THAT. Thing is I don’t need to take a cheap way out of a match, I never have, and I never will. And that is what many forget when they wanna tango with me. What they forget is it might be their LAST tango…


The chemistry of this match is as intense as it gets. I mean I’m going against competitor’s from every walk of life, heck some don’t even seem human when you think about it. I’m going against this Royale family, these deranged beings who seem to show no emotion in the fact that they’re facing their own blood bonds. I mean that just shows you the ferocity of this match. You know the prize is worth dying for if you’re ready to face your own brothers. Then you got that one drug addict, ugh classless. I’m going against guy’s who truly respect me for who I am, I’m even going against an entity…this Jay Omen, and boy I’d be lying if I said that dude doesn’t give me the creeps. But all that matters not. What matters is that I’m a man who goes into every battle as if IT’S A WAR! And when the odds are stacked against me I say screw chances, I let my abilities speak for themselves. This Shock Value is the perfect proving ground for me to showcase my skills and prove to everyone IN the ring, IN the arena stand and IN the locker room why I have what it takes to be the World Champion!


[ Gatsby relaxes and sits back on his chair, eyes closed as he goes into deep thought again, only to return back to the camera after a brief pause, he takes out a cigar and lights it. ]










[ The camera fades to black as Gatsby gives a noticeable smirk and closes his eyes again ] 

We don't want the best ones doing it, we want to be the only ones doing it -- this is one of the few adages I've long subscribed to throughout my wrestling career. So many wrestlers struggle to distinguish themselves and stand out in a way that draws the attention of the audience, finding a niche that captivates a crowd can be a Sisyphean task for many. All along, it's appeared as though The Iconomy has been fighting against us, defying Hexa-gun, that they were in stark opposition to the rules we're trying to enact and impose across the relevant wrestling world -- in reality, they want to weed us out in hopes they can flourish by stealing our philosophy and putting a couple of unnecessary twists on it for the sole purpose of making it appear they were the pioneers. The problem with that plan? Hexa-gun is philosophically aligned, The Iconomy is divided in their views, interests, and goals which has already caused friction in the group with Cailin Dillon's unceremonious dismissal -- that's not conducive to the long-lasting success of any sort of organized union, in fact I'd even I'd even venture to say it's unpalatable. Can The Iconomy honestly envision themselves lasting through the rest of the year? They blamed Cailon Dillon for their failures, and when that excuse was disproved yet again by the past several losses credited to their name, Silva and Diemos basically exiled Chris Elite, slapped him in the face AND poured salt in the wound with the inclusion of Liam Catterson and The Higher Power in this match while Elite will be noticeably absent.  I'm sure they'll retort and insult the fans' intelligence by explaining that Elite's omission from this match wasn't intentional, something I'm sure they tried to convince Elite of himself, that he had other "business to tend to" and they were merely allowing him to focus on his singles career like good samaritans, but whether or not you took advantage of his poor judgment, you can't fool me; I told Mr. DEDEDE leading up to Pain for Pride that I call a spade a spade, and right now that's exactly what I'm instilling into you. You think Liam Catterson, Gabriel Eden, and Daniel Marshall can succeed where Chris Elite failed? The reality is that while the names may have changed, the result will be no different. It will mirror our previous encounters, it will reverberate across the lands of both extreme and elite alike that none of you are suitable challengers for Hexa-gun, that Liam Catterson is no longer built to excel under the limelight, that he struggles under the microscope because his confidence has abandoned him, that The Higher Power are nothing but replacements destined to become collateral damage in a war they didn't even wage. Do I sympathize with Daniel Marshall or Gabriel Eden? No, they're grown men who made a costly decision entirely of their own volition, it will haunt them and they will live to rue the day they made the mistake of interfering in Hexa-gun's affairs; the willfully blind deserve no sympathies, and they will get none from me. The Iconomy has struggled to coalesce in their brief existence, but Shock Value will finally mark that unity they've been seeking to attain for so long -- a faction fighting with a disorganized lack of rhythm and poise in the ring that can never seem to overcome themselves, but all collectively meeting their destruction together as Hexa-gun dominates them and relentlessly lays siege until our victory is guaranteed and nothing but ruin and rubble is left in our wake.

Eclipse sits over there in whatever hellhole he lives in and apparently isn't even man enough to fight own battles; he has to let his little sister do the talking! I can assure you that neither Luzmala nor anyone else in Hexa-gun is the slightest bit intimidated by a man whose spokesperson is his younger sister. I don't even say that to demean women! They're capable individuals just like their male counterparts, obviously some more than others as evidenced by the wildly successful Heart Break Gal, but I'd never let anyone else speak on my behalf regardless of gender. Chalk it up to different strokes for different folks, but my "strokes" have resulted in fame the likes of which has been achieved by only the greats of world history, the Shakespeare's and Beethoven's whose writing and music transcends the time in which they lived and survives hundreds of years later, that's where my methods have gotten me. It's ironic that someone who prides himself on his ability to instill intimidation and fear into his foes has no qualms whatsoever with his sister hyping him up because he's incapable of handling it himself. Tell me, where have these fear tactics and false allegations ultimately gotten you? I suggest you divorce all of these deluded beliefs you're subscribing to and marry the truth; understand that in a battle of wills, you cannot defeat me. Rub your temples, scheme in advance, hide your little sister under the ring in hopes it'll give you a comfortable enough advantage, but know you and your "friends" will eventually drown in this deluge you're foolishly trying to swim in.

I was humbled for quite a while. The L's on that win-loss column kept coming, and it seemed like it was this never ending fountain of defeats. Was there doubt along the way? Not at all. I knew that sooner or later, those L's would mean something for me. Some people take losses like it's the worst thing in the world. Me? I've lost enough times to understand that it's a learning lesson. You gotta look back and see what you did wrong to improve yourself. I did that for probably two months. Starting with that Interwire title loss to Chucky Scene. It could have been just bad luck that night, but once I had that match in my hands, I got carried away. Just like a LeBron James promise, I basically said the match was mine, and lost sight of Chuck. He got me, drove my head to the mat.







The losses kept coming. It was looking like a David Price lineup, only except 'K' showing up every time, there was 'L'. It just seemed like it wouldn't stop. What happened next, well... Simply put, it's probably the biggest week I've had with this company. Starting on that Monday on Battleground. You know, the show that maybe twenty people really watch and tune in to watch. It's essentially become some show to resolve your beef and other shit rather than being something to kick start the 'rookies' and give them a name. Monday had me in a mixed tag match, playa. Who was it against? Well, none other than the two people leading the 'BK Must Go' movement, The Mercenaries. I had my Empress with me, and yeah. It has been a rocky road between the two of us. It's been documented for a while that there's some hardships between us. But, we both agreed to put that aside for a little bit and focus on the task at hand. Did I get my ass handed to me in that match? Well, if you asked anyone outside the EAW spectrum, you'd probably say that I had my ass kicked. Regardless, we still managed to topple the seemingly unbeatable Tag Team Champions.




Finally, a victory in whatever long it's been. Many will say that it isn't a definite victory, since it was via a roll-up, but let's face it. That L will still be there after everything is said and done. Aria and I can safely say that we beat The Mercenaries. Aria and I can say that we beat Saggy Tits and Fucked-Up-Chest Man. What will we expect from those two? Probably one of those 'Ah, we'll shrug it off. We won't face them anytime soon because we're main eventers and they're bottom feeders' or some shit like that. It's like them to treat every wrestler in this company like they're slimy earthworms, even their Hexa-Gun compadres probably get some heat with those two because of their galactic egos. Enough about them, though. This is about me, right? Gotta talk me up enough so I look big and strong.
After a momentous victory on Monday, my focus was shifted to another bloke who was right in there wanting me out of this place because I wasn't that classic wrestler mold everyone wants. Thomas Minns was a thorn on my side for several weeks, basically causing the little 'thing' between Aria and I to even begin with. All this beef between Pretty Boy and I could finally be resolved that Thursday night, and I beat him at his own game. You can call me BK, The Master of Reverse Small Packages. But, hey. At least the guy is actually facing some meaningful talent now. The problem with him is that he's facing the Heart Break Boy, who will probably give Tommy a long needed wake up call after he basically man handles him in the ring.

Now, what do I get for my two victories in the week? It's rerun season here at Showdown, I get to face Gator Face again. Now, I ain't one to complain about who I get in the ring, but you couldn't give me someone who doesn't know what he's talking about 90% of the time and has a bigger gut than I do? Besides, doesn't he have 'bigger' fish to fry and fight his brother again or something? You know what they always say, everything comes in threes. Maybe for him, though, everything comes in thirty. Thirty words in a sentence, thirty burgers at a fast food restaurant, thirty people who actually give a shit about what he says. Let me say first of all that this isn't an act of underestimation, oh no. I know completely well how capable this man is in the ring. It wasn't too long ago where I got my own wake up call from him. I just know that this time, I know it'll be a much different story. I'm going into Saturday with a clear mind, with a clear conscience after everything that's happened. I know, what a difference two wins make. This isn't something that I'll take lightly, because I need the same focus and desire to win that I had against the Mercenaries, Thomas Minns, back when I was vying for that Interwire title. I can't lose focus now, because I want this whole 'winning' thing to keep going. 

