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Thomas Nixon · (05-20-2017)

Gray cement stretches about thirty feet across, but it seems to continue endlessly toward the horizon. Off to the sides of the road is grim, a desolate desert of sorts. A trillion grains of sand paint the scene, turning orange as the sun slowly sets, sharply contrasting with the pavement.

The road carries on and on, day and night, but eventually a change can be seen far off in the distance. Another road, another stretch of gray, which runs directly through the original highway. The two run perfectly perpendicular creating a crossroads.

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A crossroads is often used as a symbol. Typically, a person has to make a life changing, career altering decision. They have a few choices, and they are at a fork in the road. This is where the symbol of a crossroads stems from. But that’s not what I see when I look at this intersection. I see two roads coming from completely different directions heading towards separate locations. At one small moment in time, the paths cross, they intersect. That’s where I stand now, and on May 20th, I’m crossing the path of Peter Gilmour.

When someone looks at this match up, there is one thing that is very clear. Peter and I don’t have a damn thing in common. Our personalities, our styles, our careers, and our goals. All definitively distinct.

At this point in time, Peter Gilmour is hundreds of miles from where his road began. He’s had his big wins and notable losses, and he’s been around the XWF for far longer than I have. What? 4 years? And he had his peak late last year when he beat Scully for the XWF Universal Championship. Only to immediately lose the belt in an elimination chamber match and not even make it to the final three competitors left in the match.

Now, Gilmour is trying to fight back into the spotlight. He’s in a struggle for relevancy; he wants to rebound, since he hasn’t been able to accomplish a damn thing in the last five months.

But I’m on the opposite end of the spectrum.

The night that Gilmour lost the most important title of his career, I won the first championship that I held in this company. I beat three other men to win the Television Championship, and I pinned every single one of them. That was the beginning of my rise, not the end of it. I went on to main event week after week, defending the XWF Television Championship, the same belt that I’m putting on the line with Gilmour.

And unlike Gilmour, the apex of my stint is not in the rear view mirror. I’m looking ahead. I have more in my sights, I have goals to accomplish, and I have the momentum I need to carry forward. Peter Gilmour went out of his way to state that the XWF Television Championship is the only belt I’ve held; he said this like it was some sort of insult, but that’s so shortsighted.

I’ve been around the XWF for six months, and I’ve already fought my way to this championship on two separate occasions. I’ve had two reigns where I defend this title in the main event spot week in and week out. That’s pretty impactful for a newcomer, and the only other man to do anything more in that short of a time is Jim Caedus, a twenty year veteran before coming here. So don’t belittle my achievements like anyone can do what I did because people have tried to take this belt from me and time and time again, I walk out of the ring with this belt.

With each defense, I add another accolade to my name. Because Gilmour was right about one thing, we will absolutely tear the house down. Every time I walk out there, I’m part of the match of the night, the match that the fans remember years later. I’m building my credibility and my reputation, and I’m climbing the XWF rankings. Not only that, but as I rise in the standings, I’m raising the reputation of this belt right here.

You see, it isn’t impressive to me that Gilmour has held almost every belt in the XWF. What truly matters is what you do with that championship during your reign. Tidbits and Imperial can say that they are former Television Champions, but they didn’t get a single successful defense on their titles! In essence, those reigns are meaningless. One off flukes that let them add a little footnote to their resume. Just like your reign as XWF Universal Champion.

Now, I will give him some credit. Early on in my time here when I found myself allied with Guppy Parsh, he told me that Peter Gilmour brought the X-Treme Championship into the spot light. He made that belt a credible title that had value and meaning. He separated it from the likes of the Heavymetalweight and Federweight Championships. That’s an impressive feat, but Gilmour should realize that is exactly what I’m doing with the Television Championship.

This may be the only belt that you haven’t won here, but that doesn’t mean that you can waltz to the ring and snatch it from me. You’re going to have to earn this belt, just like an unproven rookie would have to do. That means that you have to put me away in fifteen minutes, and you can’t resort to any of your tricks that brought the X-Treme Championship to the top of the card. We’re competing in a straight wrestling match; the type that I have the most practice, and I know a thing or two about putting people away at the time limit or drawing out a match to keep hold of this belt.

Without weapons and gimmicks, your mind games are going to fall short. You won’t be able to live up to your moniker, you won’t be able to show the fans why you’re the self-proclaimed “King of X-Treme”, and your buddy Michael McBride won’t be able to stick his nose into the title match. Peter Gilmour is all on his own without friends or weapons, and without that comforting environment, I’m going to strike.

This is another title defense for me, and I try to approach these matches strategically and objectively. But I’d be lying if I said it isn’t tough to look past the last time I encountered Peter. A couple months back, our roads crossed when Peter caught me with a cheap shot. Gilmour stopped me from having my moment; I was preparing to powerbomb McBride through a table, but Gilmour caught me on the side of the head with his boot. That wasn’t all, Gilmour let his sadism show. He dropped me on my head with a piledriver, and he gave McBride an assist when he tossed him the pack of cigarettes that temporarily blinded me in one eye.

And I’m not going to lie, Gilmour’s first words about our match kind of pissed me off even more. He talked about his match next week, against a relative nobody, as if he was looking right past me. Deep down, that ignites a little fire because I want you to regret that. I want to make this match a memorable one for Peter, but not for the reasons that he wishes. I want to make him feel the pain that I did the last time we crossed paths. And I want him to feel bad for looking towards his match up with Nathan Lucas, an unproven no-name that spends his time picking fights with John Blaq, instead of treating me like the threat I am. And I would love to drop Gilmour on his head after popping his jaw, and then pinning him fair and square in the center of the ring for the one, two, three.

I won’t let my anger get to me, and I won’t let it hurt my in ring ability. I’m not treating you the same way I treated McBride in our dog collar match. I’m not going to try and maim you; I’m not going to try and end your career. But I’m not going to let you make an ass out of me for a second time. It’s going to take a hell of a lot from you to keep me down for a pin, and it is going to feel a whole hell of a lot better for me when I toss you across the ring.

I hope you aren’t looking at me as something as simple as a stepping stone. I’m not your last obstacle in holding all the belts in the XWF. I’m not the guy that you have to get by so you can wrestle Nathan Lucas. I’m Thomas Fucking Nixon, a 2 time XWF Television Champion, a star on the rise, the future of the industry, the man that is bringing prestige back to the Television Championship, and the savior of the Lizard People. Don’t treat me like I’m a schmuck or a means to an ends. Look at me and you should see your biggest challenge and biggest opportunity of 2017, so it might be in your best interest to treat me as such.

Instead of parading around your old stomping grounds remembering the good old days when you could toss around high school kids, you should be preparing for real competition. That’s what Mezian failed to do last week, and that’s why I was able to beat him and retain my belt. He was picking fights with chumps just like you were, and he didn’t give me the respect that he should have when he was preparing for our match. You’ll find out that when you waste your time pretending to be a teacher and calling people names, you end up back in your hotel room on Saturday night empty handed.

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After the brief intersection, the roads continue on their ways. The gray pavement stretches endlessly north, while the intersecting road carries on west. The paths cross, but they aren’t destined to run together around the world. They have different paths, different elements, and they are headed for different places.

Thomas Nixon is looking to rise the ranks, prove his spot, and fulfill his destiny. Gilmour is looking to retain his status as an XWF legend and to pave his legacy. On Saturday Night Savage the rising star and the living legend cross paths in their first true match up, and when the dust settles at the crossroads one man will walk out as the XWF Television Champion.

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