Old Versus New and a War Waged
Oct 25, 2013 12:32:58 GMT -4
Jason Cashe, Reaver, and 1 more like this
Post by C.J. Gates on Oct 25, 2013 12:32:58 GMT -4
"Old versus new.
"That is how many people are viewing this War Games match. On one side they see the fresh faces, the people that they haven't seen as long, in Chris Madison, Niobe Martin, Stefan Raab and even Michael Jennings. They see the viciousness with which they operate and conduct business and they see them as a new era in APW.
"While on the other side, there are the people who have been in APW for years straight, still doing what we love to do at a high level. Jason Kash, Reaver, Biggs and myself. Four men that have put their blood and sweat into helping APW become what it is.
"Is that to say the Black Hand hasn't done their part to make APW what it is? Not exactly. All I mean is that the four of us, for the majority of our careers, even when some of us were resorting to underhanded tactics to pull out a win, we fought for APW. We fought to get the federation recognized as one of the best.
"And it worked.
"Of course there were others. The Level One's, the Kurt Noble's, the Sally Talfourd's, the Terry Marvin's. But the four of us, this old era as some people are seeing it, we had a large part in that. Asylum became Asylum because certain people, two of which being Kash and Reaver, took it upon themselves to make Asylum into what it became.
"Biggs? He was here long before I got here, doing what he did to help APW, giving APW a mainstay to build around. He did everything and anything, including being one of the most successful Overdrive champions APW has ever seen.
"As for me? I spent a year doing everything and anything to put APW on the map alongside the cream of the crop. The 2011 CWC Ascension tournament and the 2011 CWC Supremacy tournament. I was there. Extreme Tournaments. Interfed title matches against men like Jack Benevolence, Azrael Goeren and Doug E. Fresh.
"To sum it up, the four of us, we've done a whole hell of a lot for APW. That's not to say the other four haven't done anything with their careers, they just haven't exactly done anything for APW during their careers.
"I guess we will be able to see if that trend continues, or if the new era being ushered in by the Black Hand can make their mark."
"So what is a War Games match?" Abby asks as she drops into the chair across from C.J. Gates. Gates looks up from his computer screen, glancing around her face.
"I don't know if you want me to tell you."
"Why not?" she asks. "What can you say that I'll be afraid of?"
"A lot," Gates answers, looking back to his screen.
"Hit me," she says. Gates sighs and leans back in his chair.
"A War Games match is a match fought between two opposing sides," he begins. "It consists of two rings, side by side, with a large cage covering both of them. The match starts with a member from each team, and at constant intervals, another competitor is added, switching teams as it does."
"That's it?"
"That's the premise of the match."
"But it's not everything?" Abby asks, and Gates simply shakes his head.
"A lot of the War Games matches I've seen, have been filled with brutality," Gates says. "I mean, you have to remember there's a cage wall to contend with, as well as seven other people running around. And who knows what else is going to be brought into this match from the outside."
"So what you're saying is-"
"What I'm saying is that there's a good chance I'm going to be coming home a bit bloodier then I would have liked," Gates chuckles. "And maybe a bit worse for wear overall."
"But it won't kill you or anything, right?"
"It shouldn't," Gates says. "If it does, there's probably going to be some sort of legal action for somebody."
"So wait, you could?"
"The risks of me dying or being severely injured aren't any larger then in any other match. Whether it was a simple four person tag, a one on one match with Level One or a tag team match against two Mr. Dangerous', there is always going to be a risk." He pauses and looks over at her. "It comes with the territory of being a wrestler."
"And this is necessary, right?" she asks, a concerned look on her face. "Like, you need to do this?"
"Necessity is a hard way to describe it-"
"Yes or no."
"No," Gates answers after some time. "It's not necessary that I compete in a War Games match, but it is necessary to shut down the Black Hand. And since they already enjoy cheating and bringing weapons into a match, why not level the playing field? Then, we can all compete at the same level for the same amount of time and by the end, hopefully the Black Hand will get the message and call it quits."
"Do you think they will?"
Gates shakes his head. "Sadly, I fear they are a stubborn bunch. Even if we beat them, I'm sure they will just see that as a minor blip on the radar. Just like losing a member. Just like losing to Biggs at Shockwave. They aren't going to see it as a sign that they aren't the truly dominant team they think they are."
