One big, happy, disfunctional family...
Mar 9, 2014 19:33:04 GMT -4
Jimmy The Lock and Jason Cashe like this
Post by biggs on Mar 9, 2014 19:33:04 GMT -4
Depeche Mode’s “Spacewalker” plays as the words FIRST CONTACT flash across the starry background in big, bold blue letters. The video switches to Biggs, seated on the apron of the wrestling ring in his basement gym. He has on blue work-out shorts and an APW T-Shirt. The APW Overdrive Championship is placed on the apron right next to him. There’s an almost somber look on Biggs’ face as he begins to speak.
”Sunday, March 30, 2014 will be a day I never forget for the rest of the my life. It hasn’t even happened yet, but I already know for a fact that my life will change forever at the end of that night. Because that’s the night of RassleMania X. That’s the night of my last match as a professional wrestler.”
”This is the beginning of the end for me. It truly is. In less than a month, my eleven year journey in this wild, wonderful world known as professional wrestling will come to a close. There’s a part of me that’s sad, another part that is relieved, and yet another that still hasn’t come to grips with the fact that I’m going to be retired at the ripe, old age of 29.”
“I’m one of the fortunate ones in this business. Not everyone who makes it to a big time wrestling organization have the opportunity to make the kind of money I did. Of those that do, even fewer are smart with their money, spending it on anything and everything. I’m fortunate that my parents taught me the value of dollar, despite the fact that I grew up in a very affluent household. I don’t bring this up to brag, I bring it up to illustrate the point that financially, I don’t need to wrestle to get by.”
“The question I’m going to have to answer by Sunday, March 30, is whether or not I need wrestling to be fulfilled. It was a question that ended my first marriage, I guess my only marriage. Unfortunately, Alice called off our engagement when she found out my favorite classic Doctor was Sylvester McCoy and not Tom Baker. Apparently that was a deal breaker for her. But in all honesty, I probably was moving too fast like I always do with these sort of things."
"But back on topic, can I live a happy, content life without the drive of weekly competition, without the roar of the crowd? In the time between One Night in Hell and Survive & Conquer, the answer to that question unequivocablly was yes. I was beat up and burnt out following the War Games match, and a three month break was just what the doctor ordered.”
“But in this time frame between Survive & Conquer and RassleMania? I’m not so sure. I mean just stepping into the area, being cheered by over 20 thousand people, that kind of feeling is pretty addictive, I’ve got to be honest, and coming back at Survive & Conquer to wrestle Chris Madison for this Overdrive Championship, well, I got to be honest, I’ve never done drugs in my life, but the feeling that I got that night, I’ve got to imagine that that’s what it feels like to get high. I dunno, maybe I’ll have to ask Jason Cashe what that feeling is actually like.”
“Still, after Survive & Conquer I got bit by the wrestling bug again, and bit hard. I’ve been working the independent wrestling shows in Tacoma every weekend, trying to stay sharp and help the next generation to grow. I know that a lot of the guys down there will say that they’ve become better wrestlers just by being in the ring with me. While I’m humbled by their compliments, the fact is, considering that I’m not only defending my Overdrive Championship at RassleMania, against President Jeff, and that we’re closing out not just the show, but APW as a whole, well by golly, I need to be getting better by being in the ring with them!”
“Because whether we brag about it, or show some false humility by playing it off as not big deal, Jeff, come RassleMania, you and are going to be making history. Now it’s up to us as to whether it’s going to good history, or bad history. I think there’s only one of two options for our match, Jeff, and that’s either we close APW out by having the absolute greatest match that the two of us can have together, or we can end APW off on a disappointment.”
“After all, there is a lot of pressure going on last in any show, let alone the very last show in APW history! We’re going to have to live up to AJP versus Logan Alexander. We’re going to have to outdo Rico Casteel versus James Chambers! We’re going to have to justify why a match for the Overdrive Championship closes out Night 3 of RassleMania X instead of the Johnny Rebel versus C.J. Gates World Heavyweight Title match the night before! And we have to follow Terry Marvin versus. Adrien Specter and Level-One versus Sally Talfourd! And that doesn’t even touch up on all the other amazing matches the fans will get to see over the course of the Three Nights of RassleMania X. Quite simply, Jeff, you put us in the biggest match on the biggest card in wrestling history.”
“But you know what, Jeff, I think we’re up for the challenge. Because both of us care too darn much about APW to let it close out on a sour note! You founded the company! It’s your baby! And now that it’s getting laid to rest, you will want to pay your proper respects to your greatest creation.”
