You have sat quietly, looking at us like peasants from a far. With the judging and shifty eyes of a king, pleading with us to do something original. Something worthwhile of your attention. Something tangible for you to grasp onto. A man, a legend, we all understand why you feel the way you do. No one in this match has come close to your accomplishments that are inked in the record book next to your name that I dare not speak, yet here we stand together in a match that at the end of the day is specifically designed to weed out the weak and weary. A match that by its very design was developed to give the next possible big thing in the EAW a chance, a shot at glory. You look down on us with disgust from your throne thinking of the glory days of old and how this match will never compare to the battles you waged in your past. Biding your time, in an attempt to allow us all to embarrass ourselves. I see this for what it is, I understand how the world works. But you know what they say about legends, the greater they sound the more that must have been left out of the story. It’s disappointing not to see a bit of fire in your eyes. Not to see the same grit you have brought to the table so many times before. I am not going to say that you are past your prime, or even claim that you are washed up because deep down inside everyone in this match knows that, that isn’t true. I feel like a kid who just found out Santa Claus isn’t real, wrapped up and grief, sadness and most of all disappointment. It is fine for you to ignore us, the peasants. It isn’t like I haven’t seen this all before. So, sit on your throne, feel free to dismiss us, dismiss this match, dismiss the EAW Universe as a whole. You are only doing a disservice to your own legacy, as we work towards building ours. Brick by brick.


 

“History has its truth, and so has legend. Legendary truth is of another nature than historical truth. Legendary truth is invention whose result is reality. Furthermore, history and legend have the same goal; to depict eternal man beneath momentary man.”


 

I could come out here and take the same approach as everyone else. Throw hate filled speeches your way but you would just shrug it off. Not allow me to pour gasoline on the flickering flame that still burns inside of your cruel heart. I could take the approach I have taken with others and call you every name I could think of under the sun but would it matter? Would it make you care? This match may not mean anything to you but for someone like me, someone down here in the real world with the rest of the “Slapnuts” it means a whole hell of a lot to us. It means a whole lot to the fans. Maybe I can’t speak for everyone, hell maybe I am wrong but either way it definitely means something to me. Being a part of Pain for Pride in general means something to me and knowing that at the end of the day if I can survive the shit storm that rages once that bell rings and become the 24/7 contract holder…. Well that means something to me.


I’m putting the dramatics on the shelf.

No Thug.

No Human Highlight Reel.

Just the man you see standing before you.

The man better known as Johnny Nova.

 

This will probably fall on deaf ears. A legend, a hall of famer, and a disappointment to someone who once looked up to you.  I wish for your very best, but I wait not on baited breath that knowing that we probably wont even come close to seeing that in this match. I am going to give it my all, leave every ounce of my being in the center of that ring. I am going to do what I have been trying to do this entire time. Survive…..

Despite being a two-time Vixens Champion, I never considered myself great. As I looked at my fellow Class of 2012, I saw all their accomplishments and contributions. I saw them as former champions, Tournament Winners or a Cash in the Vault winner. I saw what they had to do to get themselves in the Hall of Fame. I saw the blood, sweat and tears they had to go through. They all went into the Hall of Fame at the rightest times. Then, you have me. A former two-time Vixens Champion. Sure, to other women that would have been good enough for them. Getting into the Hall of Fame is something to be honored. Looking back at your Hall of Fame ring on your finger is a symbol of all the trials and contributions that one went through. Still, with my early Hall of Fame induction, I still wanted more. I wasn’t settled with my accomplishments. As I saw Cleopatra dominating the male scene, I knew that I wanted a piece of that. I wanted to feel like I deserved my place in the Hall of Fame. I wanted to feel content about setting a bar that other women would dream of reaching. I wanted to be the Greatest Womens Wrestler of All Time. I wanted to be better than Sabina, Jenny, Kendra or HBG. I wanted to surpass my idols; the ones who I had posters of. The ones that I would mock in the mirror. I didn’t want to be just like them though. I wanted to get better than them. I didn’t want to reach the bar set by these former champions. I wanted to raise my own bar for you women today. Therefore, I call myself the best. Therefore, I consider myself better than you and Cailin. I prided myself as someone who didn’t settle to retire after two Vixens Championship reigns. In my heart, I wanted more gold. I wanted to taste the success that most Elitists would die to get a sample of. Admit it, Aria. You look at me and you hope to at least get an ounce of the success that I could gain. Back then, the Womens Division had so much to offer. In 2017, it’s fantastic that we have a Womens World Championship and Specialists Championship. By the end of the weekend, The Avas would have held EVERY Womens gold that EAW has to offer. That’s an achievement by itself. We could live in a perfect world where The Avas rule Empire. I don’t need to prove that I can compete in a championship caliber, Aria. I compete in a championship caliber every time I step foot into the ring. I compete in a championship caliber in any Division I step foot on. I have competed in a championship caliber ever since I graced the wrestling world. Maybe, it’s you or Cailin that needs to prove to the world that you actually belong in the Womens Division. Maybe, it’s your or Cailin who are insecure by all the comments of you two not being deserving your championship reigns. It doesn’t matter how many times I’m booked for a match. It doesn’t fucking matter if you don’t think that I can compete with the best women on Empire, I am your Womens World Champion. This is a symbol of my excellence. This is a symbol of how much better I am than you. Sure, you can bring up how I got this title on my shoulder. You can be like Cailin and think that I took a coward’s way out, but if you want to know how an Empire Cup works, you might as well ask Cailin because I am fucking done explaining the rules for something that you will never understand. I’m the champion! I am the face of Empire and there’s no a damn thing that you’re going to do about it. I don’t need to throw a bitch fit. I’m not a fucking two-year-old. I don’t need to beg for any attention because I GET attention no matter what. I walk into a room and you cannot help look at me. You cannot deny that I am greatness in a female body. Of course, you’re going to be like other women and try to tear me down. Of course, you’re going to say that I do not belong in this match. I’ve already proven that I belong in EAW a long ass time ago. I have been able to keep up with the new times. You and Cailin just do not want to accept that and I feel bad about that because you two are going to be in for a rude awakening. It’s not me who needs to panic that her title reign is going to be ending. I don’t know how many times I need to tell the two of you women that MY TITLE REIGN IS NOT GOING TO END. Do you need it on writing? Do I need to give you a text message? How about e-mail? You can keep saying that my title reign is going to end, but you’re going to be in for a shock once I leave MetLife Stadium STILL Womens Champion. Your billionth title shot is going to result in another failure. You should consider what’s going to be next for you? Maybe, you’ll go after Consuela with the Specialists Championship. Maybe, you’ll go back to Voltage and keep getting your ass beat more than Sheridan Muller does on Dynasty. There’s are only suggestions, Aria. I’m just helping you try to move forward with your life. I’m trying to look out for you because if I were you, I wouldn’t show my face on Empire again. I bet Stephanie Matsuda, Tarah Nova and Savannah Sunshine would carry your position on the Empire brand quite well. I’m sorry that it had to come to this, Aria. Well, not really. I tried to warn you a year ago. I tried to warn you a couple months ago. If you do not want to listen to me then, it’s your grave. Now, you get to lie on it.

Wow, Cailin! This is such an inspiring story from you. Despite all the shit I told you about never attaining greatness, you sure proved me wrong! You sure proved to be a piece of work! You sure proved your worth when it comes to this match! You won the Specialists Championship in two weeks from Haruna Sakazaki! You defeated Madison Kaline to become Empress of Elite! You dethroned an egotistical champion in Sheridan Muller and became Womens World Champion! I mean, you did all these things and we’re supposed to believe that’s why you’re in this match? Despite the rematch clause, do you think in your heart that you truly belong in this match? You truly think for a second that you might dethrone me and gain your championship back? To be honest, I’ve seen the bets being placed for this match. Apparently, people are looking at you as some sort of underdog. There is no one in this world that thinks that you’re going to leave Pain for Pride as Womens Champion. There is no one who believes in you. I don’t think that you should be concerned too much about it. I mean, being an underdog has its days. There have been moments where being an underdog has benefitted them greatly. It’s nothing bad at all. As I look at the betting, I do agree with them. I agree that you could be the underdog in the match.  You aren’t the favorite. Some people are expecting for me to retain. Most are expecting or Aria to do the unthinkable. Impossible things have happened at Pain for Pride. I am not going to deny that at all. Sure, you could say that betting means nothing. It’s just other people’s opinions! They do not determine the result of the match! Same with the dirt sheets; they think they know everything before it happens. People like to think that this is all predetermined and rigged, but nah, it’s fucking real. Anything can happen. What a Pain for Pride shocker would it be for Cailin Dillon to recapture the title? It would be as shocking as Scott Diamond closing EAW when he won at Pain for Pride. As a champion, you need to be smart. You need to be ready for ANYTHING an opponent throws at you. It doesn’t matter if you fought a harsh match against Alexis Diemos. It doesn’t fucking matter if The Coven beat you up after the match! Hell, even The Pizza Boy had more fight within him than you. It’s kind of pathetic that a woman who called herself a fighting champion at one point was so easy to shut up. I thought you prided yourself of that, Cailin! I thought you would never back down from a challenge. I lowkey hoped that you would have kicked out before the three count. There was a part of me that wanted to see you fight back. I wanted to see the heart in Cailin Dillon that made the EAW Universe fall in love with her. I was disappointed in you. I was disappointed that you didn’t fight hard enough! “But, I fought in a match before-hand! The Coven attacked me after!” You’ll say that since it seems to be the only argument you have, but I have my argument of I can do whatever I want with the Empire Cup. I hope one day that you’ll finally except the way you lost your title. Do you possibly think by regaining the Womens Championship that the events in the past won’t matter to you? I mean, with Season 11 donning close to us, I like to look at this like a clean slate for everyone. Even for you, Cailin! The past will be in the past. Despite your losing efforts at trying to dethrone me, I hope that you’re able to walk into Season 11 of Empire not looking back at the fall out of Season 10. I want you to set your focus on trying to be the best version of you possible. Who knows? Maybe, you can face another Ava in Consuela for her Specialists Championship! I get the feeling that you’ll like her a tad better than me. I just say a tad because you should know how the AVA Family operates. Not the ELLA Ava, but Ava Family and now they operate. It’s just two days now, Cailin. We have a Hall of Fame Ceremony to attend and then, the moment comes where I will defend my Womens Champion in a Match of the Year Worthy performance. When I grab by Womens Match of the Year Award in behalf of us, it will be a constant reminder of me proving the world wrong and being the best on Empire. Call me plastic. Call me a bitch. Call me anything your heart desires, but after Pain for Pride, you’ll still call me Womens Champion!

Me again. How we all doing?

Are we still fighting the good fight? I hope you all are. I'm still not going to address any of you. Say my name, maybe then I'll hit up the scribe; we all know I'm only in this for the ego stroke, am I right?

No, I kid. I porobably won't. 

So. What's new? You all still going back and forth individually? 30 odd individuals going back and forth. THAT'S a real war right there! I'm sure every one of you giving it your all will see a reciprocation of your efforts! You know, the gleam in my eye dims every time I hear one of you talking. The cigarette gets lower and lower each time I hear the tone in the voice of another one of you jamokes that are in this Battle Royal speak up. It makes me more and more numb inside. I wish it didn't. I wish it gave me fuel to refute every line that is said. About anyone! I wish I was naive enough to want to talk the ear off of anyone who showed their face, whether they obtained my interest or not. 

I don't. I'm an honest man. I'm no Abe, eh? Elbow nudge, elbow nudge. 

