Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

B.O.B. D · (09-06-2019)

THE FOLLOWING TOOK PLACE 2 DAYS BEFORE BIG D BECAME XWF XTREME CHAMPION............

I had been talking about climbing up the ladder since arriving in XWF. Winning matches, making statements that slowly earn you more and more opportunities. I'd been given countless chances to prove I deserve to be here, only to fall short in all of them. Despite my team's victory at War Games or my multiple Federweight and Heavymetalweight Championship reigns, the mark I'd left on XWF thus far was a forgettable one. If I retired tomorrow, people ten years from now would have no idea who I was or the things I'd done. Big D would be just another wrestler who came and went, like Genie Tate or Kid fucking Kool. But I'm NOT retiring tomorrow, I still have time to work my way to the top of the ladder. There's adversaries I have to defeat, Championships I need to win, and it all starts at the next Savage. When I face Thaddeus Duke for the TV Title, I start my ascent up the rungs of success, ironically enough, in a ladder match........

My wife and I sat at our kitchen table in silence. While she munched on the bacon and eggs she prepared, I stared out the window in deep thought. I hadn't touched my food, nor taken even a sip of my coffee, instead just anxiously spinning the cup in my hands.

"What's wrong?" Krystal asked in a caring tone.

What wasn't wrong? A couple months ago I was a win away from becoming Universal Champion, a feat that would've allowed me to retire and enjoy the rest of my life with my loving wife. Now, I was rapidly descending down a slippery slope of failure and things were starting to look bleak. I had become a desperate man, as was evident with my actions at the end of the previous Savage. My wife couldn't have been proud that her husband was reduced to setting things on fire and besting up innocent announcers, but I did it for us. The sooner I reach my goals, the sooner I can retire and be home with her. Even if that means taking drastic measures, I'll do what's needed to achieve that ultimate goal.

"Nothing's wrong," I finally responded, as I watched a couple squirrels chase each other in our backyard.

"Are you sure?" she questioned, not believing my answer. "You haven't eaten anything and I'm starting to get dizzy watching you spin your mug."

"I'm fine," I assured her as I stopped spinning my Iowa Hawkeyes mug. "I'm just thinking about things."

"Like what?" she inquired, not willing to let it go just yet.

"The last few months," I replied, turning away from the window. "It's been such a rollercoaster ride, my emotions have been all over the place."

"Is that why you flipped out on your employer, destroyed the ring, and assaulted a woman?" she asked in a backhanded, yet calm, way.

"Something like that," I sighed, sensing the disappointment in her voice. "I just feel like such a failure, things haven't gone the way I had been hoping they would. I couldn't beat Robert Main, the briefcase I received wasn't the correct one, and I've lost way more matches than I've won............ sometimes it's hard to look at myself in the mirror, sometimes I can't even look you in the eyes because of the things I've done, or even moreso, NOT been able to do."

Without a word, Krystal reached her arms out and took my hands in hers. I looked into her eyes and saw the love she felt for me. It wasn't hard to see I was no loser in her eyes.

"Daniel, I don't care about what you do in the ring," she comforted me, squeezing my hands tight. "If you walked away tomorrow and didn't accomplish a damn thing, I'd just be happy to have my husband home for good! I cheer for you and want to watch you succeed because I know how much it means to YOU."

She gave me a reassuring smile and I gave her one back. Having her support meant alot to me, if she wasn't in my life, I may have never made it to the point where I could walk into an XWF ring. The demons of my past were strong, but our love for each other was much stronger.

"Say what you will about my actions Saturday," I changed the subject, giving her a sly grin. "But they DID get me a chance to become TV Champion."

"Yeah, I don't know HOW that worked," Krystal said with a head shake. "If I acted the way you did at MY job, Jane would've fired my ass!"

"It probably helped that Unknown Soldier and Gilly took out half the arena beforehand," I assumed before finally taking a sip of my now stone cold coffee. "Not to mention, it's no different than the shit Chris Page and his flunkies have done."

"True," she said, probably not even knowing what I was referring to. It was nice of her to watch my matches when she could and listen to me talk about the happenings of the Fed, but I didn't expect her to know it all like the back of her hand. "So have you ever been in a ladder match?"

"I've been in a few."

A few may have been underselling the Ladder matches I HAD taken part in. My first one also involved tables and ladders, and was also what I considered one of the greatest moments of my career. Paul Garon had issued an open challenge to anyone to face him for his WWF Dark Championship and I answered the call. Garon was hesitant at first, but agreed when I offered to put my X-Division Championship on the line. We fought over those lower card Titles like it was for the World Heavyweight Championship, and after Garon missed a 450 Splash that sent him through a table, I scaled the ladder and became a Double Champion for the first time in my career(but certainly not the last).

The next one I was in wasn't ACTUALLY a ladder match, but rather an Ultimate X match. The objective was the same, grab the Championship belt from high above only there were no ladders. At least that was normally the case, except I was intelligent enough to look under the ring and find one. After a hard fought battle with some of the best in WWF's X-Division, I managed to climb the ladder I introduced and became X-Division Champion once again. The thing that will always stick out in my head about that match was my rival/friend, Razor, injuring his leg during the match. Rather than go for the win, I went and checked to make sure he was alright and he insisted I go claim my prize. I can't say I would've done the same thing nowadays, especially with how hungry for gold I've been as of late.

