Riley Owens…
That name invokes a lot of feelings and emotions. And, those feelings and emotions varied greatly depending on who you happened to ask.
If you asked my grandparents how they felt about me, they would describe to you feelings of disappointment. Have, I ever told you all about my father? I can’t recall if I’ve done so here in Second City or not. My father was scientist; recently I had heard that he was quite well-known and respected in the friend. From what I’ve heard, he was always the perfect son as well: we was always respectful, he married my mom (who was a good looking, successful doctor), and he always did what he could to help the family.
He was loved and respected—which made everything tough when he passed.
My mom and father died in a plane crash shortly after my sister and I were born. They were on their way to a conference overseas when the plane went down.
As you can imagine, their deaths were tough on everyone, especially my grandparents. Ha, my dad and I, we looked a lot alike. My grandparents…they always tended to compare me to him. If I made a mistake or did something they didn’t like, they would say “your father never would have done something like that.”
Riley Owens invoked feelings of disappointment in them. I didn’t go to a well-known four year college like my father; I wasn’t particularly interested in academics like my father. I looked like my father, but I wasn’t “like” my father. I want to fight; I wanted to wrestle. My love of wrestling and martial arts burned them up inside.
They didn’t believe that I would make it in the wrestling business; they thought I would fail…
Disappointment.
But, if you asked my sister her feelings about Riley Owens, you’d get a completely different answer. She might describe to you feelings of silliness. Tammy is my sister; but she is also my best friend. We joke around and what not. Ha, she might describe feelings of shyness. Tammy was there when I met my girlfriend Zoey. She observed how nervous I was; how scared I was. But, she also saw how I got the girl in the end. And lastly, my sister might describe feelings of Pride. You see, my grandparents didn’t believe in my passion to wrestle, but my sister did. She has always supported me, and she knew I’d do something great…
And I have accomplished great things in this Business!
I guess the last question is how the fans would describe me. Ha that’s pretty simple—they think about a “champion when they hear the name Riley Owens. The fans have always had my back. They supported me when Insurgency cut me and I had to go to FGA. They supported me as I climbed up the ranks and became a top guy there. And, they supported me when I began to venture out to other promotions.
The fans told me that I’d be a champion one day; I’ve got the fan letters to prove it. I worked hard, I fought—and eventually, I became the FGA Pride Champion. I can’t describe to you all how I felt after that match; it was almost surreal. It was surreal because my peers didn’t think I could win; the company didn’t think that I could win.
But I did win!
I became a Champion!
Since then, I’ve been trying to chase that feeling that I felt that night; I’ve been trying to recapture it. And, that’s when the Heritage Classic was formed. Initially, my time in 2CW was supposed to be short. I came here to work a couple of high-profile matches; I came here to face some people that I couldn’t face anywhere else. And after that, I was going to go about my way. But then the Heritage title was announced; and I decided to stay around a bit longer.
I decided that I wanted that title belt! And I decided that I was going to work hard to obtain it.
So that’s what I did—I worked!
And now?
Now I am the first 2CW Heritage Champion!
But, you know what they say right? The climb to the throne is the easy part; sitting on that throne, actually being a champion—that’s the difficult part. But, I was up to the task in FGA; and I’m up to the task here in Second City!
This week I get the chance to be a fighting champion! This week, I get the chance to mix it up with Ryan Kidd and Anton Chase. Now, Ryan and I have battled before, so I will save him for last. Right now, I’m to address you Anton.
Ha, Anton, it was just announced that you are going to be my first title defense; this tag match is simply a precursor, a preview if you will.
First and foremost Anton, I want to say this. I do not feel you; I don’t feel you or anyone else in your group. Anton, I’m a wrestler; but first and foremost, I’m a fighter. Anton, I’ve been fighting my entire life, inside the ring and outside the ring. How much strength do you think it takes for a poor orphan to stand up and overcome his situation? How much Heart do you think it takes to overcome judgmental thoughts, disappointment, and hopes of failure?
Anton—I’ve overcome it all!
And you know what; I think that is what makes me a good wrestler. There’s no back down when life becomes hard; there’s no running away. I translate that philosophy to the ring.
