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Centurion · (09-18-2020)

Quote: The moment he locks up Shawns body he feels Warsteins arms slip into position.

The two icons make eye contact…

… and twenty years of history flashes by in an instant…

Every drop of blood spilled between them. Every tally on the scoreboard, kept over two decades. Every inconclusive finish or unanswered question.

It all led up to this.

They both understand the significance, and they both accept it.

EGO!

TRIP!

Shawn Warstein makes the cover.

ONEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

TWOOOOOOOO!!!

It’s finally over.

(The three never comes. Instead, a television turns off, and all we get is static.

Sitting in a dark room, illuminated by the television is Centurion, rewatching his match from Leap Of Faith. This isn’t the first time he has rewatched his epic encounter with Shawn Warstein. In fact, he has watched it so many times, he has lost track; however, it is in the hundreds. For someone who was so sure he was going to be able to “move on” from the match – win or lose – he's having a real difficult time adjusting to this post-Leap of Faith world.

The match at Leap of Faith was the final encounter between Warstein and Centurion. It was also the last time in his career that Centurion would wrestle for the Universal Title. When that three count happened, that was it. Centurion’s legacy was secure – he would forever be the “best wrestler to never win a Universal Title”. Centurion THOUGHT he was good with that reality prior to the match. He THOUGHT he had accepted that as an eventual outcome. Clearly, he was wrong; so wrong, in fact, that he has spent a majority of his post-Leap of Faith career wrestling for other companies in an effort to wash the taste of his defeat out of his mouth.)

Centurion: What do you think? Should we watch it again?

(Centurion leans over to a table next to him and grabs a bottle of Crown Royal – the kind of alcohol you drink when you want to pretend you’re classy, but really, you’re just a lazy drunk who likes velvet bags. He tosses a couple ice cubes into a highball glasses and pours the Crown Royal into the glass before sitting back in his chair and grabbing the remote.)

Centurion: Who knows? Maybe it will be different this time.

Athena: Mrow!

(The only other living entity in the room where Centurion sits is his cat Athena, who is sleepily lying on the floor next to him. This doesn’t stop Centurion from interacting with her as if she is a living human being who understands his struggles.

Centurion rewinds the footage back to the beginning of the match, but before he is able to hit play, his phone releases a “Ping!” Centurion takes a deep breath.)

Centurion: Come on, Walter, leave me alone. Can’t you see I’m wallowing in my own self pity here.
(Centurion picks up the phone, but the message is not from Walter. Rather, it is from Ruby, his friend and fellow member of the Sisterhood Of Besties – name change pending. He unlocks his phone and opens up the message.)

Quote:Ruby:

Hey bud! Got some errands I need to run, but I figured we could grab some lunch today and talk strategy! Let me know if you’re around. 👊

(Lunch? What?

Sure enough, Centurion checks the time on his phone, noticing it says 10:30 AM. He has been up all night – again – and he looks like a total wreck. Under any normal circumstances, he would be in no condition to leave his place, but when Centurion has already promised that he would go to the ends of the earth for Ruby. He does not hesitate as he responds.)

Quote:Me:
Sure, let me know when and where. See ya then!

(Centurion quickly tosses his phone onto the table and leaps out of his seat. He flips the light on, causing his eyes to burn while getting adjusted to the brightness. He looks down at his outfit, which is a stained Showboat Casino shirt that he got at a seminar back in 2006, and a pair of grey pajama shorts with holes on them. If it wasn’t for the fact that he was freshly shaved, Centurion would look like a homeless person right now.

Centurion grabs his phone from off the table and begins dialing something. As he does, he quickly tosses his shirt off and turns the phone onto speaker as he gathers things and prepares to take a shower. The voice on the other end belongs to Erin Morgan, his future daughter-in-law.)

Erin: Hello?

Centurion: (as he scrambles to grab clothes) Erin! What are you doing right now?

Erin: Not much. Just getting a few things ready. I have a piece I’ve been working on, and I was going to do some touchups today...

Centurion: Cool, great, hey can you come up and give me a ride? I’ve been drinking all night and Ruby wants to go for lunch.

Erin: Well, look at you trying to make an impression. Old Man Cortinovis is going on a date. Do you need me to grab some cologne for you on my way up?

Centurion: For one, not a date. And for two, shut up. Ruby and I have a massive match against Chris Page and Robert Main coming up, and she’s going to be asking me for some advice, so I need to make sure I’m there and in my best shape.

Erin: Oh yeah, that’s what’s going on? She’s asking for you advice? Not that you’re completely infatuated with her and are willing to do anything to make her happy, including having your team name be “Sisterhood Of Besties”?

Centurion: It’s a placeholder name!

(At this point, Centurion has stepped into the shower, but he continues to talk to Erin through the speaker even as he washes the stink of the past 24 hours off of him.)

Centurion: Besides, it’s nothing like that. Cataclysm is a really good team, so we need to work on our team work. That’s all.

Erin: Does that “team work” include a king sized bed and some Barry White music?

Centurion: Are you going to come pick me up or not?!

