The rich get richer...still (invite)

[scott]

Chlorine by The Bleeding Skies hits the PA, signaling the arrival "The Franchise." O'Dell emerges from backstage dressed to impress as usual. As he walks down to ringside, the announce team speak.

Travis: The man, the myth, THE FRANCHISE. Scott O'Dell, undeniably the conscience of XWA.

Tony: That worries me.

Travis: Why? Because he chooses to play by his own rules? Because he's still the benchmark of success in this company?

Tony: No. Because he's pompous, arrogant, self righteous, pig headed...I can continue if you'd like. I take nothing away from his talent. He's one of the top 5 technical wrestlers on the planet bar none. Possessor of the most effective and vicious version of the Camel Clutch in the game today. But he's an asshole. Always has been, always will be.

Travis: And that alone makes him a bad guy? Can we be any more of a hypocrite?

Scott ascends the ring steps, smirking at comments being made to him by front row fans. He enters the ring and is provided a microphone.

Two weeks ago at Ring Rage was a bittersweet night for me. I managed to get a small level of satisfaction in how I completely and UTTERLY dominated Van Hayden in our submission match, proving my ultimate point that he's not a wrestler, but a thug in tights. But as good as it felt feeling him tap out on my knee as I wrenched back on his neck, it only washed some of the bad taste out of my mouth. At the end of the night, he still walked out of the arena. He's still able to compete. My friend Osiris Alston on the other hand, isn't as lucky.

Scott removes his sunglasses.

I can say with some level of happiness that Alston's operation was a complete success. They managed to fuse the loosened disks in his neck back in place. But...due to the awkward way the disks loosened, the operation was only a temporary fix. Osiris is going to need further surgeries down the road. So while I'm glad my friend can still walk, his wrestling days are done. We've seen the last of Osiris Alston in the XWA.

Travis: Alston had such an upside. What a waste to see such a talent taken away from the roster thanks to the negligence of one man.

Tony: It was a freak accident, Rose. We've seen the video over and over again. There's no proof that Van Hayden injured him intentionally.

But as the old saying goes..."The show must go on." And on it will go indeed. I'm not done with Van Hayden. Not by a long shot. I won't be done with him until begging and pleading for me to put him out of his misery. But rather then make it personal, I plan on making it professional. I plan on showing all of you hypocrites that he doesn't belong in my ring, much less in XWA. When it's all said and done, I'm going so send him crawling back to the Chicago dumpster he crawled from under. But Hayden's only part of the reason I'm out here. There's something even more pressing I want to address. And that's the status of Upper Echelon. Two weeks ago at Ring Rage, Bryan Jasta competed in an inferno match against Osh Vaughn. A match Jasta lost. Now, I can confirm that Jasta only suffered a 1st degree burn as result, and will be back in action at XGames, Kaster Troy is on a leave of absence and Primo and The Burns Brothers are off in Japan until 2011. So right now there's yours truly and Brian Yang. Of course, the loss of Alston left a hole in the roster. But there's no way you could have thought it would stay open for long.

Scott grins with satisfaction before continuing.

Upper Echelon has added a new brother to the fold. A man who embodies everything, and I do mean EVERYTHING we stand for. A man who has paid his dues and dominated every competitor put in front of him. A man who has wrestled around the world. A man who has been not just a champion, but a dominant one. And most importantly, a man who has gone unappreciated by you so called "fans", as well as by XWA brass far to long. For the last two years he's been left to rot on the "B-Show" where he's barely had any sort of competition, namely because there's no one there man enough to get in the ring with him. But no longer. His new home is under the umbrella of Upper Echelon. And under that umbrella, he will realize his true potential, you people will realize his dominance, and those jackholes over on Takedown will realize just what kind of talent they let slip through their fingers.

Ladies and gentlemen, the newest member of Upper Echelon...

With an insanely satisfied grin, Scott points up to the stage.

[blade]

Broken Dreams by Shaman's Harvest hits the PA System. That marked the presence of "The Divine One" Blade Myers. He continues down the ringside as the announce team are shocked.

Travis: Whoa I can't believe my eyes Blade Myers is finally here on Overload.

Tony: That only means one thing he will finally make a name for himself.

Blade makes his way up the ring steps, with a slight smirk on his face. He enters the ring and is provided a microphone.

For 5 months I have been out of action, and your all probably wondering why aren't use. Let me get straight to the point there was no competition on TakeDown that would step in the ring to face me. Why? I'll tell you why. I'm a very dangerous man but I'm not here to talk about that.

he turns to Scott O'Dell.