I don’t run from challenges Anton, I face them head on!
Now, I’m not an arrogant person Anton. This is the part of the promo where most champions would say that you don’t deserve to be in the ring. In short, they would underestimate you.
I’m not going to say that Anton. You see, I’ve been on the journey. I know what it takes to get in and survive wrestling school. I know how it feels to travel and work on the small indies with 20 to 30 people in the crowd. And I know how much hard work it takes to even be qualified to work in place such as Second City.
You are here in 2CW Anton. So, what does that mean? Well, by default, it probably means that you worked hard to get here. It means that you met the right people and made the right career choices. And, most importantly, it means you can wrestle! 2CW isn’t like these other companies; because we’ve all seen they the company is more than willing to cut you if you aren’t up to par.
See AJ Fairchild.
But you are still on the roster Anton. Not only that, but you’ve done fairly well here.
I’d hate to bring it up, but hey, Second City says it places emphasis on wins and losses; so, I’m going to bring up your record. As it stands Anton, you are 2-1 here in 2CW. If I’m not mistaken, you’ve defeated both Christian Rhodes and Marisol Hawkes; and your only lose here was to your partner, Ryan Kidd.
Now Anton, I’m not going to lie. After I won the belt and got home, I started to think about everyone who could be in line to challenge me. Ryan Kidd came up naturally. Rommie also came to mind. Adam Stryker and John Pariah were also on that list. But, then your name was announced. I took me a bit by surprise. But, I guess it really shouldn’t have right? Christian came into this company kicking ass and taking names; people thought that he would eventually become the 2CW Heavyweight Champion. The same could be said about Marisol; she almost captured the title at Cardinal Sin.
The fact of the matter is Anton, you have proven yourself here. You’ve looked good in each match and you’ve beaten enough names. The fact of the matter is you have earned a shot at this this Heritage title.
And you’ve earned a shot at me!
But first, you’ve got to get to that match. First, you need to have to go toe-to-toe with me and Jason Aries.
Anton, don’t take this the wrong way. I’m not trying to sound arrogant; I’m not trying to sound mighty-than-thou. Anton, you are good; you’ve shown that. But quite honestly, a lot of your accomplishments have come in the past. I’ve gone through your back ground; I’ve gone through tapes. You’ve held a great deal of gold. But, all of that appear to have been in the past. And most of the places that you held gold in are extinct; they are dead and gone.
But me Anton?
I’ve proven myself to be great! No one here in 2CW is 4 and 0; everyone here in Second City has some type of blemish on their record, with the exception of Adam Stryker—and me! Even the might John Pariah has suffer one loss here in Second City.
I’m 4and 0 Anton! I’ve taken on and defeated some of the best wrestlers in the world! AJ Fairchild won the Frontier Lion’s Cup, and then became the FGA Heavyweight Champion. For a while the man was on the top of the world; he fell to me. The great Pat Gordon, Jr. The man is known as being a world class-wrestler. Name a place; and he has probably worked there. He too was defeated by me. Derrick Wiland was trained by the great Adam Stryker. He has been making name for himself over in in England and the UK. He is amazing in the ring; but he was also defeated by me. Tim Hunt, and five-time champion; I knocked him out and pinned him. Your partner Ryan Kidd; do we really need to run down what he has done? But, at Cardinal Sin, he tapped out. And last, but certainly not least, Rommie Sharpe. Rommie had one of the biggest comes back stories in wrestling. If anyone deserves success and praise, then it’s her.
But, I defeated her as well.
I’m perfect here in 2CW Anton. And, I know wrestling just isn’t about wins and losses; it’s about getting in that ring and learning. It’s about gaining the experience. But Anton, like I said before, I’m a fighter. When I step into the ring I do my best to showcase my skills.
I do my best to win!
Jason and I are going to walk away with victories this week, if I have anything to say about the matter.
And, the next time that he meet—it will be for my title!
What a match that will be.
Ha, but that’s down the road; let’s go back to School of Hardknocks. In that tag team match Jason and I will also be facing Ryan Kidd.
