Time to wrap up this section of the week in terms of my promotional work ahead of Grand Rampage. I'm quite happy to have been able to give a few words to the whole field of contestants that will try just like I am to change their fortune this Sunday and get the best possible match at Pain for Pride. Time to finish this.
Hans Grayson
SINCE 2018
1 Grand Rampage Participation
Best Result: 21st ( 2023 )
1x New Breed Champion
It's incredible isn't it, despite the effort one puts towards defeating an opponent and manages to beat said rival 1-2-3, to see the one that caused us torment to talk as if they are still the measuring stick or the ceiling for us to go through. In Hans' case, Jay Jerry Johnson talks as though losing to Grayson never happened, good on him in a way if he was able to get over the L rapidly but then he should know better than to try and keep the man who bested him down. There is no point in that, the best way to do so would be to go on with his season and make it more significant than Hans and unfortunately for Triple J, he hasn't done that. Now, it can be argued that since that win Hans hasn't done anything either but that doesn't mean the man hasn't worked less or didn't grow or hasn't moved forward from there.
I laughed when I heard Jay talk about you being the reason Vancouver won't ever hoist a cup. I respect the man, much like I respect you Hans but we both can agree this is nothing short of ridiculous. For all the hatred you have for him, I think you can agree with me that he doesn't need to reach for straws the way he does. The man has already proven he can do great for himself with his run as Interwire Champion, he doesn't help himself by making silly comments like that. Insulting the Canadian school system doesn't make him smart either, it puts him up there next to Madison Kaline but the sad part for Jay is Maddie is ignorant and dimwitted while I don't think he is. Mind you, only a food doesn't change his mind and Jay may end up doing that if he keeps up talking funny. He has no need to, but that means something and it should make you smile Hans. You got to him, to say what he says, and seeing him try so hard to get under your skin? You're living in his mind rent-free.
Fact is he really shouldn't, and the irony of it is by that token you became his ceiling when he claims to be yours. If he's unable to get past you following a loss, what does that say about the man? But you shouldn't concern yourself about anything he says, not anymore, and focus on the grand opportunity that stands before you this Sunday. I'm pretty sure you focus a great deal on it, as I do, you also visualize yourself as the one holding the right to face the Champion of your choice at Pain for Pride.
Now picture this: It's mid-June and Pain for Pride ended up a few days ago you are home in Vancouver. You're on a parade float surrounded by thousands of Vancouvertites. To your left, stands Quinn Hughes with the Stanley Cup proudly raised above his head, and on your left shoulder shines the EAW World Heavy Championship. Doesn't that bring a smile to your face? Doesn't make you dream about it? I'm sure you had that dream this week already, but what if it becomes real?
Let's say the Canucks don't win, but you still become World Champion then think about October, the opening match of the 2024-25 season. Do you see where I'm going with this? Picture yourself standing on the ice of Rogers Place surrounded by a packed house chanting your name and your accomplishment. I know how that feels because the fans at the Bell Centre give me a standing ovation when I make it. But then I picture just how loud it would be if I did it with the big strap and... Man this gives me goosebumps.
It's great to dream, it's healthy, but I prefer to turn them into reality because then the feeling is so much greater. Surely you agree with me Hans, so what I'm trying to tell you and your Canucks is good luck on Sunday.
Mig de Decker
SINCE 2018
0 Grand Rampage Participation
Best Result: N/A
No Career Championships
For someone whose season has been marred with bad decisions, mostly to join the failed faction of KAI-ZEn, the man seems to have a good grasp of what the Grand Rampage entails and what it can do to someone who either wins it or performs well despite not being the last Elitist left fighting.
I was about to put Mig in the same basket as those who complain after he pointed Aria and me out, but he made it interesting by claiming that going that hard implies we aren't training or doing any real preparation ahead of the match and the effort we put in standing before a camera will wear us out ahead of the event. If he thinks I've been sprinting, the reality is I've been sticking to a plan I set for myself last Friday night. I kept the pace steady, I knew what I was going to talk about and I stuck to it. Not a sprint, a promotional marathon, I wanted to push myself and do better than I did last year. And as I strike the 28 mark with this here video I can say I'm proud of what I've done.
