Post by Josh Eagles on Feb 19, 2011 17:11:55 GMT -5
It was always great when your muscles hurt in the good way. The last two days of work out with Shawn Stevens had been the best I had in a very long time. Now was the day you let your muscles rest and you put your mind to work and as I walked down the halls of the Cooksville Community Center looking for Alex Avice I did just that. Last night I had watched many videos on Stephen Callaway and reviewed my matches with Haven. The more I watched the more I realized how talented these young kids were and the more I realized they were not ready for the big shots. They were aggressive, they were quick on their feet, but they were rash and they made mistakes. Callaway seemed to look like he had confidence in his scouting and knew an opponent and what they would do, while Haven was still just a young rookie.
My mind swarmed with ideas of how to face them, so much I almost walked right by Alex Avice who was sitting at a table hunched over jotting something down in his notepad. I smiled a little watching the little man hard at work probably trying to break his next big story. Avice was truly a man trying to make a huge break in the reporting world and I think he wanted to be more then just a backstage reporter one day, I believed he wanted to be a writer.
"What's the big story Alex?"
He jumped and turned around, it was comedic he hadn't seen or heard me coming. Something I should have realized because he never missed a chance to try and chat with me, apparently I always made a great story.
"Didn't mean to startle you Alex, I was just looking for you. Figured you would want an interview and I was interested in being the first for once."
"Ummm, yeah, sure ... I mean that sounds great Josh."
Alex closed up the notebook he was scribbling in and looked up at Josh with a smile as he looked for his hand held pocket recorded and a mic.
"So what was that you were working on?"
"Just a story for the website. Was talking about how this upcoming Main Event is the most important main event in the history of the Kingdom of Pride."
It was interesting he said that I studied him as he collected his things wondering how he figured a steel cage match that was supposed to be set between two bitter rivals that turned into a triple threat match for a vacant championship was defining in the history of the Kingdom of Pride..
"Care to explain a little more, you've caught my interest."
"Well it's simple really. The KoP is looking to make itself a stand out federation, never before have they reached the heights in which they are at now and they want it to become better. Right now we are staggered by our own champion walking out on us, which doesn't look very good. Now we have the person who should be champion in the first place facing off against two people who never give up and represent what we stand for. We are crowning the champion who will be bringing us towards our future."
Out of all the factors I had considered in this match that had never been one of them. The winner of this match would shape the entire future of the KoP, would truly be the person who defined the fed. Chris Hart left the company, Christian Kane left the company. This federation had been plagued with champions who didn't stand by it for whatever reasons and I was a person who had done nothing but fight for the company. So were Callaway and Haven, we were the ideal people to be champions. We would never give up and never stop fighting. We were champions to the end.
"I like that outlook on this match and I think it makes it mean that much more to me."
"Are you sure? There is no doubt what you stand for and how hard you fight Josh, but you wanted Christian Kane, you wanted to take him out and you've been after him all month. It's hard to tell if it was about the championship or about revenge."
"Valid point and I asked myself that same thing. Was I upset for Kane stealing the championship and making a mockery of it and my career? Of course, who wouldn't be. But in the end CK has walked from this company and part of that reason I can't help but feel is realizing what I've been saying, it's hard to be a champion and he knew he wouldn't beat me in that cage. I gained the upper hand, something few people have done against him and it wasn't something he could handle. No, this is about the championship, it's about the Kingdom and it always has been."
Alex raises his eyebrows, he doesn't believe the words coming out of my mouth.
"Two weeks back you stood in front of our audience and you said it was about you now Josh, that you were going to do what you had to do ... something for yourself."
"I still intend to Alex. I want to be the champion, I want to have the glory that I once had and I want to rebuild this company. I want to do it because I have earned it and I want to do it to make me happy, but it doesn't change the fact that I would make a great champion. When I came to the Kingdom I fought hard in a gauntlet and came up short. I took on Adam Abel and I won, no matter who attacked me I fought back. I fought against the UWL, I beat Chris Hart and I showed CK for the fraud that he is. I've never backed down from a fight and I've never disappointed.
In the short time here I have become the biggest and most consistent main stay on the roster. I have headlined all but one large event since I've been here and the only reason I've lost is because of a whole different company. I've given my heart and soul to this Kingdom, MY Kingdom and I do not feel ashamed for wanting to be it's champion."
"You have given a lot to the Kingdom, but at what cost? You've turned the fans away from you, you've shown you were unstable and frankly willing to stop at nothing to win."
I couldn't argue the point that the fans had turned on me. Even between myself and CK it would have been a close toss up on who they wanted to win. But in this I would not be the man whose name would be cheered and that had been my own fault.
