September 8, 1834

Joseph Locke sat in the passenger car of the steam engine carrying people from Manchester to Liverpool. As he pulled up and sat in Rainhill Station, he remembered the fateful day where William Huskisson had been killed. He could still see the poor man getting knocked over by an opening carriage door. He could still hear the crack of the bone as the engine went over it. He remembered the man’s scream as his leg was crushed under thousands of pounds of metal. It had been four years, and everything still remained a vivid memory.

That was an awful day

Locke had attended his funeral days after that, and remembered the sadness that came with such a tragedy. Because Huskisson was a public official, many dignitaries came out to pay their respects. When you get that many dignitaries talking about a tragedy, men try and use it to get what they wanted. An inquiry had been launched into the use of steam locomotives. Many questioned whether it was safe to use when the public had witnessed such a gruesome event.

Months after the event, Locke needed to speak to a full national inquiry on why he felt the technology of Steam Locomotives were needed. A vote by officials was taken, and it was barely passed that the technology would be allowed to be used. 2 votes were the difference between technology passing or being stifled.

Ultimately the vote passed for two reasons, the money that had already been spent and the need to be a technological leader in the world. England needed this technology because it needed to move into the future.

As bad as the public perception had gotten surrounding the engines, the death of Huskisson had produced an unexpectedly good result. As the train rode through town, Locke always observed people avoiding the tracks. Mothers pulled their children away from the engines. People scrambled to get to the other side whenever the trains came through. There was a new fear and respect for trains that had been missed for years. Because of the fear associated with it, people now looked at trains with an even greater respect. Kids marvelled at the large objects, there was a certain stigma about taking them.

The train was more popular than ever, and had been embraced by people. The passenger car Locke sat on now was full and showed no signs of slowing up.
Locke made eye contact with a man across the car who had been staring at him for the past few minutes

I know who you are

Excuse me?

As you pass through here, I hope you feel the weight of that poor man dying. You were responsible for things. You were in charge. I was there, I can still remember everything.

Sir, I think you…

You need to listen to me. Do you understand the blood that is on your hands? What do you have to say for yourself?

Locke thought for a moment, he did feel a small bit of guilt, but in times where that overwhelmed him, he remembered the good he did for the world.


He got in the way…
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Neville sat on a train heading from Rainhill to Manchester, he needed to get to the airport to catch his flight overseas. It was incredible to him how durable trains really were. Even though cars had taken over as the primary means of transportation, people still trusted trains to run on time and get them to where they needed to go. It was a durable and effective means of getting around. Even with newer technology, the trust was there. But it wasn’t always that way.

Neville thought of how in the US, businesses knew how reliable the trains could be and used them to get goods around, but the public had widely overlooked it. In many parts of the country, people hadn’t ridden the rail system in years. But it was different over here. In England, the rail system was still one of the primary systems of transportation.

Neville watched as a crossing went up and cars stopped for him. When you’re this big, everything around you stops for you. You have the right of way. You expect others to get out of the way.

As he thought this, he imagined Jody Madrox and his bid for the TV Title this week. There was nothing powerful or strong about him. People wouldn’t want to get out of the way when he came through. If anything, many stars in the XWF would want to fight him to pad stats onto their career. Jody seemed like an easy win.

You know, as much as I can afford to take other means of transportation, I still love taking the train. When I was a kid, I was fascinated by trains, as most kids are. The sheer size and power fascinated me and in many ways shaped me into who I am today. You see, a train doesn’t give a shit what’s in its way, it goes to where it wants to go. It had a track that’s laid out for it, and it takes that track. As it comes through, you get the hell out of the way.

This is exactly how I intend to proceed in this federation. I know where I need to go and I move myself to get there. How many other superstars can say that? There’s so many stars reliant on other people, joining teams and making friends. So many others who have no plan whatsoever and wander aimlessly trying to find purpose.
That’s what makes me different.

So this week, I get Jody Madrox trying to win himself a title. Why? I have no idea. I imagine management now resorts to picking names out of a hat for who gets a title shot. Madrox is a perfect illustration of what I’m talking about. You won’t find a more aimless wanderer in the XWF. I still have no idea half of the shit he was going on about. There’s no purpose, no plan. He just feels lucky to be here.

I’ve taken time out of my week to teach him a few things, and this will be my last time with something to say. I wish you luck this week Madrox, but I also have a few lessons for you.

