TCW: A Quiet Retirement

[Regis]

Aaron Andrews and Cherry Bomb as TCW's own Mickey and Mallory is cool.

Although Sammy Bach now has a better claim to being the Jim Jones of wrestling than certain other people in the industry that may or may not share a Universe.

[Phantom Stranger]

Originally Posted by Wallbanger

Hah! Called it!

You certainly did. I'm buggered if I'm changing stuff because someone saw it coming, these days...

Originally Posted by Regis

Aaron Andrews and Cherry Bomb as TCW's own Mickey and Mallory is cool.

Although Sammy Bach now has a better claim to being the Jim Jones of wrestling than certain other people in the industry that may or may not share a Universe.

I really, really need a name for the cult. Grey Dragon has the TEW history value, but...

[codey]

The scene where Andrews finally gave into temptation and went to Cherry was pretty powerful stuff, even for a recap. That's the kind of stuff that makes for excellent wrestling television.

[Beeker]

Originally Posted by Phantom Stranger

I really, really need a name for the cult. Grey Dragon has the TEW history value, but...

Hunters of the Dawn would be my first choice.
(I had thought Hunt and Chase - but Easy Emma doesn't need it, plus it takes Darkwave and amps it up. Now they are hunting something... after a long night comes the dawn. Although, if Bach and Chase get their way - it won't be a bring new day.

Also, I have to say the Huggins it out Bitch made me smile a lot.

My apologies for never getting around to the "In this corner" I took a break from GDS, and only the completion of your opus dragged me back in.

[Phantom Stranger]

Originally Posted by Beeker

Hunters of the Dawn would be my first choice.
(I had thought Hunt and Chase - but Easy Emma doesn't need it, plus it takes Darkwave and amps it up. Now they are hunting something... after a long night comes the dawn. Although, if Bach and Chase get their way - it won't be a bring new day.

Also, I have to say the Huggins it out Bitch made me smile a lot.

My apologies for never getting around to the "In this corner" I took a break from GDS, and only the completion of your opus dragged me back in.

Nice. I like that... it works.

As to Hugg It Out... well, the idea finally had its time, ultimately.

(Yes, I had the ideas to keep this going a long way, and yes, many are taken from people's comments. As I think I've said before, I don't believe I'd get to another 'endpoint' so perfect; but I do want to delve a little beyond it. IMO a good Mania or equivalent should raise questions, and it's fair to answer them. And this format is currently surprisingly easy to write...)

[Regis]

Also, Dunton Hall is the world's most awesome man.

[Eidenhoek]

Shibari. sigh Dang freaking Hall corrupting Angry Gilmore.

Also, that Chase render is hot. Lucky Sammy. And lucky Andrews too, I suppose.

[Phantom Stranger]

The Future Of...

The Women's Division

Badge of Honor, February 2010

In another intergender match, Masked Patriot and Melody face off with Tim Westybrook and Tamara McFly. Westybrook has power to spare, but so does the Patriot – and Westybrook makes it to the tag. McFly brings technical style, and Melody does her best to counter, but the NOTBPW alumni get the win here.

–

American Buffalo finds himself mocked by the bald, muscled giant who debuted beating Danny Fonzarelli. “Shoulda tagged out, bro.”

**

Saturday Night Showcase, February 2010

“You think that proved anything?” Michelle Cox snaps at JeriLynn Stone. Serena Starr hovers in the background, frowning, still sore that her undefeated streak is over. Cox, of course, will claim she wasn't pinned.

Stone shrugs. “Check the record books, Michelle. It's not your fault... you were up against hard working talent. That's always a tough challenge. But if I had to say it proved something, I'd say it proved that at Malice in Wonderland, I retained my title.” A smile. “I'll congratulate you, though. After Gina socked you, I figured you'd be spending your time checking for bruising on that oh-so-precious face of yours.”

Cox simply smiles, slightly bitterly. “When you hit perfection, it can't be damaged by the common crowd.”

“Really?” JeriLynn smiles. “Let me know when you get there, then.”

Cox opens her mouth for a retort, but Stone closes her locker room door in the Lights' face.

Michelle stares at the door for a second and gives a most unladylike snarl.

“Kitty got claws, I see,” comes a drawl from the backstage corridor. The Lights turn to face the newcomer; Alicia Strong leans against a wall, watching them, arms folded.

“What the hell do you-”

Strong holds up a hand; she doesn't want to hear it. “I can guess the whole thing,” she says. “Where do I get off, yadda yadda yadda, poking my nose in after the belt, yadda, you aren't done with it, you aren't done with her, yadda yadda, probably something about how you don't have the famous name or Phil Vibert behind you, no special training...

