You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometimes, well, you might find
You get what you need

The jukebox played the Rolling Stones classic hit from the back corner of the large, dimly lit room. The machine was fed 10 dollars, and this was the only song selected.

The pint glass reflected the light from the ceiling fixtures, as a hand brought it down rather roughly onto the bar. Only a small amount of swill now sat at the bottom. The hand knuckle-tapped the bar, and man wearing a collared shirt and jeans came from around the corner of the bar.

"We're closing, sir. I can maybe do one more."

Chris looked at the man with a smirk. He put a finger up in the air just as Mick Jagger's voice droaned out the iconic sentence....

"You can't always get what you want"

"I'll get you one more, but then I have to cash you out."

I was standing in line with Mr. Jimmy
And man, did he look pretty ill
We decided that we would have a soda
My favorite flavor, cherry red
I sung my song to Mr. Jimmy
Yeah, and he said one word to me, and that was "dead"

The bartender slid the beer over to Chris. The song ended, but began right away after. The bartender rolled his eyes with a sigh.

Robert Main wanted to badly to put the Chaotic One out of commission. He wanted to badly to climb back up the ranks in XWF--so much so that he vowed to make Chris's life a living hell.

Check mate.

Chris was in the same boat....Robert had taken everything from him. It was one year ago this month that Chris hung up the boots that had made him a star and took on a life of doing....well.....not that. It wasn't long after that Robert was gone too.

Now both were back. Both looked for redemption......

"You can't always get what you want"

Chris didn't even want the Universal Title right now. He didn't want to be in the limelight, he didn't even enter March Madness. All he wanted was to get back into that ring and do what he was born to do.

Robert Main....he wanted to matter. He wanted to be the star. He wanted those fans to continue to cheer, those paychecks to stay large, and that protection and privilege to be awarded to him again. Robert Main wanted to be what he was......

Chris just wanted to be a part of it.

As the cold liquid ran down his throat, he thought about all the times he sat in bars like this back home. Back when he was someone..back when he was the local hero and the Bay Area's prodigy. Now, he sat in some backwoods bar in Vermont as someone nobody knew....

He liked it. He liked being under the radar again.

Robert wouldn't be caught dead in here, his ego was far too large.

He set the drink down rather hard again....the bartender, who was wiping down the bar, shot him a look.

"Okay sir, I need to close you out. I want to go home."

Chris put a finger in the air again.

"You can't always get what you want"

The bartender walked to the computer, punched in a bunch of numbers, and walked over to Chris, sliding him the receipt.

"You know, you remind me a lot of Robert Main. You want to leave, you want to go home, you can't just enjoy the moment. You can't just enjoy being here. Being alive. Being back doing what you love to do."

"Who says I love bar-tending?"

"THAT IS MY POINT"he said excitedly, "Robert Main doesn't like being a wrestler.....he likes being THE wrestler."

After paying the man, Chris continued to sit as he cleaned the bar and worked on the closing paperwork.

"Don't you wish you could be the manager, the owner?"

"Well, yeah, who doesn't?"

"But do you want to earn it, or do you want it to be handed to you one day without doing anything for it?"

The man thought for a second.

"Well, handing it over would be nice, I mean....."

"You are exactly like Robert Main. Want the world but not willing to build yourself back up from the bottom to get it."

The man looked a bit dejected.

"Come on, lets have a good night. Finish that, and pour another draft......lets talk about how you are going to get to where you want to go."

Several Hours Later

The sun was coming up. The bartender sat with Chris at the bar. They had kicked two full kegs, and they were sharing stories. Chris about some of the best matches of his career. The bartender about his favorite college pranks over at UVM. They really seemed to be bonding.

The bartender looks down at his phone, which he hadn't checked all night. He didn't even know where it was for half the night.

"OH SHIT"

"What?"

"My girlfriend went into labor last night. She is probably horrified! She hasn't been able to reach me."

Chris reaches for his drink, taking another sip.

"I have to go, she wants me there."

Chris grins, putting a finger in the air.

"You can't always get what you want"

The bartender reached for his glass.



"Robert....

