Post by C.J. Gates on Oct 11, 2011 20:14:11 GMT -4
"Finally.
"Finally the time has come to prove that Shockwave wasn't a fluke. Finally the time has come for me to put my Undisputed title on the line and successfully defend it. To show that I am capable of holding the top title. To show Biggs that I actually deserve the title. That this is actually my title.
"No longer will I go to sleep as the Undisputed champion with this nagging thought that I will wake up as one half of the tag team champions. No, now this has all sunk in as reality. All that I have been able to attain is an actuality.
"When I won this title, I knew that I had a target on my back. I knew that I was going to have to fight tooth and and limb to retain it at all possible avenues. And I wasn't proven wrong. At every hurdle, I had people trying to take me out. I had the former champion calling for my head. I had men claiming that they were coming for my title who never actually did.
"And now I see that I am going to have to push myself harder than I have ever pushed myself before just so that I can walk out of Japan with my title still around my waist.
"Unlike before, Biggs knows what I am capable of doing. Some could say that he didn't take me seriously at Shockwave, banking on the fact that he managed to beat Lester Only. Now that he wants his title back, I know that he is going to make sure he gives it his all, gives me his all, all so he can get it back.
"To take the words from his mouth, he is going to put me through literal Hell.
"I can handle that. I've been able to take a lot of abuse from people trying to prove a point to me. From people trying to always one up me. And after each time, I have always gotten back up, dusted myself off, and jumped right back into the fight.
"Which is what I will have to do this week when Biggs and I do battle in that ladder match. There's a good certainty that I am going to get knocked down time after time in that match and, if recent weeks are any indication, there is also a good chance that Biggs is going to bust me open and spill my blood all over Tokyo. I understand all of that.
"And I am more than ready.
"I'm more than ready for whatever Biggs wants to throw my way, even if that means having to think like my opponent so I can see how he views it.
"Because even though I am the Undisputed champion, I am still going to be giving it my all.
"I am still C.J. Gates."
The Empire had been defeated. The Alliance had taken the first victory and the people had rejoiced in it's wake. Parades and parties had taken place, with every member of the Alliance enjoying the splendor of their win. The biggest prize in the entire galaxy was theirs, won by the man that they put all their faith behind. The man that they had tabbed with defeating the Empire so that they could live peacefully.
That man was C.J. Skywalker.
Though just when the Alliance thought that they were in the clear, and just when they thought that things were beginning to look right for them, Darth Biggs reared his ugly head once again and made life hell. He refused to let the good people rest, instead claiming that he was robbed. Claiming that the biggest prize in the galaxy still belonged to him. That he only lost it because of some interference by the smuggler Han Noble.
Darth Biggs just couldn't admit when he had been defeated. Darth Biggs just couldn't admit when he had been one upped by the good guys. And no matter what was said to him, by C.J. Skywalker or Han Noble, Darth Biggs continued to think that he was the true leader of the galaxy, and he would do anything that he could to make sure that everyone knew it.
The first thing Darth Biggs did, was try and get under C.J. Skywalker's skin. He did his best to call his honor into question and to mock him for everything that he had said prior to their last encounter. For the most part it worker; C.J. Skywalker became more and more annoyed by Darth Biggs and everyone that he stood with.
And he tried not to let it show.
Even when Darth Biggs enlisted the help of the bounty hunter Boba Rebel, C.J. Skywalker didn't let himself show any signs of weakness. He still maintained a level head and repelled all that the duo had to throw his way. Skywalker knew that the people of the Alliance had his back, and he also knew that no matter what happened, they would continue to have his back. Something that Darth Biggs couldn't say for himself. Not like he cared all that much.
"This is how I operate," Darth Biggs would say whenever confronted about his constant cheating and rule breaking. "This is what I do and acknowledging that fact makes it all better. Accepting the fact that breaking rules is my M.O. means that there is more time to plot and scheme for my next win!" Naturally this didn't go over well with the people, nor Skywalker or Noble, but it gave Darth Biggs enough time to plot more ways to get underneath of everyone's skin.
At every possible moment, Darth Biggs would try and throw a wrench into C.J. Skywalkers plans. Whenever Biggs would get too big for his own good, and began cheating and breaking the rules, Boba Rebel would intervene, cutting C.J. off before he could put a stop to what the evil Empire was up to. Each time that C.J. got closer to putting a stop to things, Boba Rebel would be there cutting him off at the pass. This frustrated C.J. Skywalker to no end.