“You've got points, girls. But I wanted to take a moment to welcome you to the House that Strong Built.”

Starr smiles. “Which means what?”

“Means I've got a plan to change the way things work around here. If you're interested...” She grins, borrowing from Generation Omega's manager. “Then let me do you a favour.”

**

Total Wrestling, February 2010

“I'm gonna make it clear, girls,” Alicia Strong tells the defending champion and her friend, after they beat Lauren Easter and Raku Makuda in a tense, close tag match.

“You and me, Kate, we just made the world sit up and take notice. JeriLynn, you were just the only woman in a match – and you didn't even lose. Didn't win, either, but you know what? I'll be generous. I don't see how I woulda won under the circumstances.

“This month is the War to Settle the Score – and since I got here, months back now, I've had a score to settle with you, walking around my house with [/i]my[/i] title belt.”

The Canadian crowd don't think much of this claim, it seems, by the sound of it.

“Well... you want to go to war, you need to plan things out.” The Leading Lights appear behind her... followed, a few moments later, by Cherry Bomb. “You want to go to war, you need an army. And sister, I've got one.

“Find yourself two goody-two-shoes girls who think they can measure up to these four strong women, and we go to war...”

**

Saturday Night Showcase, February 2010

Stephanie Wade's fist raps sharply against a locker room door until it opens. She smiles. “Still looking for fighters?” she asks, and JeriLynn Stone smiles in return. “I figured we could count on you,” she offers.

“I brought a friend,” Wade says simply. “You should probably meet her.” She steps aside – and Zoe Ammis is there.

“Didn't know you two were friends,” Stone says curiously. “Zoe?”

She nods. “If the House of Stone is going to war, I figure it's only fair the DeColt PowerHouse gets represented, too – and that's me.

“I meant what I said last month, JeriLynn. I know you've proved you deserve what you have, but you started out a lot further on than the rest of us.

“You're somewhere now where you can help the rest of us up to your startpoint, let us sink and swim for ourselves after that.

“You give me that chance, and I'll prove it. I'll show exactly what I can do.”

After a moment, JeriLynn steps back from the doorway. “You two'd best come in, if we're going to talk tactics...”

**

The War To Settle The Score, February 2010

The elimination battle is a serious one. All eight women know how big this one is going to be, and it's clear that they all consider this one to stand as a warning to what could come in the future.

Cherry Bomb falls first, due solely to a nice double-team – Ammis sets up her Double Cross straitjacket backbreaker, and just before she hits it, Wade connects with a superkick. The result is almost inevitable – only a rescue from her teammates could do it, and as Azaria points out, Strong's Army seem hell-bent on using this to establish a pecking order; why would they rescue their ally?

Strong also fails to come to the aid of either Leading Light, too – and they fail to come to her aid, though they back one another up thoroughly. In a shock moment, a Star Burst followed by an Angel Driver eliminates JeriLynn next, Alicia actually throwing Starr from the ring to hit her own move and make the pinfall.

With the score tied at three apiece, the battle just grows. Eventually, Dangerous and Wade hit the right strategy – both of them bundle Starr out of the ring themselves, allowing Ammis to nail another Double Cross and pick up the pin. Strong is right there – but Wade retaliates, preventing her from making the pin. Cox immediately soars over the rope, though, and nails Wade with a Pretty Fly.

Suddenly it's two on two and getting nastier. Strong and Cox combine inventively to put Wade down, then hammer on Ammis using their numbers advantage. Zoe fights hard, but she's screwed. Cox hits the big move – but again, Strong steals the pinfall.

**

Badge of Honor, March 2010

“Hey, Zoe,” Kate smiles as she and JeriLynn emerge, dressed for travel, from a locker room. “You seen tonight's match list?”

“Yeah,” Ammis says, a little despondently. “I'm not fighting.”

“Us either,” JeriLynn says briskly. “So we're going to run a bit of an errand. Kate's dad runs a wrestling school here. We're going along to see what the rookies have – you want to get in on it?”

Ammis' jaw has dropped. “Sorry?”

“Remember that speech you made about JeriLynn getting a better start than others? Her and me both,” Kate smiles. “You did better than either of us Sunday. You probably have something you can show the rookies. It's our way of giving back.”

“And it pays,” JeriLynn grins.

**

Saturday Night Showcase, March 2010

“I have a right to a title shot at Fight to the Feedback!” Strong announces. “This is the House that Strong Built. The fans don't call the shots. I call the shots.”

