Evolve or Die #4: Evolution of a Saint

[Smash INC]

Keaton Saint in
Evolve or Die #4: Evolution of a Saint

"Humble Beginnings"

Like many stories, Keaton implied that his story had a humble beginning. "It all started in a coffee shop." Keaton would say as he reminisced over the simple things that had led him to the present day, like many things in life this wasn't entirely true. Keaton's career and story had a more dramatic beginning and although he had learnt much over the years, his original motivation for becoming a wrestler was formed out of fear rather than self-belief.

However, the truth of the situation was that the humble beginning Keaton spoke of still retained something even in 2012 and especially in the month of July. It did indeed happen in a coffee shop and it did indeed form a base for what Keaton Saint would become. Fear, training and an awareness of what was to come did not stop Keaton from uttering a simple sentence in his mind and affirming something in himself that opened the path he walks today.

"There's not a single person who can change my mind." Keaton said to himself as he looked at the foam adorning his cappuccino. This became his initial fuel for wrestling professionally rather than being a trainee, it was this which put Keaton Saint on the path he walks today. It was this somewhat selfish reasoning that led him to 'doing it for the fans' and reaffirming his self-belief. At the most basic level, Keaton Saint became a self-fulfilling prophecy. Nobody could change his mind so he became a pro wrestler, nobody could change his mind from trying to become one the best wrestlers in the world so he became that person and nobody could change his mind from believing it was possible to become a great champion...

More than anybody else, Keaton Saint believes in Keaton Saint. No amount of loss, deceit and opposition has ever stopped Keaton Saint from believing. It is his mantra, his religion, his sword and shield. When Terry Marvin proved himself on two big stages, Keaton came back to his belief and the words it held within. With the knowledge that he could face Terry Marvin again it is more fuel and more reason for him to surpass the man he has been unable to so far. Belief is a powerful thing, for Keaton it gives him the chance to create powerful moments and facts. The march of the Saint.

When Keaton Saint is asked by the world about what made him a wrestler, he would talk of humble beginnings and of the coffee shop that began his journey. It's a truth but it will never be 'the' truth.

The truth is Keaton Saint made Keaton Saint a wrestler, Keaton Saint made himself able to walk a path few have dared to consider. In a world stacked with those who would turn away from the support of the fans, Keaton Saint has been one of the few willing to embrace their support at every step. When there are foes of greater strength, number or intelligence, Keaton still fights because in his eyes none of them can match his self-belief. Some would call it foolishness, others would consider it untold bravery but Keaton Saint gives it a sentence to which he holds some tangible faith in. Keaton wrestles for what he calls the power of professional wrestling, Keaton wrestles because of his self-belief. The belief that his example shall lead others to embrace the things in wrestling that he has embraced, that his example shall give a chance to others to do the right thing. Because nobody convinced him it wasn't possible, nobody changed his mind about it.

Humble beginnings may lead to great successes, but when the man is led by enough self-belief to power a continent it can lead to anything he desires.

Because there is nobody in the world who can change the mind of a man who has that self-belief or the Saint who has spent his life aiming to prove himself right. Keaton Saint believes he can be a great champion as he counts down the days to Test for the Best and his chance to become the top contender, it fuels him and it makes him eager to overcome the obstacles in his way not to prove anyone wrong...

...But to prove himself to be right.

==========

The Apparent Wildcard

I feel the need to open this with a statement.

I don't know exactly how good Steve Stryker is.

In some ways, I don't actually need to know. He's good enough to make it to facing John Dionysus and myself at Test for the Best so that should be proof of just how capable he is. And that's exactly what he is, capable. I'm about to face a man who is filled with the prospect of moving beyond Meltdown to the main event of Shockwave, forget everyone else for a moment and consider that. You have the chance to not just rise up but to rise beyond the majority of the ENTIRE APW roster of Megastars in one go, that has to be enticing.

But within that enticement is the weakness of truth, with that chance and with the mark on Stryker calling him a wildcard, everyone is expecting something from him. Everyone expects the wildcard to be a wild addition to the match he's in, everyone expects the wildcard to make something happen and to change the course of APW history. When it comes to burdens, that has to be one of the greatest to shoulder. When everyone expects you to cause something to happen, what happens when you have no effect?

