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You can wait for seven years. You can not think about 2017 until the time comes for you to redeem it. You can use all that experience to your advantage, sure.
But no one says we have to be the same.
No one says I have to wait more than one year to redeem this one and add something to my resume that many others can’t say they’ve got.
Who says loss is unavoidable at this point in my career?
I am the strongest. I am the beating heart of my brand. I am its leader. I am the absolute best there is. I simply won’t allow “wait” to happen any longer. I’ve shaped destiny as I wanted it to be my entire life, so sure, some defeats can be unavoidable, some will forever be development losses no matter how much you try to change it, but what development am I in need of, TLA? How much higher am I meant to go when I’m already at the top of the industry? My ceiling is limitless, and right now, the very ceiling of this industry goes along with me, and truthfully, I’m at the point where I get satisfaction from little things, I’m at the point where I could wait seven years, but who says I need seven years? Who says I can’t just win seven Grand Rampage matches in a row if that was something I really desired? Of course, that’s the most far-fetched idea ever, the most impossible idea anyone could ever think and I have no reason to overcompensate to that level, but who’s always been told about how this "impossible" and proved it to be possible? See, TLA, you believe what works for you, while I believe what works for me, and if a year is enough for me, then a year shall I wait, because after all this time, I’ve got bent up frustrations, I’ve been frustrated ever since losing that World Heavyweight Title and I’ve been frustrated at the fact the season is closing in on me, and I may just not live up to my own expectation. I called season seventeen mine. Not half of it. Not two-thirds of it. Not a quarter of it. All of it. Road To Redemption should’ve been nothing more than a setback, but the numbers keep piling up, and at one point, how much longer am I gonna let setback, after setback, after setback, happen? A lot of people go out here and they just say “when is it my time?” I’ve heard it countless times and I’m pretty damn sick of hearing it by now. Countless call their shots because they’ve “waited long enough” – but since when does the world work on a turn basis? Since when are victories decided on who’s waited more? Hell, if we wanna go that route then my recent shortcomings pile up as a lot more than the total of a lot of them in matches of this caliber, so who is to say I should wait? Who is to say it ain’t my time? Who is to say I haven’t been patient enough? Who is to say I haven’t suffered enough, too? And most importantly, who is to say the world has ever been fair to begin with? Who is to say the ones who truly want it and go ahead and get it no matter what aren’t meant to succeed, when that’s how the world’s always worked? I can take coming third for three years in a row in the Extreme Elimination Chamber. I can take being taken out before that idiot Jake Smith couldn’t hang with Myles and would eventually fall to him. I can even take going unpinned in the Iron Survivor Challenge and being a moment away from winning. What I cannot take though, is piling this one up with the rest of them. What I cannot take, is watching another Pain For Pride without me at the center of it all, watching another name step up in the spot I’ve worked my entire life for. I’m not going to afford seven years, TLA, I’m not going to afford multiple tries where I didn’t even come close, like you have since 2017. I’m not going to sit back and watch for another year as someone just “wants it more”.
I am not.
Because what would my purpose be here, then?
I wouldn’t have that feeling of first-time ever. I wouldn’t have something that matters more in the end, unlike last year. The clock never ticked for my World Championship win, I had all the time in the world and I took all the time in the world, winning at the absolute most perfect moment, but now that the season-end approaches, there’s one thing I lost out on a year ago that I desire, the main event of Pain For Pride, and you know what’s the only path I’ve got left, TLA? The Grand Rampage match. I couldn’t hold that title all the way to Pain For Pride. I wasn’t in the King of Elite tournament, I couldn’t see the Iron Survivor Challenge to its end, and now I’m faced with the only chance I’ve got left, which is the toughest fucking option of them all, but not one that I cannot conquer at the end of the day. Time is now ticking, I’m backed into a corner, and truly, I only have one option, but as I’m counted out, as I’m left with no options, as the weight of the entire world is on my shoulders and I have NO choice… but to win… I remember. I remember being in this same predicament at Pain For Pride a year ago. I remember being in this same situation at Reckless Wiring. I remember having no more options. It was win and prove I belong, or lose and never see that stage again, and win I did, when the pressure was at its highest, when options completely ran out, when I had no choice but to conquer… I conquered. Everything feels right, TLA, Pain For Pride felt right, Reckless Wiring felt right, and I never understood that feeling, what it was, what it meant, but now I get it, the harmony of pressure, the calm of the screams, the love of the doubt. I understand it, I understand why, and it’s because… this is the path I led myself on, this is the destiny I took control of, this is the result I’ve always wanted, the situation with the most pressure, the hardest win, my back, against the wall, against the world, against twenty-nine others. King of Elite wouldn’t have felt as earned. Operation: Doomsday wouldn’t have felt as earned. None of them would’ve felt as earned as the Grand Rampage match. Many pointed out, that I’m overconfident, that this isn’t very “me”, that I’m just going to cost myself by giving myself such a chance… but I never doubted I could beat Andre Walker. I never doubted I could dethrone Limmy Monaghan. I never doubted I could win this match. Not from when I first declared myself for it. Not when I found out who the rest of the field was composed of. Not when my singles-match winning streak was snapped in an unearned fashion. Not when I found out I was entering first. Everything feels right. Season 17 feels like mine once more. That World Heavyweight Championship calls for me yet again. The main event of Pain For Pride feels inevitable. TLA, I lost hope. I lost the ability to dream. I lost harmony. I lost peace of mind. I lost myself.