"Why won't he face me himself!" C.J. exclaimed, his voice ringing around the rafters of the hanger bay. "He keeps throwing his peons in my path when he should be meeting me for a duel!"
"Maybe he knows that he'll lose to you, beep-boop," B.J.-D.2. responded.
"You think?"
"Sure, beep," B.J.-D.2. said. "He hasn't beaten you yet, so maybe he knows he needs to beat you down without actually beating you down, beep-beep!"
"It's always possible, especially considering how under handed he is."
Of course, when confronted with that possibility, Darth Biggs lashed out, crying false and claiming that the only reason Skywalker won was because of Han. The thoughts and the accusations never sat well with Biggs and forced him the plan ahead. It forced him to put a bounty out on C.J. Skywalkers head.
"Are you worried?" Darth Biggs would ask, mockingly. "Are you worried that you are now going to have to be looking over your shoulder wherever you go? Because trust me, Skywalker! I know a lot bounty hunters that would leap at the chance to bring me your head."
Though Boba Rebel showed no signs of wanting to take the head off of Skywalker, perhaps because his hands were too full dealing with C.J.'s ally Han Noble. However everywhere he turned, the galaxy was filled with the type of evil that would want his head on a platter. From the turn cloaks in waiting with the fancy names, to the madmen with no regards for anything that wasn't named after themselves. Everywhere C.J. Skywalker looked, danger lurked.
"I've got your back," Han Noble said. "You know that I'll be there to watch you, to make sure you don't get assaulted."
"Thanks, Han," C.J. Skywalker responded, clapping his ally on the back. "I know you've got my back. But still, there's only so much two of us can do when we're fighting against an entire universe of evil that seems to be closing in faster and faster each and every day."
Han Noble nodded in response. "Very true. But I never let that stop me before. If I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down fighting, just like I always have."
"Truth be told," Skywalker began, "the hardest one to battle against is Boba Rebel. If you can hold him off, I could focus on the rest."
"Consider it done."
The worst words ever said could not have been uttered in a more peaceful setting. After that meeting between Noble and Skywalker, Darth Biggs ramped up his efforts to take out the bane of his existence. The man that he labeled as the one that cost him his well being by dethroning him as the best in the galaxy.
The first attack happened on a day when C.J. Skywalker was headed home after a meeting at the Alliance headquarters. Before C.J. knew what was happening, Darth Biggs was on him, smashing in his head with a blunt object. Skywalker tried to fight back, but it was futile.
"This is for taking my title!" Darth Biggs shouted as he drove the blunt object toward Skywalker again and again. "This is for making my life Hell, Skywalker! This is for making me a mockery in the galaxy!" The blunt object drew blood, though at no time did Darth Biggs reach for his lightsaber. Eventually, guards from the headquarters came running out, chasing off Darth Biggs, who disappeared into thin air.
The guards insisted that C.J. Skywalker head to the hospital, but C.J. didn't want to hear anything of it. "I'm fine," he said, spitting blood as he did. "I just need to lie down for a bit, rest my head." Following that attack, he and Han Noble put a new plan into action, knowing that Darth Biggs wasn't going to stop there.
The quick attacks continued in the days that followed. It wasn't long after the last attack that Darth Biggs and Boba Rebel found C.J. Skywalker and Han Noble. Standing off from one another, it was only a matter of time before the real fun began.
"Ready to admit defeat, Skywalker?" Darth Biggs asked with Boba Rebel chuckling at his side.
"Never," C.J. started. "No matter how many times you beat me down, I'll always get back up."
"Silly child. Haven't you learned that you can't beat me. How do you know that I haven't paid that smuggler friend of yours to betray you?" A sly grin spread across the face of Darth Biggs. Skywalker and Noble exchanged glances, with Noble shaking his head.
"Because I can tell when a man actually wants to fight for good."
"What, you're saying I'm not good?" Darth Biggs asked, rhetorically, with a loud laugh. "Regardless. After the beatings I have put on you over the past little while, you will be in no shape to fight me. Your time will come!"
As quickly as they had come, Biggs and Rebel had disappeared, leaving Noble and Gates alone.
