You know, during this whole month of planning…I have been getting tons of flack. Whether it is from the fans on the boards, the wrestlers in the back, or marks that mark out to all of the wrong things. I have been getting a lot of shit as they are saying that the only reason I am in the match is because I am trying to get my name back in the main event. This whole thing of me owning an event like this is because it’s something else that I can mark up on the list that I have done in the X-Treme Wrestling Federation, something else that I can sit there and smile, something else that can be put on a resume. People are starting to think that I am just doing this for myself. They think that I am using something so tragic an event, so devastating, so bad for the psyche of the X-Treme Wrestling Federation that I will use it to my advantage and get everyone on my side. They think that the only reason I am here, is because it’s a pay per view that I can control….that I have control over the whole X-Treme Wrestling Federation under my wing and it will be a controlling factor for me. That it will give me a high knowing that I have everyone under my thumb…that everyone and everything is under my control. That it will give me some high pissing on the careers on AJ the Exterminator and Christian Phoenix.

That is not my intent, ladies and gentlemen. I don’t want any of that, ok? Yes, I am running the show. Yes, I put myself in the main event. Yes, I admit I am glad I am putting on a show. Yes to this, yes to that, and yes to the other thing. I am admitting I am glad I am doing all of this stuff..but it is not for the accolades that I heard people say. It is not because “I can” do it. It’s not because this is in MY pay per view. Would I have put guys that have beaten me before in this match? If it was “all about me” I would have put in guys that don’t deserve to be in this match. I would have put the guys that normally gun for this title in this match. I would not have even thought about Alex Cutwright, James Raven, or Centurion for this spot. I would had thought about making this main event one of the biggest, one of the baddest, and one of the most interesting matches in the X-Treme Wrestling Federation history. I would had thought to put Chasm against the lower-tier guys, as well as me, and then you can say that I softened the main event for me to get an easy win. Then you can say that I do not deserve a title shot.

But you can not just say that, now. You can not clearly state that I am doing this just for me…because I am not. There is a reason why I put myself in this match, and not anyone else. I put myself in this match because it was me who was the last man to call out Christian Phoenix in that very ring. I put myself in this match because I was the last wrestler to see Christian Phoenix in the middle of that ring…and I shook his hand in honor and respect. I miss that man just like the rest of you…I wanted to honor the man…I wanted to have something that will epitomize the career of Mr. Phoenix. I wanted something that he can tell his kids, and his kids can tell their kids, and their kids can tell their kids and so on and so on. I want to do something special…I want something to remember the man that was Christian Phoenix and the man that was AJ the Exterminator. I want something to remember all of the aspects that these two men possessed. I wanted to do something so the smaller guys, the guys that weren’t here when Christian Phoenix and AJ the Exterminator roamed the XWF, and show them how much those men meant to us. I wanted to show the X-Treme Wrestling Federation that we still care about those two men….about the men that shaped our views on the X-Treme Wrestling Federation. The two men that made us come back for more…and more…and more…and even more. The two men, mind you, that were the corner stones, the mavericks, the fine wines of the X-Treme Wrestling Federation. Those two men will never die in my eyes…those two men will always have a small place in my heart…those two men will always be there with me when I need them. Those two men, as well, deserve to be up here….with the superstars of the X-Treme Wrestling Federation.

That is why, my friends, Phoenix Rising is taking place. That is why Phoenix Rising is taking place this Saturday night. It is not for me, people. I am the least of your worries in why I am putting this show on. I am the least of the reasons why there is a major show on Impact’s spot. I am the least of the reason of why there is a show that features the greatest superstars of the past, superstars of the present, and superstars of the future. That is why there is people here.

If it was for me, would you think that people like Lee Stone, people like Steve Jason, Alex Cutwright, and everyone else would want to show up for this stuff? Do you think that if it was all about me…all of these people will sign up? You think all of these men will be here….tearing their hearts out for a chance to celebrate by the way they do best? Do you think that they want to be here, if it was all about me? HELL NO! I don’t have that much pull. I don’t have that much charisma to get Lee Stone and Steve Jason in the same state, let alone the same ring going one on one with each other. I don’t have the cajones to set up a match pitting two people with the name “CRAZY” in their name or nickname OR do I have those same cajones to sit here and know that there shall be blood when Trent Gein and Crimson Kline go toe to toe. I don’t have the balls to do that and, honestly, I bet they would not be able to do it as much as they want to do it.

You see, even though I don’t have the pull…even though I don’t have that muster…even though I don’t have the balls to do that. Someone, actually, told me to do it. Someone, actually, guided my hand. Went down the roster and picked these matches. There was someone guiding me…someone trying to tell me that there was some power between these matches. Hell, who would have thought that you could have TWO legends together for the FIRST TIME going up against the, already tested…already put together….already grouped together…the Black Order squad.

THOSE already are three damn good matches. Those matches, right there, are set up for a dream card. Those matches, right there, are something Jon Brown has wet dreams over. These are types of matches that are, honestly, once in a lifetime occurrences. Hell, we even have a battle of two former World champions going at it. We have two men that can’t even get their names right in Dakhaaaan and Frahn Dahmage. The card …top to bottom…left to right….diagonal to……um…the other diagonal part….whatever the hell that one is, is PACKED…….PACKED to the brim!

This is not all apart of me. I have not a damn thing to do about it. If it was me, we may see people like Sam Hain face Maximus or something. If it was about me, there would be no Lee Stone and Steve Jason…let alone Lee Stone vs. Steve Jason. There would have been nothing. However, this is not about me. This, right here, is all the doing of Christian Phoenix and AJ the Exterminator.

