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X-treme Wrestling Federation »   » Archives » Leap of Faith 2020 PPV
Pressure
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Centurion Offline
Active in XWF



XWF FanBase:
Traditionalists

(has an old school wrestling mentality; no nonsense; less appealing to some younger fans)


#1
07-13-2020, 05:04 PM

“Centurion is a legend but not because he is better than everybody else, Centurion is a legend because he is consistent. HE NEVER TAKES A FUCKIN VACATION! Seriously, sometimes I wonder if the guy is actually some kind of mid-card robot. Centurion gets credit for a lot of acomplishments he has because while he never takes time off, everybody else does, so when the roster is depleated of talent who is always there to snag a title or two? Centurion. Its not a bad stratgey really, wait till all the talented people are gone then win as many belts as you can." - K-Money, 2009



Allison: This is a terrible idea.

(As Centurion enters into the most difficult stretch of his wrestling career, the desire to make amends for his past behavior continues to grow. While he has repaired his family and made good with several of his friends, there are still others out there that Centurion has wronged that he still has to make up to.

We open up outside the Salem Public Library. There, we see Centurion and Allison standing in front of the front door. Centurion has a file folder underneath his left arm, and the two are looking at a letter taped to the front door:

CLOSED:
Both Salem Public Library locations are currently closed due to COVID-19. No contact, by-appointment-only curbside service is available to Salem Public Library cardholders at Salem Public Library at Broadway Patrons are asked to keep materials at home until reopening. No fines will be charged. Staff are still available for you.)


Allison: See, they’re not even going to let us in.

Centurion: You need to start trusting me more. Not everything is as it appears.

(Centurion pulls on the front door, and it opens with ease. He simple nods over at Allison before the two step into the building. The place is mostly empty, and the sound of the twins’ shoes echo throughout the building as the only sounds that can be heard. The two walk up to a front desk, where no one is sitting, and a small sign that reads “Sorry, Closed to The Public” sits. Centurion looks around at the empty building, then down at a bell on top of the desk. He presses the bell, causing a ring to echo out.)

Centurion: Yikes. Think it’s loud enough?

(After a few seconds, the sound of a third pair of footsteps are heard from elsewhere in the library. Emerging from behind the wall directly in front of them is an old lady – white hair, thick glasses, hunched over holding a cane.)

Lady: Sorry folks, but you have the leave. The library is closed.

Centurion: I understand, but I’m looking for something very specific. I’m looking to check out the book “Farewell, My Queen” by Chantal Thomas.

(The lady arches an eyebrow as she walks closer to the two of them. She looks both Centurion and Allison up and down before sitting down in the seat behind the counter.)

Lady: Names?

Centurion: I’m Andy. This is my sister Allison.

(After taking a couple extra seconds to look at the two, the lady picks up a landline phone from the desk and simply dials one number. After a brief moment, she begins to talk to whoever is on the other end.)

Lady: Yes, we have two visitors – Andy and Allison. Says they’re looking for “Farewell, My Queen”…Ok, I’ll send them down.

(The lady hangs up the phone and points down a dark hallway to the left.)

Lady: All the way at the end of the hallway you’ll find an elevator. Take it to the basement. The librarian down there will take care of you.

Centurion: (bows) Thank you very much.

(Centurion and Allison both turn away from the desk and down the hallway as instructed. Once they get out of earshot of the old lady, Allison breaks the silence.)

Allison: That was easier than I thought.

Centurion: This isn’t my first rodeo, Al. I know this may come as a surprise to you, but I do know what I’m doing.

Allison: Look, I’m not saying you don’t know what you’re doing…

Centurion: …but?

Allison: But you don’t have the greatest track record when it comes to making positive decisions that affect your personal life.

Centurion: Hey, I know I’ve made plenty of mistakes in the past, but I’ve made plenty of good decisions as well.

Allison: Oh yeah? Name some.

Centurion: I adopted Nellie.

