I’ve put up with it for too long now. I let my conscious screw with me for far too long.
Finally firing on all cylinders.
AND now it’s time to put up and shut up, O’Neil.
You’re about to become the Champ, fucking make it count!
Are You Ready?
Well, are you ready now?
For the revolution
For too long your power
Has been taken away
(Scene fades in as we hear the sounds is Disturbed’s “Are You Ready” blaring loudly over the sound system of the hotel’s gym. Which, for a hotel gym, is kind of impressive. Usually it’s something resembling a closet with a corner weight machine that has been busted for months, a worn down stationary bike and a treadmill that looks like someone took a baseball bat in a fit of drunken rage. But not this gym, this has a full rack of weights, with a bench, an incline and several other amenities. I guess only the best for the PWS crew, eh?
So as we go back to the bench, there we see a tall dashing man of almost 40 with short red hair...ok it’s me. I’m still dashing after all these years, I mean...I couldn’t be doing over the bench jumps complete with burpees if I wasn’t. OK maybe that’s just good conditioning, either way, you get the picture. I’m currently kicking my own ass. And yes, I am voicing over my own fucking scene set up because this is my time now and you are going to like it!)
Female Voice: Michael!
(Yeah I didn’t hear that, too focued....I guess I kinda did....but still focued)
Female Voice: MICHAEL!!!!
(Screw you tiny voice in my head, I need to get ready!)
*CLICK*
HEY! WHAT THE FUCK!(I turn around come face to face with my little sister....well one of them at least, Laura Phoenix.)
Michael O’Neil: What the shit? When the hell did you get here?
Laura Phoenix: What? You expect me to miss out on the biggest night of your career?
Michael O’Neil: Uh huh....also your daughter potentially committing suicide?
Laura Phoenix: Well, I got reasons nonetheless. Am I gonna get lip or can a girl get a hug?
Michael O’Neil: I’m super sweaty.
(Laura looks at me like only she can...well Bella has that same ability too but hell she practically cloned that kid anyways. She gives me a huge hug.)
Michael O’Neil: Good to see ya. You bring that husband and my nephew?
Laura Phoenix: They’re settling into the room as we speak. I tried to call but you don’t seem to ever want to answer your phone.
Michael O’Neil: So you went and hunted my ass down? I’m flattered.
Laura Phoenix: Actually the front desk told me they saw you come this way about an hour ago. Figured I’d make sure you hadn’t fallen asleep in here.
(Laughter, she always knew how to poke at me. I guess that’s what bratty sisters do best.)
Laura Phoenix: I am NOT bratty! I just know you.
Michael O’Neil: How the hell can you hear my voiceover?
(Awkward pause)
Laura Phoenix: ....I don’t know.
Michael O’Neil: Ok, well either way, no. I have done nothing but work my ass off since I got word about this match. This shot, this chance, it’s...well I would say once, but it’s twice in a lifetime. I’m not letting that championship slip through my fingers again. I have to make this one stick Laur. It could be my last chance to prove something to not only the world but to myself.
Laura Phoenix: That being?
(I sigh, I can’t help it. People are right, I have been the joker. The class clown. It’s my coping mechanism. My sisters are brilliant, hard working....and I just got by.)
Laura Phoenix: .....I heard that one too....*sigh* Michael....
Michael O’Neil: I know, I know --
Laura Phoenix: You can’t be beating yourself up about this. Cameron and I, we were always in the right place at the right time. You--
Michael O’Neil: I was always the late bloomer. I knew that when I was always picked last on any team! I’m not you guys.
(She smirks at me as I grab a towel and water and just sit down hard on the bench as she sits beside me.)
Michael O’Neil: Alexis was right, you know? I have never been the one to go out and grab life by the balls. Instead, I usually ran away when shit got really rough. You and Cam....hell even Bella....you 3 have your priorities set. You always know what you want, you don’t second guess yourselves.
Laura Phoenix: HA, that’s bullshit.
(I look up at her like to say “WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT”)
Laura Phoenix: Ok...that’s really getting annoying.
(Sorry...)
Laura Phoenix: *sigh* Mike, look....you were the “Anywhere but here” kind. You didn’t let dad force you into his situations growing up, you went out and found something else. You went and saw the world on your own merits. When you were ready, you came home. When mom passed...
Michael O’Neil: ....Not sure I like you talking about that still.
Laura Phoenix: But you need to hear it. But, when mom passed, it fucked all of us up. You, me, Cam, Bella, Dad....hell even Nick and Jesse, we all were just shocked by the whole situation and there is not a soul in this family that for one minute, held you in...
Michael O’Neil: Contempt?
Laura Phoenix: I was gonna fix myself by saying “Blamed you for going away” but that’s what happened. Either way, you came home. You trained your ass off. You stood for this family when I couldn’t and Cameron was too busy. I have no reason to ever really come back full time because I know in my heart that you, big brother, have this. ....as for Cam and I having our shit together....
Michael O’Neil: Oh no...she’s not getting cold feet is she? I already bought my outfit for the wedding!
