Post by Evander Cage on Nov 10, 2018 6:09:15 GMT -5
It had been a few weeks since we last saw Evander Cage. He had been apart of the winning team in the Lone Survivor match and ended up being one of the two lone survivors. He hadn’t been booked on the last edition of Clash and had taken that time off to recharge his batteries. A lot had happened in Action Wrestling recently but with the biggest news being a shakeup with a new general manager being announced in the returning Camila Gonzales. The next edition of Clash on Monday Night would see Evander back in action being booked to compete in a triple threat match against Dark Tiger and Chris Eno.
It was another week in England as Action Wresting continued its tour of the United Kingdom. Evander and Lucy had visited a few different cities in England over the past few weeks and had recently attended the second rugby league test match between England and New Zealand in Liverpool. The next stop for Evander was making his way to the BBC Radio studios where he had agreed to give some of his time to promote the next episode of Clash and the upcoming Turmoil Pay Per View.
Garry Richardson: Welcome back to BBC Radio 5 Live. I am Garry Richardson, here in the studio with a very special guest. A veteran in the world of professional wrestling and it’s an honour to have him join us. Welcome, Mr. Evander Cage.
Evander Cage: Thank you for having me, Gazza.
Garry Richardson: Action Wrestling has been taking over the United Kingdom by storm. In a few weeks will be the Turmoil Pay Per View at a sold out Wembley Stadium but before we get there Clash will be live on Monday Night at the Oxford Arena in Oxford and during that show you will be competing in a triple threat match against Dark Tiger and Chris Eno. You’re coming off a big win in the Lone Survivor match so you’re no stranger to matches of survival. How are you feeling heading into this match?
Evander Cage: I didn’t compete last week so I feel refreshed both physically and mentally. I think having that week off has allowed me to refocus on my career here in Action Wrestling and think about what my next step might be. You’re right though, I am no stranger to multi-man matches where at times it can be all about surviving and luck and not always about talent. Dark Tiger and Chris Eno are both new here and will be looking to make big impacts at my expense and for everyone to take notice, however, I always give it a hundred per cent every time I step into that ring and at Clash it will be no different. I am here to win and that’s what I am going to do.
Garry Richardson: You seem very confident. Are there any doubts at all?
Evander Cage: I don’t doubt. I find that if I start doubting then I am most likely going to lose. I said I would win the Lone Survivor match and that’s exactly what I did. I put on a wrestling clinic and showed the world that Evander Cage still has what it takes to dominate inside the squared circle. I have nothing personal against my opponents: Chris Eno is a fine technical competitor and very passionate about competing and I am sure he will bring the challenge, but he is no Evander Cage and he will never be Evander Cage and that’s okay because nobody can be Evander Cage and nobody is going to beat Evander Cage on Monday Night Clash.
Garry Richardson: And what about Dark Tiger?
Evander Cage: What about him? He’s another seven foot tall, three hundred pound monster that comes from a family that has spent decades in this business. He has his whole shtick about being the ‘beast of darkness’ and he will try playing mind games to get inside my head. I can play mind games too but at the end of the day it’s all about getting it done in the ring. I am not knocking his talent. He’s an intimidating presence and has a lot of experience, same with Chris Eno, both of these men are no slouches when it comes to professional wrestling but they are coming up against me and they will feel the heat of The Burning Hammer.
Garry Richardson: It should be a great match and I know many are looking forward to it. What are your plans after the match and going forward in Action Wrestling? You talked a bit about it beforehand but can you shed some more light on how you want your future in the company to unfold?
Evander Cage: The last thing I want to do is to start going on a rant about how I am going to do this and do that because I can get overwhelmed very easily. I try to take it week to week and focus on my match. It’s the same this week. Focus on my match and win it then see what happens after that. Obviously I am here to be successful and to win a championship and hopefully my performance over the past few month will warrant another shot at a title. To be the best you have to hold gold and I am plan on continuing to prove myself to Action Wrestling management that I am worthy. General Manager Gonzales will be watching the next edition of Clash intently and I will do whatever it takes to impress her.
Garry Richardson: That’s all we have time for. Remember you can buy tickets now for Clash in Oxford and Turmoil at Wembley Stadium. Thank you for taking the time and joining us, Evander Cage, and we wish you all the best in your upcoming match.
Evander Cage and Lucy were together at a hotel in Oxford. It was now just a few days before Evander’s next match in Action Wrestling. He was looking forward to stepping back inside the ring after missing the last episode and excited about both his opponents in the triple threat match. Evander had been trying to come up with some kind of plan to help him walk out with the win in the match.
