08-04-2014, 06:00 AM
It's been sometime since I sat in my rocking chair and had a moment of relaxation. I've missed the small little wind hitting my face and the noise the chair makes as it sways back and forth.
Eli is in his wooden rocking chair near the playground at the Garden. It's a peaceful evening with not much going on weather wise. A few light squeaks can be heard from the light wind blowing the swings just a little. If you had good hearing, you could hear a little light chatter from within the building of children still up.
"Ya grow up and hear stories. Sometimes true or sometimes false. Time passes by and those stories can give off different meanings to the original. They can become legend status. They can be so estrange to our ears that we would label it a myth.
Mark Flynn.
I've heard stories about you, man. I came in when you were leavin'. Even while you were gone, those stories were still being told.
You were a man's man.
You were a hero.
You were a legend in this sport.
You were a good man.
You were a tough competitor.
I could keep going, but I think you understand. Those stories I heard were nothing but myths to me, man. I never heard your words or saw you in action other than a little footage from the past here and there. Just because you were good back then, doesn't mean ya are now.
Take for instance two men who were talked up so much.. this legend I heard so much about with these two men... Unknown Soldier and Weapon:Ashen. They told me I was crazy for calling them out, and that I would be destroyed.
Weapon:Ashen visited for a little while, and lost to Cheat Lucena. That was the great and feared Weapon:Ashen. His story.. his legacy.. was talked so much that people believed the hype.
Unknown Soldier goes quiet when challenged.
Both of those stories were talked up so much that people would celebrate them if they would return. Eyes would be glued to the screen and people would spend all their money to see these great legends return. But ya know what I found out? Those stories didn't live up to the hype. They were just exaggeration.
Ya see, Mark... they talk so much... they talk, people like you, up so much that it's an easy fall.
The one's they place on a throne are the ones that make me laugh. I was told to be afraid of this guy, or that guy... this team or that team... and ya wanna know somethin'? They all fell. They collapsed. One .... by ... one. The story of the man they didn't fear was the same one that left them to dry out in the desert and rot.
People like to choose what stories they tell and what stories to believe. Fact or fiction makes no difference to them. They want to see you as a great and mighty warrior, then that's what you'll be. Always. You fall.. then they say every warrior falls someday.
It's in there thoughts. It's the way their minds think.
You and I went into a fight for the Trio Titles. I saw first hand the truth about the stories they told me. I was able to listen to your words.. to watch how you fought... to see every move you made. I became an eye witness of the great Mark Flynn. Heh.
You have the opportunity to rise up to all these stories they told about you, man. This is the great chance for the Flynn name to be associated with greatness, isn't it? Don't ya want that?
There was a young man who ventured out to do something no one had done before in his family. It wasn't to go to college or make a lot of money.. he wanted to work for NASA with one goal in mind. He spent all his hard earned money and his time, which you could never get back, and finally made it. He became an employee of NASA and started to slowly move up. He did flight simulations as if he were going to go in space. He studied articles that were written in the past about how asteroids worked. He did everything possible so he would be ready when he reached his goal. Finally, the week came that he had been waiting for. In the month of August and year 2006, his dream died. Pluto's status was no longer a planet. His goal had always been to study that one planet. It was his dream to go beyond the norm. He wanted to study the furthest planet. Today, he's apart of a team that sent space aircraft to fly to Pluto.
His story looked like it was going to tank, but he pushed through, man.
What does your story look like, Mark? Is it one of about winning matches and titles in the XWF? Is it about losing and being entertaining for all the little kiddies? Is your life molded into a fairy tale children's book for them to read for a few years until they grow up? Tell me your story is more than that, Mark.
Tell me you have something to fight for.
Tell me your story will go beyond the XWF and winning belts.
Unfortunately, man.. your tale isn't going to end well.
Ladies and gentlemen... here is the next chapter in the story that is Mark Flynn. He refers to it at Mark Flynn 2.0.
He says me ending his career has been disproven since he returned. If you are callin' yourself Mark Flynn 2.0, then I suppose Mark Flynn 1.0 did end.. which means if ya want to get technical about it.. I did end Mark Flynn. Now ya wanna come back and start fresh... do some new tricks.. wow the fans.. shock the new XWF stars.. win titles.. and show the world what great of a man Mark Flynn is.
