There are two separate ways you can look at the start of 2022 when it comes to Centurion's career.

On one hand, he won the UGWC World Championship, becoming the face of a proud organization by defeating one of the greatest to ever step in that company, and thus, reintroduced himself to a wrestling audience as someone who could lead a wrestling federation.

On the other hand, Centurion lost the XWF Anarchy Championship to Elijah Martin, a wrestler he does not respect and likely never would, and while the circumstances behind his defeat were questionable, they all look the same in the record book.

As they say, we are often our harshest critics. We open up inside a squash court at the Lakeshore Sport and Fitness facility in Chicago, Illinois. There, we see Centurion and Nellie, both with rackets in their hands. Nellie has a ball in her right hand, which she bounces off the floor a few times before looking over at Centurion.

"Game point." Nellie says with a cocky smile.

"I know it's game point!" Centurion snaps back in frustration. "Just serve the damn ball!"

Nellie bounces the ball a few more times before serving it against the wall. The ball comes back towards Centurion, who hits it back against the wall. Centurion returns the ball, and Nellie hits a wicked forehand, causing the ball to smack up against the wall and fly by Centurion's head, giving the game point to Nellie. Centurion bends forward and puts his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

"One of these days, I will get you." Centurion says between breaths.

Nellie let's out a slight laugh. "Dad, I was a division 1 tennis player. I qualified for the US Open. You're never going to beat me."

Centurion sighs in defeat as he grabs the ball and gestures his hand into the air. "Run it back. One more time."

"Dad…" Nellie says, now in a more serious tone. "You're gassed. Let's be done for the day, get some rest, and we'll play again tomorrow."

Centurion shakes his head as he tosses the squash ball in the air and catching it with his left hand. "No. The whole point is to work on my endurance. One of the major reasons I lost two weeks ago is because I was worn down. If I had just worked on…"

"I know, Dad. I know." Nellie says in frustration, cutting Centurion off. "You've been saying this for over a week. You want me to let you in on a little secret? You're not going to get that boost in one day. The only thing you'll end up getting is a heart attack."

Centurion does not respond. He knows she's right, but he refuses to say she's right, because that's the kind of stubborn human being he is. Instead, he turns around with Nellie and the two of them step out of the room through the glass door. Centurion hands his racket and the ball over to Nellie, who begins packing them into a duffle bag that has been sitting just outside the room.

"It just pisses me off." Centurion says as Nellie puts the equipment away. "Like, it's easy to blame Lexi Gold for what happened out there, but in the end, I know I would have won if I didn't burn myself out before the match. I don't know whose bright idea it was to wrestle in three high profile, physical matches in the course of one week."

"Yours." Nellie says bluntly. "In fact, we all told you it was probably a bad idea, but you did it anyway."

"You weren't supposed to answer that." Centurion responds sarcastically.

Nellie zips up the equipment bag and stands up, throwing the straps of the bag over her shoulder in the process. "I understand that this is your concern, but you're not going into this match as beat up as you did the Elijah Martin match. You've had time to heal. You're only doing tag matches between now and Fire & Ice. And...I mean, it's just Jenny Myst."

"Yeah, and it was JUST Elijah Martin." Centurion retorts. "They're all layups until they're not, and while I can spin my loss to Elijah, it will be REALLY hard to explain to people how the UGWC World Champion was able to lose to someone so utterly lacking talent as Jenny Myst."

"So you're putting more added pressure on yourself than you need to?"

"...yes?" Centurion responds, almost offended that the question was even asked. "I don't know if you've figured it out or not, but that's kind of my thing. I think it's part of my charm."

"I think it's part of the reason I get migraines." Nellie snaps back.

Before the two can continue their conversation, the sound of Nellie's phone vibrating in the bag can be heard. She pulls the bag around and unzips one of the side pockets in order to pull out her phone. She presses a few buttons on the home screen, then completely stops in her tracks as she reads the message that was sent to her. Confused, Centurion looks over at Nellie.

"What's up?" Centurion inquires. "More GFuel sponsor commitments?"

"No…" Nellie responds in a very serious tone. "It's Chris Page. He's inviting you to the Velvet Rabbit as his guest."

------I Want A Milky Way------

"I'm not going to lie to you, folks...I was anxiously waiting to see who my opponent for Fire & Ice would be.

I didn't have anything signed. I am no longer the Anarchy Champion, so I wasn't obligated to defend the title. I'm not currently in some sort of blood feud that requires a massive death match to solve - already did that. I was just sort of... available. And that could lead to all sorts of shenanigans.

So I figured there were two ways the XWF could go with me. They could put me in a match against one of the newer wrestlers - Xavier Lux, Jason Cashe, someone like that. It would have made for a very interesting contest. But no, that isn't what they chose.

They also could have matched me up against someone I've faced a bunch before. I could be facing Elijah Martin again, or Michael Graves again, or Vita Valenteen, someone like that. It wouldn't have been the most exciting matchup in the world, but it would have been safe, and I don't think I could have faulted them for it if that's the route they chose. But nope, they didn't go that way, either.

Instead, they put me against Jenny Myst, a long time mainstay of the XWF who has been in and out of the federation, and whom I never faced before, and that...has gotten me really fucking excited."

