Road to Hell #7a: Saint's Gambit

[Smash INC]

Keaton Saint in
The Road to Hell #7a: Saint's Gambit

The Failure of Junichi Inamoto

Junichi Inamoto watched Overdrive with great interest as he expected something big to happen, like most broadcasts it was as action-packed as the titular promotion itself but for Inamoto it failed to meet his expectations.

Curiosity had kept a tight grip on him ever since he took the job of tracking Keaton Saint leading up to Overdrive, he expected something of great importance to happen on the show as his client had wanted to keep track of everything Saint was doing up until the event happened. Inamoto was finishing up a ramen dish a few days later when he heard the news. Keaton Saint had appeared on Asylum, and what trumped that bombshell was that he was the final participant in the Extreme Elimination Chamber match.

inamoto had kept tabs on Saint for days, perhaps the most important set of days leading up to the inevitable appearance on Asylum and yet Inamoto caught no sign of it happening. If he didn't see it coming, then nobody else could have possibly known save for those involved in the negotiations. Inamoto's initial belief that he had succeeded at his task gave way to a shocking realisation that all he had done over the past week was snatch defeat after defeat from the jaws of victory. He was in the prime position to have the scoop on this move and yet he failed, and that shocked him.

It took Inamoto less than an afternoon to figure out how Saint had conducted his negotiations over the time he was being watched. As predictable as he had seemed on the outside, Saint was engineering something over that time and as such had resorted to sublimely sneaky methods for a wrestler to maintain contact with the Asylum negotiating team. The daily trips to the local gyms and bars of the Ota district were masking Saint's communications, with a handshake agreement Inamoto was able to determine exactly how Saint had done it.

The gym had a public phone that Saint used to make a quick call every day to check up on the status of the Asylum contract, the gym manager explained that Saint had been seen doing something with his company phone after each call but didn't explain the exact nature of it. Inamoto made a simple conclusion, Saint was using pre-paid SIM cards to have extended conversations with the Asylum team and the initial calls were just a way for them to have his number. More importantly it was a way for nobody else to possibly know exactly what Saint was doing.

It turned out that the most predictable man in professional wrestling wasn't nearly as predictable as Inamoto had first assumed. A thought crept into Inamoto's head at this exact moment.

Was anyone else aware that Keaton Saint could be unpredictable?

==========

The Moment of Truth

"I'll assume that you understand why I'm doing this." Reginald Schmidt spoke without taking his eyes away from the monitor, the main event of Asylum was always one of those moments when a crowd could be ignited. For Schmidt this was a moment to savour, particularly since he was standing next to a man who could prove to be the spark that set the Chinese crowd on fire.

"I can take a guess." Keaton was also watching the monitor, albeit for different reasons. He had held an advantage ever since he knew he would be the replacement for the Extreme Elimination Chamber match. Even without the advantage of being unknown to his opponents, Keaton knew that this would be one of the better moments to take stock of all the opponents he would face at One Night in Hell.

"Bambi's taking her time, go for it."

"For starters." Keaton glanced at Schmidt who was still watching the match. "This isn't an opportunity."

"Having the chance to compete for the most prestigious title in APW is a great opportunity, anyone else in your position would see this for the golden ticket that it is." Schmidt frowned. "The people in that ring and on this roster deserve respect, don't think for a second that you having this chance makes you better than them."

"You've got me all wrong." Keaton sighed. "It's a big opportunity, but I'm smart enough to know that my name in this match isn't just for sporting reasons."

"You're one of the best wrestlers we could get in to take up the final spot."

"Buttering me up won't make me think any differently. We both know there are plenty of people on the Asylum roster who deserve the nod ahead of me, but you're not doing this for them are you?"

"Heh." Schmidt snorted. "Go on."

"Sure, it's not like you offered the chance to just anybody." Keaton smiled. "And I'm grateful for that, but I didn't get this chance because I'm Keaton Saint."

"Last time I checked, it was your name on the dotted line."

"Of course, but you would never have thought for a second to offer this to me if I was just coming into APW or if I was on Meltdown." Keaton chuckled. "It's because I was on the competing roster, I'm your golden ticket to make the Asylum guys look the best they possibly can."

"Good to know." Schmidt responded. "I'm glad that we understand each other, just make sure you do your best in the match."

"I was half-expecting you to advise me to take a dive."

"You wouldn't be here if you the sort of person who would." Schmidt took a moment to analyse the situation. "No, I think it's best that you go out there and give the crowd the full Keaton Saint experience."

"You've got that much confidence in me?"

"I've got confidence in THEM." Schmidt corrected Keaton. "An Overdrive megastar makes the jump to the biggest match on Asylum and that gives Asylum as a whole the chance to prove without a doubt that we have the best roster, we have the best talent and WE have the best champions."

"I've got a couple of problems with that."

"really?"

"Well, I'm a wrestler first and foremost."

"So you've said."

"Second, I have every intention of proving I am the best in the ring. Asylum will be the best, you have my word on that."

"But?"

"I'm going to be the best on Asylum."

"That's why you're here, it's why you're going to go out there and pop a TV rating so huge that everybody will compare the biggest moments in wrestling to the last Asylum before One Night in Hell."

"There's more to it than that. For them as well as me." Keaton pointed to the monitor as the main event continued. "If they know who they're facing, they know who to prepare for."

"Perhaps you were the right decision after all."

"Whatever, I have my reasons."

"Let's both hope they're the right ones."

"They always are." Keaton nodded as his attention turned to the monitor showing the closing moments of the main event.

"HE HIT ME! THE BLOKE HIT ME! HE'S DISQUALIFIED!"