And suddenly, I gained it all back.
Suddenly, everything changed. Everything felt right.
The struggle of the situation felt like nothing more than another hurdle. The circumstance that classifies me as this “underdog”, this weight on my shoulders. It all feels so light, it all feels so bearable.
It is my time, I know.
No matter who waited more. No matter who says they want it more. No matter who feels more entitled to this victory. No matter who else has redemption on their mind. No matter who is ready to become divine.
They can’t beat me, not when I have no options left.
TLA, you’ve come very far from a Grand Rampage win ever since 2017, and perhaps, your motivation is once more back this time, compared to other times, perhaps you embrace that struggle as do I, perhaps you’ll try to make my defeat a reality, after all, I’m only here to do the same, perhaps you even feel robbed at the thought of me taking this one home, but so have I on a monthly basis last season.
I’m not here to repeat history, that’s not what redemption is.
I’m here to shape it into the greatest story one could ever write.
For my redemption, is inevitable. When someone like Ms. Extreme who, in a way, has faced what I faced, and aims for the head of the same person, I can’t help but see her as direct competition, and so, if Myles didn’t end that chapter, I will. If Myles didn’t put her out of contention for good, I will. I can’t help but see the difference between our losses, because let’s be honest, Camille, the chapter should’ve been closed on you, your time to move on should’ve come, but it’s not like you to simply let a door close, and I can appreciate that, but with me and Myles, I never got closure. Myles wanted me to just build myself back up, to have some matches outside of the picture like he did, but our situations were different, Myles got closure with Limmy Monaghan at Pain For Pride, the absolute textbook definition of closure, what Myles did after, was what he told me, and that’s building himself right back up in the span of six months, taking names, from Dominion, to Jamie O’Hara whom he pinned and the rest of the WarGames competitors, to KAI-ZEN, and finally, Limmy. He got his redemption, he got his closure, but I didn’t get mine. Because I wasn’t there ‘till the last second, it was Jake Smith on a dying breath. Frankly, I came back to him at King of Elite, knowing I had no chance, knowing the same outcome as Road To Redemption would happen, with Jake and Myles left in the end, but I came back because I wanted closure, I wanted to move on, I wanted to be just like Limmy Monaghan who never felt the desire to come for my head when I was reigning, but I didn’t feel like him, I never got my closure, Camille, and no matter how many times I try, I still am unable to get any sort of closure, so I come to one conclusion, there’s only one way of finding that closure, taking that title back. Redeeming the predicament of season sixteen. Redeeming what could be categorized by some as an “underwhelming” end to my championship reign. Redeeming my shortcomings due to my attachment to somebody else. Redeeming my status. Redeeming my name. This match is extremely poetic for me, it’s almost hard to believe how perfect this all seems, but sometimes, the stars truly align, and I believe I’ve taken the right steps. Through suffering, through loss, through despair I learned all that I needed to learn, through my own approach, because I am not like Myles, I don’t need to take the same path as Myles, and I didn’t suffer under the same circumstances as him, all we had in common was a lack of closure. That is why I could never escape this stage, why I always came back for that title, sometimes against my will even. From the very moment I lost that title, I knew I would come right back for it, I knew my chapter wasn’t closed, I knew I had more in me, I knew that wasn’t the last time we would see each other, and I knew that my season ends the way it couldn’t a year ago. Grand Rampage winner. Pain For Pride main eventer. Two-time World Heavyweight Champion. That is my closure, Camille. Myles came knocking at my door looking for redemption, he rushed to battle on Dynasty, and he failed, because he wasn’t fully redeemed, and then wrapped up all that was left and got his redemption. He envied me then, but the roles are reversed, I envy him now, I envy him for his successful redemption, I envy him for how well he caught me in that moment, I envy him for being as perfect as perfect gets, but now I get it, I get it. Just like him, I came knocking a little too early. Just like him, I had more left to do, and this Sunday, I knock down two birds with one stone. The monster, and the twenty-eight others. That will be my last step before redemption, that will be when I guarantee my Pain For Pride main event.
Then, I get my redemption.