One of these 30 slapnuts will take home a contract, and that's going to be great. Gonna be amazing. Dope match! Great promoing! Everyone really fought their hardest! You're all pulling the strings of what's meant to happen. Bear in mind, these strings are being pulled to maximum efficiency, and depending on who you're talking to that is all it's really supposed to do. Showcase new talent. There's new people. They need to shine. Should we invest time in them and see if they have any interesting stories to tell and motives to follow? Nah...

Let's just put them all in one match. See who talks the loudest.

The strings are not being held by myself, folks, and I'm not attached to the other side of the twine. Haven't been once in my career. Well, once in my career I did hold the string, but I'll let WWEFan stay in the shadows on the table where he belongs. He'll come back and put those glasses on eventually. You're all doing your little best. And you're doing it well. I'd like to say I'm doing a decent job, too. But hey, I like to stroke myself from time to time, who doesn't.  

Honestly I can't wait for Pain For Pride to come sooner. The result of the match? That can't come any faster than it's already dragging on. The pessimist I am, I don't think the odds are ever in my favor, and the line sure got a lot steeper the moment brass sneezed me into this lineup. I'm a poor little story. Just over-the-hill Lethal Consequences over here. 

For a man that is supposed to be washed up and dried on shore, I sure see a lot of you motherfuckers sprinkling my name in your own PFP battles. Keep the subconscious yearning for a solid match with LC inside, not outside. 

There's not even Midsummer Massacre anymore. THAT'S what I'll fucking talk about that will give me fire, jesus fuck. You all don't even realize the type of fuel that that would give me, man. Put me in a match with the brass that took that FPV away and I'll blaze a storm on broadband, man, jeez. I want this little purgatory for me to be over. This is no better than being booked week to week on my show WHERE I AM REINING AND UNDEFEATED, Voltage, with no outlook in sight. I'm still over here wandering like I'm being punished by a white figurehead in the sky and I'm looking for water in the form of a meaningful plot in the desert of EAW. Wrestle for the plot. 

I'm just going to keep on rambling. 

Pain For Pride, Pain For Pride, opponent is of a lower class than me, what they said I not how I see it and this is why, I am obviously more distinguished and different than everyone else and I'll show you why, I'm on a roll and no one else, me me me, you you you, together we can make the overlords pick their winner they had in mind months ago, but show what we are worth to them so that after we lose the match we have a direction in character and enjoy our stories. 

I'm Lethal Consequences and I've already lost the fortitude to keep up with this game. Throw some cards on the table. 

Flannery: Khamsin, how do you feel that your first match in EAW is going to be at Pain for Pride? Tell us what is going through your mind!

Khamsin: Hmph! How I feel? Oh that is awfully concerning of you Flannery. So concerning that I am wondering why I am being approached so late. Was my opinion not of urgency? What makes YOU come to me now?

Flannery: Uh, um, we had a busy schedule as you know, so many competitors, and Pain for Pride is just days away, you should know even we at backstage are tired after a long day…

Khamsin: SILENCE! Lets just get to business because quite frankly, I hate wasting time, anyone else’s or mine. So….you wanted to know how I feel about debuting at Pain for Pride? Well firstly, anyone would be dumb to discount the fact that a debut on a grand stage as Pain for Pride’s is…well…isn’t the best thing that can happen to someone to step into EAW. I walked into the company almost a month back, but it seems fate would not allow me to compete against anyone but the very best. And believe me when I say that that battle royal will be a showcase of the very best this place has to offer. And as far as the reward in the end, lets just say I can as good as taste it.

Flannery: 33 others stand in your way of claiming the 24/7 contract, that’s a lot of wrestlers that you’re going up against, even you must agree. What are the odds th..

Khamsin: Never tell me the odds! 33 others stand in my way? Fine, so be it, 33 to take down. You think I don’t know the fact that 33 competitors will be hard? Do you think I’m a fool! But only a fool would worry about the chances. You see, I do not take chances, I just do it. I am confident like that. These people lack something very important. They lack the element of surprise. They never saw me wrestle, they don’t know how or in what manner I will make my presence known in the match. I am the one element of the grand scheme of things they can’t wrap their heads around. These 33 wrestlers will just stroke their own egos, failing to see that the “new” guy is very capable of participating in their little tango, and who knows, maybe….just maybe, the new guy is gonna take that 24/7 contract out of 33 other’s desperate hands.

Flannery: But even then, what is your game plan?

Khamsin: My game plan? Say, Flannery, did someone set you up for this? Who paid ya?

Flannery: Its just a question we are interested in Khamsin, the EAW fans would love to know, a guy who never stepped in the ring and talks big…..should probably have a plan…right?


Khamsin: Heh. I see. You know, doubt is very contagious disease. Once one person has it, it just spreads and keeps spreading like wildfire. Maybe you or someone else in the back doubts me, and hell, who am I to say you shouldn’t, you’re right Flannery, and telling people that they’re right is something I don’t do often, so consider yourself lucky. But as a man who values tactics over brute strength, not that brute strength isn’t something I prefer….I feel that telling everyone about my “game plan” is just letting everyone see the cards I hold in my hand. I mean, there are so many ways to approach this isn’t it? I beat 33 others one at a time, I team up and use the numbers to my advantage to take down the primary threats, or hell, maybe everyone there will be dumb enough to completely ignore me and just eliminate themselves, leaving me standing the victor. Fact is I can approach this in any damn way I please. I truly am the wildcard of the Battle Royal.

Flannery: Thank you, well that is all we had to….


Khamsin: You know, as far as I’m concerned, I’m not going in this to be just another spoke in the wheel or just another slice of a pie. This isn’t some chance or luck based match is it? Oh no, I’m being pitted against the best of the best, the whole damn spectrum EAW has to offer. And I’m walking in that not to represent no brand, but for myself. I will walk in there, go through any and all put in my way and take what is truly mine. I said it my first night in EAW, and as much as it pains me to repeat it, I will because I feel that my voice hasn’t been taken to heed yet. I don’t care who you are, where you are and how safe you feel you are, if you’re between me and my goal, I WILL put you down! So yeah, I await the chance, the opportunity and the pleasure to meet my adversaries at Pain for Pride and oh what a sweet day it will be, to see the destruction, carnage as EAW and the rest of the world sees that I….

 

We can never change what happened in our past.

We choose how to let our past affect our future.

We know. The world knows. They don't need a constant reminder of Cage's failures. But picking fun at a man's mute aspect is childish, he obviously won't respond so you keep poking the bear with the stick because you think this is a game. Dubian, you have no room to talk, you've failed before, hell you were suppose to be the foundation Banks left, they wanted you to be the face of this company, one of the greats and it took you years later to do it but you did it, all that matters is timing and I guess the timing was right for you. The difference between you and Cage is people believed you had it, Cage wasn't believed to have anything, and you come at Cage for failing? You are a hypocrite, Cage isn't quiet because he is ashamed of his failures. If anything Cage has embraced that he has failed and has used it as fuel to intensify an already raging inferno that burns deep inside of him, constantly being reminded of his failures is not your job. Your job is to compete and render Cage more failure, and you can't do it with your skill level so you insist to do it with your words, spoiler alert; Cage does not care about your words, In fact I don't think hes listened to a word anyone has had to say, he's kept to himself only with Pain for Pride on his mind and a historic weekend that is sure to be something he'll never forget and something Dubian you won't forget either. Now I could brag about Cage pinning you but the victory is tainted, but it gives you an excuse because you actually believe you would of beaten Cage had Ares not get involved, Who am I to say it wouldn't have happened? We both cannot tell the future but I digress on the subject of your match with Cage and I say only thing between you and Cage is space and opportunity come Pain for Pride for you to showcase that it was indeed a fluke victory. You intend to prove in this match that Cage doesn't have what it takes to survive here anymore, what does it take to survive in EAW? Bravado? Talking a big game? Because if that's the case then your right Cage doesn't have what it takes to survive in EAW because he checks his ego at the door, and he doesn't need to talk tough on the microphone because he knows when he steps in the ring he's an artist, he paints a picture and expresses himself in the ring. 

Dubian, your team has waved the white flag as soon as Cage joined the fray, look at what has happened Dubian, you are going to be executed on the grand stage, Mike Rush is gone fishing, taken out. Banks is a damaged man who uses his words to hide what we all know and that is he is no match for Cage in a fight, and you. You are the reason this war started, everyone sees this as the bidding of Jaywalker but Cage is on a mission, win the world title no matter which title it is, and your friend got involved prompting Cage to not only want to make him suffer on Dynasty which he did despite the claims that he's injured, when you sign up for a fight you give the impression that your ready to go and that is what HBB did and Cage took him and showed he is an obsolete broken boy.  This talk of inflicting pain is nothing to fear, Cage inflicts pain and as much as he inflicts pain on other men he looks forward to someone enforcing their own brand of pain upon him as well, he's still the same Diamond Cage deep down inside, he loves and gets a sick thrill out of you guys trying to take him out. Cage has become the focus of this match, have you noticed that? If it isn't you Dubian, it's Banks, coming for Cage and his relationship with Jaywalker, or his career failures because that's all anyone can really say about Cage. But it's the same regurgitated shit, but I will say the Cage not having what it takes to survive here is an interesting concept, because I remember a time where you didn't have what it took to survive in EAW so much that you had to reinvent yourself so many times, Cage has reinvented himself and has already ended careers Dubian. Cage doesn't want to be special, Cage doesn't want to hurt you but he has to hurt you because you spoke disrespect on his name, you are disrespecting a man who would of shredded mercy on you but now what is he suppose to do, let you continue to speak your propaganda to the world? I'm sorry Dubian but don't expect Cage to show sympathy over you when he drops you on your head. It is ego that resulted in HBB's unfortunate accident, it is ego that is the reason CM Banks walks around here thinking that at Pain for Pride he is going to walk out of this war unscathed, he might not even walk at all. It is your ego that is the reason why you are no longer a holder of a championship, you were humbled by Ares and Jaywalker and just like a spoiled brat you threw a tantrum and got the rest of your friends to help you fight the adults of this situation. Your word means nothing when grown folks are involved Dubian, Cage doesn't want your sympathy because you and Cage are like, both men, both have bones and both can bleed and both breathe this air in this world so why should Cage need your sympathy? Are you a god? Cage doesn't believe in gods but is something thrown around in this company so much, god is an illusion used for people who need hope, Cage has lived in his own personal hell and yet his personal hell has made him something greater than even I thought he would be, my friend he has become the last real shooter in the world of professional wrestling. What does that mean, Dubian you shoot to say you did it, to brag about it, nobody really shoots to kill anymore and that is what Cage does, the bullets is your mouth, shooting shit that doesn't really strike Cage, but Cage as silent as he is, biding his time waiting for the day the music dies, so he can finally shoot his fatal bullet into your heart. That is the difference between your team and Cage, no towel is being thrown, not white flag is being waved. And Cage isn't trying to be in the good graces of his mentor, Cage has nothing to prove at Pain for Pride but only to show that he is the most dangerous man walking this company, he is the omen of things to come, and he does what he wants when he wants to do it and no man, not even me despite your claims is going to tell Cage what to do and how to think. He's an unpredictable man, but one thing that is for certain is penance will be paid at Pain for Pride and it will be paid on the bodies of CM Banks and Dubian, and if HBB shows up we'll be the hammer to nail home that final nail in his coffin and this time we'll burn it so he doesn't rise again. Prepare to be terminated by the omen of things to come, I send my regards but Cage surely doesn't.