"That's my cue." Keaton said in a heartbeat, he exchanged a glance with a nearby stagehand and prepared himself for the big reveal. "This is the moment of truth."

==========

Saint's Gambit

Reports had filtered out from Beijing from the initial appearance of Keaton Saint, as far as surprises in wrestling go this was a genuine one so the news, or at least the snippets of it that came out were like gold dust to the fans of the sport. Of course, with the news that followed things began to heighten just a little more. Rumours had flown from China to the rest of the world that Keaton Saint had not just made an appearance at the end of the show just to walk away, the rumours said that he had made a statement in the ring following the event. With no evidence to back up the rumours, people kept their eyes on future developments rather than searching for the visual evidence.

A couple of days following the event, a poorly filmed piece of footage made its way onto Youtube. In the hours that followed another video was shown with better quality and more importantly, clear audio. From that moment it was clear what was going to happen.

Keaton Saint had gone viral.

"Now that the surprise is over." The video opened with Keaton's voice as the footage showed him standing in the ring with a translator by his side, Keaton paused often to allow the translator to finish his part and then he took longer moments than usual to continue.

"I want to be the first to tell you why I'm here." Keaton took his time to acknowledge the crowd before continuing, they responded in kind. "I've always wanted to take on the greatest challenges possible, I've tried to accomplish that since the start of the year."

"But this match at One Night in Hell gives me something I couldn't get anywhere else." Keaton paused as the translator caught up and informed the crowd of Keaton's words. "The chance to wrestle against the likes of Sally Talfourd, Anthony Bailey and everyone on the Asylum roster. That is why I jumped at the chance to become an Asylum megastar, to face a new challenge and to overcome it."

"I won't claim that this is the start, the end or the middle of anything." Keaton paused to recount his thoughts and allow the translator to finish. "What I will state with the utmost certainty is that I am Keaton Saint, I know why I'm here, I know just what it takes to succeed on Asylum and I will give you everything I can to prove that I deserve to be in the same ring as my opponents."

"You know who I am, and now so does everyone in the Extreme Elimination Chamber." Keaton counted to five on his free hand. "There's five very talented, very dangerous people in that match. But there is only one Keaton Saint and there will only be ONE champion when the night is over."

"Thank you for having me." Keaton made his closing statement as the translator finished relaying Keaton's words to a delayed cheer from the crowd. the footage continued to show Keaton take in the adulation of the remaining crowd as he soaked in the atmosphere and the infectious reaction that he was receiving. Keaton's statement and the video finished at that moment. It was there in full for all the world to see and what this meant was simple, Keaton Saint had made his move.

This wasn't a televised appearance but the video was viral, the footage showed the world everything in the closing frame. Keaton Saint was on top of the world, his aim was to do the same at One Night in Hell.

==========

Chinese Checkers

Right up until the end of Asylum, none of them knew who they had to prepare for. We all know who I'm talking about because every wrestling fan in the world has the names of the main event etched into their minds. One Night in Hell is going to be big for many reasons, not just the six of us who make up one of the greatest matches in APW history.

But let's get back to the point, I could have retained the surprise factor and made myself known on the night itself. I can see a case for why that might have been a good idea, I know people that would do that long before they even thought of giving up their advantage.

That would have been enough for some, but I am not some. The typical advantages of entering a match like this don't work as far as I'm concerned and where I come from, you face your opponent and you let them know what they're about to come up against. I have done this and I will fight them to the best of my ability when the bell rings at One Night in Hell. Until that moment, we wait, we plan and we play the games of the mind.

That's the truth of professional wrestling.

Everyone involved in this wants to get ahead before the bell rings, we've all played out the best moves we had available and now all of us are waiting for the results. Today, tomorrow and for the rest of the week we train for a night in the most devastating match any of us will ever encounter. The games we play however are slightly different, for them it's a game of chess against each participant of the match and that means they have five different boards to make their moves on.

For me it is a different story, I'm not playing chess. I'm not making a move against one side and then moving onto the next opponent. I'm taking everything in and playing against them all at once. I'm in a match against five other talented and dangerous individuals, that just so happens to be enough for a classic game of chinese checkers. My moves and my gameplan won't dilute to a single opponent, I'm playing everyone on the same board and my moves are done with everyone else in mind. I'm not going to ignore the fact that anyone in this match can win it all, we're gambling our lives and careers on the belief that we are the best at what we do. I might just be the best technical wrestler in APW, but that's not enough when you enter a world like this one. That's why I'm bringing something extra with me to the Tokyo Dome. And what I'm bringing cannot be broken.

By the time we're done, they're going to have to make this match the first ever six-star encounter. At One Night in Hell, Keaton Saint makes his presence known in the Tokyo Dome and believe it when I say that I've been ready for this for a very long time.

So we wait, we plan and we all make the best of what we have to offer. the rest of the field know that Keaton Saint will enter the ring and so they're all prepare for one of the best technical wrestlers in APW and the world. The truth is that they've all seen me wrestle, they've all got a good idea of what Keaton Saint as a wrestler can do in the ring.

They all know the wrestler that I am, but none of them have ever seen me fight.

Whilst everyone is planning a chess gambit I've been beating demons. I've been marching whilst they've been assembling their army of thoughts, when you have a field as stacked as this one you have to go above and beyond to get the job done. I'm getting the job done because whilst they're all preparing to enter the Tokyo Done, I am already there. I am Keaton Saint, and whilst I might be thinking ten moves ahead right now what matters is that I finish ahead of them by the final bell. Hell ends when I win the World Heavyweight Championship.

Not only will I do it as the greatest wrestler in that ring, but the greatest fighter, the best extremist and finally I will prove myself as the most deserving World Heavyweight Champion.

And the only person who could've possibly seen it coming was me.