"Are you worried?" Han Noble asked.
"Not one bit," C.J. Skywalker responded. "I know that when the time comes, I will be ready. I'm not going to back down until I've ended that evil Empire of his."
The two men nod their heads, knowing that safety for the Alliance and the galaxy as a whole was soon to come. It was only a matter of time.
"Good versus evil, that is what this match comes down to, Biggs, and you and I, we personify that battle.
"It all started last week with that tag team match. The match that you and Johnny simply used as a means to hurt your respective opponents at One Night in Hell to gain the edge. But that is to be expected from two men who have dipped their toes in the evil pool for the majority of their careers, right?
"And while last week might not matter in the grand scheme of things, Kurt and I managed to get the win. The good guys managed to come out on top, which is the same thing that happened at Shockwave, and what you are trying to avoid having happen at One Night in Hell. And as simple as this is to break down, as simple as good versus evil sounds, it's far from that, isn't it?
"I've seen it first hand. I have the war wounds to prove it. Because when the bad guys, for lack of a better term, get behind the eight ball, they have to do whatever they can to get ahead. They have to lie to their opponents, their fans, their bosses to get ahead. They have to steal victories at every possible moment to try and gain some momentum for themselves and steal some from their opponents. And of course, they have to take steel chairs and briefcases filled with money and smash them over their opponents heads. All in an effort to weaken their opponent.
"All in an effort to take the easy way out.
"Because that's all it is, right Biggs? It's the easy way. People like you can't stomach having to fight a straight up fight. People like you can't afford to fight an even fight because people like you will always come out on the losing end if you did so.
"You don't believe me? Let's look at the facts. You didn't have the edge going into Shockwave, Biggs. Sure, we had our disagreements, and I told you that you shouldn't really be the Undisputed champion, and how my respect for you had diminished, but you never took a steel chair and bent it around my skull. And you lost the title to me.
"Yes, Biggs. You lost the title. You weren't screwed out of the title, you weren't wronged out of something that should have been fused to your waist. You simply lost. And no matter how many times you try and tell yourself otherwise, it will never change that fact. No matter how many times you deny it, you can not erase it and you can not rewrite it. Even in that match, you did all you could to get the victory with the easy way. You tried to roll me up with some leverage, you blasted me in the head with the Undisputed title, you did pretty much everything that you could to try and make sure you walked out with the title.
"But you failed so you had to change you plan.
"You had to try and knock my teeth out and draw some blood. You had to try and concuss me so that I could not make it to One Night in Hell. You even went as far as to ask me to hand over my title to you in lieu of a match. Well, let me just say, Biggs, I don't lay down to easy. I don't fall victim to the 'easy way' that others might. I proved that when Sally was trying to kill me inside of that ring week after week.
"Don't worry, Biggs, I hear you. You're asking what all of this has to do with anything. You're trying to figure out why you taking the easy way actually matters. Simple fact, Biggs, that's what this whole thing is built off of. Had the rightful man won at Test for the Best, then this entire landscape would be different. But instead you cheated to get the title away from Lester and the rest is history, really. The rest brought us to where we are right now.
"To you having the chance you've been waiting for since you lost at Shockwave. All of that moaning and bitching that you did after the Pay-Per-View, will be put to rest in Japan. All of that complaining that you did, lobbying to anyone that would listen how Kurt Noble screwed you out of your title, all of that will also be put to rest in Japan when I climb up that ladder and grab my Undisputed title that hangs above that ring.
"That's right, Biggs. My title.
"No matter how you try and sugar coat it, you have no claim to be holding my belt. The closest that you have is the claim to being the number one contender. To being the first man in line to get a shot at this belt. Like I said, I would have given it to you right away, but your own bad antics and whining cry baby attitude forced you to have to re-earn that title shot. Now, I could have followed your path and been a complete dick about everything, allowing Mr. Dangerous to beat you, but I didn't. I don't think you ever asked yourself why, but I'll tell you anyways.
"Because I wanted to face you.
"Because I wanted the chance to shut you up for good.
"And that was the week after Shockwave. Imagine how much I want to shut you up now, after you spent five weeks making my life hell. After you spent the past two weeks taking my head off and leaving me bloodied inside of the ring. Just imagine, Biggs. Much like with Sally at Test for the Best, I am looking to do more than just beat you. I am looking to do more than just end your hopes of winning the Undisputed title again. I want to make sure you feel pain. I want to make sure that you bleed like you've made me bleed in the past few weeks. But most of all? I want justice.