Vic, you can call me a fool all you want. You can call me some kind of recent luck story, or some fictional being where 'His head and his hairs blonde like honey, his eyes were as a flame, and his mouth came a sharp sword'. All this fictional bullshit that you say won't save you from a fight that's coming your way. What I'm gonna do on Saturday is fight you, win the fight, and then move on to the next guy. This time, I know how to beat you.

 
I’ll start by quoting Ad-Rock, MCA & Mike D – Better known as the Beastie Hombres. In 1986 they spoke to generations with a mantra; a way of life and living. Not one I’ve necessarily always lived by, but one that suits the challengito I face this Saturday at Shock Value:
 
YOU GOTTA FIGHT, FOR YOUR RIGHT… TO PAAAAAAARRRRTAAAAAY!


And believe me esé, Piff is gonna be partying on Saturday after I fight to win this shock collar battle royal. Some OG Kush, Super Lemon Haze, White Daddy Rhino, you know name it, holmes – I’ll be smokin’ it. There’ll be bong hits getting passed around like the DDTHCs I’ll be executing in the middle of that ring, to win my opportunity to challenge for the Answers World Championship… See I’ll say it before, and I’ll say it again homie; the title doesn’t mean all that to me in the grand scheme of things. As long as I have a dooby in my hands and a smile on my face I’m all chill, I’m a simple hombre who likes to admire the beauty of the world. Like all the dank looking sunsets over the cacti, in my hometown of Tijuana. I’m not a materialistic puto like half the people in this battle royal, half of these gringos are putting their whole career and legacy in the forefront of everything they do and say. That’s not coolio, I mean look at me, my main goal in life is to be happy and chill the to max with some sticky icky icky. I might be EAW’s greatest luchador but that’s just a nice bonus to my life. I hold that title by being myself and just kickin’ it to some Q-Tip; who actually once asked me “can I kick it?” and I answered YES I CAN, AMIGO! And I’ll be kicking it at Shock Value on Saturday, when I’m handing out Kush Comas and 420 Splashes like complimentary chocolates. Oh goddamn, I could do with some M&Ms or some shit right now… But what can I say? This is a big moment for Piff, and a big match! Since I joined EAW in the summer I’ve been kicking it on Battleground, just a skidmark on the underpants of the Elite. Maybe the 20% of EAW fans who actually watch Battleground know about Tijuana’s Finest Strain and how Piff Fumador is EAW greatest luchador; but wrestling in front of 2000 people instead of 20000 left Piff under the radar. And now that’s chill, like I said I’m all good just kicking ass and smoking grass. But two weeks ago I got put back on Voltage and was amongst the Elite again, and it’s a good feeling to be back. Pretty much the way I see it, Voltage is like Batman and Battleground’s Robin - no one wants to be Robin, esé. Since Piff got put back on the Voltage card, I’ve won both of my matches and I’m on a roll, baby! A roll just like the fatty boombatty blunt of tangerine dream I’m smoking as I’m talking to you all Amigos. I didn’t prove to Battleground that I was EAW’s greatest luchador – I just showed it, homie. Just like I gotta show it on Voltage, and on Saturday, Shock Value… This is Piff’s FPV debut and I gotta make it a doozy, and then celebrate my win with a big fat dooby. To be honest, I’m sure this doesn’t mean as much to me as it does to Clark Duncan, Nick Angel or Carson Ramsay. Maybe I don’t have that winner’s mentality or drive to succeed; I can’t help it esé, I’m just too chill for that. But if I come into Shock Value and take out all you gringos, it says a lot about Tijuana’s Finest Strain doesn’t it? Y’all are always so serious, minus Clark, you’re a cool hombre. It’s really a drag, none of you seem like any fun to hang out with, not like Landerson; he’s always up for a smoke and a game of Crash Bandicoot on Playstation. And I’ll be looking out for my boy Landerson at Shock Value, like he’ll be for me – But if it comes down to just us I defo won’t pull any punches, or hurricanranas…
 
I’ll try not to hark on about it too much, but I do need to mention something. Nick Angel, or Angelo as I’ll forever refer to him as – I’m Mexican, holmes. Once again this gringo has completely brushed Piff aside! He’s spoken again, and hasn’t mentioned EAW’s Finest Luchador? Like I said, I’m all chill, but this gringo needs to know that he’s facing more opponents in the battle royal than just Clark Duncan and Carson Ramsay. There’s a lot of putos in the match, sure; but I’ve said it before – how hard is it to throw a hombre over the top rope? You need to eyes in the back of your head, because who’s to say the Royale family won’t team us and throw you out the ring as soon as the bell rings? That’s what I’m aware of, and it’s something you need to think about, Angelo. Maybe it’s just confidence, which I can appreciate; but it sounds more like arrogance to Piff. You’ve brushed aside the thought of anyone who’s name isn’t Clark Duncan or Carson Ramsay being a threat to you in this match, and that might prove to be a grande mistake! What if the Piff & Landerson Experience use our tag team supreme combo moves to send you flying over the rope? It’s something your not even considering?! Ay dios mio, get your head out of your assholio. I don’t really know much about you, but all I do know is you have a really bad habit of underestimating people – a habit that might cost you the match at Shock Value. Jameson Royale is just the same as Nick Angelo, he’s completely shunned the fact that Piff Fumador is even in this match… I just don’t get it, esé?! He’s spending more time crying about getting his ass handed to him by J.D. Damon on Voltage last week that even considering there’s more people in this battle royal than, guess who? Nick Angel, Clark Duncan and Carson Ramsay… I know I blaze it like it’s 4:20 every half hour, and you could argue my mind’s a bit hazy; but this motherfucker really needs to lay off the moonshine. Weed grows from God’s green earth, while that shit you make in your shack in Incest-inati, Texas or wherever is fucked up, hombre. It’s messing with whatever part of the brain makes judgement, if you really think Piff Fumador isn’t coming to Shock Value to show everyone I’m EAW greatest luchador and soon to be number one contender for the Answers World Championship! The same old shit is also coming from Jay Omen and Kenny Drake, completely oblivious to the fact that EAW’s Finest Strain is coming to Shock Value to blaze it up! You’d think at least Omen would know better, as I have beating him in two out of… uh, all two of our matches?! That’s the thing, I’m not underestimating anyone in this match, amigo. Who’s to say Omen couldn’t hit the magic dropkick that sends the last remaining opponent over the top rope? It’s not like you need to wear an opponent down and hit that dank finisher for the 3 count; you can get thrown over the top rope without even getting hit with an arm drag or hip toss?!
 
Carson Ramsay definitely needs a reality check in this ideal. Who knows, maybe the puto will get that reality check on Saturday? Maybe your boy Piff Fumador will be the one who puts him into Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Check Ch-Check it out! Sorry, I promise that’ll be the last Beastie Boys reference today… But to be fair, at least he actually had something to say about Piff – even if it’s a grande pile of crapola. He’s trying to say that he can’t take me seriously because I like to puff the ganja? Okay Dad, sorry about that… Ay dios mio, this gringo doesn’t understand that Mary Jane is a way of life for me; it makes me who I am, gives me focus in the ring and makes me a better fighter. I’ve proven this time and time again, and me smoking on that dank stuff is EXACTLY the reason you should be taking me seriously. I mean, no one ever takes Popeye seriously until he eats his spinach, then he kicks ass! Just like me, except Piff Fumador likes to roll up and smoke his spinach in a blueberry flavour blunt wrap… But yeah I will admit, I was HIGH AS FUGG during Wednesday’s Dank Files on YouTube, which would be why I got mixed up with that whole thing about you thriving under the pressure. Oh well, screw it, thrive under the pressure of EAW’s Finest Strain coming at you from the top rope with a 420 Splash, bitch! And yeah your rants are like listening to an audiobook on how to be 1^st class D-Bag, which fair enough, take that as a compliment. If you’re satisfied with knowing you’re a bitch then kudos to you, that’s the beauty about life: Just be happy with who you are. Smoke Weed Everyday. But still, even know you might have actually acknowledged that Piff Fumador is in this battle royal, you’re still just doing the one thing that everyone else can’t stop doing… Underestimating me. I don’t get it; I’ve beaten Jay Omen, Warrior V1, Valiente Wyvern. All these guys are in the battle royal, but not once do I doubt that they’re gonna come after me in the match, of course they are – it’s every hombre for himself! Even my boy Landerson, he knows if it comes to it there’s a Kush Coma coming his way… Maybe I am just too chill, but it feels like I’m the only one, maybe other than the Average Gatsby, going into this match without an ego? Why? Clark Duncan doesn’t underestimate me, which I appreciate, he’s a cool homie. I respect the fact that he sees me more as just another body in that ring come Shock Value. It’s why I have nothing to say about him; we’re on the same level going into the match – I respect him and he respects me, may the best man win. But even then, Clark himself singled out 6 guys in a 14 man battle royal as the only contenders. Maybe it’s the weed making me paranoid or some shit, I’m just not going into this match thinking certain people have no chance.
 