Scott I would like to thank you for letting me become a member of Upper Echelon I have been watching you guys for months, and I must say I think this is going to be my new home. Now as I see it we both have unsettled business to attend to.

Blade lowers his mic and waits for Scott to address him.

[scott]

Scott nods, and brings his mic up to speak.

Unsettled business indeed. And that of course leads me back to one Van Hayden. Tonight I see as a perfect night for Blade here to "sharpen his sword" after a 5 month lay off. I propose a Tag Team match. For the 1st time ever, Blade Myers and Scott O'Dell teamed up to take on you, and whatever chump you can find backstage gullible enough to want to get in the ring with a pair of wolves. So what do you say, Van? Up for another ass kickin'? Or are you gonna hide behind corporate like you've done all your damn XWA career?

Tony: Nothing like O'Dell stacking the deck as usual. But he'd best be careful. I ran into Van earlier today and he looked like the devil took him over. O'Dell might very well be smacking a hornet's nest.

Just then, the entrance theme of Van Hayden cues up.

[van]

A rather displeased Van Hayden steps out from behind the Devil's Night set. It wasn't so much about what O'Dell had said and done the last few weeks, it was more so the fact that as usual, he was complete and total ass about it. Rather then join O'Dell and the newest member of UE's fold Blade Myers in the ring, Van stays atop the stage with mic in tow.

I wanna clear the air about a few things before I get onto your loud mouthed, blond ass O'Dell. And 1st and foremost, that's the fact that...well...you're right. I've had a history of hurting people. It's the reason why some of the other organizations out there wouldn't hire me. Same as the reason why so many of 'em would touch guys like Jonny Punch or Tyson Terra. Because they fear us. They fear what we'll do to their hand picked top tier guys. They fear what we'll do to their organization as a whole. Yes, counting Alston I've laid up 5 men with the Sidewinder. And yes, I admit it's a dangerous move that probably shouldn't have a place in pro wrestling, because I didn't create it for wrestling. Unlike a lot of the guys backstage, I didn't get my start in any conventional means. My career started in the back alleys and whole in the wall dives of South Side Chi-Town. I make no bones about the fact that before I was a wrestler, I was a pit fighter. And a damn good one. It was a local promoter who saw me fight, and told me he could polish up my skills and help me transition into pro wrestling, where I could make a crap load more money and not risk being found in a dumpster somewhere.

But even after I trained for a year before I made my debut in the indies, I still wasn't all that polished. It's hard to try and get rid of 7 years of street fighting in one. Do I regret takin' away the livelihoods of the men I took out? Yes. But and I sorry about it? Hell no. Injury is part of the job. We all step into that ring knowing full and damn well that there's always the chance we'll get hurt. Whether it's a stubbed to off of an Irish whip, a strained quad from trying to lift someone or something you damn well know you shouldn't, or a broken neck from a modified Hangman's Neckbreaker. We all still climb through those ropes and do what we do regardless, because it's what we do best, period. It was never my intention to break Alston's neck, but at the same time, he shoulda' known what he was gettin' himself into. Or rather, you shoulda' warned him.

After peering out to the fans, Van continues.

At Ring Rage, you got you're lil' rocks off. You got Stan to ban my move, and bottleneck me into a Submission match against you knowin' damn well I'm not a submission wrestler. And I'm sure you enjoyed it. As a matter of fact, I hope you did...I really do. Because tonight, you and your new buddy ain't gonna be havin' much of a good time. I'm bringin' Sean Trueth down to the ring with me tonight, and we're gonna get so medieval on your asses you're gonna swear you see Merlin in the front row.

The crowd booms in cheer at the mention of Sean Trueth's return to Overload.

Tony: Just a few weeks ago Trueth and Myers had one hell of a clash. This is getting more interesting by the minute!

Van lowers his mic and waits for the impending reply.

[scott]

With an antagonizing chuckle, Scott speaks his response to Van's counter point.

So let me get this straight. I'm bringing to the ring one of the most fearsome wrestlers in the game today. A two time Pure Champion. A man who's forgotten more wrestling moves then most guys will ever learn their whole careers. And you're bringing some young buck who's barely even got five matches under his belt in XWA? I mean sure, Trueth might be a hit over in Japan and the Indies and all. But this is the big leagues. Devil's Night. I think you're greatly underestimating the situation you find yourself in. But who am I to argue, eh? If you wanna dial in another match and give me and Blade here a free win, by all means. Don't let me stop you from making the 2nd biggest mistake of your night. The 1st of course being coming out here in the 1st place. Tonight's not gonna end well for you, my friend. I can promise you that.

Scott lowers his mic as he and Blade await Van's final response.