“Today, I’m reminded of a rather heartwarming story.”
“The story of a man who was at the top of the world. He was THE epitome of walking legend. The world was at his fingertips.”
“He once stumbled upon a man. A man who was broken. A man who was at a loss of a way.”
“A way to the salvation that was success. This man was at the end of his rope. Like a homeless man curled up on the side of the road.”
“But the Living Legend that I spoke of before found him there in that gutter. He picked this man up off the cold street and dusted him off.”
“With a smile, he took the man under his wing. He took this man from the sad truth of his own life, and presented him with a better one.”
“For that, the man who had nothing was forever grateful.”
“He became infatuated with his Savior.”
“He began to dress like him. He adapted his entire persona.”
“He strived to be the man who had picked him up from his lowest point. And therefore, he would do anything for that man.”
“Is this story starting to sound familiar, Cody?”
“Do you remember all those years ago when you stumbled into IWF off the streets? I was the face of the company. I was everything that you had ever wanted to be in your life..”
“And you were nothing.”
“You were a pathetic excuse of a man on the end of his rope. You didn’t even have a single ounce of hope left in you.”
“When I came upon you, you truly were the homeless man who slept in the cold, damp gutter.”
“You didn’t have much going for you then, and I knew that I could use that.”
“Because when I looked into your eyes that day, I saw that you had heart.”
“Fast forward quite a few years later, and it was you who stood next to me in those shadows when I killed Moirai.”
“It was that night that I appealed to you, isn’t it? It was that night that you dedicated yourself to me.”
“We ran wild through OSW as Terror Squad. We did whatever we wanted, when we wanted to do it, did we not?”
“I was able to give you the slightest taste of what it was like to be at the top. The darkness that you had to endure in able to stay at the top. I was able to introduce you to a new evil, and that was your own desires.”
“All these years later, Cody.. you gave yourself to me for those short few months that we ran roughshod through the OSW halls. You committed your life to proving yourself to me because I was the one that picked you up at your lowest point.”
“I was the one that took your potential and turned it into something of value. It was me that gave you everything you wanted.”
“And it will be me that brings you to your knees..”
“Your fuckin’ Savior, Tyler Brooks..”
“Then, now.. always.”
“Forever.”