"But they need to," Abby says. "They have to realize they don't have staying power if you guys beat them."
"That's what one would hope," Gates responds. "But I get the feeling that, instead, they are going to end up running their Black Hands into the ground until no one really cares anymore. I mean, until Tommy Knox won the Overdrive title, they really didn't have too much going for them other then their desire to beat people up. And that only gets you so far."
"Why do you need to do this?"
Gates looks at Abby for a few moments before letting out a sigh and shaking his head.
"I know I don't understand everything," Abby says, "but I'd like to."
"It's not that you don't understand," Gates says. "It's this overwhelming feeling that I have to justify my choices, and that every choice I do make is put under a microscope. Not by you, but by everyone. Like every pundit in this business, they're looking at this match with a lot of question marks. They question our reasoning, they question the pay off, they question what the point really is."
"And what is it?"
"I'm a guy who fights for the fans, right?" Gates asks and Abby nods. "And when I see people like the Black Hand doing what they are doing, I can't just sit back. Each time they interfere in a match, they ruin it for the fans. Every time they resort to weapons and cheating, they cheat the fans out of what they paid to see.
"I'll be the first to admit that it doesn't always work," Gates continues. "I've tried many times to stop people from doing certain things to little or no success, but this time," Gates pauses, cracks a slight smile and nods. "This time I think we have what it takes to get the job done. To put an end to the Black Hand. Once we're done with them, the four of them won't be so cocky and certain of themselves. They'll be asking how they, a group who has been working to establish themselves, lost to two tag teams, united for one night against a common enemy."
"You seem pretty confident."
"I do, because I am. I'm teaming with three men who, while I can't say I trust Kash and Reaver one hundred percent, I have this feeling that I can at least put my faith in them for one night. And with Biggs, unless he's looking to pull the wool over my eyes, I can trust him to the moon and back." Gates pauses and chuckles.
"And you're not worried?"
"Worried?" Gates shakes his head. "Not really. Like I said, they haven't exactly done a lot on their own to really make me worried. Sure, we're entering an environment that they think is built to their favor, but they forget that they aren't fighting puppies. Kash and Reaver are beasts, especially when you put them into a hardcore world."
"But what about you and Biggs?" Abby asks. "You guys aren't exactly street fighters."
"No, but we can be when we need to be," Gates says. "People forget that the majority of 2011 saw Biggs and I fight each other with everything we had and with anything we could get our hands on. Handcuffs, ladders, chairs, chains, trash cans, we used it all against one another. We might be lightweight high flyers, but we can also throw down with the best of them."
"I guess so," Abby says before trailing off. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
Gates smiles. "I'll do my best not to, but I can't promise anything. You never know what could happen inside of those rings."
"War Games, huh?" Vincent James asks as he enters the office, some few hours later. Abby is gone and only C.J. Gates remains, still seated behind his computer.
"War Games."
"Was that wise?"
"Not you, too," Gates sighs. "I thought maybe you would understand my reasoning."
"Oh, I understand," James says. "But it doesn't mean I agree with it."
"What don't you agree with?"
"You've fought so many battles in a regular ring. You took pride in fighting the honorable fight. Now this?"
"This match doesn't mean I won't fight honorably," Gates says. "I'm still going to do the same thing I always do, fight from the heart. Fight for the fans. I'm not going to suddenly turn into everything I've fought against because of a cage."
"You say that now, but can you say the same thing once that cage door is closed and you are staring down the barrel at a member of the Black Hand with a second chomping at the bit outside?"
"If I'm first."
"If you're first," James chuckles. "I know you, C.J. I know you've petitioned to be entered into that thing first. You want to set the tone, to show that you are not a liar. And while some people commend you for it, I think it's just fucking stupid."
"Kash did the same thing," Gates says. "He lobbied for himself to draw the short straw and have to enter first."
"Yes, but Kash isn't exactly the Oxford definition of sanity."
"Still," Gates says, "I think each one of us is going to want first crack in that match to show how serious we are about competing. The fact that they will, that shows me that they are guys I know will have the same motives going into this match."
"Of course you would. You all hate the Black Hand."
Gates nods. "And we all love APW."
"That's true."
