The Finale (The End of the Beginning)

[Top Tier Terry]

In the center of the main ring in the middle of the LDFC Training Facility sits Triple T in a steel chair. The facility itself looks empty. Lots of the equipment gone and the rest dismantled or covered with tarps. The LDFC banner that once hung from the rafters is gone. There is an eerie silence. T looks around the place he called home. The place he worked and honed his craft. The place he learned about wrestling as well as himself. The place where he fought Nest. He looks over at the door they crashed through and chuckles to himself because he knows that to this day even after they fixed it, it still doesn’t close right. But soon his smile fades as he addresses the camera. 

TRIPLE T: March 11th…2015. A night that changed my life forever. The first LDFC show. It didn’t even have a name then. I was in the opening match…you in the main event. Funny thing…we both lost. But after that things changed. You went on one hell of a win streak. And I…well I won some…lost some. Got into feuds with this person and that person. What’s funny is even when I struggled I looked at what you were doing and I was inspired. I was encouraged to work a little harder. Push a little further.

You see you and I we seemed to have this mutual respect. This unspoken bond if you will. We never said we were friends. We never hung out together after training or any of that. But for some reason we always knew when the other was watching. We always knew if one was getting better…the other had better start working harder. And then it happened. The Field of Pride tournament for the APEX title.

Triple T smiles a bit. Remembering that night. He shakes his head in disbelief as he continues.  

TRIPLE T: Hardest night of my life. I knew I was going to have an amazing showing. I knew that even if I fell short of winning the title that I was going to show everyone watching that I was just as good as I said I was…and I lost in the first round. One and done…embarrassed. I wanted to just leave the arena. I just wanted to all it quits and go home. But I stayed and I watched you become the first APEX Champion. You remember that night Nest. When came to the back and everyone was congratulating you. Who was right there front and center being the first man to shake your hand? It was me.


From that point I was on a mission. I wanted nothing more than to reach the top of the mountain. I wanted a shot at that gold not because I needed it. Not because without it I was nothing. Hell I was making a name for myself each and every week. No I wanted a shot at that title because I wanted to face you. The only person I had respect for in the back. One of the only ones left from day one along with me. I wanted the honor of being your opponent. So you know what I did? I worked, I studied, I sacrificed more than I ever did before. I was the first to enter the LDFC training facility…and I was the last to leave. There were nights I hid and stayed the entire night in there. I would just sit in the middle of this very ring in the dark and visualize my match. Shadow box in my mind as to what I wanted to do the next time I was in the ring. I would work until I passed out in the shower, wake up before anyone else arrived, get dressed and do another full day of training because I wanted it so damn bad.


And then I got that chance. After busting my ass in a match with 5 other competitors…something that was never done before…or done again…I became the number one contender. It was finally going to happen. All the work, all the sacrifice finally paying off. I was not the Pride of the LDFC. I was the guy the fans cheered for when I came down to the ring. But you know what…something was missing. Something just wasn’t right. You see week after week, night after night, show after show. I walked down that isle and whether I was wrestling or not. I was there. I was in that ring giving what I thought the people wanted. But you…you weren’t always there where you Nest. Your Pride matches started to get less and less which was confusing to me because as the champion I always thought that you were supposed to be front and enter representing your brand. Flag waving the colors of your organization. But again my respect for you blinded me. That and the fact that the first time we were set to face off we had someone else stick their nose in. So now my match. The match that could make or break my career has a third wheel that had to be dealt with. And just like everything else I do I did what had to be done and I handled business in that ring. I out wrestled you, I out wrestled Hana Song and I was seconds away from walking out of that match the APEX champion. But just as the refs hand was falling for the final time, it was all taken from me. You kicked me in the head and stole my pin. You kept you title off of the sweat and blood that I shed that night. But you know something Nest…as I shook the cob webs off from that kick I was also able to see clearer. I was able to see that the mystique of Nest wasn’t as solid as I thought. I because to see you for what you really are.

Triple t begins to fiddle with his hands trying not to lose his composure. 

But stupid well intended Triple T let it go. I literally told myself that it was ok that you took that win from me because when we face off again and it’s one on one I’ll be pinning your shoulders to the mat. But inside I wasn’t sure. I mean I have been killing myself week after week and it was not getting me anywhere. And now at this point you are becoming something of a legend in the locker room. LDFC brass is hyping you up as some unbeatable, force. Now doubt is starting to set in. “Can I beat him? Can anyone beat him?”