(There’s that look again....Like “There’s that bear again”)
Laura Phoenix: OH SON OF A BITCH! That’s gonna be in my head forever now.
Michael O’Neil: I’m not sorry for that one. ANIMANIACS FOR LIFE!!!!!
Laura Phoenix: Will you focus?!?! ...no Cameron hasn’t gotten cold feet. But we all have moments in time that we had to choose where it was our moment. Sorta like...Step up or step aside.
Michael O’Neil: You’re saying this is that moment? Almost a decade later?
Laura Phoenix: What’s that old sayin? “No time like the present”
(Patting me on the back....I thought it was the older siblings that were supposed to give out the wise advice.)
Laura Phoenix: Not this time Mikey. Not this time. Anyways, room 1345. Once you’re done not slacking off...for once.
(And as she gets up and heads out of the room, I can’t help but take her words to heart. Moments. This...is that moment that I have been waiting for.)
Does your heart feel heavy now
Savor the solution
Take those mental shackles off
And throw them away
You've got to get them out of your mind
Don't you let their vision leave you blind
The class clown is finally taking shit seriously...well....for the most part. I can’t help it. So often I have just been waiting to see if I was given something. I already stated back a ways that I was ready to just walk away after Destiny. I thought, that was it. My one chance and I fucking blew it. But the Wrestling Gods smiled down upon me once more and said “Oh no, Mr. O’Neil. We’re not done with you yet.”
Ok I get it, fucking laugh if you want, I am the jokester, I am the guy that does what he can to get a chuckle out of people. But I’ll be damned if I’m not going to take this one last chance and make it my bitch. I have dreamt of the moment my name gets to be placed along the sides of the greats in PWS history. I look back at my sister’s conversation and smile because it was like she knew I needed a bit of a pep talk. Even though I have never been more motivated in my life. It’s why I challenged Alexis to that debate. It’s why I have had to take the initiative in remotely trying to build this damn match....AND WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE THE MAIN FUCKING EVENT!
And thank God for Mack, because that twisted Son of a Bitch has given me nothing but motivation. He keeps looking to her, occasionally poking at me but it’s allllllll about Alexis. I get it, she’s the fucking champion. And yeah, he’s pissed because he put on this huge match of the year candidate with Malachi and wants that top spot but sometimes you have to show just a bit of patience to get there. ....me? I’m done being fucking patient.
I have had to wait and wait and wait and wait and wait and wait. I’m done waiting. Center Stage is it for me. I don’t come out with that PWS Championship here? I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do because it’s the only thing left for me.
Are you ready?
They aren't ready for you to be strong
Are you ready?
They aren't ready for you to prove them wrong
Are you ready?
They aren't ready for you to be turned into someone
Who cannot be preyed upon
I’m not going to do some elaborate scene for you. I’m just going to sit here on this stool in the middle of this room....and talk. I don’t feel like being fancy or crazy. I just want to shoot straight from the hip.Michael O’Neil: Put yourself in my shoes....you are the oldest sibling of one of the best wrestling families to grace PWS. Nothing special. Red hair, same shining sparkling personality....and your little sisters beat you to the punch of every damn thing you could do.
How would you react?
Oh I’m sure some of you are saying “OH DO IT BIGGER! LOUDER!”. I can do it louder, especially now that learned how to work that damn megaphone. BUT Bigger??? My sister Laura, threw someone off a fucking balcony to gain back the No Limits title and the wars between her and Syn? Well they are things made of fucking legend. How the fuck do you top that? I sure as hell can’t! But this isn’t Syn, this is Alexis. Someone that knows exactly what she can do, what she wants and what she has. What’s amazing about it, is she’s not content. She always wants more. She won’t admit that she is fame hungry and even slightly power hungry because that’s how Alexis is.
And I fucking respect her for it.
I want to hate her, but that is just jealousy talking. I want to maim her, but that’s just ego.
I want to be that confident in everything in life.
*sigh* I KNOW! That’s quite the revelation, isn’t it? Michael O’Neil, human. I mean, I’ve done a lot of stuff, I’ve seen a lot of the world but to have the confidence to know you are a champion. To hold a company in the palm of your hand and the majority of a roster look up to you. I want that. I have nothing else in this world but my family and that isn’t enough. I have nothing to lose, Alexis. NOTHING. Because if I can’t...I’m content in walking away. That’s all for me. Career ended by disappointment but on my terms. And I’m ok with that.
BUT, if I do finally get that brass ring, if I manage to find myself at the end of the night, center stage, with my hand raised...I will not let anyone down. Because after all my adventures, all my travels, all my jokes and games...I will take the world on my shoulders. I will carry that burden and I will hold the torch. I don’t know how many more ways I can say, I will proudly serve as the PWS: Apex Champion.
I am ready for that moment. I am ready to be that guy.
I’m going into Los Angeles, I’m walking down that ramp at Center Stage and come hell or high water, I will end it with the PWS Championship in my hands.
And I am not joking about that.
Are you ready?