Say, what’s gonna be different for me, Camille?
Exactly what was different for him.
But no one says we have to be the same.
No one says I have to wait more than one year to redeem this one and add something to my resume that many others can’t say they’ve got.
Who says loss is unavoidable at this point in my career?
I am the strongest. I am the beating heart of my brand. I am its leader. I am the absolute best there is. I simply won’t allow “wait” to happen any longer. I’ve shaped destiny as I wanted it to be my entire life, so sure, some defeats can be unavoidable, some will forever be development losses no matter how much you try to change it, but what development am I in need of, TLA? How much higher am I meant to go when I’m already at the top of the industry? My ceiling is limitless, and right now, the very ceiling of this industry goes along with me, and truthfully, I’m at the point where I get satisfaction from little things, I’m at the point where I could wait seven years, but who says I need seven years? Who says I can’t just win seven Grand Rampage matches in a row if that was something I really desired? Of course, that’s the most far-fetched idea ever, the most impossible idea anyone could ever think and I have no reason to overcompensate to that level, but who’s always been told about how this "impossible" and proved it to be possible? See, TLA, you believe what works for you, while I believe what works for me, and if a year is enough for me, then a year shall I wait, because after all this time, I’ve got bent up frustrations, I’ve been frustrated ever since losing that World Heavyweight Title and I’ve been frustrated at the fact the season is closing in on me, and I may just not live up to my own expectation. I called season seventeen mine. Not half of it. Not two-thirds of it. Not a quarter of it. All of it. Road To Redemption should’ve been nothing more than a setback, but the numbers keep piling up, and at one point, how much longer am I gonna let setback, after setback, after setback, happen? A lot of people go out here and they just say “when is it my time?” I’ve heard it countless times and I’m pretty damn sick of hearing it by now. Countless call their shots because they’ve “waited long enough” – but since when does the world work on a turn basis? Since when are victories decided on who’s waited more? Hell, if we wanna go that route then my recent shortcomings pile up as a lot more than the total of a lot of them in matches of this caliber, so who is to say I should wait? Who is to say it ain’t my time? Who is to say I haven’t been patient enough? Who is to say I haven’t suffered enough, too? And most importantly, who is to say the world has ever been fair to begin with? Who is to say the ones who truly want it and go ahead and get it no matter what aren’t meant to succeed, when that’s how the world’s always worked? I can take coming third for three years in a row in the Extreme Elimination Chamber. I can take being taken out before that idiot Jake Smith couldn’t hang with Myles and would eventually fall to him. I can even take going unpinned in the Iron Survivor Challenge and being a moment away from winning. What I cannot take though, is piling this one up with the rest of them. What I cannot take, is watching another Pain For Pride without me at the center of it all, watching another name step up in the spot I’ve worked my entire life for. I’m not going to afford seven years, TLA, I’m not going to afford multiple tries where I didn’t even come close, like you have since 2017. I’m not going to sit back and watch for another year as someone just “wants it more”.
I am not.
Because what would my purpose be here, then?
I wouldn’t have that feeling of first-time ever. I wouldn’t have something that matters more in the end, unlike last year. The clock never ticked for my World Championship win, I had all the time in the world and I took all the time in the world, winning at the absolute most perfect moment, but now that the season-end approaches, there’s one thing I lost out on a year ago that I desire, the main event of Pain For Pride, and you know what’s the only path I’ve got left, TLA? The Grand Rampage match. I couldn’t hold that title all the way to Pain For Pride. I wasn’t in the King of Elite tournament, I couldn’t see the Iron Survivor Challenge to its end, and now I’m faced with the only chance I’ve got left, which is the toughest fucking option of them all, but not one that I cannot conquer at the end of the day. Time is now ticking, I’m backed into a corner, and truly, I only have one option, but as I’m counted out, as I’m left with no options, as the weight of the entire world is on my shoulders and I have NO choice… but to win… I remember. I remember being in this same predicament at Pain For Pride a year ago. I remember being in this same situation at Reckless Wiring. I remember having no more options. It was win and prove I belong, or lose and never see that stage again, and win I did, when the pressure was at its highest, when options completely ran out, when I had no choice but to conquer… I conquered. Everything feels right, TLA, Pain For Pride felt right, Reckless Wiring felt right, and I never understood that feeling, what it was, what it meant, but now I get it, the harmony of pressure, the calm of the screams, the love of the doubt. I understand it, I understand why, and it’s because… this is the path I led myself on, this is the destiny I took control of, this is the result I’ve always wanted, the situation with the most pressure, the hardest win, my back, against the wall, against the world, against twenty-nine others. King of Elite wouldn’t have felt as earned. Operation: Doomsday wouldn’t have felt as earned. None of them would’ve felt as earned as the Grand Rampage match. Many pointed out, that I’m overconfident, that this isn’t very “me”, that I’m just going to cost myself by giving myself such a chance… but I never doubted I could beat Andre Walker. I never doubted I could dethrone Limmy Monaghan. I never doubted I could win this match. Not from when I first declared myself for it. Not when I found out who the rest of the field was composed of. Not when my singles-match winning streak was snapped in an unearned fashion. Not when I found out I was entering first. Everything feels right. Season 17 feels like mine once more. That World Heavyweight Championship calls for me yet again. The main event of Pain For Pride feels inevitable. TLA, I lost hope. I lost the ability to dream. I lost harmony. I lost peace of mind. I lost myself.