We see a beautiful view of Times Square on a amazing summer day with the rooftop full of media personnel and a table with a glass of water as Lucas Johnson arrives and media outlets begin to take pictures as he steps up to the table in a suit with the New Breed Championship on his shoulder and placing the championship belt on the tale and sits down in his seat as he grabs a microphone.

Before we start I would like to say a few words. If any of you are expecting me to go on full rage mode like I promised earlier today you are going to be sadly disappointed I just couldn't hold the rage in any longer, I just laid it out all on the table before I got here and now I can answer your stupid questions for the biggest show in our company - Pain for Pride X on the other side of the river in East Rutherford, New Jersey. All I hope is that you guys are more respectful then the Japanese media compared to Reckless Wiring week in Tokyo.

???: MISTER JOHNSON, MISTER JOHNSON!

Lucas has a confused look on his face as he hears the mysterious voice from the back of the crowd as you see the crowd of media personnel turn around to see a Japanese corespondent rush to the stage with a microphone with a camera guy...

Japanese Media: MISTER JOHNSON! I am sorry about Reckless Wiring, I out of line and shouldn't have disrespected you. 

"ANOTHER DAMN ASIAN!" Lucas screams in frustration as he gets up from the table and goes up to the reporter and camera man and throw them to the side and have them crashing onto a nearby couch as Lucas goes back to the table and sits down.

Time for some real questions people, it's my time to shine Friday night and I will retain MY New Breed Championship. NEXT!


New York Times Reporter: Good afternoon Mister Johnson, lately you have been claiming that you are the main event talent yet you are on the pre-show can you touch on why you are disgusted with this?

Disgusted? DISGUSTED? IT MAKES ME SICK TO MY STOMACH! IF YOU BEEN BUSTING YOUR ASS FOR THE PAST A HUNDRED AND FIVE DAYS AND YET THEY JUST PUSH YOU TO THE SIDE LIKE YOUR A PIECE OF TRASH!?! Of course it makes me sick to my stomach, this entire company can't get over the old toys around here like DEDEDE, Brian Daniels, and even Robbie V. The Final Encounter between Robbie and Daniels being made the main event makes me sick to my stomach, this company should be focused on the future! I AM THE FUTURE OF THIS COMPANY, I AM GOING TO BE THE LAST EVER NEW BREED CHAMPION! ALL THREE CHUMPS ARE IN-DENIAL, THEY REALLY THINK THEY ARE GOING TO BEAT ME? NO WAY! If I am not the main event, Pizzaboy should at least get it because he damn deserves it after winning Grand Rampage.

New Jersey Reporter: Wakefield and Moongoose has scored both singles victories over you in the past, are you scared one of them may do it again on Friday?

Scared? Have you been listening to me this whole week? Wakefield had a fluke victory back in April, and he's not even a hundred percent after I snapped his arm in half. No way he's making it inside Ultimate X a hundred percent and I will make sure I will send him packing to the injured list. Moongoose, I could care less about. Last episode of Dynasty I didn't even try. The quicker I got out of that arena the more I an rest for Ultimate X. Ultimate X I can fall down and break some bones, yes it's possibly dangerous then Hell in a Cell Chris Elite. Let me know when I land an F-5 and break your neck and come back to me. Let me know if that hurts real quick....


Newsday: Season 11 is coming up, are you worried for the draft?

I could care less about the draft because no matter where I end up, I am going to have the biggest contract in history. I am focused on retaining my championship at Pain for Pride.

New York Post: Have you seen Finnagean's kick starter project?

Yes I have it's a little joke, his little fans want to make a name out him and it will soon be crushed. I am here to do one thing people is hurt people and crush there dreams. This Friday night at Pain for Pride these three newbies will learn what it's like to step into my shoes. They will learn what I suffered as a little child and that was a goal I set since Scott Oasis took me under his wing. That goal will never change after the draft, after Pain for Pride 12. This goal will never change get it through your heads. There fifteen minutes of fame will come to an end, I will walk out of Pain for Pride X as NEW BREED CHAMPION! DAY ONE HUNDRED AND SIX IS UPON US!

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Recycle
 
Repeat
 
That’s what you guys are doing ever since this match was announced I’ve heard the same thing over and over again for damn near a month now. Finnegan won’t stop bringing up the fact I made that comment about our match being 7-8 minutes or whatever the hell I said. Now that he proved me wrong he defiantly won’t stop bringing it up. We get it Finnegan you defeated me now I’m not going to have an excuse or say something stupid like Lucas did but Jesus Christ we get it you defeated me if I wasn’t as good as I say I am then why would you continue to bring it up? It’s because I am as good as I say I am and you know it and that’s why this win you have over me will be held over my head, you know what won’t be held over my held though? You with the New Breed Championship at Pain for Pride, not that you care though this win you have over me means more to you then the championship. Losing at Pain for Pride won’t hurt you because as long as you have a win over me that’s all that matters, that’s flattering to be honest but it’s sad that after defeating God Given Greatness on Dynasty you can’t go ahead and get a win over him and two other men this weekend.  This “Momentum Boost” is just building up to a loss, you are probably on the highest horse right now after defeating me, you feel like you can’t be and won’t be stopped.  Then BAM! Reality strikes and I’m the one on top with the New Breed Championship then no matter how much you continue to bring it up and hang it over my head suddenly that win you have over me means nothing. When the New Chris Elite made his debut he debuted for a reason, now I know guys like Nico Borg have brought me up this week and said I couldn’t evolve but that’s what I’ve been doing. Evolving, I went from someone like you Finnegan the type to wait in line, the type to wait his turn. Then I began to take, you heard what Lucas said. I took this #1 contender ship and I’m going to take this championship while you continue to wait in line and wait your turn. I am going to continue to take. I’m going to continue to upset guys like you Finnegan. So no I’m not obsessed with you when I asked you to join me, I was actually trying to look out for someone else other than myself and Big Mike for once.  I’m going to continue to be cocky and you can try to downplay that all you want with the one victory you have over me like I said though it’s not going to mean anything and it barley does now it’s just a momentum boost a boost that will be drained as soon as I’m the one getting myself to the middle of that structure.
 

Lucas please explain what the hell I have to be jealous of? Other than that championship and to be perfectly honest I’m not even jealous over that I’m upset that you have it in the first place. You don’t deserve to be champion and now because of you being one we have to hear day in and day out how you are the best champion in EAW and the best athlete knowing DAMN well you are lying through your teeth. Then you claim that we are jealous when that too is the furthest thing from the truth. Then you put yourself over you came out and said Ultimate X is the most dangerous match in wrestling when we have matches like Hell in A Cell, CITV, EEC and a god damn Glass Wallz match. You just keep adding onto the list of “Dumb things Lucas Johnson said during Pain for Pride Week”.  Like the fact you are going to “Dominate” the match and how you are going to Big Mike and me to sleep. None of what you said is going to happen this week will happen. You are going to prove each and of us right for mocking you this weekend and prove that we had every right to doubt you like we’ve been doing.  I don’t care how angry you get fuck you’re shitty child hood nobody cares about and fuck you’re grandparents who didn’t worry about you. None of those made up stories matter, I don’t care if you come back and tell me that all the sudden both your parents were shot in an alley in front of you and that’s how you became Lucas Johnson. It’s not going to matter to me because those who bullied you in high school, those crappy grandparents and your dead mom and dad or whatever situation you bring up with your parents. Regardless of the situation, regardless of the story you made up Lucas they are going to laugh at you again when you fail at the biggest event in sports entertainment and sports period. Lucas Johnson always was and always will be a failure. I hope you enjoyed life not being a champion because it’s going to be a long one after Pain for Pride. By the way Moongoose I see you bud, we didn’t forget you. We know you are just recording parts and parts to a video waiting to post it. Just trying to find outlandish things to say about how much I suck and all this other bs. Just proving how obsessed you really are and that those fears I mentioned are real. Now excuse me I have a press conference I have to get too.

 
Your fire has always burned so brightly, Aria. It’s always been so fiery that people haven’t had a choice but to get behind you. That’s probably why even when they want to hate me so damn much, it’s hard not to get behind me at least a little when I’m on a roll. See, I think people just want to hate me right now because I have been that barrier between you and being the champion. It started at Empress of Elite where I think people were so anxious to see you repeat and make amends for the way it all turned out that first time around. But it didn’t happen. Flash forward a few months later and I’m sitting with the brand new Women’s Championship on my shoulder and watching you fight Sheridan Müller to decide the next contender. I never wanted anything else than what I go, a match with you. That’s always been the competition since Day 1. We were just two bright-eyed, bushy-tailed, sassy bitches looking to walk in here and turn this place on its head from the start. In a way we did. And in a way, we were also turned on our own heads and slapped around a little bit. But every moment we were supposed to fold up our tent, pack our belongings and head back home… something else happened instead. We bucked the system. When the legends felt us creeping in, they always upped the ante. We never belonged here and we were never good. You took it and ran with it and became this world beater. For me, that stuff seeped into my head just enough to develop that chip you like to bring up so much. Every moment since the beginning has been something to learn from. You win, you learn. You lose, you learn even more. You lose big time, you get your ass back up and head to the gym and start training again. We have DNA unlike everyone else here. I was never content to just wait. When someone tells me to wait my turn, I cut that line by fighting my way higher. The line can wait in their spots happily. I’m going to pass them like they’re standing still. That’s never been popular with all of those girls, but if they wanted it as much as I do they’d put in just as much work to make sure they get this same chance. I was never born to be here. I was never born to be a champion. I was told a long time ago that I might never be good enough to make it as a professional wrestler. I’m still told these things today. And every single person who tells me that somehow tries to continue to say it even after I kick their worthless asses all over the mat. But I can’t hold you accountable for any of that, because all you ever do is insist that I belong here and that I’m capable of anything.
 
With the exception of very few, I’m not sure I can think of a person that holds me in a higher regard than you, Aria. But that’s because you know what happens when we get in the ring together. No matter whether we’ve been friends or enemies or whatever, there’s always been a certain level of magic that occurs. Cameron’s going to read that and burst into laughter. Then she’s going to walk out of New Jersey on Monday still in awe at the match she just took part in. That’s just what we do. For my side of this, I think it’s because of the determination I have to be better than you. Because of what we’ve done together and separately, we’re always going to be thrown into a small window together and compared and contrasted and pulled around until someone’s argument can come to the conclusion of which one of us is truly the best. And even that decision might spurn yet another debate that almost devolves into a fistfight. What will separate us in the end are just a few moments along the way. This is probably one of those moments. I just really think this moment is going my way because you’re catching me at the worst of times. The feeling I have going into this match, the pace of my heartbeat, it’s exactly what I felt when I destroyed Haruna to take the Specialist’s title. It’s what reverberated within me when I beat Eris and HBG. It’s what I felt when I beat Cam before Empress of Elite, the win that gave me the momentum I need to keep on down the road and win the whole damn thing. And it’s what I felt when I flipped out of Sheridan’s signature move and took her down to the mat to become the first Women’s Champion. My hearts been beating wildly for awhile now, waiting for another chance to get in the ring. And Cleopatra played games, keeping me out of the ring as much as possible as she tried to mess with my head. All she did is enrage the beast within me to focus even more energy on this moment. Was I supposed to be here? I honestly don’t know. But I also don’t care to dwell on the past and how this decision was or wasn’t made. I want to be here more than Aria can imagine, even when she’s preaching just how much she wants to be in this match. And my hunger to walk into Pain for Pride and unleash absolute fury on both Cam and Aria is insatiable to the point I would be worried if I were either of them. They should worry what I’m capable of doing to them. They should be worried what I’m willing to do to myself to make sure I’m the one who wins this match. They should be worried about letting their guard down for even a second. The aggression that they’ll see in this match has no compare. What I do will be legendary.
 