Mark, I see where the people of the XWF and fans got all these great stories about ya. They came from your own mouth. You had to talk about yourself so much that when ya won a match or shocked the world.. people had no choice but to listen, right?
You say, "I'm the greatest in the world." Ya win a few matches and beat some top boys... and then some people start thinkin' it. But do ya know what I'm about Mark? I'm about truth. I'm about showing people the darkness.. the error.. the evil root.. and letting truth prevail. You like to talk things up so they appear to be this truth... but I think we should let it all come out in the open and let the people hear it.. whether they like it or not.
I haven't won a match makes me weaker. That's the great Flynn 2.0 logic.
I didn't get pinned or submitted against Azrael in the triple threat. But, I'm still becoming weaker right?
I was apart of the team that defeated you, but I'm still getting weak.
Ya got me.
Winning matches is where I place all my hope.. all my dreams.. all my identity. Winning matches is everything to me. The more I lose... the more I become weak and confused. I just don't know what to do with myself.
I should do what the great Mark Flynn would do... become Eli James 2.0. Come back stronger. Come back ready to lose, and then win. Strike fear into the hearts of no one. Put all I have into winning matches and titles. I will be the better version of the original Eli James. Yep, I'll run away from Eli 1.0 and come back as 2.0.
Ya see, Flynn.. I don't leave and reinvent myself like you do. There's no need. There will never be an Eli James 2.0 because '1.0' is already the best of Eli James.
After I beat ya.. is this where Mark Flynn 2.0 leaves for a while.. then returns as Mark Flynn 3.0? Is this how ya work, Mark? You get weary.. ya lose.. you don't know what's next so ya leave for a while and come back as a 'new' version of yourself.
We have a lot of differences between us.. one bein' you leave.. and I stay.
You are the soldier called to go to war and take a honorable discharge.. or dishonorable discharge.. any way to get out of the war temporarily. Maybe you'd fake an injury? Maybe you'd get so desperate to leave you would shoot yourself to cause an injury. You could tell everyone you went to war.. you know what it's like to have bullets flying by your head.. you know what it's like to take orders in the midst of battle.. but that's only part of the story. You would forget the coward part. But isn't that what you're all about? Letting people share these great stories of the once powerful and strong Mark Flynn.. and letting them forget and stay silent on the coward?
History already tells us that we were going to fight last year at an Elimination Chamber match.. and ya went away. That's the Mark Flynn I know.
Ya come back and we get into the ring against each other in a Trio match.. and your team loses.. this is the Mark Flynn I know.
Where, oh where, is the great Mark?
There was nothin' great about Mark Flynn 1.0.
There's nothin' great about Mark Flynn 2.0.
The truth is Mark is a hologram of what he wishes he could have been. He fooled everyone. He pulled the shades over your eyes and talked himself up so much that ya all started to believe the hype.
Not only that Mark, but you believe the hype others tell ya.
People have told ya.. 'Eli James has never lost in one on one competition.' It's like you, like the rest, think it's where I hold my identity.
I've never placed my life into the matches nor titles.
I've let my actions speak.
Understand Mark that while you parade yourself as beating men who had undefeated streaks.. I am not those men. I'm far different from those.
If ya think defeating me is going to make Eli James be gone from history.. then I would have your brain checked out, man.
I am beyond your reach.
I am the mystery you want to know but can never grasp.
I am where darkness and light begin and end.
Mark, don't try to understand my ways nor my path. You may say the heavens abandoned me, but do you know what the heavens are or where they are located?
You say 'This is how your God see's it'.. do you know my God? Are you his best friend? Does he whisper his thoughts to you? If he's my God, then he's your God. You sayin' 'your god' simply means you acknowledge him but don't have a relationship with him.. which means you have no idea how any God see's it.
You are merely a blind man pretending to tell the world what ya see.. when ya see nothin'.
Let me tell ya the truth about how God see's it.
Memories, Mark.. they come and go. People age and forget. Some people's memories vanish due to all sorts of reasons. Memories of Eli James may fade away from some.. just like memories of what you've accomplished will. Memories are an abstract thought from what once was concrete.