"I don't apologize or nor do I change what I said. The Kingdom does need a champion who will do whatever it takes to defend it and say whatever needs to be said. It doesn't mean I am a person who doesn't care about the people or the place that puts the food on my table. It just means that I am a man who realizes that no matter what needs to be done it MUST be done."
Alex stops and thinks clearly pondering what I said, wondering if it made any sense. I sit down beside the man.
"Alex I have fought my entire life for the past 2 years, no even 6 years to have myself climb to the top of a company and be it's fixture. In the UWL I won the championship three times, but it was Shawn Stevens who defined that company. I climbed to the top of Power on Wrestling, but I didn't define that company. The UWC I was champion, but am I the man who defines the company? PWF I fought with all my heart but I was missing what it took. All around the world and in as many companies as I can remember I fought my way to the top and I was crowned champion but it never lasted and I never made a real difference.
It is always been the peoples careers I have built along the way that have mattered. Now I want to make my career the one that matters, I want to finally define a company and be it's champion and I am going to let my 'rule' of the Kingdom if you will be one that people remember. My opponents are not without their merit and not without their upsides, but they are not the people who can lead this company."
"Why do you think that? Why can't Stephen Callway or Luke Haven lead this company into the future? Two talented men that never give up and are always getting better."
"Because they are the future not the present. Before their time is done they will lead a company and they will make their impact and I have no doubt that I will be instrumental at some point in raising one of them to that pedestal. But the present of this Kingdom is with me. Someone who has never truly stepped into the spotlight, men who have small cult followings are not what we need right now. This is my element, when the pressure is on and when everything is on the line is when I bring my best game."
Alex stands up shaking his head.
"You make it sound like it's a political election. It doesn't matter what this company needs, it matters on who wants it bad enough. I look at Luke Haven and his two matches against you and how fast he has gotten better, I look at the way Callaway prepares for a match and know he knows what he is getting into and that he will fight."
"You're right again. Yes it's not an election everything will be determined in actions and not words. Has Haven gotten far better? Yes everytime he steps in the ring he learns far more then one could imagine but he still has never beaten me. Does Callaway prepare? Yes every match he is ready to see where it takes him, but just as often as not he still loses. The reasons is he hasn't figured out how to apply all of his talents, how to keep calm and cool. He always has a plan or an angle and he can never adapt because he is always searching for something new.
I see what is in front of me Alex and I prepare for it and I adapt to anything that changes. A week ago I was taking on one person who was completely different inside that cage and now I'm taking on two people who I have no mental edge on, but the experience plays to my favor. We've heard many stories in the Kingdom of people who have scratched and crawled their way to the top and many ignore mine like it doesn't matter. Yes I have won multiple titles, but nobody respects me as a champion because I can never hold them or make them mean anything. Now I am going to do that, all these years are going to mean something."
Alex runs his hand through his hair and looks at me trying to figure me out.
"Then what are you going to do Josh? How are you going to win?"
"The same way I've beaten everyone else in this company who has stepped into the ring with me. I'll be calm, calculated, take my bumps, take my bruises and wait for them to make a mistake. I am not stupid I don't believe I am untouchable or that I can't be harmed. I don't expect to be walking properly by the time everything is done. But I do expect to be holding the Valiant Championship over my head for the second time in the greatest match in this history of this company and those two will not stand in my way. I don't care how young and skilled they are, all of that won't match my experience or my ring saavy. This is a high pressure situation and neither Luke Haven or Stephen Callaway have truly been in a place like this."
"Well the only way we will see is with time. Time will show who are new champion is."
"It will Alex and I am going to be crowned that champion. Like every other wrestler I could give a sob story of how hard I've been fighting in full detail in order to get to this moment but the facts are that everyone knows it. I've fought with my heart to show people that I deserve it and that is going to translate into me winning the belt once more and using it to define my career. That is all I am looking for, a chance to define my career and those chances are falling short for someone of my age and physical health. I don't have much more left in me, these kids have a long time to define their career and I refuse to let this chance be torn for me. Tomorrow night I will be the one escaping from that ring, I will be the one holding the championship, and I will be the one who makes this Kingdom theirs forever more."
I stood up and shook Alex's hand his eyes watching me, clearly unsure of me even still.
"Don't take my word for it Alex. Watch tomorrow when the man who beat Chris Hart, the man who made Christian Kane run tail between his leg, the man who ended the streak of the two hottest wrestlers in the history of KoP in Haven and Eddie Nash, and the man who has been in the main event on more shows then anyone else on this roster takes the title and makes it his own."