Aria looks at that title and she wants to do all the things I’ve done and more. She wants to hold that title close and defend it like I did. She wants to relax backstage and sleep in as she keeps it in her possession like Cameron has. This is just a different time in this company to call yourself a Vixen. Women who came before us and couldn’t make it to this point, they just never understood how to survive. The fact that all three of us are here not only makes us survivors of this revolution, it means we’re at the tip top of a food chain that everyone wants to be near the top of. You go from woman to woman and you hear them talking about climbing mountains and hills and ladders and you realize that there isn’t a woman in this division right not that doesn’t realistically dream of being in the same spot that we are. They will never stop coming and not a single one of us can ever take a moment off or they will do to so many what Aria and I have already done to the voices from the past. You can go down the list and you’ll find them, and you can even see some from the past still holding on and trying to find that new thing to grab on to that will pull them from the ground back into prominence. Of course every one of us sees ourselves strutting out of New Jersey as the Women’s Champion, but only one of will actually be able to do it. I’ve listened to Aria do her same thing all week, tiptoeing around our bad history and putting it all out there that she thinks this match will come down to me and her in the end. I can’t help but agree, but only because I’ve been in the ring with both my opponents before. I do believe Cameron is capable of anything, but I just can’t deny what I’ve seen this week. Cameron wants this, but maybe not as much as Aria. And surely not as much as me. No one will leave this match in any less of a position than they are right now. No one will be looked at as bad if they don’t win. But one of us will be looked at as a champion and a winner at the biggest Pain for Pride to date. We all have dreams, and only one of those will be realized. We all have wants and needs, and only one of us will leave truly happy. Aria wants me to believe this match belongs to her. For me to accept that belief is to accept the truth that she deserves anything over me. I don’t believe in Aria as my champion, because that’s accepting defeat. I will never accept a defeat. None of her dreams or beliefs can stop me from doing what I set out to do in this match. Not a thing she says or does will stop me from walking down that ramp at Pain for Pride, bucking the trend of tacking a backseat to the fan favorite and walking out of there with the Women’s Champion. Someone out there probably says Aria deserves that. We deserve another first-time champion and it would be really awesome and grand to see her as the next Women’s champ. Well fuck that person. Cailin Dillon is here to be a two-time Women’s Champion. And there’s not a thing you can do to stop me.

Amazing. I've never seen anything like it. I've never seen anyone contradict themselves more than you just did. You call me a disappointment, yet in the same breath list off my credentials and my accolades which would grant anybody else in the history of the world the status of a God. You called Methuselah a facade just a few days ago, yet you now credit Methuselah to all of my success. You still haven't answered my question, you completely ignored it, probably because it's not in the Jacob Senn canon to have to admit to being a contradictory prick - but I'll rephrase the question and give you another chance to prove you have a shred of dignity. Again, if The Gawd is such a disappointment, if I'm doing such a disservice to this company, why the FUCK WOULD YOU INSIST THAT I BE THE ONE TO INDUCT YOU INTO THE HALL OF FAME? By your logic, everything bad you've ever said about me should be applied to your own self. Because honestly, Senn, I agree with you on some level. You and I have faced the same kind of scrutiny for the same reason - the exact same reason: being successful. That's what caught the both of us such scrutiny in our day. That's what's labeled us with stupid monikers like "LOLDDDWINS" and "Super Senn" in some condescending dipshit little ways at marginalizing our success because the little trolls who spout that shit would rather see jobbers who they've followed from nothing-companies who did 18 flips in midair in a fucking outhouse on some lowly produced internet streamed wrestling federation win the World Title in EAW, and they can't stomach the fact that somebody like myself can be so dominant for so long. The cesspool of this society, the gunk beneath society's nutsack, the vocal minority of LOSERS in their mother's basement cause the same fuss any time anyone successful continues to be successful - regardless of the sport. That's because these LOSERS want their underdog stories every year, they want The Pizza Boy's and rookie Cyclone's of the world winning the Grand Rampage every goddamn year, because they're supposedly "in touch" with the fan base - but once you win a world title in this fucking place suddenly it's on to the next guy. Look at the Diamond Cage's and Lucian Black's of the world, the fanfare they got after winning the World Title isn't nearly the same level of fanfare as before. Internet boards, social media and fan pages full of bitching fans crying about how EAW doesn't give certain people a chance and now guys like Mr. DEDEDE and Jacob Senn are always taking up the spotlight. Mr. DEDEDE ALLLLWAYS has to be in the main event! Why? Oh why? Why can't Lucian Black get that rub? And then he becomes an absolute failure of a World Champion and suddenly Jacob Senn is the bad guy for putting Dynasty out of it's misery by having to live under a colossal failure of a World Champion like his predecessor. 

See even I will give you credit when it's due, but now every ounce of credit I can give you goes right out the window. Because when you spew bullshit, Jacob, about how if I defeat you at Pain for Pride it somehow means EAW isn't ready to move on to future generations, as if the company is fixing these fights in my favors, that's when you start to completely lose me. That's when you become EXACTLY what you despise. You become the Super Senna/LOLDDDWins crowd, and I genuinely hate people like you. I despise people like you with every fiber of my being, because you know goddamn well what you're doing is wrong in every way imaginable but when things aren't convenient for Jacob Senn you'd revert to the same ass backwards logic of those who've criticized you your entire career. I genuinely fucking would love to see you hypocrites rounded up someday and have done to you what they did in Auschwitz, because people like you ruin the world. Hypocrites like you make this world a terrible place to live in in all honesty, and I don't give a fuck what level of respect you have for me or don't have for me, I don't give a fuck if that's 50% of EAW's fanbase, hypocrites like you don't deserve shit but death, die.

You disingenuous piece of shit; NOT "IF" - BUT WHEN I defeat you at Pain for Pride, it's not because the company doesn't trust the future generations. It's because I'm the better man, and it's because YOU FAILED the future generations. Not EAW, not me, but you. You had the nerve to exalt yourself on their behalf as the representative of the future and now you're going to carry that weight into Pain for Pride by attempting to take the world from me. If you can't carry that kind of weight on your shoulders, then it means you had no chance at taking my spot to begin with. I bear the weight of the world on my back, and a spineless prick like you would be crushed under it's immense mass. You could never have what I have because you could never handle it, and I have no incentive of handing it to anybody in the first place. It seems to me like you would prefer it if I handed you the win on Saturday, as if I'm obligated to contribute to the future out of the good nature of my heart. I suppose in your world people like me should be dancing for your respect! But please remember Senn that I don't give a fuck about the future, do you understand me? The only future I care about are the future championships I will win, the future accolades I'll earn, the future opponents I'll defeat, and the future of my two children. I don't owe you motherfuckers air to fill your lungs with; you owe me by proxy for being allowed to be here and make the type of money you make thanks to me. That goes for any other legend you have a problem with. I'm not here to cape for CM Banks, if you're so obsessed with him why didn't you challenge him at Pain for Pride or force him to induct you into the Hall of Fame? After all, you seem to have about as little respect for him as you do for me, but you sure can't keep his name out of your dickeating mouth huh? I will say on his behalf that, regardless of how wrong your opinion of him is, it's also not relevant. Nothing you say makes a dent on his legacy, and nothing that you can possibly do at Pain for Pride will put even a scratch on mine. You can continue to talk about how I kiss his ass even though you have 0 evidence to bounce off that, I'm just going to chalk that up as another retcon in Jacob Senn's fantasy fable, because it sure as shit isn't remotely tied to the truth. But more and more I become convinced that you're as envious and insecure as they come. You've done your best to target Hall of Famers and use them as platforms to propel your own agenda, and to a degree it's worked. I can't argue with results. Unfortunately you're not facing part timer Jaywalker, or over-the-hill Lethal Consequences, or your cute little life long rival Zack Crash. You're in the deep water now. You're in the trenches now. The Mariana trench, how's that for some deep water? If you drown against me you may never be found again, and I won't hesitate to hold you underwater.

You said this was your life, so I want you to experience dying. I had a little bit of respect for your passion for this business only because I could relate to it, however I can't say it means anything to me anymore. It's just another plot device, just a character archetype for you, none of it's genuine. If you really gave a fuck about this business like claimed you do, where were you back in 2013 when Scott Diamond had this place under siege and I had to go around begging people to stand up and fight with me to defend this place? You were too busy up Zack Crash's ass minding another mans business because God forbid anyone goes off-script from your "storied" career in the fabled Book of Senn. Don't sit there and try to bullshit me into believing you somehow care more about EAW, when it's obvious if this company died tomorrow you would be in the 2nd biggest place right now saying how much you love that place and how much you "leader" you'd be. Back in 2014 when the entire Board of Directors turned against me and half the company turned against me as Chairman while Zack Crash had everyone played like a fiddle, where was the virtuous Jacob Senn to come save us all? Oh of course! He was too busy barely being an EAW Champion. You are the biggest purveyor of bullshit that I've met in quite some time. You're incredibly gifted in the ring, but you're weak mentally. Mental toughness means just as much, if not more, than physical strength and speed, and you're poorly endowed when it comes to mental strength. You are living on a prayer, Senn. You're relying on a hail mary, because that's the best chance you've got of defeating me. Everything about you is contrived, your career has been nothing more than the story you tell yourself - in your eyes. It's all manufactured, scripted; your story that you bellow on about until you're blue in the face is just a warped take on reality, re-written and revised to your liking. Your whole book is a folktale, you are The Folklore Conqueror. Your entire legacy is an embellishment. I don't regret the way I've treated you over the last several months, because you deserved every bit of it. I knew who you are, I've watched you your whole career, you could never pull a fast one on me as if I'd forget the kind of scum I'm dealing with.

Ultimately, the pressure's all on you because like you said, I'm just an aging shell who deteriorates with time! I've won Elitist of the Year in two different decades, and not even a year ago I came home with my seventh Match of the Year award as well as held my 6th World Championship, but according to the fork tongued Folklore Spewer apparently time is not on my side, and I'm just resting on my laurels and letting nostalgia help me coast by. The world knows you're full of shit. I can almost guarantee betting odds have me as the favorite, which is funny because they always do. Betting against me is the stupidest thing you can do, but you've got no other choice I suppose. You're going to have to charge head first, because that's the only chance you've got. You had better grab that brass ring off it's rung the moment you're within arms reach of it. If you have half a chance you'd better grab it, because words won't even begin to describe the impact of the fall when I bring you down to earth. And I will do everything in my power to bring you crash landing down to earth.


THAT'S GOD.

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The reign of the land will belong to those who truly deserve it.

And it did not have to be this way but once you started the battle, I decided it was time to end the war in a magisterial fashion.

When you last long enough in this company, you come to realize that the impossible is the norm. When they say you are not exceptional enough to stand out and do anything alarm in this company, you jump over a few ladders and prove them wrong. When they resort to pretext and try to justify it with the fact that you are not cut out for the big time, you keep on winning championships and prove them wrong. And when you return in a dominating trend taking out every probable contender in the way, they maintain bullshit like you will never headline Pain for Pride and win a World Championship so you go out there and knock off the arses of two of your closest mates winning your first ever World Champion in the process. And you do not stop there, you go on to headline the next Pain for Pride too being the first ever elitist to do that and then win the Hall of Fame championship not once but twice a few months later. Through all that, you arrive at the fact that some people are just set on seeing you go down because any other result would be an admittance of a miscalculation and ultimately a hit to their pride. These are the same people who are also set on this fabricated dogma of the glory of 'originals' that they tend to oversight the fact that among the few stories of success, there were also some very pitiful cases of non-performers that would be humbled beyond their greatest extent in today's world. They like to rewrite history to glorify the few at the extent of many because anything otherwise would be impairing the idea that there was always the greats pitted against each other with constant match of the years. Being present in this company for almost seven years now, I could also easily admit myself to all this fabricated dogma of the 'glory' days but the matter of fact is, they were not. There were just more bashful loudmouths back in the day stringent on their fixated goals but other than that, they were not all so different from today's coup of performers. Let us get back to the reality of today. 