Ryan, I saved you for last for a specific reason. First off, you and I just met in the ring; I didn’t want to bore the fans right off the bat by talking about you first. And secondly, the past few days I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about how exactly I should address you; I went with Anton first because it would be easier.
This isn’t meant to be an insult, but you might take it that way. Ryan, you remind me of Pat Gordon, Jr. I say that because, you are a world traveler like he is. Pat has made a name for himself going to different promotions and wrestling. You hear his name buzzing around a lot. Ryan, you are very similar. You travel around quite often; and when you appear in a new promotion, it’s always a big deal.
Ryan, I’ve respected you ever since I met you. In FGA we never got a chance to truly meet; our first meeting was here in Second City. I had always heard that you were a good wrestler, but then I got to experience it all first had. I got to train with you once; I believe it was right before my match with Pat. I saw that you had a passion for wrestling to go along with your skills in the ring.
I’ve got a similar passion; so I felt like I understood you completely.
I understood you…back then.
But, I don’t understand you now. Ryan, I respect you, because you are a great wrestler. I respect you because you’ve done a lot of good things for this company and this Business. But I’ll be honest Ryan; I don’t understand you anymore.
The Ryan Kidd that I first met had a passion for wrestling. The guy I meet wanted to be the best in the ring; he wanted to be the best wrestler. The man that I met didn’t just want to win; he wanted to win with honor!
But, that man isn’t you anymore is it Ryan?
Now, you care about being the best out there in the ring do? You don’t seem to care about earning your title shots either. The fact of the matter is after a couple of more wins, you probably would have been in line for another Heritage title shot, or a shot at the Heavyweight title. But, instead of putting your nose down and working hard, you decided you were going to suck punch and take out the champ; you decided to sneak attack Jason.
Those actions have led us to this match, hasn’t it Ryan?
Now, I haven’t had a chance to sit down and talk to Jason. But, I’m pretty sure I know what’s going on through his head. If he is anything like me, then he’s looking forward to this match; he’s looking forward to getting his hands on you. Most likely, Jason will be gunning to knock your block off in this match.
And, I’d probably be content doing that, granted he keeps his focus and remembers the task at hand.
But honesty, I want a piece of you too Ryan. But, unlike in Jason’s case, it isn’t personal between you and me, not yet anyway.
And Ryan, I know you want a piece of me too. You can try to bullshit everyone else, but I see through all of that Ryan. Weeks ago before the Heritage Classic started, you said that you not only wanted to win the title; but, that you needed to win the Heritage title. Maybe you have been feeling a lot of pressure lately. Or, maybe you just wanted to prove to yourself that you could win the big one. I know about your past Ryan! You are a great wrestler; and nine out of ten times you will walk away the winner. But, you’ve had a number of high-profile title matches where you have come up just a little bit short. You probably want to prove to yourself that you could win!
But you didn’t win Ryan. You made it past the first elimination of our match; but you didn’t win. Instead you submitted! Instead of having your hand raised in victory and getting a chance to hold this Heritage title…you and to take that slow, long walk back to the locker room.
I took that dream away from you Ryan—I did that!
Truth be told, you should want to face me in this match. You should want to prove that although I may have the belt, you are the better wrestler. That’s what I would do if I were in your position!
I get it Ryan; you’re hurt man. You lost your chance to become the first 2CW Heritage Champion. And the very next night, you failed to win the UWL title as well. Maybe…maybe all of that failure has eaten away at you. Maybe coming up short big-match after big-match has changed you for the worst. Maybe that’s why you felt you had to attack Jason like a coward…
And perhaps that’s why you had to align yourself with The Young Moderns.
But you know what Ryan; it really doesn’t matter. I’m not your therapist; I’m not going to try and get into your head. And, I’m not going to try and “save” you; I’m not going to attempt to bring you back to the light.
I’m your opponent! My only goal is to do what I’ve already done before—and that is defeat you!
Jason and I are going to walk away with another win. He and I haven’t spoken; hell, we haven’t even met before. But, he is the 2CW Heavyweight Champion for a reason; Ryan, at School of Hardknocks, he is going to show you and Anton just why he is the champion.
As for me?
Well—I’m going to show you why I am YOUR 2CW Heritage Champion!