Shout At The Devil begins to play, and Mayhem Midden emerges, smirking slightly.

“Actually, I call the shots,” Midden retorts. “But this once, every year, my call is to let the fans do it.

“You're right, Alicia, you deserve a shot. But I'm actually interested in something a little broader.

“And I'm going to give you... a quarter of a call at a shot.” He grins. “The match at Fight to the Feedback will feature six women. What I'm going to ask the fans to choose is how people win; I'm thinking Ladder, Elimination, and... well, I'll figure out the other option soon, when I think of something fun.

“But those six women – there are three slots for the people who were on your team. There are three slots for the people who were on JeriLynn's team.

“You're gonna have to pick.”

**

Total Wrestling, March 2010

Kate smiles, shaking her head. “It's all you, girls,” she says. “I was champ here before, I'm going to be again, but I've lost a few times too many recently. I need to get back to it – I'm going to offer the others a shot. Let the fans pick who I wrestle, so I've gotta improvise on the day.

“It's time to rebuild. You three get the slots.”

Wade nods approval at the theory. Ammis smiles in surprise at the generosity. JeriLynn nods. “Let me know if you want a sparring partner before.”

“I was going to say the same,” Dangerous nods.

–

Masked Patriot and Zoe Ammis defeat the duo of Frankie Perez and Tamara McFly, due to the combined efforts of Perez refusing to tag in McFly and Canadian Elemental, currently in the middle of a serious feud with Frankie Perez.

–

The Leading Lights look at Alicia Strong as if she's grown not just a second but a third head. “We're out,” they say in unison. There's a pause, as Strong looks at them in bewilderment.

“Elimination means all too much chance we'll be fighting each other,” Cox says, simply enough. “We'll wait. Settles your question – but we're going to want the first title shot afterward. Deal?”

Strong shakes her head. “Sure, I... guess.”

On the entry ramp, Mayhem Midden watches the quartet in the ring with his mouth wide open.

“Well... damn. Never thought I'd have to find a sixth...”

**

Saturday Night Showcase, March 2010

Alex DeColt passes Zoe Ammis a small bundle of shining golden fabric. “If you're going to be standing up identifying yourself with the family, you deserve to wear the colours,” he says simply.

“Ricky, you want to go down to the ring with her for the big match, make sure nobody tries any silly business?”

Alex smiles as he says it at the embarrassment writ large on his younger brother's face, but with a serious nod, the DeColts' student of the game agrees.

**

Fight To The Feedback, March 2010

Alicia decides early that since ladders are legal it's time to go hardcore, and very rapidly a number of others, including the champion, are bloodied. Cherry Bomb takes a particularly bad series of shots to the head, with Azaria recapping their war in “another company” and both of them's records. Ammis comes close, too, and Wade narrowly avoids bleeding with a blindingly-fast superkick.

Bomb weathers the storm from Strong – despite the fact her face can barely be seen through the slick blood covering it – and keeps going, only to take more punishment from Wade and, latterly, Ammis – whose golden costume will bear the imprint of Bomb's face for the rest of the match, after an ill-advised headlock.

Strong starts to direct traffic after a while, with McFly happy to whip others in for a chairshot, a big boot, a Strong Arm Tactic. Frustrated, at length Andrews hits the ring, dragging a half-unconscious Bomb to safety and carrying her up the ramp.

Later on, JeriLynn crashes from the top of the ladder to the outside, writhing in pain. A concerned Ricky DeColt checks her and calls for the EMTs, but for the remainder of the match, he keeps looking back at her in worry.

Alicia, meanwhile, sneaks an attack on McFly, laying her out, then, as Wade climbs the ladder, improvises another into a ramp, charging up to nail the Strong Arm Tactic at the top. Ammis tries for the Double Cross – Strong nearly reverses to the Angel Driver, but Ammis blocks it, only to be kicked out of the ring.

She's halfway up the ladder, nonetheless, when Alicia unhooks the title – and promptly blasts Zoe with a belt shot with it, then grabs her, hitting the Angel Driver from the halfway point of the ladder.

**

Saturday Night Showcase, April 2010

“I have one demand, Midden, and one demand only, now that Strong has her title and all's right with the world,” Alicia says smoothly, playing for the cameras.

“The DeColt WrestleFestival, where I'll be defending this pretty, pretty thing next. I don't want to face the last champ. I want to face the first champ again. I want to hold this prize out of her reach, and I want to beat her again, let her know she's never going to hold it...” She smiles. “This is the House that Strong Built, tougher than Stone, and a Dangerous will never reign in this House again.”

