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B.O.B. D · (02-11-2020)

It was tense in the lockeroom post-Warfare, moreso than usual. This wasn't due to having to share the area with a bunch of people I considered enemies, but rather, from what happened between Ned and I during the show itself. Even though he had willingly accepted my challenge to a match, there was something off about him. I knew it wasn't easy to be put into that position, but Ned could barely look me in the face, let alone speak to me. The only words out of his mouth were "thanks for the save," and they didn't come until he had his things packed and was heading out the door.

Here I am, once again, playing the role of the bad guy. It was never something I INTENDED to do, whether it be now or at the beginning of my career, but it was something I always found myself going back to. When I won my first(and to this point, ONLY) World Title, I forced a woman in the audience to kiss me at a Live Event leading up to my Championship victory. And while I may have gotten slapped, that was the only punishment I received for that incident(although to this day, I'm still waiting to get MeToo'd). Another time in WWF, I attacked a rival's wife in the ring as if she were an actual wrestler. She wasn't. No, Zero's spouse was simply a ring announcer, barely 100 pounds, and a victim of Big D's fury. I didn't just hit her once and call it good enough, no, I beat her with a Steel Chair and Dan Slammed her in the middle of the ring as if she was Zero himself! What I did to her was an absolute travesty and I should've been locked away forever because of it, but in the world of wrestling most of us THRIVE off our sins............. everyone except Ned Kaye, that is.

When Ned agreed to team with me, I was pretty shocked. While I may have rescued him from a beatdown(something I'd end up doing again months later), a look into my past might've suggested thanking me and going his separate way. I've turned on countless partners, left them bloodied and broken in the middle of the ring. People who've pledged their loyalty to me, promised to look out for MY best interest, betrayed in an instant. And for what? Failing to win the Tag Team Titles.......... losing an important match with the spotlight shining bright upon us........ hell, I've even ditched allies for the sake of boredom and wanting to replace them with a fresh face. My list of former teammates was a long revolving door of people who thought I had changed, only to be gravely mistaken. I can only imagine Ned feels as foolish as the rest of them, despite it not being warranted.

Regardless of what anyone believes, there was never an ulterior motive for teaming with Ned(besides becoming one half of the Tag Team Champions). I genuinely wanted to be the one to guide him to his first Championship, be there for him the way I'd wished someone was for me when I was first starting out. For the first time in my career, I wanted to look out for someone and help build the future of the business, as opposed to tainting it. But now all that would be flushed down the toilet because of my challenge.

This wasn't what I wanted. The original plan was to win War Games, which I did, if not for ALOT of help(maybe even a little luck). Then I was supposed to win the Universal Title and retire as Champion. One last middle finger to all the people of my past who said I couldn't do it; the ones who never gave me the opportunity to prove to them I COULD. To be on top of the greatest wrestling promotion known to man, one that easily surpasses all the lowly Feds my critics struggled to compete in, would show I was always capable of being the face of a company.

But, as had always been the case in my life, it wasn't to be. Robert Main showed me exactly what it takes to be THE guy. I've always been skeptical of the guy, but when you step in the ring with him its a whole other level. While Donovan Blackwater stumbled around the ring like a drunken fool, Robert moved with the grace of a true Champion, proving in the end why he deserved to hold that belt. When he first took Ned under his wing, I wasn't sure how to feel about it. As someone with first hand knowledge of betrayals, it was hard to view Apex as anything other than an Evolution ripoff. But after watching them compete, being in the ring to see it up close and personal, as well as hearing all the wonderful things Ned has to say about them, I now know I made an error in judgment. And for that, I sympathized for Main and the way his Legendary reign had ended. In my eyes, he was still the true Champion of the XWF.

After Robert Main kicked my ass, I contemplated retirement. It felt like I was a step behind everyone I lost to, and barely a step ahead of the people I beat. But when the chance to compete in the Leap of Faith match arose, I couldn't say no. This wasn't just a Number 1 Contender match, oh no, when you factor in the sneak attack element that comes with holding a 24/7 briefcase, it was essentially a guaranteed Universal Title run. The funny thing was, had I won this match, I would've done EXACTLY what Unknown Soldier did(minus the bitching out of my reign). But.............as history has already started to show, it wasn't meant to be.

I fought across from Ned Kaye for the second pay-per-view in a row, with a foray of other competitors battling it out amongst us. And even though Robbie Bourbon was the favorite to win(who copped out before the match, only to run in later, fresh like a bitch)............ despite veterans like Mastermind and Donovan Blackwater being the more likely choices, regardless of the fake hype that surrounded Brian Storm at the time..................... that entire match was all about Ned and I. Nobody knew it at the time, but a friendship blossomed atop the scaffolding that night. When the two of us agreed not to risk the other's life for the glory that came with a win, it was the beginning of a mutual respect we'd share from then on. And while it may have ended up costing me the match, it was never a decision I regretted making.

Despite the setback, I tried to stay in high spirits. My loss wasn't a demeaning one, as not being able to retrieve the proper briefcase of three was essentially no different than losing a game of Three Card Monte. All I could do was keep my head held high and wait for the next opportunity to present itself. I didn't have to wait too long, as Lethal Lottery quickly arrived and I signed up immediately. Not only was the winner given hosting duties for their own Pay-per-view(which I planned to call 'D-Day'), but also the chance to Main Event it in a match of their choosing, for whatever Championship they wished.

