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ElijahMartin · (07-31-2022)

A Phoenix is known to rise from the ashes, carrying tears that have healing powers. Well today, I’m gonna need more than just tears to heal and repair the relationship I will attempt to resurrect - my only sibling.

I haven’t seen my sister in eight years - in that time, she has brought a second kid into this world and moved from the suburbs just outside of New York City to Virginia Beach, which given the cities I have been traveling between in recent years, they might as well be living in Vietnam. She married well for herself, almost too well - a life insurance agent who also does real estate in his spare time. It’s allowed Maranda to be a stay at home mother ever since she was pregnant with their first kid and that’s what works for them.

From the time I started wrestling, Maranda was always fifty-fifty about it - she understood the sacrifices I explained to her about what it takes to “make it” in the business, but she had also heard the potential negatives with the horror stories about the boys from the 80s and 90s with drugs and steroids and other chicanery. And as time went on, the bookings got rolling in, the opportunities got bigger and the divide with my sister grew wider. The missed birthdays, having to leave during her wedding reception to make a booking, missing the birth of both her children - it’s taken a toll on what once could have been described as a close relationship between brother and sister.

But here I am, pulling up to the front of my sister’s house on Mockingbird Lane in Virginia Beach, wondering if I have made the right decision to come here in the first place. After shutting off my 2018 Nissan Altima rental, I sit there in the driver's seat for a few moments to gather my thoughts and courage, as I grab a gift bag from the passenger seat and make my way to the front door of the house. I ring the bell and within ten seconds, my sister’s husband Jaden answers the door. He invites me in with a big hug, walking me into the living room and asking me if I’d like anything to drink. Jaden then steps away to grab a glass of ice water for me, as I take a seat on the couch, trying to control the slight bit of nerves that I’m feeling before anyone else comes into the room.

As I continue to wait alone, I hear some distant chatter from the kitchen area, which sounds like Jaden and Maranda having a conversation. I wait about another minute, before Maranda walks in with my glass of water and places it down on the coffee table in front of me. I stand up as she enters the room and we share a very quick embrace after she puts the water down, then I sit back down and she takes a seat on the opposite end of the couch.

EM: You and Jaden look great! How are things going?

Maranda: Thanks, and uh… glad to see you haven’t changed much.

EM: I’m not gonna change who I am for anyone - take me or leave me.

Maranda: That sounds about right - not even for Lexi?

EM (with a stunned look): What the… how did you…

Maranda (cutting me off): You had the jackpot.

EM: Listen, I didn’t come here to…

Maranda (interrupting again): To what, hear the brutally honest truth?

EM: To discuss my love life and very public breakup.

Maranda: So what the fuck do you want?!

EM: YOU… I want you and Jaden and the kids… I WANT MY FUCKING FAMILY BACK!

Maranda: Oh oh, NOW I get it… you feel like wrestling isn’t loving you back the way you want, then you drove away the first woman to ever love you for the crazy motherfucka you are, and NOW… NOW you wanna turn the attention to fixing things with me, my husband and the kids?!

EM: … yeah… yeah that’s right.

Maranda: And what makes you think that after all these years, you can just waltz on down here to Virginia Beach, step into our house and actually think that everything is just gonna be all sunshines and rainbows with us?

EM: I know I’ve been nonexistent and I’ve made mistakes in the past, but I can’t change what has already happened. The only thing I can do is apologize for the past and provide assurance that I will do better going forward.

Maranda: Why should Jaden and I believe you? After all this time, how can we trust your word?

EM: I don’t expect you to have complete faith and trust in me right now, but over time, I can only hope that I prove myself worthy of restoring that. I came here to ask for one last chance. If I fail, then you have every right to swear me off for the rest of the time - if I succeed, then we will finally have the unified family I know you’ve always wanted.

My sister is sitting there deep in thought, and I’m completely unsure what will come out of her mouth next.

EM: Please sis…

Maranda: I’m gonna need time to think about it and talk to Jaden, call me in a few days and we’ll see where things stand.

EM: I’ll take what I can get, thank you.

The two of us get up off the couch and share a more meaningful hug than earlier, before Chelsea escorts me to the front door and we say goodbye. I walk down and get back into my rental car, letting out a sigh of relief as I turn it on and pull away from the house.

So much for this fucking Phoenix suit helping me…

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History & Mythology of The Phoenix
A phoenix is a mythical bird that likely originated in ancient Egypt or the Middle East. However, other cultures, including the Greeks, Chinese, Hindus, and others, have similar stories about supernatural birds.

