June 4th 2018 : Nashville, TN : EBWF.net Exclusive
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The video opened with a close up of Renee Young standing in front of a Warfare backdrop. She had on a red lace top with a black neckline.
Renee Young : We’re just moments out from the close of the June 4th episode of Warfare and I’m joined by the new number one contender for the Breakout Championship, Aiden English, for an EBWF dot net exclusive interview! Aiden, thanks for joining me!
Aiden English : The pleasure is all yours I’m sure!
Renee Young : Like I said, you’ve just beat Rob Van Dam and Marty Scurll to become the number one contender for the Breakout Championship. How does it feel to be the next in line for a shot at Seth Rollins’ title?
Aiden English : That title used to belong to Seth Rollins. It doesn’t anymore. See, like I told you with my victory over Orton two weeks ago, my victory is already a foregone conclusion. There is no other way for this to go. I’m going to beat Rollins and I’m going to take that title. All that’s left is to decide on a when and where. I’m sure Ikeda has something fun cooked up for that one.
Renee Young : How do you plan on celebrating this massive win over Scurll and Van Dam tonight?
Aiden English : I wouldn’t call it a massive win. It was a win, but it was basically like I was out there in that ring alone when it comes to talent. I’m trimming the fat here in EBWF, cleaning up the roster of all the useless parts. My tireless efforts and flawless execution have just finally given me the opportunity at a main course. I don’t plan on celebrating this win, it’s not worthy of celebration. I beat a talentless cry baby that keeps threatening to break peoples fingers and an aging hardcore legend who’s so smoked out I’m surprised he found the arena. I do plan on celebrating becoming the number one contender. And, I plan on doing that by taking the next few days to return to my home city of Chicago. I’m going to spend time with my wife, relax in the greatest city in the world and enjoy a real pizza.
Renee Young : How soon do you expect to challenge Seth for the title?
Aiden English : I couldn’t say what Wes has planned, like I said, I’m sure he has something up his sleeves when it comes to this title fight. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m facing Seth at the end of the King of the Ring tournament. Maybe that match will have increased stakes this year. Winner is King of the Ring and Breakout Champion. Talk about making history!
Renee Young : When it comes to King of the Ring, how do you prepare to take on an opponent as massive as the one you face next week when you take on Braun Strowman in the second round of the King of the Ring tournament?
Aiden English : When everything comes as naturally to you as it does to me, there is no need to prepare to face a foe. It doesn’t matter the size or shape that enemy takes, you just get in the ring and perform to the best of your ability. For most, that may not always be enough to overcome a size advantage. For me, with my level of talent, he may as well be the size of Neville for as much as it matters.
Renee Young : What is your strategy going into a match against a man who has never been pinned or submitted?
Aiden English : I like when people make that distinction. Never been pinned. Never been submitted. It sounds like a compliment, a boast. But, it’s not. You think you’re hyping up the Beast and maybe there are some people out there who hear that and think,
Aiden English : “Never been pinned or submitted. He has to be the best wrestler ever!” They don’t see the big picture. Are you one of those people Renee? Do you miss the big picture hiding in such a brag?
Renee Young : I’m not sure what you mean.
Aiden English : Don’t worry, I’ll get you up to speed. Never been pinned. Never been submitted. Read between the lines in those two statements. You know what you didn’t say about Braun Strowman? What you couldn’t say about Braun Strowman? Never been beat. Never lost a match. You can’t say that or that’s how you would say it. If Braun Strowman was undefeated, you’d have asked me a completely different question. A question you might consider asking my opponent next time you see him! What strategy does he plan on using when he has to face a man who has never been BEAT? Doesn’t that roll of the tongue better than never been pinned or submitted? The undefeated Drama King of the EBWF, Aiden English. There’s no reason to be particularly worried about beating someone who has already been beat. I may not be the bigger man in the fight, but I am the one who is advancing to the next round. Of that, you need have no doubts!
Renee Young : Has anyone ever told you how amazingly self assured you are?
