Before heading to Rome to be reminded of the failed ways of the past. I had been trying to keep busy. Spent some time in North Carolina for practices with the GFL’s Carolina Phoenix as we get ready for the upcoming season. Then I fell into a rabbit hole..
Lemme explain..
Have you ever gotten so high that you start overanalyzing some shit that don't need to be overanalyzed?
No judgment but I’ve never seen Indian Jones..
I said DON'T judge me. I’ve also never seen Days of Thunder or Top Gun. Again. No judgment, not the point.
The point is that when you get to a certain high, you start thinking about shit you ain't even seen! So there I was, blowing Ooohs of that good good. I had Will Smith’s Men in Black song on, cause.. That's a bop. Anyways.. I’ve always liked the idea of a Memory Eraser. Just a flash of light that gives a mental reset where you can reassign or remove memories.
Who wouldn't like that, right?
So I looked into it. I dug into the dark depths of a Google search and found whispers of a real, authentic ‘Men In Black’ Memory Eraser! Indiana Jones tracked down artifacts didn't he? The idea of it just became part of the energy I found myself feeding into this. I want the adventure..
Not just a Memory Eraser but other Movie artifacts that just MIGHT be based on true objects. The glasses from ‘They Live’? I looked into that. It was the Memory Eraser that had me booking a flight though.
Las Vegas.
With that Hurricane heading towards Houston, I wanted to stop at the house but I didn't want to get stuck there. Flights got canceled and it just wasn't worth the trouble. Speaking of which, I should probably check into the status of my house after the flooding..
Where was I? Oh, yeah, Vegas! That city and I have a love/hate relationship..
Too much has happened in Vegas and it's like I always end up going back for more. My last two relationships both stopped and started in Vegas respectfully. A fan died by my hand in Vegas. I saw a drunk Elvis taking a shit on the sidewalk in Vegas. There was a lot of history there for me..
Plus my Ouija board was in Vegas. Josslynn didn't want it after we broke up so it was packed away in a closet at the Condo. I never did find that damn triangle wooden thing.. I’m not googling what it's called again. Putting the Ouija Board aside for now
The Memory Eraser? It was real.. Well, kind of.. Not really at all, no..
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“I’m coming in like a beast ready to feast. Friend, foe, or a stranger I haven't been introduced to just yet. I’ve got a fork and knife in hand, a bib tucked into the front of my tee shirt.. I won't be wearing a shirt but in theory, it’ll be tucked there!
I’m Hungry!
Not because I am a champion like the others because I don't get the same perks. Maybe I just made friends with the wrong member of management. I don't want or need a crutch.
I’m not hungry because I defend MY Television Title every single fucking Warfare and if they want to book me on Anarchy to defend it there, I’ll take the booking just to add distance to the shit I fling in the ONE company I keep currently.
I AM hungry because I stay hungry! This is what the fuck I do and I do it well! This is my LIFEstyle! To scrap up with whoever wants to expose their chin.
Pay Per View, Paid Live Event, Warfare on whatever fucking channel or Continent it appears on. I don't care what broadcast is taking place. I don't care if it's a House Show, if I am heading to the ring with the Television Title, I am defending this because I have FUN when it's ALL on the line.
So Mystery, Mystery, come play with me..
Who will you be?
Are you as excited as me?
Is your mouth salivating at the idea of this match, on this stage, in front of Italy where the Mafia and Gladiators have called home? I’m on some Omerta mob shit so when I put you down, whoever you are.. When I twist, slam and snap at you, I aim to hurt you. I aim to defend MY ring! Thumbs up, thumbs down, the crowd gets no say and the powers that be can suck the scar running down my nutsack.
As a Champion, that ring BELONGS to me as if I’m in a throne with a crown on my head. As Champion, the one defending their crown, their territory, we should be who enters the ring first. To watch the challenger approach the crown bearer, to challenge him where he feels at home and in between those ropes with a canvas underneath my feet, I defend my residence.
I don't even know if this mystery opponent has ever been on XWF Television before. Are you that somebody?
To challenge me.
To fight me.
To make me question if I can win? Take your Leap and bring all the Faith you can manage to find. At Vatican City, you can find what is considered a great divine but it will NOT help you gain anything but great suffering. I can for sure teach you that lesson!”
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So what had happened was.. I didn't want to test it on myself first. When you agree to meet some stranger you chatted with online about an authentic ‘Men In Black’ Memory Eraser and he wants to meet on the outskirts of town? You bring a gun, first and foremost but you also prepare yourself for some offkey shit to take place.