You have always talked a big game, and until Unkown Soldier rubbed your nose in your own shit like a dog that had an accident on the carpet, you backed it up, as well. With help, of course. Can never forget about that little asterisk. Would be a shame to give you credit you don't entirely deserve--you've already made a career out of that.

Robert your promo's are always so polished, so sleek, so well worded. They always hit hard, and hit home. However, they always made sense. Until now. You've really gone off the deep end man. Shame. Either your losing your marbles, or I should kick my own ass for thinking you were smarter than you truly are. I get it, this is a game of rebuttals, but goddamnit man, rebuttal something I actually said! Damn Robert, did losing the title that was basically handed to you and being thrust into the world of averageness hit you this hard? Maybe you should seek counseling, and with the XWF paychecks coming back in I am sure the oh so wonderful pension plan here will pay for it.

Your little Universal Title graphic.....it made zero sense. It had zero context. I get it, we all get it. I held the title for 111 days back in 2016-17 and spent the nearly four years trying to get it back. I'm pretty sure pointing that out has been my M.O. for a while now. Check. Been there, done that. This match is not for the Universal Title, and as it stands we are both currently miles away from it. Why bring it up, other than the fact that you are starting to fall into the same hole that I fell into....that belt consumes you, it completes you, and now you--like me for 3.5 years--are making up every excuse you can to bring it into conversation. Useless, pointless, and pathetic.

You beat me for the Universal Title, we know, we all saw it. More of your fragile ego dripping through and your need to be accepted leaking out like a fresh cream-pie. Boy, they really did a number on your psyche, didn't they? I guess being the Golden Boy does have it's downsides. Then the Hart Title graphic......you just had to put that up there, didn't you? You had to toot your own horn to try to pick up whatever pieces you have left. Well, Humpty Dumpty never got put back together again, Robert, so maybe you will just need to learn to accept that the runny yoke oozing out of your cracked and shredded pores is reality now. You held the Hart Title for 280 days....do you want an award. A trophy? A gold star to put on the fridge? You want to throw it out there that I am 26th on the list...I held the belt, once, for a week, and I didn't even want it back then. I was in a bad place then. What is next....the TV title chart, how I held that for 126 days and lost it to a man who literally called himself Nazi? The Tag Title Chart, the Trios Title chart? I've held them all, Robert, and not a single one of them helps your point be any less pathetic. Am I supposed to be impressed? I'm not. Nobody is. You're flame is gone and extinguished. At this point you're just the annoying ex that just won't leave.

So....let me try to wrap my head around this.

Maverick calls me out, after being off the roster for a little while, and he wants to get back on the map by taking out someone like me.

Fast forward.

Robert Main calls me out, after being off the roster for a little while, and he wants to get back on the map by taking out someone like me.

Do you see the similarity there? Robert, you are no different than Maverick. The forgotten name that is trying desperately to get it back. You're doing the same thing he is, but your ego doesn't allow you to see that. You have surrounded yourself with yes-men your entire career, and now you can't face the truth.

"You have dicks like Maverick who hasn’t wrestled in eons calling you out for matches."

I also have dicks like Robert Main who called me out for wrestling matches. Hmmmm......

"........ it’s back to the Maverick’s of the world."

Robert, you're one of them. You're a Maverick. You're no longer the man, you're just a somebody now. For the record, YOU SOUGHT ME OUT. So I ask again, why do I matter to you? You always seem to so elegantly how terrible I am.........are you lowering yourself to my level? Are you so scared to unclench your anus now that Drew and James aren't around that you have to go back to settling for opponents you clearly deem to be below you? When did you get so pathetic?

You know Main, I never liked you, even back in the days when you were riding the coattails of AX3, but I always respected you. Believe it or not, I did. You were always someone who handled your business, You always kicked ass and took names, you never made excuses. I was, to say the least. disappointed when you became nothing but an insurance policy for the upper management. But hey, you gotta do what you gotta do, right? But now, as I return to try to establish a name again, to get back to the dominance I once knew, you are still the broken, fragile, shell of a man they made you. You shouldn't be mad at me, Robert, you should be livid with them. They made you, and they broke you.

That is one thing I never let them do to me. I stayed true to who I was. I stand here now as a man who knows exactly who I am. You are still trying to solve the Robert Main puzzle.