Aiden English : You know, I tell myself that everyday! I have to be self assured. No one is going to do me any favors in life. No one is going to help me along. I don’t have two other members of the roster watching my back. I’m standing here on my own two feet. If you’re on twitter you know I have respect for Jimmy Havoc. But, he’s not going to lift me up on his shoulders and carry me to a title reign. No, I don’t have anyone to rely on because I don’t need to rely on anyone. I am confident in my ability. I do talk big. I do stir up drama. I do treat my fellow talent with the same disrespect this company shows me. But Renee, when have I ever said I was going to beat someone and then not went down to that ring and beat them?
Renee Young : Like you said, you’re undefeated in EBWF. I just wonder if Braun Strowman is a bigger challenge than anyone you’ve faced so far.
Aiden English : That’s the problem. People seem to confuse bigger with better. Bigger and better don’t mean the same thing. They’re not synonyms. In a business like wrestling they are practically antonyms. Wrestling is an art form and everyone who climbs in that ring is an artist. Some artists paint masterpieces with such attention to detail they will become legends while still living. Someone like myself. I’m skilled, technically sound and my work is a masterpiece in motion. Then you have your artist who paint with the big, clumsy fingers they were born with. Too busy being big to pick up a brush and learn the technical side of the art. Every once in a while they may turn out a piece that moves beyond mediocre into the realm of decent art, they aren’t Rembrandt and Picasso. They’re your kid bringing you that thing they finger painted in kindergarten that they call a pony but no one sees it. Sure, you say it’s beautiful and hang it up but it’s going to be on exhibit there just until you can sneak it into the trash.
Renee Young : You alluded to Braun’s partners Nikki Cross and Finn Balor earlier. Are you worried about them interfering in the match?
Aiden English : I’d hope Braun has enough self respect to loose on his own. However, if he needs to have an excuse for getting beat, I welcome them to come down and distract him all they want. They’re not going to distract me. I’m focused like a laser on climbing this mountain to success. I’m looking out for number one Renee. The NEW number one!
Renee Young : I guess that’s all from Aiden English, the new number one contender to Seth Rollins’ Breakout Championship. Thank you all for joining us on EBWF.net!
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June 6th 2018 : Chicago, IL : Riva Crab House
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Aiden English was sitting at a small table for two at Riva Crab House in his hometown of Chicago. His wife, Shaul sat opposite of him. Aiden had on a black button up shirt and a red tie, his wife was in a matching red and black dress. A waiter was clearing their dinner plates off the table.
Aiden English : I’m glad you talked me into coming here, what a great meal.
Shaul Guerrero : I told you! I’ve had a lot of meals out these last few weeks with you on the road.
Aiden English : I know, it’s been a hectic schedule. You wouldn’t miss me so much if you were on the road with me. It pays better than floating too!
Shaul Guerrero : You know I’m not looking to get back in the ring.
Aiden English : I know, I know. I’m not suggesting you get back in the ring. I understand you’re done with that part of your career but hear me out. They could always use more on air talent!
Shaul Guerrero : You want me to interview?
Aiden English : No?
Aiden English : Maybe I could use a hot young manager. Someone to do my talking for me. I can lean into that speak softly and carry a big stick persona.
Shaul Guerrero : Don’t make me laugh! You and I both know that you live to hear yourself talk. If you had to stand around and listen to me do all the talking you’d go insane. Besides, I know you’ve been doing a good job. I’ve been watching.
Aiden English : I’m just trying to keep you close while I’m out on the road. I think you’d like the company, some good people floating around.
Shaul Guerrero : I’ll consider it. No promises.
Aiden English : I couldn’t ask for anything more. As much as I want you on the road, you have to do what makes you happy. Speaking of making people happy, we should hit the Shakespeare before I have to go back to work.
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June 7th 2018 : YouTube : Curtain Call
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The video opened in a familiar fashion, Aiden English standing in front of a black background with the gold Curtain Call logo. This time he had a pair of antique reading glasses and a small book tucked under his right arm. He studied the camera.