“And me, well, I’ve been trolling around APW since May 2009. Of all the feds I’ve participated in over the years, of all the organizations I have wrestled for, APW is without a doubt, my home! I may have gotten my start in the CJMB. GWE was where I really honed my craft and won my first World Title. AWE and UWE were the next two stops on my journey, and were extensions of my run in GWE in a lot of ways. But APW was where I became a Mega Star. Not to bad mouth the promotions I was in before, but in all honesty, I was a big fish in a small pond. I know, ironic considering my size.”
“But APW, well, APW was different. When I first debuted here, I lost my first six or seven matches. It got so bad that I went to you, Jeff, and I asked you directly, what did I need to do in order to be successful here in APW? You simply told me to keep trying. Well, five years later, after one APW Undisputed Title reign, four Overdrive Title runs, and a lengthy stint as General Manager of Overdrive, I think it goes without saying that I followed your advice, and just kept trying.”
“Between the two of us, we have more than enough motivation to have the absolute best match possible between us. I’m not going to want to lose the Overdrive Championship, and you’re not going to want to lose your last match. Even though we don’t have a blood feud between us, even though we don’t want to tear each other limb from limb, we both have so much love and pride not just for what we do, but for APW.”
“I mean, in the five years that I’ve been here, APW has become almost like a second family to me. Albeit one with a lot more fighting and conflict than my real family, but a family nonetheless. And just like any real family, there’s people you like, people you tolerate because they’re family, and people that you just can’t stand, but you love them anyways. And in a weird way, I love everyone who has been a part of APW, whether I liked you, or hated you, just by being an APW Mega Star, each and every one of you have my love.”
“Okay, almost everyone. I can’t stand Pence Weatherlight. The heck with him.”
"Rather than bad mouth Jeff, I'm going to take this time to properly say goodbye to several of my friends and enemies here in APW. I'm going to start off with my first friend here in APW, Chris Cyrus. Cyrus, you ol' knuckle head, I don't know if you're going to see this or not, but I've just got to say, without your help, my APW career would have ended before it even began. Also, being in the Axis of Awesome with you was, for lack of a better term, AWESOME!"
"Level-One, there have been times where we've been on the same page, and others where we didn't see eye-to-eye, but no matter what, after our first match against each other, I know that there's been a mutual respect between the two of us. One of the things I will miss about APW is getting to see you wrestle week in and week out. You are one of the few rare wrestlers who lived up to hype every time he stepped into the ring."
"J-Reb, Johnny Rebel, it's just a shame that you got the World Heavyweight Championship as APW was getting ready to close it's doors, because you didn't really get a fair shake at showing the world how great of a champion you would have been. For the longest time, I would have called you the greatest APW Mega Star who hadn't held either the Undisputed or World Heavyweight title. Again, like Level-One, you and I might not agree on much, but also like Level-One, you're one of the greats!"
"Shadow and Slade Craven, without you two sons of guns, I would have never gotten on the map here in APW. The feud between the AKA and the Axis of Awesome is what launched me here in APW, and I thank you for that. Especially you, Shadow, for the Steel Cage Match at Shockwave for the Overdrive Championship."
"Jason Cashe, you have been a constant source of amusement from day one in your APW career."
"Same goes for you, James Chambers. Hot Dog, man, that's all I can say about you, Hot Dog!"
"Doug E. Fresh, I know you aren't an APW guy, and that we haven't had much interaction outside of the Experts, but I've got to say, I've always been a fan. Just thought I'd put that out there."
"Sally Talfourd, you and I have always had an interesting relationship. Always friends, sometimes rivals, even when we were on opposite sides of the D&D alignment chart. Anytime we interacted, it was most times awkward, sometimes uncomfortable, but always a pleasure. Between your skill and beauty, you truly are a one of a kind Mega Star, and one that nobody will ever forget. I know I won't. As much as I respect Level-One, I am undoubtedly pulling for you to win. I wish you all the best, my friend."
"Finally, this brings me to my best friend here in APW, C.J. Gates. Ceej, what started out as a bitter rivalry turned into an uneasy alliance, and finally, a strong team. I remember leading up to our first Undisputed Championship Match, it was a revelation for APW. For the first time in my tenure, an APW pay-per-view was headlined by a match that didn't feature either Level-One, Sally Talfourd, or that jerk Pence Weatherlight. We changed the game, Ceej, and showed that anybody had a chance to succeed at the highest level here in APW. We broke through the proverbial glass ceiling together. Your career and mine shared so many parallels, it's no wonder that we became friends as soon as we found a cause to unite us. I just wanted to say thank you for being such a great ally and friend these past couple of years. I also wanted to say kick some butt and take that World Heavyweight Title from Johnny Rebel!"
