I have to admit, I was a little surprised by the strength of the man, I thought that maybe he’d lost it, maybe he’d no longer have the same swagger, the same movement and agility as he did when we were both young upstarts in the wrestling business looking to make a name for ourselves. He was aged, but he still had it to an extent, a quick right hand, that ice stare gaze in his eyes, the quick temper and berserker like charge – shame he was a drunk or he might still be competing.
I grinned as I lifted my hand and dabbed the back of it against my upper lip, my eyes glanced down at the claret red that splashed across it, drying instantly against my skin like a blotch of reality that no matter how amazing I might claim to be, I am indeed, still human.
I drop my arm and look around the small colourless flat of the man known as Mike Trojan, the room is open plan, the sofa being the key divider between his living room and his kitchen, only two doors leading elsewhere, one to a bathroom, the other to his bedroom, though I couldn’t spot one thing in this little building that overly impressed me. His bed was a mattress, stained and covered with sheets that hadn’t been cleaned for a long time, his sofa, was old, probably 4th or 5th hand by now and with rips in different areas showing years of misuse.
His kitchen was a state as well, the counters hadn’t been cleaned down in a long time, dirty dishes sat in stale mud-like water in his basin and his dented, damaged fridge look soulless and empty and as if it hadn’t seen real food for a long, long time. A small metallic table and chairs had sat nicely at the side of the room, mouldy dinner from long over a week ago sitting on a plate atop it.
At least… That’s what the room looked like when I first walked in.
“Why…Why are you doing this?” Came the voice of a pain ridden Mike Trojan, claret bubbling in his saliva and around his lips as he continued to choke on the blood that came from his missing teeth and burst blood cells from the busting of his nose.
I ignored the question and looked at his tipped up sofa, the table and chairs that had been tipped to one side, the plate with the mouldy food, crashing down upon it and smashing to pieces, a lampshade also in tatters after what had been a stiff difficult struggle at first, but always with the inevitable ending.
“Please talk to me Nick… Please” Came the desperate voice of the blood covered man under my foot, his eyes glaring up at me but his body to badly beaten to continue with any kind of struggle. A large wound around the bridge of his nose was pumping blood and bruising had already appeared around his eyes and down part of his jaw line.
I glanced down at him, my smile fading as I sucked back on my top lip. For a long pause, I remained silent, my eyes telling the whole story.
“Why are you doing this to me, man?” He pleaded, still looking for answers.
“I don’t know” I coldly replied causing him to go silent, a gulp of blood running down his throat as my voice echoed through the disgusting walls of his flat.
“Maybe I’m doing this for fun, or maybe I have a higher purpose, maybe I want you to wake up in hospital and find yourself helpless in that bed and in turn, recognize that your life needs to turn around as mine now has. Who knows? What I DO know is that the society we live in is sick, the world we live in, is sick. Our industry, the thing we both use to love so much, is sick and I’ve decided to take it upon myself to clear it up, to clear people like you… up.”
Mike gulps heavy again and glares at me quietly as I crack my neck, my top lip is still bleeding to my clear amusement as I look down at him with a smile running from ear to ear.
“Damn Mike, you still got a tough right hand, huh?”
“I guess” he said meekly with a suspicious, worried look in his eyes.
“Maybe you should have considered staying in the ring then, instead of turning to drink… Sorry Mike, but this is for your own good!”
“LETH-” His voice stopped mid-word as my boot dropped down across his face and down across his temple, his eyes closing as his skull bounced off the floor from the viciousness of the blow.
Mike lay still, his eyes shut, blood pouring down every crevice of his face and onto the dirty carpet underneath him, I glared down at him with disdain for a moment before dropping to one knee as I saw the build-up of blood in his mouth, lifting him onto his side allowing the blood to freely fall from between his parted lips. I didn’t want him to die, I didn’t want him to do anything but lay in that hospital bed and think about what I had said, what I had done and consider one thing…
‘Why?’
Why did I travel to see him after so many years?
Why did I beat him black and blue?
Why did I tell him my reasons and make him apart of my sick society?
Why did he deserve this?
I wanted him to ask those questions and I wanted him to come up with his answers and hopefully, for his sake and for the sake of my cleansing of the sick society we live in and the sick society of the industry I work in… He would consider his life failures and do what he can to turn them around. It wouldn’t be an easy journey, alcoholism and beating alcoholism is anything but a very difficult disease to get over and it will take up the rest of his life to fight temptation and keep things on track… But the decision was now his and his alone and if he learned his lesson from this beating, then good, because he’ll be a better and stronger man for it when he comes out the other end.
