act two: midnight evolution
... but that's just another story for another time, isn't it?
Remnant was a unique experiment for me. I'd worn my face paint before when it came to taking on Violent A, as it was meant to send a message to the guy. To this day, I think I'm one of the only people to have ever gotten Violent A to actually remove his face paint for a match, no-one's ever been taken so seriously by the man before. In fact, looking over my history in the NLCW... I really have had a lot of career-defining moments in matches, some of the greatest feuds the place has ever seen... is it any wonder a guy like me would have to come back eventually? It's more than just the feeling in the ring.
It's the feeling of our family.
One of the most dysfunctional families in the world, NLCW wrestlers somehow find a way to simultaneously support one another and drag each other down at the same time. Even our greatest rivals, hated though they may be, find ways to lift us up in the end. Violent A, Shane Perry, Bucky Skylar, Sean Galen, Dillon Durst, Frank Merritt... the list goes on and on. Men who have stood against me in that ring looking to absolutely break me, body, spirit and mind. Men who pushed me to my limits in every encounter, demanded that I live up to their expectations every single time, and fought their damndest to keep me from getting back up again.
Some men hated me, some wanted to see me crippled in that ring. To say that they put Dominic Pericolo's career in the gutter, that they dethroned a king of the NLCW... that was their goal, their purpose in our matches. They were looking for the glory, never actually seeing just how much they were doing to lift me up again. When I was at my weakest, I found myself fighting stronger then I ever did before, and it was because of men like these enemies of mine. They pushed me to the brink just to let me fire back again for the sake of a competitive match, and when I fired back I seldom let myself fall twice.
Yeah, enemies in this business are actually comparable to our allies in a way... the difference being that one side pushes you forward in the hope of tearing you down, and the other side just pushes you forward to see how far you go. Men like Chris Champion, Alex Jay, Kindred London to some extent and, before she thinks I've forgotten her... Tanya Black.
I still regret some of my decisions back then, you know. I fought forward because it was encoded into me, but sometimes I fought forward so fiercely that I lost sight of the big picture, of the people around me that cared about me most. Sure, Suki would always support me in my matches... but what happens if I get injured? Would I really put Suki through that strain, to take care of me for the rest of my life? It was honestly thoughts like that that kept me careful and calculating in my matches, even the most dangerous ones of all.
When Final Solution came about, I'd put everything I had into it while focusing as best as I could at picking my spots and, when the tide turned against me, working with the flow of the attack so I might actually survive the encounter. When I ran a gauntlet against Frank Merritt, Ethan Andrews and Violent A... I focused on getting into each of their heads, working with them just as much as I worked against them so I might make it through these matches against the NLCW's finest. I wasn't looking to give it my all every time, I knew I couldn't make it through this career of mine if I did... but I did focus myself to try and outsmart the bastards when I could, and buy myself some time to recharge the batteries, so-to-speak.
As funny as it sounds when you look back at this dangerous career of mine... I've been as careful as I can be all along the way. I can't say it's paid off for me every single time, but I can say it did wonders for me in the long-run. Throughout all of my life I never thought I'd see the day a crowd as big as some of the ones we still draw today would all rise to chant my name in unison, that they'd almost all pay to come see me fight out there... but there they are, every single time I make an appearance they're all out there, and they're all chanting away. It's... honestly surreal, to know that I've came as far as I have in such a short span of time.
August 20th, 2003... the first night that I ever stepped foot in a ring on live television. I was in the HWF back then, my debut match against a man called "Yo Mutha Fufka" that, if you were to judge him on his name, went exactly as expected. The equivalent of a less competent Texas Tim, Fufka was an unfortunate man to debut against in all honesty... but it allowed me to start my career on a victory at least. That wouldn't last for very long though, and I soon found myself taking on some of the HWF's greats right out of the starting gate.
It took me awhile to catch up to the world title scene from there... but when I did in time, it drove me out of my mind. All my efforts seemed to be in vain, and I felt like I was losing support of the fans I'd loved to see out there in the process. At the time, I was growing desperate to hold onto the recognition that I had, refusing to just fade away and die. I should have seen how Champion was trying to help me, that he just wanted to see me succeed back then... but it was because of my selfishness that when it came time that he needed my help most, I drove a chair into his head.