"Not just for me, no, I want justice for every single one of those fans that you have cheated out of good matches. Great matches. Glorious matches that could have been so much better if you didn't grab a handful of tights or hit a low blow. I am out to pay you back in their honor, just like I was out to win the Undisputed title for them. Because unlike you, Biggs, I am a man of my word, and when I told them months ago that I was fighting for them, and that I had their backs, I meant it.
"You've beaten me, you've bloodied me and you've tried to break me, Biggs, but at that last bit, you've failed. You've failed because I am still standing. I am still fighting and if you for one minute thought that you were going to knock me out of the ladder match, you are sorely mistaken. It's going to take a lot more than that to keep me from proving my point about you being a hypocrite and proving myself. Not only to you, but to every one else you doesn't think I am capable of carrying the APW Undisputed title.
"Last time we fought, we went over our similarities and really broke this match down. But as the weeks wore on, I think that we've become more different than we were then. Our mindsets, our strategies, everything has seemingly slid apart on the scales. The only thing that we seem to still have in common is our road to where we are.
"Oh, I paid attention a few weeks ago when you were listing off all that you had done. Overdrive General Manager, three time Overdrive champion, beating Lester for the Undisputed title. All of it impressive feats. The fact that you are probably the most dominant Overdrive champion isn't something that I am going to forget anytime soon. If anything, I am going to keep it in mind as a reminder of just how dangerous, dominant and cunning you can be. But don't forget about all that I have done. And don't forget that it only took me one year to do it.
"APW Tag Team champion, fourth in the Survive and Conquer match, Test for the Best winner and the only person to have won that tournament and then turned around to win the Undisputed title at Shockwave. Toss in all of my successes outside of APW this year, and I have been on quite a roll since that calender flipped into 2011.
"A roll that you are going to have a hard time stopping at One Night in Hell.
"Sure, I'll be the first to admit that I have bruises all over my body. I'll be the first to admit that with one well placed shot my forehead will begin seeping blood again. My body is far from being one hundred percent right now and there are probably a few doctors somewhere that would advise me to stay out of the ring, let alone wrestle in a match that could change the course of my career entirely. But I am not about to simply step away from this match.
"Because for every bruise on my body, there's a little part of me that wants some payback. For every drop of blood I shed, there is part of me that wants to make sure you bleed just as much. Sure, you are a dangerous man on a normal day, I know that. You have that ability to take things to the next level whenever you want to, I have never taken that away from you. And now that you are hellbent on getting your title back, I know that you are more dangerous than ever. And I'm ready for it.
"But are you ready for what I have in store for you? For what I am capable of? Part of my doesn't think so. Part of me thinks that you picked this ladder match because you thought that you had it all sewn up. You figured you would pick a match that I haven't had success in, and you'd be another easy step closer to winning the title back. Though what you need to remember, is that one ladder match I have had in APW, was lost because of someone else. I went above and beyond, put my life and my body on the line, and yet my partner was the one that screwed me out of a win. He said just as much himself.
"The key is that even though I knew I wasn't the weak link, I still went above and beyond. I still put my body, my life and my career on the line.
"And even though you've beaten me down a few times, I'm not about to change that. This is the sort of match that I live for. A match where I can utilize my speed and quickness to get the upper hand. Sure, you'll try and ground me with weapons, but I can do just the same since it's within the rules. At one point in time, ladder matches were known as my specialty. At one point in time, I was just as comfortable fighting on the mat as I was climbing up that twenty foot ladder and leaping off. No one wanted to face me in that type of match.
"No one except for you.
"Which is what will make beating you in Tokyo that much better. I mean, you actually wanted this match and demanded that Jeff make it. And when I am standing at the top of the ladder at the end of the match, holding my Undisputed title high in the air, with all the fans cheering me on...the look on your face will be priceless. When you realize that I am more than just a flash in the pan, that Shockwave wasn't just a fluke, and that your empire of evil is over, well, I couldn't have scripted it any better.
"Was it a good idea for you to pick this match? Maybe not. But the real question you should be asking yourself is whether or not you can go big enough to get the job done.
