Post by Andrew Jacobsen on May 4, 2013 22:56:13 GMT -6
I think I’ve made my case. I pinned the X Champion, live on television. No tricks, no cheating, no shortcuts. Just me, him, my foot, and his jaw. Whoever makes the matches, whoever’s got the power…I’m asking you to give me this chance. It’s all I can see now, all I can think of. I want this. I need this chance…that title is all that stands between me and true immortality. I’ve proven I can do it once. Let me do it again.
I could rant and rave until I was blue in the face. That wouldn’t change the fact that, for now, my opponent’s not James Warren. No, this week I take on a fellow World Champion and a man who hasn’t quite received the respect that he deserves. Philip Burns. I won’t say anything about Honcho. Not my place to comment, and I can’t do anything about what happened. I just hope he sees the light. You’re better for him than he wants to admit…or realizes.
You and me, Phil, we’re alike in a lot of ways. Extraordinarily skilled, devastatingly handsome, we’ve both lost superkicking contests to that ornery bastard down in San Antonio…kicks like a mule, talks like a jackass…both champions in the most real sense of the term, and, well…we both seem to be at a bit of a loss as to where our careers are going. And I’m not talking about what happens when the lights go out and we’re let out into the world. I’m thinking about A Night to Remember. Where are we going to be? What will we be doing? How can we make May 19th our Night to Remember?
I know what I want to do. I want to become the second Grand Slam Champion in NCW history. I want to do what Alex Jones won’t, what Adam Knite couldn’t, what nobody else could…I want to join Ricky Johnson in being able to say “won it all, done it all.” I need one more title, one more match to make that dream happen. What’s your dream? Is it finding out why Mike’s acting the way he is and bringing him back down to Earth? If it is…good luck.I mean it.
Danielle’s been worrying about my future, about where I’ll be…I’m concerned with where I am now. I want to make the last hurrah of a company I gave myself to, body and soul, for almost four years something that nobody will ever think of as anything but a spectacle for the ages, a wrestling event that will go down in history as one of the greatest of all time…she wants to take care of things moving forward, and as long as I don’t get my legs broken, she’s fine with me doing whatever I want. Which is nice.
It’s good not to have to think about how someone will try to tear you down. I just want a few more great matches. I’m the same as I’ve always been: I want what’s best for the fans. And what’s best right now is putting on the best damn matches we can and leaving on a high note. Hell, next week is the last Collision ever. Isn’t that bizarre? To think that something that was such a big part of our lives, for so long, is just going to go away like that…it’s not that I can’t believe it, it’s that at my core I don’t think I want to believe.
That’s why I haven’t insulted you, Phil. I don’t want to tear you down, because that’s tearing down a part of NCW. That’s taking a shot at someone who helped this company that I love live on for so long. And it’s not worth it. Whatever minute advantage I might get from insulting you, whatever real estate I could eke out in your brain with a snappy comment about you getting laid out, none of that matters compared to the lasting memory in the public’s eyes of NCW. I want them to remember us as the best damn wrestling company on the planet, bar none. Part of that is respecting the competition we had. Consistently, every single year, you couldn’t find a better roster than the one in that locker room. Every match was competitive, every main event thrilling. You never knew what was going to happen…and that’s why they kept coming back.
The people tuned in every week, they bought tickets to the show, they bought the pay-per-views because we were the most exciting wrestling company out there. Whether it was the Age of the Revolution or the Young Guns or the saga of Adam and Steve or Zelda Knite’s meteoric rise to superstardom or Verona holding onto that World Title with all he’s got, there was always something that captivated the crowds and make them demand more. They paid our salaries, they bought our merchandise, they made signs, and they cheered for us. They made us feel loved and hated…most importantly, they let us know that what we did meant something to someone besides us. They cared about what we did. And in the end, that’s really all anyone ever can ask for from the fans. We asked them to care. And they did.
This match is our chance to say thank you, Phil. It’s our opportunity to show our gratitude to the people in those stands and the ones watching at home. Because without them, there wouldn’t have been a Philip Burns. Without them, there would have been no way a kid from Minneapolis would have been able to live his dream the way I have. Every moment of my life, every match I have, each time I walk down that ramp I’m reminded of just how incredible they are…so I’m asking you now, Phil, for a favor. Let’s show the world, one last time, you and me, exactly why every night NCW was on the airwaves was A Night To Remember. So bring your best. I’ll bring mine. And may the best man…truly, the best man…win.