It's a question I feel I can answer. Steve Stryker could lose against myself or Dionysus and nobody would blame him for the loss, he just wasn't ready, he wasn't prepared and they might even say that his time will come. Even with the expectation to do something, that burden is alleviated by the fact that if you are impotent rather than important, you still have something to fall back on. You will have at least emerged on the PPV stage. For Dionysus and most of all for me, it doesn't work like that.

You're expected to win but you'll be forgiven by the world if you lose. John Dionysus still has his Xtreme title to defend but when the spotlight comes to me the excuses run to a complete halt. My options are not multiple, they are simply one. I HAVE to be better than you, I have to be better because I have nothing to fall back on. I don't go back to Meltdown, I don't go back to defending a title because I just simply am Keaton Saint.

When it comes to being a wildcard, everyone expects you to cause the change. But when everyone expects something from you can you truly be a wildcard or a chaotic element? I don't think so. The truth of the matter and this match comes back down to me, you may be the wildcard by name but I have to be it by nature. I have to become my own gatekeeper and unlock the path to the next round and beyond for myself. I'm going to wrestle at my best, it's what I do but I need to be willing and able to go beyond everything I've ever known and become a man and a wrestler capable of being better than two very good and very strong wrestlers. I'm the one with no backup plan so I am the one with the most at stake when the bell rings. The time will come and this Saint will march, but I need to be the one marching beyond both of you. I need to be better.

Steve Stryker, you're the apparent wildcard. I am the real article, expect that at Test for the Best.

==========

Stage Four: Emergence

Emergence in wrestling happens for everyone in different ways and in altered stages. Some rise so fast that they seem to be on course to outrun Usain Bolt, others take a longer and more methodical approach to become an emergent wrestler. Others have no choice but those that do emerge become part of the pro wrestling consciousness, they become a name and a brand. They learn, the follow and eventually they understand their responsibilities.

Everyone emerges in one way or another.

For Keaton Saint, his emergence could be stated to have begun at many places and times but it was cemented at one time, one match and against one opponent. 2009 marked many things for many people but for Keaton Saint he knew it marked his true emergence as a professional wrestler. Defeating Level One in the Extreme Tournament a year after his debut against the same man was as solid a statement as anything made before or since. It was a moment that made Keaton Saint forever noticed in the world of professional wrestling and an accomplishment he has been seeking to emulate ever since.

But for Keaton Saint, the accomplishment he has been seeking to emulate has been perhaps his greatest foe since it happened. His Everest has become even more prominent as his moment of emergence has become the enemy, nothing in his mind has ever matched up to that occasion, that match or the moment he was able to feel as if he finally made it in the world of professional wrestling. Everything before may have been 'premier' but it was at the cost of being labelled an indy darling who had yet to make it, everything since has been fraught with different concerns. Keaton had already emerged but the word was spread that he had not yet peaked. Everyone spoke and still speaks of potential yet to be reached but the truth of the matter has always been that nobody knows one way or the other. Keaton's emergence may be his greatest moment or his greatest moment yet. Neither side is completely sure, even within the mind of Keaton Saint himself.

APW offered another moment of emergence for Keaton in 2011, Survive & Conquer would prove to be a chance for Keaton to replicate something of his emergence in wrestling and prove himself in a ring filled with names and faces known to many corners of the sport. What happened was instead an affirmation of what Keaton already knew, he had stamina above some of his peers and a willpower that went far beyond the average. What he didn't have was what it took to win in 2011 and his accomplishments in that match would be over taken in 2012 by others. Terry Marvin would last longer and prove that his stamina and tenacity had rose to levels beyond the vast majority of his peers. Marvin's emergence not only echoed Keaton's own but with the months that followed it eclipsed it completely, Terry Marvin was the Overdrive champion. Terry Marvin was the man about to break through the barrier and reach the pinnacle. Keaton Saint was still emulating rather than innovating.