Aiden English : Welcome to another exciting episode of Curtain Call, I’m your host Aiden English. Tonight we are going to go on a different kind of journey than you may be used to. I know, we just brought on a new cast for the show but tonight we’re going to get a little more intimate. Just you and I in front of the fireplace, snuggled up with a classic story. A story I am going to recount to you in great detail.
Aiden English : This is one of the many tales of Jack the Giant Slayer. A legendary figure that comes out of the Arthurian tradition. Surrounded by knights and nobility, Jack was born to a family of little consequence without titles or land claims. The most common story about Jack is that of Jack and the Beanstalk. That is not the story I’m going to tell you today. This is the story of Jack and Brun the Giant. Brun was the tallest, strongest and dumbest of all the giants in the land. He had heard tales of Jack and the many giants who had fallen before the man and he sought him out. He pillaged castles and kingdoms in search of the Giant Slayer. When word reached King Arthur he dispatched a unit of eleven knights to ride out to stop the rampaging Brun. Not one knight returned. All of them were slain by Brun the Mighty. After several days Arthur dispatched Gawain and Lancelot, both respected knights, to report news of the knights sent before. When they reached Brun’s camp they found him feasting on the flesh of the knight’s…
Aiden English : horses. Feasting on the flesh of the knight’s horses. They attacked the giant and both men were beaten back into retreat. They returned word to King Arthur about the might Brun and his tenacity. He had not been beat by the eleven knights, he had not been beaten by Gawain and Lancelot. Since none had beaten him, it seemed likely that no one ever would. That is until word began to spread far and wide that Gawain and Lancelot had both been bested by the giant. The common folk lived in fear. Brun was the story told to small children to keep them out of the woods, and make them mind. As that word spread it eventually reached a quiet little hamlet at the edge of the Kingdom. The small town had grown up around the stump of a magical beanstalk and every year the people of the hamlet would prune that little stump and make sure nothing grew from it.
Aiden English : In that small town lived a man named Jack. It was Jack who had cut through the base of the beanstalk with his father’s axe. The axe of the man the giant climbing down the stalk had slain. It was that man who used that same axe to fell nearly a dozen more giants at all corners of the kingdom. Jack packed his bags and set out for the castle of the great King Arthur. After several days of travel, he reached the King. He spoke with both Gawain and Lancelot about their battle with the beast. He reviewed the lineage of each of the eleven fallen nights. Then on the eleventh day he sat out to slay the beast called Brun. The man rode into the woods, following the death and destruction left in the wake of the monster. At every village he met he found chaos. Cattle taken for meal, houses burnt for kindling and terrified folk too afraid to tend the fields. At each village he roused the people and had them dig the deepest trench they could, covered in tree limbs and hay. At the bottom of each pit he taught the villagers to plant trees with sharpened tops and deep roots.
Aiden English : Then at the gates of a large castle in the north he found Brun, laying siege. He screamed the beasts name at the top of his lungs. But, it was too consumed by the lust to tople the castle to hear him. He shot an arrow at the giant. But, his skin was too thick to notice the shot. The man marched across the field, through the footprints of the monster and right up to his heels. Again he yelled the name of the beast. Brun turned and saw Jack. A man who was legend to the giants for all those he had slain. For so many nights and across so many miles he had hunted for the Giant Slayer and now he was there at his feet. “You don’t look scary,” Brun said to Jack. Jack pointed at the blood trickling from his arrow to the back of the giant’s leg. “I have already drawn first blood. You are beat!” The giant swatted at the tiny arrow at the back of his leg and it erupted into a shower of splinters. Jack drew his axe from his side and took off across the field. “I have won! Brun is slain,” Jack shouted as he bolted for the woods.
Aiden English : The giant gave chase. For eleven days and ten nights Jack ran and he ran. For those eleven days and ten nights Brun chased. He had lost his breath and was near giving up on the eleventh night when he spotted Jack only a few paces away eating supper. Jack looked up at the beast. “Fee-fi my foe is dumb, he’s about to get beat by an Englishman,” Jack taunted. Brun was enraged. “Be he big and be he tall, I’ll slay this beast like I have slain them all.” Brun charged at the smaller man. By the time he noticed he was falling it was too late. Brun lay at the bottom of a hole, impaled by sharpened trees. Jack climbed down into the pit and he used his father’s axe to finish the job. Brun the beast, the undefeated monster, perished in that pit underneath Jack. The villagers and Jack covered the hole in dirt.