“So Jeff, because I’ve got nothing bad to say to you, I’m simply asking you, imploring you to come to our match ready to have the match of your life! It’s your last match, it’s my last match, and it’s the last match in APW history. Let’s honor APW by going out with a bang. Let’s honor APW by having a match that’s quite simply OUT OF THIS WORLD!”
”Sunday, March 30, 2014 will be a day I never forget for the rest of the my life. It hasn’t even happened yet, but I already know for a fact that my life will change forever at the end of that night. Because that’s the night of RassleMania X. That’s the night of my last match as a professional wrestler.”
”This is the beginning of the end for me. It truly is. In less than a month, my eleven year journey in this wild, wonderful world known as professional wrestling will come to a close. There’s a part of me that’s sad, another part that is relieved, and yet another that still hasn’t come to grips with the fact that I’m going to be retired at the ripe, old age of 29.”
“I’m one of the fortunate ones in this business. Not everyone who makes it to a big time wrestling organization have the opportunity to make the kind of money I did. Of those that do, even fewer are smart with their money, spending it on anything and everything. I’m fortunate that my parents taught me the value of dollar, despite the fact that I grew up in a very affluent household. I don’t bring this up to brag, I bring it up to illustrate the point that financially, I don’t need to wrestle to get by.”
“The question I’m going to have to answer by Sunday, March 30, is whether or not I need wrestling to be fulfilled. It was a question that ended my first marriage, I guess my only marriage. Unfortunately, Alice called off our engagement when she found out my favorite classic Doctor was Sylvester McCoy and not Tom Baker. Apparently that was a deal breaker for her. But in all honesty, I probably was moving too fast like I always do with these sort of things."
"But back on topic, can I live a happy, content life without the drive of weekly competition, without the roar of the crowd? In the time between One Night in Hell and Survive & Conquer, the answer to that question unequivocablly was yes. I was beat up and burnt out following the War Games match, and a three month break was just what the doctor ordered.”
“But in this time frame between Survive & Conquer and RassleMania? I’m not so sure. I mean just stepping into the area, being cheered by over 20 thousand people, that kind of feeling is pretty addictive, I’ve got to be honest, and coming back at Survive & Conquer to wrestle Chris Madison for this Overdrive Championship, well, I got to be honest, I’ve never done drugs in my life, but the feeling that I got that night, I’ve got to imagine that that’s what it feels like to get high. I dunno, maybe I’ll have to ask Jason Cashe what that feeling is actually like.”
“Still, after Survive & Conquer I got bit by the wrestling bug again, and bit hard. I’ve been working the independent wrestling shows in Tacoma every weekend, trying to stay sharp and help the next generation to grow. I know that a lot of the guys down there will say that they’ve become better wrestlers just by being in the ring with me. While I’m humbled by their compliments, the fact is, considering that I’m not only defending my Overdrive Championship at RassleMania, against President Jeff, and that we’re closing out not just the show, but APW as a whole, well by golly, I need to be getting better by being in the ring with them!”
“Because whether we brag about it, or show some false humility by playing it off as not big deal, Jeff, come RassleMania, you and are going to be making history. Now it’s up to us as to whether it’s going to good history, or bad history. I think there’s only one of two options for our match, Jeff, and that’s either we close APW out by having the absolute greatest match that the two of us can have together, or we can end APW off on a disappointment.”
“After all, there is a lot of pressure going on last in any show, let alone the very last show in APW history! We’re going to have to live up to AJP versus Logan Alexander. We’re going to have to outdo Rico Casteel versus James Chambers! We’re going to have to justify why a match for the Overdrive Championship closes out Night 3 of RassleMania X instead of the Johnny Rebel versus C.J. Gates World Heavyweight Title match the night before! And we have to follow Terry Marvin versus. Adrien Specter and Level-One versus Sally Talfourd! And that doesn’t even touch up on all the other amazing matches the fans will get to see over the course of the Three Nights of RassleMania X. Quite simply, Jeff, you put us in the biggest match on the biggest card in wrestling history.”
“But you know what, Jeff, I think we’re up for the challenge. Because both of us care too darn much about APW to let it close out on a sour note! You founded the company! It’s your baby! And now that it’s getting laid to rest, you will want to pay your proper respects to your greatest creation.”
“And me, well, I’ve been trolling around APW since May 2009. Of all the feds I’ve participated in over the years, of all the organizations I have wrestled for, APW is without a doubt, my home! I may have gotten my start in the CJMB. GWE was where I really honed my craft and won my first World Title. AWE and UWE were the next two stops on my journey, and were extensions of my run in GWE in a lot of ways. But APW was where I became a Mega Star. Not to bad mouth the promotions I was in before, but in all honesty, I was a big fish in a small pond. I know, ironic considering my size.”
