Post by Lord Hastings on Jul 10, 2016 17:08:03 GMT -5
Name: Dirge
Nicknames: The Greater Evil
Year Inducted: 2016
Major Promotions: GIW, PPW, UGWC
Accomplishments:
Championships Held
GCW Extreme Champion
GCW Tag Tag Champion (w/ Erik Drugonov)
GIW Tag Team Champion (w/ Raenius)
ICW Television Champion (x2)
IW Universal Champion
PPW All State Champion
PTIW World Heavyweight Champion
RAWF World Heavyweight Champion
UGWC Cooperative Champion (w/ Alan Wallace)
UGWC Cross-Hemisphere Champion
Achievements
GIW Global Challenge Winner 2009
RAWF Hall of Fame Member
Career Notables:
Feuds
Chad Columbo (ICW, 1995-1996)
Darrell Music (ICW, 1995-1996)
The Big Kahuna (ICW, 1997)
Katharsis (EWF, 1998-2000)
Erik Drugonov (GCW, 2000)
Tre Crawford (PPW, 2005)
The Dinucci Empire (PPW, 2005)
Donovan Hastings (GIW/UGWC, 2010)
Cypress Morgan (UGWC, 2013)
Alan Wallace (UGWC, 2014)
Partnerships
Raenius (2009-2010) - The Covenant
Alan Wallace, Donovan Hastings, Travis Roberts (2014) - The Puppet Masters
Matches
PPW Seven Deadly Sins 2008 - Dirge vs Matt Daniels vs Mickey Dragon vs Siren, Street Fight for the Paramount Title
GIW No Holds Barred 2009 - Dirge and Raenius vs Aragoato and Chinatsu Chen, Climb of Faith for the Tag Titles
GIW Distant Whispers 2009 - Dirge and Raenius vs Donovan Hastings and Travis Roberts
GIW Horizons 2009 - Dirge vs Carnival vs Chassie Fear vs Exile vs Nate Korpi vs Malise vs Tony Lindsay, Torture Garden
GIW Infinity 2010 - Dirge vs Travis Roberts, Global Challenge Final
GIW Dark Days 2010 - Dirge vs Donovan Hastings, Global Title
UGWC Revolution 2010 - Dirge vs Donovan Hastings vs Medos, World Heavyweight Title
UGWC Battleground 2014 - Dirge and Donovan Hastings vs Alan Wallace/Killian King vs Phrixus Deimos/Travis Roberts, Tag Titles
UGWC In Your Hands 2015 - Dirge vs Seito Risa, Leather Strap for the Cross-Hemisphere Title
UGWC No Holds Barred 2016 - Dirge vs Cynric vs Moss Edwards vs Phrixus Deimos vs The Crazed Anarchist, Multiple Maniacal Massacre
UGWC Massive Melee 2016 - Dirge vs Jet Somers vs Travis Roberts, World Heavyweight Title
Induction:
With an unnatural haste and vigour, the song “Vacuity” buy Gojira accosts the sound system; and with the same alacrity Raenius enters the stage, stopping at the top of the stairs.
His head rises slowly and his arms extend as the crowd erupts in a raucous cacophony of cheers – a reception with veins of hatred and jeers running through the fist in the air of appreciation for the tour of duty served by the Resident Evil.
As he walks past the podium and down the stairs, our hero extends a firm handshake to Erik Drugonov first and then to David Damarest. Once he arrives at the father of his dear friend, he leans over and, once again, speaks indecipherable secrets before shaking his hand and moving on to the two resplendent beauties that stand, identical in every way, to his left. Raenius lifts each of their right hands in turn and gives each a respectful kiss with a nod that the two reciprocate with a slight curtsy and a smile, cheekily and cheerfully. Last, but not in the slightest least, he arrives before the lovely Carolyn.
Raenius gives a warm but monstrous hug to the wife of The Greater Evil, drops a kiss on her cheek and sneaks out a wink before he makes his way back to the podium and stands behind the microphone. It’s several seconds before he can speak, waiting for the noise to die down.
“There comes a day in some men’s lives where ‘another day, another dollar’ just doesn’t cut it anymore,” he opens with, a wry smile on his face. “Some men have it within themselves to go above and beyond. To reach for the sky and grab the stars. To bend the light to their will. To exude confidence, ability, creation and the warmth of knowledge.”
“Some men can hold the world in their hands while others drop their dreams and passions and loves and desires and hopes in the gutter in order to fit in with what they are led to believe a life should be. Some men are powerful enough to make the future a malleable component to a life that means something. But not a lot of men have this ability. Not all men meet people with this power. I, however, have been honoured by having such a man as my friend and companion.”
Some of the crowd clap, stirring a handful more to join in.
“Dirge and myself go back a long, long way. Farther than any of you will, can or should know. We have shared conversations, emotions, dreams and much more than most people dare to share with another human being and I have never met another human being with the capacity for acceptance. I’m sure that’ll sound strange to all of you. How can such a monster – such a beast of a thing be so loving. Yet here, in front of us all, is living proof of the affection this man is capable of,”
Raenius points at the three amazing ladies of Dirge’s life with a smile.
“To show power in this world is a necessity. To instil fear and awe is a great tool. But to do so… to show your hand and keep your game face is a talent that goes above the heads of most people. To be successful, feared, worshipped and despised by the jealous so much but still be such an astonishing person beneath it all is a miracle made possible by the hands of the great. And great is exactly what Dirge is, in every way. A great man, a great father, a great husband, a great competitor and a great, great friend.”
The cheers are silenced by Raenius as he hushes the crowd, finger up to his mouth.
“Some honours in this world are important enough to take to the grave. How about the honour of getting to work before all of you and to show what we’re worth. The honour of being allowed to compete for greatness. The honour of being asked to induct the best friend you’ve ever had into the Hall of Fame…”
The crowd erupts.