All these ideas are present in the lot of few in this company but one man above all others who hold these ideas dear to them is Jaywalker: a man with a cane who persists himself with the highest of orders. And why should he not? He is on top of the food chain with his own dynasty to boot. The only thing is that even with all that power and nobility, the only person that really cares for all those intangibles is him and only himself. Before I came along, it was a noted fact that Jaywalker was a deity among man in the riches of this world and he would use them to all his benefit of glorifying his name. And once that privilege become negated, he started to rely more on the idea of 'old is gold' to construct his legacy in more ways than one. It must be noted that behind every remarkable story, there is a contingency in the timeline somewhere making it happen. I can admit that my amazing run a few years back to the world championship at Pain for Pride was a benefaction of the fact some competitors fell out of the race. But for you Jaywalker, this luck thing has not been something that has just happened once but multiple times in your career. Your stats sheet looks so impressive but if you take the value of constructing your own legacy out of it, then you fall flat multiples times over compared to some of the legends in this company. And then when it came to facing me in a match, you ironically resorted to generic bullshit to call me out for being a generic pick of the lottery. It is because you have wanted me at the bottom of the shovel my whole career and seeing me so far above drove you mad, a labeled under-card holding the very championship that you introduced into this company! And so you went and burned it live. What amuses me is the fact that you thought it would trigger me somehow and catch me off-guard when all it has done is provoke a stronger incentive to pair up with some of the strongest to have ever step afoot in this company and put you in a cage of irrelevancy ever. A permanent exit would be too sweet a victory for you, a higher degree of burn would be imposing a situation in where you are recognized for any of your efforts in this company. And day by day, that imminent moment comes closer for you and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it now.

Furthermore, it is curious that we have been odds for almost two years now without a resolution, Ares Vendetta. This deep animosity that burns between us seems to run off the basis of nothing but hatred of each other and the amusing thing is that I am completely fine with that. It puts me at peace to see you down battered for good and if this weekend provides me another opportunity to do that to you then I would love nothing more. If it was down time you needed after the big year you had then you could have certainly went after any other victim in this company but you decided to buckle on the few lot who will not only give you more than you can handle but at the same time, also prove how much opportunity played a part in your victory in the headliner at Pain for Pride last year. All those mammoth qualities you pride yourself on will have no effect on the eyes of experience that have seen and competed with everything to ever step in this company. The thing about being fresh blood is that after a while, there is not much you can introduce to your arsenal that already is not common knowledge to an experienced opponent. You have caught me off guard far too often due to the circumstances placed around us but there is not a looming gold championship around either of our shoulders this around, you and your partner made sure of that. And so I have no higher entity to worry about this time, the only thing on my mind is how far I can bend and twist it to make sure you feel the excruciating pain of every mischievous thing you have pulled over the past few years. I have no residing sympathy whatsoever for you at this point but try to remember that you wrote your own fate the day you decided to come after me, luscious retribution comes within its own time. And as for you Cage, if I have not already given you enough to mark your absence from the match this weekend then I figure you are dead set on going through with this in your mind. And that is the funny thing with your mind, it likes to play all kinds of games with you. It leads you to believe that distorted loyalty will create some kind of closer ties to your mentor even though you are so clearly walking into an ambush. For all I care, you could degrade yourself to your own grave but similar to Ares, I do not tend to feel sympathetic for those who are not deserving to it. Shitty things have happened to you in your life and you endured through them all to get to where you are today, only if you realized how conventional that was among the elitist in today's world because you are not special at all. And if you think that participating in this match is going to help you out whatsoever then you are dead wrong. It is only going to create the opposite effect and put the final nail on your career once and for all. Perhaps there is a reason after all for you to be participating in this match Cage, it can be your final proof that you just do not have what it takes to survive here anymore. When it all crumbles down for the triple lot of you, I will laugh knowing that this could have been all avoided if it weren't your pretentious egos. It is truly amusing to the end. 

But here we are at the end of war with you holding the white flags and us enjoying the all the galore and joys of winning the war. We have come so far just for this, we have no other option but to score now.

PAIN FOR PRIDE III
There are really only two ways you can consider the nature of the universe, of our existence, and of reality in general. One - and I don’t agree with this one but it’s still important to consider - is that we are the products of intelligent design. Our creation is facilitated and directed through the by an incomprehensible power from an entity too advanced for our minds to comprehend. But what fun is that? The way I like to see things is that we’re just here as the bullshit result of entropy. That in an infinite universe, we are a molecularly miniscule fraction of all that exists. We are not the primary reason for this universe’s existence, in fact, we’re just an irrelevant by-product of it. It’s easy, in our chimpanzee brains that really haven’t evolved much further than the basic needs of selfish survival and greed, to think that we have any sort of pre-destined direction in life. It’s scary to accept that there’s no guiding hand, no higher power looking after us; our prayers and screams for hope and release fly up into the sky falling on ears that don’t exist; so really Rex, having any notion of belief in destiny is just an indicator of the futile desire for divine intervention in our lives. Why should I have worked my ass off, fighting on past the lowest, darkest points in my life to get back to the EAW and make it to Pain for fucking Pride TEN, competing for the National Elite Championship, if it was merely my destiny to do so? Why didn’t I just sit and wait around for that strap to fall in my lap? I understand that this isn’t exactly what you meant by destiny, but you can’t selectively choose the meaning of your words - and what I’m interpreting from you is that you’re reaching out at this concept of destiny and predispositions to justify taking leaps of faith into the dark unknown, with some absurd belief that you’ll fall into the hands that wrote your destiny and be carried back to the path you were meant to be on. I don’t believe in any of that shit.

I’ll tell you exactly how we see it Rex, because if know that what my own eyes see and my own mind believes aren’t enough to define my reality, then nothing is. The way I see it Rex, this ultimately worthless and meaningless existence is ALL we have. Through all of the misery, through all of the sadness, through all of the darkness and melancholy, we still live, reluctantly, woefully, but we live. Every day we write our own story, seeking the redemption that will validate and give us a better high than any drug on this planet can… the feeling of vindication. Every ounce of bad just builds up, rolling like Whitney’s Miltank into an avalanche that can only break apart into the storm of happiness and relief. We go through the bad to appreciate the good; and I have learned that all the darkness in my life was merely a precursor for the light, and no day will shine brighter than on Pain for Pride, when I finally step into the ring and compete for my most coveted prize, the difference is that this time, I’m more ready than I ever was, and EVERYBODY knows it. You want to know if I’m going to take a leap of faith? I didn’t need to Rex. I know exactly where I’m headed, and the road there was so familiar I could have done it with my eyes fucking closed. I don’t enjoy being arrogant but this is a point you need to understand. How long has Chris Elite been in this company? Lars Grier? Ryan Marx? Darkane? These are all men who were climbing up the ranks on Showdown, all men who could have faced you at Pain for Pride. Then I came back. I came back and the first thing I got was doubt, resentment even, for having the audacity to rear my head here again after leaving two years in a row. That doubt quickly turned to interest after our first encounter actually, and since then it was all uphill. I did initially struggle and had the occasional hiccup, but after some crucial wins over Darkane and Chris Elite, the next thing I knew, I was number one contender.

There’s a reason I’m facing you at Pain for Pride and not anybody else, Rex, and when you acknowledge that as fact, when you realize that this title difference will be the most unique encounter you’ll ever have in your career, when you RECOGNIZE me for what I can do in the ring and not who I am outside of it, then you’ll shed your veneer of condescending superiority. If you think I’m not different than every other man who stepped up to you with their swords held high screaming that they are the Kingslayer, the destroyer of empires, then you need to do some thinking and come to realize who exactly I am. You wanna know what it is Rex? You want to know what makes this such a crucial, career-defining match for both of us? We’re facing each other Rex. Despite all of the clashes in beliefs and differences in ideas, we’re not that much different. What differentiates your background from mine? What makes what you did in over the course of a year, with the only thing in your life dragging you down being your own insecurity, more impressive or valid than what took me years to get to despite facing some of the deadliest demons of my own mind? YOU don’t know what adversary is, Rex. You don’t know what it means like to fight through and lift yourself up despite the heaviest anchor of your mental turmoil weighing you down day in and day out! You don’t know what it’s like to see your own blood turn to dust in front of your eyes, and still try to get your ass out here week after week. You want adversary Rex? You want to experience just a FRACTION of what I went through? You want to feel the same loss? The same hopelessness? The same depravity? I’ll give you ALL of that and then some too when you step into that ring with me and finally learn that for you, I am nobody to talk down to, nobody to disrespect, because whether or not you want to admit it, Rex, at the end of the day; we stand head-to-head looking into each other’s eyes as EQUALS.

You seem to have some major misconceptions about me, and despite our array of similarities, I can see why you’d aim for my faults, when the biggest thing you want to deny is that we are more alike than you’d like. Face it Rex. We’re both the sympathetic underdog success story, we’re both the guys who were predicted to fail, predicted to peak at the first title we won. We believe in integrity, in honor, and in earning your keep. I don’t take handouts, neither do you. If you didn’t truly earn something, there’s no accomplishment in it, and that’s the feeling men like us chase, Rex. The materialistic pleasures of merely the crisp black leather and translucent gold aren’t enough to satisfy our soul. It isn’t just about winning the championships, it’s about HOW we win them; it is the journey that makes us feel human, the destination merely validates the fruits of the journey. Your misconstruing of my praises for you have no ulterior motive to them. It isn’t me trying to lower your guard or gain a psychological advantage over you, it isn’t me satisfying formalities, nor is it me looking up to you from my cardboard box kicked away on the side of the street. What’s the matter, Rex? Too insecure to take genuine admiration? Too dumb to understand that the challenger, more than anything, respects the championship, and to a lesser extent through association, the challenger? Really Rex, all it is, is this; you are THE most ideal champion I could beat for that championship, and if you aren’t every bit the man that I can see you to be, then you wouldn’t be champion in the first place. I don’t want to keep repeating myself, but you’ve MADE that championship. You made that title go from being the step before the standard bar, to being the standard itself. That is my payoff Rex. Not just being champion, but being THE champion. Winning the belt is just the first the step in establishing myself as that kind of next level talent, but it's the biggest and most important step for me to take right now, and what better time could there be than Pain for Pride. You've earned your spot at the top Rex, you've laid your claim on your name being in the conversation for the greatest rising stars in history, but I'll warn you; don't get complacent in your throne at the top, because while you are at your peak, all you need is just a tip in your chair that just goes a little bit too far, and the only the thing that can happen next is you tumbling down the mountain you built yourself, while a new king usurps your crown.