John Dionysus' reign as Xtreme champion would prove to be his emergence in another way, becoming a more desirable title than Keaton's own CWC Hardcore title. Whilst Dionysus fought to retain his title, Keaton could only watch, wanting to see his own title become something more than a museum piece. Finally AC Smith was beginning to make his own emergence as a wrestling star and in a fitting way, Keaton was the one to experience Smith take that emergent step as he drove Keaton into the ring mat and staked his claim. Keaton's moment of emergence was beginning to run thin, his chances slimming and the truth being simple. He was falling behind.

However in falling behind Keaton still had an option, the option that is presented to him now. Years of being an emergent wrestler have taught him that a moment and a chance like Test for the Best can create something far greater than what he has already experienced. In falling behind, Keaton Saint has become fully aware of the light at the end of the tunnel. To reach it and to embrace it takes emerging beyond what he has become up to now. It requires overcoming a champion, an opponent, a nemesis and perhaps himself to fully emerge once again. What's on offer is simply something that goes beyond his first true moment of emergence, winning Test for the Best certifies Keaton Saint in a way that his victory over Level One never could. It cements the very reason Keaton Saint signed for APW in the first place. It makes him emerge once again.

To reach the light, Keaton Saint must emerge beyond his current stage and reach enlightenment.

==========

Harvesting a Victory

Respect isn't an easy thing to come by.

Actually come to think of it, respect IS an easy thing to come by. I respect damn near everyone I face in the ring, sometimes for different reason but I respect them. I respect AC Smith for being able to drop me and get the job done because that shows just what he can do, I respect Terry Marvin for his ability even if I hate what he's turned into and I have to respect that Steve Stryker is at a point where he can make a huge change in APW history.

Respect is an easy thing to come by, but when I come across John Dionysus it's not just respect I come by. Respect is just one facet of everything I've seen with a wrestler who has been more dependable than most, a man who has been my ally to such a point that respect doesn't do you justice. There aren't many people in this sport who can do the baseball slide of the Home Run Clutch in the right way, that's just evidence of what you are and how good you are in the ring. Respect is small time compared to the alliance of morals and values we've ended up having.

It's what annoys me when I look at the Test for the Best card and realise that our first proper match against each other is also home to Steve Stryker. No disrespect to him but if there was one match I wanted to be one-on-one it was this. Not just because I could be guaranteed a true wrestling challenge but I could finally stake my claim and prove myself as an opponent to you rather than an ally. For this to become a match with an extra man changes things, but it doesn't change the fact that I intend to prove that as close as we may be, I am the better wrestler.

I intend to prove that I am the better wrestler because even though we share some parallels, my experience and knowledge in this sport has brought me the wisdom I feel is needed to overtake someone such as yourself. We're both on the same moral compass, we both wrestle for the right reasons and we're both holding titles that represent the more extremist elements of what our bodies are capable of doing in a wrestling ring. Parallels they are, but they don't make us equal. One of us has to be better and despite the wildcard in the form of Steve Stryker, I fully believe that one of us will prove that at Test for the Best.

We may share parallels but in the end there is only one Keaton Saint much like there is only one John Dionysus. We're unparalleled in what we do but only one of us can be the better of the two. The parallels we have are of interest on every other day of the year but at Test for the Best it is what separates us that counts. The differences comes down to a key factor and the factor which decides which of us is the best on the night. Like I said about Steve Stryker, you have the safety net of being a champion within APW. I don't have that. It is that difference which will drive me to do the best I can to ensure that of the wrestlers who have a chance to win, mine is the greatest.

I know you're a damn good wrestler but at Test for the Best I will do everything I can to be the one harvesting the victory.

==========

The Biggest Apple

AC Smith recently made a name for himself at my expense. He's not the first and sadly he won't be the last. These things happen because it's the natural order of wrestling, a big moment is always given a counterpoint of a fall from the opposing side. I went into that tag match with a goal, to beat Terry Marvin. I went out of it with a loss to the man who hadn't been on my radar until he picked me up and slammed me like I was yesterdays news. However these things do happen, they have to be accepted and most importantly they have to be overcome. AC Smith was a better man at Overdrive, if I face him my goal is to prove I am the dominant athlete at Test for the Best.