“Well, that’s overwhelming in and of itself.”
Looking down at Dirge’s family, he smiles again.
“But the honour of having met this man – of being allies with this man and being able, with all my heart, call him brother… well, that’s the greatest honour I have been given in my entire life.”
Cheers of “COV-EN-ANT, “COV-EN-ANT” are unleashed by the horde of on-lookers.
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages I proudly and loudly present to you…
“The Greater Evil. The best friend I have ever had and one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots…
“DIRGE!”
Dirge strides out from backstage as “Embers” by Lamb of God blares through the sound system. He pauses as looks out with an overwhelmed expression on his face, as if he doesn’t quite believe what he’s experiencing. The reaction through the arena is loud, with all applauding. Some applaud loudly and sincerely while others do so out of professional courtesy, if not respect. He looks down at the front row where his wife Carolyn and his teenaged daughters Amy and Melissa are sitting and mouths “I love you” to them. All three of them reply with the same as they clap for and smile at him. He looks at his father, smiles and nods. His father smiles in return. He looks down to his best friends Erik Drugonov and David Damarest, nods his head and says “thank you”. Erik nods his head once and Damarest smiles. He looks over at Raenius, who is applauding him along with everyone else. He walks over to him and the two long -time friends share a strong hug and talk to each other for a few moments. They finally disengage and Raenius steps back and resumes clapping with a big smile on his face. Dirge faces the audience and stands on the stage soaking it in, looking totally overwhelmed by it.
He finally steps forward and places his hands on the podium.
“Wow.” He says with a smile. “This is really cool.”
He’s interrupted as the fans break into a “Thank you Dirge” chant. He stops and steps back from the podium to take it all in with a large smile on his face. The chant goes on for a good two minutes before it quiets a little and he steps to the podium.
“Thank you.” He says. “This really is amazing. I never honestly don’t deserve this.”
The fans give stand up and give him another loud and sustained ovation that’s joined by his family and members of the roster. He looks at Raenius and says “This is unreal”. Raenius looks back at him and replies with “You deserve it, brother” as he applauds as well. Dirge nods his head in thanks at Raenius before he looks back out over the audience. He stands and listens to the cheers for
another minute before he holds his hand up.“This really is amazing guys, but if I don’t start talking, we’ll be here all night.”
He pauses and smiles impishly.
“And given my proclivity for long winded speeches, we might be anyway.”
The fans and wrestlers both laugh at his self-deprecating joke and someone yells “Here we go again”. Dirge points at the person and smiles.
“Hey, it’s what got me here.” He says.
The fans share a laugh with him and he looks down at the wrestlers in the audience with a smile.
“Speaking of that...” He says with a grin as he looks down to where the wrestlers and UGWC talent are seated. “Ol’ Bob” ? Whose bright idea was it to have the least personable man in the company call me about this?”
Cypress replies with a grin while Dexter shuffles in his seat and Ol’ Bob does something totally unexpected and grins at him while he holds “Louis” up. Dirge points at Cypress and shakes his head.
“That figures.” He replies with a smile. “You can’t help but screw with me even after I’m retired.”
Cypress shrugs and everyone shares a laugh at the jab. He looks at Ol’ Bob and smiles.
“Seriously Bob, when you called me and told me that I was being inducted I thought I was being pranked.” He says with a grin.
“Oddly though, you can be incredibly pleasant when you want to be.”
Dirge’s smiles widens and he shrugs.
“Who knew?”
The wrestlers and fans share a laugh at his joke and break into applause.
“In all honesty, I really am overwhelmed by all of this.” He continues. “I never expected to be inducted into the UGWC Hall of Fame. I always felt it should be reserved for the men and women who shaped this company, such as Raenius, Donovan Hastings, Travis Roberts, Declan Prescott and Jezebel Saint and those who will shape it in the future, such as “Vain” Alan Wallace, Jet Somers, Ichabod, Eden Morgan, Phrixus Deimos, Travis Peirce, Moss Edwards, Holden Orson, Dredd and Killian King, and those will should be standing here soon, such as Chaos.”
He looks down at Chaos with a smile.
“Yes, you drunken bastard, you belong up here.” He says.
Chaos laughs and flips him the bird, which Dirge replies to with a loud, booming laugh of his own.
The crowd and wrestlers break into loud applause at his acknowledgement of those who helped and help make UGWC a great promotion and who helped him to get to this moment. Dirge stands and listens to their applause with a smile for a minute before he continues.
“I began this journey two decades ago and I never saw any of what has happened because of it happening.” He says. “Outside of the business, professional wrestling gave me the most important people in my life because it gave me my wife, my daughters, my three closest friends and last, but certainly and unexpectedly not least, it gave me back my father.”
The and wrestlers break into applause again as Dirge points down at his recently returned father and the silver haired man nods his head with a smile. Dirge takes a breath as if he’s barely suppressing his emotions and looks out at the crowd.
“There’s a very long list of people who need to be thanked for turning me into the wrestler and person that I am.” He says with a
grin.
“And no, I don’t mean the ‘hobo’ that I’ve been until a few weeks ago.”
The audience replies with loud laughter and Dirge himself smiles.
"Speaking of them, be more empathetic of them." He says earnestly. "They have to put up with more than anyone realizes and most of them are very good people."
He pauses for a moment to let what he's said sink in and then continues.
“First and foremost I have to thank the three wonderful women who are sitting down in the front row tonight.” He says as he looks down lovingly at his wife and twins. “Cary, Melissa and Amy...I couldn’t have done any of this without you and although I’ve already said it a thousand times, I’m going to say it a thousand more..”