I mean, these two men made Steve Jason do something that, quite honestly, I thought would never be done before….on camera. I mean, the man…got close to crying on camera for the two men. I know if it was for me, Steve Jason would be laughing so much the man would burst into tears. He wouldn’t care about doing a damn thing with me. I know it. Steve Jason would not have been here if it was just about me.

But, you know something…if there is one thing that the actions of AJ and Phoenix have taught me over the years…it’s this. Life is short. As Katt Williams once said, you can win the lottery or you can get shot at the stop light. It can end right there, without you knowing. It can stop you in an instance. It can stop you like a train wreck, it can end….just…like…that….

AJ and Christian, you know I love you…you know that I have a lot of respect for you…you know that I have you in my mind and in my heart. And you know that each one of these guys, including the ones that are not even on the card, have you two in their hearts and minds just like I do. I usually end this by saying that my opponents will have their “Welcome to the Big Tyme” Moment. But….AJ….Christian Phoenix…I am proud to say that you will be MY “Welcome to the Big Tyme” Moment. I love you guys, and thank you. This one is for you.

---===We Will Be Right Back===--- ---===Welcome BACK to the Big Tyme===--- ---===No Smoking, please.===--- Here I go…I enter the graveyard…it is late at night….there is no lights to show my way through the dark pathway through the graves. I can barely see the engravings on the stones that are in front of me. I mean, the stones all look the same as the semi circles look all the same to me…all the stones are marked the same…James…James…James…Walter…Walter….Walters…Jiminez?! Where the hell did we get a Jiminez before Eeler? I mean, I know Eeler is, pretty much, a weird ass name and that no one really has a last name like that…but we are in Pittsburgh….Where is the Jiminez family and where the hell am I? There should, at least be a few friggin’ lights so that if people have vigils, like what I am planning on doing, it would light the way. You know, like the bible says it should be. It should light the way to the thing that you wanted to do. The person or people that you wanted to see….it was supposed to be lightened by the Lord or some supreme being. There’s supposed to be something that comes out from the sky…the North Star or something like that. That’s the light that supposed to lead the 3 wise men to the manger. It is the star that is shown on the top of the Christmas tree…it’s supposed to be the compass throughout the world, even if there is no lights except for that bright star…it’s supposed to be IT…why the hell would anyone call this that? I mean, there’s no way that there….

There’s a light. An illuminating orange light….in the middle of nowhere…It’s a street lamp…or a way to light the path to a certain area. I go towards it…there, “RANDY ‘BUDDY’ EELSON.” The plot is still dirt….grass has not sprouted, yet, the dirt is pretty damn fresh. I kneel down on the dirt…surprisingly, it is the most even part of the patch of land set aside for Randy. My body is shivering…half of it is from the cold…as the other half is to seeing my friend, my partner, my life flash before my eyes. I see all the fun and joy that we have…all of the times we spent together…all the ups…all of the downs…and all of the in betweens of life’s cruel cruel game. I kneel down on the dirt…infact, looking at the plots around me…this is the only one that is freshly done. I sit there…kneeling…with my head down…praying my ass off hoping that, if there is a God in heaven, try and tell me that this is the right thing to do and stop blaming myself. I hope God is up there using his powers to stop me from thinking too much about this…stop me from thinking that it should me in the ground, me in the casket, me decomposing like everyone else here. I hope God tells me that there is nothing to worry about…that there was not a damn thing that I could have done to save Randy. I sit there…make the sign of the cross…and place the rusty glass bottle, still fairly cold, on the top of the mound of dirt.

When I did that, all of a sudden….a wind swooped up….a wind so hard…it started to sway the bottle. A wind that hit me full force…almost pushing me on my ass from the kneeling position. I thought that I was caught in a hurricane or something. Then a flash of lightning and a boom of thunder erupts from the sky as the rain starts pouring down on my head. Just my luck…when I thought that I had it all planned…I figure out that nothing is planned…that nothing really is going swell for me…I am kneeling, now, in mud…trying to hold back the tears…as I look at my friend’s tomb, something that, I thought, I would never be able to see.

All of a sudden, the glass tips over…and, somehow, the brittle glass shatters. The ashes of Randy go into the dirt…they swarm around. All I can do is kneel there and look down trying to find loose pieces of glass.

I look up….there in front of me….was the orb. This time…I can clearly see a shape…I can clearly see a face. It was Randy all along. I stay kneeling with my mouth open.

RANDY: Zachary, you knew what you had to do. You knew that there is something special about that container and you found it’s rightful owner. I am now whole. I am now, complete. Thank you, Zachary. Thank you.

As Randy begins to float away….I realize something to ask him.

RIZZA: RANDY! WHY ME?!

The ghost stops…it does not even look at me….

RANDY: Zachary, you gave me life….and now I spared your life….I think we are pretty much even at this point…don’t you think? Heheheheh….

As he starts to laugh, his arm spreads out…..when they reach ninety degrees, something protrudes below the arms….wings….then, with a quick flash of lightning and another boom of thunder….Randy takes off.

….

Six in the morning rolls around….I am still kneeling there balling my eyes out. All of a sudden, Mia comes next to me and picks me up. She is carrying little Edward.

MIA: Come on, Zach. Let’s get out of here.

As I start sniffling and wiping the last tear away from my eye…I begin to walk…I look down at the next headstone…..”A. JOHNSON.” I smile and I look up at the heavens….there….there is one star left….I wonder who that is of.

RIZZA: I am going to miss him, Mia.

MIA: Me too, Zach. Me too.