**

Total Wrestling, April 2010

Kate Dangerous and Art Reed clash with Davis Wayne Newton and Alicia Strong in the semi-main event. It's good work; blindingly fast in places, inspired in others. Far from the first time these two duos have wrestled, but it has an obvious, good and strong claim to be the best.

Throwing it all out there, putting it all on the line, Dangerous gets the win – when Newton underestimates her, allowing her to block the Fisherman's Suplex, spin him around, and nail a Half-Nelson Suplex for the win, with Art Reed cutting Alicia off with a missile dropkick.

**

Badge of Honor, April 2010

In a main event paid for and bought from the Enforcers, Kate Dangerous wrestles JeriLynn Stone in a warm-up match. Back and forth it goes, several times, until Alicia intervenes, bloodying Dangerous with the Womens Championship and hitting an Angel Driver on it – Stone tries to drive her away, but is unable to do so until Ricky DeColt makes an appearance, too.

Dangerous technically has a win via DQ, but she won't be feeling lucky.

**

Badge of Honor, April 2010

To prove a point, Alicia Strong has bought the main event, and faces... Gorgon. It's nothing but a brawl, and it ends when Dangerous, Ammis, and Wade hit the ring to mete out some justice after the previous week.

Wade, Ammis, and Wade's nightstick in combination are enough to hold Gorgon at bay. After their initial assault, Alicia is weakened enough for Dangerous to DDT her onto the title belt.

**

Total Mayhem, April 2010

“Tomorrow night, Alicia,” Kate offers, smiling with satisfaction, drenched in sweat, at the end of a recap video that faded into clips of Kate working with (some might say taking out her frustrations on) the Danger Zone students. “Tomorrow night is not going to go down like Malice in Wonderland. I'd love to have everyone come away praising our match again... but I wouldn't love that enough.

“Not after you attacked me, jumped me, beat me down and bloodied me. There was no reason for that, Alicia, no reason at all...” She grins. “And the funny part is, your dad would've hated that. But my dad... my dad was sat at home watching the show, and I was getting jumped.

“So I don't know for sure what he said, but I'm going to put together a guess... I'm going to guess that he thought back to fighting your dad, and to the things he did and the things he had to do...

“And the next week, when I jumped you back, when I'd done my homework and I had my friends and I laid you out I'm sure he said to himself 'That's my girl', Alicia, I'm sure he recognised himself in what I did – and the thing is, Alicia, you're the one who's gone off your path. You're the one not playing to your strengths.

“So tomorrow night, get ready, because I'm going to take my strengths, which I know so well, and I've got all your weak spots visualised... because I don't care enough now to make sure I wrestle at my best, but I damn sure take what you did personally enough to fight like a b***h – and I won't stop, no matter what, and I'm... going... to... break... you.

“Sleep on that, Alicia. Sleep on it well. No excuses.”

**

In The Company Of Legends, May 2010

They collide as the bell sounds, leaving it all out there. Both are bloodied, the battle a complete and direct contrast to what they did at Malice in Wonderland – but honesty forces me to admit, it could be just as good, if you're a fan of the right kind of thing.

The battle rages across the ring and out ot it, and culminates when both women take a spill from the top turnbuckle through the announce desk.

By the count of eight, both women are stirring, but two more counts go by and neither of them make it into the ring. The contest must be ruled a draw.

**

Where Angels Fear To Tread, May 2010

Four-corner madness here sees Alicia Strong, Michelle Cox, Serena Starr and JeriLynn Stone collide, one fall to the finish – Strong has refused to take on Dangerous again, but had to take, as a consolation, Mayhem Midden's offer of a match which “would clear up all the other current contention issues”.

Cox and Starr continue to act as a team, and the champion starts to develop a hunted expression as she deals with them. Stone, too, seems determined to get her belt back – and she's more than capable of it; a suicide dive which wipes out the other three early on is one of the highlights of the match.

Cox finds herself, ultimately, locked in the Stone Hold. It seems likely that JeriLynn will regain her title, but as Starr goes to rescue her, she's blasted to the ground with a Strong Arm Tactic – and Michelle Cox holds out, resisting the submission, just long enough that Alicia picks up another victory and retains her title. Azaria, observant as ever, notes that Cox can still boast an undefeated record on her usual technicality...