Suddenly you and I are in tag matches because the powers that be thought it a great idea to have guys that are going to face off for the title have to depend on each other against everyone else in the roster who hates their guts. It was stupid, and I hated it. But I was so obsessed with figuring you out that I did it just to study you. Just to be close to you in the ring and see how you tick. It was brilliant. It was enlightening, suddenly I realized that I could beat you. I had what it took to kill the unkillable. And then something happened. One night before our match I went back and watched videos of previous events. And on this particular card I was in the ring. With Hana Song after she had ran her mouth and the fans cheered as she retreated…and then you came out and those same fans exploded with cheers…And I thought to myself. Why in the Hell are they cheering for him!? He’s never around. He’s not busting his ass show after show like I am. He takes weeks off not even coming to the ring to address these sacks of crap and the cheer him like he’s the second coming? Then it came to me. It’s the title. The gold belt over his shoulder is what they are cheering. The acknowledgement that I should have received for being there was going to him because he holds a belt. Work ethic be damned.


And then the nail in the coffin. The thing that pushed me over the edge was your promo for our match were you took in upon yourself to take credit for everything I did. You claimed that you made these things happen and that if it wasn’t for you I would be nothing? It was probably the best thing you could have said. It showed that in the time we were around each other you were watching me just like I watched you. Because in that moment it was no longer about wrestling a man I respected, it became fighting a man I wanted to take everything from because he didn’t deserve it.


And with that slight change of attitude. You were able to win the match. You didn’t beat me. I made mental mistakes that allowed you to get that win. But that lose did so much more. It killed all the drive. All the want out of me. But I had to put on a show right? I had to be “The Pride”. Once again I had to step up and be the better man because once again I had to be your tag team partner. And let’s be honest I walked out on you in that match because I couldn’t stand to be anywhere near you if I wasn’t beating your ass! You did nothing to push the company. You did nothing to show you were a champion other that showing up once a month fully rested and well to face an opponent that probably had to fight at least 3 times before facing you. Hell you are so lazy that if I had not drove to this training facility on a Sunday while you worked out and confronted you, you would have never exacted that revenge you pissed and moaned about on Twitter. You claimed that the next time you saw me you were going to make me pay…but then you were never at a show. You never showed up. The fan with the highest prize is sitting up in a freaking tree and no one saw a problem with this but me.
And suddenly the fans hated me! They booed me and booed me. The same guy that laid it all on the line for them when you were up in your tree thinking you were the man. When someone has something to say about the LDFC, I stood up for it not you...me. When Carter got hurt, I was the one that spoke out about it while you, the representative of the brand looked the other way and those ungrateful bastards booed me because I walked out on you?

So I stopped caring. I wanted to fight you. Week in, week out. I wanted nothing more than to fight you. Title no title it didn’t matter but you were so protected. They kept you off shows because they knew if I saw you I was going to fight you. They put us on probation to make sure I didn’t ruin title matches. Your ass was saved time and time again. So I beat up Mercy Williams, and Josh Mitchell, and Peaches, and Jensen, the list went on and on and every time I won it meant nothing because it was not you. Wins, losses. Who cared…I didn’t. But now…oh Nest now it’s all a different story isn’t it.


Now the stigma is dead. Now the myth has died and the legend has fallen. Everyone sees you for what I always saw you as. Nothing more than an inflated ego that was carried to greatness on the backs of men and women far better that you.

Triple T stands and begins to pace back and forth in the ring. 

TRIPLE T: Now the Title is dead…this…the LDFC, it’s dead. Wrestlers are going their separate ways, some staying and moving to California, other…like yourself going to other places. The only thing left to die is this thing between you and me. And it will die at First Wave. But I want you to understand Nest that I will be the one to kill it. I will be the one to end this , I will be the one to dive the final nail in the coffin of NEST! You are a demon that I have to exorcise. You are the nagging splinter that I have to pluck from existence. And at First Wave I will end the first chapter of my wrestling career by beating you in front of the world. Beating you in front of everyone that said it couldn’t be done. Everyone that doubted me, who booed me and cheered you when I was the one that put this place on my back! And when all is said and done your legacy much like this facility and the LDFC itself will be all a distant memory.

With that Triple T looks around the LDFC Training Facility one last time before exiting the ring and walking out the building.