Certain people like me, clearly – that’s how it seems listening to everyone else. Even the gringos that have mentioned Piff have brushed me aside like I’m no threat to them at all, except for Clark and Gatsby. I guess that’s how society is, esé. If you like to get high you’re some lower class citizen. Not only do I like to smoke, but also I pair it a smile and a joke. I’m not a serious hombre by any stretch, and I’m not changing for anybody! I don’t care if the entire roster views me like I’m a nobody, just because I’m not a dramatic fuck and like to kick back with a dooby and some Doritos. I don’t feel I need to prove anything either, unlike all the other putos in this match. Like I said, I don’t need to prove, all I gotta do is show. I am EAW’s greatest luchador and that’s all there is to it, and I’m cool with who I am and want I want; and what I want is to live chill and smoke weed until I die. But you know, it’s a lot more chill to smoke with a world title around your waist – which is why Piff is coming to Shock Value to win this battle royal! I’ll be heading to ring with my eyes burning red, smoke in my lungs and THC in my blood. Everyone in EAW needs to stop being so serious, be like Piff – show up, take names, smoke grass, kick ass, go home, watch Adventure Time! It’s a done deal, and everyone that has underestimated Piff, or flat out ignored the fact that Piff is even in this match, will have a DDTHC coming their way at Shock Value. I’m not arrogant, I might not be the biggest threat in this match, sure; but what I am is a hombre who wants to viva la vida, and come back to Tijuana after Saturday as the number one contender for the Answers World Championship! So all you gringos in the battle royal better watch out, because your boy Piff Fumador, is gonna… Blaze… You… Up…

☤On a black screen words are printed out.☤

In a world where your honour and word are questioned….

☤A fuzzy display of a cut from Liam Catterson’s words plays on the screen.☤

“Can you look at me with a straight face and tell me that you are not the villains of this situation? Look me in the eyes, with the straightest face you’ve ever pulled and admit you’re not the villain.”

☤In jest, a response is played for such a question.☤



☤Tiberius Jones appears switching the TV playing the off and is seen relaxing on a couch.☤

All fucking around aside, what is a villain in the end? Villains are made by their motives or if their actions somehow interfere with the cause of the heroes. I don’t particularly believe anyone has ever christened Liam, let alone any of the dastardly Iconomy, a hero, so let’s remove the hero concept out of the question. Our motive is to upset, overthrow, and circumvent the regime of Zack Crash in any way possible. Zack Crash is a dictator, a liar, and self-proclaimed himself as the Devil, can you really call our motive villainous for thrashing his empire?

People say we abuse numbers. But is it not true that it is basically Hexa-gun vs the world? If you combine DCW, Zack Crash’s forces, Liam, the Iconomy, and all the sellouts who have bowed to Elite, we are vastly outnumbered. The way I see it, we just use our numbers more efficiently.

It’s like the saying goes, you can’t be neutral on a moving train! Zack Crash is changing EAW, you’re either fighting against him, or you’re helping his ways become solidified in EAW by being those who promote his cause! If you all stood up, right now at this very moment, to fight Zack Crash this war would be over! But you don’t! You don’t care! Well if you don’t care, don’t whine when we stomp on over you on our way to bring down everything that he creates! If we’re out to prove something, we’ll end as many pure championship matches we want, no matter how many times we have to kick the ass of people like Liam.

But let’s look even deeper, where did the word villain even originate from?

Villein.

Villein, was a term used in the feudal era to denote a peasant who was legally tied to a lord of the manor. Villeins occupied the social space between a freeman and a slave. Villeins were known to be dirty, unknightly, and stood for nothing because they neither fought for their own power, nor truly served their masters as diligently as they could. They were cowards, and cowards are capable of any type of atrocity. Eventually such a word became hated across the world in many languages, and the term villain came to be what it is.

In EAW, it is quite clear that at the moment Zack Crash is unfortunately a lord! So, who are the slaves, who are the villeins and who are the freemen?!

I’m sure everyone can agree, Hades, HRDO, and Scott Oasis are the slaves of Zack Crash! Eager and always ready to serve their master!

Hexa-gun are clearly the freemen! After all, we go where we wish at any time, we fight in extreme rules because we say so, and Crash has little to no authority over us!

But the rest of you? It is by Zack Crash’s decree where you are allowed to make appearances, it’s he who commands in which type of wrestling matches you are allowed to compete in, and he who tells you went to march off to war. You are the villeins! Am I a thief? Sure, but so is the hero Robin Hood. Liam, you, and your allies, who hang between the balance of truly free men and utter slaves, represent the true origin of villainy.

As for Silva, your empty words still do not harm me. I know who I am, what I’ve done, and what I provide to Hexa-gun. I’m a former champion, I’ve retired EAW hall of famers, I’m the one who pinned the leader of our opposition in Mr.DEDEDE at Civil War, and I’m only 23 years old while one of the most touted rising talents in EAW today.  How could anyone convince me that I’m some sort of weak link to any cause? What truly offends me is not your words, but the fact that you think that you’re capable of being the one to handle me. It’s as if you’ve taken the task of being the one who has to focus on me the most out of your entire group. Just look at you, you’re some creepy wide-eyed little prick who hangs out with a rag tag team of losers and you find comfort in “almost” and “nearly” when it comes to winning matches like coming close is good enough to find pride in! I wouldn’t be surprised if your very reason for joining the Iconomy was so you could date Eclipse’s equally creepy little sister. Me? I’m suave and debonair, I’m the slickest player in the game, and I’m a huge framed art piece in the most must see rogue’s gallery of all time known as Hexa-gun! I don’t have to look back to the victories I’ve almost had, rather I can find confidence in things I actually accomplish! So you don’t understand how insulting it is for there to be some basic wrestler come around thinking he is the part of his team that should be the one who takes you on one on one, all of you should be coming after me 5 on 1!

But it’s alright, keep being ignorant. Putting your hand out into the mouth of a beast expecting not to be bitten may be insulting to the creature before you, but the feeding upon one’s flesh is all the same in satisfying the belly of said beast in the end. The good thing about making the dark alleys your home and preying on those who enter it is that there’s always going to be naïve people out there that think the rumours are overstated and it’s safe to walk around with jewels loosely hanging, your pockets will always be full due to those so foolish! I have a lot of victories to scoop out from you Silva, you, and the rest of your gang who severely underestimate what I do inside that ring. Though I also know its part mind games. You want to take advantage of the legend of Y2Impact and the Heart Break Gal, advantage of the intimidation of Luzmala over EAW, to make me rebel and hurt Hexa-gun out of some sort of envy. What you don’t seem to realize is I’ve been assigned to Hexa-gun by the J-Dynasty, an entire group of legends and stars who intimidate more so than I currently do, and it’s been this way for months. I’m already use to these mind games trying to make me betray my causes by taking advantage of my current placement that you assume will breed jealously within me. I’m not that weak! I know as long as I stick to what I do, my time will come. You speak of time, but I know that it’s only a matter of it until I’m on top of the world!

Let alone, on top of just another petty foe.
 
☤End.☤

JJ is seen wrapping his hands in tape sitting on a staircase inside an arena. After he rips the tape planting it on his hand, he begins to rotate his wrist loosening them up. A smirk begins to emerge on his face a he leans forward. His head bows for a moment as he releases a deep sigh.

 JJ: We've never asked to be feared by Hexa-gun. Fear isn't something that any of them feel to no one in the entirety of EAW. Fear is what they strike into the hearts of their victims before us. The split second from gazing up the ramp to when their music hits feels like an eternity with you chest pounding and your blood rushing. Hexa-gun is a team that is very known for victory.. but why is that? Each member has talent.. there's no use in denying that. If I had to say what makes Hexa-gun so successful recently, it has to be their consistency to catch you when you least expect it. They are always on the prowl to strike for the kill. They're a pack of wolves that have learned to stalk with deep separation and attack from all angles. Every single one of them are hungry for more and more. It's a never ending cycle. Power is something that they circle and will attack to obtain more and more because no one has been able to best them thus far. But like every pack of wolves.. the only way to take them down is to rip off the leaders head.