“Ambulance please” I said anonymously down my phone as I continued to look down at the unconscious Mike Trojan.
As they patched me through, I stood back up and walked to Mike’s front door before opening it slightly, I glanced back at him and just touched my top lip again, it was throbbing, but it had finally stopped bleeding.
“A real waste of good talent” I said quietly under my breath before walking out of the door and heading away from the scene.
I told the ambulance crew where he lived and the extent of his injuries, but hung up afterwards leaving none of my own details. Mike had been taught to see what he had become, he had been shown the error of his ways and the clear divide between our lives, though we set off from the same point in our careers, I hoped, would be a bright indication that his life had taken a turn for the worse and that he needed to change, to be a better person, to be a better role model and to be the man of experience, the youth of the wrestling world tomorrow, needed, not guys like Orlando Cruze, not guys like Johnny Kingdom, who teach them that material objects and overnight success is achievable for little to no work at all.
The wrestling world needed to take a step backwards just like Mike Trojan did, it needed to reflect and develop, it needed to change back to the formula that worked.
Lessons needed to be taught by the people in power and the industry needed to change.
The Sick Society, needed to be cleansed once and for all.
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The sun slowly begun to rise into a sky that exploded into a fiery apocalypse of colour, I had opened the curtains of our hotel room and glanced over the city of Detroit, my mind thinking briefly to that of Mike Trojan and the night before, however, the image of his bloody face didn’t disturb me, no, it enlightened me, it bought me peace, for I had sent a message, a message of war against the Sick Society and its members and soon, more would feel my cold wrath and the industry I loved, would finally be free of its sick, destructive claws.
With the panoramic view in front of me, a gentle, soft hand flowed down my arm and across my stomach underneath my shirt that sent goose bumps up my spine and an excitable sensation through my mind, I smiled as my wife had awoken from her slumber, her head pressing itself against my back, the only thing covering her being that same silk like cover that I had left her in.
“What are you thinking?” She whispered as she held me close.
“That today is going to be a good day” I said, my eyes continuing to gaze as my hand moved down to hers, the two of us linking fingers.
“Because we are leaving Detroit?” She said referring to the next show in Chicago.
“No… Because today begins a new age of my career, a new age of my life, where happiness with those I love and indulgment in the things I have earned are deservedly mine to enjoy, but retribution and a pain ridden resolve to eliminate the cancers that stricken darkness upon this world, are slowly removed from power, removed from dominance and shown an option, to continue being hurt, or learn a lesson and take a lighter path” I said, reeling off into my own drivel for a moment as I enjoyed speaking out about my intentions. Sheryl frowned with confusion and just glared at the ground for a moment, I turned to her and just held her head underneath the chin, gently forcing her to glare up into my eyes.
“I’m confused” She admitted thinking about my words.
“Don’t worry” I replied before kneeling down and gently kissing her lips. “All it means to me and you, is that you no longer have to worry about me leaving or going anywhere. I am with you and I love you and no matter what else happens, I shall always give you my best”.
She smiled gently and grabbed my face gently kissing me again, but this time it lasted longer, it was passionate and it stirred things in me, feelings I knew well. I gently pulled away from her and grinned again from ear to ear looking for a sign that she was thinking the same as I was, then she smiled back at me, a sly, mischievous grin that told me everything I needed to know.
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Slaying the Sick…
I often wonder where this industry would have been without me, I often consider the future of the business had I not come into it. Would somebody else have stepped in to take my place? Would someone have risen to the pinnacles I have? Maybe even beyond what I did?
It was one of those alternative dimension kind of questions, you’d never know the true answer, you could only guess from what you had seen and the knowledge of the things you were talking about and the truth is, had I not come along, had I chosen a different career path for myself, maybe working as a tradesman, or staying in England and going into sales, I honestly think Wrestling would be dead.
A sport that drags in small minority crowds and takes place in small gymnasiums, I think that even some of the small independent federations that are outside of this professional sport would struggle to ever cope, most of them would be dead or drawing in such small numbers they might as well be.
But is that arrogant of me?