He takes a breath as he struggles with his emotions.
“I’m sorry.” He says. “I’m sorry for putting all three of you through what I put you through. I had no right to do it and I’m thankful every day that you’ve forgiven me and taken me back. I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t. I love you more than I can say. Thank you for being you.”
The three women say “I love you” back, with Melissa and Amy adding on “daddy” to the end of it. All three look like they’re trying their hardest not to cry and Dirge looks similarly. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
“Sorry.” He says. “It’s still a very emotional topic, folks.”
He takes another breath and smiles as Raenius steps forward and places a hand on his left shoulder. Dirge reaches back and places his hand over it with a smile.
“The next four I have to thank are Erik, David, Marcus…who unfortunately couldn’t be here tonight, and Raenius.”
Raenius places another hand on his shoulder and Dirge turns around. The two men hug again and Dirge can be heard saying “Thank you. I wouldn’t have survived this without you.” The crowd and wrestlers all respond with shock, as everyone had thought that Raenius had disappeared on him over the past two years. Raenius replies with “I love ya, brother” and Dirge says it back and then turns
around.
“Contrary to popular belief, Raenius was as involved in helping me through my last two years as Erick, David and Marcus were.” He says. “We spread the lie that he wasn’t in order to protect his family from those we knew were after me. It wasn’t easy for either of us to do that and a few times my brother here had to be restrained from, as he put it, ‘evening the tab’. He helped David and Marcus infiltrate my Uncle’s side of the family. I don’t know where I’d be without him right now.”
He takes another deep breath.
“Erik, these two years haven’t been easy on our friendship.” He says. “I should have listened to you when this all started, but I was so filled with anger that I was blind to everything but getting even with everyone who I’d felt slighted me. You know how poorly I respond to failure. I thank you for sticking by my wife and girls and protecting them for and at times from me. Who’d have thought fifteen years ago that my…’James Bond’ style rescue operation to steal you from your former Russian bosses would lead to tonight. It’s easy to laugh about it, because it really does seem like a work of fiction. Thank you for everything, my brother.”
He smiles at Erik, who smiles back. He shifts his gaze to David Damarest.
“David...” He says. “I won’t get maudlin to you because I know how you feel about that. So I’m going to say this, I trusted you when
I hired you for my company, I trusted you to run it in my place and I trust you now to take it forward. In spite of what many people think of you, I know who you really are and I thank you for that.”
Damarest smiles at him and replies with a “My pleasure”. Dirge smiles and then looks back up at the audience.
“I could stand here and bore you with a recitation of my history in the business.” He says with a sly smile. “But I don’t have to. The mere fact that I’m being inducted into my fourth Hall of Fame for a promotion does that for me.”
He shrugs and his sly grin widens.
“What?” He asks rhetorically. “You didn’t think I would go an entire speech without patting myself on the back at least a little bit, did you?”
The audience and wrestlers respond with laughter to the joke as he stands on the stage and smiles.
“In all seriousness folks, when I started in ICW almost twenty years ago and then went to EWF and then to RAWF, where I really found my footing as a professional wrestler, I couldn’t have imagined that it would all lead to where I and we are today. Back then, winning and holding the ICW Television Championship for six months, while turning it into the most coveted championship in the company was the most important thing for me professionally. I didn’t think that anything could top that.”
His smile grows.
“I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
Someone in the crowd yells “Say it ain’t so” to which Dirge responds by pointing at the person and chuckling.
“Sorry to ruin the myth of my perfection for you.” He replies with a shrug.
The crowd laughs at his statement and Dirge laughs with them.
“I’m officially retired from professional wrestling. I’ve made my life off of it and it’s been good to me.” He says. “But if I had one more match left, I’d want it to be with you.”
He points into the audience at Ichabod.
“Ichabod.” He says with a respectful smile. “You and I have quite possibly the most interesting relationship of anyone I’ve ever known.” He says. “Both inside and outside of the ring, you are the one man I could never entirely figure out and I always found that to be incredibly intriguing. We never really got to do a long program with each other and if we had, it would have been a guaranteed moneymaker. If I had one more match in me, it would be with you.”
Dirge gives Ichabod a short bow and looks back over the crowd again.
“If it was ICW that set the base for me, it was RAWF that really molded me into who I became. Up to that point there was no prouder time in my life as a wrestler than when I won their “WrestleCade” pay-per-view and claimed my first World Championship, the RAWF World Heavyweight Championship and formed one of the most influential stables in the history of the business in ‘The Elite
Establishment’.”
He pauses and takes a breath.
“Before that, though, I met a man named ‘Katharsis’ when I was still a relative rookie back in the EWF days.” He explains. “Now, while some might find that to be a weird and incredibly ironic name considering where I’ve been, back then he was the pinnacle of what a professional wrestler should be.”
“Kath was brilliant.” He continues. “He understand the game both inside the ring and backstage. His timing in both promos and in his ring work was flawless and no one understood how integral psychology was to professional wrestling like he did. I’d had some
big feuds before him…”
“But no one affected me as much as he did.”
He nods his head and smiles.
“There would be no ‘Dirge’ without ‘Katharsis’.”
His smile widens.
“There would also be no ‘Dirge’ without ‘The Big Kahuna’.” He continues.
Some in the audience laugh at the name, which Dirge replies to with a glare before continuing.
“Have some respect.” He says tersely. “He’s as worthy of as much respect as Kath is.”
He takes a deep breath and his expression relaxes.
“Whereas Katharsis taught me about the importance of the timing and psychology of wrestling, Kahuna taught me that there is no menacing villain without a great hero to oppose him.” He explains. “Katharsis was many things, but a straight up ‘babyface’ was not one of them. That role was filled by the Kahuna. He was the counter to me. He was the ‘light’ to my ‘darkness’. No one pushed me in the ring like he did and while I learned the ‘mental’ aspect of the game from Kath, I learned how to apply and manipulate it while
wrestling against The Big Kahuna.”