The phoenix is a large bird that has flame-colored purple, orange, and gold feathers and a crimson-red breast. In addition, it is often described as having a long tail and a crest of feathers on its head that are silver and blue. Furthermore, the phoenix is described as a bird of prey who is larger than an eagle but also resembles a peacock or a crane.

While the phoenix was not an actual species of living bird, historians believe it was inspired by historical real birds including the eagle, hawk, crane, flamingo, or peacock. In fact, archaeologists discovered the remains of a massive heron that was as tall as a human being in United Arab Emirates. They believe the bird went extinct around 1500 BC.

Etymologists believe the name phoenix shares roots with the name for the ancient people of the Mediterranean called the Phoenicians. The word phoinix in Greek refers to a purple-red color. The Phoenicians were known for making a coveted purple-red dye. So, the name for the bird may be attributed to the description of its colorful feathers.

As the legend goes, the Phoenix is a one-of-a-kind bird that lives for 500 years. When he is nearing the end of his life, he makes a nest for himself. The nest is made with aromatic plants, such as myrrh, cassia, sage, frankincense, and cinnamon. The phoenix then strikes his beak against a rock, which sparks flames. Then, he flaps his wings like a bellows, setting his nest and then himself on fire.

The magic of the phoenix is that as soon as he perishes in the flames, he is born again in his nest. Thus, as the saying goes, the phoenix rises from the ashes. He then collects the ashes, rolling them into an egg wrapped in myrrh. Next, he flies to Heliopolis, Egypt and delivers the egg to the Temple of the Sun, which honors the solar god Ra. According to the legend, the phoenix possesses so much power that his tears heal anything they touch and his ashes can bring the dead to life.

A number of cultures have stories about phoenix-life birds. These mythical birds may have common or totally separate roots. However, historians believe the phoenix was inspired by an Egyptian avian deity named Bennu or the mythical Persian bird called the simurgh. While the origins of the phoenix may forever remain a mystery, here are some of the stories about this magical bird in various cultures:

In the 5th century BC, after visiting Egypt, the Greek historian and writer Herodotus described learning about a phoenix-like bird from the Egyptians: “There is also another sacred bird called the phoenix, which I did not myself see except in painting, for in truth he comes to them very rarely, at intervals, as the people of Heliopolis say, of five hundred years. And these say that he comes regularly when his father dies; and if he be like the painting he is of this size and nature, that is to say, some of his feathers are of gold color and others red, and in outline and size he is as nearly as possible like an eagle.

Historians believe the ancient Egyptian story of the phoenix was inspired by cranes or large flamingos who lived along the Nile River. Some surmise that the heat rising up from the sandy banks along the Nile where these shorebirds laid their eggs appeared like flames.

According to Egyptian legends, Bennu was a creator deity. As the stories go, he flew over the waters of Nun, which were the waters of total chaos, and landed on a rock. Upon landing on the rock, Bennu let out a primordial cry, which marked the beginning of the end of the chaos.

The stories say that Bennu had the power to self-generate – or create himself. In addition to being associated with the gods Ra and Atum, Bennu was also associated with the god Osiris, who ruled death and rebirth. In fact, some believe that Bennu’s name comes from the Egyptian words to, literally, rise and shine. Thus, it’s easy to see how Bennu may have been the inspiration for the legend of the phoenix.

The ancient Greeks were inspired by the ancient Egyptians, and vice versa. So, it’s likely that the Greeks based their myths about the phoenix on Bennu or other stories of supernatural Egyptian birds. For the Greeks, the phoenix symbolized immortality and regeneration. However, the magical bird was not as powerful as the gods themselves. In the 6th century BC, the poet Hesiod wrote the epic poem The Precepts of Chiron.

The poem is written in the voice of Chiron – a centaur who trained the great warrior Achilles. Chiron describes the power of the phoenix in context to other animals and the gods: “A chattering crow lives out nine generations of aged men, but a stag’s life is four times a crow’s, and a raven’s life makes three stags old, while the phoenix outlives nine ravens, but we, the rich-haired Nymphs, daughters of Zeus the aegis-holder, outlive ten phoenixes.”

The phoenix dazzled the Romans. They saw the immortal phoenix as an ideal symbol for the interminable reign of the Roman empire. In fact, Rome came to be known as the Eternal City. Thus, the phoenix was an apt symbol. The Romans even put phoenixes on their coins.

One Roman emperor in particular, named Elagabalus, was so obsessed with the phoenix that he wanted to eat one. As the legend goes, Elagabalus was convinced that eating a phoenix would grant him immortality. So, he sent some of his servants out to catch one.