"Each of us, Biggs excluded, sat back and took notice of what the Black Hand was doing and saw that if they kept on their pace, they very well could tear down that thing the four of us love. And we couldn't let that happen.
"So we stood up.
"We stepped forward.
"And at One Night in Hell, we will wage war on the Black Hand.
"And we will win."
"Prior to all of this starting, the only member of the Black Hand that I had knowledge of in the ring first hand was Stefan Raab. An odd realization, considering he spends most of his time on Asylum, belittling the general managers and staff. I mean, you would think I'd have had my run ins with Chris Madison, Michael Jennings or Niobe Martin but, for the most part, I didn't.
"Of course, all of that changed when I came to Biggs' aid. All of that changed when I realized that the Black Hand had to be stopped, that they couldn't do what they were doing for much longer. And without my own monster in Level One breathing down my neck or hitting me in the head with a weapon, I saw the opportunity to not only help a friend, but to put an end to the evil that the Black Hand was trying to spread throughout APW.
"I guess that's what brings us here, gearing up for a War Games match in Japan. Preparing ourselves for a bloody encounter that is only going to get worse as the match drags on. And with the Black Hand having the advantage, with them having the first entrant into the match, we're already at a disadvantage. Not that it really matters.
"I don't want to speak for the rest of my team, but I'm pretty sure I can when I say that the advantage the Black Hand got, that's not going to keep us down. That's not going to guarantee them a win. Looking at the three people I'm teaming with and myself, well, we're four stubborn men when it comes to what happens inside of that ring. Do you think Reaver is just going to give up if he has to put up when the odds are stacked against him?
"I think he'd actually enjoy that.
"Would Kash give up? I've watched him get beaten down in worse situations, so I know he won't give up. Will Biggs give in? If he hasn't given in yet, he won't, trust me on that one. Will I pack it in and wave the white flag?
"Never.
"The question, really, is whether the same can be said about our opponents. Like I said, prior to helping a friend, I hadn't had much interaction with most of the Black Hand. And outside of attacking en masse and needing numbers to get by, they haven't really shown me too much. They haven't shown me that if the numbers are against them, that if one of their members is faced with adversity, they can survive.
"I mean, look at whats happened when we've had the upper hand. They run. They flee. They pull the only man standing out of the ring so that he doesn't suffer. Is that just a tactic of theirs to get in our heads or do they realize that they don't really stand a chance when they are taking on APW veterans like us?
"After all, there's no where to run come One Night in Hell. When that door is locked and we are trapped inside of that cage, the only way to get out is to fight your way out. Sure, they've got some pieces that can mix it up with the best on any given night, battling in a hardcore, cutthroat environment. But so do we. And what their side has shown me, is that when the going gets tough, they ball up and cry.
"I mean, what are we supposed to be afraid of?
"Niobe Martin? She hasn't exactly done a lot to assert herself as one of the threats in this situation. I'm not usually one for calling out someone, but what Jason Kash has said might have some truth to it. Would Martin have been welcomed into the Black Hand at first if Tommy Knox and her weren't doing stuff. Maybe she would have just been used as one of their examples en route to their eventual position if they never met, or maybe she would have latched on to Madison, like she's done now.
"I'm not even saying that's a possibility based on titles and anything like that. I'm looking at the greater body of work. Her wins have been impressive, but none have really come when it mattered most. She hasn't exactly left anyone down and out, broken and battered like some of her cohorts have. Niobe's been the quiet one, and I don't know if I see that changing. I could see her being entered into the match second or third, so that there isn't as much pressure put on her.
"She has promise though. She's shown flashes. I mean, she beat me after all, and even though she had some help with the final, she still kept herself in the match to get to that point, so I guess she's not totally useless. She just hasn't exactly shown herself able.
"Though, at least when Niobe fights someone, she's fighting another wrestler in the ring, and not picking on fragile General Managers or ringside color men like Stefan Raab. Which is funny, because Raab always seemed like the sort of guy who would beat the shit out of someone and never apologize for it. I think back to our encounter in the Trans Atlantic Cup, where he attacked me backstage to get the match started.