 We will not back away and hide in fear. No matter if you consider us a threat or not, we can bring you the fight of your lives. Mercy is no longer an option, we will take this match to new heights and attack you in every way possible. I've been at the end of a Hexa-gun beat down before..  what's funny about a Hexa-gun beat down yeah I might go down -- but I'll get right back up. Hexa-gun, you may beat me down.. but you WILL NOT keep me down. The Iconomy isn't "following" Liam Catterson. We all see something that we agree on. It's a mutual standing and we will go to any lengths to completely destroy Hexa-gun. You've faced many different type of people in this run.. but this time it's different. The Iconomy has approached every single match with Hexa-gun with just ambitions of destroying them and walking out the victors. I've learned from my mistakes; that just isn't good enough. We are going to walk in with our fist raised up and throw the kind of punches that are meant to be the end. This is no longer any typical battle.. this runs far deeper than any war. It doesn't matter if The Iconomy cannot walk out of Shock Value.. We will win and end it at all cost. Every member of The Iconomy has accepted that even if it means the end of our careers.. and we cannot fight any more.. Shock Value will be the night that Hexa-gun meets defeat.

 Drake, you have very interesting opinions. Your ambitions are to be the best and the face of the company without all it's ignorance and you feel as if that clouds everyone from who you are. The light is shinning bright, but unfortunately that light will never be right on you. As you stand a member of Hexa-gun the light is on one of those champions that you hate. The Mercenaries. Every single ounce of your hatred should be directed on them but why would you do that? They're the reason for you recent success. Your loyalty is admirable, Drake. Brick wall after brick wall and The Mercenaries blessed your troubled self with an opportunity and you took it. They are your meal ticket and everyone with eyes can see that. You've displayed your talents and took EAW by storm but you made one huge mistake. On Dynasty you took a shot at me and put the match to an end, yes. Out of respect for Liam I was leaving you to him.. but that's far out of reach now. Shock Value will be a night you will remember for the rest of your career.. I'm not going to bitch about the kind of danger that this company places in front of us.. I'm going to embrace it. If anything, it's a very fitting setting for just the kind of payback that I intend on bringing you. You continue to look down on me as if I were lower than you but boy is that far from the case... This is going to be the most malicious... relentless.. innovative ass kicking you've received when I finally get my hands on you at Shock Value! 

 To the Heart Break Gal I say... stop. It's very clear that you view us as lower than you and it's never mattered from the very beginning. House Of Glass was a clear case in which you were incapable of even surviving to the end. You brought your fight and trust me there is no doubt in my mind you'll continue to bring it but The Iconomy will bring it just as hard. Your personal convictions blind you from the sheer fact of talent on the rise because you're not ready to become a memory. That is your fear. HBG is not one to ever fear any person but she cannot stop the inevitable future. Here we are months in to a on-going battle and HBG continues to push her insults and her opinions on us but the fact of the matter is come match time, she'll be right behind her wall with very little to come out of it. HBG has brought up her very illustrious clutch pin habits in EAW and that does nothing but prove my point. Her manipulative ways manage to put her in the right place at the right time to secure the victory. A victory is still a victory no matter how you look at it but when you take pride.. in doing nothing at all but securing the win.. you're pathetic. Y2Impact is batman now! HBG is and forever will be robin. She's just there to look good in what she is wearing and clean up the few messes Impact makes to make herself feel important. You're nothing more that Impact's charity work with a little more out of the deal because what you provide just isn't good enough. It's time you fell into your place, HBG. You wanted a fight and trust me when I say you got it. This time I'll make sure you don't have the opportunity to manipulate your position for a clutch pin. The only thing you'll hear sound is the ambulance sirens with your fast track ride all the way out of that arena.

 Superman! Batman! Impact.. You can never have enough wrong analogies about yourself. Maybe the former once great Y2Impact but he's been dead and gone for a long time. Out of all the people in the world to talk about egos.. you should be the very last one to make a statement. Guys like you paved the way for guys like me but the funny thing is, all the other guys are gone and you're standing in the way refusing your time to leave. I've said before I respect what you've done but I will not stand down to you. What do you have left to prove? "Wrestling is just a physical battle, it's a battle of wits too!" Impact you're the most pathetic of the bunch. The only reason Y2Impact is here today is because if he packed his bags and went on to the world not a damn person would even look at him as a big shot. You need names like Superman, Batman,  and The Quintessential Champion because without that you are just another face in EAW. Your prestigious career has said a lot so what is this "Y2Impact's last run" the sequel? As a man standing as arguably the best of his generation... you will fall to The Iconomy. The men of Next Generation. Resist if you will, you've finally met your match. This is not about redemption.. this isn't even about convictions.. this is solely about The Iconomy, Liam Catterson and The Higher Power kicking your ass.       

  
 *Fades to black.*

Ashten Cross is at one of the many EAW gyms that are located across the world. He sits there with a replica of the EAW World Championship that he won earlier in his career.

This is it... the last time I'll lace up the boots, and the last time I'll physically let an individual know what it takes to be in EAW. For YEARS I scratched & clawed to even be considered to get a match in the land that was deemed extreme. For YEARS I saw my friends drop left & right because they weren't considered good enough by the higher ups. For years I won championships in companies that weren't worth my time... and all for what? To compete with the best? To prove my worth? To get on the big stage that is EAW? Yea, all of those things I sacrificed my body for and it paid off despite what people may think of my career.

In 2010, I had my first match in EAW against Kawajai on an episode of Turbo. Ya know, when the new guys actually had to work to get to a brand? Do you know what I did with him Erebus? I tore through him & I tore through everyone else that they fed me on the Turbo roster. I proved my worth to the boys in the back, I proved my worth to the crowd, I proved to myself that I'm pretty damn good & I'm also pretty pretty. The world was in my hands, nobody could tell me nothing, but do you know what slapped me in the face? Reality. Reality that this world is filled with people that are going to cause you to struggle, reality that this world isn't fair, reality that not everyone in EAW is a WINNER. Do you think Mr. DEDEDE wanted to hold my hand after he cashed in his opportunity to beat me for the EAW Championship a month into my career? NOPE. Do you think Hurricane Hawk stashed a sledgehammer into his TIGHTS just to show the fat girls in the crowd his bulge? NOPE! He used that sledgehammer to bash me over the head with and went on to win the EAW World Championship! Don't even get me started on Dark Demon because I didn't even get my rematch for the championship after what he did to me! But... What do these people all have in common? They hit me with some harsh realities & they made me a better person at the end of the day because now I know how it feels to drown...

Ashten Cross seems a lot more controlled than what he once was back when he was an active competitor. Almost robotic...


Face it, the people of EAW need LEADERS like Zack Crash & I. The people of EAW need to know how it feels to drown so that when they succeed, they never want to feel that feeling of drowning ever again. I'm not here to baby you guys, you're all grown men & women. I'm just here to show that hard work & overcoming the odds makes you appreciate a guy like me. One day you'll sit back with your kids, and think "WOW! ... I wish my kids had a father figure like Ashten Cross was to me!".

Ashten lets out a grin as he continues to talk while the camera cross fades into action shots of him.

This is a pretty thankless job but at Shock Value, I'll be sure to treat myself to an extra drink & a chuckle after I slap the paint off your face, Erebus. You will not get away with treating my career as if it wasn't a blessing. If things didn't go the way they did, I probably wouldn't have the power & job stability that I have right now! I will NOT let you continue to taint my brand and you will then fade back into that darkness until Zack Crash & I decide to reopen Answers Wrestling Federation with a little quality control. Maybe there you can relive some of your short lived glory because you're definitely not coming to my brand by going through Ashten Cross.

After this match is over, it's back to the operations of making EAW a better place under Zack Crash. You got 3 options, change your ways, knuckle up, or succumb to the 3rd Degree Brainbuster. Make it easy on yourself, Erebus.

A recorded phone conversation begins to play.
 
Eris: So then I looked over my shoulder and I saw him! I was like “what the??” and needless to say I was scared out of my mind!
 
Lilly: I see.
 
Eris: Yeah! It was so intense and I was just out of it! Then I told him to get the fuck out of the bathroom and he complied. I don’t know what’s wrong with people who like to spy on others who are peeing. Gosh, and I thought I was weird.
 
Lilly: You are.
 
Eris: Lillian.
 
Lilly: Yes?
 
Eris: What’s your problem?
 
Lilly: Hmm? I have no problem.
 
Eris: Well, you seem kind of quiet.
 
Lilly: Oh, I’m sorry! I’m on my tablet and I’m just looking up some things about your stupid opponent.
 
Eris: Oh, Maddie? Lillian! Don’t waste your time! As I’ve said before, she’s just lost and a bit confused about the direction her life is going to. Also, she hangs out with Thomas Minns, the girl’s brain must be complete mush by now.
 
Lilly: Hmm, I’m just looking at her the episode of Netflix and Minns. Gosh, she’s so cringe-worthy. How is this girl a champion again?
 