Maybe, but I don’t think so, because I look back to the early days of my career, when I’d be found working in the independents and competing for titles like the ‘Hard-core’ championship or fighting for television title belts and I’d actually struggle against competitors at that level because I was green, because I was still learning the business, the sport. The difference is, back then, when I was green, the sport was in a major decline, the happy days of colourful wrestling was beginning to bore people and crowds were dwindling with the odd company or event actually making waves, but rarely dragging in or making new fans outside of the normal wrestling ‘marks’ if you will.
I think back to the likes of WFN, a federation that was huge in its time, probably the biggest single federation in the wrestling world between 1996 and 2002, a federation owned by the father of the woman I married, Sheryl Marie Grey. As good as it was, the federation was in decline like the entire industry was and until 1998 never really turned a massive profit, the change came at around the same time, I begun to make waves to.
At the time, the headline acts were Cell Block and 6 Pac and the two stables they led, the CDC and the Dudley Wolf Pac, sure, the names sound ridiculous now, but back then, these guys really drew a crowd and put ass’s on seats, the problem was, they didn’t do it nearly as consistently as they needed to and the feuds lacked a certain spice demanded by this new more demanding audience, the days of a ‘punch, punch, headlock, kick, big boot, leg drop, finish’ types of matches were done and gone and the days of real technical and thought out battles had begun.
Call it luck, but I happened to fall right into that small minority of wrestlers, guys who knew how to make a match and how to build on the science of creating something special and the fans noticed, watching me grow week in and week out, from a relative newcomer making waves in the lower divisions and remaining undefeated for over 6 months, to joining the CDC under Cell Block and single handedly battling my way to become the World Heavyweight Champion, having long drawn out feuds with the like of Mike Trojan and Corporal Punishment.
I married the daughter of the company, took Scott Grey for everything he was worth and between 2000 and 2002 ran the company alongside my new wife successfully, that was until Scott Grey won his court case, taking the naming rights from us.
In some degree, this helped me and my career grow even further, I begun competing in other top federations, drawing with different audiences, different circles and remaining heavily successful everywhere I went… I became the number one guy in the business, anywhere you went, anyone you asked, mentioned me.
The world had become wrestling fans, the wrestling world had become a draw, FINALLY the business had made it mainstream and the fans, the competitors, the businesses could all be proud of who they were and what they did, the fans would wear our merchandise without being mocked or marginalised by others, it suddenly became ‘cool’ to be a fan and the man at the peak of that mountain, the man setting those pinnacles and lifting that bar was me… Only me.
If I had never done this, had I never competed in this business, could someone else have come in and done exactly the same? I don’t think so, I never saw competitors helping me out when I was lifting that bar, nobody competed ‘with me’, nobody helped me lift this business from being nothing to something, so why would my disappearance mean somebody else could have done the same as me? Bullshit!
I worked my ass off to achieve what I did for myself and for this business and I stand out as a performer to the world because of the efforts I put in and because I came from nowhere to become ‘the man’ for a long fucking time without anyone knocking me off or even coming close and this is what bothers me, this is what has changed about the business, about the people I now see around me.
The whole reason I chose to explain my career, where I came from and what I did, the reason I publicly ask the question “Could somebody else have done it?” is simply because in my day, every wrestler was a grafter, some were technically proficient, others were rough with no particular style, others had beautiful craft and flew through the air like birds, but the bottom line always came back to the fact, that the best got there because they earned their dues and because they worked the hardest and did the most to achieve it!
The best were the best because they had proven they had what it took to hold the mantle and run with it, to lead a locker room and to make the ratings continue to rise.
The other reason I talk about my career like this to you the fans, isn’t to go on some egotistical rampage of information, but to explain my reasoning’s for why the Sick Society must fall and why the business needs to change back to the way it once was.
Look at my career as the proof of what I say if you will, for my career begun to trail off as I begun to pick up knocks and injuries, yet, I never took time off, I never left, I worked for everything I had and wanted to keep the business going, Sheryl had done something to only further the business more, she had finally let loose the project she had worked on since the falling of the WFN, a little federation at the time, known as ULW.