Lesson #1 – Say Something

One of the biggest reasons I would call you out for being purposeful is that you don’t really say anything when you open your mouth to speak. You quote annoying sources, you try and make little jokes, but you don’t better the federation in any capacity when you speak. Do you even understand the fact that words have purpose, and when words are strung together well, sentences form that have an even greater purpose? You can just say reactionary bullshit that means nothing, you can’t just make noises with your mouth and assume we’d find any significance to them. Make sense, and try to make sure that if we are respectful enough to listen, we’ll actually get things out of what you say.

Now I know you might contradict that, and try to give a rebuttal saying that you do make sense, and what you do say has meaning. But I thought I’d give you just a quick example to show you how embarrassing it is to the English Language to listen to you speak. You said, and I quote, “The only ego I have is with death, not the band called the internet.” What the hell does that even mean? Let’s chew on this for a second and try to figure out what you’re saying. First, I assume you’re saying that maybe your pride is found in death. Maybe you’re trying to say you glorify nothing about yourself except your own fascination with death. Truth is, I have a university level minor degree in psychology and I’m fascinated with this.
How can you have an ego with death? Are you saying you’re dead inside? This makes no sense, but that’s what’s so fascinating about it. You’re either the dumbest or the deepest person I’ve ever met.

Secondly, “not the band called the internet”. What’s amazing about this statement is that nothing about what you’re saying up until this point has had to do with the internet. You interject an internet insult into a conversation about the two of us in a way that defies logic. It’s like me singing the national anthem and calling out “Jody is an asshole” in the middle of it. People would stop and stare because it makes such little sense. Was that a tourette’s tic Jody? I can’t think of why that happened. And what band is called “the Internet”? Do they tour with anyone good? Foo Fighters maybe?

Neville smiles and pops his headphones in for a minute. That would calm him down.

Lesson #2 – You Can’t Stop Something Big That’s Moving Fast

Have you ever tried to stand in front of a moving vehicle Jody? I mean I’m not asking that rhetorically. With you seeming dumb as a brick, I actually want to know if you’ve ever jumped out into traffic. If you have, I’m glad you’re ok, and it explains where the brain injuries have come from. If you haven’t, do you know what happens? Generally, it doesn’t end to well for the smaller person. Picture roadkill, I know you’ve seen it, probably even eaten it for dinner a few times. But why does it look so bad? Roadkill is bad, and I don’t say that subjectively, because it shows you what happens when something small is hit by a moving large object. Usually there’s blood, death, and guts spread out over the road. It creates death, and takes away something’s life. I know you don’t value life Jody, but I can’t help think that even you know stepping into traffic is a bad thing.

So let me give you a piece of advice. Let’s look at this federation. There’s only one of us that’s moving anywhere. You might feel good because you’ve been given a title shot, but so has Chris Valerius. Think about that for a second. You’re on par with a whiny, useless little rookie who’s learned his place pretty easily these past couple weeks. And look at what I did to him. He didn’t walk out of here with the title, did he? His career became roadkill, after he met the tank that is Neville Sinclair. That’s a good indication of what’s about to happen to you. Do you really want to willingly put yourself through that Jody? I mean I know you hate your life, but does this seem like a good idea? I’ll see you tomorrow, and I’m sure we’ll all see you after that, lying dead on the side of the road of your career, wishing you’d never met me.

The train screeches to a halt, it drags for a few seconds before completely stopping. Up ahead Neville sees the dying body of a dog who’s just been hit. It was sad, but these things happened. When animals stopped having the fear of trains, they got too close. And getting too close could kill them.

Lesson #3 – Get Out of the Way!

Seriously Jody, I urge you this. Get the hell out of the way. I’ve been accused of a few things recently that drive me crazy. Because I don’t want to rescind my title for a different title shot, people have accused me of standing in the way of rookies. It’s harsh, and I’m sure even some management want me to take the title shot. But I like being the measuring stick for rookies like you. You don’t deserve a title if you can’t beat me. Before I give the championship up, I want to make sure there’s someone who deserves it. Right now there isn’t. Not anyone that’s faced me, not anyone that’s already held it. There isn’t another tv champion right now, so I’ll keep the belt.

What that means for you Jody, is you need to get the hell out of the way. I’m serious. Don’t even show up tomorrow. Unless you want to end up like that dog over there, there isn’t any reason for you to come. It’s because the XWF is giving title shots to assholes like you that I don’t give up my belt. So do me a favour. Know you’re not going to win. Get the fuck out of the way.


The train starts up again, Neville puts on his headphones, thinks about tomorrow and lets the rest of the world drift away. It was going to be fun tomorrow.

Educating the XWF since 06/08/17