He eventually forgave me for that, but sometimes? Sometimes... I still can't forgive myself. The end of my career in the HWF was one of the lowest, if not the lowest moment in all of my career. I felt like I'd ruined everything I could have ever achieved, that I had let go of the potential the higher-ups of the HWF saw in me, and just let it wither and die. Who would honestly accept me, after all that time? Who would support the man who turned on his best friend for just a small taste of glory?
Apparently, the best friend himself would. Apparently, the fans the man turned on would. Apparently... the NLCW would.
It was the greatest decision I could have made in this career of mine, joining the NLCW. Champion brought me here because he knew I still had life left in me to keep on fighting, and he wanted to see me make up for the mistakes I'd made along the way. At the time, I didn't understand how he could forgive me so easily... but I think when it comes down to it, he knew that after I'd made that mistake once, I'd never make it again.
He trusted me, somehow, and the last thing I'd wanted to do was betray that trust. I'd made up my mind to give it my all in the NLCW, and when I set foot in the ring for my big debut against Sean Galen... I did just that: I gave it my all. No-one expected this kid from the HWF to come in and take on the NLCW's World Champion in his debut match and win, it was downright unheard of-- but somehow, I made it happen.
My debut rocketed me into NLCW stardom from there, and as I went through my opponents one after another I began to amass a winning streak that kept the NLCW fans on the edges of their seats. I didn't think it was possible for me to do at the time, but I was somehow going out there night after night and taking down each of my opponents before they could rob me of my record. Six matches into the NLCW and I was still undefeated, going up against the man I'd toppled on my debut for my seventh.
I lost my seventh, the streak was over before it really had the chance to begin, and I honestly credit that as the day that the rivalry between Sean Galen and I really did start. We never got our third match until much further down the line, but from that moment on there would always be a tension between us, knowing we stood at a match a piece and looking to one day make that tie-breaking victory.
I had my fair share of losses in the NLCW from there, none to complain about but some not to be proud of, either. The fact of the matter was though, I wasn't bulletproof, and I was only just becoming the man I am today at that point. Champion was an established name in the NLCW and was essentially their Golden Boy, his record nearly spotless around here. To this day he has very few losses, certainly fewer than I do, and it's because he's a strategist that only goes into situations he knows he can come out of the winner.
At least, unless he sees something greater than victory in the match, at least. I like to think that's why he wanted those matches with me, really... he knew they'd be perfect for everyone involved, and he was right.
Still, the fact does remain that my debut in the NLCW was what rocketed me into success at a much faster rate than any other NLCW debut in quite some time. Before the year's end, I'd pushed myself to the point that I was about to become the fastest World Champion the NLCW had seen, taking on Dillon Durst only months after my debut for his title at the biggest show of the year. It wasn't meant to be at the time, but it wouldn't be long until I got my rematch from there... and history was made only months into 2006. My first world title, the first reign of two, started as unexpectedly as my NLCW career.
That says something, though: I never slowed down. In all my time in the NLCW, I never once was able to fall back and really savor my climb up the ladder. I breezed through the other championships, never once touching gold other than the highest strap. I never got to know what it was like to hold a strap in the NLCW that wasn't the World Title, and while for most that would be one hell of an achievement... it wasn't satisfying for me. It said something about my career that I didn't want to be said, that I was the guy who couldn't wait for the big time. I was the guy who pushed to make it to the top before everyone else, and who probably felt holding any other title but the World Title was demeaning to his career.
Remember how I said I still regret some decisions I made back then? Consider that one of them.
I was one of the greatest North American Champions of the HWF, and I proudly held onto and defended that title with all of my heart back then. To hold any title in the NLCW should be considered an honor, and something I should have sought out in my time here originally... but I never really had the chance to, did I? Always involved in the main event scene, always being held close to the World Title, I never really was able to just break away and try something new.
It's honestly one of the biggest reasons I've returned, actually... because Champion was right, there is still a lot left for me to do. As far as I'm concerned, this career of mine isn't over yet because even though I'm now technically a free agent, I just can't leave the NLCW.
Not when there's still so much left to be done.
And so the end of our little history lesson on this career of mine has led me to this point... NLCW Bloodbath. Honestly? One of those pay-per-views the NLCW holds that has an incredible history for me, an event that brings back painful but amazing memories of the past. It was in 2006 that I took on and defeated Shane Perry at Bloodbath, a match that would earn me my rematch with Dillon Durst and put my career on the fast-track to where it's gone today, three years later.
2009... the rebirth of a hero.