Many of you will know ULW, you’ll remember it highly and I don’t mean the IWC phase which killed off all the momentum ULW had built successfully, but the rise of United Livewire Wrestling, the home that topped the ratings every week, that put giant federations like SCW, CMW to the sword and eventually had a roster that couldn’t be matched by anyone else in the industry. AWOL, Chapel, Curtis Jack, Orlando Cruze, Nathan Creed, Psycho, Killjoy, Desolation, Johnny Kingdom, Daemon Frost, Hurse to name but a few, they were invincible and for the first time, while many will remember my career in ULW as dominant, few would discuss it as successful, so much so that I went to SCW, my wifes rivals, claimed the World title there and ran the company as my own for a short while only for those same injuries to come back and cause me problems. It was in the dawn of the yearly show of Paranoia, that I accepted my pending retirement, I accepted that the business could live without me in it and that walking away was the best thing for all parties concerned.
The man I saw as the true bearer of the future of this business…Orlando Cruze, the ULW golden boy, he was loved and he was huge, coming from nothing in the ranks of the EWF and the UCWF, he slowly worked and earned his way to the top and in him, I saw a man who epitomized everything that was good about the business, he had taken the falls, he had hit the lows, he had suffered the crap wages and the all night car journeys from show to show before finally making it to the big time of the ULW, just as I had years before with the WFN, he was a shining light, a beacon of hope.
He fought me at Paranoia in a battle, loved and revered by many as the best match that ever took place in a wrestling ring. He beat me.
In that moment, the torch was passed and I left the business quietly and satisfied, I was happy to be gone and I was delighted to have found faith in a new face who could lead the sport I loved to something even bigger then I had…
Problem is, look around you now, have a look at the state of the wrestling world in 2012.
People commented on my returns to this business, my small ‘retirements’ and they claimed I was coming back for the limelight, for the success, because I couldn’t get enough of it, but be serious for a moment… I only come back and get the limelight and the success because I am a fucking god to this business, because I am a messiah to its survival, if I was just a generic name, nobody would give a fuck if I returned or not! But they do give a fuck because I am The Lethal Weapon, the king of kings, the legend to rule all legends.
Orlando Cruze failed in what he tried to accomplish, he failed miserably because the business has died, ratings are down, wrestlers walk into a fed like FWA and assume they’ve made it and can suddenly act like the big shots! Everyone is on high wages and living the high life, taking plane journeys to shows, driving in fast cars, eating in fancy restaurants. It sickens me.
What happened to earning your way? What happened to fighting in the ring for the passion of competition? What happened to holding the World title because it meant more than a fucking pay rise?
The Sick Society, the mentality of the world has been engulfed in success for so long and now the economies are biting back, the recessions are making everyone realise that you have to work hard to be a success and those who took the elevator to the top instead of the stairs is now finding it difficult to keep there balance and one by one, they are falling ungracefully back to the bottom of the pile, all over the world this is happening, in every industry…
Except ours…
…Eli Legacy is a prime example, walking into a big contract, enjoying the benefits of the business, enjoying the paycheques and the rewards that guys like me gave them without ever showing any respect for those before him. Eli Legacy is a kid who walked into this business and got handed everything, he didn’t get taught a damn thing and considering he knows guys like Doctor Ian, Greg Venom, you’d think he might know better, you’d think THEY might know better. Obviously not.
But that is what my cause is here to do…
It is to teach people a lesson, it is to change the bearings of the business, the cleansing of the Sick Society is there to bring the wrestling industry into line with the rest of the world, it is there to make the kids of today remember the rights of passage, the rights to what they have, the cleansing of the Sick Society…
…Is in every man and woman’s best interests…
…It’s here to save the business I love, from total devastation…
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“Welcome to Chicago, are you Mr. Harris?” Came a voice from my side as I walked out of the airport terminal doors into the main lobby. The area was surrounded by people, many of them holding up cards with peoples surnames on them, including the man who was speaking to me.
“I am” I said turning to him and glancing down to see the card reading my name on it, I turned to Sheryl with a confused glare and then back to the man. “I didn’t order transfers”
“I know, this was pre-booked by members of the FWA board, they are requesting that you and your wife, Mrs Grey come with me as they’d like to discuss things with you” Said the driver clearly explaining every tiny bit of knowledge he knew, his mind now running blank with no extra information with which to explain things to me further.
“I see” I said, not bothering to waste my time with further questions that this man clearly wasn’t going to answer.
“Can I take your bags?” Said the man, gesturing to the roll along suitcases of me and my wife.
“Yeah, yeah sure” I said handing my bag over to him and watching as he took them with a kind servant like smile before turning and walking toward to the electric double doors that automatically open up to the waiting area.