Eris: I don’t know. I guess Tarah Nova was just like “fuck this!” and decided to hand the title to the person who got her attention the most. That goes to show what type of champion Tarah Nova was. For the past year, the poor Vixen’s Championship has been in the hands of complete animals. It brings a tear to my eye just thinking about the condition the championship is in. This is my time, Lillian! I’ll be seen as a hero in the eyes of many as I walk out of Shock Value with the gold strapped around my waist. Maddie will be seen as the loser she’s always been as I walk out victorious. I can see it now, Lillian.
 
Lilly: You know, Eris, I don’t think you should go THAT optimistic into the match.
 
Eris: What? Why not?! My therapist has begged me to see everything in a positive light! She even prescribed some anti-depressants that despite make me vomit and hallucinate they make me feel pretty dandy!
 
Lilly: Listen, Eris, Madison is known for being extremely sneaky in the ring. In her match with Laura Amber Rose she completely raked her eyes and that’s how she got the win! You saw it, Eris, you were there!
 
Eris: I suppose you’re right, but the match we’re going into is not a normal match. We’re going to electrocute one another fuck fucks sake. Nothing is off limits and Maddie better believe that I’m not stopping until I get what I want. I refuse to be pinned unless I sincerely cannot move a limb in my body. It irritates me beyond belief that this girl is going into our match thinking that it’s going to be a cake walk. You know, she states that trying new things in “meaningless” matches have cost her matches however undermining me and my own talent will cost her one of the biggest matches of her stupid career.
 
Lilly: I don’t know, she just gives me this odd vibe. Whenever you look her into the eyes you see nothing. You see absolutely nothing! She has no compassion, remorse, or empathy.
 
Eris: Oh, Lillian! You’re making her out to be this big monster. She’s not a big monster, not one bit. You know what she is? She’s an imposter. She’s a character that’s playing this role. This woman makes herself out to be this being who lives, breathes and eats hate. A person like that doesn’t go around wearing tight pencil skirts and participate in meaningless, soon to be cancelled TV shows! People like that go through dark times, they view the world in a very different aspect. They prefer to be alone, completely isolated from other human beings. They have a cloud hovering over their heads everywhere they go. Madison Kaline is anything but that. She’s spoiled brat who’s probably used to getting everything she wants in life. You can’t tell me that while looking at this girl who wears designer clothing, wears expensive watches on her dangly wrists and gets her makeup professionally done everything, that she’s gone through hardships in life. Lillian, you of all people should know that I’ve gone through that phase. I haven’t always been this happy-go-lucky Eris. I’ve enjoyed my time with this new mindset, but it always hasn’t been like that. There have been points in my life where I just want to shut the door to the outside world completely. That’s a side that EAW will never see, however, it’s a side of me that will never come out. I’ve gone through psychotic episodes and I’ve done some questionable actions, but I’ll learned from it. I’ve overcome my struggles, although to this day I’m still suffering the consequences of my actions. Maddie can pretend to be bad all she wants, but the truth of the matter is that she’s an act. A world class act that think she can pull a fast one over the entire EAW Universe. And she can call me a crazy bitch all she wants, but her slander won’t stop me from taking away the Vixens title. The thing about title reigns is that they all have an end. Maddie’s reign of catastrophe is going to end soon, in two days to be exact. I’ll tell you this, Lillian, there is no way Maddie is going to be me fair and square on Shock Value. There is absolutely no way her in-ring abilities surpass mine. I’ve analyzed her track record and all I’ve seen is a pathetic win, after another pathetic win. Has she ever successfully celebrated in triumph after a match? Let me rephrase that, has she ever had her hand raised in victory and thought “I really gave it my all tonight and everyone in the crowd can see that.” If she has, then I suggest she go see a doctor because from all of the matches I’ve witnessed, they’ve been HALF ASSED. I don’t usually talk down on my opponents wrestling skills, but Maddie fucking SUCKS. The fact that her trying new things in the ring has had her flat on her face failing miserably shows how mediocre her ability to adapt to new situations is. She makes me so sick! God fucking damn it! She gets my blood boiling but for all the wrong reasons. She thinks she’s getting under my skin, but in fact her ignorance and stupidity pisses me off.
 
Lillian: I can see that, Eris. I’m sorry that you went through a lot as you were growing up. But these experiences that you’ve gone through have made you into the person you are today! Sure, you take some medication here and there to control that side of yours, but that’s okay! You’re still the best Vixen this company has seen. You hold yourself with class and authenticity. You’re amazing and please never forget that.
 
Eris: Oh, Lillian. Your words always touch me deep down in my heart. I’ll make sure to think of your kind words when I walk down the ramp on Shock Value. I’ll do anything I can to come out the winner. I’ll make all of my family back in Florida proud! I seriously can’t wait. Maddie is so far up her ass it’s incredible. Maybe if this was 2007 and all of the Vixens had half of a brain, Maddie would’ve probably been successful. Although, times have changed. A new era has begun and I’m ready to show everyone why I’m the greatest thing that has ever happened to EAW. Alright, enough of my preaching. I must go and train, thanks for the talk. Goodbye.
 
Lillian: Goodbye, Eris.
 

The recording ends. 

 
I’m starting to draw some really terrible assumptions about some of the Vixens around here. One in particular, Ariana Lopez, I’m assuming she suffered an accident at some point. The way she accuses others of having a “casual” mind when they say something she doesn’t agree with is the real gem of everything that’s happened this week. You blame management for the lack of direction in your career, and maybe you are right. The problem is, you likely share the blame in that. Don’t think you’ve gone ignored. I’ve seen you popping up over the past few weeks to complain about not getting booked. The truth is, you aren’t as talented as any of the Vixens that fought in the specialists scramble. If you were half as talented, you would have been there. Past Madison and Aria, those were the seven most talented Vixens that management could have picked. I trust James Shields and the decisions that he makes, and I trust him when he kept you on the shelf and rarely booked you. So you’re tired of me bringing up your relationship with Haruna, huh? Well then quit bringing it up. It’s so simple. You stand there accusing me of just saying the same things over and over, by saying the same things over and over. Do you understand how ridiculous you sound when you take that approach? I’ll try my best to leave my peace on bringing up your relationship with her right here, but if you bring it up the same way you keep doing it, then it’s back to free game for it. I don’t spend my time reading the feed. I don’t spend my spare time becoming a part of the backstage drama that tends to be more of a plague than a pleasure. I’m not trying to get you to respond in spite, but I am telling you this as a fact. It doesn’t matter that you two dated in the past. Haruna is a far better wrestler than you can ever dream of being. I promise you this, you’ll be hard pressed to find a Vixen or Elitist that disagrees with that fact, because that’s what it is. Now let’s move on to the more important issues with you. The funny thing about simple people is they feel they often have to attack others first, in fear that their own simple mind will be pointed out first. You choose to trash my relevance in the division was is downright hilarious. You accuse someone else of not noticing when you actually finally fight in a match, but you apparently noticed what the rest of us are doing. Sure, you know that some of the new girls are already being booked over you, but you don’t seem to realize that I’ve been put in huge matches, routinely, since your precious Empress of Elite tournament came to an end. Hell yes I’m more relevant than you, and I’m absolutely more talented than you are. Your own fatal error is you believe you are better than everyone else when you clearly are not. You accept that I am the biggest obstacle, yet you also question my talent, you insult my intelligence and you accuse me of being simple by producing a rather simple argument to back up your opinion. I don’t even really care about what has occurred in your personal life. It’s far less complicated than anything Aria has going on with hers. I will give you this in compliment: you deserved better than you got after the Empress tournament. After performing that well, you should have been given more chances to prove whether or not that was for real. But you didn’t, and the management you love to hate decided they would let fade from relevance. I know you believe in your heart that this is your chance to right a lot of wrongs in your life, both in and out of the ring. The only thing you’ll be removing in this match is yourself from the ring, while I earn the No. 1 contender spot and go on to challenge Haruna for the Specialists Title. That is the truth Ariana.
 
I sort of expected you would be getting up for this match more this week, Aria. When you showed up at Redemption to fight off everyone’s favorite bitch Erica Ford, I thought you were re-asserting yourself in the Vixens division. For now, you’re forced to watch as Eris LeCava takes on Madison for the title you came close to attaining. But this is your chance to take a different title, and you’ve said far less than I thought. Your detractors have spent their time breaking down why you aren’t a deserving champion and they hate the idea of you holding the title. Personally, I don’t buy it. To me it all comes across as jealousy. You have a target pasted on your back because you showed up here in July and you have never let up. It’s no different for Eris, and it’s no different for me. We have take this division by storm, some would say we have made it our own, and we are disliked for it. You’ve already fought for a title, Eris is about to and now I’m looking to follow suit. I have no quarrels with being the third one among us to go after a title. After all, they always say the third is the charm. So my plan has always been to come in and win this match and then take up arms with Haruna. Things have taken a strange turn for you as of late, but I would never take your abilities for granted. It’s strange how everyone seems to focus in on your personal life. Just as strange as how Ariana tries to use hers as a defense for why she’s the best choice to be the No. 1 contender. I don’t care who you’re with, or if it is with multiple guys. Hey, you do whatever makes you happy, right? I’ve mentally grappled with the fact that we will face each other for the first time this Saturday, but I have not grown afraid. I’m not scared of the idea of stepping in the ring with you. I’m excited. I’ve stood mere feet away and have seen what you can do when we fought as tag team partners. Now I have the chance to show you what I can do when we’re going against each other. You should understand my competitive nature first hand now. We told each other there was no way we would lose to the Dollhouse Killers, and all the cheating they attempted to win that match couldn’t out weigh the combined talent that we brought in. So you know my talent, too. So remember this: as hard as you think yourself to take down in a match, you should know that I’m just as tough to beat. I would never bank on taking you down to be an easy task, but I hope you know to expect the same for me.
 
