“To Bleed or not to Bleed.. 

Why question it? Nobody wants to bleed and if someone says they do? This is the place to be and the match to be in because here you’ll find a heavy flow in between these ropes with what names are slated to step through them.

The goal is to NOT bleed, bleed last and find yourself at the summit of this mountain. The peak is where we all seek so let's get bloody and see who becomes a body along the trail and who plants their flag at the top..” 

.

..

…

It's been a while hasn't it?

Running my hand down the mirror in the bathroom, I feel the moisture build up on the glass from the hot shower I just stepped out of. My eyes greet me in reflection as the bathroom opens up around me within the mirror itself. With the steam still lingering, I towel my face off before wrapping it around my waist. I kept looking at myself in the mirror. It wasn't a vanity thing but a glance into my own thoughts and what had been weighing heavy on my mind.

What does one see when they look back at themselves? Do you see your flaws, the secrets in which we all keep? The imperfections that so many try to hide with filters and highlights on social media? Into your own eyes, what do you see? 

For me? 

I’ve never been the bragging type, I just like making noise. I’ve never been a toot my own horn type of guy but I walk with a limp because my dick sits heavy nonetheless. So as I let myself glimpse into my own mind.. I find myself seeing solutions to problems or outcomes I can't avoid. 

KNOCK

KNOCK

KNOCK

Speaking of what I can't avoid. The banging on the door gave me a sigh. As of late, there was only one absolute positive in my life. Problem was, one of my longest dreadful realities was also in the apartment. Who would it be on the other side of this bathroom door? 

My Wife or my Mother?

Stepping back, I make sure the towel around my waist is firmly secured. “Hold on, I’m almost done..”

Grabbing at my pile of clean clothes, I planned to get dressed before addressing the knocking intrusion. Catching a glimpse of myself once more in the mirror, a great many things flashed before my eyes.. The mirror was fogged up again and for whatever reason, I reached over with my index finger and wrote three letters into the wet surface of glass. 

X

W

F

Since I left, XWF has been haunting me in many ways. It has been in the back of my head, toying with me like I was a jealous ex. The failures that were hard to swallow, the fumbles that gave me this knot in my stomach like I had a tumor. I was ready to be cured of the sickness I was feeling with how things were left. It wasn't just XWF but as the days crawled closer, it's hard not to have it front and center. 

Breaking away from my mental monologue of thoughts. I pull the towel free from around me and grab my boxer briefs. No sooner than I get them up and the elastic slaps against my waist does the door open. I thought I had locked it so it gave me a surprise.

“Hey!” I blurted out but didn't feel the need to cover up anymore than I was. 

It was Sloane. My wife hurried into the bathroom and immediately put her back to the door as it closed shut. “Hi!” She said as those beautiful blue eyes met with mine like a hugging stare. Her eyes began to roam and I followed her view down towards the underroos that also hugged tightly against me. 

“Hi yourself!” I responded. We had been close a few times. Moments alone have been harder to come by since my Mother showed up. Now there was a moment of silence as she looked up at me and me at her. “Soo.. Umm.. You come here often?” Giving her a half-cocked grin after the words fell from my mouth.

“You’re lucky I like you,” she said playfully as she hooked her fingers in my beard, drawing my face down to hers. And that was all it took. I lunged forward, hands at each side of her face as I pulled her in and met her halfway. I had to kiss her, I felt it in the moment and she embraced it. Feeling a flex rising, I reach down, removing hands from her face only to place paws at her sides, lifting her off the floor. I turn towards the foggy mirror and sit her on the counter of the sink. Her arms lift as I pull her shirt up over her head before proceeding to kiss her again and again. 

BANG! 

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

We both let out a sigh of utter disappointment. My chin leans over her left shoulder and it was in that moment, we knew this wasn't going to happen. As if we needed more confirmation, the voice on the other side of the door yelled out. 

“Boy! You better open this door!” 

My head pulled away from Sloane’s shoulder with a slow shake from side to side. “Ma, I’m still getting dressed. Go away!” I tried to inform her but she wasn't hearing it. 

“Don’t zip up your pecker, boy, but hurry up!”

I hated this. Sloane was snickering but I was not. On one hand, my ‘Fan’ wanted me to believe he had killed my Mother. Burned down my childhood home and left someone charred up so badly that they had trouble identifying the body. On the other hand, I wasn't at all happy that my Mother was in Chicago. At my Wife’s Apartment and she wasn't planning on going anywhere anytime soon. Was I REALLY annoyed that she wasn't dead?