You can talk as much as you want about how you’re a real fighter who will go through anything, putting your cliched blood, sweat, and tears in a dignified spot as if that’s supposed to mean anything. That’s nothing to be proud of Rex. I’m pretty sure that’s the wrestling equivalent of being a “nice guy”, because when you have nothing to build your identity and sense of self around, you fall back on the expected bare minimum. Wow, you’ve worked hard to get here?! What a special fucking case Rex - EVERYONE has worked their ass off to get here. EVERYONE faced upward resistance the whole time. EVERYONE has shed blood, sweat, and tears to reach EAW. You’re not the only one, so why bring it up? You want more universal constants among wrestlers? We, uh, oh yeah! We all breathe fucking air too! We all eat food! Is that really all you have to offer me Rex? You’re a hard worker? An unrelentless fighter? Dedicated, unwavering, and focused? Those are ALL words I’ve heard over and over again about myself too Rex, which really does only serve to prove my point that we’re very, very similar. The universe knows Rex McAllister to be the hardworking fighter because that’s ALL you are Rex, nothing more. You’re VERY good at what you do, hell I wouldn’t even be ashamed to admit that you are in fact the better man after Pain for Pride if you walk out with that title… but this is ELITE Answers Wrestling right? Everyone here competes at that top level Rex. Everybody here is a world-class talent, everybody here has gone through hell and back to be here; why do you think wrestling has such a high turnover rate? How many of these new guys here last longer than a week? Everybody who’s here, everybody who’s stuck it out for nearly a decade - myself included - know the grind like the back of our hands. What you’ve built your identity around in the EAW, Rex, I’ve been doing for a fucking DECADE. TEN years I’ve spent in this industry Rex, and I’ve see a thousand men who come out here just like you do and tout themselves as the “hardest worker out there”, but look past that and there’s nothing of substance, is there?

But I’m not here to break down who you are. Clearly, it’s working for you, and you’re a phenomenal wrestler nonetheless, but getting hit in the face with “I work so hard! You don’t know what it’s like to work as hard as me!” for the hundredth time in my career, by the man who’s supposed to be the standard bearer for me to test my own merit on at the biggest fucking show in wrestling history is a little confusing. And Rex, if you really want to downplay what I’ve accomplished here in EAW, let me just say this; I haven’t even been here for a collective year yet. So technically speaking, if I win the National Elite Championship at Pain for Pride, I WILL have gotten to the level you’re at now faster than you even did. Now what does that say hmm? I faced worse adversary outside of the ring than you have in it, yet I’ve come back from that TWICE, to the National Elite Championship both times. It’s easier to just look at me in a vacuum and deem me a failure, has-been, dead-on-arrival type of guy, but look at the big picture Rex, and you’ll see that your conceptions about me are incorrect. I did have a rough couple of months. 2016 is a year I’d very much like to forget, but at the same time, it took that failure to make realize what I had to do to get back to this point. And even for the people who still doubt me, who still view me as nothing more than a shooting star that went too fast for his own good and crashed in burn in spectacular fashion… Pain for Pride X is where I get the chance shut all those doubters up for good.

I’m not looking for a mere ‘payoff’, Rex. This is about so much more than just proving myself as a worthy wrestler. This is about establishing my legacy, this is about making sure that the name STARK is one to remember. This is about vindicating my soul - this goes so much deeper for me than you’ll ever understand. This is about my value as a person, this is about validating that what I’ve just spent an entire DECADE of my life doing was worth it, despite all of the downfalls I’ve encountered. Pain for Pride X isn’t just another checkpoint on my journey Rex, it’s the DESTINATION. It’s the end of a decade long journey as merely a wrestler, and the first step in getting to that next level. I’m not looking for any advantages heading into Pain for Pride, Rex. I don’t want a hollow or tainted victory. I don’t want you at anything other than your best, because if I can’t beat that, then I don’t deserve to be champion. It’s easy to see in a vacuum that I’ve not really progressed much since our first encounter; but you only see me for what, 20 minutes a night? Sometimes even less? There’s still another 23 and a half hours in the day Rex, and when you add that up to the months that I’ve been back now, there’s a lot of me you’re missing out on… So keep your assumptions to yourself. It’s easy to trivialize me down to just a sympathetic case for the fans to rally behind, a lost and broken man who just barely made it back against all odds and blah, blah, blah. That only serves to help you avoid the truth about what I really am Rex. I’m not some scrappy underdog anymore - I am the fucking number one contender, and I think you need to realize what that means. I’m not like the men who were handed title shots against you like Lars or Darkane. I’ve EARNED this title shot and I’ve EARNED my spot at Pain for Pride X. I fought and put everybody down, and at risk of sounding vain, it was easy. But I know that facing you at PFPX will be anything but easy, yet you give off the vibe that you’re underestimating me, which you can go ahead and do for all I fucking care, because if you think you’ve seen anywhere near my best yet, you’re in for the biggest fucking surprise of your life at Pain for Pride.

Yeah, I sure am gonna drop some nice crisp acid this week buddy but that’s for me to worry about, not you. I don’t know if I RIGHTFULLY deserve to starve or not but that’s a point I’ll entertain. I can see why you resent me Rex. There you were last year, the young chipper hitting too hard above his own weight, struggling to survive in this cruel world of wrestling, before finally coming into your own and evolving into the man you are today. You put in more than a year's worth of brutal effort and finally achieve the NEC, and as soon as you get it, guess who decides to come back to town again. I’m sure after you beat me on my second week back, you were sure that you wouldn’t have to deal with me for a long, long time, but… Here I am. You’re right. Let’s lose all the pretenses. It isn’t really about how either of us got here anymore. It’s about the fact that we ARE here. It’s funny that you’re already condemning me for not proving myself. Have I had the chance to? I’ve already made the most of every opportunity I’ve been given, I’ve made the most out of every match I’m booked in, and I’ve established my name as one to respect; and whether you like it or not you can’t deny that I’ve built up quite the reputation as a solid worker in the company. Yeah, maybe I’m a little loopy, I say a lot of stuff that doesn’t make sense but if you had the creativity to put the pieces together you’ll see there is some beauty and coherence behind the madness. I don’t believe in purpose the way you do. Motivation is self-defined and is also victim to extraneous circumstance. The National Elite Championship is all I see, and my main purpose is yet to be defined, because the purpose for THIS journey is about to be realized at Pain for Pride. It’s funny that you bring up the concept of destiny again to predicate that I’m not the one destined to halt your momentum in your tracks… I don’t believe in destiny Rex. And I sure as fuck don’t believe that YOU are the one man that’s too good for me to defeat. I’m coming in with just as much momentum as you are Rex, and the way I see it, this match is gonna get called straight down the middle, and the winner will be the man who capitalizes on a mere sliver of a chance to take the win, the title, validate their work, and establish their legacy.

I recognize you as a god huh? I guess that wouldn’t be too off base, for what is a god other than a being that gains authority and respect from the weak minded without any evidence and acts to merit such a position? I do not see Zeus, but I should be under the impression he can launch and grab lightning at will. I know of a certain god who leaves behind scriptures to be read through his disciples, yet said words are so varied multiple warring religions can fight centuries between each other, and apparently god’s word is so weightless that these religions can be reformed at any moment man decides god’s teachings are too troublesome, and religions that do not reform are considered barbaric as if that would not mean god itself must be something of dark ilk if his ways have reformation. Much in the same light, Drastik I have yet to witness what qualities you hold that makes you a worthy champion, the ways you simultaneously claim how you’ve changed for the better while holding your history in absolute sanctity amuse me. If you’re as good as you say, why do you sulk around half the time? Why are you always so desperate to reclaim your image in this company failure after failure of living up to the hype? Only someone heralded like a God could exist with such cons: Contraband and contradiction, a championship where it does not belong and a holier than thou depressed degenerate. These people do not want to apply critical thought to your championship reign, they wish to defy their king, I say let their folly play out. Let them hit their knees in prayer, let them replace amen with sail, I will teach them what occurs when they count on a god.

You do not get away with taking your opponents lightly, lest we forget Oni pinned you and your embarrassments are legion, rather it’s more like you pay for your misdeeds, and then everyone acts surprised like they don’t know what to expect the next time you come running around for another chance. And you’re not that much of a drawing superpower all wish to see and find interesting, you yourself said nobody watches Voltage, and yet you have been the premier player for all these months. Tell me, aside from this rivalry between you and I, when was the last time you were involved in a feud that moved the people or something anyone would remember? Perhaps a Robbie V or Captain Charisma were your last true enemies within this company? Fossil tale of legends that existed long before most of us got to EAW, so much so I have my doubts such things even existed, but am fully prepared to mock that it’s been so long. I walk across the hall, and then there’s ten thousand people who have been focused on me to the point that it can be argued for feuds of the year and people who chase me down for months. You may have a great ability of manipulating your way to the top and have the skill to pull something off in a one off match for gold, but you never do anything memorable or get yourself in any type of feud, match, champion, of the year, or in even any serious consideration for them. Face it Drastik, the only time anyone cared about you in the last six years was the moment I pinned your ass at King of Elite, and they only care about you now because I decided to come all the way to the struggling Voltage brand(your words) and elevated it to be the face on one of the two Pain for Pride posters, don’t think for one second that’d occur if not for me!

You couldn’t be anymore wrong about my focus, right now I’m not playing any games or falling back to any old habits like when I’m fucking around. There are no girls. There are no songs. There’s only the mission, and that mission will be completed once I become world champion by any means required to do so at Pain for Pride. Drastik, I don’t think your mistakes were made on the King of Elite week, I think they were made on every other day of your life, and at KOE you happened to get beat by a better man. See Drastik, you’ve never understood real desire and the seeking of what is yours. Not truly. There’s a world of difference between a man who is out to complete his life’s diligently made work and some kid who tries to ace the exam after slacking off the entire semester, you and I have always been two completely different animals. And come Pain for Pride, you’ll see just how dangerous that completing beast can be.

 
 
 
 
 

 
 
“Here we go again.” Maero’s voice is heard as he walks toward a large dilapidated house. “Another yelling match. Who can make their point the loudest? Who can scream until the other is forced to listen.” He knocks on the broken door. “We just keep saying the same things.” A man in a black tank top and backward cap answers the door. “So, let’s say something new.” Maero puts one of his hands over the man’s mouth and guts him with the other one. He muffles the sounds of the man falling. “Trust me, I’ve got some shit to say.” Maero draws his guns and walks into the house. As he passes through the doorway the scene jumps to Oz sitting at a table in the woods with shuffling playing cards.
 
“You didn’t really think I’d miss fire, did you?” Oz stretches and chuckles. “It’s been awhile since I’ve spoken.” He yawns. “Sounds like Tin Man’s got his hands full, five men at once in the biggest show of the year, yeesh. That’s enough to make anyone anxious. I mean, he’s fighting a porn star, some dude giving him career advice, the most religious man to ever walk the earth, one of the strongest men in EAW, and an idiot. Sounds hectic, so, let’s get down to business.” Oz tosses his deck onto the table and kicks his feet up.
 
“Let’s just get Lars out of the way. First off, you said the Raven was perfect last time you spoke, then claimed to never have said anything of the sort. Do you listen when you speak? When the words come out of your mouth do they skip your brain and your ears? You keep saying Tin Man has no idea what he’s talking about, but you keep calling him Victor. See, it’s forgivable to call him Victor Maero, I get that. But Victor is so out of left field. Speaking of the weird stuff you say, you’re upgraded. I think we all see what you mean. You lost your fruit snacks one time and now you have a deep brooding past. Do you know who else has had a dark past? Everyone in EAW. Besides, your upgrade didn’t do a great job if you don’t know what freaking name to use when talking about Tin Man. Look around Lars, you’re out skilled and outmatched. The good news is, you’ll finally have something of interest in your dark past.” Oz stands up and grabs his deck of cards. He flips it over and spreads it on the table. He picks out the red joker, a skull with a red snake winding its way through the eyes, and holds it up. “Now, don’t talk to me or my son ever again. There,” Oz says shuffling the Joker back into the deck.
 