My third and final ladder match was in NWF against Bonecrusher for his NWF Xtreme Championship. Bo' Cru' was a force to be reckoned with, being much bigger than me AND one of the top guys at the time. He was the obvious favorite to win and I knew it was gonna take brains as much as brawn to beat him. I went on to win that match and take his Title, but I never would've had it NOT been for quick thinking. After taking a hell of alot of punishment, I found myself pulling myself up onto the apron only to see my opponent within arm's reach of his belt. Knowing there was no way my battered body would make it in time to push him off, I grabbed the camera from the cameraman on the apron and hurled it with all my strength at the ladder, sending it and my foe crashing to the ground. To this day, I think it was the smartest decision I've ever made during a match.

"Huh," I spoke as I realized something. "I've never actually lost a ladder match."

"Really?" Krystal reacted, seemingly surprised by this fact. "Does that mean I don't have to worry about you getting hurt?"

"Maybe," I responded, not wanting to lie or get her hopes up. "But if it makes you feel any better, it's definitely safer than the Leap of Faith match........ especially considering who my opponent is."

"Yeah, I saw him," Krystal interjected. "He looks like a kid."

"Apparently he was born like 5 years ago," I said with an eye roll. "He looks older because he was forced to grow due to supernatural circumstances or something like that."

"What?!" Krystal asked with her mouth open. "Are you high already?"

"I wish," I replied as I got up and dumped my coffee out. "It's just the way some of my coworkers are. The Blackwaters think they're superheroes, Zane Norrison believes he's a zombie, and Unknown Soldier worships the devil. They're all just a bunch of psychos."

"And that doesn't make me worry any less about you," Krystal said as she got up and planted a kiss on my cheek. "I'm gonna go get in the shower, is there anything you need before I do?"

"A joint," I answered before walking over to the desk in our living room, opening the drawer, and pulling one out.

"I'm gonna sit this one out," my wife said as she made her way towards the bathroom. "It's too early for me, plus the shower will just kill my high, anyway."

"It's never too early for me," I said as I lit up the j and headed for the backdoor.

I made my way into the backyard and over to one of the four lawn chairs we had scattered around. I plopped my butt into it and leaned back for a moment, thinking about my TV Title match for Savage.

"Thaddeus Duke..........." I said as I took a long drag of God's green gift. "We finally meet face to face. We were SUPPOSED to have the pleasure at War Games, but apparently you had other places to be. Or maybe you were afraid to be locked in a Cage with me, either way, you no showed and let your team down. Not that you would've been much help anyway, but a little bit of effort never killed anybody. At least you would've shown the world you weren't a coward."

"The way you abandoned Ned's team after he hand selected you makes me question your passion for this business. It also has me wondering whether you'll even show up for our match next Saturday. If you want to hand me the TV Title, I'm not gonna complain, but it'd be nice to actually EARN a win; not that you know anything about earning stuff. What did you do to deserve this opportunity, beat Jenny Myst in a tables match? Congratulations, you managed to send a stripper through a table, I bet you feel like a big man for it, don't you? Just like you feel all high and mighty about being unpinned from October 10, 2016 to July 8, 2017. That's not even a fucking year! While I can admit it's better than the luck I've had as of late, it still isn't THAT impressive. First off, just because you weren't pinned, doesn't mean you didn't lose at all. And secondly, how much were you ACTUALLY wrestling in that timeframe?! Considering how often you seem to come and go, you could've only been in like three matches throughout all those months. Needless to say, I'm not impressed."

I took another big ole puff of my joint, before exhaling and ashing it on the ground. As I did this, I happened to notice the same squirrels from before fighting each other and chasing each other around the yard more. It made me think about my own fight that lay ahead come Savage.

"You claim to be what, 5-6 years old right now?" I asked with blatant sarcasm in my voice. "And yet you look to be about the age I was when I lost my virginity. I'm not sure if you're just trying to bullshit us, or are just mentally ill, but it's not gonna stop me from kicking your ass! Even IF you were the age you say you are, that wouldn't prevent me from doing what I must to become TV Champion. Whether it's you or one of Jenny Myst's prom night dumpster babies, I'll hit a 5 year old if that's what it takes to become Champion!"

"Speaking of attacking people who can't defend themselves, I saw what your dad did to MiGRaiNe at XX. That poor old man was so frightened and helpless, yet Sebastian just ran away like was gonna somehow get up and fight back. Guess cowardice runs in the family, he fled from MiGRaiNe just like you fled from War Games. Them Duke genes are just full of fear, no? You fit right in with the current XWF atmosphere, where our great Champion attacked someone after a match to take the Title from someone who won it the same way. You're all alike, same face, different name."

"It's about time XWF got a real fucking Champion. I can't win the Universal Title yet, but I'm gonna prove to the world that I deserve a shot at it. After I win the Xtreme Championship Wednesday night, I'm gonna go on to win the TV Title at Savage and become a Double Champion! I will stand atop of that ladder and hoist both my belts over my head and NOONE will deny that Big D is for real! And that ain't no story, it's the Cold Big D Truth!"

As I put my joint out, I looked up at the telephone pole and, once again, saw the same two squirrels. They were in a stand off, both of them had their claws dug into the wood of the pole. One of them was slightly higher than the other, but probably not as high as I was. The one down low made a move to attack his foe and, with the ease of a knife through butter, tossed the other squirrel down to the grass below.

I couldn't help but see a similarity between Thad Duke, myself, and these squirrels. Duke may be the more accomplished wrestler(at least in XWF) but, at Savage, I'm gonna scale the ladder, throw Thad off, and ascend to the top of the mountain. Things are gonna start looking up for me from here on out, and that ain't no story, it's the Cold Big D Truth!!!!

And as of the results of this past Warfare, things WERE beginning to look up for Big D.............

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode Ascending the........... Ladder
Author	Message