“She is proof that karma exists, I swear..” I whispered as I flung out my shirt and aggressively shoved my arms through before pulling it over my head. Hopping off the counter, Sloane puts her shirt back on. 

“Oh!” She blurted out. “I came in here for a reason!” 

“Yeah well..” I was disappointed and must have sounded as much. My wife leaned up and kissed me as if to provide comfort. 

“Does the name Gloria Winston mean anything to you?”

Giving it some thought. I wasn't great at remembering names but I couldn't recall anyone with that name. “Nah, why? Should it?”


~©~©~©~©~©~©~
“Did you see the video? Hyping the Free 4 All? I’ve watched it a few times now.. Talk about a lineup! A real who’s who for any company out there wanting to splurge off of open market events! This is how you do it!

You have multiple companies being represented. Multiple former Champions just to put a spotlight on the almost Re-Grand Opening of a company that still says Extreme with an ‘X’. I guess with how Twitter got renamed, it's not so out of date anymore is it? 

I have a weird relationship with XWF..

Not one that has garnered me a spot on any header on a website. Nothing of a success story because quite frankly, it was far from that. Most of the names in this match cannot handle disappointment.. 

They bounce around from company to company. Doing these one off events and toy with signing on after but it becomes a trial period. A chance to test the waters and too many dip a toe under the surface instead of just diving in.

I did it a little differently on my first go around.. I took shots, got knocked down and pushed through a lot of annoyances along the way. I didn't apply myself the way I needed to in order to keep myself invested in the product I was a part of. 

Trilogy.. Saga.. That shit was a fucking mess! 

Trying to be a standup guy only because of those around me. I distanced myself by being on Anarchy instead of Warfare. I couldn't grasp the idea of sharing more personal space with people that just resonated so much uptight douchery! 

Yes, that includes Theo. I was here because of HIM! I was in that situation that clearly was against MY character because Theo wanted me there. When I realized that my being in this company was because I wanted to maintain a loyalty to someone who at every turn has tried to make me something I am not? 

I had no reason to stay. 

I hadn't put anything on the table to warrant being asked to stay. Nobody asked. I left. That was a good year that I dragged my feet, grinded my teeth and held my breath doing what I wasn't invested in. I lost interest in this company, my relationship at the time, my own self worth was in question.. 

I had to get away. 

I’m not saying this so that people see writing on the wall. An example of why NOT to be in XWF because in comparison, 99% of the companies out there RIGHT NOW? Are simply reaching for straws trying to be as great as XWF has been, can be and will be again! 

I have all the faith in the world for Theo Pryce. I just wouldn't let him guide me into a world of Kido and his Saga of woes. Fuck that dude.. Kido not Theo..

Well, him too.. They wanted a Trilogy, a Saga but this? This is MY sequel.”

~=~=~=~=~=~=~

I wanted to get away but ever since my Mother showed up. Hell, even before that, I have felt an obligation to remain on duty at my Wife’s Apartment. All of this was happening because of me. Deciding to hug a fan has created a rollercoaster of events and I have been without a seat belt or safety harness for the ride. 

What little number of people I do care about, my ‘Fan’ made sure to threaten me with. I can still close my eyes and SEE the polaroids he threw at me showing just how close he has been to everyone from my Sisters to my Ex Girlfriend to My Mother and Sloane. Everyone else was accounted for. Everyone else had someone to watch over them but my Mother and my Wife? Like I said, I felt obligated. 

Yet I HAD to get away for a bit. I HAD to get some air but the only way I could do so was for shows or to train. I chose the latter. “Go ahead..” I gave some pause as I stood in a ring with my head sticking out in front of me. “Hit me!” I bit down, tightening my jaw and looked over at Elm, waiting to be hit as I instructed him to do. 

My protege I guess you could say? I started training Elm and Sloane’s Sister, Cynara Delaney a little after leaving XWF. After a little fling with Cynara and after I ended up marrying her Sister, it's been more Elm than Cyn being trained. 

There was some restraint on Elm’s face as he gripped a steel chair with both hands right outside of arm's reach from me. I wanted him to step into the swing and really lay it in there. Waiting for it was the most annoying part. 

“Fucking do it already!!” I shouted like a warcry of a warrior expecting death. Elm cocks back and goes to swing but stops..

“Why are we doing this again?” He says as he lets the chair hang at his side with one hand still gripping a leg. 

“It's a First Blood Battle Royale. I need to toughen the skin. It's been a while..” 

My logic made very little sense. In truth, I just wanted to knock around my mental a bit. Shake some shit up in my upstairs, ya know? “Are weapons even allowed?”

A question I wasn't sure of the answer to. I didn't recall if that was specified or not but it didn't matter much either way. 

