I laid down for noone.

Chapter 1: The champion stands tall.

Last week Chad got the better of me, this week I was willing to return the favor. I could already see through his plans long after the events of Isolation. That so called "win" he received last week which gave him a shot at my belt still ate at me as I arrived for this week's matchup. It was pick your poison day for me and Chad and I was spending a good portion of the show thinking about whom I want Chad to face. Lately he's been running wild because of the ragtag group that he's been leading for two weeks now. Alone though, Chad has no real power, he's always been seen as this awkward tool that could never catch a break in his career. Each attempt at getting anywhere in IWF has always ended in failure, from his piss poor record, to his stint with Marshall's Court which ended in complete disaster, to his two attempts at the BftB tournament. The last tournament for the briefcase was the most successful highlight of his entire career in IWF and when he won the tournament, he was sure to follow in the footsteps of Bmac and Ruben who both went on to cash their briefcases and become Heavyweight champions.

However it was not meant to be for Chad, he would spend the following weeks going back to his losing ways until finally he decided to put his briefcase up from grabs which was the only time he used the booking powers. Ever since he lost the match and the briefcase he's been away from the federation. No one really knew what he was up to and no one really cared that much. What could have been the perfect underdog story ended up being the biggest fail for Chad and it stuck to him even now.

This time he's managed to gather an army and now has taken IWF by storm, for Chad this is his last resort, he's going for broke and putting everything on the table just for this one shot at glory. He's already earned the shot and now all he needs is to build some momentum going into Ragnarok.

He thought he'll have an easy time with me as the champ, that was his very first mistake.

See he wishes that I would end up like Vincent Van Rose, when he became champion his confidence would skyrocket. But while he proved his dominance in the early part of his reign, that confidence of his would end up being his undoing in the later part. He would lose two straight matches against the very person he teamed up with then lost his title to Robbie who then lost it to Brandon. Since then Vincent Van Rose would vanish into the unknown till everyone forgot about him, no one ever talked about his time as Heavyweight champ or the time when he was on top of the world.

Me on the other hand, I'm much different from Vincent Van Rose.

I've had some huge roadblocks put in front of me down the road to becoming a champion, I've had many close calls during my career some of which should of killed me but didn't. In the end though I preserved, I overcame and most importantly I succeeded. That was the big difference between me and Chad, the fact that I was very successful in my career where as he wasn’t.

Chad had the perfect chance to become a champion in IWF when he won the briefcase only for his ego to end up costing said briefcase to the very next person who used it to become a champion in IWF.

Strange and ironic if I do say so myself.

I would arrive ready for whoever Chad had picked to face me tonight, turned out it was none other than Robbie Hart. He and I are no strangers to each other, we've crossed paths a few times during the Pick your Poison PPV and since then we've stayed on mutual corners. Tonight though it was champion vs. champion and Robbie was not in the best of moods, he and I would send the crowd into a frenzy with our considerable skill and abilities. Robbie knew I was no pushover and I wasn’t pulling any punches either. In the end I would prove victories once more, making it three for three against the so called "Greatest High Impact champion".

While Chad did have the right idea to send Robbie to take me on, it didn't work as well as he'd hoped. He expected Robbie to just tear me apart but there I was standing strong and I had the best choice for Chad to face.

I sat back and saw the look on his face as Crimson Skull arrived to take on his opponent in the main event. I would stand near the commentary table watching as Chad did everything in his power to keep the big man down. In the end Ruby Winters would come in to save her general by distracting the ref long enough for Chad to sneak in a low blow which helped him get the win.

I would make my move; I slid in from the far side and knocked Chad down before he could do any more damage to Crimson. I knew it was strange for someone like me to save someone like Crimson but it wasn’t about lending him a hand, but rather get some payback on Chad who would retreat like the little coward that he is. I allowed him to leave, because I would soon drop a bombshell by announcing that Chad will face me at Ragnarok for the title inside a steel cage. This means that Natural Law can't intervene, if Chad wants to get the belt bad enough, he'll have no choice but to face me alone without anyone to depend on.

I've already asked Chad before what would happen if he were to lose his number advantage, now he has to swallow his pride and think of something quick. Because Ragnarok is on the horizon and right now the playing field has been leveled in my favor, so much for the title curse coming back.


Chapter 2: Not this time.


I was in a really sore mood coming home after the show, I don't know what Chad bribed Brandon with but I must have struck a nerve in that ego of his because I'm looking at the card for next week's show and I'm not liking it. I mean it's bad enough that I'm going one on one against the self proclaimed "real" IWF champion Stygian but now Chad is the guest ref I mean come on really? Having a simple match between the two champions would make for a great main event match but putting Chad in the stripes? He would just ruin it.

He's getting desperate, I just know it, Chad knows it as well, he's gonna be going into a match all alone, without his pals, without any outside help. His only chance is to weaken me as much as possible before our fight.

Who better to achieve that goal than Stygian?

Never before has anyone seen the drive that Stygian has, the guy is very formable in the ring, just mowing down opponents like nothing. He would retire Brandon just to claim the IWF Heavyweight championship. However he didn't like the way Corey and the rest of management was handling him, putting him in a stable that featured me and Craig alongside with Rick. This would cause him to vacate his belt and leave the federation, leaving James Shark to claim by taking out Craig.

James knew he wouldn’t be able to take the belt while Stygian was around so he waited till he left before he claimed what he thought was rightfully his. That was until I took the briefcase from Chad and waited till the right moment to cash it in on James. James thought he could deny me my cash in, that he would make me the 1st person to fail at using the briefcase to become champion. Thanks to Chad's unexpected return though, that wouldn’t be the case and because he had his belt taken from him via a cash in, he didn't bother showing up for the main event to get it back. He was mad that he couldn’t deny me my shot at his belt and thus he was sent leaving with his tail between his legs.

Now it’s my turn to take on the Black Dragon, the Superman, and the guy who was once a proud champ and has now become a complete sellout. I had to be ready for anything that he will throw at me, because I know he will take full advantage of the fact that he has the ref in his pocket plus his two busty ladies to keep things interesting. It was already an uphill battle before, now it's a complete mountain that I need to climb, we're not talking any normal mountain either, but rather a spiral mountain where a hungry dragon awaits me......


TO BE CONTINUED