I could've settled for my previous best which was 18, which would've been fine if I had done just as much but I don't do content and I wanted to challenge the old noggin and voice box so I did.
You see nothing worth getting comes easy so when it comes to doing promos Aria and I went all in but as stated before it takes nothing away from Mig's work or anyone else who did less. He went for good ol' less is more and if he feels that's the way to go for him that's great. Another thing he has wrong is the belief we aren't putting any effort or little on working in the ring and in the gym ahead of this match. It makes me wonder how long he thinks producing a video takes, which makes me also wonder how long HE takes to write, set, record, edit, and release one of his one. Doesn't matter really, what he needs to know is I've been putting as much effort in preparation for the event as I did pouring myself before a camera.
Ask Ms Extreme this week if she thinks I've put less effort towards this match than I did doing promos Mig. She'll tell you what you need to hear, the truth, which is I'm prepared for something big on Sunday and following what you said before yes it ain't the smartest thing to do to train with an opponent, BUT, I have a few tricks up my sleeve that even she doesn't know about.
Mig unfortunately has been overlooked for the most part this season, but a match like Grand Rampage offers the opportunity to change the perception of those inside the ring depending on how good they are. He claims to not be on the same level they think he is. May he show them just how wrong they are.
Kirk Redwood
SINCE 2018
2 Grand Rampage Participation
Best Result: 23rd
1x Unified Tag Team Champion
I heard what the man had to say this week. What caught my attention was when he talked about doubts, let me tell you about doubts Kirk, and let me say something that will be crueler than what is being talked about heading into Phoenix. Let's explore a scenario where you end up winning Grand Rampage, bare with me here, and then you pick your Champion as is your right as the Lone Survivor of the match. Alright, so you have that going for you thus you plow forward, you train, you get ready for the biggest match of your life and you set yourself to see the biggest smile on your daughter's face you can think of once you pin the Champion of your choosing on the grandest stage of them all, before a sold-out crowd, before millions watching at home and before the Almighty or any deity you believe in if you are a man of fate.
But what happens if, at that same stage, you come up short? What I'll say next applies to whoever wins on Sunday by the way, what then? What of all the effort you made this week to talk and then physically inside the ring that allowed you to win? What about all that prep work between now and Pain for Pride if the result, in the end, is you being flat on your ass and the Champion standing tall with a successful defense? Then everything you did goes to shit, down the tubes, and happens next? Doubt shows its ugly face again, having patiently waited and bit its time before springing into action and everyone once again will doubt you because sure you won the Rampage but who gives a damn if you can't get your hands on the reward associated with it?
Then your efforts are turned into nothing but a statistic as you become the first in EAW history with the infamous accolade of having failed to win a Championship following a win during Grand Rampage. Tell me, Kirk, do you feel you'd be able to cope well with such a situation? You probably think that your daughter will look down on you for coming up short, be disappointed perhaps that you've let her down yet again. You have no reasons to plague your mind with that idea, because if your daughter loves you she will see you gave it your gosh darn best and she won't see you as a loser but a man who's gone from the depths of hell and is finally not just being a man again but a father. She'll be proud of you even if you lose, just like I am convinced she will be proud of you should you come up short this weekend as long as you show her during the time you're in the ring that you want this.
This concludes the coverage of all 28 known participants in this year's Grand Rampage. We all know there are two spots left, and there is a great deal of mystery regarding the identity of the pair that will make their return on Sunday. Who could it be? I have a few ideas, some are expected, others come out of left field but there is no way to know if I'm right until they show up in Chase Feld.
One thing is certain, is that whoever they are they may very well change the complexity of the event in bigger ways than we can anticipate, and that only makes this whole event that much more interesting for the EAW Universe.
That's all for now.
Hang in there, I have two more left in me.
I could release a whole lot more, but I won't.
Not part of the plan