"He put me through hell, and he tried to end my career in that match by giving me everything he had and hitting me with anything he could get his hands on. Problem for him, was that I fought back. Problem for him, was that I wasn't Reginald Schmidt and I didn't just lay down and take it. And really, that might be what holds Raab back in the grand scheme of things.
"It won't be that he's not talented and it won't be that he's not hungry, what will hold him back is his choice to always pick on authority. Picking on the people who can't exactly fight for themselves. Picking a fight against Reginald or even President Jeff is much different then getting into a fight against someone like Jason Kash or even myself. We're going to take what he has to offer and fire it back at him twice as hard, to prove a point.
"That point? To test himself and pick on someone his own side. How else is he supposed to get better as a competitor? He can't continue to stroke his ego by defeating people that have no business being in a wrestling ring.
"Then again, that might be the Stefan Raab way.
"Michael Jennings might also fall into that category, though that is more because at one point, he was taking his father to school in the ring, as if we were all supposed to marvel in the fact that it didn't matter who he was up against, he was a bad ass in between the ropes. I guess the only saving grace there is that, at the time, Jennings wasn't trying to become the best of the best on the brand. He wasn't one of the faces of the brand. He was carving out a name for himself and to do that, he had to shed the dead weight of his father.
"This time around, Jennings shot out like a house on fire and then he kind of faded. Maybe it was the fact that things weren't going his way, or maybe it was the fact that he felt the rest of the Black Hand could do his work for him. Either way, Jennings faded away until recently, popping up to win that last match against Biggs to give his team the advantage.
"Funnily enough, I figured Jennings would be the first member of the Black Hand to make a dent in the APW title picture. I figured he had all that it took to get some gold around his waist. Him, not Tommy Knox. Yet that's not how it worked out. Maybe I pegged him wrong. Maybe I looked at Jennings wrong from the get go. He wasn't really a threat, he was just a man pretending to be a threat.
"The man that became that threat, was Chris Madison. Am I surprised? Not really. Given what was left, this was the only logical Black Hand member to attain some success after Tommy Knox rode off into the sunset. Though, it's also not unwarranted. I may not have had much interaction with them before, but since I joined this war, the one man I've grown familiar with is Chris Madison.
"He's talented. He's got vision. He knows what he wants and he takes it. Even looking at this war, it was started by Michael Jennings, but after he faded away, who took up the reigns? Who put himself in the drivers seat?
"Chris Madison.
"Who's the one calling most of the shots right now? Who's the one that is the last man standing in most of the confrontations? Chris Madison. So it's only natural that he end up taking that coveted spot of the most successful member of the Black Hand.
"Though I don't really know how coveted it is. I mean, I know people want success, but to be the most successful member of the Black Hand...it might not be the best example. What I mean is that Madison saw the opportunities presented to him and used every rule in the book to get himself out on top. He won the Overdrive title, but not by the cleanest of ways.
"Does it matter to them? No. But that's because they're not fighting for the fans like some of us are. They aren't trying to put on a good show and eliminate those that ooze evil. I know I sound righteous when I say that, but the fans deserve a good match. They deserve to see something they can cheer for and they deserve to not feel like it was stolen out from under them.
"Which is why this week is so important to us. To them. This is the week when everything that has happened between the Black Hand and the Space Cowboys, and even Foul Play, this is when all of that comes to an end.
"By the end of our war, there will be one team left standing, in some form. There will be a winner and that team can say without a doubt that they were able to weather the war and come out on the other side. That they are the winners.
"Unfortunately for the Black Hand, as talented as they are, it won't be them. And really, they're only going to have themselves to blame. They are going to end up losing because Stefan Raab doesn't know how to fight against people his own size and level of competitiveness. Because Niobe Martin has not seen what potential she has. Because Michael Jennings seems to have cared less and less as the battled raged on. Because Chris Madison wants all the glory to himself.
"Us on the other hand, are four men I know can work together. We are four men who respect one another and know that we are fighters. I know that Reaver and Kash want this match as much as I know Biggs does and I know that if I get in a situation where I'm facing the odds, they will do their best to help me out and even them.
"We might not be a faction and we might just be two tag teams joining forces, but we are joining forces for a common cause. We are teaming up with the same end game in mind.
"To defeat the Black Hand.
"And we are going to give it our all to make sure that end game is attainable or attained. We will do everything in our power to put the four of you in your places.