“We can talk about fun stuff now.” Oz rubs his hands together. “Keelan Cetinich.”
The words are mouthed by Oz but Maero’s voice comes out. Static shifts the scene back to Maero in the dilapidated house, this time he’s in the living room. Blood stains the walls and floor, Maero’s gun is a few bullets lighter and his scalpel a few shades redder. He lowers his weapon, following the example of the limp body in front of him and turns to the room were grunts and muffled screams are coming from. “You’re right, it is time for something new. Let’s move on from me breaking your bones, hmm?” Maero attempts to pull the door open to no avail. He rolls his eyes and kicks the door in. Muffled screams fill the room as splinters hit the wall. Three girls are huddled together in a corner of the room, tied up and gagged. Maero slowly walks toward them.
 
“I haven’t been listening. I haven’t wanted to listen. I’ve been giving in to the EAW way, put your fingers in your ears and sing “la, la, la.” I’ve ignored so much and just cherry-picked what I wanted to hear. So let’s talk about your main points. You had me beat during our match to get into this match. You daaaaaaaamn right. You beat my ass pretty well, but I did hold my own if you remember. In fact, I stopped you getting in the ring by grabbing your leg. That’s all it took to stop you. Clearly, we were both pretty knackered. Let’s go to the next one, I’m a bit scared. Okay, cool, you listened to that part.  And of course, I’m scared of this match. Six men surrounded by nothing but the means inflict maximum damage to each other, sure I’m fucking scared. See, fear is an emotion, a raw, powerful emotion. But we can’t have courage if we aren’t scared first. This fear isn’t something that’s going to fester and destroy me. On the contrary, that kind of raw emotion is what drives me. This fear won’t break me, in fact, in the words of the great visionary Ronald McDonald, I’m lovin’ it. They don’t sponsor me, I just wish they would. Fun fact, if you say the full “I am loving it” it’s an anagram of ailing vomit. Ba-da-ba-ba-ba, ailing vomit. I think that’s a way better catchphrase, to be honest.” Maero stops talking to think for a moment before remembering the three girls in front of him. “Oh, right. Sorry.” He pulls their gags down.
 
“I have so many questions.” One of the girls says, her makeup dripping down her face. “But thank you.” Maero cuts their bindings a map before sitting down on the bed and looking at his blood stained scalpel.
 
“Anyway, Keelan. I admitted I don’t think I’m going to get the CITV, that’s really neat. Tell you what, I’ve stopped giving a shit. I plan to cut some people up and give it my all, but if I don’t get it then fuck it. I’m going to go primal, I’m going to bite, leap, and stab. I’d love to end up on top of a ladder, I’d love to take the Cash in the Vault, but my first priority is busting you open. I like to savor the moments where I enjoy myself the most. Leaping off of ladders on downed opponents, slicing into five other men’s flesh? Sounds like my kind of night. I’m mad about some shit, so I’m excited to be able to get all of that out of my body. What better way to do that than a huge ladder match in the biggest show in the entirety of EAW? For clarity's sake, I will talk about what’s bugging me, but I have to get some other stuff out of the way first.” Maero stands up and grabs the sheet off the bed. He drags it with him as he walks into the main room. He takes a deep breath walks over to what used to be a beige reclining chair, but now has a red stain running all the way down it. He removes its original occupant and takes a seat.
 
“You’re an asshole, Keelan. Just like everyone else. But that’s all you have to be in EAW. You’re rewarded for screaming the loudest, for never maturing enough to actually listen and think about your response. The first words to come out of your mouth will win you a belt. You don’t need a brain to be a fan favorite here. You can just spew nonsense, but if you scream it loud enough and drown out your opponent everyone loves it. You’re perfect for that, Keelan. You just drown everyone out. They say healthy body, healthy mind, but while your body is made of steel your mind is made of glass. See through, predictable, but when it does make noise it ruins your fucking day.” Maero sinks further into his chair. “Dude, I think I might keep this chair. It’s really comfy. Some bleach should get this out.” He runs his hand down the blood stain. “Or I’ll see how many goats I can find. It’ll look fine. Anyway,” Maero turns and leans back into the chair.
 
“Let’s move on to… Nico Borg. Speaking of, I said I won the Twenty Four Seven Scramble. That’s complete bs, I won the Top Prospect battle royal. I got sent through two ladders during the Twenty Four Seven, so my memories a little hazy. Funny, me, a top prospect. Anyway, Nico.” Maero sits forward and claps once. When he does a flash of light moves the scene back to Oz who’s slowly pacing around his table.
 
“Gosh dang, my dude. You really like Jesus. Are you subscribed to Chick Tract? Ooooooohhhh, the dangers of role-playing. Truly, Dungeons and Dragons is a gateway to Hell. Twenty sided dice? That’s exactly how many phalanges the Devil has! And also how many nipples Hitler had if you multiplied them by ten. Unless your God is more of the Norse type where they just go to war all the time. I don’t exactly know what you’re worshiping, but I hope you’re not eating its flesh every Sunday. Remember that time your God turned a woman into a pillar of sand because she had the audacity to look back at the city where her children were burning to death? What righteousness! You really do serve a benevolent God. Sorry, we’ve moved on from that one, haven’t we? How about this: What makes you think you deserve God's love? Why would any of us deserve it? If God is real then we need to find ourselves before he can guide us. If you claim enlightenment then help those in need. If you claim to be a conduit of God then help save others. If you claim to draw power from God or to do God’s work, then show the world love. I might not know your God, but I know humans don’t deserve a God, loving or otherwise, until we can love each other. You won’t find answers in God until you’ve found who you are. In conclusion, SCIENCE!” Oz pulls a lighter from his pocket and flicks it on. He looks at it for a moment, entranced by its movement.
 
“You know, some would say fire’s alive. It breathes, it eats, and it moves to consume more. By definition it’d be alive, right? Well, it doesn’t have cells or a nervous system. You know what does? Jellyfish, but they don’t really think. They just move around and annoy things by stinging them. Would you say they’re alive? Because they’re just there, existing. You know what else does that? TLA. What a segue! Since we’re talking about TLA,” Oz tosses his lighter onto the table. The fire quickly spreads to cover the entire table. The fire rises slowly.
 
“Blaze it.” Maero watches his own lighter’s fire flicker in the night air. He stops the flow of gas and watches it fizzle out. He takes a deep, sullen breath and turns back to the broken house.“I actually have nothing against TLA, he’s just one of the people standing in my way at the moment. But there’s some other stuff I’d like to talk about. If there’s one thing EAW loves its an idiot with a big mouth. As long as your basic and strong, nothing else seems to matter. These people are given everything on a silver platter behind a single challenge and they speak of being discriminated against. I’ve trekked through metaphorical dungeons filled with poison, rats, and hate just to be fucking noticed. What did that get me? A shitty title reign. I’ve been thrown into matches with champions just because they like to see me squirm. All of that and I still suck, I’m still the faceless, nameless warrior thrown into this match as a placeholder. No more. I won’t be suffocated by doubt any longer. I won’t let the world squeeze who I am out and leave me as a generic husk of who I am. I won’t turn into the generic asshole that EAW seems to so love, I’ll remain Maero no matter what. I’ll charge forward into this match afraid but undaunted. If I lose I lose with honor, I lose knowing I didn’t compromise who I am and I didn’t give up. If I die, if I feel that icy grip once again, I’ll use my last breath, my last shred of strength, to smile. Because I’ll know I never backed down. Maybe I’m being a little over dramatic, but my point stands. I’ll be a freak till the end. But no matter what happens...” Maero tosses his lighter into the building and watches the flames begin the climb into the night. “The cockroaches will feast.” Maero chuckles as he begins to walk into the night. The smell of cooking flesh and burning wood fills the night air. Everything fades to black.
 

“Shit, I left my chair in there.”

 
 
(April Song’s preparation for Pain for Pride had been going smoothly enough that the professional had decided to lay down for a mid-day nap inside the comfortable and luxurious Waldorf Astoria hotel. The hotel room had been paid for by her still to be named benefactor, a welcome measure to The Professional seeing as she didn’t have to pay any extra money. As she appears to be lost in blissful sleep, her body starts to twist and shift on the bed as she relives some of her most vivid military memories.)
 
 
Being a cadet sucked ass. It really did. One of the worst parts of it was survival training if I’m being honest, at least for me. For someone used to being pampered a little bit, it was a jarring experience, even after the first year or so of training at the Academy. ESET, they called it. Expeditionary, Survival, and Evasion training. One of the many rigorous exercises was spending 48 hours in the woods attempting to evade capture by some of the older cadets who were acting as an enemy force. No food. No water. Just a knife, a map, a compass and some information that the cadets would “torture” you for if caught. Having not slept in a day and being totally fucking exhausted just trying to keep from being caught by my annoying, higher-ranking cadet brethren was taking its toll. I could start a small fire and eat an unappetizing breakfast of berries and earthworms, but that was about the extent of what I could do. I had a few miles to go yet to get to my “base” and pass the exam that way, but I knew that with the movement and chatter getting closer, I probably wouldn’t make it. Before I could think of any other options, they arrived. The smoke gave away my position rather clearly, but I didn’t care. I was ready to leave that hellhole of a forest, take a hot bath and pack my bags to go home. The first few guys who tried to take me I could deal with easily enough. We could defend ourselves in hand to hand combat, but never with intent to injure…for obvious reasons. It was a training exercise after all. I was tired, especially after fending off a few bigger, stronger guys. The last guy caught me from behind and body slammed me on the grass right onto my ribcage. Fucking OUCH. Suddenly it was like one of those police officer dashcam videos or something you see on cops, a herd of them scrambling over me, putting my hands behind my back, yelling at me to not resist, all that bullshit.


So, I was captured. I probably won’t get high marks on that part of the exam I guess, fuck it. I’m blindfolded and carried to what I could only assume was some makeshift interrogation room. I was really struggling to stay awake at this point but I knew that there was another chance to pass. I did okay enough on the Expeditionary but flat out failed the evasion aspects. If I could survive and maybe even “escape”, then I would be made.


“Heeeloooooo.”


Great. Some dumbfuck wanted to sound like Mary Poppins while I had a throbbing headache. Well, I had been instructed to be polite to those who captured me and cooperate without giving away too much vital information.


“Hello.”


“So…. I was wondering what information you could give me about movements of your team and all.”


“I was wondering when I could take a bath and get something to eat…and if you could kiss my ass.”


Big mistake. As far as I know, the regulations said that if during an interrogation simulation the interrogator chooses to use open palm strikes to non-vital areas, it’s perfectly fine. I got clocked nastily upside the head for my smart mouth.


“Let’s try this again….”


“I am Cadet April Jay Song, ID Number….453….”


Another slap. What the hell for?! I was being nice this time. Mary Poppins was a little too gung-ho for my taste, but she didn’t question me anymore. I had the blindfold finally taken off, Thank God, and could eventually find a way out of that stupid maze during another simulation where they were doing a base raid. It was sloppy, but I got a barely passing grade for my performance. The instructors were pleased enough with my performance in terms of not giving up information and my hand to hand skills were praised highly…. but I was told that my survival skills in the wilderness had to improve. I had to learn to adapt more to my surroundings. Forests, mountains, swamps, cities, villages…they’re all vastly different places but one thing is for certain, weak people don’t tend to survive in any of them long…especially during war.


I went into the exercises perfectly calm and overly confident and was exposed. But I learned from my mistakes. As I got further along in the academy, I took a very impassioned approach to survival training, so much so that I almost wound up teaching various things at the academy before being called upon to be a pilot and part-time combat instructor. A mentor once called me one of the most pig-headed morons he had ever come across…but double tough when I had to be. I don’t really consider myself tough at all though…just adaptable. I do what I must do to survive. It’s a little weird but thinking about that journey from half-witted cadet who nearly failed to a combat veteran is something that can prepare me for something that’s relatively trivial in terms of pro wrestling but that’s where I am. Improvise, adapt, overcome.
 