He stops and takes a drink from the glass of water that’s in front of him on the podium. He places it back down and looks out over the audience.
“My career has been long, productive and almost unfathomable in some ways.” He says. “I’ve won multiple Championships and played the ‘lead villain’ better than almost anyone in the history of the business and above all things, I’ve been a part of some of the greatest stables in the history of wrestling. In every company that one of those stables was in, we altered the course of that promotion’s history.”
He takes another drink as a heckler yells “The Puppet Masters” at him from the balcony. Dirge puts the glass down and smiles.
“Heckle ‘The Puppet Masters’ all you want for our perceived lack of success.” He answers. “In the end, we changed this company and it was only through the destruction of that group that the most dominant World Champion in recent memory, Alan Wallace, really took off.”
Some people boo him for the remark, some cheer and Alan Wallace blatantly rolls his eyes at it, but does so while smiling.
“Regardless of what you think of me or of the people I was associated with, all of those groups changed wrestling.” He says proudly. “The Elite Establishment ruled RAWF with an iron fist. The Covenant terrified and dominated across multiple promotions, including PPW, GIW and UGWC. Raenius and I not only held the GIW Tag Team Championships, but we had what is still considered to be one of the most lethal team finishers in all of wrestling. When our “WMD” hit, few opponents survived it.”
He pauses for another drink.
“Regardless of what one thinks of me, a stable is only as powerful and influential as its members.” He states with a smile. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the best in the business. Raenius, Travis Roberts, Donovan Hastings, Shawn Dee, Chad “The Cracker” Columbo…hell, even you Alan.” He pauses as the crowd laughs at his joking poke at “Vain”. “Regardless of who I teamed with, they always made me better. I worked with many of the best that this sport has ever seen and I’m a better man and a better wrestler for it. Thank you all for your contributions to not only my career, but to my life.”
He pauses and chuckles to himself.
“As you all know, it hasn’t all been success after success. There have been more than a few failures.” He looks at Donovan Hastings and Travis Roberts, who are seated next to each other. “Do you know that you two are two of the biggest pains in the ass I’ve ever had to face in the ring?”
He asks the question with a wide smile and a laugh, and gets the same in return from both “The Blessed One” and “The Lord of Pain”.
“Between the two of you, I lost four World Championship matches.” He says with a grin. “Four. Seriously. No one has kept me from something that I wanted so badly since the first two times that I asked Carolyn out.”
He smiles down at his wife as everyone laughs at the joke.
“Seriously, honey...you were the toughest and most worthwhile victory that I ever had to fight for.” He states. “But did you have to make it so difficult?”
The crowd laughs again and Dirge looks back at Roberts and Hastings.
“In all seriousness, gentlemen, you are two of the very finest talents that I have ever had the pleasure of working both with and against since I started wrestling. You are both unqualified masters of your craft in every respect and I sincerely look forward to the day that I get to watch one or both of you up here on the stage giving a long winded speech like mine.”
He pauses and grins slyly.
“If you guys accept at the same time…” He says. “Go easy on the backstage people. They can only take so much.”
He takes another drink.
“Don’t worry, folks. I’m almost finished.”
The crowd laughs at the joke as Dirge smiles. He looks the happiest that he’s been in nearly three years.
“I leave the stage with two thoughts.”
He takes a deep breath and exhales it slowly.
“The first is that I was given the privilege of ending my career against two of the best ever.” He says as he looks at Travis Roberts. “Congratulations, Travis. I hope that you have a long and memorable reign. You deserve it.”
He swings his gaze to Jet Somers, who is sitting at the left hand of Cypress Morgan amongst the DMW contingent.
“Jet, I know that we didn’t see eye to eye very often and I know that you always felt that I looked past you to whatever was to be next.” He explains. “Understand that nothing could be further from the truth. You are one of the most gifted athletes that I have ever seen in a ring and while most people underestimate you as “Crazy Opie”, I never did. You can do it all and the sooner that the chronic underestimation of you stops, the better it will be for those who face you. You can beat anyone on any day and make it look easy and I fully expect you to have at least one more long World Championship run in you before you retire. You’re one of the best ever and don’t let anyone else tell you differently.”
He takes one more deep breath.
“I look out across this arena and see a wrestling industry and sport that’s healthier than it’s ever been and that makes me happy.” He continues. “I’m leaving at just the right time. It’s time for some up and coming youngster like Eden Morgan, Gabriel Baal, Rogan MacLean or Mil Vidas Jr to take my place. It’s going to be fun watching you cut your teeth against some of the greats that I already mentioned, as well as other equally great talents like Holden Orson, Phrixus Deimos, Chaos, Ichabod and others. You’ll have to earn your legends, and they will all help you do exactly that.”
He takes one more long pause and shakes his head as if the realization has finally set in for him.
“It’s been an honor, ladies and gentlemen.” He states. “I’m honored and flattered to be accepting this induction onto the UGWC Hall of Fame. I don’t feel that I deserve it, but you do and I’m both honored by and thrilled to be going out on such a high note and for that I end with this...”
He runs a finger under his eye and looks out across the arena.
“Thank you.” He says. “For everything.”
With that he steps back from the mic and takes a bow as the room erupts into thunderous applause. Raenius walks up and drapes an arm over his shoulder and the two old friends talk and laugh as the applause fills the room. Dirge stands at Raenius’ side for a few minutes before he steps forward, takes a deep bow and upon straightening up waves at the crowd and mouths the words “Thank you” to them.
With that he and Raenius turn and leave the stage and the final curtain of his career falls.
