It’s funny, this is a night I’ve dreamt of for nearly a decade. The moment I nearly sold my very soul to gain glory and fame, to become a contender and through my own pride and hubris, allowed that world championship to slip through my fingers. And now through viruses, poison, asylums and the blinding heat of the phoenix, I have one last chance at redemption. To prove I’m worthy of greatness.
So why on this hallowed night is my attention fractured? Why is my focus not on the three incredible opponents before me but a spectre of darkness no one else remembers? I see three men who I know far too well, that I have grown to like and despise, still tainted by his poison.
Lee Crowley, the Mad King. The vile corrupter who murdered an innocent woman in cold blood, who corrupted bodies, minds and souls before finding redemption with a trio of broken, maladjusted psychopaths who made one another better by their very presence. Yet I don’t see the neutral man who gained back his humanity through love and freedom, I see the sociopathic monster who he forced to abandon the people who cared about him most to use as a weapon to secure Hell.
Lux Bellator, the conflicted paladin of Yahweh’s light. Who suffered through his father’s false teachings, who tried to be a better man for those he cared about and for the next generation to understand the best parts of God’s love. But I see a broken soul who tortured others for a false prophecy who even after years later, was burdened with guilt for the sins he had committed.
Mike Lane, the warrior who endured. One of the greatest fighters that ever lived, who overcame every single obstacle, and was rewarded with a peaceful rest for those he loved most. The Shadow I know was a selfless, pure soul who gave his own life to destroy a fragment of evil’s tyranny and was rewarded with a grim future of losing his only daughter to a monster beyond imagination.
For Lee, Michael and Lux, this match is a war against three opponents they have raged against before but nothing truly new. They don’t see his shadow, they don’t feel his lingering presence that still cuts through OSW’s soul. Yet some part of me refuses to forget the demon I helped create. But I am tired of punishing myself for believing there was good in you.
This Family Rules match might just be another odd name to them but to me, it’s atonement for my sins and a way to ensure you cannot corrupt this pure world anymore.
Mike Lane doesn’t deserve to endure the suffering you inflict.
Lux Bellator doesn’t need to know his beloved god corrupted the world.
Smiley can’t know his tale ended in true tragedy.
And when I hold that world title high, I will finally prove I never needed you at all.
Not with an enduring smile, not praying to the gods.
I don’t do so in vengeance or for her.
I erase DTR and the Family because I finally listened to my reason.