And suddenly, I gained it all back.
Suddenly, everything changed. Everything felt right.
The struggle of the situation felt like nothing more than another hurdle. The circumstance that classifies me as this “underdog”, this weight on my shoulders. It all feels so light, it all feels so bearable.
It is my time, I know.
No matter who waited more. No matter who says they want it more. No matter who feels more entitled to this victory. No matter who else has redemption on their mind. No matter who is ready to become divine.
They can’t beat me, not when I have no options left.
TLA, you’ve come very far from a Grand Rampage win ever since 2017, and perhaps, your motivation is once more back this time, compared to other times, perhaps you embrace that struggle as do I, perhaps you’ll try to make my defeat a reality, after all, I’m only here to do the same, perhaps you even feel robbed at the thought of me taking this one home, but so have I on a monthly basis last season.
I’m not here to repeat history, that’s not what redemption is.
I’m here to shape it into the greatest story one could ever write.
For my redemption, is inevitable. When someone like Ms. Extreme who, in a way, has faced what I faced, and aims for the head of the same person, I can’t help but see her as direct competition, and so, if Myles didn’t end that chapter, I will. If Myles didn’t put her out of contention for good, I will. I can’t help but see the difference between our losses, because let’s be honest, Camille, the chapter should’ve been closed on you, your time to move on should’ve come, but it’s not like you to simply let a door close, and I can appreciate that, but with me and Myles, I never got closure. Myles wanted me to just build myself back up, to have some matches outside of the picture like he did, but our situations were different, Myles got closure with Limmy Monaghan at Pain For Pride, the absolute textbook definition of closure, what Myles did after, was what he told me, and that’s building himself right back up in the span of six months, taking names, from Dominion, to Jamie O’Hara whom he pinned and the rest of the WarGames competitors, to KAI-ZEN, and finally, Limmy. He got his redemption, he got his closure, but I didn’t get mine. Because I wasn’t there ‘till the last second, it was Jake Smith on a dying breath. Frankly, I came back to him at King of Elite, knowing I had no chance, knowing the same outcome as Road To Redemption would happen, with Jake and Myles left in the end, but I came back because I wanted closure, I wanted to move on, I wanted to be just like Limmy Monaghan who never felt the desire to come for my head when I was reigning, but I didn’t feel like him, I never got my closure, Camille, and no matter how many times I try, I still am unable to get any sort of closure, so I come to one conclusion, there’s only one way of finding that closure, taking that title back. Redeeming the predicament of season sixteen. Redeeming what could be categorized by some as an “underwhelming” end to my championship reign. Redeeming my shortcomings due to my attachment to somebody else. Redeeming my status. Redeeming my name. This match is extremely poetic for me, it’s almost hard to believe how perfect this all seems, but sometimes, the stars truly align, and I believe I’ve taken the right steps. Through suffering, through loss, through despair I learned all that I needed to learn, through my own approach, because I am not like Myles, I don’t need to take the same path as Myles, and I didn’t suffer under the same circumstances as him, all we had in common was a lack of closure. That is why I could never escape this stage, why I always came back for that title, sometimes against my will even. From the very moment I lost that title, I knew I would come right back for it, I knew my chapter wasn’t closed, I knew I had more in me, I knew that wasn’t the last time we would see each other, and I knew that my season ends the way it couldn’t a year ago. Grand Rampage winner. Pain For Pride main eventer. Two-time World Heavyweight Champion. That is my closure, Camille. Myles came knocking at my door looking for redemption, he rushed to battle on Dynasty, and he failed, because he wasn’t fully redeemed, and then wrapped up all that was left and got his redemption. He envied me then, but the roles are reversed, I envy him now, I envy him for his successful redemption, I envy him for how well he caught me in that moment, I envy him for being as perfect as perfect gets, but now I get it, I get it. Just like him, I came knocking a little too early. Just like him, I had more left to do, and this Sunday, I knock down two birds with one stone. The monster, and the twenty-eight others. That will be my last step before redemption, that will be when I guarantee my Pain For Pride main event.
Then, I get my redemption.
Say, what’s gonna be different for me, Camille?
Exactly what was different for him.
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