(After April awakens from her nap, the rounds start to pick up. Media outlets are all swarming the NYC and East Rutherford areas and EAW personalities are in high demand. While feeling more of an urge to train and mentally prepare for her match, April allows herself a moment to take part in some of the hype and revelry. One of the media engagements she’s keeping is in a small sports-themed pub in the heart of New York City, filled to capacity with wrestling fans in the city to attend Pain for Pride or other related events in the area.)
 
 
Wave: Welcome to the Pro Wrestling Podcast of the Intelligent fan, the Wave Peltzer Show. I’m the host, Wave Peltzer and today we have a special guest joining us live in Big Bully’s Pub and Grill, one of the best establishments to grab a pint on God’s Green Earth, April Song from Elite Answers Wrestling. She’s here for Pain for Pride 10 where she will be competing as part of the Divide and Conquer match. We’ll get to that a little later but April, thank you for joining us.

(Camera comes into Ahren Fournier wearing his full Trill Fairy attire and his Hardcore Championship. Flannery is with him. Lets go and see just what they're up to.)

Flannery: Ahren... What is this? What are we doing?

Ahren: Well Flannery seeing that it's Pain For Pride I am in a good mood. I have decided to give the good people of New Jersey a reward. So I am taking to the streets and handing out special treats to the people.

Flannery: Great...

Ahren: Frolic with me Flannery...

Flannery: What?

Ahren: FROLIC!!

(Ahren starts frolicking down the street, and flannery does an awkward jog run after him. Ahren has a bag containing condoms and adult candy from the sex shop he frequently visits.)

Ahren: HERE YOU GO!

(He throws a condom in the face of some woman passing by)

Woman: Ah what the hell just happened?? OW THAT HURT!

Ahren; YOU'RE WELCOME!!

(He keeps frolicking.. Flannery is having trouble keeping up.)

Ahren: HURRY UP FLANNERY YOUR FROLICKING IS SUBPAR

Flannery: I'm out of shape

(Ahren sees a group of girls drinking coffee. He jumps on the table and starts dancing, making it rain condoms. They love it.)

2 of the Girls: YAY NOW WE CAN HAVE ALL THE SEX WE WANT!

Other girl: Uh.. We already do? When was the last time any of us wore a condom.

(Ahren is alarmed by this. He sits down at the other seat that isn't occupied.)

Ahren: Excuse me what did I just hear?

Other girl: What? We don't use condoms, it's not as good with them on.

Ahren: But what about Syphilis? Genital Warts? AIDS? ... I mean Flannery show them your vag.

(Flannery catches up.)

Flannery out of breath: *breath breath* What?

Ahren: Nevermind I have pics on my phone... Look at this girls.

(Ahren shows Flannery's vag to them)

Ahren: Do you really want to be looking like that?

Girls: EWWWWWW your vag is groooooossssss

Flannery: *breath breath* what?

Ahren: Yes it is, now take the condoms, use them. You don't want to be another Flannery.

GIrls: THANKS AHREN!!

Ahren: Hey.. That's Trill Fairy to you.. Flannery.. LETS FROLICK!

(Ahren Frolics off.)

Flannery: God damn it... Stop making me do things.

Girl: Ew, get away from us gross Syphilis vag. 

Flannery: What?

(Flannery frolics off. Meanwhile Ahren is just going Trill Fairy crazy, he's throwing condoms to and fro not missing a soul. Until he sees a little girl with her mom he stops, and gets down on one knee)

Ahren: Hello little girl. Tis I the Trill Fairy.

Little girl: Oh What?! You really exist?! I thought my parents were just lying

Mom: HAHA nope! We weren't lying!

Ahren: It's ok, it's important to forgive and forget any time mothers and fathers give you a hard time. They have difficult things going on in their lives too. Remember that.

Little girl: I will Mr. Trill Fairy!

Ahren: I got something for you.

(Ahren reaches into his sack and whips out a giant penis lollipop that he got from the sex shop. He was thinking about the kids, and knew he needed to get them something, and what do kids love more than anything? Candy!)

Little Girl: Aw thanks Trill Fairy you're the best!

Ahren: Just doing my job. And mom? How you doing? *wink*

(The mom smiles and gives a little wave back at him. Then she and her daughter walk away and Flannery catches up.)

Flannery: I'm going to vomit.

Ahren: Gross.. Anyways, I think I've done a good job today. I think it's time I talk to Zack.

Flannery: By all means. Don't mind me I'll just be dying on the sidewalk.

Ahren: Ew, lift a weight or something.

(Flannery lays on the sidewalk in some gum, she doesn't care, she's dying.)

Oh.. So you're just going to do that then... Uh great. Hey thanks for the walk down memory lane Zack.. SIKE NO THANKS! I'm sure you're very stunned, and very sad right now that I siked you out so bad. But listen Zack, everything in the past shall stay in the past. I mean that was your former vessel wasn't it? And what has this vessel done? I don't know. You see, this vessel is the only one that I've been running with my entire life, and it's been going pretty well. I'm defending my title at the very first PFP that I'm competing at, can you say that you did that? No sir, no you can't. My career is already starting off at a much faster rate of success than yours did. You see Zack the problem with you is that you have no concept or reality. You think these voices or deities are real when they're not. And you have this view of your talent level that just isn't real. You hype yourself up into this idea that you're one of the best. But when I hear about people talking about elitists that are the best, your name never comes up. And that's the reality of who you are, someone that was ok, but never great, who stuck around long enough to watch the real talent leave. And when they left the roster became thin, and seeing you showed loyalty and adequateness they rewarded you. I mean you said it yourself you won your world title because of CITV, after someone else beat up the champion. You didn't even do it yourself! But you're proud of that. I wouldn't be, like I said that's a stat that's falsely bragged about. But I will admit to one thing, I was wrong on which pain for pride I was talking about. It was pain for pride 5 you're right. But the point I was making rings true still. That pain for pride was headlined by rookies that didn't stick around. Sorry I got the 4 wrong when I meant 5, they had like 5 throwback pain for prides articles thrown up at once and I mixed those two up, we all good now? What I meant still rings true. You have been nothing but a backup plan for your whole life.

No no no zack, you got it all wrong. I'm not the one that thinks poorly of this title, I didn't mean I think that it's a lesser title, I was simply using your own actions and words against you. Oh how easy it is to forget the past huh? You and Carson Ramsay had a little thing going on where both of you believed so bad that you deserved a world title match. So you two did battle, and I believe you came out on top? Maybe?  You were the one that was disappointed that you didn't get a shot at the world title. You said, that you were wrong on the title that the deities wanted you to claim. Right? So my question is if you coveted this title so much, if the Hardcore title is #Life, then why would you assume that the voices in your head were talking about the world title when they said you were bound for hold? If this title means so much to you then why oh why did you not automatically assume that the Hardcore title is what you were bound to have? If you wanted this Hardcore title so bad why did it take you until Wednesday to say anything? You see how many people have been talking? But I didn't hear anything from you. No no, You chased for the world title didn't you? And when you didn't get it, you came to me right? No number one contenders match, you just decided to attack me, and take my title. No you're not bound to have this Hardcore championship, maybe they were talking of the tag team titles, or the woman's championship, I think that would be more suitable for you. Of course I think my title is the most premier, I've shown nothing but that in the past. Through all the hellacious matches I've put my body through, of course I think it's worth it. You forget how worthless people thought this title was. And I'm not talking about when it first was a thing, I'm talking about the reincarnation of the title. You know back in August when Nathan Fiora won it. People couldn't care less; winning this title was like the kiss of death. Fiora, not in the company anymore. Jon McAdams, lost in the shuffle. Maero, put in the hospital. The only one with a damn comes from the same cloth as me and that's Drastik. So you see.. no, I don't view this title as any lesser, but through your actions it would appear that you do. You made it seem like your backup plan, and that's why I don't feel satisfied putting this title up against you at pain for pride, but it is what it is. I am the guy that has made this title relevant, and coveted. Combine all the reigns days of all the guys before me and you will see that I've just about had more days holding this title than all of them combined. I have beat more challengers than any of them combined, and I will be glad to put your name on that list. You've been to the top of the mountain Zack, you've done it, and now you find yourself in maybe uncharted territory? You're up against a guy that younger, hungrier, and ready to leap frog you with a win. That doesn't bode well for you. I mean how will people view this? A hall of famer beats a rookie, on paper that's not a big deal right? That's supposed to happen; you're supposed to put me in my place. But on paper the rookie beating a hall of famer that puts me in a league of my own, the world will be my oyster. You become lesser than what you have ever become, and this title gains even more prestige. I mean honestly if you care so much about this title, wouldn't you lose? I think that helps more do more to he brand than you winning. But Zack please for my sake don't take a dive. I want people to see how much of a shell of a man you've become. You thought this new persona would give you everything you wanted, but it hasn't, it's been a giant disappointment hasn't it? Where do you go after you lose to me? What happens to dear old Zack crash. You already lost your mind, and the match, and any chance of gaining any gold.. so what can you do exactly?

Look Zack, all the hardcore things that you've done? I've done it too, so you can't really come into this saying that you have an advantage. I'm hot, I'm at the top of my game, you can't beat me ok? Now as for Nero Maxwell, I don't know who that is, but if I had to venture a guess I would guess it was just some little child. A child that wouldn't know much about anything. Possibly your son, I don't know, I'm just guessing. I really don't know the story of Zack Crash and how you became such a freak. Because I watched back those old PFP and you weren't like this. All this is just an act, it's just a way to try and get into my head, which I get, I too have done my fair share of.. Well what people would deem as weird.. Things too. So there's really nothing you can do to make me fall back, or contemplate just what I'm getting myself into because I already know, and I'm ok with it. I don't think you understand how cowardly you come off, you attacked me from behind, and took my title. Took it to your little shack of props and put it into a shrine. None of this is coming off as hardcore to me, but apparently this is your lifestyle no? You'd know what hardcore is more than me right? Have you been Hardcore Champion before Zack? Serious question  because I have no idea. If the answer is no how can you even begin to challenge me and say that you're more hardcore? Sure you've had some hardcore moments, but me? I live and breath hardcore. I am the Hardcore title. It's not just something I do as a day time job I live my life through this title. Do you not remember the song that I sang? AHEM, well you're not hardcore! Unless you live hardcore! But the legend.. OF the rent.. WAS WAY HARDCOREEEE YAAAA! Ok the last part really doesn't apply, but the first part definitely does. You're not hardcore unless you live in a manner that matches, and I do. I live in the sex dungeon day in day out trying to get my body right for matches like this. It is matches like this that has made me a hardcore icon. People are already saying that I am the greatest Hardcore Champion of all time, and I do agree with them very much. So when you say that I don't deserve this title, and how I have done a bad job with it just because I said  you were lowering your standards, well that's wrong. I don't think you're lowering your standards, but through your own actions, I believe you did. I take on all challengers though because I am a fighting champion, and I will fight you Zack. And I will beat you, and remain, the greatest Hardcore Champion that has ever existed. The End.

Ahren: Ok Flannery I'm done...

Flannery: 5 more minutes

Ahren: Stop... We're going Syphilis vag.

Flannery: Meh..

Ahren: Fine be that way.

(Ahren picks her up and flings her over his shoulder, and frolics away.. Camera fades to black.)