**

Saturday Night Showcase, June 2010

Ammis' steady stream of victories as she plays off and learns from Kate and JeriLynn, combined with JeriLynn's near title win and Dangerous' draw with the champion, leave the three of them now all still in title contendership, much to Strong's (“YOU TRICKED ME, MIDDEN!” “Yes, I did – and you, I figured I'd hoodwink, but you wanna ask yourself what on earth Phil Vibert was smoking if he didn't catch it. Maybe you're just not a priority?”) dismay.

And so it is that a Watch The Clock gauntlet has been set up to begin the mid-month broadcast of Showcase. First up is JeriLynn Stone, who takes on Cherry Bomb, beating her after thirteen gruelling minutes – and requiring the aid of Ricky DeColt, with Aaron Andrews all too ready to interfere on his girl's behalf.

Kate Dangerous steps up next, facing old, old adversary Raku Makuda. It's a vicious battle, and Makuda knows all Dangerous' weaknesses, but Dangerous evades the Swanton and locks in the Danger Zone, getting a submission at ten minutes twenty-six seconds.

Ammis' opponent leads her face to fall. The giant Gorgon is a deadly opponent, and Zoe goes at it with a degree of bravery, isolating the ankle just as Stone did, doing her best – scoring with the Double Cross twice, though neither wins the match – but the klaxon sounds to end the contest at ten minutes and twenty-seven.

**

In the Company Of Legends, June 2010

This time, the match – the third in their series – is set to be Falls Count Anywhere. Alicia and Kate go back and forth with a scorching match, almost reaching the heights of the first two, but in the end, Alicia resorts to an Angel Driver onto the belt – and Sam Sparrow recovers in time to see it, forced to DQ the champion.

**

July, 2010

The battle lines drawn between Dangerous, Ammis, and Stone's camp on the one hand and Alicia, Easter, and Gorgon as a nascent clique on the other define chunks of this month, as they collide in many combinations, with Davis Wayne Newton, Ricky DeColt, and Easter's beau John Pathlow also getting involved on multiple occasions.

Strong Style – as the trio have branded themselves – are a scary group to cross, with links all over the place, and tension between JeriLynn and her uncle Edd – still affiliated with Gorgon – couldn't be higher.

But it's all, ultimately, building toward the same end point.

**

Summer Showdown, July 2010

The fourth match in the series makes it to the semi-main event, just before Art Reed's final battle of the World Heavyweight Championship with Sammy Bach. Both main and semi-main are to be contested inside steel cages.

This final match is a fusion of the three prior matches, building on history beautifully. One of the biggest moments – Alicia's breaking out her mentor, Sensational Ogiwara's famed Ogiwara Clutch Hold as both women straddle the top of the cage, letting Dangerous dangle, bracing herself with legs intertwined with the steel at the top – goes straight into Total Wrestling's intro clipreel.

In the end, though, it's another borrowing that finishes this one; soaring from the top of the cage, Dangerous connects the From Canada With Love with pin-point precision to make the pin.

But before she can even celebrate, someone else is in there with them; the door hangs awkwardly on only one hinge as Gorgon snakes her hand around the new champion's throat, laying her out with a Hydra Bomb.

[Blake Trask]

Man... that is some excellent writing of Alicia. She's downright infuriating as a heel, and that's just from little snippets of an overall feud.

[Eidenhoek]

I almost prefer reading these types of stories to the diary itself. It's just...massive amounts of information, months and months, in one post. Really cool. And infuriating as I still suck at writing. And because there's still no shibari stable of Hall and Gilmore. And...uh...Raku Makuda? And yes, read the '08 PPPW diary, I know.

[Oregano Jensen]

Hm... what happened to Suzanne Brazzle/KOBRA?

And if Pathlow is dating Easter, does that mean he made a heel turn?

Who is this "bald giant" who beat Fonzarelli -- Gargantuan?

Etc.

[Phantom Stranger]

Originally Posted by Blake Trask

Man... that is some excellent writing of Alicia. She's downright infuriating as a heel, and that's just from little snippets of an overall feud.

Little known fact is that her gimmick nearly got handed to Jay Chord - but then Sam Strong retired, Alicia didn't take over, and she was available.

I'm glad she's coming across as odiously as she should be. A face turn has to be in her future, but the clear money matches in the early going were Strong/Stone and Strong/Dangerous. Only the result at Malice convinced me to go with Strong/Dangerous as the future feud.

Originally Posted by Eidenhoek

I almost prefer reading these types of stories to the diary itself. It's just...massive amounts of information, months and months, in one post. Really cool. And infuriating as I still suck at writing. And because there's still no shibari stable of Hall and Gilmore. And...uh...Raku Makuda? And yes, read the '08 PPPW diary, I know.