"Otherwise you will simply be heading back to Seattle empty handed."
"Finally the time has come to prove that Shockwave wasn't a fluke. Finally the time has come for me to put my Undisputed title on the line and successfully defend it. To show that I am capable of holding the top title. To show Biggs that I actually deserve the title. That this is actually my title.
"No longer will I go to sleep as the Undisputed champion with this nagging thought that I will wake up as one half of the tag team champions. No, now this has all sunk in as reality. All that I have been able to attain is an actuality.
"When I won this title, I knew that I had a target on my back. I knew that I was going to have to fight tooth and and limb to retain it at all possible avenues. And I wasn't proven wrong. At every hurdle, I had people trying to take me out. I had the former champion calling for my head. I had men claiming that they were coming for my title who never actually did.
"And now I see that I am going to have to push myself harder than I have ever pushed myself before just so that I can walk out of Japan with my title still around my waist.
"Unlike before, Biggs knows what I am capable of doing. Some could say that he didn't take me seriously at Shockwave, banking on the fact that he managed to beat Lester Only. Now that he wants his title back, I know that he is going to make sure he gives it his all, gives me his all, all so he can get it back.
"To take the words from his mouth, he is going to put me through literal Hell.
"I can handle that. I've been able to take a lot of abuse from people trying to prove a point to me. From people trying to always one up me. And after each time, I have always gotten back up, dusted myself off, and jumped right back into the fight.
"Which is what I will have to do this week when Biggs and I do battle in that ladder match. There's a good certainty that I am going to get knocked down time after time in that match and, if recent weeks are any indication, there is also a good chance that Biggs is going to bust me open and spill my blood all over Tokyo. I understand all of that.
"And I am more than ready.
"I'm more than ready for whatever Biggs wants to throw my way, even if that means having to think like my opponent so I can see how he views it.
"Because even though I am the Undisputed champion, I am still going to be giving it my all.
"I am still C.J. Gates."
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The Empire had been defeated. The Alliance had taken the first victory and the people had rejoiced in it's wake. Parades and parties had taken place, with every member of the Alliance enjoying the splendor of their win. The biggest prize in the entire galaxy was theirs, won by the man that they put all their faith behind. The man that they had tabbed with defeating the Empire so that they could live peacefully.
That man was C.J. Skywalker.
Though just when the Alliance thought that they were in the clear, and just when they thought that things were beginning to look right for them, Darth Biggs reared his ugly head once again and made life hell. He refused to let the good people rest, instead claiming that he was robbed. Claiming that the biggest prize in the galaxy still belonged to him. That he only lost it because of some interference by the smuggler Han Noble.
Darth Biggs just couldn't admit when he had been defeated. Darth Biggs just couldn't admit when he had been one upped by the good guys. And no matter what was said to him, by C.J. Skywalker or Han Noble, Darth Biggs continued to think that he was the true leader of the galaxy, and he would do anything that he could to make sure that everyone knew it.
The first thing Darth Biggs did, was try and get under C.J. Skywalker's skin. He did his best to call his honor into question and to mock him for everything that he had said prior to their last encounter. For the most part it worker; C.J. Skywalker became more and more annoyed by Darth Biggs and everyone that he stood with.
And he tried not to let it show.
Even when Darth Biggs enlisted the help of the bounty hunter Boba Rebel, C.J. Skywalker didn't let himself show any signs of weakness. He still maintained a level head and repelled all that the duo had to throw his way. Skywalker knew that the people of the Alliance had his back, and he also knew that no matter what happened, they would continue to have his back. Something that Darth Biggs couldn't say for himself. Not like he cared all that much.
"This is how I operate," Darth Biggs would say whenever confronted about his constant cheating and rule breaking. "This is what I do and acknowledging that fact makes it all better. Accepting the fact that breaking rules is my M.O. means that there is more time to plot and scheme for my next win!" Naturally this didn't go over well with the people, nor Skywalker or Noble, but it gave Darth Biggs enough time to plot more ways to get underneath of everyone's skin.
At every possible moment, Darth Biggs would try and throw a wrench into C.J. Skywalkers plans. Whenever Biggs would get too big for his own good, and began cheating and breaking the rules, Boba Rebel would intervene, cutting C.J. off before he could put a stop to what the evil Empire was up to. Each time that C.J. got closer to putting a stop to things, Boba Rebel would be there cutting him off at the pass. This frustrated C.J. Skywalker to no end.