“Let me try it on you?”
I asked the balding, overweight man with sweat stains on the armpits of his dirty shirt. He was a peddler of odd goods and had a reputation apparently. He looked like a sleeze ball.
“Ohh no that's not goi–”
The man tried to wave off the suggestion. I wasn't really suggesting it as much as I was giving him a heads up. I, myself, was already wearing black sunglasses. I came prepared..
“Aaaaggghhhh! My eyes!!”
The seller of LIES screamed as he slapped his hands to his face and stumbled around for a bit. It was hot out here and looking out over the horizon, it had a flowing fume of heat that danced along the ridge of what I could see in the midday distance.
I should have been mad. This guy was trying to rip me off with this crap. Instead I was looking out at the horizon with my own thoughts. It did produce one hell of a blinding light though and as this swindler of false idols scurried around, fell over, kicked up the desert sands, I turned to watch him as if he was performing a dance. It had a flow to it. I was entertained.
“Heh.. Heh..” A grunting burst of a laugh comes as I look down at the bogus Memory Eraser. Initially I was going to toss it and take my money back. I decided to keep it.
“What's a few Gs? Can't take it with us when we go, yeah?”
With that, I climbed into my rental and pulled away from the location. Leaving the shady seller blinded in the desert heat. Record breaking hot out here, dangerous times. I had the AC on high so.. I’d be alright.
©©©©©©©©
“As a Mystery, the ‘who’ of you only matters in that split second when your music hits. Once you come out, I don't care if you are unknown or well lit in a spotlight. I have until you reach the ring to read you. To adjust the game plan and compete on the fly!
A good fight is all about reaction time anyway. The window in which someone fucks up and gives the opportunity to take advantage.
I do that shit WELL!
You can bring tactics, plans and feed yourself hay like a prized horse but good tactics fall apart after someone gets punched, elbowed and field goal kicked to the face..
Mystery, oh, Mystery!
You will need to come to this match with a bomb strapped to you in vest form. Become a fucking Terrorist, a suicide bomber in Rome because you will have to BLOW me up before you will pluck the Television Championship out of my hands.”
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What I did next wasn't planned. Nothing good really is in my experience but I surely wasn't expecting to go where I ended up. My goal had been to fly from Vegas to Italy. Leave the States and all the burdens behind for a bit. I had tied up most of the loose ends that I had been dealing with for the last nine months.
All except one thing.
Without question I have let the unknown and what ifs linger in my head for a while now. Misty Dolly even noticed and she is going through an identity crisis.
For a lot of relationships, the closure is the breakup. What's done is done and you just move on. Bad ones linger with hate and bitterness on one side or another and I’ve had plenty of those. I like crazy, it's my own fault most of the time.
Maybe all the time. I can't change who I am so I just adapt and keep going until it kills me. That's all any of us can do. With that said, I stopped off in Chicago to fetch my Fly Green socks and catch up a bit with the ex Wife. Ride with Me or Catch a Fade, there are those that want and those that demand. I don't expect most to understand but it's not my decision to make. She has shit like a drunken phone call and an Anniversary to deal with, so for now?
Rome was calling me and it was where I had to be..
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“Everyone. Literally everyone booked on this show will reference Colosseums, Gladiators or they will focus on the Church. Myself included. Getting the cheapest grab is just part of this sport now. Everything is such a recycled play on something someone else did somewhere else.
So even with the stage set for a big night. So big that even our GM has a match because why not? But even with it set and all the lights shine down on that ring and I stand there awaiting whoever this Mystery Opponent is? I expect a let down. A big hold your breath moment for a sigh upon the reveal.
Maybe it’ll be Latoya Hixx for a third time and she’ll be white or Asian this time!
Maybe it will be Dolly Waters with a new Cousin personality named Rusty Waters..
Maybe, just maybe it will be Vinnie Lane who has recently resurfaced? How we never got him and Griffin Hawkins in the same ring together is beyond me. Air Guitar battle?
Even J-Mont was giving off suspicious vibes on twitter not too long ago. I wish he would but he won't. Truth be told I’m surprised Peter Vaughn is around. Two people that have hung from Chris Page’s ass crack like dingleberries that didn't get wiped out. Is Mac Bane around? He blocked me, nevermind, can't be him.
Chris Page? I’d feel like a sick kid with a Make A Wish granted if his bitch ass stepped out from the back. He last gave up being TV Champion, didn't he? He’s the roast beef sandwich at Arby's kind of vagina and the meat has gone sour. Fuck him.