Serana Ji, I think you and Ariana might kill each other at some point in this match. In fact, you two might turn this fatal four-way into a one-on-one before we know it. I appreciate the way you’ve been able to grasp everything about her you dislike and just propel it all out. I hope that same day you’ll improve to a point where all of your opponents feel the same bit of wrath from you. You’re absolutely right in the way you describe her. Someday, the very trait that annoys you will likely fall on to yourself. At some point, when you come so close to a title you can actually feel it, you too will be calling yourself the next champion. That’s just how it works in this business. And as long as you don’t have to worry about silicone leaking into your brain, you will be focused on the path that ultimately leads you to the top. This is an eat or be eaten career we’ve all chosen. It can be tough sometimes to remember to take a breath sometimes, step back and relax. To smile, even. You have to be able to laugh at your detractors, and then turn it on at the right time to make sure you prove them so wrong it hurts their egos in all the right places. There are more egomaniacs than you could imagine, and that’s just in the Vixens division. But the truth is, we all have an ego we want to be stroked. We all want to ascend to the top and be called the best. You are well on your way, just six weeks in, to doing bigger and better things. It’s all about focus, and you seem to have your mind on the prize with unwavering attention.
 
We all want to hold that title for different reasons, and to do it, we’ll have to not only win this match, but beat a talented fighter on the other side of it, too. There’s no gimmick to this tilt, though. No tables and chairs, no time limits and no outside elements that should keep the best fighter in this match from taking the win. Haruna herself has called me her rival, so imagine the intensity between us in a match if I win this and get the chance to face her in a match of her choosing. I’m going to do everything it takes to win this match. No matter how much blood or sweat it takes, I will make sure I have the chance to fight for the Specialist title. And I will make sure Haruna will have to defend it for the first time against the one she calls her rival. You better hang on girls. I’m about to hit this ring like a tornado, and this is the only warning you’re going to get.

I'm Mr. DEDEDE and I'm better than everyone else.

I'm Mr. DEDEDE and I have accolades to spare.

I'm Mr. DEDEDE and have rode on a high horse for the entirety of my career. 

This has become a daily routine reminder, one of which Mr. DEDEDE has drilled into the minds of every opposition he's ever encountered. It's the same testimony he's spoken from a parchment so ancient --- it's dawned on me how you've gotten so deceptive. But you're not deceiving me, you're not even deceiving Ryan Savage; you're deceiving yourself. You have the audacity to pinpoint my recent rise in morality, because for once in my life... the suffering, the pain, the agonizing torture of every disrespectful comment that was ever said about me; it's all grown numb. I'm not affected by petty words, or disordered comparisons. You can size me up to whoever you critically acclaim to be my superiors, but I can easily chop down every single one. I've looked to the heavens, Mr. DEDEDE, I always find myself looking up one way or another. And I see a vision, or maybe it's not even what's believed to be a vision, maybe it's more of a memory that's been locked away. Do you want to know what I saw? I saw the gaping hole, the size of a mere man, within the clouds itself... and falling shortly behind was what seemed like a meteor. It wasn't a meteor though, it was never a falling star. It was the devil himself, being banished from the gates of heaven. But the devil has already been banished, hasn't he? Oh no, this wasn't the devil though --- it was you. You were cast out of the promise land, for being a pretender, for mocking the ways of a GOD. And till this day, till this very second, every inhale and exhale you take, whether you'd like to admit it or not. You've always compared yourself to a stature of a God. You could be opposing the likes of CM Banks, Jaywalker, Heart Break Boy, Y2Impact, but you know what's never changed from each quarrel you had with every single one of them? You mantled your mortality, and showcased what could possibly be an omnipotent being in this very company. What else could you say about a man that's deteriorating from the inside; out. You've been using this same mask to get you through another day, and for what? For the pride? For the memory? For the adrenaline rush? I understand, you've been prompted more than anyone else, to make your sudden departure from this company. And yet, when someone, somehow, is able to bring you to your breaking point and dismantle your very existence. You've always found your way back home into this company, you've always found your way back inside. I wonder, and I ponder --- how much damage can a man who pretends to be unrestricted, will it take to reveal his inner weaknesses? I'd like to believe that I've been a mast at exploiting such vulnerabilities in a person. That I've honed every self-taught skill, that I'm able to take apart a godlike being and snap him back to reality. I know, despite your denial, despite your objection to which statement is factual. You will continue to deny all links to this reality, you're too in depth with the fantasy world --- that's you've sunk so far, I don't see you ever returning back to a normal self. I want you to look me in the eyes, I want you to tell me; that the desperation to being remembered eternally hasn't motivated your current personality. This same personality that has much of a hypocrisy side to it, or do you not remember the times when prophecies meant more to you than your own life?

I can distinctly recall a moment in time, not too long ago, when you chased the same rabbit every other elitist has chased; the World Heavyweight Championship. It was different though, it was back when I was playing as the stepping stool to RAGNAROK, or Devan Dubian and Starr Stan even. I bet you'd like to forget it, even if you admit that it's a bold learning experience for you. How many of those must you go through before you actually learn something new? Allow me to be your teacher for once, allow me to show you the ropes --- allow me to remind you, when you were once Methuselah. This is a side of you, that almost anyone who dares comes across, fears the very presence of. Not me though, and certainly not the man that you claim to have beaten inside the Hell in a Cell. Do you recall being followed by a woman that was known for giving you a prophecy not even you could reject? Fortuneteller... Hamasa; the eye in the sky. Oh, how you've gone through so many personality complexes. It's funny how the likes of you, can water down my way of getting to the World Heavyweight Championship so easily. I hate myself for this, I really do --- as much as I dread and hate bringing the past to the present, it's become blatant that a war between Mr. DEDEDE and Brian Daniels can't go without revisiting our key memories. It was Road to Redemption, you had just competed in a match with what's his name again? Right, right... Kevin Devastation. DO YOU CALL THAT EARNING AN OPPORTUNITY AT GOLD? Sorry, I can't help myself, but to lash out on a man who's used a contract as leeway into a chamber match, to win another World Championship. What about that do you call fair? HUH? Do you think it was unfair of Zack Crash to offer me a chance of redemption? You're right about one thing, you're right about one thing many others have been right about. I WAS ON THE VERGE OF RETIREMENT. I WAS TAKING WHAT WAS LEFT OF MY PRIDE AND I WAS TAKING THE EASY WAY OUT. BUT DO YOU SEE ME NOW? DO YOU SEE WHERE I AM NOW? DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME THAT YOU WOULDN'T OF DONE THE SAME THING. ARE YOU SAD? ARE YOU DISTRAUGHT? ARE YOU UPSET THAT THE MEAN OLD ZACK CRASH, THE SAME MAN THAT TOOK THIS COMPANY FROM YOU DIDN'T CHOOSE YOU AS THE MAN TO TAKE THIS WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP FROM TYLER PARKER? YOU WOULD OF GLADLY DONE THE SAME THING. NO QUESTIONS ASKED. SO, PLEASE, STOP WITH THE CLICHE ARGUMENT THAT I WAS HANDED A WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH... WHEN BOTH YOU AND RYAN SAVAGE WERE HANDED THIS ONE. Or are you used to everything being handed to you on a silver platter now? I'd expect so, being the almighty Mr. DEDEDE. You expect the fame, you expect respect from every single roster member, staff member, every man and woman who buys a ticket to any Elite Answers Wrestling event. YOU EXPECT THE GOOD, BUT NEVER PREPARE FOR THE BAD. IT'S WHY YOU DON'T HAVE CONTROL OF EAW NOW, IT'S WHY YOU'RE NOT WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION. AND IT'S WHY YOU, NOR YOUR FORMER LAP DOG WILL WALK OUT EMPTY HANDED. AND I WILL STILL BE CROWNED AS THE EAW UNDISPUTED WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION.