“But APW, well, APW was different. When I first debuted here, I lost my first six or seven matches. It got so bad that I went to you, Jeff, and I asked you directly, what did I need to do in order to be successful here in APW? You simply told me to keep trying. Well, five years later, after one APW Undisputed Title reign, four Overdrive Title runs, and a lengthy stint as General Manager of Overdrive, I think it goes without saying that I followed your advice, and just kept trying.”
“Between the two of us, we have more than enough motivation to have the absolute best match possible between us. I’m not going to want to lose the Overdrive Championship, and you’re not going to want to lose your last match. Even though we don’t have a blood feud between us, even though we don’t want to tear each other limb from limb, we both have so much love and pride not just for what we do, but for APW.”
“I mean, in the five years that I’ve been here, APW has become almost like a second family to me. Albeit one with a lot more fighting and conflict than my real family, but a family nonetheless. And just like any real family, there’s people you like, people you tolerate because they’re family, and people that you just can’t stand, but you love them anyways. And in a weird way, I love everyone who has been a part of APW, whether I liked you, or hated you, just by being an APW Mega Star, each and every one of you have my love.”
“Okay, almost everyone. I can’t stand Pence Weatherlight. The heck with him.”
"Rather than bad mouth Jeff, I'm going to take this time to properly say goodbye to several of my friends and enemies here in APW. I'm going to start off with my first friend here in APW, Chris Cyrus. Cyrus, you ol' knuckle head, I don't know if you're going to see this or not, but I've just got to say, without your help, my APW career would have ended before it even began. Also, being in the Axis of Awesome with you was, for lack of a better term, AWESOME!"
"Level-One, there have been times where we've been on the same page, and others where we didn't see eye-to-eye, but no matter what, after our first match against each other, I know that there's been a mutual respect between the two of us. One of the things I will miss about APW is getting to see you wrestle week in and week out. You are one of the few rare wrestlers who lived up to hype every time he stepped into the ring."
"J-Reb, Johnny Rebel, it's just a shame that you got the World Heavyweight Championship as APW was getting ready to close it's doors, because you didn't really get a fair shake at showing the world how great of a champion you would have been. For the longest time, I would have called you the greatest APW Mega Star who hadn't held either the Undisputed or World Heavyweight title. Again, like Level-One, you and I might not agree on much, but also like Level-One, you're one of the greats!"
"Shadow and Slade Craven, without you two sons of guns, I would have never gotten on the map here in APW. The feud between the AKA and the Axis of Awesome is what launched me here in APW, and I thank you for that. Especially you, Shadow, for the Steel Cage Match at Shockwave for the Overdrive Championship."
"Jason Cashe, you have been a constant source of amusement from day one in your APW career."
"Same goes for you, James Chambers. Hot Dog, man, that's all I can say about you, Hot Dog!"
"Doug E. Fresh, I know you aren't an APW guy, and that we haven't had much interaction outside of the Experts, but I've got to say, I've always been a fan. Just thought I'd put that out there."
"Sally Talfourd, you and I have always had an interesting relationship. Always friends, sometimes rivals, even when we were on opposite sides of the D&D alignment chart. Anytime we interacted, it was most times awkward, sometimes uncomfortable, but always a pleasure. Between your skill and beauty, you truly are a one of a kind Mega Star, and one that nobody will ever forget. I know I won't. As much as I respect Level-One, I am undoubtedly pulling for you to win. I wish you all the best, my friend."
"Finally, this brings me to my best friend here in APW, C.J. Gates. Ceej, what started out as a bitter rivalry turned into an uneasy alliance, and finally, a strong team. I remember leading up to our first Undisputed Championship Match, it was a revelation for APW. For the first time in my tenure, an APW pay-per-view was headlined by a match that didn't feature either Level-One, Sally Talfourd, or that jerk Pence Weatherlight. We changed the game, Ceej, and showed that anybody had a chance to succeed at the highest level here in APW. We broke through the proverbial glass ceiling together. Your career and mine shared so many parallels, it's no wonder that we became friends as soon as we found a cause to unite us. I just wanted to say thank you for being such a great ally and friend these past couple of years. I also wanted to say kick some butt and take that World Heavyweight Title from Johnny Rebel!"
“So Jeff, because I’ve got nothing bad to say to you, I’m simply asking you, imploring you to come to our match ready to have the match of your life! It’s your last match, it’s my last match, and it’s the last match in APW history. Let’s honor APW by going out with a bang. Let’s honor APW by having a match that’s quite simply OUT OF THIS WORLD!”