Maybe it will be Cypher or Sebastian or.. Who else does Thad have attachments to? Lauren maybe? Noooo! Frankie! Let's not get hasty.. I’d catch charges making that kid a vegetable.
I could go down a range of people that make sense for this Mystery. I could shoot off names I would want it to be and the rest become shrugged reactions. Could be a flock of feathered vanity and I’d pluck and roast it up, serving it for everyone to slip a hand into the bucket so everyone can say they had a piece. Wouldn't be the first time..
I’m going to defend the Television Championship.. I am going to walk in and walk out and whoever steps out from the back doesn't much matter to me.
You are stepping up by way of a safe space. Hidden behind a mystery, a play to try and get in my head? To try and have some advantage but it's falling to the wayside. I applaud the attempt but a mystery to me is like having your account padlocked for protection..
Life gets hard.
I got spoiler alerts that people don't want spoiled because life can ALWAYS get harder. To the mystery coming out to get an opportunity at the TV Title? Spoiler Alert, on this next Episode of Cashe defends, it's a successful one. Might as well be a rerun..
Same Cashe time
Same Cashe channel
You WON'T be in the Series Finale..”
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I’ll be honest. As much as I wanted to take in the sights, explore the Colosseum. Try to steal the Pope’s Dunce Cap or hit the nightlife. I should be out there to find a good time in a foreign city. However, I checked into my Hotel and remained there for a few days. It's been a while since I’ve been a ‘people person’ and the idea of having to socialize made me want to cut off the itch that is my big toe.
Sitting around a hotel room tweeting music, making random high minded tweets. I watched TV, looked for faces in the ceiling. I even practiced my Capoeira. Taking naps, doing little workouts. I was playing the role of a hermit and it wasn't a good look. I felt if I was anywhere else, I’d end up arrested or hurting someone. My petty, my anxiousness was activated. I wanted a release, a relief, I needed to fight someone.
Leap of Faith couldn't come any faster. Then I got a text from a number I did not know.. Opening it, I read it out loud.
“Are you still interested in the Memory Eraser?”
My eyes lit up. I wanted adventure. I asked for it. Was this a shot at finding it? A welcoming distraction. Typing my reply, interest was an understatement. Was this real and where did I have to go next to chase it down?
… Typing..
“What room are you in?” I read the text as it popped up on my screen. That's weird I thought. I sure didn't tell anyone what Hotel I was at and they just wanted the room number?
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“Vatican City is its own Country. It's technically not in Rome and even if you wrote a letter to the Pope. You would see that the official address doesn't even have Italy in it.
The power of Religion. No taxes. Poor people just flood you with donations in hopes that a prayer would be answered. Some religions have multiple Gods. It's a real shit show but after learning about the address. Finding out that it's not considered part of Rome but it's own shit?
Maybe I should have gotten into Religion. Brother Jason? Pastor Jay? I’m getting ahead of myself..
At Leap of Faith, we will get very religious. We will fight like the Colosseum has their thumbs ready for an up or down signal. Most everyone else knows who they will be competing with other than the Last Chance Qualifiers of filler but then again, polished shit looks pretty until it dries out and the shit starts to crumble. This company has seen many times over how shit can crumble at the seams and without the right people repairing it as it goes, it doesn't have the history and consistency that it has written in time.
This event adds another chapter to the story. The legacy of this company and those who are aiming to raise the bar on their own careers. I just get to bang some strange because someone decided a PPV needed a mystery but I don't need Scooby Doo or any Scooby Snacks to get the mystery solved. I just have to wait until the sound of some music comes on and the mask comes off and the case is solved.
One.
Two.
Three..
I bet the follow up match after mine is gonna RAAAWK! Heh.. Life becomes easier to predict when the pieces around you find wisdom in borrowed quotes and memes to have some character.
So let's live in Mystery so my Opponent can come find some Misery. Try Jesus because I throw hands and put paws on folks in ring, on the TL or where you find comfort.
Won't be no cops get called to your residence if you get my attention. This belt, my reign, that ring, that's my attention currently and if you offend it or put any threat towards it. I will put ‘peace’ to where your chest has a beat before I lay you down with a gasping last breath. The last thing you will see is me standing tall over you like a hanging giraffe’s dick. Hand held high with the XWF Television Title raised above me.
Mystery, oh Mystery
You are the Next Contestant on To Catch a Beat Down. My favorite Game show and your Host has a challenge you might won't walk away from without a limp and some regret.
Let us play..”
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As soon as I opened the hotel room door to leave? Everything changed. I got sprayed with something in the face as I stared into the eyes of a man wearing a leather jacket. He had a cigarette hanging from his mouth and with him were two men who were as tall as they were wide.