Lucy: Baby, don’t stress out too much.
Evander Cage: I know. I promise not to stress out too much. It gets frustrating at times knowing that you can be the very best in a match but all it takes is for your opponent to come from behind and get a cheap win. I’ve been in a few multi-man matches here in Action Wrestling where I felt I was the better man but came up short.
Lucy: You’ll get the job done somehow. Hey, how did it go meeting up with James?
James Portman was a former professional wrestler turned trainer that found most success in his home country of England. He was also a good friend of Evander Cage and had helped him earlier in his career when Evander had left Australia and moved to England for six months to hone his craft. They had met up earlier in the day at a wrestling dojo that James had been helping to run. It felt good for Evander to catch back up with him and talk about the past and how his career has progressed since then.
Evander thought about one of his first matches in England. It took place in a small arena in Manchester in front of about fifty people. Evander Cage against another youngster, Phil Laurent. It wasn’t the prettiest match but both men showed they had talent, especially Evander Cage, and would go on and get the victory. After the show Evander and James had gone out to a pub to celebrate and after a few drinks they got into an altercation against three men. Evander didn’t know what to do but soon found he didn’t have to do anything as James defused all three men. It was that night that Evander had really found how badass his trainer was.
Evander Cage: It was good. I got some good advice from him. It’s funny when you think you have learned everything but really you haven’t. Even after all these years going back to a man that taught me a lot in the beginning still has a lot to teach me even though he isn’t involved as much in the industry.
Lucy: It’s good to hear. Hey, I am going to go and lie down for a while. Not feeling the best. Don’t work yourself up too much over your match. You’ve won before so you know to do to win again. Remember that.
Evander made his way to Lucy and kissed her on the forehead and hugging her before watching as she made her way into the bedroom of the small apartment they had been renting for a few weeks in England. He sat back down in front of the laptop and resumed watching footage of past matches involving Dark Tiger and Chris Eno in different promotions. Both men had serious talent. Both men were technical wrestlers like Evander and good ones at that. Dark Tiger definitely had the power advantage though and that could provide the difference. It would be a great match for the fans and a match between there evenly matched competitors all hungry and looking to take a big bite one week out from the biggest Pay Per View of the year. Turmoil in front of nearly a hundred thousands fans at the legendary Wembley Stadium. It was the kind of event where one could potentially become immortalised and remembered for a match for the generations to come. This is what they all dreamed of. Starting from the small bingo halls of independent wrestling and climbing the ranks until reaching the pinnacle. What were these competitors truly capable of doing to have a slice of that magic? What would Evander Cage be willing to do to capture some of the glory? He competed in many barbaric matches to entertain the masses and come Turmoil there would be masses and masses watching him not only live but around the world on screen.
Evander Cage and Lucy arrived at the Oxford Arena. It was a few days before the event but Evander had agreed to take part in some promotional photoshoot for Action Wrestling. She still hadn’t been feeling the best but wanted to come along even though he tried his best to convince her to stay back at the apartment and rest up. He had enjoyed the past few weeks being around her. The visions of the rabbit had died down and it had been a week since he heard the voice or saw anything. He was feeling good in himself and actually happy which could turn out not to be a good thing as he was now struggling to unleash that more violent side in him that he felt he needed to unleash to find success. Bashing his opponent’s head in with a steel chair seemed unnecessary and wrong now. He thought about a conversation he had with James.
James: Kid, to continue in this industry you need a reason to fight. You need to find a way to be aggressive. We ain’t stepping in that ring dancing with each other, we’re there to hurt each other. If you’re struggling to find that reason to continue fighting then that’s not a bad thing. It means you’ve found something else to live for, something else to fight for and it seems like you have found love in that woman you’re with. When I started out in this industry I had nothing just a broken boy looking for something, anything to keep me going in life and I found that inside the ring. But I got married and I had kids and suddenly they became the most important thing. I struggled to continue wrestling out of fear I could get seriously hurt, maybe even die. I hung up my boots and decided to become a trainer instead. This is a very barbaric sport that we compete in and honestly it requires hate at times. But if that hate has been replaced by love then you have found something better and you might struggle to find it in you to hurt your opponents, to have that aggression. You’ll always be a great professional wrestler because you have the talent but are you still willing to take the extra step to achieve greatness? The greats succeed because they would do whatever it takes to succeed no matter who they pissed off or hurt. You might say that you will do whatever it takes to succeed but deep down inside you can’t because you’ve passionate about her and you want to be a good man, a great man, a man that she can feel safe around. Anyway, I’ve said enough, let’s go and grab a beer.
Perhaps he was right.