Allison: Right. What else?

Centurion: I…uh…

(Centurion hmms and ahhs for a few seconds as the two reach the end of the hallway. Allison presses the down button on the elevator and they stand there, waiting for the lift to arrive.)

Allison: See, that’s what I mean. There’s a lot of things you do that sound like a good idea at the time, but then they blow up in your face. Remember when buying into WGWF was a “sound business strategy”?

Centurion: Yes, you don’t have to bring that up again. It’s what started my downward spiral. But you can attach almost every other bad decision I have made to that one moment. You can’t hold it against me for the rest of my life.

(The elevator doors open, and Centurion and Allison step inside. Centurion presses the button to the basement, and the doors close.)

Allison: What about your numerous retirements?

Centurion: Alright, so that…that had more to do with how I was feeling at the time. I would argue those retirements were a GOOD thing for me. Helped me rest by body and my mind. Sure, everyone gets to make fun of me from now until I die about how I “retire and unretire” – the “Brett Favre of wrestling” and all that, but I truly think I wouldn’t be able to wrestle at 43 if I didn’t take some time off here and there.

Allison: …alright, you make a valid point. But there are multiple other examples I can point to. I just worry about you, you know? And I worry about everyone around you. You have this ability to make everything sound like a great idea. Like what we’re doing right now. How can you be sure this is such a good idea?

Centurion: Relax, Al. It’s fine. Nothing bad is going to happen to us.

(As Centurion says that, the elevator door opens, and standing on the other side are four guards, in old Soviet Union uniforms, holding assault rifles. They have them pointed at Centurion and Allison, and both of them immediately put their hands up and widen their eyes.)

Allison: You were saying.

Centurion: …alright, I know this looks bad…

Allison: LOOKS bad?! There’s only one person in my life I can hang out with that would eventually get me into a situation where automatic weapons are pointed at my head, and that’s you. That’ll be a hell of a story for the XWF web site – “Legend Centurion, weeks before his Universal Title match, killed in a library basement in Oregon.” I bet they’ll do a nice tribute show for you and get big ratings, too.

Voice: Démissionner.

(The sound of a thick French accent calls out through the basement of the building, and as it does, the four guards lower their weapons. The voice causes Centurion and Allison to both slowly lower their arms. Their face relaxes just slightly, as the voice is a familiar one to them. It is familiar to followers of Centurion’s career, as well.

The guards part into two groups of two on either side of the elevator, and through the darkness of the basement walks, ever so slowly, a petite figure – one that is calm, yet commanding. As she slowly approaches Centurion and Allison, her face begins to be revealed – the face of a former WGWF World Champion, and someone very close to Centurion during the darkest days of his life.)


[Image: qpYCrZl.jpg]

Voice: Hello Andy.

Centurion: Hello…Isabelle.

------It’s Getting Closer Now------

It had to be now.

It had to be here.

It had to be you.

I will be honest – it was not my intention to challenge for the Universal Title. My hope was to make it all the way to Relentless as the Hart Champion, capping off a full year as champion. I figured, if I truly wanted to put an exclamation mark on my legacy, that would do it – complete a full 365 days as a champion. No one had ever done it before, and I wanted to be the first.

Hired Gun had other plans.

And fair enough to him, he put everything he had into beating me. That was his number one priority. He didn’t care at all if HE had the belt – he just wanted to make sure I DIDN’T have the belt. As far as he was concerned, the belt was a useless piece of tin, but he knew it meant something to me, and so he did all he could to take it from me.

It came at the end of a difficult streak for me. Losing the lead up to War Games, followed by being eliminated and not even making it to the main event of the War Games event itself – it really took its toll on me. Now, three losses in a row, I no longer see the light at the end of the tunnel. I see the tunnel itself – it is black and empty, and if I don’t get off this ride soon, I will be pushed further into a darkness that I may not be able to get out of.

That’s why it had to be now.

