"Rage" Against The Machine (Cade/Roach)

["The R*" Robby Sylk]

The scene was now the Time Warner Cable Center in Charlotte, NC. XWA's 1st ever Ring Rage PPV, and the fans were electric inside of the arena as the show kicked off.

Matt: Good evening and welcome to XWA Ring Rage!!! Tonight Charlotte is going to lay witness to another night of intense action and surprise, suspense and intrigue as only the XWA can provide!

Tony: All across the board: Takedown, Overload and the Diamonds will be poised for action tonight, all culminating in another XWA innovation-The Crucible! The landscape of the World and Diamond may very well change right here tonight!

Buzz: And don't forget about that Steel Cage hanging high over the ring right now. Takedown's Robby Sylk and Kris Cade will step into that thing in a return match for the Grandslam Title, only one of many title matches that're going down tonight!

As as those specific members of XWA's announce squadron spoke their speak, Bro-Kin's "For The Vein" begins to play, and the cheers turn to boos really quick.

Lucy: Speaking of the Grandslam Championship...here comes XWA's current "power couple". GSC holder Robby Sylk and the Pearl Champion, Jenna Slade.

And the duo strutted down to the ring arm in arm, the other arms slining their respective titles. They looked like movies stars did the California natives as they made they're way to the ring, bursting with confidence despite the fact that neither exactly prevailed in their last outings.

Sylk held the ropes open for Jenna's always entertaining entrance to the ring, then stepped inside and demanded the ring announcers mic, blowing him off and out of the ring. He took a second to look up at the cage above him, then begins to speak.

I bet you all enjoyed the Supershow didn't you? Wasn't it just bursting with excitement? Especially that match where yours truly had to go 2 on 1 against Kris Cade and Romeo Davis. Oh yeah, I know that all of my "fans" out there must have gotten a kick out of that.

You could see him say "hmph" off the mic.

You know it's funny. That very same night, Chris Dynamite was in a Handicap match as well, but his match was under a TAG TEAM format, yet for some reason...I had to contend with both Cade & Davis at the same time, the whole time. That kinda got me to thinking something. Our GM Mike Roach said that the whole deal was to "punish" me for Soul Survivor. I'm starting to think Mike that it's going a little deeper than that.

Matt: What's he talking about?

I think this here is all about you trying to make an example out of me. About you trying to hold me down so that you can allow someone like a Cade or a Davis to take the spotlight that rightfully belongs to The Best Player In The Game Today! To The Highlight Of The Night! To "Mr. Takedown"!

I am this show's best, hands down, bar none, and you just can't stand the fact that the "pinnacle" isn't someone who fits into your little cookie-cutter mold. You can't stand the fact that a California bad boy is running around, doing what he wants, how he wants...and in a much more stylish way than that other California bad boy does it on Overload.

Lucy: hey guys, you remember Rick Martel's perfume "Arrogance"? I'm just saying...

But you're not getting what you want. You didn't get what you wanted at the Supershow, because I took everything that Cade & Romeo had and asked for seconds, thirds and fourths! I took just as much punishment last week as Cade did two weeks ago, and we're still standing. Yeah, so I lost...you were expecting otherwise? That's what the corporate types like to do, stack the deck in their favor. Well, it didn't work then...and it's not gonna work tonight.

You made the match...Steel Cage for the GSC. Something to ensure that there would be no outside interference. I don't need any outside interference in there, because I've got something even better. A weapon. I'm going to use that cage there in any way, shape and means possible to ensure that I walk out of Charlotte with all of my bling intact.

It's like I said before. Soul Survivor's purpose was to show everyone on Takedown, including you Cade..and you Roach, just who's at the top of the food chain around here. Tonight...tonight for me is going to be an even stronger statement, that I am the Grandslam Champion, and nobody's taking this thing from me anytime soon. Tonight we're really going to see who can take the most punishment.

That being said, someone else them quickly began to play now. It was time for a response.

[cade]

It was the entrance theme of Charlotte's own, Kris Cade.

Buzz: The ROOF has damn near came off of the Time Warner Cable Arena. HERE COMES CADE!!!

The hometown fans explode in cheer as Cade steps out from backstage. The atmosphere in the arena was electrifying as Cade made his way down to the ring, greeting everyone along the way with high fives. Cade slides into the ring and shoots a gaze at Sylk and Slade before climbing up to the 2nd rope and raising his fists in the air. The reaction from the crowd was ear popping. As he drops back down to the ring floor, he's handed a mic.