Mark.. I am always concrete. There will be no need for memories because I will never die. I will always be around. I am forever."
Eli is in his wooden rocking chair near the playground at the Garden. It's a peaceful evening with not much going on weather wise. A few light squeaks can be heard from the light wind blowing the swings just a little. If you had good hearing, you could hear a little light chatter from within the building of children still up.
"Ya grow up and hear stories. Sometimes true or sometimes false. Time passes by and those stories can give off different meanings to the original. They can become legend status. They can be so estrange to our ears that we would label it a myth.
Mark Flynn.
I've heard stories about you, man. I came in when you were leavin'. Even while you were gone, those stories were still being told.
You were a man's man.
You were a hero.
You were a legend in this sport.
You were a good man.
You were a tough competitor.
I could keep going, but I think you understand. Those stories I heard were nothing but myths to me, man. I never heard your words or saw you in action other than a little footage from the past here and there. Just because you were good back then, doesn't mean ya are now.
Take for instance two men who were talked up so much.. this legend I heard so much about with these two men... Unknown Soldier and Weapon:Ashen. They told me I was crazy for calling them out, and that I would be destroyed.
Weapon:Ashen visited for a little while, and lost to Cheat Lucena. That was the great and feared Weapon:Ashen. His story.. his legacy.. was talked so much that people believed the hype.
Unknown Soldier goes quiet when challenged.
Both of those stories were talked up so much that people would celebrate them if they would return. Eyes would be glued to the screen and people would spend all their money to see these great legends return. But ya know what I found out? Those stories didn't live up to the hype. They were just exaggeration.
Ya see, Mark... they talk so much... they talk, people like you, up so much that it's an easy fall.
The one's they place on a throne are the ones that make me laugh. I was told to be afraid of this guy, or that guy... this team or that team... and ya wanna know somethin'? They all fell. They collapsed. One .... by ... one. The story of the man they didn't fear was the same one that left them to dry out in the desert and rot.
People like to choose what stories they tell and what stories to believe. Fact or fiction makes no difference to them. They want to see you as a great and mighty warrior, then that's what you'll be. Always. You fall.. then they say every warrior falls someday.
It's in there thoughts. It's the way their minds think.
You and I went into a fight for the Trio Titles. I saw first hand the truth about the stories they told me. I was able to listen to your words.. to watch how you fought... to see every move you made. I became an eye witness of the great Mark Flynn. Heh.
You have the opportunity to rise up to all these stories they told about you, man. This is the great chance for the Flynn name to be associated with greatness, isn't it? Don't ya want that?
There was a young man who ventured out to do something no one had done before in his family. It wasn't to go to college or make a lot of money.. he wanted to work for NASA with one goal in mind. He spent all his hard earned money and his time, which you could never get back, and finally made it. He became an employee of NASA and started to slowly move up. He did flight simulations as if he were going to go in space. He studied articles that were written in the past about how asteroids worked. He did everything possible so he would be ready when he reached his goal. Finally, the week came that he had been waiting for. In the month of August and year 2006, his dream died. Pluto's status was no longer a planet. His goal had always been to study that one planet. It was his dream to go beyond the norm. He wanted to study the furthest planet. Today, he's apart of a team that sent space aircraft to fly to Pluto.
His story looked like it was going to tank, but he pushed through, man.
What does your story look like, Mark? Is it one of about winning matches and titles in the XWF? Is it about losing and being entertaining for all the little kiddies? Is your life molded into a fairy tale children's book for them to read for a few years until they grow up? Tell me your story is more than that, Mark.
Tell me you have something to fight for.
Tell me your story will go beyond the XWF and winning belts.
Unfortunately, man.. your tale isn't going to end well.
Ladies and gentlemen... here is the next chapter in the story that is Mark Flynn. He refers to it at Mark Flynn 2.0.
He says me ending his career has been disproven since he returned. If you are callin' yourself Mark Flynn 2.0, then I suppose Mark Flynn 1.0 did end.. which means if ya want to get technical about it.. I did end Mark Flynn. Now ya wanna come back and start fresh... do some new tricks.. wow the fans.. shock the new XWF stars.. win titles.. and show the world what great of a man Mark Flynn is.