Cameraman eavesdropping on conversation

　

[Roland] so they finally got around to booking you
[chazz] yeah but they can’t call someone to let them know kim just happened to be looking at the website and noticed I was in a tag match on the per-show
[iven] tag match?!! you ok. who you fighting
[chazz] two mick foley want to bees. I mean The Janitor and

Leon Young . The janitor is actually the EAW janitor
And young is Apocolypta retard I just can’t figure out which ones mankind and which ones cactus jack
[Roland] who they got you working with ?
[chazz] some new york crybaby. Sorry the guys name is Shawn Harris dude can’t even answer his phone
[kim] chazz camera
[chizz] you guys want something for the folks back home fuck it I’m going to tell you what everyone between the rocky statue and the bingo hall already knows when it comes to chazz and suplex city it doesn’t matter if we’re in the same company or on the same side of the planet it doesn’t matter if we’re above the ground or below it because the Philadelphia connection isn’t for life it’s forever. janitor and young survive if you can because I’m not coming to win this match I’m coming to end your careers hunter learn to pick up the phone and call someone or I might just end yours too

I had a vision...

and in this vision I saw hell on my road to redemption.

I saw heaven in the face of the World Heavyweight Championship.

I saw paradise beneath the shadow of a sword.

And I saw a nightmare behind hell's gate.

And I heard their screams from depths inside. 

And I saw men's dreams smolder to ashes. 

But the captors could not be distinguished from the captive.

The prisoners were no different from the guards.

The key is inside each and every one of us. The decision to change everything can be made right now. Whoever you are, wherever you are, even you Brian Daniels, even you Ryan Savage, you can change everything today. You can redefine every previous mantra or belief that you once held steadfast to. You can make the decision to change your world today essentially by changing your worldview. 

There's a saying that I'm sure you've heard that goes "our fear is not that we are inadequate, but that we are powerful beyond measure". A justified cliche when you give it some thought... because inside you are capable of so very much. For example, take a look at what Ryan Savage has done. In one split second decision, he changed the course three careers forever. His actions gave way to a series of events that will culminate at Shock Value when I become the World Heavyweight Champion again. And to think all of this is because of him! He may self aggrandize all he wants, but even he has no earthly idea what kind of power rests inside him. He doesn't know what he's capable of. But a dangerous man knows his potential strengths just as much as he knows his limits. 

That right there is the difference... the difference between myself and so many others, is that truly I KNOW what I am capable of! It's what separated me from the pack even back then when I didn't have five World Championships, or six Match of the Year awards, or two Elitist of the Year awards -- it was my meal ticket when I would have otherwise starved. And some legends over timeallow that fire inside to expire and die along with their pride... it was HRDO who came out on Voltage and said it best. One's memory may live on through time, but a legend will always die. I've been aware of my mortality for quite some time and quite frankly, even if I wanted to forget it, it's not like EAW would ever allow me to. For so long I've been constantly reminded that one day it could all end. I've been prompted more times than I can count to "hang it up" and more often than not, it's by an adversary who's in competition against me. My competition always seemed to know what's best for my career, ironic enough. They seemed to always have the answers, and judging by the remarks from Brian Daniels it's clear he's no different from the rest. But I know Brian Daniels could never admit this... but truthfully he's never been competition to me. I've never found the need to "compete" when my stature is set alongside his, because quite frankly he and I aren't even in the same stratosphere. He can cast his own insecurities on me but they will ALWAYS be without merit. There is no merit to a man like Brian Daniels looking down at me, that's a fact. There is no level that I have ever stooped to that can bring me down to the level he's on. It doesn't matter if he managed to pin me in the past, because there's never been a point where he was the better man. And while Brian Daniels is confined to the past, he so desperately wants the rest of us to rear our heads to the future. Let him bring up your past failures while he brings up his past success! Let him remind you of your inadequate moments while he brings to the forefront his crowning achievements! Let him offer a skewed perspective of your trying times while he can bring up excuses for his own!  

But let me remind you, Brian, what you are to me in the end. You are at my waist, whether you flank me or you oppose me. I tower over you in every single way. You have NOT built yourself up to a level comparable to mine, got that??? There's no point in distorting the facts to fit your own agenda when you're going to be facing reality whether you like it or not inside of High Voltage. Go ahead, compare our last twelve months. You know damned well I had Norman Hellion beat in Hell in a Cell, just like you know damned well you were struggling to keep up with Devan Dubian for an entire year. You know damned well I dealt an irreparable blow to RAGNAROK while your pathetic excuse for a faction could barely put a chink in their armor. And it's laughable that the same man who went out to the ring and was on the verge of RETIREMENT; on the verge of taking his ball and going home AGAIN until he had a title match HANDED TO HIM by Zack Crash, is now asking what have I done to earn my spot against him. What have I done??? For starters, I've had a World Heavyweight Championship reign that eclipses your ENTIRE career. Your whole career fighting for that belt doesn't stack up to the seven months that I held it. I'm supposed to be impressed by what, exactly again? That you've beaten Jacob Senn and Alex Anderson, and suddenly Dynasty Wrestling is maxed out of competition for you??? Why is that, is it because it's the truth or because you decree it? If what you're doing isn't pulling rank, if it isn't playing God, then why don't you tell me what it is Brian? It sounds to me like that big gold belt has inflated your ego and filled your head with so much hot air it's a relief you no longer wear a mask. And believe me I've come out in public forum and I have been forced to swallow my pride time and time again whenever it would expand out of control..... but that's something we all experience, Brian. The eerie thing about it, for you at least, is that you haven't yet. Without all of your setbacks you've never had a chance to be knocked off a step. You go around now deciding who "passes" and who "fails" against you, you go around thinking you get to decide who challenges you and who doesn't, you act as if no company is worthy of having 'the great' Brian Daniels defend his championship against the likes of mere mortals. I don't want to outright accuse you of having a God complex, but you sure are saddling quite the high horse, and you've yet to be knocked down a peg. Every time you've stepped foot on your pedestal you'd call it quits before someone like me can come around and knock you right off of it and humble you. But here I am -- like the being in a black cloak dawning a scythe looming ominously while you go about your day feigning ignorance, and you whistle by the graveyard you walk through in the night, you're doing your god damned best to ignore what's coming, because what's coming is THE END. 

It's the end of your ego trip, your little boost of confidence from defending your title against a couple of men after spending six years constantly disappointing yourself and disappointing everyone who believes in you. How fitting is it that your confidence is to be crushed by a man who had his confidence crushed and was forced to adjust to harsh conditions as well? See, I can admit to you just like I've admitted a thousand times that Tyler Parker humbled me at King of Elite... he really gave me no other option, he decisively defeated me. But I can say that knowing that I myself have beaten Tyler Parker, so it doesn't bruise my ego as much. But you seem to be so fucking confident in yourself all because I don't have that decisive victory over you yet! But open your eyes for once and look at everything else I've done! Just take a look at all of the pain I've caused, LOOK AT IT BRIAN! IT'S SOMETHING I HAVE TO DEAL WITH SOMEDAY, THERE ARE CASUALTIES IN THE FORM OF SHORTENED CAREERS, FRIENDSHIPS LOST, FAMILY NEGLECTED, BODIES CONTORTED, BROKEN, DISTORTED; IT'S ALLLLL BAD KARMA THAT HANGS OVER MY HEAD AND THAT DARK CLOUD WILL FOLLOW ME TO THE BITTER END. Don't you dare try to ignore it, especially since........ especially since those list of casualties....... there's a really good chance you'll be on it. You will be another stepping stone to my ascension. Just as you were to Robbie V. Just as you were to the Generation Genesis. Just as you were to CM Banks. Just as you were to Tyler Parker. Just as you were to Devan Dubian. If you look at the patterns of history you will often see the way the future turns out. And history has made it abundantly clear that you're not a player in this game, just another function. You are the chess piece, I am the chess player. You are simply the check point to this game, and Shock Value is my checkmate. 

But I'm no fortuneteller.. as a matter of fact I hardly believe in destiny. I don't often believe in prophecies... only self-fulfilling ones. We are creatures of habit, therefore we are slaves to our own devices, and our patterns that we feel our are liberators are often our own vices. So many of us are trapped by our own delusions... and it hurts when a man that you called a brother is trapped so deeply in his own degradation; slowly being consumed by the entropy in which he's brought forth, but that cake eating motherfucker's gonna eat his cake. Ryan Savage is the gatekeeper to his own living hell -- I didn't put him there, I'm not keeping him there, he is not my prisoner, I am simply his TORMENTER. But he's the one who's barred the gates to stop from getting out... but for the last 18 months that hell, while certainly no garden of eden, was a place where brothers could take up arms aside each other. It was at the very least a sanctuary for us. But little did he know that his best friend could turn out to be the devil in disguise, and when he turned his back on his best friend it was then that the horns would finally come out... and the behemoth would show his face. And when you invite the devil into your home it isn't long before he dines with the ones that you love... I've gotten to know you so well Ryan Savage, to know that there are not many people or things in this life that you love. But I know something that soothes you -- the very thing that FUELS you -- the only thing that suits you. It's winning... isn't it? Yeah, yeah! It's winning! You want to be a winner so bad... you stake your pride all on victory and believe me I RESPECT pride! You don't come this far without it! But you want to be successful because the name of the game here in the Land of Elite, Extreme, Merchants, Beast, is that, SUCCESS. How do you become successful in a place like this? A good place to start is by breaking bodies, stacking them up to the shingles, breaking more bodies, repeat; so let me ask you........