Do you hear that Robby? Take a good, long listen to it...

Cade holds his mic out to the crowd, and the respond with a thunderous ovation.

That's the sound of tradition. Of respect. Charlotte is a city entrenched in wrestling history. Some of the greatest men ever to compete in this business call Charlotte their hometown. And I just so happen to have the honor to call it my hometown as well. But it's not just tradition you hear in the cheers and chants of these people. It's the knowing that a change long overdue is just a over the horizon. They feel it. They smell it. They taste it. And so do the millions of people watching around the globe. When you and your cronies decided you wanted to punk me out at Soul Survivor, a count down began. And what it was counting down was to what happens tonight. And what happens tonight...is that I show the world what I showed them a month ago. That you can't beat me. You see Robby, you can be everything you said you just were. The best player in the game. The highlight of the night. Mr. Takedown. But there's one thing you'll never...ever be.

able to beat me in a fair fight.

The crowd responds with further cheer.

You can fool yourself all you want about how things went down at Soul Survivor. Lie to yourself and say that your intention was to make an example that you were in control. But the fact of the matter is that I beat you. One on one, I was the better man. Everyone with two eyes in their skulls and a pulse saw it. That title on your shoulder right now rightfully belongs to me. And tonight, inside of a Steel Cage, I take what's mines. And this time around, there's no Romeo Davis to help me pound your skull in. And there's no Breaker or Ryan X to save you from the brink of defeat. All there is going to be is you...me...and the brutal realization that after tonight, there's going to be one less thing you can call yourself. And that's GrandSlam Champion.

The fans continue to cheer on the hometown hero as all await Sylk's next response.

["The R*" Robby Sylk]

You know something, Kris...it doesn't surprise me one bit that a guy like comes out here and talks about "tradition". Mr. Straightedged father figure. Mr. Hometown Hero. Mr. Comeback Kid. All the pieces are in place for tonight to be one of those real "storybook" moments in time, aren't they?

He smirks...

Well, I don't believe in fairytales, Cade. I believe in reality, and the reality tonight is that I'm not only going to prove that I can beat you...not only am I going to walk out of that cage still holding the GSC...but I'm going to do it in your own hometown!

There was a sea of boos throughout the arena now as Sylk smiles a mischievous smile.

And as far as your tradition goes...I'm sick and tired of hearing about this unwritten "code of the locker room" crap that everyone claims exists in this business. Respecting all that came before you, blah, blah, blah. We're in a new day and age now, Kris...a day and age where it's one thing and one thing only. Survival of the fittest! Whether you like it or not, people...the "golden days" are over and done.

Kris, you're going to need to face facts, and the fact is that we're in a "new era" of pro wrestling. An era where the good guys don't always get their way. An era where the hero doesn't walk off into the sunset. An era where there are no happy endings, unless you're the guy who comes out on top...even if it's not the guy that all the fans like. That's the "Era of Reality" as I call it Cade, and tonight...reality is going to bite for you, hard.

[cade]

Cade wastes no time in he response.

Age of reality, eh? Well Robby, I'm looking forward to seeing what your reality brings. To see if part of that reality means you're actually going to get in this ring with some conviction instead of your typical bravado. You see Sylk, you can be as sick of tradition as you wanna be. Because as long as their are men like me in this business, it's going to stay alive and well. And why is that? Because of guys like you. The hot dogs who come in like a whirlwind, but always end up leaving like a brisk Carolina breeze. You guys who come in, gain success and all of a sudden think you're bigger then the business. C'mon, Robby. Let's be honest here. You think in your heart of hearts that you're bigger then the XWA. That you're the most important commodity this company has. This brand, Takedown has. And that blind naivety has been what's carried you along since you won the World Title last year. You see Robby, winning a title doesn't make you a champion. Defending a title doesn't make you a champion either. It's how you carry a title...that's what makes you a champion. And with that said, the 1st ever XWA GrandSlam champion has made a mockery of his reign. A reign punctuated by grand standing the rest of the roster, down talking XWA management...and yes, even going as far as cheating to keep the title when you knew you weren't going to. That's not being a champion. That's being a chump.

But here tonight, with a 15 foot high Steel Cage around us, you've got no choice but to show if you're actually the champion you brag about being. Because tonight there's no middle man, no master plans and no excuses. For the 1st time in a long time, it's time for Robby Sylk to do one of two things. Put up, or shut up. Now that's MY kind of reality.

As the crowd cheers in approval, Cade grins as he lowers his mic.