Mark, I see where the people of the XWF and fans got all these great stories about ya. They came from your own mouth. You had to talk about yourself so much that when ya won a match or shocked the world.. people had no choice but to listen, right?
You say, "I'm the greatest in the world." Ya win a few matches and beat some top boys... and then some people start thinkin' it. But do ya know what I'm about Mark? I'm about truth. I'm about showing people the darkness.. the error.. the evil root.. and letting truth prevail. You like to talk things up so they appear to be this truth... but I think we should let it all come out in the open and let the people hear it.. whether they like it or not.
I haven't won a match makes me weaker. That's the great Flynn 2.0 logic.
I didn't get pinned or submitted against Azrael in the triple threat. But, I'm still becoming weaker right?
I was apart of the team that defeated you, but I'm still getting weak.
Ya got me.
Winning matches is where I place all my hope.. all my dreams.. all my identity. Winning matches is everything to me. The more I lose... the more I become weak and confused. I just don't know what to do with myself.
I should do what the great Mark Flynn would do... become Eli James 2.0. Come back stronger. Come back ready to lose, and then win. Strike fear into the hearts of no one. Put all I have into winning matches and titles. I will be the better version of the original Eli James. Yep, I'll run away from Eli 1.0 and come back as 2.0.
Ya see, Flynn.. I don't leave and reinvent myself like you do. There's no need. There will never be an Eli James 2.0 because '1.0' is already the best of Eli James.
After I beat ya.. is this where Mark Flynn 2.0 leaves for a while.. then returns as Mark Flynn 3.0? Is this how ya work, Mark? You get weary.. ya lose.. you don't know what's next so ya leave for a while and come back as a 'new' version of yourself.
We have a lot of differences between us.. one bein' you leave.. and I stay.
You are the soldier called to go to war and take a honorable discharge.. or dishonorable discharge.. any way to get out of the war temporarily. Maybe you'd fake an injury? Maybe you'd get so desperate to leave you would shoot yourself to cause an injury. You could tell everyone you went to war.. you know what it's like to have bullets flying by your head.. you know what it's like to take orders in the midst of battle.. but that's only part of the story. You would forget the coward part. But isn't that what you're all about? Letting people share these great stories of the once powerful and strong Mark Flynn.. and letting them forget and stay silent on the coward?
History already tells us that we were going to fight last year at an Elimination Chamber match.. and ya went away. That's the Mark Flynn I know.
Ya come back and we get into the ring against each other in a Trio match.. and your team loses.. this is the Mark Flynn I know.
Where, oh where, is the great Mark?
There was nothin' great about Mark Flynn 1.0.
There's nothin' great about Mark Flynn 2.0.
The truth is Mark is a hologram of what he wishes he could have been. He fooled everyone. He pulled the shades over your eyes and talked himself up so much that ya all started to believe the hype.
Not only that Mark, but you believe the hype others tell ya.
People have told ya.. 'Eli James has never lost in one on one competition.' It's like you, like the rest, think it's where I hold my identity.
I've never placed my life into the matches nor titles.
I've let my actions speak.
Understand Mark that while you parade yourself as beating men who had undefeated streaks.. I am not those men. I'm far different from those.
If ya think defeating me is going to make Eli James be gone from history.. then I would have your brain checked out, man.
I am beyond your reach.
I am the mystery you want to know but can never grasp.
I am where darkness and light begin and end.
Mark, don't try to understand my ways nor my path. You may say the heavens abandoned me, but do you know what the heavens are or where they are located?
You say 'This is how your God see's it'.. do you know my God? Are you his best friend? Does he whisper his thoughts to you? If he's my God, then he's your God. You sayin' 'your god' simply means you acknowledge him but don't have a relationship with him.. which means you have no idea how any God see's it.
You are merely a blind man pretending to tell the world what ya see.. when ya see nothin'.
Let me tell ya the truth about how God see's it.
Memories, Mark.. they come and go. People age and forget. Some people's memories vanish due to all sorts of reasons. Memories of Eli James may fade away from some.. just like memories of what you've accomplished will. Memories are an abstract thought from what once was concrete.
Mark.. I am always concrete. There will be no need for memories because I will never die. I will always be around. I am forever."