Such a great reward didn't come without equal risk, however. Lethal Lottery wasn't your typical bouts of one on one marches, oh no, this tournament required you to team with a randomly selected partner each round. This wouldn't have been all that bad had all the competitors been on the level of guys like me, Ned, and the rest of his Apex buddies; but considering there were more Boris's and Scullys as opposed to Lacklans and Santos's, I was extremely nervous. All it takes is one bad partner and you can kiss your pay-per-view AND Title shot goodbye. Nevertheless, it was a risk I had to take in order to achieve what I set out to do when I came out of retirement.

The 1st Round was certainly an interesting one as my partner was none other than Fuzz, the man who beat me for the Xtreme Championship. We agreed to put our differences aside for the sake of our mutual goal of advancing to the next round. Luckily for us, two of the tournament's weaker participants were paired off and forced to face the team of the Xtreme and TV Champions. Boris and Scully stood no chance when they stepped into the ring with us, as we showed them exactly why we had gold around our waists.

And then Round 2 arrived.

As fate would have it, my partner from the previous round was now my enemy, as Fuzz had been paired up with the roided up Amjetkun Socio. But who was my partner? Tony Santos? The man who they should be changing the name of the "Hart Title" to, in honor of his incredible reign? Mastermind? The former Xtreme Champion who was always on high alert, never being pinned outside of an official match? Vita Valentine? The fake Anarchy Champion who at least had the balls to take something and run with it enough to make sure no-one forgets her name? As great as ANY of those choices would've been, none of them were what I ended up with. No, my partner just HAD to be the ONE person remaining who I would NEVER, under ANY circumstances want to team up with, ESPECIALLY with so much on the line! Because my story up to this point has been a non-stop roller coaster of failure after failure, it was exactly what I got........... Donovan Blackwater.

Blackwater had already failed me once before in our Universal Title match, being on the receiving end of Robert Main's pin as I could only look on in horror. My moment was gone in an instant, all the talk and hype surrounding Big D had vanished in an instant. And it was all due to circumstances beyond my control, just like Leap of Faith, and just like our pairing!

I tried my best to make the most of a bad situation. While I trained my ass off day and night in order to make up for my partner's shortcomings, he spent his time banging his friend's girlfriend. Not only was he treating this match like it wasn't gonna make or break someone's career, he was also being a garbage human being in the process. He said he was willing to make this work and focus on a win, but his actions told a completely different story. For the first time in my career, I walked into a match lacking the confidence, the TRUE belief I could win. I knew I didn't stand a chance.................. and that was BEFORE the questionable circumstances of the match itself!

While I was the legal man, the fight spilled out to the floor. As I battled it out on the outside, Blackwater found himself in the ring for some reason(my plan was to keep him as far AWAY from it as possible!) and ended up being counted down by an incompetent referee. Before I could do anything, Noah's

ass popped up in the crowd and smashed a can of Koala diarrhea over my head! The ref didn't see the blatant disqualification, nor did he have any business counting Donovan's downed shoulders! And yet that's exactly what happened.................. I was out of the Main Event picture and relegated to defending a Championship I no longer had the desire to hold. I felt numb, my heart had been completely ripped from my chest by the injustice I had suffered.

And then there was a chance for redemption.....................

The Christmas edition of Warfare was having an Elimination Chamber extravaganza, with the fake Engineer putting his newly won Championship on the line in the Main Event. After what had happened to me weeks prior, it only made sense to put me in one of those pods as an apology for the travesty I had endured. However, instead of making things right, management decided it was in their best interest to hold another random drawing. According to them, it was fair. They had the nerve to say that to me after allowing one of their refs to rob me of a Lethal Lottery victory. In that moment, I vowed not to show up if I wasn't in the Main Event. I knew everyone would call me a coward for it, but I also knew I wasn't gonna be in the match. Instead of being given an opportunity to shine on the big stage, I was expected to compete for the belt I had just lost while Seth Feder got handed a Universal Title shot just for being in the right place, at the right time. THAT, according to XWF management, is "fair!" Well, not only did I not show up for my Chamber match that Warfare, neither did Feder!

Everyone wants to make me out to be this horrible human being, but they never take a moment to walk in my shoes. If people want to hate me because I threw Pip across the announce table and grabbed Heather by the hair for a TV Title shot, that's fine. If they feel the need to boo me because I don't win as much as Centurion or Robert Main, I can understand. What I DON'T get is how people can be so ignorant of all the bullshit that's been dealt my way over the past year! If things had gone just a tiny bit different, I wouldn't have been forced to Challenge Ned to a match for his briefcase in the FIRST place! Had Smokin' Bob put me in the Universal Chamber match like I deserved, what was REALLY fair, Ned's XWF career wouldn't hang in the balance. I may be the bad guy in this situation, but nobody gives a damn of about HOW I got here!

Challenging Ned for his briefcase was never apart of the plan, there were so many other opportunities, this should've never been an option. But my whole reason for existing in the XWF universe was for that one final run at the top, and I couldn't let that chance slip away like all the others. I'm running on borrowed time, something Ned isn't running out of anytime soon. I know he's convinced he'll leave if he doesn't win the Universal Title by March Madness, but that would be a mistake. He has such a bright future ahead and will win more World Championships than I ever could. But that future would have to be put on hold so an old man could have his one last ride into the sunset.

Ned Kaye is my best friend and will be after our match, regardless of the outcome. I know Ned's very much as capable of winning as I am, and if that happens, I'll support him. Just like I expect the same from him if I win. I've never had a match with so much at stake on my life. While I could win the briefcase I felt I deserved at Leap of Faith, I could lose the only friend in this business I've ever had.

I hope, regardless of the outcome, that Ned forgives me..................

I don't WANT to be the bad guy.................................

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