“Any idea what this is about?” Came the confused voice of my wife causing me to frown further as I tried to work it out.
“Not a clue” I admitted watching as we walked to a very luxurious looking Mercedes S Class.
The driver let go of my wifes bag and opened the back door gesturing for us to get in silently, we did as we were told, but cautiously, my wife entered first, followed by me, both of us getting into the back, once in, the driver closed the door behind us and placed our bags into the boot of the car, however, to our surprise, the passenger door opened first and a man got in, a grey haired man that I had seen many times backstage at our events.
“And you are?” I said bluntly causing the man to turn to us and smile, his face was kind, but I instantly didn’t trust him.
“Mr. Hooton, I am one of the board members for the FWA. It was actually my idea to pick you up and have this meeting” He said with the same smile as the driver entered and then instantly begun to pull out of the parking space and drive into town.
“Ok, want to give us a little more explanation?” Said Sheryl just as bluntly, the man, taking a much more serious expression with my wife, clearly aware of her business pedigree merely nodded in agreement.
“Of course, well, without saying to much before the other board members arrive… We are discussing a possible takeover” He said causing both myself and Sheryl to sit shocked, but still very confused.
“Ok, so what does that have to do with me and my wife?” I asked
“We want you two to head the takeover and what’s more, Mrs Grey, we want you as the chairlady for the reasons that we want the ULW… To come back” Said the man causing Sheryl’s jaw to practically drop, like her, my eyes widened but neither of us looked totally convinced.
“The ULW died a long time ago” She said sadly, her mind clearly going into overdrive, fighting a battle between heart and mind.
“I know, but, it never died on bad terms and we simply believe that the return of such a dominant, well known company would be a huge boost to ratings and to reputation” Said the man causing Sheryl to continue to weigh things up in her head.
“I don’t understand, what about the FWA? Does Riley know about this?” I said assertively.
“No, if he finds out, he’d surely shoot the idea down, Riley doesn’t want to play second fiddle to Mrs. Grey and the only true way for ULW to come back would be if Mrs. Grey was at the helm of it, furthermore, we are hoping the return of the infamous initials will encourage the return to the ring of many of its former talents.” The man said causing me to scoff with amusement.
“I don’t expect that to happen, most of them are to busy getting drunk to care about returning” I said with a smile.
“But the ones that are not?” He quickly replied causing me to silently glare at him with a look of distain. “Let us speak no more here, lets discuss this over lunch, ok?”
“Ok” Said Sheryl, her eyes flicking across to me before looking back out of her window, she was actually considering this, she was considering bringing back the ULW and pushing Riley Addison aside.
…I really didn’t know how I felt about this, the ULW was a great federation for many reasons, but the talent it once had is gone, the boom of the business that made it successful, has gone to. I sighed heavily and just placed my hand on my wifes thigh, I might not like her consideration over this, but I knew the idea of bringing back her baby, the thing she loved as much as her family would be ever so tempting, more than anybody else might begin to contemplate or realise.
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Carnage #10
It seems the new trio being talked about are being given a run out to see how they work together, Rayne Young, Eli Legacy, Jacob Laymon, two of them members of aftermath, the other one, a close ally as far as I can tell, against a mis-match of names, Priest, Tommy Dewitt and of course me.
I’m not normally one to criticise the booking team of this company, I normally leave that cliché bullshit to the likes of Glory Braddock and Jacob, but I have to admit, that this crazy sounding 6 man tag leaves one scratching his head and wondering what the hell Riley was taking when he booked it? I personally have no quarrel with Tommy, the guy paid his dues, he worked hard in the business and he came up the hard way, sure, he got it easy in the FWA, getting two title shots in a row, but he got the job done second time around and if you can get things finished, that’s all that matters right?
As for Priest, me and the big man have history, most of which, if not all of which he has been on the wrong end of, but I can team with him for the betterment of the end result and if it means I can get my hands on Rayne and Jacob, I’m not going to argue to much.
But oh well, we have to play the cards we get dealt and if this is my team for the main event of Carnage then so be it, the fact is, you could team me with Piddle and Plop, but if I get the opportunity to step into that ring, whether its Eli, Rayne or Jacob, or going to be beating ass and smashing the place up, because quite frankly, I have a beef with all three of these guys.