The servants went on the quest but they were terrified of their master’s ire if they didn’t find the mythical bird. So, they went to great lengths to procure an exotic bird from New Guinea, the Raggiana bird of paradise. And they fed the hapless bird to their master. Unfortunately, this failed to give Elagabalus immortality as died a few years later.

The closest comparison to a phoenix-like bird in Asian mythology is the Chinese Feng Huang or its equivalent, the Japanese Hou-ou.

According to the legends, this mythical bird was beautiful and had the head of a pheasant and the tail of a peacock. However, it also had parts of other animals, including the neck of a snake and the back of a turtle. The sacred bird embodies both masculine and feminine traits. Thus, in China it is representative of the balance of Yin and Yang. In Japan, the Hou-ou is an auspicious symbol who appears when a virtuous ruler is born.

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When I was sitting with my fellow members of Meat Clowns Inc LLC or whatever the fuck it’s called a few days back, I had a weird feeling come over me - I felt like… for the next week until we get thru War Games, there was a complex bond of four people willing to do whatever it takes for the benefit of the team as a whole. We have Jenny Myst as the captain, who is traditionally unbalanced in her mind but still an effective talent inside the ring. There’s the new Universal Champion with Raion Kido, who has been the talk of the XWF in 2022 and rightfully so. Finally there’s Angie Vaughn, who I would argue is one of the most overlooked and underrated talents in the entire company.

There are people who have wanted to ask me the last few weeks about my thoughts on Peter Vaughn and Thaddeus Duke being on a team together, about how Chris Page has been booked as a last minute substitute to team with Bobby Bourbon and Money Oswald… it’s honestly not my job to address any of that. First off, it was a regulated draft with predetermined order of captains, so it’s not like any one person had direct control on who ended up on what teams. In the end, it has been established on more than one occasion that even though the stars under the CCP Enterprises umbrella are working in conjunction the same guy in Chris Page, each of us are also operating with the mentality of doing whatever is best for ourselves and nobody else, not even those in CCPE with us.

Taking a look at the other teams that could reach the survivors match in the Main Event of War Games, there aren’t many that I care about getting in the middle of the ring against - Mastermind is lucky to be Anarchy Champion and I’d love to gain a measure of retribution for that Elimination Chamber match not too long ago, Unknown Soldier is a bum ass bitch and my long history with Latina Submission Machina has been well documented over the last six months. With that out of the way, let’s get right to the elephant in the way of Meat Clowns Inc LLC - The Notorious Alliance.

For starters, Mac Bane falls into that category I already discussed about CCP Enterprises, so that brings it down to three bums I would like to address. Ring Master - we have met before and you narrowly escaped with a victory on an episode of Savage. I know what you are capable of, but I also know that our previous meeting was a true coin flip and either of us could have won at multiple points. In the end, you got the W and I had to eat that L - but now the numbers lie in my favor, not just because I learned how you operate inside the ring back then, but I’ve also got three people who have my back if I stumble at any point… which isn’t something I can necessarily say about your team, especially the pair of selfish pricks I’m about to address.

Ned Kaye, Jason Cashe… the other two members of Trilogy along with the reigning, defending, UNDISPUTED XWF Universal Heavyweight Champion of the World… and Raion Kido is going to be standing across the ring from you this weekend! Let’s get the million dollar question out of the way - are the three of you willing to put your alliance aside for one night and get after it just like you would against any other XWF superstar?! Are you willing to keep business as business just like CCP Enterprises, or do the three of you have a secret agreement to avoid each other like a group of scared pussies?! I honestly don’t give a fuck about what meeting I had with my teammates and these suits and whatever else, I know you three are all snakes in the grass that will say and do anything to get an advantage on someone, even in one of their deepest and darkest points of recent life… so I’m gonna place trust in Raion, but only enough to fit the size of a thimble.

I will be having eyes in the back of my head and taking every advantage I otherwise wouldn’t have in a regular match. I think most of you in War Games seem to be forgetting that for a time in late 2021, I was the king of the gimmick matches across multiple different television shows for this company! I am willing to put my body through more carnage than the mind can possibly imagine, and that’s just for MYSELF - imagine what I’m gonna be willing to do when I fight alongside people who trust me like Jenny Myst and Angie Vaughn… or at least SEEM to trust me. This isn’t dominoes or checkers or parcheesi or rummy… this is War Games, but it’s the furthest thing possible from being a game. See you all in Switzerland.

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