Speaking of Maverick......

“Forgot Jenny’s doing the unscrupulous work.. For those of you new here, welcome to the Chris Chaos norm. Talk shit, have some else go to bat for you.”

Is your memory that warped? Did Soldier's cash in and subsequent thrashing of you damage your brain that much? You made a CAREER of doing exactly the same. Not only that....but I have an example that rings clearer than a sunny Florida day.

Do you remember?

The film rolls in flashback mode, over the top of the promo. It was a flashback to this month, February, of last year. Robert Main is in the ring, a mic in his hand....oh what a joy that always is. He was surrounded by his cronies. Typical.

"If you wanted a shot at my title you had to play by my rules which of course you being you, you predictably refused to do. Imagine that, Chris Chaos actually playing well with others. We all knew that would never happen but i'd have been negligent if I hadn't tried. But now here we are several weeks later and you still want a shot at my title without having done anything to earn it. Not only have you NOT had a match against an opponent of my choosing, you haven't had a match at all, against anyone. So here's the deal Chris, one last attempt to get this settled." Robert takes a step towards the ropes and steps in between the top and bottom rope as Drew does the same. However Robert pauses for a moment and looks over at his partner. I got this. Four words was all Robert needed to say and instead of joining Robert who was now standing on the outside of the ring Drew retreats to the middle of the ring watching as the Uni Champ slowly and methodically approaches Chris Chaos who is still standing at the top of the entry way, an emotionless expression across his face. It only takes a few seconds but Robert closes the gap between he and his "challenger." When Robert halts his approach he is now standing no more than a few feet from Chaos. Here's the deal Chris, it's the last time I'm offering. You don't have to accept tonight, you will have until the next Warfare to accept these terms. If you accept them as I lay them out, you will get your shot at my title. If you decline or don't answer at all within two weeks you will forfeit your chance at a match with me. And to show you that everything is on the up and up I am even going to announce who you will have to beat in order to get a shot at me. You ready? Suddenly the lights go out.... ........... ........... The crowd gets restless.... When they come back on Drew Archyle is now standing right next to Robert Main but Chaos doesn't flinch, he doesn't acknowledge Drew's presence at all really. Boo! Still nothing from Chaos. Geez. Tough crowd. Don't worry Chris, we aren't here to give you the beating you've earned ten times over. That's not how Apex does things. You should know that by now. And No Chris, Drew as much as he wants to absolutely dismantle you in that ring back there...he's not the opponent I have in mind for you. No the person I have in mind for you is someone you are intimately familiar with and someone who has earned a chance to beat you within an inch of your life and then some. If you've been paying attention lately you know that Drew and I recently caught up with the man we've been chasing for the better part of 6 weeks now. Most of the XWF Universe would recognize him as Locksley, but as fate would have it, you know him as someone else. Suddenly the crowd picks up as a figure steps out from the back and stands directly behind Chaos, completely unbeknownst to the former Universal Champion. The figure's face is obscured by the fact that their head is down, the only thing we see is what appears to be extremely dirty, blonde hair. Chris, why don't you turn around and introduce to yourself to our new friend...Locksley...

I think we all know what happened from there, Robert. But what is my point, exactly?

Robert, you want to get on me about not facing Maverick unless he can get through someone else first. I am pretty sure you did the EXACT same thing.


You had your head so far up your ass and you were so afraid that I would take that precious title that you stuck someone I had never beaten on me, a nemesis, of sorts, on me like a rabid dog in hopes he would take me out before I had the chance to get my hands around your scrawny neck. What did I do? I took that chance, and I rose to the occasion. I beat Jim, and I got my shot. Then, you beat me and put and end to it all. I am giving Mav the same opportunity.....will he rise to the occasion and beat Jenny on Warfare, go on to face me? If he does, I will squash him like a roach under my boot, just like.......you....did....me......

What can I say.....I learned from the best.

And so some weird reason, I feel like you needed to hear that.

You can't always get what you want, Robert. Life isn't fair. You called me out, much like I did you this month last year.....only this time, I am going to beat you to within an inch of your life..............maybe you and Maverick aren't so different after all."

"........ it’s back to the Maverick’s of the world."

Oh what a true statement that was.....