Post by Philip Burns on Mar 23, 2013 12:49:02 GMT -6
{From a blank screen the following logo appears}
Voice over: NCW, a company filled with tenacious athletes and fierce competition. The legacies of these men and women will last in history books and the hearts of fans long after the doors are opened for the final time. This is an ongoing series meant to highlight the wrestlers and personalities who made NCW their home for the last six years. Today: We take you behind the public persona of a major part of NCW's history. A man with a hit and miss past with this company. He is a former World Champion, a former two time Tag Team Champion, and former Xtreme Champion. Given the amount of time he has spent away from the company in the last six years that list is all the more impressive. I am talking of course about Philip Burns.
{A clip runs of Burns' debut. He is very wooden, not interacting with the crowd or playing off the camera at all. Kelly Fox on commentary pokes fun at him. Cue up footage of Burns in studio. This is the first time we have seen him since last year.}
Burns: My first year was a lot of fun. I came out of my shell a little bit. I had to or I was going to start getting a lot of heat backstage. I had a few opportunities to capture gold and was invited to join a couple of groups that were big at the time. It seemed my career had gone through a resurgence. That is until a lot changed at home.
{clips play of various victories and celebrations with groups such as No Warning Shots. The video package clips and music turn sad as the voice over continues.}
Voice over: Despite his apparent success in the world of wrestling Philip Burns' private life would never be the same.
{back to Burns in studio}
Burns: A lot of people don’t know this but coming into nCw I had actually been married for a few months. After the previous company I had been in closed its doors in 2004 I had more or less kissed the wrestling world goodbye. I met a woman at a local gym and when she saw how beat up I was despite my young age she offered to help me get a new routine going that would be less stress on my body. Even though I was young at the time, I really owe my ability to debut here at at all to her. Not too long after the first Road to the Gold we found out we were expecting a baby. It was the greatest feeling I had ever felt.
{The package shows rare photos of Burns with his wife, including one of him kissing her belly.}”
Burns: So when there started to be complications and she could no longer travel with me it became harder and harder to be on the road away from her. My professional life became more stressful to mirror my personal life. And nobody had a clue this was going on or that I had a wife at all. Even in the years after when I was close to guys like Angel, Falcon, and Mike Honcho they never had a clue.
Voice over: In 2008 after months of complications, Burns wife unexpectedly went into labor earlier than expected.
Burns: I remember I had just done Collision and got a voice-mail telling me that I needed to hurry home to Indiana as soon as possible. I paid a ton of money for the next plane ticket home and when I arrived at the hospital the last thing I expected was that the next conversation I would have with my wife would be the last.
{Burns face turns red as he fights back the emotion.}
Burns: I saw her lying there in the bed being so brave. When the doctor came in as said surgery was the only way to safely deliver the baby she didn’t hesitate when she said to do it. I think she knew she wouldn’t pull through. I should have known too. She was pale as a ghost and so weak. I told her I loved her, that she was the strongest person I know, and I would be waiting for her.
{Photos of Phil with a healthy baby girl appear on the screen}
Burns: I knew when I found out she didn’t make it and that I had to raise a daughter by myself that things were never going to be the same for me. I didn’t know how it would affect my career I just knew it couldn’t be good.
Voice over: What followed can only be described as Burns' relationship with nCw becoming “rocky” to say the least. He developed a negative attitude about the company and the business in general. A string of several leave of absences followed by promising returns became the calling card of Philip Burns.
Burns: It was hard to keep everything so separate. I would start to feel better like maybe I was ready to live my life again. I would drop my little girl off with my dad and go back on the road. I would either win a title or come close and then it hit me how much I was missing out on and I would pack it up and go home. I kept thinking my heart was in it but then it wouldn’t be. I had some great times with Mike, Angel, all the guys I would run with. I really love entertaining the fans. Then my dad would email me some photos and it would bring me down. I got to where when I was home I would pretend the wrestling business didn’t exist. And when I was wrestling, as much as I hate to admit this, I would pretend like I didn’t have a child waiting for me at home. So it became this juggling act of returning and making up a reason to leave so I could be home.
{clips of Burns winning and defending the tag team titles and then later the world title are shown.}
Voice over: It seemed like every measure of success was followed a sudden disappearance. The only longevity to Philip Burns' career could be found in his record setting tag team title reign as part of Burning Angels.
Burns: I felt guilty. I really did. Guilty that here I was traveling, making all this money, becoming a star and doing all these things that would make a normal person happy and I was secretly miserable. I don’t know if my little girl thought I was off having the time of my life or that I just didn’t want to be home. It got way worse when I won the world title. I was so happy for about a week then the guilt set in. I felt like I wasn’t worthy of wearing that title and I especially felt like I didn’t deserve the love of my kid. When I got injured and lost the title it almost felt like relief. I felt a huge burden disappear. I didn’t put much effort into rehab. I just went home.
Voice over: Burns would show up again sporadically, most notably with Jimmy Novak, a new NCW superstar who obviously seemed to have some behavioral issues and was narcissistic. It became clear that Novak was manipulative, going so far as to try and turn Burns' friends Will Washington and Mike Honcho against him. It wasn't long until they both disappeared.
Burns: I cant really say much about James Novak. There are pending charges against him and the judge has warned us against giving the fine details about the case. I can say that the only person from the business who has ever met my daughter was Jim Novak, and it wasn't because I wanted him to. I will leave it at that.
Voice over: Not wanting to draw further attention to his personal life amid a legal struggle Burns laid low for the rest of 2012. Until now.
Burns: I decided to come back to the company because I felt that I owed something to my legacy and the fans. I decided that after A Night to Remember Philip Burns will officially be a family man but until then I will be a full time competitor. I talked to my little girl who is almost 5 now and she gave me her permission to give this business the goodbye it deserves. And I know my wife would have told me she didn’t help me rebuild my body just to walk away from the business I loved.
I’m not sure what exactly I plan on doing in my time here. It would be great to reunite with Angel or one of the guys, or just do my own thing and see how it goes. I’m looking forward the giving this company its money worth. As much of a personal victory as this is to me, This is more about the company that I called home these past six years. I wont come in here and act like I mean a lot to this place or that anybody missed me. I will simply be doing what I should have been doing all along: Showing up every week and entertaining people.
I was lucky enough to be put in a match the same day I called the office and told them I wanted to come back. I see some familiar names and I am excited for the opportunity. I feel really lucky to even be welcomed. I just want to thank everyone for being a long for the ride.
{fade to black}