I nod at Alex and he nod's back and then I walk away. I walk down the hall that in 24 hours would be the hall leading towards my destiny and towards what I deserve. The Kingdom was my life and I wanted my life to be defined by it. Stephen Callaway and Luke Haven were my last obstacles in retaking my career and elevating to the heights that I always wished it could have been at. I wouldn't let them stop me.
My mind swarmed with ideas of how to face them, so much I almost walked right by Alex Avice who was sitting at a table hunched over jotting something down in his notepad. I smiled a little watching the little man hard at work probably trying to break his next big story. Avice was truly a man trying to make a huge break in the reporting world and I think he wanted to be more then just a backstage reporter one day, I believed he wanted to be a writer.
"What's the big story Alex?"
He jumped and turned around, it was comedic he hadn't seen or heard me coming. Something I should have realized because he never missed a chance to try and chat with me, apparently I always made a great story.
"Didn't mean to startle you Alex, I was just looking for you. Figured you would want an interview and I was interested in being the first for once."
"Ummm, yeah, sure ... I mean that sounds great Josh."
Alex closed up the notebook he was scribbling in and looked up at Josh with a smile as he looked for his hand held pocket recorded and a mic.
"So what was that you were working on?"
"Just a story for the website. Was talking about how this upcoming Main Event is the most important main event in the history of the Kingdom of Pride."
It was interesting he said that I studied him as he collected his things wondering how he figured a steel cage match that was supposed to be set between two bitter rivals that turned into a triple threat match for a vacant championship was defining in the history of the Kingdom of Pride..
"Care to explain a little more, you've caught my interest."
"Well it's simple really. The KoP is looking to make itself a stand out federation, never before have they reached the heights in which they are at now and they want it to become better. Right now we are staggered by our own champion walking out on us, which doesn't look very good. Now we have the person who should be champion in the first place facing off against two people who never give up and represent what we stand for. We are crowning the champion who will be bringing us towards our future."
Out of all the factors I had considered in this match that had never been one of them. The winner of this match would shape the entire future of the KoP, would truly be the person who defined the fed. Chris Hart left the company, Christian Kane left the company. This federation had been plagued with champions who didn't stand by it for whatever reasons and I was a person who had done nothing but fight for the company. So were Callaway and Haven, we were the ideal people to be champions. We would never give up and never stop fighting. We were champions to the end.
"I like that outlook on this match and I think it makes it mean that much more to me."
"Are you sure? There is no doubt what you stand for and how hard you fight Josh, but you wanted Christian Kane, you wanted to take him out and you've been after him all month. It's hard to tell if it was about the championship or about revenge."
"Valid point and I asked myself that same thing. Was I upset for Kane stealing the championship and making a mockery of it and my career? Of course, who wouldn't be. But in the end CK has walked from this company and part of that reason I can't help but feel is realizing what I've been saying, it's hard to be a champion and he knew he wouldn't beat me in that cage. I gained the upper hand, something few people have done against him and it wasn't something he could handle. No, this is about the championship, it's about the Kingdom and it always has been."
Alex raises his eyebrows, he doesn't believe the words coming out of my mouth.
"Two weeks back you stood in front of our audience and you said it was about you now Josh, that you were going to do what you had to do ... something for yourself."
"I still intend to Alex. I want to be the champion, I want to have the glory that I once had and I want to rebuild this company. I want to do it because I have earned it and I want to do it to make me happy, but it doesn't change the fact that I would make a great champion. When I came to the Kingdom I fought hard in a gauntlet and came up short. I took on Adam Abel and I won, no matter who attacked me I fought back. I fought against the UWL, I beat Chris Hart and I showed CK for the fraud that he is. I've never backed down from a fight and I've never disappointed.
In the short time here I have become the biggest and most consistent main stay on the roster. I have headlined all but one large event since I've been here and the only reason I've lost is because of a whole different company. I've given my heart and soul to this Kingdom, MY Kingdom and I do not feel ashamed for wanting to be it's champion."
"You have given a lot to the Kingdom, but at what cost? You've turned the fans away from you, you've shown you were unstable and frankly willing to stop at nothing to win."
I couldn't argue the point that the fans had turned on me. Even between myself and CK it would have been a close toss up on who they wanted to win. But in this I would not be the man whose name would be cheered and that had been my own fault.
"I don't apologize or nor do I change what I said. The Kingdom does need a champion who will do whatever it takes to defend it and say whatever needs to be said. It doesn't mean I am a person who doesn't care about the people or the place that puts the food on my table. It just means that I am a man who realizes that no matter what needs to be done it MUST be done."