“Bleeding is bleeding. Elbows or chair shots, if it splits you, you’re out.” 

“What if it comes down to you and Sloane?” 

With no hesitation, I provide an answer to his question. “I’ll put a scar in one of her eyebrows and paint her like she killed Mufasa!”

Gasping, Elm looks surprised. “That's your Wife, man!!”

“In a match? Nah. She is competing like I am, like anyone is. Unless we're on the same team for the match, she is an obstacle.”

Shrugging as he shakes off even the thought of it. “I guess it's like that old saying: To each their own!” 

He snaps forward and in a single motion, lifts the chair, grabbing it with both hands and bringing it up and over before crashing the seat of the chair over my NOW UNEXPECTING head! 

WHACK!

~©~©~©~©~©~©~
“Do any of us have true confidence that we can win this match? Rumbles and Royales are much the same and it's not a huge difference because ‘First Blood’ was an added stipulation. It's as random as a drawing. A flip of a coin. Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Who can determine that if you get hit that you won't start bleeding? It's not something you can train yourself to be good at. Even if you could, how many of us are using a skin regimen with lotions to help moisturize? Skin so soft that you can't help but wonder what is softer, the skin or a few of these people's feelings.. 

I cannot wait for the opportunity to be in there trading with the likes of Barney Green, Noah Jackson, Bacchus and fuck me, Cypher? What a douche that guy is! The list keeps getting bigger and better the more I look at it! 

Even Kaya Parker who plays Cornerback for the GFL Team I coach is in this match! You also have Dadbod who I have heard NOTHING but good things about but have yet to have the pleasure of introductions with. What's not to be excited for but in that excitement, I enter this with the intention to do bad things to people who might not be bad people. 

Some of these names are people who I just KNOW management has a hard on for and would love nothing more than to sign one or more of them to a contract beyond the Free 4 All. Names such as Sebastian Bryce-Everett, Corey Black, JMont, and whoever that Mystery Entry might be. I say them and leave off names like Dickie Watson because Dickie Watson is a bitch who no doubt urinates on his own nuts when he tries to stand and pee. Nobody REALLY wants him around.. 

So what this match truly provides is click bait for anyone wanting to see what happens when a massive amount of egos, swinging dicks and a few pretty faces are in the ring together trying to make each other bleed blood. At random, here is a tongue twister involving blood!

A Big Black Bug bit a Big Black Bear and made the Big Black Bear bleed blood. 

You can find big bears in this match. Names that would headline any event for any promotion.. Yet I would rather be the bug that makes them all bleed. A bug not really noticed, that nobody pays attention to and thinks very little of. I’ll be that to many and those many will find themselves drooling crimson from their flesh..

It's really like a menu at a restaurant. You look over all the different options and you can't decide what you want. You're hungry but undecided because it ALL looks appealing at the moment. Munchies like a motherfucker and in this match, I’m hungry! I want the blood of my opponents like a Vampire wants a Menstrual bleed. It will empower me! I crave that feeling. I intend to grab HOLD of that feeling! 

It doesn't matter how big your name is here or somewhere else. I don't care if you have won a World title, Universal or whatever other insert name for a Top Title a company will use to describe their trophy. MY trophy will be the throats of those who are more TALK than walk.. Keep your heads up, walk into this with every bit of confidence you can carry. I look forward to that feast..”

~=~=~=~=~=~

All there was left to do was wait. Mere days away from the Free 4 All where I would stand with a number of others and compete for an opportunity at becoming Universal.

“Ughhhh..” 

There would be people crying after they are eliminated. Those making excuses, pretending they were never in the match to begin with. As I sat scrolling on my phone, checking the timeline on Twitter, I knew I could find someone that fit that description every other tweet I came across. There were more of them than there are people who don't cry over spilled milk. 

Picking up my view from the phone, I look around and find myself once again inside the bathroom at Sloane’s apartment. It was quiet, it was late. I had the house to myself in a sense because both my Wife and my Mother were in their rooms, hopefully sleeping. 

Me? This time around I was taking a shit. Laughing as I hit send on a random tweet about Moonrocks. I reach back and push down the handle so the toilet flushes. The sound gave me an idea..

“It's only 2 AM. I’m calling him..” I say to myself as I look through my contacts hoping to still have his number. “There you are!” I express my thrill and hit the call button as the name ‘THEO’ appears on my screen. Putting the call on speaker, I place the phone on the counter and prepare for the cleaning of my toilet business. 

“H-Hello?” The grogginess in his voice tells me he was surely asleep or about to be. 

