A Long Road

[Tony S]

The EBWF World Championship. The EBWF Intercontinental Championship. The EBWF Path-to-Glory Championship. The EBWF Tag-Team Championship. These championship hung on a white wall, stacked one above the other. A storied history. The years that it took to get those championships. The blood, sweat, and tears that were shed to accomplish those dreams.

There PJ sat across from those championships. Across from his legacy. He leaned forward in his chair with his elbows on his knees. His hands clasped together under his chin. He sat there and he stared across the short distance at the championship belts that he has won during his career in EBWF. The growth he made from the EBWF Tag-Team Championship when he debuted in EBWF to his most recent championship, the EBWF World Championship.

The silence was broken with a simple exhale.

PJ Black: ”It’s been a long road..”

Those words seemed to echo through the empty room. Only PJ and his championships.

PJ Black: ”To look back at where I started. How new to the game I was. When I finally got that call.. The call to try out for this company. No one thought that I was going to amount to anything. They thought that I would just subjected to the undercard. They thought that I was just good enough to make the next big star look good..

But I learned.. I grew.

Each year, I took what I learned from the previous year, and I took it to heart. I adapted my style. I reworked my routine in the ring. I changed up everything about me.. I even changed my name.

Everything.”

PJ let out another sigh as he continued.

PJ Black: ”Even after all that, I still had my doubters. I still had people saying that I wasn’t good enough. I still had people saying that I didn’t belong. That I should just give up and move on. They said that I would never win the big one.

But then...”

It looked as though PJ was going to continue, but he took a moment. He closed his eyes for a second and then opened them. His eyes rose and looked at the two top belts. The EBWF Path-to-Glory Championship and the EBWF World Championship.

PJ Black: ”I proved them wrong.”

With a small gleam in his eye, PJ smirked.

PJ Black: ”I did what everyone said I couldn’t do.. I made it to the top.

I didn’t have the help from friends or family. I didn’t have the help of the EBWF Universe. I didn’t have the faith of the EBWF Board of Directors. I didn’t even have the approval of Wes Ikeda himself. No.. I didn’t have any of that.

I did it all on my own.

I’m the one who went through hell for years. I took the torment. I took the ridicule. I took everything that everyone could throw at me. Then I had the best year of my life when I became the EBWF Path-to-Glory Champion. A championship that I made relevant. A championship that I made mean something.

Not by cashing it in and taking the easy way to the EBWF World Championship.. No. I held onto that championship. When everyone said that I was stupid for holding onto the golden ticket. Saying that I was scared to cash it in and fail.. They thought that they knew what I was doing, but they had no clue.

I didn’t need a moment of the spotlight. I didn’t want to have a flash of glory.. I wanted the whole thing, and the only way to do that was to make a statement. And I did just that. Contender after contender. Defense after defense. I fought to keep that championship and not only make it mean something, but make me mean something.

To make this business mean something..”

The smirk was gone and PJ was all business again. His serious stare looked deeply into the championships.

PJ Black: ”Then, after a year of proving myself over and over, I got my shot. I got my chance to make history and I did just that when I beat five other men and became EBWF World Champion.”

Black slowly nodded his head as he took another moment to breathe.

PJ Black: ”I have had a tremendous career.. A lot of things to be proud of. I’ve held all these championships. I’ve made lifelong friendships. I even met my wife. This business has made all my dreams come true..

However.. There has always been something that has eluded me.”

PJ leaned back in the chair sighed. He shook his head as he sat there for a moment. Black leaned up and reached over the arm of the chair. From there and pulled up a mannequin head. He leaned back once more and held the black head in front of him. He stared at it for a few seconds before he continued.

PJ Black: ”A few years ago, I bought this one reason. I bought this to put right over there on a shelf next to my championships. Random, but there’s a point..

See, this head was supposed to have a crown on it.. It was meant to wear the EBWF King of the Ring crown, but to this day, it sits empty..

That is what’s been a thorn in my side my entire career. Every year when it comes.. Every year that I’m put in to the tournament.. Every time I make it to the King of the Ring pay per view.. But every time..

I fail...

The King of the Ring Tournament has always been the time of the year where I compete on a level that I never knew that I have. Every year, I go above and beyond my capabilities. But every year, I fail to get the crown. I fail to complete the quest..”

Black to the mannequin head on the arm of the chair. He turned his head slightly to look at the head.

PJ Black: ”For the last two years, I haven’t competed in the King of the Ring Tournament.. But even when I’m not in the tournament, the King of the Ring crown still torments me. It still taunts me..

Last year when I was on the shelf, I sat at ringside and I watched Tommy End and Seth Rollins battling it out in the finals of the King of the Ring, I wanted nothing more than to jump the barricade and run in and take both men out and take that crown for my own. I wanted to be in that match. I wanted to win that match..

Two years ago, I was the EBWF World Champion. I sat in the back and I watched every man fight for those final two spots. I watched as they did everything they could to get a shot at my championship. I saw the fire in their eyes that I had in my eyes when I was in their shoes. I saw that pain they were in after the month long torture that is the King of the Ring Tournament. I wanted that torture..”

He took another pause as she continued to stare at the mannequin.

PJ Black: ”This year, I’m back after what could have been a career threatening injury. After having my entire career flash before my eyes and seeing just what I’ve done. What I’ve accomplished. But also seeing what I haven’t done..

This year..

This year, I’m leaving no doubt. This year, I am taking that crown. I don’t care who I have to take out to get that crown, I will. I promise you that.. I will not have my career left unfulfilled any longer. I will not let the King of the Ring Tournament be the dark cloud over my career.”

He shook his head.

PJ Black: ”Now Randy.. As Wes Ikeda tweeted himself, you and I always seem to find ourselves face to face in this tournament. No matter where we start in the brackets, somehow we manage to find each other, as if it’s fate that you and I battle. So you should look at me right now and see something that no one else sees..

Look at me, Randy.

Look into my eyes and you will see something different. You will see a different fire. You will see a different urge of determination that you’ve never seen before. See, this year, as much as it looks like it, this isn’t just another King of the Ring.

I’ve sat on the outside looking in, and I hated every minute of it. I wanted in the tournament.. The hunger grew. The fire burned out of control. This year.. That fire will be released. That fire will fuel me through this match, and all the way to the crown.

So Randy, unlike other years where you and I would tear the place down. Unlike the years where no one knew who was going to walk away with the victory.. This year there will be no doubt. This year there will be no questioning. No one will be playing the will he, won’t he game.

This year, I put a crown on this head..”

Black held the mannequin in front of him. He looked at it, then past it to the champions on the wall.

PJ Black: ”This year, I will accomplish the one thing that will complete my career..”

As he moved the mannequin head off to the side, Black stared at the wall in front of him. He stared at his career in front of him.