Nicknames: The Greater Evil
Year Inducted: 2016
Major Promotions: GIW, PPW, UGWC
Accomplishments:
Championships Held
GCW Extreme Champion
GCW Tag Tag Champion (w/ Erik Drugonov)
GIW Tag Team Champion (w/ Raenius)
ICW Television Champion (x2)
IW Universal Champion
PPW All State Champion
PTIW World Heavyweight Champion
RAWF World Heavyweight Champion
UGWC Cooperative Champion (w/ Alan Wallace)
UGWC Cross-Hemisphere Champion
Achievements
GIW Global Challenge Winner 2009
RAWF Hall of Fame Member
Career Notables:
Feuds
Chad Columbo (ICW, 1995-1996)
Darrell Music (ICW, 1995-1996)
The Big Kahuna (ICW, 1997)
Katharsis (EWF, 1998-2000)
Erik Drugonov (GCW, 2000)
Tre Crawford (PPW, 2005)
The Dinucci Empire (PPW, 2005)
Donovan Hastings (GIW/UGWC, 2010)
Cypress Morgan (UGWC, 2013)
Alan Wallace (UGWC, 2014)
Partnerships
Raenius (2009-2010) - The Covenant
Alan Wallace, Donovan Hastings, Travis Roberts (2014) - The Puppet Masters
Matches
PPW Seven Deadly Sins 2008 - Dirge vs Matt Daniels vs Mickey Dragon vs Siren, Street Fight for the Paramount Title
GIW No Holds Barred 2009 - Dirge and Raenius vs Aragoato and Chinatsu Chen, Climb of Faith for the Tag Titles
GIW Distant Whispers 2009 - Dirge and Raenius vs Donovan Hastings and Travis Roberts
GIW Horizons 2009 - Dirge vs Carnival vs Chassie Fear vs Exile vs Nate Korpi vs Malise vs Tony Lindsay, Torture Garden
GIW Infinity 2010 - Dirge vs Travis Roberts, Global Challenge Final
GIW Dark Days 2010 - Dirge vs Donovan Hastings, Global Title
UGWC Revolution 2010 - Dirge vs Donovan Hastings vs Medos, World Heavyweight Title
UGWC Battleground 2014 - Dirge and Donovan Hastings vs Alan Wallace/Killian King vs Phrixus Deimos/Travis Roberts, Tag Titles
UGWC In Your Hands 2015 - Dirge vs Seito Risa, Leather Strap for the Cross-Hemisphere Title
UGWC No Holds Barred 2016 - Dirge vs Cynric vs Moss Edwards vs Phrixus Deimos vs The Crazed Anarchist, Multiple Maniacal Massacre
UGWC Massive Melee 2016 - Dirge vs Jet Somers vs Travis Roberts, World Heavyweight Title
Induction:
With an unnatural haste and vigour, the song “Vacuity” buy Gojira accosts the sound system; and with the same alacrity Raenius enters the stage, stopping at the top of the stairs.
His head rises slowly and his arms extend as the crowd erupts in a raucous cacophony of cheers – a reception with veins of hatred and jeers running through the fist in the air of appreciation for the tour of duty served by the Resident Evil.
As he walks past the podium and down the stairs, our hero extends a firm handshake to Erik Drugonov first and then to David Damarest. Once he arrives at the father of his dear friend, he leans over and, once again, speaks indecipherable secrets before shaking his hand and moving on to the two resplendent beauties that stand, identical in every way, to his left. Raenius lifts each of their right hands in turn and gives each a respectful kiss with a nod that the two reciprocate with a slight curtsy and a smile, cheekily and cheerfully. Last, but not in the slightest least, he arrives before the lovely Carolyn.
Raenius gives a warm but monstrous hug to the wife of The Greater Evil, drops a kiss on her cheek and sneaks out a wink before he makes his way back to the podium and stands behind the microphone. It’s several seconds before he can speak, waiting for the noise to die down.
“There comes a day in some men’s lives where ‘another day, another dollar’ just doesn’t cut it anymore,” he opens with, a wry smile on his face. “Some men have it within themselves to go above and beyond. To reach for the sky and grab the stars. To bend the light to their will. To exude confidence, ability, creation and the warmth of knowledge.”
“Some men can hold the world in their hands while others drop their dreams and passions and loves and desires and hopes in the gutter in order to fit in with what they are led to believe a life should be. Some men are powerful enough to make the future a malleable component to a life that means something. But not a lot of men have this ability. Not all men meet people with this power. I, however, have been honoured by having such a man as my friend and companion.”
Some of the crowd clap, stirring a handful more to join in.
“Dirge and myself go back a long, long way. Farther than any of you will, can or should know. We have shared conversations, emotions, dreams and much more than most people dare to share with another human being and I have never met another human being with the capacity for acceptance. I’m sure that’ll sound strange to all of you. How can such a monster – such a beast of a thing be so loving. Yet here, in front of us all, is living proof of the affection this man is capable of,”
Raenius points at the three amazing ladies of Dirge’s life with a smile.
“To show power in this world is a necessity. To instil fear and awe is a great tool. But to do so… to show your hand and keep your game face is a talent that goes above the heads of most people. To be successful, feared, worshipped and despised by the jealous so much but still be such an astonishing person beneath it all is a miracle made possible by the hands of the great. And great is exactly what Dirge is, in every way. A great man, a great father, a great husband, a great competitor and a great, great friend.”
The cheers are silenced by Raenius as he hushes the crowd, finger up to his mouth.
“Some honours in this world are important enough to take to the grave. How about the honour of getting to work before all of you and to show what we’re worth. The honour of being allowed to compete for greatness. The honour of being asked to induct the best friend you’ve ever had into the Hall of Fame…”
The crowd erupts.
