Reckoning of the Iron Titan

You want to know what it feels like to fall from grace?  To taste the bitterness of defeat after knowing the sweet embrace of victory all too well?  Let me tell you something…it’s like drowning in a sea of your own failures…gasping for air but never quite managing to reach the surface.

Losing the Prodigy Championship…it was a blow unlike any other that I’ve faced before.  It wasn’t just about the title itself, but rather it was about everything that it represented.  It was the countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears that I poured into becoming the champion.  It was about the pride that I felt every time I stepped into that ring, knowing that I was better than the person who was standing across from me and the championship belt around my waist proved it.

But then James Crist came along…and in the blink of an eye, it was all ripped away from me.  And since then, it’s just been one setback after another.  Loss after loss, humiliation after humiliation.  It’s like I’m trapped in this never-ending cycle of defeat and no matter how hard I fight, I just can’t seem to break free.  You have no idea what it’s like to question everything you thought that you knew about yourself.  To lie awake at night, staring at the ceiling, wondering if maybe, just maybe, you’re not cut out for this after all.  Maybe you’re not as good as you thought you were.  Hell, maybe you never were.

But then something inside you snaps.  Something deep down, buried beneath all of the doubt and self pity…it rises to the surface.  A fire…a burning desire to prove everyone wrong.  To prove to yourself that you’re stronger than this.  That you’re better than this.  So yes.  I have indeed been knocked down.  I’ve been beaten, battered, and bruised.  But you know what?  I’m still standing here.  And I will be damned if I’m going to let a handful of losses define who the Iron Titan is.  I refuse to be another footnote in the history books, another cautionary tale of a fallen champion who couldn’t hack it.

I am Maximus fucking Steele, damn it.  I AM the Iron TItan.  And I will not go down without a fight.  So to all the doubters, all the naysayers, to everyone who’s written me off…I have  a message for you…

I’m coming back.  Stronger, fiercer, and more determined than ever before.  You think that you’d seen the last of my successes?  That I was going to pack it up and head back to the steel mills with a few good stories to tell my grandchildren one day?  Think again.  Because this is just the beginning.  This is where the comeback starts.  Where the Iron Titan’s story starts all over again.

Jupiter King.  It starts with you.  You’ve been making quite the wave lately, haven’t you?  The attack on Nayati and the formation of your new little group has sent shockwaves that have been felt across the entire industry.  The truth is, you’ve always been a capable adversary.  I know.  I’ve stepped into the ring with you before.  But now, aligned with Mercadier de Leon and Christopher Sabertooth…you’ve become more formidable than ever.  Salvation, they call themselves.  A fitting name considering they seem to think they’re the saviors of PCW…but let me enlighten you on something.  There is nothing noble about any of your actions.

Aligning yourself with these two.  I get it.  I really do.  It’s a well calculated move, no doubt about it.  Sabertooth’s cunning, Mercadier’s ambition…together now with Jupiter’s rugged unpredictability.  They’re a force to be reckoned with.  But they’re also a stain on everything that this sport stands for.  There is nothing righteous or just about what these people do, despite what they would have you believe.  All they bring is chaos and destruction.  What they did to Nayati…a man that has EARNED my respect through the rigors of combat…it sickens me.

And now I find myself in their crosshairs.  Me, the former Prodigy Champion, the once-unstoppable Iron Titan.  Whether they admit it or not, I am a threat to them…a roadblock standing in the way of their twisted vision for PCW.  And I want to make something perfectly clear to them now…I will not be intimidated.  I will not be swayed by their mind games, their numbers advantages, or any of their underhanded tactics.

Jupiter, you may think that you have the upper hand now with your newfound friendships…you may think that you indeed hold all of the cards.  But you’re wrong.  Dead wrong.  I have defied the odds my entire career and I will be damned if I let a group of self-righteous hypocrites like you and your friends take me down.

This match isn’t just about settling a score for Nayati.  It isn’t just about breathing new life into my career.  It’s about standing up for everything that I believe in.  It’s about showing the world that no matter how dark things may seem, there’s always a glimmer of hope.  There’s always someone willing to stand up and fight for what’s right.

That person is the Iron Titan.

So bring your worst, Jupiter.  Bring your army of misfits and malcontents.  Bring your dirty tricks and cheap shots.  Because no matter what you throw at me, I’ll be ready.  I’ll be waiting.  And when the dust settles, it will be me alone, standing tall in the center of that ring…victorious once again.

Because you see, Jupiter…the thing about salvation is that it can’t be forced upon someone.  It has to be earned.  And you, my dear, have a long way to go before you can even begin to claim the moral high ground.  So go ahead.  You, Mercadier, Sabertooth….preach your gospel of righteousness.  Spread your lies and propaganda.  But just remember…in this business, the truth always has a way of coming out inside of that ring.  

And when it does…when the masks are finally ripped away and your true colors are revealed for the world to see…I will be there.  Waiting.  Ready to deliver the final blow that will send you and your little band of zealots back to whatever hole you crawled out of.

So let the games begin, Jupiter.  Let us see if you and your friends have what it takes to finally bring down the Iron Titan once and for all.

But spoiler alert…

You don’t stand a fucking chance.