"Why won't he face me himself!" C.J. exclaimed, his voice ringing around the rafters of the hanger bay. "He keeps throwing his peons in my path when he should be meeting me for a duel!"
"Maybe he knows that he'll lose to you, beep-boop," B.J.-D.2. responded.
"You think?"
"Sure, beep," B.J.-D.2. said. "He hasn't beaten you yet, so maybe he knows he needs to beat you down without actually beating you down, beep-beep!"
"It's always possible, especially considering how under handed he is."
Of course, when confronted with that possibility, Darth Biggs lashed out, crying false and claiming that the only reason Skywalker won was because of Han. The thoughts and the accusations never sat well with Biggs and forced him the plan ahead. It forced him to put a bounty out on C.J. Skywalkers head.
"Are you worried?" Darth Biggs would ask, mockingly. "Are you worried that you are now going to have to be looking over your shoulder wherever you go? Because trust me, Skywalker! I know a lot bounty hunters that would leap at the chance to bring me your head."
Though Boba Rebel showed no signs of wanting to take the head off of Skywalker, perhaps because his hands were too full dealing with C.J.'s ally Han Noble. However everywhere he turned, the galaxy was filled with the type of evil that would want his head on a platter. From the turn cloaks in waiting with the fancy names, to the madmen with no regards for anything that wasn't named after themselves. Everywhere C.J. Skywalker looked, danger lurked.
"I've got your back," Han Noble said. "You know that I'll be there to watch you, to make sure you don't get assaulted."
"Thanks, Han," C.J. Skywalker responded, clapping his ally on the back. "I know you've got my back. But still, there's only so much two of us can do when we're fighting against an entire universe of evil that seems to be closing in faster and faster each and every day."
Han Noble nodded in response. "Very true. But I never let that stop me before. If I'm going to go down, I'm going to go down fighting, just like I always have."
"Truth be told," Skywalker began, "the hardest one to battle against is Boba Rebel. If you can hold him off, I could focus on the rest."
"Consider it done."
The worst words ever said could not have been uttered in a more peaceful setting. After that meeting between Noble and Skywalker, Darth Biggs ramped up his efforts to take out the bane of his existence. The man that he labeled as the one that cost him his well being by dethroning him as the best in the galaxy.
The first attack happened on a day when C.J. Skywalker was headed home after a meeting at the Alliance headquarters. Before C.J. knew what was happening, Darth Biggs was on him, smashing in his head with a blunt object. Skywalker tried to fight back, but it was futile.
"This is for taking my title!" Darth Biggs shouted as he drove the blunt object toward Skywalker again and again. "This is for making my life Hell, Skywalker! This is for making me a mockery in the galaxy!" The blunt object drew blood, though at no time did Darth Biggs reach for his lightsaber. Eventually, guards from the headquarters came running out, chasing off Darth Biggs, who disappeared into thin air.
The guards insisted that C.J. Skywalker head to the hospital, but C.J. didn't want to hear anything of it. "I'm fine," he said, spitting blood as he did. "I just need to lie down for a bit, rest my head." Following that attack, he and Han Noble put a new plan into action, knowing that Darth Biggs wasn't going to stop there.
The quick attacks continued in the days that followed. It wasn't long after the last attack that Darth Biggs and Boba Rebel found C.J. Skywalker and Han Noble. Standing off from one another, it was only a matter of time before the real fun began.
"Ready to admit defeat, Skywalker?" Darth Biggs asked with Boba Rebel chuckling at his side.
"Never," C.J. started. "No matter how many times you beat me down, I'll always get back up."
"Silly child. Haven't you learned that you can't beat me. How do you know that I haven't paid that smuggler friend of yours to betray you?" A sly grin spread across the face of Darth Biggs. Skywalker and Noble exchanged glances, with Noble shaking his head.
"Because I can tell when a man actually wants to fight for good."
"What, you're saying I'm not good?" Darth Biggs asked, rhetorically, with a loud laugh. "Regardless. After the beatings I have put on you over the past little while, you will be in no shape to fight me. Your time will come!"
As quickly as they had come, Biggs and Rebel had disappeared, leaving Noble and Gates alone.
"Are you worried?" Han Noble asked.