Alex stops and thinks clearly pondering what I said, wondering if it made any sense. I sit down beside the man.
"Alex I have fought my entire life for the past 2 years, no even 6 years to have myself climb to the top of a company and be it's fixture. In the UWL I won the championship three times, but it was Shawn Stevens who defined that company. I climbed to the top of Power on Wrestling, but I didn't define that company. The UWC I was champion, but am I the man who defines the company? PWF I fought with all my heart but I was missing what it took. All around the world and in as many companies as I can remember I fought my way to the top and I was crowned champion but it never lasted and I never made a real difference.
It is always been the peoples careers I have built along the way that have mattered. Now I want to make my career the one that matters, I want to finally define a company and be it's champion and I am going to let my 'rule' of the Kingdom if you will be one that people remember. My opponents are not without their merit and not without their upsides, but they are not the people who can lead this company."
"Why do you think that? Why can't Stephen Callway or Luke Haven lead this company into the future? Two talented men that never give up and are always getting better."
"Because they are the future not the present. Before their time is done they will lead a company and they will make their impact and I have no doubt that I will be instrumental at some point in raising one of them to that pedestal. But the present of this Kingdom is with me. Someone who has never truly stepped into the spotlight, men who have small cult followings are not what we need right now. This is my element, when the pressure is on and when everything is on the line is when I bring my best game."
Alex stands up shaking his head.
"You make it sound like it's a political election. It doesn't matter what this company needs, it matters on who wants it bad enough. I look at Luke Haven and his two matches against you and how fast he has gotten better, I look at the way Callaway prepares for a match and know he knows what he is getting into and that he will fight."
"You're right again. Yes it's not an election everything will be determined in actions and not words. Has Haven gotten far better? Yes everytime he steps in the ring he learns far more then one could imagine but he still has never beaten me. Does Callaway prepare? Yes every match he is ready to see where it takes him, but just as often as not he still loses. The reasons is he hasn't figured out how to apply all of his talents, how to keep calm and cool. He always has a plan or an angle and he can never adapt because he is always searching for something new.
I see what is in front of me Alex and I prepare for it and I adapt to anything that changes. A week ago I was taking on one person who was completely different inside that cage and now I'm taking on two people who I have no mental edge on, but the experience plays to my favor. We've heard many stories in the Kingdom of people who have scratched and crawled their way to the top and many ignore mine like it doesn't matter. Yes I have won multiple titles, but nobody respects me as a champion because I can never hold them or make them mean anything. Now I am going to do that, all these years are going to mean something."
Alex runs his hand through his hair and looks at me trying to figure me out.
"Then what are you going to do Josh? How are you going to win?"
"The same way I've beaten everyone else in this company who has stepped into the ring with me. I'll be calm, calculated, take my bumps, take my bruises and wait for them to make a mistake. I am not stupid I don't believe I am untouchable or that I can't be harmed. I don't expect to be walking properly by the time everything is done. But I do expect to be holding the Valiant Championship over my head for the second time in the greatest match in this history of this company and those two will not stand in my way. I don't care how young and skilled they are, all of that won't match my experience or my ring saavy. This is a high pressure situation and neither Luke Haven or Stephen Callaway have truly been in a place like this."
"Well the only way we will see is with time. Time will show who are new champion is."
"It will Alex and I am going to be crowned that champion. Like every other wrestler I could give a sob story of how hard I've been fighting in full detail in order to get to this moment but the facts are that everyone knows it. I've fought with my heart to show people that I deserve it and that is going to translate into me winning the belt once more and using it to define my career. That is all I am looking for, a chance to define my career and those chances are falling short for someone of my age and physical health. I don't have much more left in me, these kids have a long time to define their career and I refuse to let this chance be torn for me. Tomorrow night I will be the one escaping from that ring, I will be the one holding the championship, and I will be the one who makes this Kingdom theirs forever more."
I stood up and shook Alex's hand his eyes watching me, clearly unsure of me even still.
"Don't take my word for it Alex. Watch tomorrow when the man who beat Chris Hart, the man who made Christian Kane run tail between his leg, the man who ended the streak of the two hottest wrestlers in the history of KoP in Haven and Eddie Nash, and the man who has been in the main event on more shows then anyone else on this roster takes the title and makes it his own."
I nod at Alex and he nod's back and then I walk away. I walk down the hall that in 24 hours would be the hall leading towards my destiny and towards what I deserve. The Kingdom was my life and I wanted my life to be defined by it. Stephen Callaway and Luke Haven were my last obstacles in retaking my career and elevating to the heights that I always wished it could have been at. I wouldn't let them stop me.