I've looked at the replays and they all tell me the same thing, I should be worried. I should be worried because this is a man who can pick someone of my size up and drop him so fast that it leaves a mark for weeks. Some might say I walked right into it but as for me, I know I got caught and I got caught good. It was a great surprise when it happened but that is where my worries have begun to cease. The surprise factor is gone now, for AC Smith to hit me with that move again would take a mistake I'm not willing to make.

before anyone gets up in a tizzy because I've undersold just how much of an impact Smith made, let me just say that Steve Stryker is in the same boat. Both of them have made great strides lately but those strides have a limit, AC Smith made a big impact on Overdrive and if he does beat Terry Marvin that's another one to add to his list of impacts, but each of those strides and each of those big moments have to come to an end unless AC Smith has just become the most consistent big hitter in pro wrestling. I don't think he is and much like Steve Stryker I think he's in a position where if he DOES face me, I'm ready and prepared for the weapons in his arsenal. The Big Apple Asskicker will see his own arse booted out of the tournament if he expects anything less than the best I have to offer.

It's why they call it the Test for the Best after all, everyone who claims to be on that level gets tested by everyone else who claims the same thing. Something has to give and in my world, the biggest Smith is a Granny Smith apple. I was surprised by AC Smith's attack but with that factor now eliminated I feel I am ready for what he brings. Smith does have what it takes, he wouldn't be in the tournament if it wasn't the case but what he has is something I have to and do believe I can measure. As good as he is, I can and will prove to be better. If not, I will give it everything I have. Smith's gotta understand that if he does oppose me then I'll fight to the last and I'll fight for everything I believe I'm capable of. This whole test is my chance to prove how much I'm worth and even the biggest apple can be blown away in the Windy City.

So too can the Big Apple Asskicker be blown away by the Patron Saint of Wrestling.

==========

Show & Tell

Terry Marvin.

Do I need to say anything else? I guess I don't but considering the occasion I guess it's only natural that I want to at least say a few words about the man, not the wrestler, the man who has proven on more than one occasion that he's abandoned any former camaraderie with the fans and with his fellow athlete.

The hardest thing I've ever had to do in a long time was to walk away when you remained Overdrive champion at Mayhem, and before you think of a smart-arsed reply to that it was not because I was chained up. Walking away was hard to do but it had to be done because there was some truth to what you had been saying, I was gifted more than one chance to become the Overdrive champion and on each of those occasions I failed in some way. I walked away despite knowing that I could beat you, I walked away with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach just knowing that after everything I had done, you still had that title.

It hurt, it still does but Test for the Best offers an opportunity to do something that will make you see my side of how our opposition has been. For you to feel the losing end would be a small bit of justice even if you remain Overdrive champion. For you to be on the losing end of this would be something worth bragging about if I'm the one to win Test for the Best.

It's true, I'm still affected by the desire and the want to prove myself as a better wrestler than you. I've known since Rasslemania that I'm the better man but I need to prove to myself and to the fans that not only can you be defeated by me, but I can be the one to say that in the end I stood tall. No matter the results that have preceded the potential match we could have here, I am confident and I believe fully that you can be beaten by my hand, perhaps even by my submission.

Every twist and every turn of how we've fought may just lead to another conflict between us but the difference is that this time, this time you might just lose focus because your title is not on the line. That tangible asset you flaunt for the Sindicate will still exist for sure, but when you're faced with the fact that I can beat you, I can become the contender at Shockwave and I could be the man everyone is talking about when the final bell rings. If that happens, I can promise you that show & tell will be a lot more interesting.

I'm the Patron Saint of Professional Wrestling, I'm the Paragon and I can march through the flames of opposition on any night. I know from experience that you have the stamina to last in the ring but you won't have the willpower when the bell rings and I'm the one facing you. I know what it means to progress and I have it in me to defeat both Steve Stryker and John Dionysus if I must. If you're the one facing me after that then you only need to establish one simple fact. You're the Real Show, I am the Paragon. I am the unparalleled technical wrestler and the man with the most spirit in the world of professional wrestling.

At Test for the Best, I will prove to be the best. It's in my name, it's who I am. At Test for the Best, I shall be vindicated and if I face you, this time I can walk away with my head held high.