"Not one bit," C.J. Skywalker responded. "I know that when the time comes, I will be ready. I'm not going to back down until I've ended that evil Empire of his."
The two men nod their heads, knowing that safety for the Alliance and the galaxy as a whole was soon to come. It was only a matter of time.
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"Good versus evil, that is what this match comes down to, Biggs, and you and I, we personify that battle.
"It all started last week with that tag team match. The match that you and Johnny simply used as a means to hurt your respective opponents at One Night in Hell to gain the edge. But that is to be expected from two men who have dipped their toes in the evil pool for the majority of their careers, right?
"And while last week might not matter in the grand scheme of things, Kurt and I managed to get the win. The good guys managed to come out on top, which is the same thing that happened at Shockwave, and what you are trying to avoid having happen at One Night in Hell. And as simple as this is to break down, as simple as good versus evil sounds, it's far from that, isn't it?
"I've seen it first hand. I have the war wounds to prove it. Because when the bad guys, for lack of a better term, get behind the eight ball, they have to do whatever they can to get ahead. They have to lie to their opponents, their fans, their bosses to get ahead. They have to steal victories at every possible moment to try and gain some momentum for themselves and steal some from their opponents. And of course, they have to take steel chairs and briefcases filled with money and smash them over their opponents heads. All in an effort to weaken their opponent.
"All in an effort to take the easy way out.
"Because that's all it is, right Biggs? It's the easy way. People like you can't stomach having to fight a straight up fight. People like you can't afford to fight an even fight because people like you will always come out on the losing end if you did so.
"You don't believe me? Let's look at the facts. You didn't have the edge going into Shockwave, Biggs. Sure, we had our disagreements, and I told you that you shouldn't really be the Undisputed champion, and how my respect for you had diminished, but you never took a steel chair and bent it around my skull. And you lost the title to me.
"Yes, Biggs. You lost the title. You weren't screwed out of the title, you weren't wronged out of something that should have been fused to your waist. You simply lost. And no matter how many times you try and tell yourself otherwise, it will never change that fact. No matter how many times you deny it, you can not erase it and you can not rewrite it. Even in that match, you did all you could to get the victory with the easy way. You tried to roll me up with some leverage, you blasted me in the head with the Undisputed title, you did pretty much everything that you could to try and make sure you walked out with the title.
"But you failed so you had to change you plan.
"You had to try and knock my teeth out and draw some blood. You had to try and concuss me so that I could not make it to One Night in Hell. You even went as far as to ask me to hand over my title to you in lieu of a match. Well, let me just say, Biggs, I don't lay down to easy. I don't fall victim to the 'easy way' that others might. I proved that when Sally was trying to kill me inside of that ring week after week.
"Don't worry, Biggs, I hear you. You're asking what all of this has to do with anything. You're trying to figure out why you taking the easy way actually matters. Simple fact, Biggs, that's what this whole thing is built off of. Had the rightful man won at Test for the Best, then this entire landscape would be different. But instead you cheated to get the title away from Lester and the rest is history, really. The rest brought us to where we are right now.
"To you having the chance you've been waiting for since you lost at Shockwave. All of that moaning and bitching that you did after the Pay-Per-View, will be put to rest in Japan. All of that complaining that you did, lobbying to anyone that would listen how Kurt Noble screwed you out of your title, all of that will also be put to rest in Japan when I climb up that ladder and grab my Undisputed title that hangs above that ring.
"That's right, Biggs. My title.
"No matter how you try and sugar coat it, you have no claim to be holding my belt. The closest that you have is the claim to being the number one contender. To being the first man in line to get a shot at this belt. Like I said, I would have given it to you right away, but your own bad antics and whining cry baby attitude forced you to have to re-earn that title shot. Now, I could have followed your path and been a complete dick about everything, allowing Mr. Dangerous to beat you, but I didn't. I don't think you ever asked yourself why, but I'll tell you anyways.
"Because I wanted to face you.
"Because I wanted the chance to shut you up for good.
"And that was the week after Shockwave. Imagine how much I want to shut you up now, after you spent five weeks making my life hell. After you spent the past two weeks taking my head off and leaving me bloodied inside of the ring. Just imagine, Biggs. Much like with Sally at Test for the Best, I am looking to do more than just beat you. I am looking to do more than just end your hopes of winning the Undisputed title again. I want to make sure you feel pain. I want to make sure that you bleed like you've made me bleed in the past few weeks. But most of all? I want justice.