“Ohh you motherfu–” I felt my legs wobble before the two bigguns grabbed hold of me and I went to sleep.
.
..
…
“Wake up!” I felt the slap across the face before I found the ability to open my eyes and see the voice who called out to me. It was that same guy I saw before I fell asleep. Same leather jacket and still, a cigarette unlit hanging from between his lips.
“Hello there!”
He gave me a little wave with a half grin that only smiled on the side of his mouth where the cigarette wasn't sitting.
“Room service is different in Italy..” I had to be a smartass. It was as natural as breathing which I was also thankful for.
The man looked away from me and nodded off to my left. I turn my head just in time to see one of the big boys and his incoming fist that plants firmly against my cheek. I spit out a trickle of blood with a sudden mouth full of saliva.
“Well that wasn't very nice..”
“I need to know where it is, Jason. I need you to tell me.”
“The door is behind you..” My jaw had some throbbing to it but I’ve been hit before. The man let out a laugh. I could tell he appreciated my sense of humor. Finding my lighter on the table next to the bed, he shows it to me.
“Mind if I borrow this?” He at least asked.
“What do you want? A fan? I’ve had enough of those, lemme tell you.” After lighting the cigarette, the man pockets MY lighter.
“Where is the Memory Eraser?”
His voice changed as he exhaled a cloud of smoke. To my right, the other big man steps next to me and puts both hands around my neck. One on the back and one on the front.
“Tell me where it is, Jason..”
Not giving me time to tell him I didn't know or to fuck off, I got choked with a great strength against my spine and wind pipe. It was not the romantical kind of choking. I jerked my arms but they were tied behind the chair. My legs kicked around in a squirm but the massively big n tall man kept me sitting.
I can imagine that my face was going into a shade of red by this point. I couldn't catch a new breath and the lungful of air I did have was starting to sting as I felt it swell up in my lungs. A sway of his hand and the man in the leather jacket got the choking to stop. I gasped, gagged, and struggled to find a path for oxygen to enter.
Squatting next to me, the man blew a cloud of cigarette smoke into my face.
“Do you like magic?”
I gave him a confusing stare. Wasn't the thing I thought he would say or ask. Through his smiling teeth, he exhaled another cloud of smoke.
“Look!” As if he became excited, he rolls down his left sleeve and reveals a bracelet on his wrist.
“See this?” The bracelet looked like barbed wire that stretched around the man’s wrist.
“It’s called the Euphorbia Thorn. One of the perks of working for the Church!”
He stood up and removed his leather jacket. Keeping his cigarette on his lips, he tosses the jacket onto the bed before rounding to the right side and laying down.
“I'm not getting in bed with you..”
He ignored me. I watched as the cigarette pointing at the ceiling began to burn at a rapid pace. He was taking in a deep inhale, his last before he stomped it out on the nightstand next to the bed. Lifting his head, he looks over at me and the big two turds he had with him.
“It's okay.. Untie him so he can see the power of the Righteous!”
I was getting weirded out now. The big fella to my left who had punched me did as instructed. He untied me which if you ask me was where they done fucked up. Still.. Part of me was now intrigued, curious at what was taking place. How did they know about the Memory Eraser? Did that mean the one here in Italy was real?!
The man slowly brought the bracelet to his mouth and kissed the thorn bracelet. His head slumped immediately to the side, he was seemingly asleep.
“A bracelet that puts you to sleep!” Scoffing myself into a good laugh. Then I felt a cold come over me.. I can't explain it but every hair I hadn't shaved away stood up.
Looking over at Biggun One and Two, they both were looking away. I didn't know what was going on but in my head, here where I talk to.. Those in the void with me. I could feel what can only be described as an intruder of thoughts.
“Fuck this!” I shouted and felt as if I was fighting with the intruder of my deepest thoughts. Grabbing the chair that I was tied to, I swung it at Big Dumb 1 and the thud had cracking of wood sounds to it as the first big man went down. The second barreled at me, I scurried back and snapped forward, big booting him in between his thicc thighs. Thankfully I connected with his shrimp parts and he got knee buckled before dropping to his knees.
Grabbing my backpack, I knew I had everything already ready to go. Almost leaving, I forget about my lighter. The man was sleeping on the bed and as I go for his pocket to obtain my lighter, my eyes were drawn to the bracelet on his wrist. I didn't understand it or the magic he claimed it to have. Something about it made me want it.
“Fuck it. Mine now!” I took it and hurried out of the hotel room.