That golden opportunity that I had been offered so many times over the past few months is slipping away from me. If I don’t do it now, I will be passed up for somebody else. That is just a fact. Whoever wins the Leap Of Faith match will be in the driver’s seat for the Universal Title. In this business, you don’t get many opportunities to shine. Once the moment is over, it can be gone for good.

…unless you’re Mastermind. That useless fuck seems to get a title shot every two days.

Since the reboot of the XWF, everything looks completely different – the owners, the names of the shows, several of the titles themselves. I am certainly not complaining – this business doesn’t improve unless certain things change. If you’re old like me, however, this new schedule can use some getting used to. Instead of X-Mas X-Xtreme, Snow Job, and Lord Of The Ring, we have War Games, March Madness, and Relentless. Instead of special stipulation matches inside cages or involving snow, we have tournaments and matches on the beach. It’s different and new, and I love it.

All except…Leap of Faith. Every year, since 1999, Leap of Faith has been held in July. It’s always been a huge event, and the sight of many important triumphs. Hall of Legends members had their careers kickstarted here. Icons had their one final stand here. It has always been THE summer tradition in the XWF, and if you can win at Leap of Faith, you accomplish something that will keep you in the minds of XWF fans for life.

That’s why it had to be here.

Not only that, but it’s in Tokyo, a city where I have had many great successes in my career. Two of my former tag team partners, folks I rode with and shared many life experiences with, are from Tokyo. I have taken countless trips to Tokyo, whether its for wrestling, business, or just pleasure. This building is going to be sold out, and the crowd is going to be true, real wrestling fans who understand this sport for what it is. If you make it big in Japan, you’re not a legend – you’re a deity.

When I was Hart Champion, I was given several opportunities to fight for the Universal Title. Unknown Soldier offered me a shot. Engineer practically begged me to fight him. All of these opportunities I could have taken, but it didn’t feel right. As much as I despised the ground both of those men walked on, giving them the opportunity to lay one into me wasn’t high on my list of priorities. Besides, I know Shane and his ghouls would find a way to fuck me.

But when Shawn Warstein won the belt? The man with whom I have shared the ring more than anyone else in XWF history? It was only a matter of time before the two of us would go head to head for the biggest prize in wrestling.

That’s why it had to be you.

This entire run I have been on – my career since returning in 2019 – has been all about exercising my demons. First, it was simply getting back in the ring. Then it was repairing my relationships with my friends and family. Then it was being a champion again. And now, it’s about winning the one title that has eluded me my entire career. But it couldn’t happen in some random way. I couldn’t win the belt by cashing in a 24/7 briefcase, or winning some random match on Warfare. No, if I was going to win the Universal Title, it had to be by taking it off of Shawn Warstein.

Because no matter how many times I face you, Shawn, you will ALWAYS have one victory against me that will haunt me – and that is winning the Universal Title in a match I was also in. I think this would have been in 2008? Sorry, the exact date fails me, but the image of you standing on the apron holding the Universal Title high while I lay in searing agony is a memory that I have seen every night before I go to bed. And if that’s not bad enough, you KNOW it haunts me. You bring it up all the time. And while I can mention the legends match, where I beat you the first time, or I can mention the match we had when we both came back here and there was some referee screwage, none of it compares to you being able to say you not only held the Universal Title, but one of your reigns came at my expense.

There was a time when I was tired of facing you, Shawn. I wanted to be done with you. I didn’t care what kinds of insults you threw my way – I wasn’t going to step in the ring with you again because I wanted you out of my wrestling life. But the more I thought about it, the more it didn’t make any sense. We never truly settled things, did we, Shawn? We can argue back and forth over the victories we had against one another, but the fact remains we remain intertwined with one another, and the only way either of us can move forward is by separating ourselves from each other.