"Not just for me, no, I want justice for every single one of those fans that you have cheated out of good matches. Great matches. Glorious matches that could have been so much better if you didn't grab a handful of tights or hit a low blow. I am out to pay you back in their honor, just like I was out to win the Undisputed title for them. Because unlike you, Biggs, I am a man of my word, and when I told them months ago that I was fighting for them, and that I had their backs, I meant it.
"You've beaten me, you've bloodied me and you've tried to break me, Biggs, but at that last bit, you've failed. You've failed because I am still standing. I am still fighting and if you for one minute thought that you were going to knock me out of the ladder match, you are sorely mistaken. It's going to take a lot more than that to keep me from proving my point about you being a hypocrite and proving myself. Not only to you, but to every one else you doesn't think I am capable of carrying the APW Undisputed title.
"Last time we fought, we went over our similarities and really broke this match down. But as the weeks wore on, I think that we've become more different than we were then. Our mindsets, our strategies, everything has seemingly slid apart on the scales. The only thing that we seem to still have in common is our road to where we are.
"Oh, I paid attention a few weeks ago when you were listing off all that you had done. Overdrive General Manager, three time Overdrive champion, beating Lester for the Undisputed title. All of it impressive feats. The fact that you are probably the most dominant Overdrive champion isn't something that I am going to forget anytime soon. If anything, I am going to keep it in mind as a reminder of just how dangerous, dominant and cunning you can be. But don't forget about all that I have done. And don't forget that it only took me one year to do it.
"APW Tag Team champion, fourth in the Survive and Conquer match, Test for the Best winner and the only person to have won that tournament and then turned around to win the Undisputed title at Shockwave. Toss in all of my successes outside of APW this year, and I have been on quite a roll since that calender flipped into 2011.
"A roll that you are going to have a hard time stopping at One Night in Hell.
"Sure, I'll be the first to admit that I have bruises all over my body. I'll be the first to admit that with one well placed shot my forehead will begin seeping blood again. My body is far from being one hundred percent right now and there are probably a few doctors somewhere that would advise me to stay out of the ring, let alone wrestle in a match that could change the course of my career entirely. But I am not about to simply step away from this match.
"Because for every bruise on my body, there's a little part of me that wants some payback. For every drop of blood I shed, there is part of me that wants to make sure you bleed just as much. Sure, you are a dangerous man on a normal day, I know that. You have that ability to take things to the next level whenever you want to, I have never taken that away from you. And now that you are hellbent on getting your title back, I know that you are more dangerous than ever. And I'm ready for it.
"But are you ready for what I have in store for you? For what I am capable of? Part of my doesn't think so. Part of me thinks that you picked this ladder match because you thought that you had it all sewn up. You figured you would pick a match that I haven't had success in, and you'd be another easy step closer to winning the title back. Though what you need to remember, is that one ladder match I have had in APW, was lost because of someone else. I went above and beyond, put my life and my body on the line, and yet my partner was the one that screwed me out of a win. He said just as much himself.
"The key is that even though I knew I wasn't the weak link, I still went above and beyond. I still put my body, my life and my career on the line.
"And even though you've beaten me down a few times, I'm not about to change that. This is the sort of match that I live for. A match where I can utilize my speed and quickness to get the upper hand. Sure, you'll try and ground me with weapons, but I can do just the same since it's within the rules. At one point in time, ladder matches were known as my specialty. At one point in time, I was just as comfortable fighting on the mat as I was climbing up that twenty foot ladder and leaping off. No one wanted to face me in that type of match.
"No one except for you.
"Which is what will make beating you in Tokyo that much better. I mean, you actually wanted this match and demanded that Jeff make it. And when I am standing at the top of the ladder at the end of the match, holding my Undisputed title high in the air, with all the fans cheering me on...the look on your face will be priceless. When you realize that I am more than just a flash in the pan, that Shockwave wasn't just a fluke, and that your empire of evil is over, well, I couldn't have scripted it any better.
"Was it a good idea for you to pick this match? Maybe not. But the real question you should be asking yourself is whether or not you can go big enough to get the job done.
"Otherwise you will simply be heading back to Seattle empty handed."