“Well, that’s overwhelming in and of itself.”
Looking down at Dirge’s family, he smiles again.
“But the honour of having met this man – of being allies with this man and being able, with all my heart, call him brother… well, that’s the greatest honour I have been given in my entire life.”
Cheers of “COV-EN-ANT, “COV-EN-ANT” are unleashed by the horde of on-lookers.
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages I proudly and loudly present to you…
“The Greater Evil. The best friend I have ever had and one of the greatest to ever lace up a pair of boots…
“DIRGE!”
Dirge strides out from backstage as “Embers” by Lamb of God blares through the sound system. He pauses as looks out with an overwhelmed expression on his face, as if he doesn’t quite believe what he’s experiencing. The reaction through the arena is loud, with all applauding. Some applaud loudly and sincerely while others do so out of professional courtesy, if not respect. He looks down at the front row where his wife Carolyn and his teenaged daughters Amy and Melissa are sitting and mouths “I love you” to them. All three of them reply with the same as they clap for and smile at him. He looks at his father, smiles and nods. His father smiles in return. He looks down to his best friends Erik Drugonov and David Damarest, nods his head and says “thank you”. Erik nods his head once and Damarest smiles. He looks over at Raenius, who is applauding him along with everyone else. He walks over to him and the two long -time friends share a strong hug and talk to each other for a few moments. They finally disengage and Raenius steps back and resumes clapping with a big smile on his face. Dirge faces the audience and stands on the stage soaking it in, looking totally overwhelmed by it.
He finally steps forward and places his hands on the podium.
“Wow.” He says with a smile. “This is really cool.”
He’s interrupted as the fans break into a “Thank you Dirge” chant. He stops and steps back from the podium to take it all in with a large smile on his face. The chant goes on for a good two minutes before it quiets a little and he steps to the podium.
“Thank you.” He says. “This really is amazing. I never honestly don’t deserve this.”
The fans give stand up and give him another loud and sustained ovation that’s joined by his family and members of the roster. He looks at Raenius and says “This is unreal”. Raenius looks back at him and replies with “You deserve it, brother” as he applauds as well. Dirge nods his head in thanks at Raenius before he looks back out over the audience. He stands and listens to the cheers for
another minute before he holds his hand up.“This really is amazing guys, but if I don’t start talking, we’ll be here all night.”
He pauses and smiles impishly.
“And given my proclivity for long winded speeches, we might be anyway.”
The fans and wrestlers both laugh at his self-deprecating joke and someone yells “Here we go again”. Dirge points at the person and smiles.
“Hey, it’s what got me here.” He says.
The fans share a laugh with him and he looks down at the wrestlers in the audience with a smile.
“Speaking of that...” He says with a grin as he looks down to where the wrestlers and UGWC talent are seated. “Ol’ Bob” ? Whose bright idea was it to have the least personable man in the company call me about this?”
Cypress replies with a grin while Dexter shuffles in his seat and Ol’ Bob does something totally unexpected and grins at him while he holds “Louis” up. Dirge points at Cypress and shakes his head.
“That figures.” He replies with a smile. “You can’t help but screw with me even after I’m retired.”
Cypress shrugs and everyone shares a laugh at the jab. He looks at Ol’ Bob and smiles.
“Seriously Bob, when you called me and told me that I was being inducted I thought I was being pranked.” He says with a grin.
“Oddly though, you can be incredibly pleasant when you want to be.”
Dirge’s smiles widens and he shrugs.
“Who knew?”
The wrestlers and fans share a laugh at his joke and break into applause.
“In all honesty, I really am overwhelmed by all of this.” He continues. “I never expected to be inducted into the UGWC Hall of Fame. I always felt it should be reserved for the men and women who shaped this company, such as Raenius, Donovan Hastings, Travis Roberts, Declan Prescott and Jezebel Saint and those who will shape it in the future, such as “Vain” Alan Wallace, Jet Somers, Ichabod, Eden Morgan, Phrixus Deimos, Travis Peirce, Moss Edwards, Holden Orson, Dredd and Killian King, and those will should be standing here soon, such as Chaos.”
He looks down at Chaos with a smile.
“Yes, you drunken bastard, you belong up here.” He says.
Chaos laughs and flips him the bird, which Dirge replies to with a loud, booming laugh of his own.
The crowd and wrestlers break into loud applause at his acknowledgement of those who helped and help make UGWC a great promotion and who helped him to get to this moment. Dirge stands and listens to their applause with a smile for a minute before he continues.
“I began this journey two decades ago and I never saw any of what has happened because of it happening.” He says. “Outside of the business, professional wrestling gave me the most important people in my life because it gave me my wife, my daughters, my three closest friends and last, but certainly and unexpectedly not least, it gave me back my father.”
The and wrestlers break into applause again as Dirge points down at his recently returned father and the silver haired man nods his head with a smile. Dirge takes a breath as if he’s barely suppressing his emotions and looks out at the crowd.
“There’s a very long list of people who need to be thanked for turning me into the wrestler and person that I am.” He says with a
grin.
“And no, I don’t mean the ‘hobo’ that I’ve been until a few weeks ago.”
The audience replies with loud laughter and Dirge himself smiles.
"Speaking of them, be more empathetic of them." He says earnestly. "They have to put up with more than anyone realizes and most of them are very good people."
He pauses for a moment to let what he's said sink in and then continues.
“First and foremost I have to thank the three wonderful women who are sitting down in the front row tonight.” He says as he looks down lovingly at his wife and twins. “Cary, Melissa and Amy...I couldn’t have done any of this without you and although I’ve already said it a thousand times, I’m going to say it a thousand more..”
He takes a breath as he struggles with his emotions.