Aiden English : The story of Jack and Brun teaches us several lessons. It teaches us about overconfidence. Brun was overconfident in his ability to best Jack because he was bigger and stronger than Jack. Brun was overconfident because he had defeated a legion of armored knights and Jack was a man with an axe. It teaches us about planning and preparation. Jack wasn’t big or strong, he didn’t have armor and horses. Jack relied on his cunning and wit to end the reign of terror caused by Brun. It teaches us the virtue of compassion. Jack, had he stayed in his home, would like have never been found by the monster. He could have lived out his days in peace. But Jack, being the compassionate soul he was, couldn’t let the people suffer when he knew he could end it. He sought out the trouble. He planned for their confrontation. And, in the end he slew the beast with ease. On the eleventh,
Aiden English : On the eleventh night Jack slew Brun and put an end to his terrorizing of the population. No longer would the people be forced to watch idly while he tore down their houses and used them to build fires to cook their cattle on. No longer would they fear going into the woods, going to the river or sending their children out to play. Jack was a hero, who came not from wealth or titles but from the people. Later in life, after beating Brun, Jack would go on to become royalty. After saving the daughter of a late King, he married her and ascended the throne. Together they would rule over the people fairly and justly.
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June 9th 2018 : Chicago, IL : Aiden’s House
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For the first time in a while Aiden was relaxing at home in a pair of board shorts. He was in a dark room, illuminated only by the light of a television screen. He propped his legs up on the coffee table and took a drink of soda. On the screen was a video of his father-in-law wrestling a match. Aiden was rather focused on the match, so much so that he didn’t notice Shaul hovering behind him. He was grunting and cheering along with the match. He counted along with the referee as his father-in-law made the cover. He pumped his fist like it was a win of his own. Shaul draped her arms around him and kissed him on the cheek.
Shaul Guerrero : Why are you here in the dark watching my dad wrestle?
Aiden English : Tape study!
Shaul Guerrero : When people do tape studies, don’t they normally watch tape of the person they are about to compete with?
Aiden English : True artists take note of the masters and learn from them. Your father was a master, a legend in that ring. There’s a lot I could learn. But, if it bothers you I will turn it off right this instant.
Shaul Guerrero : No, just scoot over and let me sit beside you. This was a good match, huge frog splash.
Aiden English : I’m working my way to the fake chair shots.
Shaul Guerrero : Thinking about bringing those back?
Aiden English : Not a bad move to have on my utility belt. I’ve got to keep pushing myself to perform better and better. Maybe the brass will give me the push I deserve if I can up my game, really show what I can do this week with Strowman. Make the people see that our match should have been made the main event.
Shaul Guerrero : Your time will come love, don’t worry.
Aiden English : You still thinking over what we talked about at dinner?
Shaul Guerrero : Yeah, I am. I know you can do your own talking but it never hurts to have someone to talk to. Someone who can reign you in when you get on one of those long winded rants you’re so fond of.
Aiden English : I’ve been shooting out this one liner all over the place. By hook or by crook. Maybe it’s time I start incorporating that into my ring style. Take a more rules fluid approach to working.
Shaul Guerrero : Seems to fit the character you’re building. Maybe you should skip ahead to those fake chair shots and then we can find footage of some heel managers putting feet on ropes.
Aiden English : I love it when you talk dirty to me.
Shaul Guerrero : This one?
Aiden English : He’s going to hit his best friend with a title belt.
Shaul Guerrero : A title? Aren’t we getting ahead of ourselves?
Aiden English : Always be prepared!
Shaul Guerrero : Oh and now you’re a boy scout. A boy scout trying to learn how to cheat better. Sounds like a real boy scouty thing to do.