That’s why I am declaring two things prior to this match. The first is that this is it for us. The feud ends here. 20 years of back and forth ends at Leap of Faith. We’re both old now. It’s time for us to move on. You have a legion of young talent wanting to take a shot at you, and I have other federations I wish to explore. So if I win, you have my vow – I will publicly declare that you are better than me – that you’re the better man and the better wrestler. I owe it to you. I just hope, if I win, you give me the courtesy of tweeting out to your thousands of followers that, even if it was just for one night, I was better than you.

This next thing, I want everyone to pay attention to. I know many of the boys in the back put on these promos to fall asleep to at night, especially mine, since I am the “most boring man in pro wrestling”, but what I am about to announce is extremely important. Everything in my career has lead to this moment. There has never been a time in my career where the steaks have been this high, and the title has been this close to my grasp. If I can’t do it here – if I can’t win it at Leap of Faith, in Tokyo, against Shawn Warstein, then it just isn’t meant to be. Destiny dictates that my career will end without me ever getting a taste of the gold. So, I’m going to make it official.

If I do not beat Shawn Warstein at Leap of Faith, I will never challenge for the Universal Title again.

And I mean “never”. No one off shots five years from now when nostalgia is high. No going back on it if I rattle off 100 victories in a row and all that stood in my way was the Universal Champion. Not even a 24-7 briefcase cash in. This is it. This is my last shot to ever become Universal Champion.

Why put this pressure on myself? Because it’s the only way I know I’m going to be truly focused…and it’s the only way I know there’s going to be a true, undisputed winner. The front office isn’t going to let this match have a screwy finish with this kind of stipulation at hand. Even the most evil, most sadistic wrestlers in the back have enough respect to allow a moment like this to take place without any bullshit. I want this to be history, one way or another. Either this is finally the moment when I break my 19 year curse, and I stand at the top of the mountain, erasing all the demons that have followed me everywhere I went, or this is the last time you will see Centurion competing in the main event for a shot at the biggest prize in the game.

That should sell some buys. You’re welcome, Vinnie.

You know now what this means to me, Shawn. This isn’t just about winning some match. This is it. This is literally everything. Our feud, my career, my future – all of it is on the line. What does that mean? It means you’re going to have to kill me, Shawn. You’re going to have to deliver every blow you possibly have in your arsenal in order to keep me down. There is no way in Hell I’m walking out of that arena under my own power if you’re still the champion. Either I leave with the belt around my waist, or I leave on a stretcher. So you’re going to have to dig deep, Shawn – deeper than you’ve ever had before. You can’t walk into this match as a man looking for redemption. You can’t walk in as Shawn Warstein, heart broken elderstatesman who could take this business or leave it. That won’t do it.

You need to be Fuzz. You need to be the surgical, maniacal bastard I knew you to be most of your career. You need to be the man who retired Drake Komodo. Who took down Aidan Collins. Who made Lee Stone cry. Who made James Raven consider a career in management. Anything less than that, Fuzz, and that title is mine. This isn’t some random prediction. This isn’t me being cocky. This is me telling you that blood and bruises aren’t going to stop me from finally achieving my dream.

Have fun with Mastermind. I know damn well you’re going to slaughter the bastard. And when you’re done, I’ll be waiting on the other side, and you’ll have plenty of time to prepare to meet your…


FINAL FANTASY!!

[Image: UdLSPlv.png]
XWF Record - 212-95-9
XWF All Time Wins Record Holder
Official XWF Legend
3x XWF Anarchy Champion
3x XWF World Champion
8x XWF Canadian Champion (Record for most Canadian Title reigns)
1x XWF Hart Champion
6x XWF X-Treme Champion
5x XWF Tag Team Champion
2x XWF United States Champion
Inaugural XWF IDL Champion 
1x XWF King of Anarchy
1x XWF King of Massacre
1x XWF Stable Champion
XWF Star Of The Month - May 2007
XWF Star Of The Month - July 2009
XWF Star Of The Month - December 2019
XWF Star Of The Month - December 2021
XWF Holiday Battle Royal Winner - 2007

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