Erin: Of course! I’m already getting in the car. I wouldn’t blow this for you. I think it's kind of cute. Young love is so adorable.

Centurion: I’m going to punch you in the throat when you get here.

Erin: Well, that’s not nice. Remember, you wouldn’t even be in this situation in the first place if you didn’t sit in a dark room all by yourself, drinking your sorrows and pissing out your pity.

Centurion: You don’t understand, Erin. You don’t know what it’s like to...

Erin: Oh, shut up.

(Erin cuts Centurion off before he can go on another one of his speeches, which really takes him off guard.)

Erin: Yeah, I get it, it sucks. You’re not the only one who has seen their dreams get torched. The difference between you and the rest of us is we don’t sit around for two months contemplating our future. We just go out there and make the best out of life. Like you’re able to do, with Ruby, if you not only moved on from your failures, but were honest about your own feelings.

(Centurion says nothing, and other than the sound of the shower, there is silence. Erin is right. Centurion knows Erin is right, and it pisses him off. There’s a lot of thinking Centurion has to do over the next few weeks and months, and it’s the one thing he hates doing the most. Ignoring problems is what he does best, but that usually doesn’t lead to success. And in his current situation, his failure not only effects himself, but it also adversely effects Ruby, as well.)

Centurion: Erin, if you're going to give me advice and try to analyze me, then I want you to refund me all that money I’ve spent on a therapist.

Erin: Yeah, seriously, you don’t need to spend any more time with some doctor. Just hang out with me and Nellie for a bit. We’ll fix all of the problems in your brain.

Centurion: The two of you cause most of the problems in my brain.

Erin: We’re angels, don’t lie. Besides, if you think we’re going to mess with your brain, just wait until you hear some of the crap that’s going to come out of the mouths of your opponents next week. I at least know I’m not a licensed medical professional. I think those two truly think they’re psychologists.

Centurion: Yes, well we can talk about Robert and Chris more when you get here. Just don’t get fucking killed along the way, alright? Last thing I need is for Nellie to move back in with me.

Erin: Gee, love you too. See you in a few.

(With that, the phone beeps, indicating the end of the conversation.)

------See you've been in the sun and I've been in the rain------

On paper, it’s the biggest mismatch in XWF history. Or, at the very least, in recent memory.

On one side, you have, perhaps, the most dominant team in professional wrestling – Cataclysm. They’re made up of a former Universal Champion and surefire Hall of Legends inductee, Robert Main, and a man who has found the fountain of youth and is on perhaps his best XWF run of his career, Chris Page. Individually, these are two great wrestlers, but as a team, they have been so unstoppable that tag teams have literally turned down offers to face them. They have been so starved for competition that they stand in the ring every night, hoping for challengers to arise, but they have beaten so many teams into the ground that none ever show.

And on the other side of the ring, you have a team who is in its infancy. A team that has only really worked together on Anarchy, and even then, not in proper tag team matches. A team that definitely has not had the bright light shined on them. A team made up of a naive young girl who “pretends” to be a superhero, and a washed up legend who hasn’t won a match in the company in months, and who looks to have one foot already in the grave, with the other foot slowly lowering in.

Yeah, I can see why no one has any faith in us. I don’t know what the betting odds are – I generally don’t bet on my own matches, so someone a little more narcissistic than I will have to check that for me – but my guess is that Ruby and I are MASSIVE underdogs. And if I was someone more concerned about money than my own personal integrity, I’d put $100 down on the champs.

And I know, sitting in whatever dark dungeon the members of Cataclysm are currently huddled in, they think the same thing. In fact, they’re laughing right now. They don’t see us as any sort of threat. To them, we’re nothing more than wood to toss onto a bright, white hot fire. I would be shocked if they were doing ANY preparations for this match, Their egos are as large as their talent – they know they’re great. They don’t need to hear it from their opponents, or from anyone in the back, or hell, even from Adam Barker or anyone else that hangs around them. They’ve always known they were great, and they have no problem letting everyone know about it.

Here’s the thing, though – eventually, title reigns end. They all do. Unless you’re able to ride out a federation until it closes its doors, there will come a time when new champions are crowned. You hope you can drop the titles on your own terms. You hope you eventually get tired of holding the belts, and you just drop them down in the middle of the ring and let the next group of challengers step up. That’s the dream. But only a very select few get that luxury.

No, what ends up happening is that a champion becomes so dominant that they no longer “check their blindspots”, so to speak. They don’t see around corners. They no longer worry about what’s in front of them, because the long term goals are far more important. And eventually, someone sneaks up and beats them – someone they did not expect to do so. And sometimes, those former champions bounce right back on their feet. They take the loss as a wake up call, and they move on to bigger and brighter things. Other times, the loss leads to a downward spiral, and those champions are never the same again.

I’ve been on both side of that. I’ve dropped belts that have lead to me moving up in the rankings, and I have lost titles that have caused me to completely plummet down the ladder, so I’m speaking directly from experience here.