I could rant and rave until I was blue in the face. That wouldn’t change the fact that, for now, my opponent’s not James Warren. No, this week I take on a fellow World Champion and a man who hasn’t quite received the respect that he deserves. Philip Burns. I won’t say anything about Honcho. Not my place to comment, and I can’t do anything about what happened. I just hope he sees the light. You’re better for him than he wants to admit…or realizes.
You and me, Phil, we’re alike in a lot of ways. Extraordinarily skilled, devastatingly handsome, we’ve both lost superkicking contests to that ornery bastard down in San Antonio…kicks like a mule, talks like a jackass…both champions in the most real sense of the term, and, well…we both seem to be at a bit of a loss as to where our careers are going. And I’m not talking about what happens when the lights go out and we’re let out into the world. I’m thinking about A Night to Remember. Where are we going to be? What will we be doing? How can we make May 19th our Night to Remember?
I know what I want to do. I want to become the second Grand Slam Champion in NCW history. I want to do what Alex Jones won’t, what Adam Knite couldn’t, what nobody else could…I want to join Ricky Johnson in being able to say “won it all, done it all.” I need one more title, one more match to make that dream happen. What’s your dream? Is it finding out why Mike’s acting the way he is and bringing him back down to Earth? If it is…good luck.I mean it.
Danielle’s been worrying about my future, about where I’ll be…I’m concerned with where I am now. I want to make the last hurrah of a company I gave myself to, body and soul, for almost four years something that nobody will ever think of as anything but a spectacle for the ages, a wrestling event that will go down in history as one of the greatest of all time…she wants to take care of things moving forward, and as long as I don’t get my legs broken, she’s fine with me doing whatever I want. Which is nice.
It’s good not to have to think about how someone will try to tear you down. I just want a few more great matches. I’m the same as I’ve always been: I want what’s best for the fans. And what’s best right now is putting on the best damn matches we can and leaving on a high note. Hell, next week is the last Collision ever. Isn’t that bizarre? To think that something that was such a big part of our lives, for so long, is just going to go away like that…it’s not that I can’t believe it, it’s that at my core I don’t think I want to believe.
That’s why I haven’t insulted you, Phil. I don’t want to tear you down, because that’s tearing down a part of NCW. That’s taking a shot at someone who helped this company that I love live on for so long. And it’s not worth it. Whatever minute advantage I might get from insulting you, whatever real estate I could eke out in your brain with a snappy comment about you getting laid out, none of that matters compared to the lasting memory in the public’s eyes of NCW. I want them to remember us as the best damn wrestling company on the planet, bar none. Part of that is respecting the competition we had. Consistently, every single year, you couldn’t find a better roster than the one in that locker room. Every match was competitive, every main event thrilling. You never knew what was going to happen…and that’s why they kept coming back.
The people tuned in every week, they bought tickets to the show, they bought the pay-per-views because we were the most exciting wrestling company out there. Whether it was the Age of the Revolution or the Young Guns or the saga of Adam and Steve or Zelda Knite’s meteoric rise to superstardom or Verona holding onto that World Title with all he’s got, there was always something that captivated the crowds and make them demand more. They paid our salaries, they bought our merchandise, they made signs, and they cheered for us. They made us feel loved and hated…most importantly, they let us know that what we did meant something to someone besides us. They cared about what we did. And in the end, that’s really all anyone ever can ask for from the fans. We asked them to care. And they did.
This match is our chance to say thank you, Phil. It’s our opportunity to show our gratitude to the people in those stands and the ones watching at home. Because without them, there wouldn’t have been a Philip Burns. Without them, there would have been no way a kid from Minneapolis would have been able to live his dream the way I have. Every moment of my life, every match I have, each time I walk down that ramp I’m reminded of just how incredible they are…so I’m asking you now, Phil, for a favor. Let’s show the world, one last time, you and me, exactly why every night NCW was on the airwaves was A Night To Remember. So bring your best. I’ll bring mine. And may the best man…truly, the best man…win.