FADE IN...
Troy Douglas, dressed in his normal attire of a black TEAM t-shirt and khaki shorts, stands in front of an EPICENTER banner at TEAM's temporary production office in the Twin Cities. The newly crowned EPW Intercontinental Champion, presently looking down at the floor, raises his head to camera level, takes a deep breath, settles himself and smiles.
TD: Guess it looks like we get to do this dance one more time, folks.
Me and Dan Ryan, one-on-one, in the Sweet Sixteen of the TEAM Invitational. Has a pretty good ring to it, huh?
Ladies and gentlemen, you're not going to get me much more excited for a match. I get to go inside that ring with the man that most people consider the consensus best wrestler on the Earth, the man who just happens to have at the center of his trophy case back in Houston the very prize that the 16 remaining men and women in this field are all fighting for.
A man who I'm sure isn't too happy about what happened the last team he and I set foot in a TEAM ring together, when I -- by my own admission -- basically **** away the Lethal Lottery titles.
I'm sure Dan, that you can't wait to make me pay for that little screwup.
And, of course, I'm sure that Dan Ryan is primed and ready for a little payback for what happened the last time the two of us went face to face in any squared circle, when just a couple weeks ago on A1E's Warfare I rolled Dan Ryan up and kept his shoulders on the mat for three whole seconds.
That's right. For those of you who have been living under a cave or just plain don't care about me, I beat Dan Ryan fair and square, no B.S., smack dab in the middle of the ring.
And, despite what some people might say about the laws of nature and the rules of physics, I have every intention of making sure that in Minneapolis, in the Sweet Sixteen, lightning strikes for a second time.
After all, folks, what good are rules and laws if you can't break them once in a while?
But, tune in in a little while when Dan Ryan inevitably responds, because I'm sure you won't hear anywhere near the same sentiments from him.
You'll hear a lot of talk about my history of choking, my reputation for inconsistency, and maybe even the familiar chorus about how I'm not ready yet. About how I don't have it in me to reach out and grab that brass ring, and about how this time, I'm going to do what I've done in so many other big situations in my career.
I'm going to fail. Am I on the right page, Dan?
I've heard it all before, and I've heard damn well enough of it, folks. I've lived with bull**** and criticism for eight years, and I'd like to think I've earned at least a little bit of respect from the men I head into that ring with.
I'd like to think that what I've accomplished, especially in the past year, actually means something.
If Dan Ryan beats me, he beats me. Not because I choked, not because I couldn't handle the pressure, not because I "wasn't ready yet".
It'll be because Dan Ryan really is the best in the world. It'll be because he lived up to that Merritt Trophy and all those World titles that he needs three manservants to help him carry around. It won't be because I couldn't hack it, Dan. If you beat me, it's because on that day, in that ring, you were better than me.
And if I beat you, Dan, I don't want the excuses. I don't want to hear about how there's too much on your plate, about how it was a fluke, about how the referee counted too damn fast.
This ain't your company, big man. You can't threaten a ref with his job in this tournament.
No, if you lose, Dan, it's for no other reason then that for that night, inside that ring, I was the better man.
That's why you lost to me the first time, Dan, and I see no reason whatsoever why it can't happen again. I expect hell. Frankly, I welcome hell, because if you can't walk through fire and come out on triumphant on the other side, if you can't throw yourself headlong into the lion's den and walk out victorious, then there's just no use at all in going on the journey.
I may not walk out of Minneapolis having taken the A1E World Title, the CSWA Unified Title, the NFW World Title, your ownership of A1E and EPW, your shiny new Bentley or anything of any material, but I will have your respect, Dan. I will not be a second-class citizen in your world any longer.
I will not, under any circumstances, be a man that you think you can push around. I didn't get in your way in EPW or A1E, Dan. I went on with my business, and I validated four years in your company by finally strapping gold around my waist at Black Dawn.
I made my statement in Empire Pro, and I made my statement in A1E. This time, I make a statement to you and the rest of the wrestling world.
You're not getting me out of this tournament quite so easily, folks. Until anyone stops me, I've got four matches left to win.
But none of them, not one, matters at all if I can't pass the test placed in front of me this week. And Dan, I have every intention of passing this one with flying colors.
I've put two men down already, but in the climb up Mount Everest that is the TEAM Invitational Tournament, I've barely even reached base camp. Starting this week in Minneapolis, everything's going to get a hell of a lot steeper.
But Dan, don't mistake me for Sisyphus. I'm not a man rolling a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll down again time after time after time. I'm the man who's going to grab that boulder and force it up to the summit, and when I get there, I'll take my place at the peak.
And if the boulder happens to roll over you on its way down the other side, well, there's just not anything I can do about that.
I'm looking forward to this, Dan. Do yourself a favor and look forward to this, too.
If not, the Sweet Sixteen will be the end of your road. And I'm just the man to send you there.
...FADE OUT