“I’m sorry.” He says. “I’m sorry for putting all three of you through what I put you through. I had no right to do it and I’m thankful every day that you’ve forgiven me and taken me back. I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t. I love you more than I can say. Thank you for being you.”
The three women say “I love you” back, with Melissa and Amy adding on “daddy” to the end of it. All three look like they’re trying their hardest not to cry and Dirge looks similarly. He takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly.
“Sorry.” He says. “It’s still a very emotional topic, folks.”
He takes another breath and smiles as Raenius steps forward and places a hand on his left shoulder. Dirge reaches back and places his hand over it with a smile.
“The next four I have to thank are Erik, David, Marcus…who unfortunately couldn’t be here tonight, and Raenius.”
Raenius places another hand on his shoulder and Dirge turns around. The two men hug again and Dirge can be heard saying “Thank you. I wouldn’t have survived this without you.” The crowd and wrestlers all respond with shock, as everyone had thought that Raenius had disappeared on him over the past two years. Raenius replies with “I love ya, brother” and Dirge says it back and then turns
around.
“Contrary to popular belief, Raenius was as involved in helping me through my last two years as Erick, David and Marcus were.” He says. “We spread the lie that he wasn’t in order to protect his family from those we knew were after me. It wasn’t easy for either of us to do that and a few times my brother here had to be restrained from, as he put it, ‘evening the tab’. He helped David and Marcus infiltrate my Uncle’s side of the family. I don’t know where I’d be without him right now.”
He takes another deep breath.
“Erik, these two years haven’t been easy on our friendship.” He says. “I should have listened to you when this all started, but I was so filled with anger that I was blind to everything but getting even with everyone who I’d felt slighted me. You know how poorly I respond to failure. I thank you for sticking by my wife and girls and protecting them for and at times from me. Who’d have thought fifteen years ago that my…’James Bond’ style rescue operation to steal you from your former Russian bosses would lead to tonight. It’s easy to laugh about it, because it really does seem like a work of fiction. Thank you for everything, my brother.”
He smiles at Erik, who smiles back. He shifts his gaze to David Damarest.
“David...” He says. “I won’t get maudlin to you because I know how you feel about that. So I’m going to say this, I trusted you when
I hired you for my company, I trusted you to run it in my place and I trust you now to take it forward. In spite of what many people think of you, I know who you really are and I thank you for that.”
Damarest smiles at him and replies with a “My pleasure”. Dirge smiles and then looks back up at the audience.
“I could stand here and bore you with a recitation of my history in the business.” He says with a sly smile. “But I don’t have to. The mere fact that I’m being inducted into my fourth Hall of Fame for a promotion does that for me.”
He shrugs and his sly grin widens.
“What?” He asks rhetorically. “You didn’t think I would go an entire speech without patting myself on the back at least a little bit, did you?”
The audience and wrestlers respond with laughter to the joke as he stands on the stage and smiles.
“In all seriousness folks, when I started in ICW almost twenty years ago and then went to EWF and then to RAWF, where I really found my footing as a professional wrestler, I couldn’t have imagined that it would all lead to where I and we are today. Back then, winning and holding the ICW Television Championship for six months, while turning it into the most coveted championship in the company was the most important thing for me professionally. I didn’t think that anything could top that.”
His smile grows.
“I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
Someone in the crowd yells “Say it ain’t so” to which Dirge responds by pointing at the person and chuckling.
“Sorry to ruin the myth of my perfection for you.” He replies with a shrug.
The crowd laughs at his statement and Dirge laughs with them.
“I’m officially retired from professional wrestling. I’ve made my life off of it and it’s been good to me.” He says. “But if I had one more match left, I’d want it to be with you.”
He points into the audience at Ichabod.
“Ichabod.” He says with a respectful smile. “You and I have quite possibly the most interesting relationship of anyone I’ve ever known.” He says. “Both inside and outside of the ring, you are the one man I could never entirely figure out and I always found that to be incredibly intriguing. We never really got to do a long program with each other and if we had, it would have been a guaranteed moneymaker. If I had one more match in me, it would be with you.”
Dirge gives Ichabod a short bow and looks back over the crowd again.
“If it was ICW that set the base for me, it was RAWF that really molded me into who I became. Up to that point there was no prouder time in my life as a wrestler than when I won their “WrestleCade” pay-per-view and claimed my first World Championship, the RAWF World Heavyweight Championship and formed one of the most influential stables in the history of the business in ‘The Elite
Establishment’.”
He pauses and takes a breath.
“Before that, though, I met a man named ‘Katharsis’ when I was still a relative rookie back in the EWF days.” He explains. “Now, while some might find that to be a weird and incredibly ironic name considering where I’ve been, back then he was the pinnacle of what a professional wrestler should be.”
“Kath was brilliant.” He continues. “He understand the game both inside the ring and backstage. His timing in both promos and in his ring work was flawless and no one understood how integral psychology was to professional wrestling like he did. I’d had some
big feuds before him…”
“But no one affected me as much as he did.”
He nods his head and smiles.
“There would be no ‘Dirge’ without ‘Katharsis’.”
His smile widens.
“There would also be no ‘Dirge’ without ‘The Big Kahuna’.” He continues.
Some in the audience laugh at the name, which Dirge replies to with a glare before continuing.
“Have some respect.” He says tersely. “He’s as worthy of as much respect as Kath is.”
He takes a deep breath and his expression relaxes.
“Whereas Katharsis taught me about the importance of the timing and psychology of wrestling, Kahuna taught me that there is no menacing villain without a great hero to oppose him.” He explains. “Katharsis was many things, but a straight up ‘babyface’ was not one of them. That role was filled by the Kahuna. He was the counter to me. He was the ‘light’ to my ‘darkness’. No one pushed me in the ring like he did and while I learned the ‘mental’ aspect of the game from Kath, I learned how to apply and manipulate it while
wrestling against The Big Kahuna.”
