Post by Alex Jones on Dec 6, 2008 2:39:07 GMT -6
Part 3-“Are you there god?..it’s me AJ Phoenix”
“I sit and stare at the gold belt in front of me, the light gleams off of the middle plate, I study it, my fingers running over the nameplate, a smile comes over me as a feeling of pride wells up in my heart, it’s mine, I earned it, through it all I earned it....I earned the right to be called...champion....”
The scene opens with AJ Phoenix sitting silently at a table, he looks unshaven and a little out of it, he takes a drink of beer from a glass bottle and sits it back down on the table, his hand sliding up through his hair.
“I sit here and think about my past, I think about other companies I’ve worked for, and my successes in those companies, NCW is by far the most challenging place I’ve ever worked for, but also the most rewarding. I stepped in here and faced Jack Hammond, a match that I should have won, but I made some stupid mistakes and Jack was good enough to capitalise on them and beat me. He was better than me on that day, but after that I was able to pull myself up[ and beat Joe Everyman, a former two time national champion who’s become a joke. He was the first to fall before me. He wouldn’t be the last....”
“I entered the Elite 8 tournament, knowing I’d have to face almost everyone in the X-Division to get my shot at the title, I knew I’d have to be the best. I beat Chris Mercury, Davey Ortega and Xavier Cross to earn the shot. It was right after this that Angel and I had our first meeting, it was a highly competitive match, I did everything I could to beat him, I tried it all but in the end he was to good, he picked up the win, he beat me and in my heart I knew this wouldn’t be the last time we’d face, I went on to become the X-Division champion, the longest running of all time, as of today I’ve held the belt for one hundred and eleven days, longer than either of Angels runs, in fact, it’s longer than his runs put together, see I wanted to face Angel right away, but very quickly those plans faded, first the stable wars seemed to prop up, then Angel challenged Steve Awesome for his NCW title, meanwhile Jack Hammond and Fate were both fixated on my belt, Jack Hammond, a man who beat me in my debut, he came back from the dead it seemed and came after me, and after a valiant effort, he failed, I figured Jack out, I found his weaknesses and exploited them for my own gain, and that Angel is what I plan on doing with you....”
“See over the last few months I’ be undergone a transformation, slowly I realised that I needed to just be myself and not some projected view of what I thought I should be. And those roads led me to you Angel. See I sat back and realised I needed a true challenge, and then you expressed interest in facing me and returning to the place that made you a star. The crowd has wanted this match for months, the tag matches we’ve been involved in have only made them want it more, but they don’t want us with partners, they want to see us go at it one on one. See we’ve been in the ring on opposing sides five times, and you or your team have won all five. But, the truth is, we can’t gauge how similar we are until we face each other one on one again, no looking over our shoulders for others, no tagging in and out, just balls to the wall one on one work....just like it SHOULD be...”
AJ pauses for a moment and takes a sip from his bottle of corona, he closes his eyes savouring the taste and smirks, his eyes reopen and refocus.
“You say that to beat you I’ll have to kill you. Is it going to come to that Angel?, will I have to end this with me standing above you looking at your lifeless body?. Will this hand to end with your heartbeat slowly fading away?, with your other half Shelley weeping over your corpse?. Is that how you want to be remembered?, as a man who died in the ring at my hands?. No Angel, it won’t, see you can say it’ll take me killing you, but it won’t be that extreme. But I know I’ll have to beat you within an inch of your life, and I’m prepared to do that, cause as you said, we’re competitors, we both have that burning desire to win, we both have that compulsive need to be the best, and that’s why in the ring, you are defiantly my enemy. We could never....ever, have a “friendly” match, it would always disintegrate into an all out death match, It’s just how we are man, and I’m proud of it, I love being that way, cause it means that even if I fail I know I gave it my all and I left nothing to chance. But, you said something that really struck a chord with me, you talked about taking a “back seat” to alot of people.....”
AJ snaggers
“A back seat?. Angel, I’m in a group where I’m permanently looked at as Steve Awesome’s subordinate. I get looked at as the new kid even when I’ve been here for seven months and I’ve put my heart and soul on the line time and time again, then when I finally get some respect, when I finally become X-Division champion, I get told I have to rebuild the division, so I do, I hold the belt longer than anyone else has, and then, then I get told I’m a great champion, but I’m not you. So “you” took a back seat?, well damn if you’re in the back seat, I’m bound up by rope and in the ****ing boot. I’ve been in Dark Prophet, Steve Awesome’s and your shadows for too long. This Sunday isn’t just about a great match between two amazing superstars, no this match is about my ascendancy, this is about me finally getting out of your shadow, so don’t you dare talk to me about taking a back seat bro, cause you’re preaching to the choir...”
“But, even I have to say it was a harsh fall to reality for you. All that work, all that time building yourself up, clawing up the ladder for enough respect to get a world title shot and BAM, you lost it all in three seconds, but that’s life in this business man, and I know I don’t have to tell you that. It’s something you know, and luckily, you weren’t one of those self pitying jackasses, you used it to your advantage and set your sights on the X-Division title. And like a kid on Christmas I squealed for joy and accepted, because I knew in my heart for me to be taken seriously, I had to face you one on one, I had to face you and Angel, I have to beat you. I can’t just sit back and think “oh well I pushed him to the limit” no, I have to keep my title and stay champion, I have to look back and know that I beat you fair and square......”
AJ breathes deep and sighs
“...but, for you to say I’ve kept the title...”warm” for you, Angel, that insults me....”
“All the respect, all the talk of being friends, all of it goes out the window on Sunday Angel. It goes out the window because if I have one inch of empathy for you in my heart I’ll fail, I need to be empty, soulless, I need to go out there and try and end your career, and it will be personal, it’ll be personal because this business is my life, so while you don’t give a crap if you’re remembered after you die I do, because after it all, all I have is my reputation and my legend, I’ll be remembered for years to come, people will write stories about me, young men will grow up wishing they could be as good as me, that’s what I want that’s what I crave and to get it I have to beat you which I sure as hell will do. And speaking of hell, l you want to save people, you want to save NCW?, Angel before you can do that, you have to save yourself this Sunday. Cause bro, I’m coming for you, and I’m bringing hell with me....”
AJ breathes deeply, obviously getting excited about this Sunday
“....you think I passed you, you think I’m a better champion than you?, wow, maybe I have been, maybe I have been a better champion than you and maybe JUST MAYBE, I’m a better man than you. This Sunday we’ll find out, cause neither of us will back down, neither of us will know when to quit and neither of us will stop until the other is damn near death.....god can’t help you, no one can help you, you’ll scream, you’ll beg, you’ll plead to that “good” side you think I have, but in the end all I’ll see is you laying beaten, bloodied and battered on the canvas, and as I stand in the middle of the ring and I hold MY title high, I’ll finally know, that I am the greatest X-Division champion in history, and I’ll know that no one can take it away from me...no one....”
AJ puts his head down as his hair floats over into his eyes as the scene fades with the following fords echoing through the darkness.
“Save me lord, save me from the beast within, save me from the pain I inflict on others and forgive me for the ones I send to you....”