It’s no lie for me to tell anyone that me and Eli Legacy, we come from two different places, two different times, two different mentalities. I believe in fighting from the bottom, working your way to the top and earning your dues, he believes in fast track success, big wage packets and lots of money to support his over inflated egotistical nature and that’s fine, I’ve seen these tear drops in a waterfall before and as the saying suggests, sooner or later, he is going to hit the bottom and get lost in the mess, because the fact is, Eli Legacy’s are 99 in 100, they are common, over played clichés who think to highly of themselves without any back up to suggest they have anything going for them.
Oh wait, Eli won the Atlantic Championship right?
Sure he did, but lets face the fact, Eli won the championship against a guy who hasn’t been active for the best part of two months, a man who had only just recovered from injury, a man who hadn’t ever defended that title before, so was it really a big success for Eli? Nope, I would say he got the job done and finished off a sub-par Michael Kyzer the way everyone expected him to and anything less would have made him a laughing stock! But I know, what he will say next, he lasted the longest in the rumble, nearly an hour, the third entrant and the man who came 3rd place when everything was said and done.
But Eli, lets look back at the tapes, go back and watch the pay per view for a moment will you, because you say you were in the ring for around an hour and I agree, you done a good job to last, but to say it affected your stamina or your fitness or anything like that is bullshit, you spent most of the match sitting on your ass doing fuck all but getting your breath back, so sure, you survived, but the only real time you did anything to get into the match and do something worthwhile, came about 4 whole seconds before your ass landed hard on the mats outside!
You fucked around and sat down and let everyone else do the work and now you are going to sit there and bore the life out of me and every fan watching by telling us that you did this and you did that when really, you achieved nothing and impressed nobody.
Eli, I might have come in toward the end of the rumble, but have a look at the record books, have a look at the booked main event at Warfare & Riots, ask yourself, who is the man fighting in the main event? Who’s the guy going on to compete for the World Heavyweight Championship? Is it Eli Legacy? Is it Jackie Daniels? Is it Rayne Young?
Like fuck is it.
It’s the oldest guy in the federation, its Lethal Weapon, the king of kings, the legend to rule all legends and the reason it’s me is because no matter how many times I retire, no matter how times I come back, no matter how many times idiots like you doubt me, doubt what I can do and doubt what I am about, I come back and prove you wrong, I come back and prove to the world that the man who deserves to stand on top of that mountain once again isn’t some young piece of shit with an attitude deserving of nothing but a slap across the face, isn’t some bullshit veteran who’s forgotten his roots and the way he got into this business, it’s me, a man who stands up for the industry, a man who stands up for the true meaning of the wrestling business, a man who is proud to call out the fakes and the phonies of this industry, people like you Eli and tell you the facts, the facts that you got your life handed to you on a plate, the fact that your career is a sham and while you might have talent, your attitude, your mentality speaks volumes about everything that is wrong with the business today!
How many times have you been cut open Eli? How many times have you bleed for this sport? How many times have you walked into an independent federation, not one that’s on television and fought a match just to pay for your petrol to the next show? How many fucking times? Huh?
You haven’t, you haven’t ‘got by’ in life, you haven’t done what you need to do to survive, you haven’t accepted the horrible, gut wrenching matches that make you bleed from every section of your body just because it pays a little more and might buy you a nice dinner for a little change, no, you haven’t done any of these things, not because they don’t exist, because they do, but because you, like many of the young names in this business, have decided to cash in on the fast track option to success, you have gone straight into title matches and come straight into the federation demanding respect and opportunities.
Bullshit!
I don’t respect you, I don’t like you and I don’t like the opportunities you’re getting and you know why Eli? Because the fact is, you don’t deserve them, you haven’t earned them and until I see a fire in you, a fire in you for the competition, for the honour of merely standing in the middle of that ring with someone like me, then kid, for all I care, you can go straight to hell and every time we meet, you won’t get given respect or opportunities, you’ll be given a right hand to the mouth and another and another until finally your mouth can no longer keep dragging you into situations you can’t handle.
I see that Rayne and Jacob have dragged you along for the ride, they must see something in you, probably the same gold mongering mentalities that those two have, the same bad attitudes too, but more than that Eli, like Glory, Jacob is a clever man, he see’s you wanting that fast track to the top and guess who’s at the top, him. So why would he want to face a young man like yourself when he can just team with you and stop your progression by controlling you whether you like it or not? Fact is, you align with Jacob, you align with Rayne, your say, your opinion, your view is going to mean fuck all, it’s a shaky truce at the best of times with Laymon and Young, you think they are going to bow down and listen to what some upstart cocky piece of shit like you has to say? Bullshit and I’m sure deep down, you know better than that as well.