He stops and takes a drink from the glass of water that’s in front of him on the podium. He places it back down and looks out over the audience.
“My career has been long, productive and almost unfathomable in some ways.” He says. “I’ve won multiple Championships and played the ‘lead villain’ better than almost anyone in the history of the business and above all things, I’ve been a part of some of the greatest stables in the history of wrestling. In every company that one of those stables was in, we altered the course of that promotion’s history.”
He takes another drink as a heckler yells “The Puppet Masters” at him from the balcony. Dirge puts the glass down and smiles.
“Heckle ‘The Puppet Masters’ all you want for our perceived lack of success.” He answers. “In the end, we changed this company and it was only through the destruction of that group that the most dominant World Champion in recent memory, Alan Wallace, really took off.”
Some people boo him for the remark, some cheer and Alan Wallace blatantly rolls his eyes at it, but does so while smiling.
“Regardless of what you think of me or of the people I was associated with, all of those groups changed wrestling.” He says proudly. “The Elite Establishment ruled RAWF with an iron fist. The Covenant terrified and dominated across multiple promotions, including PPW, GIW and UGWC. Raenius and I not only held the GIW Tag Team Championships, but we had what is still considered to be one of the most lethal team finishers in all of wrestling. When our “WMD” hit, few opponents survived it.”
He pauses for another drink.
“Regardless of what one thinks of me, a stable is only as powerful and influential as its members.” He states with a smile. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the best in the business. Raenius, Travis Roberts, Donovan Hastings, Shawn Dee, Chad “The Cracker” Columbo…hell, even you Alan.” He pauses as the crowd laughs at his joking poke at “Vain”. “Regardless of who I teamed with, they always made me better. I worked with many of the best that this sport has ever seen and I’m a better man and a better wrestler for it. Thank you all for your contributions to not only my career, but to my life.”
He pauses and chuckles to himself.
“As you all know, it hasn’t all been success after success. There have been more than a few failures.” He looks at Donovan Hastings and Travis Roberts, who are seated next to each other. “Do you know that you two are two of the biggest pains in the ass I’ve ever had to face in the ring?”
He asks the question with a wide smile and a laugh, and gets the same in return from both “The Blessed One” and “The Lord of Pain”.
“Between the two of you, I lost four World Championship matches.” He says with a grin. “Four. Seriously. No one has kept me from something that I wanted so badly since the first two times that I asked Carolyn out.”
He smiles down at his wife as everyone laughs at the joke.
“Seriously, honey...you were the toughest and most worthwhile victory that I ever had to fight for.” He states. “But did you have to make it so difficult?”
The crowd laughs again and Dirge looks back at Roberts and Hastings.
“In all seriousness, gentlemen, you are two of the very finest talents that I have ever had the pleasure of working both with and against since I started wrestling. You are both unqualified masters of your craft in every respect and I sincerely look forward to the day that I get to watch one or both of you up here on the stage giving a long winded speech like mine.”
He pauses and grins slyly.
“If you guys accept at the same time…” He says. “Go easy on the backstage people. They can only take so much.”
He takes another drink.
“Don’t worry, folks. I’m almost finished.”
The crowd laughs at the joke as Dirge smiles. He looks the happiest that he’s been in nearly three years.
“I leave the stage with two thoughts.”
He takes a deep breath and exhales it slowly.
“The first is that I was given the privilege of ending my career against two of the best ever.” He says as he looks at Travis Roberts. “Congratulations, Travis. I hope that you have a long and memorable reign. You deserve it.”
He swings his gaze to Jet Somers, who is sitting at the left hand of Cypress Morgan amongst the DMW contingent.
“Jet, I know that we didn’t see eye to eye very often and I know that you always felt that I looked past you to whatever was to be next.” He explains. “Understand that nothing could be further from the truth. You are one of the most gifted athletes that I have ever seen in a ring and while most people underestimate you as “Crazy Opie”, I never did. You can do it all and the sooner that the chronic underestimation of you stops, the better it will be for those who face you. You can beat anyone on any day and make it look easy and I fully expect you to have at least one more long World Championship run in you before you retire. You’re one of the best ever and don’t let anyone else tell you differently.”
He takes one more deep breath.
“I look out across this arena and see a wrestling industry and sport that’s healthier than it’s ever been and that makes me happy.” He continues. “I’m leaving at just the right time. It’s time for some up and coming youngster like Eden Morgan, Gabriel Baal, Rogan MacLean or Mil Vidas Jr to take my place. It’s going to be fun watching you cut your teeth against some of the greats that I already mentioned, as well as other equally great talents like Holden Orson, Phrixus Deimos, Chaos, Ichabod and others. You’ll have to earn your legends, and they will all help you do exactly that.”
He takes one more long pause and shakes his head as if the realization has finally set in for him.
“It’s been an honor, ladies and gentlemen.” He states. “I’m honored and flattered to be accepting this induction onto the UGWC Hall of Fame. I don’t feel that I deserve it, but you do and I’m both honored by and thrilled to be going out on such a high note and for that I end with this...”
He runs a finger under his eye and looks out across the arena.
“Thank you.” He says. “For everything.”
With that he steps back from the mic and takes a bow as the room erupts into thunderous applause. Raenius walks up and drapes an arm over his shoulder and the two old friends talk and laugh as the applause fills the room. Dirge stands at Raenius’ side for a few minutes before he steps forward, takes a deep bow and upon straightening up waves at the crowd and mouths the words “Thank you” to them.
With that he and Raenius turn and leave the stage and the final curtain of his career falls.