Question is, if Cataclysm is eventually going to lose the belts…why can’t it be us that takes them? Why can’t it be the Sisterhood Of Besties – name change pending – that take the titles off of the dominate tag team. After all, it all makes sense. The planets have all aligned. If it’s going to happen, it will happen at Relentless.

“But Centurion!” I hear you screaming from behind your television screens as you reach to open another can of Mountain Dew Code Red “Didn’t you just say this was the biggest mismatch in XWF history?” Ah, I said it was…on PAPER. If you knew nothing else about pro wrestling, and all you paid attention to was the last few months, then yes, Chris Page and Robert Main should absolutely run us into the ground. But, let’s look at all the things in our favor.

First of all, it’s Relentless. I have good vibes here. One year ago, this is where I was finally able to topple Tony Santos and become Hart Champion. I know, it seems like it was five years ago, but it was only 12 months ago. The three day setup, coupled with the more “relaxed” atmosphere just really plays into my strengths. Yes, I am used to walking down the aisle in the most luxurious arenas in the world, but my biggest goal is to entertain the fans, and these “festival” shows seem allow me to tap into that more.

Secondly, this isn’t just some regular match. It’s an Escape From Alcatraz Match. What does this mean, besides the fact that the XWF higher ups have a fetish for strange stipulations and making their talent wrestle at historical landmarks? It means that traditional wrestling is thrown out the window. Main and Page are a fantastic tag team. They know every double team move in the book, and they are technicians in the ring. But in this match, there is no ring. There are no “moves”. This is just a mad scramble. Who can get in, survive, and get out first? Their advantages are lessened because of that – in fact, I think the team that has the superhero used to sprinting down long corridors and getting herself out of really difficult situations may have the slight advantage.

The final reason everything lines up for us is one that revolves around philosophy. It may have absolutely nothing to do with actual professional wrestling skills. Those who hear it will handwave it. Hell, if I heard it, I’d consider it nonsense, but being in the position I’m in, and seeing the things I have seen recently – I think there’s something to it.

See…this is your very stereotypical comic book boss battle. It’s the overpowered villains against the heroes with their backs against the wall. It’s the ultimate battle of good vs evil, where evil kicks the holy hell out of good for 55 minutes, only for the good guys to pick one up in the end. I’ve seen it in almost every movie, television show, and form of media known to the world.

Cataclysm is the epitome of evil. It’s as simple as that. They have crafted their team and their newfound careers out of being as bad as possible. I’ve seen them do some pretty horrible stuff to some pretty decent people, and that was on their off days. When they are at their best, they are absolutely ruthless. They want death and destruction. They want chaos.

This is why it couldn’t have been any other tag team that stepped up. Chris Chaos and Peter Gilmour weren’t going to be the ones who took the belts from them. Just forgetting for a moment the fact that they are terrible, it really wouldn’t do the world any good if Chaos Inc suddenly became tag team champions. In fact, they’d probably be boo’d more than Cataclysm would. It’s like Fallout: New Vegas – it would be if the Fiends beat the Legion. Sure, the Legion is horrible, but it’s not like you’re getting kindness out of the Fiends.

Did I seriously just dive into a video game reference? What am I turning into?

No, the winners need to be true heroes. Ruby is one of those heroes. Not only does she have the cape and the mask and the outfit, she is just one of the truly great human beings in professional wrestling. Truly selfless. Would give you the shirt off her back if it means helping another human being. She is, quite frankly, what I wish I could be. What I wanted to be before Chris Page turned me into a monster – but that’s more for another time. She is honestly humanities last hope in this dying world. I don’t want to see Ruby succeed because I’m friends with her – I want to see her succeed because I love pro wrestling, and pro wrestling will not survive if we can not build new heroes. Bad guys doing bad things – that only has a certain shelf life before people want to see something else.

And look, Ruby can beat anyone in her path. Trust me. I have seen her go face to face with obstacles that were supposed to crush her, only for her to come out on top, and for her to do so while maintaining dignity and compassion make her a rare talent. So while Chris Page and Robert Main may be rubbing their hands together and salivating at the idea of getting Ruby in the ring, they may want to watch what they wish for.

As for me, well, I will admit – right now, I can not beat Chris Page and Robert Main. I am on one of the worst losing streaks of my career. I have dropped the ball in every big match I’ve been in this summer. 2020 has absolutely wrecked me physically and mentally, and if I walk down that ring the way I am right now, I will get eaten alive by Main and Page. They know this. That’s why they have their champagne on ice already.

No, if I’m going to help Ruby and win this match, I need to be something different. I need to break out of this shell of pity and self doubt that I have cocooned myself in. This version of Centurion couldn’t beat Hired Gun. It couldn’t beat Shawn Warstein. Hell, this current version of Centurion probably couldn’t beat Chris Chaos right now, and that’s a sad reality to live with. But a “new” Centurion? A Centurion focused on his goals? A Centurion that has been shown the light and sent in the right direction? That Centurion can beat anyone. That Centurion can be a champion. That is why this Centurion has to go. At Relentless, I can’t just be great. I can’t just be a Legend. I need to become…

……

SUPER

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