"And of course, we are going to do what I do best.
"We are going to go big and send the four of you home."
"That is how many people are viewing this War Games match. On one side they see the fresh faces, the people that they haven't seen as long, in Chris Madison, Niobe Martin, Stefan Raab and even Michael Jennings. They see the viciousness with which they operate and conduct business and they see them as a new era in APW.
"While on the other side, there are the people who have been in APW for years straight, still doing what we love to do at a high level. Jason Kash, Reaver, Biggs and myself. Four men that have put their blood and sweat into helping APW become what it is.
"Is that to say the Black Hand hasn't done their part to make APW what it is? Not exactly. All I mean is that the four of us, for the majority of our careers, even when some of us were resorting to underhanded tactics to pull out a win, we fought for APW. We fought to get the federation recognized as one of the best.
"And it worked.
"Of course there were others. The Level One's, the Kurt Noble's, the Sally Talfourd's, the Terry Marvin's. But the four of us, this old era as some people are seeing it, we had a large part in that. Asylum became Asylum because certain people, two of which being Kash and Reaver, took it upon themselves to make Asylum into what it became.
"Biggs? He was here long before I got here, doing what he did to help APW, giving APW a mainstay to build around. He did everything and anything, including being one of the most successful Overdrive champions APW has ever seen.
"As for me? I spent a year doing everything and anything to put APW on the map alongside the cream of the crop. The 2011 CWC Ascension tournament and the 2011 CWC Supremacy tournament. I was there. Extreme Tournaments. Interfed title matches against men like Jack Benevolence, Azrael Goeren and Doug E. Fresh.
"To sum it up, the four of us, we've done a whole hell of a lot for APW. That's not to say the other four haven't done anything with their careers, they just haven't exactly done anything for APW during their careers.
"I guess we will be able to see if that trend continues, or if the new era being ushered in by the Black Hand can make their mark."
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"So what is a War Games match?" Abby asks as she drops into the chair across from C.J. Gates. Gates looks up from his computer screen, glancing around her face.
"I don't know if you want me to tell you."
"Why not?" she asks. "What can you say that I'll be afraid of?"
"A lot," Gates answers, looking back to his screen.
"Hit me," she says. Gates sighs and leans back in his chair.
"A War Games match is a match fought between two opposing sides," he begins. "It consists of two rings, side by side, with a large cage covering both of them. The match starts with a member from each team, and at constant intervals, another competitor is added, switching teams as it does."
"That's it?"
"That's the premise of the match."
"But it's not everything?" Abby asks, and Gates simply shakes his head.
"A lot of the War Games matches I've seen, have been filled with brutality," Gates says. "I mean, you have to remember there's a cage wall to contend with, as well as seven other people running around. And who knows what else is going to be brought into this match from the outside."
"So what you're saying is-"
"What I'm saying is that there's a good chance I'm going to be coming home a bit bloodier then I would have liked," Gates chuckles. "And maybe a bit worse for wear overall."
"But it won't kill you or anything, right?"
"It shouldn't," Gates says. "If it does, there's probably going to be some sort of legal action for somebody."
"So wait, you could?"
"The risks of me dying or being severely injured aren't any larger then in any other match. Whether it was a simple four person tag, a one on one match with Level One or a tag team match against two Mr. Dangerous', there is always going to be a risk." He pauses and looks over at her. "It comes with the territory of being a wrestler."
"And this is necessary, right?" she asks, a concerned look on her face. "Like, you need to do this?"
"Necessity is a hard way to describe it-"
"Yes or no."
"No," Gates answers after some time. "It's not necessary that I compete in a War Games match, but it is necessary to shut down the Black Hand. And since they already enjoy cheating and bringing weapons into a match, why not level the playing field? Then, we can all compete at the same level for the same amount of time and by the end, hopefully the Black Hand will get the message and call it quits."
"Do you think they will?"
Gates shakes his head. "Sadly, I fear they are a stubborn bunch. Even if we beat them, I'm sure they will just see that as a minor blip on the radar. Just like losing a member. Just like losing to Biggs at Shockwave. They aren't going to see it as a sign that they aren't the truly dominant team they think they are."
"But they need to," Abby says. "They have to realize they don't have staying power if you guys beat them."
