Legacies

[TWhitefield]

(Adler rolls underneath the bottom rope then procedes to the opposite side of the ring, climbing up to the send rope, holding his arms over his head in recognition of the <> X-Change... the US Title belt dangling down along side his arm. Adler moves to the near side and reaches down for a house mic)

I guess by now everybody knows that a match for this United States title has been signed for Anniversary Fifteen...

(crowd starts chanting "Hornet, Hornet, Hornet")

...against the very man I said WOULDN'T get a title shot a couple of weeks ago. I'll get to that another time. But, I wanted to come out here and talk a little bit about a man who, quite frankly, I've barely been allowed to even mention for the last two years.

For all the damage the John Stossells and the Vince McMahon's of the world have done to this sport, there are times when you just can't help but to be slapped in the face by just how real this business can be to the people in it.

Over the last month or so, Hornet has come out here and done something that no professional wrestler is supposed to ever do... show he's human.

And, for all the posturing that goes on in this industry, I think it's pretty safe to say that I'm the ONE man in this business who truly understands Hornet's life. And I understand just how REAL everything the man's going through right now is.

You see... I understand what it's like... to get out of bed... day in and day out... and KNOW that no matter what.. you've HAVE to go out there and perform. Not because you need the money or because you need to put food on your table... but because everybody ELSE does... and their livelihood depends on YOU putting butts in the seats.

And, I know how it feels... KNOWING that you have to do it... no matter what's going on in your life.. whether you're sick or heart broken... whether you're in love or in mourning... I KNOW what it's like to CRAWL out of bed in the morning and drag yourself to the arena... hurting so bad that you know if you took a saw and cut your leg completely off that it'd hurt less... but you suck it up and do it anyway.

I know it like nobody else does, Hornet... because for the better part of eight years I did it. And it's the one thing... maybe the ONLY thing... that you and I share. And we've reaped all the benefits and burdons that come along with it. The money... the fame... all the cars and all the scars... there's not a drop of blood in our bodies that we haven't shed for this industry, Hornet... and there are NO other players in this game that have played it like we have.

And, it's that one single thing that we share... that has been the ultimate source of both our respect... and our distain for each other. And, for whatever else you and I may have ever said or will every say in the future... I have NEVER denied that I respect what you do. Because I alone know how REAL what we do is.

{crowd cheers and applauds in a rare showing of appreciation)

But, I also understand something else going on in your life better than anybody here... I understand chemical addicition. And, I know better than anybody else how hard it was for you to come out here... bare your soul.. and show just how HUMAN people in this industry can be.

And... I understand how everything you said is both heart wrenching... and complete and total BULL<BLEEP> at the same time!

(Crowd boos grow to deafening levels)

Yeah... I understand chemical addiction, Hornet. But, you see.. I understand it from a little different perspective!

I understand it from the perspective of a six year old boy... PINNED in the back seat of a car... barely able to breath waiting for the jaws of life to drag him out of there... while a couple of paramedics SPONGED what was LEFT of my parents out of the front seat after some guy with chemical dependencies thought it would be cool to drive head on into our Chevy at sixty miles an hour.

And, I understand it from the perspective of that SAME six year old little boy who sat there in that court room with tears in his eyes while some Johnny Cochran wanna be got to explain to a judge and jury how it WASN'T HIS FAULT... how he couldn't HELP what he'd done... and if we really wanted to blame somebody... blame the bartender who gave him that last scotch instead of calling him a cab.

Well, Hornet... that six year old boy didn't have the maturity to understand how somebody can sit there, and in an instant (snaps his fingers)... ruin people's lives.. and have somebody cover up for 'em and pat 'em on the back and say it's ok.

Well, Hornet... I'm not six years old anymore. But I'll be DAMNED if I can still figure out how YOU can come out here... CONTINUE to ruin people's lives... and have somebody like MERRITT pat you on the back... say welcome home.. and tell us all that everything will be ok. I admit it, Hornet... that's something I'm just simply not intelligent enough to figure out.

But, unlike that six year old boy, Hornet... this MAN doesn't have to sit there and accept it.

Ya know... for two... LONG years now... I don't think a day's gone by that SOMEBODY hasn't come up to me and asked me when I was gonna fight Hornet. WHY did I let Merritt pull my strings on this.

Well, Hornet, since we've thrown kayfabe right out the window on this, I'll tell ya. I let Merritt do it because in some screwed up way I felt I owed something to him. When I came back to this company... I didn't do it because I wanted to... God knows the history I've had here... why would I. I did it because it was the only option I had.

I didn't have anybody knocking on my door... asking "Mr. Magnificent" to join their federation. Half of 'em turned me down because they didn't think I could cut it any more. The other half turned me down because they were scared to death I still could.

But, Merritt gave me a chance. Why? Who the hell knows. Maybe to make my life miserable. Maybe because he thought he could keep his thumb on me and I'd never be an issue. I gave up trying to figure him out long ago. But, it was the only option I had.

But, things change. And before too long... the offers started rolling in. Offers that guys like Aho... Flair... Southern and Stevens accepted. Offers that YOU accepted. And, with the exception of the SWA a while back... that I accepted because of respect for a former foe... I turned every one of 'em down. Because as much as I hate Chad Merritt... I thought I owed that to him.

And, for whatever you or anybody else wants to believe, I WOULD have stood by this company.

But, like I said... things change. And, for all of us... things changed at Battle Of The Belts... when your REAL problem came to the surface... and they changed again in Anaheim... when Merritt became so desperate to take my title away from me that he opened Pandora's Box itself.

And, here we are. Two years in the making? No... this one goes back a lot further than that, Hornet. Back further than Steve Thomas giving me double the contract you got. Back further than you stabbing me in the back at TWS. Back further than Tetreault suggesting I job my way out of an Ultra Title that the AAWC no longer desired to be associated with... No, Hornet... this one goes back to day one. When you and I stood all alone on this planet... the yin and the yang... the dark and the light... the Greatest American Hero and the Arc Angel.

You and I are gonna MAKE people remember WHY we are the two best that this industry has EVER produced. We're either gonna do it, or I'm gonna kill you trying.

(Adler tosses the mic to the mat, raises his arms over his head in the "X" fashion again as Revillusion begins to play again and he exits the arena to a chorus of boos and cheers)