What will happen when it's your body that's broken?

What will be left of you then? 

Shortly before I lost my World Heavyweight Championship, I recited the tale of the fallen king Ozymandias to a man who once considered himself my protege as well, Tyler Parker. I would hope you're familiar with the story, but if not it's about the great king Ozymandias who once ruled an empire built by brick, stronger than steel, forged by fires. It was basically a narrative from his epitaph inscribed in sand as he and his empire lie in a pile an empire of dirt. Shortly before I won my World Heavyweight Championship I read that same parable to Mikado Sekaiichi. Even at my most diluted state of mind I knew one thing for certain: greatness is much less permanent than it is a pretense. It's fleeting, and no matter how much we chase it we'll never keep it. What I learned more than anything from being humbled by Tyler Parker is that there are some things more powerful than your own personal glory. Some things, like a man's will, means more than his glory. You know what else meant more to me? It was something that, quite frankly was the only thing I had left after all was said and done with Tyler, Norman and Ares.... it was our brotherhood. It was all I had, it was the only reason I returned as soon as I did after Pain for Pride 8. I knew our brotherhood was stronger than what only one man can accomplish. It had more salient value than anything I could have churned out on my own at the time. But you taught me something else at House of Glass, Ryan, you taught me something new for once; you taught me that brotherhood can be as fleeting and as temporary as anything else in this world. It doesn't matter how much you put in, because if the other doesn't value it, then it crumbles. I learned my lesson that day............. now it's time for you to learn yours. You put so much stake into your strength and power, and it's definitely not something to scoff at; however it doesn't matter what you think you've accumulated from your short career here, you haven't been BROKEN. Listen to me..... LISTEN TO ME....... IT. IS MY. MISSION. TO BREAK. YOU. YOU NEED IT, YOU NEED IT SO BAD, I DON'T THINK YOU UNDERSTAND HOW BADLY YOU NEED IT! Nor do you realize that you don't have to experience it! You don't have to learn the hard way, but YOU ARE THE PRISONER, YOU ARE THE GUARD. YOU ARE THE JUDGE, YOU ARE THE JURY. I WILL BE THE EXECUTIONER, AND I AM ONLY GOING INTO SHOCK VALUE TO DO ONE THING: EXECUTE. ON EVERY LEVEL, I HAVE ONE GOAL, LEAVE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION. HOW DO I LEAVE SHOCK VALUE WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION? BY LEAVING BEHIND BODIES -- NOTHING ELSE. 

I've felt so much regret in my career and in my life. I've lamented over things I can't change time and time again... I'm finished with it. That's not where my head's at, I don't have enough headspace for  regret. I will not regret the last 18 months without a fight, Ryan. I say this because for me to ever regret all of this, you would have to break every bone in my body until I'm rendered physically unable to step foot into a ring ever again. That's the ONLY way you will EVER get me to regret a damned thing! I swear it, I will never regret damned thing you do to to me, and I won't regret a damned thing I do to you. Even if by some chance I couldn't come away with the win this weekend, as long as I can still move around in the ring you will only then be my biggest target! You are what keeps me going, Ryan. So I guess you're right! I suppose it's true! You were all I had! Bad news for you--YOU STILL ARE ALL I HAVE! As long as I voyage through the depths of hell I must do as the demon's do! YOU MADE ME FEEL LIKE NOTHING, RYAN! YOU MADE ME FEEL LIKE LESS THAN NOTHING. THAT IS, UNTIL I WAS SNAPPED OUT OF THAT STUPOR AND I FINALLY WOKE UP! NOW I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU FEEL THAT SAME PAIN IN ABUNDANCE! I DON'T THINK YOU'VE EVER EXPERIENCED YOUR HEART THUMPING IN YOUR CHEST OUT OF FEAR JUST YET, NOT IN THAT RING YOU HAVEN'T. I DON'T THINK ANOTHER MAN HAS MADE YOU FEEL THAT NAUSEOUS FEELING IN YOUR GUT, I DON'T THINK YOU'VE EVER HAD TO QUESTION YOURSELF IN EVERY FACET...... YOU ARE GOING TO QUESTION EVERYTHING ABOUT YOURSELF, ABOUT ME, ABOUT THE LAST 18 MONTHS OF OUR FUCKING LIVES! YOU WILL RE-EVALUATE EVERYTHING IF IT'S THE LAST MOTHERFUCKING THING I MOTHERFUCKING DO!!!! 

I saw hell on my road to redemption.

I saw heaven in the face of the World Heavyweight Championship.

I saw paradise beneath the shadow of a sword.

And I saw a nightmare behind hell's gate.

And I heard their screams from the depths inside. 

And I saw men's dreams smolder to ashes. 

But the captors could not be distinguished from the captive.

The prisoners were no different from the guards.

And a voice told me not to pity the damned.

For the wise mourn not for the living nor the dead.

You say you respect my victory against Heart Break Boy; yet, you showed no respect at all.

You say that you talk so you won't get fined; yet, you had a lot to say about me.

All right, half-assed Marshawn Lynch - let's go.

I'm not here to sit around and call you a hypocrite - hypocrisy is alive in all of us. Instead, let me just talk about you. You brag about whining your way to a later spot and try to shove it in my face; what you don't know is that I was happy to lead off. I got the chance to be Alcides freakin' Escobar, and I delivered. Just like he did for the Kansas City Royals, whom you seem to be offended by me talking about. Heart Break Boy and I set the tone for what was a great show. You got what you wished: a later match. Then you smashed the other half of Heart Break Pizza with kendo sticks. I don't know if you're trying to feel good about yourself after realizing that I put on a better match than you in my old age of 32, or hurt my feelings, or whatever, but I get where you're coming from. Opportunities are there for the taking. You took that one. I can respect and even applaud that.

Why haven't you done the same elsewhere? You want to paint yourself as somebody who won't talk - somebody who hates the media. There are so many fans who agree with you; they think the cameras have no right to see us behind the scenes. They think that Pierre McGuire is the LEAST annoying of all the interviewers in the industry. You have a great chance get at least some support, since everybody else thinks your attitude stinks. But you stopped halfway. You kept talking about me. And talking about me. And talking about me. There's not a lot to say about me, Samurai. I step into the ring. I win matches. On occasion, I lose matches. I hang out with my family and friends. I do interviews with Pierre McGuire. I like the Royals. And yet, you so effusively paint a picture of me that's nothing like it actually is. You're either a master of the English language and storytelling, and you half-ass that in order to act like you hate the media. Or, you hate the media, and you half-ass that in order to take pot shots at me.

Who are you, Mexican Samurai? A few months ago, I was asking that question because I didn't know who you are. Now, I'm asking that because I know that you're GOOD. You had one of the most dominating performances at Redemption, which is probably WHY your match wasn't all that interesting. But, you just don't seem to have the ability to choose who you are. You say you're here for your paycheck, yet you were talking about how you should be in a higher spot than me, since I just got here. You say you're talking so you won't get fined, yet you wanted to prove how my accomplishments in this industry don't mean anything here in EAW, as if you're defending EAW's honor against the veteran newcomer. I felt the fire in those statements. Then, you doused your own fire with your own attitude.

Again, I don't want to call you a hypocrite to somehow make myself seem better than you. One of us will prove that he's better on Showdown. If anything, I'm just here to do what Heart Break Boy did with me. As it turns out, I was right about HBB in this sense: he had me baited all along. I went with it, I beat him, and he saluted me for it. He wanted to make me a better person and a better wrestler. His mistake was that he poked the bear... the lion, I suppose. Now, I'm not as nice or as benevolent as HBB apparently is, so I'm just gonna front with you. I'm poking you like this not so you become a better person or a better wrestler. I just want you to think about who you are. Then, come Showdown, show me your answer. Come to Showdown ready to make a point about how you're better than me and you actually deserved to wrestle later on Redemption than me.

I'll then proceed to fill you with doubt when I show you that you can't prove that. This time, I'll be the one stopping you halfway. Insecurity will be alive in you. Due to that, you'll continue to turn your back on the media while trying to take petty pot shots at others. You'll want to make points. But you'll stop halfway. Then you'll stop halfway again. And again. And again. And again. Your entire career will be half of what it could have been. You'll eventually realize that it wasn't my fault for taking a place on the card. It was yours.

Don't ask yourself if you're better than me. Ask yourself if you're better than THIS.