"That's what one would hope," Gates responds. "But I get the feeling that, instead, they are going to end up running their Black Hands into the ground until no one really cares anymore. I mean, until Tommy Knox won the Overdrive title, they really didn't have too much going for them other then their desire to beat people up. And that only gets you so far."
"Why do you need to do this?"
Gates looks at Abby for a few moments before letting out a sigh and shaking his head.
"I know I don't understand everything," Abby says, "but I'd like to."
"It's not that you don't understand," Gates says. "It's this overwhelming feeling that I have to justify my choices, and that every choice I do make is put under a microscope. Not by you, but by everyone. Like every pundit in this business, they're looking at this match with a lot of question marks. They question our reasoning, they question the pay off, they question what the point really is."
"And what is it?"
"I'm a guy who fights for the fans, right?" Gates asks and Abby nods. "And when I see people like the Black Hand doing what they are doing, I can't just sit back. Each time they interfere in a match, they ruin it for the fans. Every time they resort to weapons and cheating, they cheat the fans out of what they paid to see.
"I'll be the first to admit that it doesn't always work," Gates continues. "I've tried many times to stop people from doing certain things to little or no success, but this time," Gates pauses, cracks a slight smile and nods. "This time I think we have what it takes to get the job done. To put an end to the Black Hand. Once we're done with them, the four of them won't be so cocky and certain of themselves. They'll be asking how they, a group who has been working to establish themselves, lost to two tag teams, united for one night against a common enemy."
"You seem pretty confident."
"I do, because I am. I'm teaming with three men who, while I can't say I trust Kash and Reaver one hundred percent, I have this feeling that I can at least put my faith in them for one night. And with Biggs, unless he's looking to pull the wool over my eyes, I can trust him to the moon and back." Gates pauses and chuckles.
"And you're not worried?"
"Worried?" Gates shakes his head. "Not really. Like I said, they haven't exactly done a lot on their own to really make me worried. Sure, we're entering an environment that they think is built to their favor, but they forget that they aren't fighting puppies. Kash and Reaver are beasts, especially when you put them into a hardcore world."
"But what about you and Biggs?" Abby asks. "You guys aren't exactly street fighters."
"No, but we can be when we need to be," Gates says. "People forget that the majority of 2011 saw Biggs and I fight each other with everything we had and with anything we could get our hands on. Handcuffs, ladders, chairs, chains, trash cans, we used it all against one another. We might be lightweight high flyers, but we can also throw down with the best of them."
"I guess so," Abby says before trailing off. "I just don't want you to get hurt."
Gates smiles. "I'll do my best not to, but I can't promise anything. You never know what could happen inside of those rings."
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"War Games, huh?" Vincent James asks as he enters the office, some few hours later. Abby is gone and only C.J. Gates remains, still seated behind his computer.
"War Games."
"Was that wise?"
"Not you, too," Gates sighs. "I thought maybe you would understand my reasoning."
"Oh, I understand," James says. "But it doesn't mean I agree with it."
"What don't you agree with?"
"You've fought so many battles in a regular ring. You took pride in fighting the honorable fight. Now this?"
"This match doesn't mean I won't fight honorably," Gates says. "I'm still going to do the same thing I always do, fight from the heart. Fight for the fans. I'm not going to suddenly turn into everything I've fought against because of a cage."
"You say that now, but can you say the same thing once that cage door is closed and you are staring down the barrel at a member of the Black Hand with a second chomping at the bit outside?"
"If I'm first."
"If you're first," James chuckles. "I know you, C.J. I know you've petitioned to be entered into that thing first. You want to set the tone, to show that you are not a liar. And while some people commend you for it, I think it's just fucking stupid."
"Kash did the same thing," Gates says. "He lobbied for himself to draw the short straw and have to enter first."
"Yes, but Kash isn't exactly the Oxford definition of sanity."
"Still," Gates says, "I think each one of us is going to want first crack in that match to show how serious we are about competing. The fact that they will, that shows me that they are guys I know will have the same motives going into this match."
"Of course you would. You all hate the Black Hand."
Gates nods. "And we all love APW."
"That's true."
"Each of us, Biggs excluded, sat back and took notice of what the Black Hand was doing and saw that if they kept on their pace, they very well could tear down that thing the four of us love. And we couldn't let that happen.