****
Rayne Young, I don’t think we’ve competed against one another since PRIDE and lets be honest, we all remember how that ended right? Or maybe you don’t, so why don’t I refresh your memory?
You got your ass handed to you, you got beaten black and blue and you got thrown around the arena and shown how this sport is done by the best in the business and the best thing about the whole pay per view match we had Rayne, was that I had been out of the business for a long fucking time and STILL hadn’t got rid of my ring rust when we faced off, so imagine how bad I could beat your ass now I just won the Dedication Royal Rumble and beat every single superstar in the FWA and the MCW to become the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship? Something you haven’t been able to compare yourself to for a very long time huh?
You know Rayne, I look at this new angle I’ve decided to take up in my life, this ‘sick society’ route for my career and sometimes in my most doubtful of moments, I wonder if I just got people wrong, if people should be free to do what they want, how they want and whether or not this business just needs the downtime its on, whether or not a business like this simply cannot sustain the mainstream attention that it once enjoyed for more than a short period of time? Like it’s the nature of the beast or something!
But then I look at you, I look you in the eyes and I stare you up and down and I see the clear personification of the ‘sick society’ I am talking about, a man who doesn’t provide anything positive to this industry anymore, a guy that doesn’t take the youth of today under his wing, a man who doesn’t preach about the veterans way of being in this business, a man who ignores and spits on the basics of this sport that he was bought up on, a man who has clearly forgotten his past, his beginnings and now just enjoys the melodramas of his current life.
Rayne Young, between deaths, suicide attempts and any other soap like dramas you expose your life to, you have turned your back on this business, on what this business means and on your responabilities to the youth of tomorrow, teaching them right from wrong, teaching them what it is to be a superstar and how they go about doing things the right way, you turned your back on everything by doing that and for that, simply put, you’re a punk.
And don’t try to kid me that this bullshit with bringing Eli Legacy along with you is anything but another fucking rouse of yours, I mean really lets face it, Eli is on the run of his career, he is winning titles and showing you up, do I like him? Do I like how he’s doing things? No, do I like his fast track into the business? Not at all, but the fact is, he is making people talk about him and all you’re doing Rayne is riding the coat tails, same as you did for Annie, same as you did with Kirsta, same as you did with Jacob Laymon and everyone else in recent years and why?
Because Rayne Young is so desperate a competitor in the last 5 years of his career, that he can no longer draw a crowd like he use to. He has officially passed his sell by date and has become cannon fodder for the younger guys in the business and the boys who want to be able to say they claimed the spout of some kind of wrestling legend – well – someone who use to be a wrestling legend.
You won’t agree with me, of course you won’t, but lets face it, you haven’t done anything significant with your career for a long time and when the MCW opened back up, you jumped at the chance of joining every other relic in running back to the supposed home of Whitecloud because you knew it was the one place Rayne Young might still ‘get over’ with the fans. Was it not the reason you chose to join MCW in the rumble huh? Was it not the reason you came out in the headgear and the t-shirt, was it not the reason you kept it some big surprise until the moment you walked out, because though Rayne Young can’t hang in the ring anymore, the one thing Rayne Young can still do and this is a credit I’m about to give you, is he can create suspense.
Problem is, that suspense, that build up always ends in disappoint and at the Rumble, nothing changed, you walked in, you got the crowd fired up and in an embarrassing turn of events that saw Piddle and Plop even outlast you in the ring, Greg Venom threw your ass over the top rope and down to the mats and BOOM, Rayne Young was gone… Good fucking job.
Rayne, do yourself a favour, listen to the critics, listen to the voices, listen to your own god damn body… You suck… You don’t have it anymore which is why you haven’t won a significant match in years, so quit, quit now and stop yourself doing anything else stupid, seriously.
*******
I guess that leaves me with Jacob Laymon, the World Champion.
You know what, I’m not going to come out here and rip you apart and call you every name under the sun because quite frankly, I was impressed, I was impressed that through everything Glory tried, with the threat of Dante appearing at anytime, with the momentum of Glory’s record breaking reign as champion, you STILL came out with the belt around your waist and as the new champion of this company, for that I’m actually impressed with you Laymon.