It's... a lot of fun to write, actually, but I couldn't write an actual diary this way. My head doesn't work that way - I know, as I write these, it seems like it does, but if you'd asked me to play out months of a game then nest these storylines together after the fact, I couldn't do it.

Credit for this stuff belongs, honestly, to Bigpapa, whose WCW project got me thinking in this way - I've modified it a bit but these sections exist from that seed.

As to sucking at writing... I've got around 6 million words stored on my hard drive. I've been writing for the last thirteen years. (This project alone accounts for 650,000, and that's not including card preview posts).

Someone once said you have to write a million words of crap before your first good one. Like many such claims, it's factually incorrect, but there's a grain of truth to it.

Read widely - whatever you want to write, there's much to be learned from Stephen King in rendering the human condition, from Mark Twain and P.G. Wodehouse in finding the right word ("The difference between the ALMOST right word and the right word is the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning"), from Carl Hiassen and Elmore Leonard in... not how people speak, but a version of how people speak that's fun to read... and countless other authors in a thousand other things.

For God's sake, don't steal from me. Steal from the people I stole from. (This is actually not sarcasm. This is serious advice. I watched the director's commentary on The Godfather a while back and it was fascinating... Coppola seems to see only the shots he stole from other directors. To me, it's so utterly a Coppola film, it couldn't have been made by anyone else.) Also steal from anyone else who has good things to steal.

[Phantom Stranger]

Originally Posted by Oregano Jensen

Hm... what happened to Suzanne Brazzle/KOBRA?

And if Pathlow is dating Easter, does that mean he made a heel turn?

Who is this "bald giant" who beat Fonzarelli -- Gargantuan?

Etc.

Taking these in rough order...

KOBRA is about to have problems. Watch this space.

Pathlow will be involved in that storyline. Further spacewatching called for.

Yep - and no, he's not going to be around long.

A couple of these articles have slightly spoilered other bits. Bear with me...

[Eidenhoek]

Someone once said you have to write a million words of crap before your first good one. Like many such claims, it's factually incorrect, but there's a grain of truth to it.

*cries* But I don't want to start a fifth diary ._____________.

Oh, and totes change TCW to a sports entertainment fed for a few months to make that Megaman Boss/Matthew Keith fued, plz

[Phantom Stranger]

One aspect of our business that some of us love and others hate is direct interaction with the fans. Its part of the deal. No avoiding it. Unless you spend most of your career under a mask, and even then it will happen.

I ain't never been real fond of that interaction. Don't get it twisted – I love our fans and I know this business is right dead without them. Won't never stop being thankful of the life they've allowed me to live. But that don't mean I want to spend a bunch of time shaking hands and making small talk with them.

It's the questions that kill me. The unanswerable questions they ask with such hope of a truthful and profound answer. What was my favorite moment of my whole career? Or my proudest moment of the whole damned thing? Who was my favorite opponent? Who was my toughest opponent?

A lot of those kind of questions can't really be answered. Those that can would take a lot of time and consideration. A thirty year careermeans a lot to take into account. So I placate those fans by growling some answer at them. It don't matter that much what I give them, so long as they get something.

Next time one of those fans asks me about my proudest moment, I can give them an honest and true answer. One that won't take no thought or consideration. I can say that my proudest moment was Malice in Wonderland 2010. The first night, when I wasn't even on the card.

I stood and watched my son Greg when he wrestled my other son Matty. They had a match that is as good as anything I ever had. A match that was worthy of its main event slot on that show. Not just any old card, either, but one loaded down with some of the best talent this business has ever produced.

Legacies are something I've talked about many times. I have a strong respect for what they mean to this business. If it wasn't for the legacies passed down from those who came before us, this business would not exist as it does today.

That moment – my two boys proving themselves to be great at what they do on the grandest stage possible – is my proudest moment. My proudest moment as a professional wrestler, as a parent, and as a man.

When I walk away from this business, I will leave behind more than just one legacy. I will be remembered for all the titles I won all over the damned globe. All the great matches I had. All the fans I made love and hate me. All the other workers I helped out. Even knowing all that, I can with absolute certainty say that Greg and Matthew are creating the legacy that matters most to me.

And sooner or later, I'll be done. I'll have a chance to weigh up the other unanswerables. Maybe the day will come when I look forward to those questions from fans, where I can answer with pride about what part of my career – and my life – has left me proudest.

But for that, you can wait for my own book, right?