"So we stood up.
"We stepped forward.
"And at One Night in Hell, we will wage war on the Black Hand.
"And we will win."
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"Prior to all of this starting, the only member of the Black Hand that I had knowledge of in the ring first hand was Stefan Raab. An odd realization, considering he spends most of his time on Asylum, belittling the general managers and staff. I mean, you would think I'd have had my run ins with Chris Madison, Michael Jennings or Niobe Martin but, for the most part, I didn't.
"Of course, all of that changed when I came to Biggs' aid. All of that changed when I realized that the Black Hand had to be stopped, that they couldn't do what they were doing for much longer. And without my own monster in Level One breathing down my neck or hitting me in the head with a weapon, I saw the opportunity to not only help a friend, but to put an end to the evil that the Black Hand was trying to spread throughout APW.
"I guess that's what brings us here, gearing up for a War Games match in Japan. Preparing ourselves for a bloody encounter that is only going to get worse as the match drags on. And with the Black Hand having the advantage, with them having the first entrant into the match, we're already at a disadvantage. Not that it really matters.
"I don't want to speak for the rest of my team, but I'm pretty sure I can when I say that the advantage the Black Hand got, that's not going to keep us down. That's not going to guarantee them a win. Looking at the three people I'm teaming with and myself, well, we're four stubborn men when it comes to what happens inside of that ring. Do you think Reaver is just going to give up if he has to put up when the odds are stacked against him?
"I think he'd actually enjoy that.
"Would Kash give up? I've watched him get beaten down in worse situations, so I know he won't give up. Will Biggs give in? If he hasn't given in yet, he won't, trust me on that one. Will I pack it in and wave the white flag?
"Never.
"The question, really, is whether the same can be said about our opponents. Like I said, prior to helping a friend, I hadn't had much interaction with most of the Black Hand. And outside of attacking en masse and needing numbers to get by, they haven't really shown me too much. They haven't shown me that if the numbers are against them, that if one of their members is faced with adversity, they can survive.
"I mean, look at whats happened when we've had the upper hand. They run. They flee. They pull the only man standing out of the ring so that he doesn't suffer. Is that just a tactic of theirs to get in our heads or do they realize that they don't really stand a chance when they are taking on APW veterans like us?
"After all, there's no where to run come One Night in Hell. When that door is locked and we are trapped inside of that cage, the only way to get out is to fight your way out. Sure, they've got some pieces that can mix it up with the best on any given night, battling in a hardcore, cutthroat environment. But so do we. And what their side has shown me, is that when the going gets tough, they ball up and cry.
"I mean, what are we supposed to be afraid of?
"Niobe Martin? She hasn't exactly done a lot to assert herself as one of the threats in this situation. I'm not usually one for calling out someone, but what Jason Kash has said might have some truth to it. Would Martin have been welcomed into the Black Hand at first if Tommy Knox and her weren't doing stuff. Maybe she would have just been used as one of their examples en route to their eventual position if they never met, or maybe she would have latched on to Madison, like she's done now.
"I'm not even saying that's a possibility based on titles and anything like that. I'm looking at the greater body of work. Her wins have been impressive, but none have really come when it mattered most. She hasn't exactly left anyone down and out, broken and battered like some of her cohorts have. Niobe's been the quiet one, and I don't know if I see that changing. I could see her being entered into the match second or third, so that there isn't as much pressure put on her.
"She has promise though. She's shown flashes. I mean, she beat me after all, and even though she had some help with the final, she still kept herself in the match to get to that point, so I guess she's not totally useless. She just hasn't exactly shown herself able.
"Though, at least when Niobe fights someone, she's fighting another wrestler in the ring, and not picking on fragile General Managers or ringside color men like Stefan Raab. Which is funny, because Raab always seemed like the sort of guy who would beat the shit out of someone and never apologize for it. I think back to our encounter in the Trans Atlantic Cup, where he attacked me backstage to get the match started.
"He put me through hell, and he tried to end my career in that match by giving me everything he had and hitting me with anything he could get his hands on. Problem for him, was that I fought back. Problem for him, was that I wasn't Reginald Schmidt and I didn't just lay down and take it. And really, that might be what holds Raab back in the grand scheme of things.