The camera slowly begins to fade in, and the darkness is replaced by the bright white of snow. Centurion is standing on a sidewalk, wearing a leather jacket and a pair of thick black pants. The sidewalk is placed between a park on one side, and a street on the other side. In the background, we can see homes and small shops - it would look like a Hallmark movie at Christmas time if it wasn't completely devoid of people.

"Fire & Ice. It's interesting - I know the XWF booked this pay per view in Iceland under the idea that we would be wrestling in some frozen tundra. Thing is, Iceland isn't even that cold - not compared to some of the places I've lived throughout the course of my life.

For example, this is Honesdale, Pennsylvania. Only a few miles from Scranton, and only about an hour from New York City. Despite being relatively close to some metro areas, this place is pretty damn rural, and it is, as the locals would say, "cold as fuck" in the winter time. Right now, it is currently…"

Centurion reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He checks it before placing it back in his pocket.

"Minus three degrees. And yet, people go to work every day in this stuff. Most of the wrestlers on the roster would be bitching within two seconds of being here, and demanding they get flown back to their mansions on their private island. So it is going to be interesting to see who shows up in Iceland and complains about the weather, and who embraces it.

Anyway, back to my original point. I was incredibly excited when I saw that I would be facing Jenny Myst at this event. Why? Is it because I have some deep respect for her as a competitor? Well...no, not really. In fact, I don't think Jenny is very good at all. The problem is, I've never gotten the opportunity to prove that.

There's something about mediocre veterans that make them think they're legends. Every time I've faced someone who has been here for a while, I get hit with the "we're on the same level" bullshit. Not even remotely true. I'm not a legend because I've been here forever. I'm a legend because I'm 10 wins again from 200, and I've won so many titles I could make a raft out of the belts.

I know I'm infinitely better than Jenny Myst, but until I'm actually able to slay her in the ring, that layer of doubt can always just sort of hover there. That's why I accept so many challenges, even from people that are considered to be "not in my class". It's easy to talk shit, but if you're going to put down a person's abilities, then you better be prepared to step into the ring and prove your superiority."

Centurion slowly begins to walk towards the camera, and as he does, the camera starts to pan out.

"Now Jenny, I know you're going through a bit of an identity crisis right now. You're not sure who you are. You were the princess or whatever, and you were riding high with that belt that they basically made for you so you could shut the fuck up, but then Chris Chaos, who you were simping for for absolutely no reason, left you in the dust, and now you're a broken woman looking to cause violence? Is that right? Or is this the "real Jenny" that has been suppressed, and is now being unleashed on the world? Or is this the manifestation of all your trauma come to life? Or maybe you're possessed by a demon, and now you're no longer in control of your own body, and all the violence and horror you inflict on other people can't be helped?

Or maybe, just maybe, you're a wrestler who no longer has any direction, so she picked up a book on "overused wrestling gimmicks" and grabbed the first one she saw.

Who's to say, really? I'm not an expert on these things. What I do know, though, is no matter how much makeup you put on, and how much you change your hair, you're still Jenny Myst. You're still nothing more than a lurker - someone who continues to hang around because they have nothing else to do, but who clearly isn't going to be the big fish in this pond. And it's not like you "fell off", either. You were never on. At no point in your career were you ever taken seriously as a contender.

Which is why that whole "queen of the XWF" shit never made ANY FUCKING SENSE to me! Sure, I understand that you beat a couple of women, but by crowning yourself "queen", you've set the bar so damn low for women in this federation that it's embarrassing. Apparently all you have to do to become the queen of this place is win one match every two months.

You know, people talk about certain women "setting back" women's wrestling. It's almost always used as a stab against the bikini models and those that post topless pictures of themselves, but that's honestly not what sets women's wrestling back. It's you, Jenny, and your mediocrity. It's the fact that you can parade around like some alpha when you've done so little. You're telling women that it's ok to suck. You don't have to have big goals. You don't have to aim for the stars. Do just enough, and you can be handed a title only for women and never have to worry about actual competition.

Sarah Lacklan would bury your ass. Tomoko Hanahars would drag you to the depths of Hell. Roxy Nova would make you wish you never even thought about joining professional wrestling. Thing is, if they were here, they wouldn't be facing you. They had bigger fish to fry than to prove they're the head of a division designed entirely to feed your ego."

Centurion reaches a crosswalk and stops. He lets out a deep breath and exhales, his breath hitting the cold air and causing it to turn to steam.

"This match is to become the number one contender for the Television Title. That's all you need to know about your chances in this match, Jenny. The XWF would never grant you a title match. Not with your recent...mental history. You're here to take a fall and get people excited for my eventual title match. You know what this is - you've been around long enough to understand how they do things. The XWF sees money in me being a champion again, so they're trying to get me and Charlie in a title match together, but they already promised a title match to Michael Graves and they don't want to go back on that. So they need to get that out of the way. Once they're done, though, they'll move on to the real title match.

So here's how it's going to go, Jenny. You're going to give another one of your annoying little speeches. Then you're going to talk yourself into thinking you might actually stand a chance. Then, you're going to step into the ring, the bell will be struck, and you're going to meet your…

FINAL FANTASY!!!