One man, One Goal - Aiden English

[Billy]

Aiden English was pacing back and forth in front of a wall made of concrete blocks orange and white with a black stripe at head height. He was running his hands over his head and breathing deeply. The halls of Minute Maid Park were silent in the days leading up to the Royal Rumble. Aiden was wearing a suit and dark tinted sun glasses. He stopped his pacing, took a deep breath, and turned to face the camera. He pursed his lips.

Aiden English
I guess it should be no surprise to anyone that I’ve arrived in Houston days in advance of the pay per view. I’m here getting the lay of the land, acclimating myself to the Texas climate, and getting a feel for the outdoor arena about to host the Royal Rumble! That’s the Aiden that you’ve all come to know and love. I plan and prepare. I consider all the possibilities and I make fall backs. I never go out to that ring without having considered anything and everything that can and possibly will happen. That makes the Royal Rumble one of the most difficult nights of the year for yours truly. Not only do I have twenty-six known variables to think about, I’ve also got to weight the odds on an endless number of possibilities for those mystery entries. It’s a difficult match. It’s a taxing match. And, it’s a match that I’ve won before.

Aiden leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms.

Aiden English
I find myself in a precarious position. As the match draws on you’re going to hear the announce team talk about how amazing it is that I’ve lasted as long as I have. You’re going to get regular updates on the amount of time I’ve spent in the ring. You’re going to hear numerous times that this person or that person is fresher than me. That no one can believe that I still have anything left in the tank. Why is that? Because I’ve unsurprisingly drawn the number one position.

Aiden took of his glasses and tucked them into his breast pocket.

Aiden English
Unsurprising because the rhythm of recent events all seems to lead to this moment. I stand here as the first entrant into the Royal Rumble with Wes Ikeda drawing number thirty. Twenty-eight. That’s the number of obstacles that have been placed between myself and the CEO. That’s the number of victims he’s decided I need to have before I end his hopes and dreams of going to WrestleMania in any capacity that isn’t against Aiden English! He’s running scared. He knows what’s coming. He knows that it’s going to take the weight of the world to even slow me down. It’s going to take everything the Universe has to hold me back. An endless struggle couldn’t stop that man from getting everything that’s coming to him.

Aiden cracked his neck.

Aiden English
And it has me thinking about a story I read when I was younger. One of those little fables that is supposed to teach you a lesson. One that’s supposed to make you a better person. In this story a little white rabbit is traveling through the woods with a stick. It’s the dead of winter and the little rabbit is hungry so he keeps lifting things up in search of food. The rabbit finds a cave. And, at the foot of the cave is a sleeping brown bear. The little rabbit takes his stick and he tries everything to move the bear but the bear won’t budge. So the rabbit bangs the stick on the rocky walls of the cave until the bear stirs. The rabbit darts in and he takes the little pile of food the bear was saving for a snack in the spring. He rushes from the cave leaving behind his stick.

Aiden turned to the side and looked off screen as he continued.

Aiden English
And the bear, woken from his peaceful slumber, noticed quickly that something was wrong. He just barely saw the rabbit dart from the cave. So the bear caught the scent from the stick and he drudged out of the cave sleepily. The little rabbit darted from tree to tree eating all the bear’s food and laughing at the slow bear. Still the bear lumbered forward through the forest. He pursued the rabbit for the entire day. With each passing hour the rabbit became a little more full and a little more slow. Eventually it was everything the rabbit could do to keep his eyes open and so he slipped into a deep sleep.

Aiden snapped back to the camera with a smile on his face.

Aiden English
It’s not so different from Wes and I. He, the annoying little rabbit happy to taunt and poke at the predator but unwilling to face him. Me, the bear whose prized possession has been stolen by the annoying rabbit. You see, Wes can run. He can put a forest of obstacles in my way. He can do everything in his power to keep me at bay as long as possible. But, eventually he’s going to slip up. Eventually he’s going to open his eyes and I’m going to be standing there eye to eye. And like the bear in my story, I’m going to eat Wes alive!

Aiden pulled his glasses out and put them back on.

Aiden English
That’s what this is about. There are twenty-nine men coming to the ring for the Royal Rumble and they all have the same goal. They’re going to battle one another tooth and nail for a shot at either the Bull or the Viper. They’re going to do everything they can do to survive the match and punch their ticket to Mania. Those men are going to have their heads on a swivel. They’re going to be watching out for number one because at the end of the day it’s every man for himself. They’re going to be looking toward their name on a marquee. They’re going to be fighting against the waves of a typhoon they won’t even see coming. Because I’m not coming to the ring to win an opportunity. I’m not looking toward a match for a title. I enter at number one with the goal of devastating the guy who enters at thirty. Those other men that I’m going to have to dash against the ropes and toss to the floor? They are all collateral damage. Every one of their fates was signed and sealed by Wes Ikeda when he rigged the draw. When he placed me at one and him at thirty, he signed the warrants for their lives.

Aiden leaned in against the camera.

Aiden English
WES IKEDA! I was wrong about you when I said you wouldn’t lace up your boots for the Royal Rumble. Point taken, I don’t know you as well as I would like to think. Lace up those boots boss man. But let me deliver a promise, from one man to another. When the Rumble is over, someone is going to have to peel you out of them. At WrestleMania, you and I are going to have our day of reckoning! At WrestleMania you and I are going to have the war to end all wars. At WrestleMania people are going to be talking about Aiden English and Wes Ikeda and there’s not going to be a title getting in the way of what you and I have to do. There’s not going to be any Ortons, Guerreros, Jerichos or Samsons. There is going to be you and there is going to be me. At WrestleMania we’re going to put and end to a rivalry that has underpinned my entire career in the EBWF. You can mark my words. Because, by the time Mania gets here, you’re going to be begging me for the match, You’re going to WANT to put my reign of terror to an end. You put someone in the ring with me and I’m going to beat them from ring post to ring post. You put someone in the ring with me and I’m going to do to them what you had Jericho do to me! You put me in the ring with someone and they are going to KNOW that YOU fed them to the bears.

Aiden shoved the camera and the scene ended.