“THEO!” I kind of yelled and quickly shushed myself looking at the bathroom door as if I expected someone to barge in. “Hey buddy!”

“Cashe?” As if he couldn't tell. We were friends even if he didn't want to admit to it. 

“You’ll never guess what I’m doing right now!” Pausing but adding before he can respond. “Here's a hint, it reminds me of our time together..”

The heavy sigh in his voice came through the phone and part of me thought he would hang up. I wonder if he could go back to when he first made contact, first started recruiting me if he would change doing so now? Didn't matter. If we could change the past, our futures would be fabricated. Lies told my cowards unwilling to grind through the grime. I wasn't ever going to be one of those people. My mistakes teach me lessons in people and situations. Theo included.

“Are you there?” Scoffing at the thought he might hang up. “I will fill a voicemail if you hang up on me damnit!”

“I know you will.. It wouldn't be the first time.” His voice sounded more awake now. I had his attention one way or another. “Are you taking a shit?” 

“Yes! Yes I am!” Laughing, I was glad he remembered. It was touching for him to remember our late night conversations and how awkwardly often they took place while I was taking a dump. “You remembered! Awwww!”

“Nightmares leave scars, Jason..”

I knew all about that. Looking down, I found the scar where my ‘Fan’ had shoved a butcher knife into my lung and twisted. The scar was bigger than the scar tissue I had where my right nipple used to be. “What do you want?” 

“I just wanted to call..” Trying to put the ‘Fan’ stuff to the side, I didn't want it to ruin my convo with my former Representative. “How have you been?” 

“What?!”

“I'm just making small talk, man. What's up? Is it weird that I came back?” 

“That depends. Are you staying or is this a one time appearance?”

“Are you offering me a contract?” I snapped back because it takes two to tango in this business. The Company and the person they may or may not want to hire. 

“Would you sign it or draw a dick on it like you did with Chris Page and CCPE?” 

The memories! That time when I was the first to say ‘No’ to joining CCPE. It seemed like so long ago now but I was loving that these memories are flooding my thoughts instead of this shit with the ‘Fan’. I was glad I called Theo. That was until I heard loud banging on a door. It wasn't the bathroom door this time.

“The fuck..?!” Listening carefully, the banging stopped. “Theo, I gotta let you go.” 

“Goodnight, Jason..” He didn't wait for a return goodbye, he just hung up. I didn't let it bug me whereas normally I would overreact to it. 

For the next few minutes, I did the cleanup part of taking a shit. There were ‘Cashe Cleaning Cloths’ used in this process. A product STILL available at XWF99.com for 75 Thousand XBuxs. Buy today and have a clean you can count on!

Leaving the bathroom, I find Sloane stumbling towards the front door rubbing her eyes. She was wearing these low waist pajama bottoms that gave me ideas but before those ideas could manifest, my Wife unlocked and opened the front door. 

“OH MY GOD!” 

Her voice jumped into a high pitch as she squealed into a scream. Stumbling back away from the door, she was frightened by something. I must have walked on air because I was to her in a split second. Grabbing her and pulling her away thinking the worst, I looked through the open doorway and saw what she was seeing. 

“Elm?” I only recognized him because of the neon blue shorts he had been wearing earlier during training. He decided to stay at the gym overnight. A homeless kid who actually enjoyed the lifestyle. “Hey! Elm..” 

I dropped down next to him as he laid in a heap on the front porch of the apartment. There was blood everywhere and he was limp. I rolled him onto his back to find him still breathing. “I’m calling 911!” Sloane informs me as she scurries into her room to grab her phone. 

“Hey kid.. Hey.. You alright? What happened?!” I tried to get him to locate my eyes. His stare was glossy and moving around, unable to find a single thing to focus on. “Fuck.. HEY!” Slapping him probably wasn't needed but I wasn't exactly used to dealing with this. 

“It.. It wa..” He tried to speak. The words were unable to form with clarity as blood gurgled from his mouth. I didn't know for sure but by the looks of him, he had been severely beaten. 

Checking to see if he had any wounds, I didn't find any but I did find a note.. I unfolded the paper and looked at a familiar letter. One with the same style I had seen before. Letters clipped and glued from a magazine to make up the words. “Oh no!” Sloane blurts out as she comes up from behind with her cell to her ear. Seeing the letter had to bother her as well.. The last one was taped to her front door for us to find together. She leans down over my shoulder and reads the letter out
 loud. 

“Seek the 1st Blood of others before you Bleed your last drop. Good luck.”

I read it a few times over in my head. Sloane stood up and walked away as she started giving the address to the 911 Operator.