RP #21- This Is My World

[Promo - The Undeniable Words #21, 7/27/08]

Damn, it feels good to be in command.

Well, OK, I'm not in command yet. For those of you who are a little uncertain, the upcoming Disclosure card was not my doing. Yes, I beat Giovianni Aries, and yes, I've therefore earned myself the opportunity to start booking a Disclosure- but, for quality assurance purposes and to make damn certain that I have the necessary time to research, plan, study and take various steps to prepare quite possibly the most awesome Disclosure we have had in... quite some time, it's not the next Disclosure, but the one following it that I will be leading the helm of. There we go, that's one budding question I've had to answer quite a bit that's now officially resolved for people. Don't worry, kids, you'll get your dream matches soon enough.

With that said- I'm not going to create some grand statement on an Undeniable Words segment telling you exactly what I have planned. All I will say is that the stereotypical 'he's gonna put the Pantheon in a 10000-on-3 match' and the stereotypical 'he's gonna give himself a Platinum title shot' assumptions... well, feel free to keep them if you like having a few pleasant surprises thrown your way. This is going to be about a little more than rewarding myself and it's certainly going to be about a little more than punishing my enemies. So Christy Matthews- and I know you're listening- please, for the love of God, save us the endless sob-fest about how the lunatic monster's in power and how he's gonna somehow blot out the sun and various other melodramatic excuses for self-justification. And the rest of you Pantheon punks might want to keep a lid on your whining too, because I have yet to solidify your decisions, and... well, let's just say the more whimpering and whining I hear, the more likely I am to start booking 'loser must wear a dress for a year' and 'loser must make out with Reggie Stallworth' matches and soforth.

But there's another, equally-important matter pressing down on my shoulders this week. It looks like the road to the Platinum Cup is finally coming to an end. The cup- and its valuable additional prize of a shot at any title you could pretty much want- is finally just about within my grasp.

My purposes for holding the cup are easy enough, really. Ever since I lost the Bloodshed Championship- and even slightly before it- I have been subject to beating after beating after beating. I have taken just about everything that Nicholas Jaxx and Joshua Payne- and Christy Matthews, and Giovianni Aries, and Pete Ebdon- could throw at me in some kind of attempt to intimidate me- or in some cases, erase me. I've been split open, I've been sliced, I've been crucified, I've been hit in the head with maces, I've been in hospitals week in and week out all in some attempt to get rid of whatever threat it is I present. Yet despite their best efforts, I stand and I live.

All of those beatings, I took and withstood because I wasn't going to be forced into a 'lower' position. Christy Matthews begged me to surrender and accept my place as some kind of 'lower' wrestler, subservient to the Pantheon. Pete Ebdon tried to buy me off on promises he neither had the power nor the actual desire to keep, if I'd just accept 'my place' as dictated by them. I kept going because quite frankly, Steve Jason defers to no man. If I want to rise to the top here, I will, and I will let no man hold me back. And I'll do it on my own merit, not as a 'reward' for being a good little boy and accepting domination. That's been what all this resistance stuff has been about- although I don't expect Ebdon to have the capacity to understand that. And that's precisely what this match is now about for me. I have taken the beatings and withstood them to the point where apparently I'm now 'safe'. And now I'm being given that one chance to seize a ticket back to a major title. All I have to get through is the man who's been trying desperately to make me back down- and ironically enough, also a man whose very title claims he's on his way to the same goal I am.

Pete Ebdon. Draven. Platinum Cup finals. Let's get this battle underway.

Draven. What is it they're calling you nowadays... the King of the Upsets? Pretty fitting after your performance at Speak No Evil. I was starting to think nobody was ever going to actually put Inferno away and take his title, the man seemed downright unassailable, and then out of the blue, you change all that once and for all. While some would say a Next Big Thing title match is of no interest to a contender like myself, I'd always figured whoever finally brought Effin Rox down would be somebody to seriously keep an eye on. Turns out I was right, because less than a week in, we're sparring off under stakes that could be far higher than the prizes you and I took at the Pay Per View.

Heh. I guess you get the chance to prove the 'Next Big Thing' part of your title quicker than you'd imagined, huh?

Under most circumstances, I'd offer you some kind of congratulations or even some well-wishes, but that would give the impression that I'm gonna be playing the nice guy in this match, and I sure as hell am not. The stakes are quite simply too high for that. So I'm just gonna cut straight to the chase, Draven- everything you've been through up to this point pales in comparison with what you're up against now. I won't speak for Ebdon, but I for one have been waiting too long and too hard to play second fiddle to the King of the Upsets and his miracle runaway train success story. Sure, it's a great thing and I can relate to it as it wasn't all that long ago I was doing the same thing here in PDW... 'Champ-Killer' ring any bells?... but I'm gonna be quite frank, as far as I'm concerned, I've got my own important success story to make of all of this and I cannot afford to give the slightest inch on it.

So this leaves us at an impasse. I detest Pete Ebdon, make no question about it, but don't think that you'll be able to slip through the cracks or that I'll forget about you in the midst of my desire to shoot him down. Once again, the stakes are simply too high to be making that kind of mistake, and you can effectively assume that if you're in the ring with me, you're going to be getting hit with everything I have like you were one of my dearest enemies. I know damn well your unique ability to trump opponents people would think you don't have much of a chance against, and I will not be allowing it to be used as such against me. Understand that I prepare not only to face you, Draven, but I also prepare to face the King of the Upsets- or indeed any facet of yourself you plan to bring. Anything you've put on display in the last several months, assume I've noticed it- and assume I'm smart enough to at least suspect there may be a few tricks I don't know about.

You're on a roll, sure- but so am I. Hell, I even grudgingly have to admit Ebdon is too. You're the Next Big Thing Champion and you trumped Inferno, and I'm destroying Pantheon members left and right and I'm in command of my own show. It's not a question of who's on a roll any more, it's instead about who's on the bigger one... and who has the most ability, most drive and most tenacity to keep their roll going at the expense of all others.

That's how you're going to be tested this week, Draven. Have you got what it takes to not only take me down, but subdue my momentum with your own? It's not an easy task- history has dictated that when I get on these victory runs, I tend to bullet-train everything in my path for quite some time. Can it be done? I wouldn't rule it out, no, but it's going to take an effort and ability that you have yet to reveal. I don't pretend to know if you have it- and odds are you might not yourself even know. We won't know, of course, until it's all over.

But I kinda look forward to it in a way.

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