Unsainted - 28/04/24

You win or you learn, right?

Cliché as it tends to sound, it proved true at Vendetta.

There were a lot of things that were said leading up to the Chamber of Valor match that really resonated with me. Not immediately, mind you. It wasn’t until after I was the first man eliminated that I found myself going back to the comments that had been made about me, about my perspective heading into that match... and I realised a lot of them were right. I was too late to change how Vendetta panned out for me, of course. I tunnel visioned for a moment and it cost me. But what I can do is change the way I look at things now and fix the mistakes I was making on my way to this moment right here.

I've cut people too much slack. At every turn I've tried to be honourable because that’s what the guy who carried this company on its back when it first opened its doors is supposed to do… but sometimes I’ve been doing so to a fault, carelessly tossing aside the fact that some of the people I’ve been put up against used any cheap means to stand opposite me in favour of giving them what was more often than not respect that was not earned. I have to thank our new Valor Champion for putting my one major flaw so eloquently. My desire to prove myself as the backbone of this company overshadowed my common sense... but I don't need to prove that anymore. My job is done. I am the backbone of PCW. I'm the measuring stick, the benchmark, the man that every hopeful title challenger and champion will be compared to for as long as I'm a member of this roster. If you want to live up to that? You don't have to beat me. You just have to prove you belong in this ring with me. But I think I proved on Sunday that I’m not playing nice anymore. Kasey Kash, he has all of my sympathy. But AZAZEL? Showing empathy and giving him mercy when all he’s done scratch at my heels for months was a mistake. It’s about damn time I start taking matters into my own hands and take AZAZEL out for good, not because it’s the “right thing to do” or because I care about Kasey Kash. That used to be what this was about. Not anymore. Last Sunday was about giving him the first taste of his own medicine. His next dose is due soon…

But speaking of medicine…

Tomi Venus. You are one twisted man. It amazes me to see what you’ve become, to see the lengths you’ll go to both in and out of the ring, and you’re a prime example of someone who I tried to give a break to for no good reason. You might hate to hear this but you’re not as far from AZAZEL as you might think. Whatever caused him to overcome Kasey Kash started with that mask. I know it. I can feel it. And then look at what has happened to you. Target Smiles had the chance to be a symbol of hope when he wore that mask but when you shed that mask you also seemed to shed every ounce of decency you ever had. You’re not a demon, of course… but you’re certainly not a good man. You showed me that in the Chamber of Valor. Just like AZAZEL, you almost put me on the shelf. Just like AZAZEL, you thought you could be something better when you disguised yourself behind a mask. You’re a mirrored image. Two sides of the same coin. But that’s the funny thing about coins.

Whether they land heads or tails, the penny ultimately still has to drop.

You bested me at Vendetta, not through luck or fluke, but because you’d put a bullseye on my back from the moment you shed that mask and revealed your true self. Unfortunately, you don’t have the courtesy of four other competitors to sway my focus. This Sunday it’s just going to be me and you in that ring. Worse yet, I’m pissed off. I’m mad. I’m mad not just because I let the PCW Valor Championship slip but because I did so by letting you pin me, by letting you take me out. You told me you were gunning for me and I allowed you to take the shot. You never hear the shot that takes you down, I know. I certainly didn’t. But make no mistake about it, you won’t have to worry about that for the one I’ve got loaded for you. Yeah, you might not hear it… but you’ll damn sure see it. And when you blink I’ll personally strip away your so-called ”sainthood.”

So don’t expect to be walking towards virtue when I leave you staring at those bright lights.