Now I saw Glory run off with that title and like everyone else, I haven’t got a fucking clue what she done with it, but that’s not our problem right? End of the day, Riley deals with things like that and last time I checked, Addison wasn’t short of a little bit of cash, but what does bother me and you Laymon is that at Warfare and Riots, the conclusion of the Dedication Rumble comes to life and we are going to be placed in a ring with one another, one on one for the World Title.
I know what you might be thinking, ‘What’s the big deal?’ right? We have faced one another before, actually, the last time we did, you went on to beat me in the middle of the ring, I remember that, you remember that and it wasn’t that long ago, so I’m sure the fans remember it to, so why would Warfare and Riots, the World title on the line make a difference, why would facing me one on one at a pay per view make any kind of difference to the outcome, right?
Because it makes ALL the difference, because beating you to take that title means everything to me, because going to Warfare and Riots and smashing you from pillow to post, beyond satisfying my own enjoyment, will give me the endorsement that I require, the endorsement that says “Lethal, you still got it” even as the oldest man on the roster, even as the most experienced guy that stepped into that Rumble, against two different federations worth of wrestlers, I could hold the belt above my head and say… I’m still the best.
Jacob, I’m sure you’ve listened at least in part to my ramblings recently about the Sick Society and knowing you, I’m sure you’ve shrugged the entire thing off and ignored or arrogantly turned your nose up at every comment I’ve made, especially those concerning you, especially those that suggest, you, a former owner of a little known federation called MCW, you, a former and now current World Champion, you, a man of experience in the industry and the business, YOU, are a man who ignores his responsabilities as a veteran of this sport, a man who ignores his rights of passage, you, like so many others, are a member of this sick society and holding that title – well, when you get it back – only glorifies my point more, because someone like you doesn’t deserve the honour of holding the title.
For years, ever since Cruze beat me at Paranoia, I’ve been coming back, but I’ve always come back and tried to do what’s right for the roster, I’ve tried to help the young kids out and I’ve tried to support this business and while you might bring up Luke Tanner and that whole circus of events, that’s fine, go ahead, but I’m going to quote something else you said that proves my point and actually GOT me thinking about the Sick Society in the first place.
Jacob, you said to me, that the one thing you knew about me was that beyond the love of my family, beyond the love of my friends, beyond the love of material things, the one thing you knew about me above all else, was that I loved this business, I loved this industry, I loved what we do.
Because of this, you know what winning that World title means to me and because of this, you know how dangerous an opponent I can be in this situation and the fact that I am a big game player, so what you done by beating me a few weeks ago, really, the result can be thrown out of the window, because take a look back over the last two pay per views, your ‘friend’ and fellow legend Rayne Young fights me at PRIDE, he takes on a Lethal Weapon that is full of ring rust and hasn’t competed for around two years and guess what happens… Rayne loses in a match that most of these kids nowadays would have walked away from.
Dedication, against all the odds, the oldest, most experienced son of a bitch in both the FWA AND the MCW, walks out with nothing to lose, eliminates a handful of stars and goes on to win the Rumble and earn his shot at the World title, in both matches Laymon, I was considered the underdog, partly because of my age, partly for other reasons and this time is no different, the world is going to look at Jacob Laymon Vs Lethal Weapon and it’s going to consider you the favourite to retain your championship, its going to consider me, the underdog trying to relive his prime.
It feels like De-Ja-Vu because I’ve been here so many fucking times and proven the world wrong, in MCW, under your leadership, I even claimed the World title in 2008 and went on to win a 6 man Weapons Lair match against the best the MCW had to offer at the time and even as the champion, nobody believed I could do it, my career has been built on defeating the odds and going against the grain, so come Warfare and Riots, nothing changes and once again, Lethal Weapon is going to hold gold over his head in triumph.
I’m not underestimating you Jacob, I recognize that any battle between the two of us is going to be a war and deep down, you know that to be true as well, so come Carnage #10, when I step into that ring and fight your boys back, you are going to have a decision, fight me now and risk losing your momentum to me when I beat you in the ring, risk getting hurt or worn down by me only weeks away from your first defence of that title, or back off and keep a safe distance, that choice is yours, but knowing Laymon, it will always be the bull in a china shop technique and when you attempt it… Trust me Jacob…
…I’ll be waiting.
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