"It won't be that he's not talented and it won't be that he's not hungry, what will hold him back is his choice to always pick on authority. Picking on the people who can't exactly fight for themselves. Picking a fight against Reginald or even President Jeff is much different then getting into a fight against someone like Jason Kash or even myself. We're going to take what he has to offer and fire it back at him twice as hard, to prove a point.
"That point? To test himself and pick on someone his own side. How else is he supposed to get better as a competitor? He can't continue to stroke his ego by defeating people that have no business being in a wrestling ring.
"Then again, that might be the Stefan Raab way.
"Michael Jennings might also fall into that category, though that is more because at one point, he was taking his father to school in the ring, as if we were all supposed to marvel in the fact that it didn't matter who he was up against, he was a bad ass in between the ropes. I guess the only saving grace there is that, at the time, Jennings wasn't trying to become the best of the best on the brand. He wasn't one of the faces of the brand. He was carving out a name for himself and to do that, he had to shed the dead weight of his father.
"This time around, Jennings shot out like a house on fire and then he kind of faded. Maybe it was the fact that things weren't going his way, or maybe it was the fact that he felt the rest of the Black Hand could do his work for him. Either way, Jennings faded away until recently, popping up to win that last match against Biggs to give his team the advantage.
"Funnily enough, I figured Jennings would be the first member of the Black Hand to make a dent in the APW title picture. I figured he had all that it took to get some gold around his waist. Him, not Tommy Knox. Yet that's not how it worked out. Maybe I pegged him wrong. Maybe I looked at Jennings wrong from the get go. He wasn't really a threat, he was just a man pretending to be a threat.
"The man that became that threat, was Chris Madison. Am I surprised? Not really. Given what was left, this was the only logical Black Hand member to attain some success after Tommy Knox rode off into the sunset. Though, it's also not unwarranted. I may not have had much interaction with them before, but since I joined this war, the one man I've grown familiar with is Chris Madison.
"He's talented. He's got vision. He knows what he wants and he takes it. Even looking at this war, it was started by Michael Jennings, but after he faded away, who took up the reigns? Who put himself in the drivers seat?
"Chris Madison.
"Who's the one calling most of the shots right now? Who's the one that is the last man standing in most of the confrontations? Chris Madison. So it's only natural that he end up taking that coveted spot of the most successful member of the Black Hand.
"Though I don't really know how coveted it is. I mean, I know people want success, but to be the most successful member of the Black Hand...it might not be the best example. What I mean is that Madison saw the opportunities presented to him and used every rule in the book to get himself out on top. He won the Overdrive title, but not by the cleanest of ways.
"Does it matter to them? No. But that's because they're not fighting for the fans like some of us are. They aren't trying to put on a good show and eliminate those that ooze evil. I know I sound righteous when I say that, but the fans deserve a good match. They deserve to see something they can cheer for and they deserve to not feel like it was stolen out from under them.
"Which is why this week is so important to us. To them. This is the week when everything that has happened between the Black Hand and the Space Cowboys, and even Foul Play, this is when all of that comes to an end.
"By the end of our war, there will be one team left standing, in some form. There will be a winner and that team can say without a doubt that they were able to weather the war and come out on the other side. That they are the winners.
"Unfortunately for the Black Hand, as talented as they are, it won't be them. And really, they're only going to have themselves to blame. They are going to end up losing because Stefan Raab doesn't know how to fight against people his own size and level of competitiveness. Because Niobe Martin has not seen what potential she has. Because Michael Jennings seems to have cared less and less as the battled raged on. Because Chris Madison wants all the glory to himself.
"Us on the other hand, are four men I know can work together. We are four men who respect one another and know that we are fighters. I know that Reaver and Kash want this match as much as I know Biggs does and I know that if I get in a situation where I'm facing the odds, they will do their best to help me out and even them.
"We might not be a faction and we might just be two tag teams joining forces, but we are joining forces for a common cause. We are teaming up with the same end game in mind.
"To defeat the Black Hand.
"And we are going to give it our all to make sure that end game is attainable or attained. We will do everything in our power to put the four of you in your places.
"And of course, we are going to do what I do best.
"We are going to go big and send the four of you home."
