Aftershock, with Wade Palmer“This month has been insane. There’s no other way for me to put it, hell, I don’t even have any interviews planned tonight because I’ve got so much to cover! Let’s start at the beginning. Just last month, at AWE Judgment Day, after wrestling his heart out against Caiden Winters in the main event, AWE World Champion Drayden had to be helped to the back. It was soon diagnosed as a rather serious injury, which is going to lead to him having almost nine months on the shelf.” Roddy Quinn’s golden boy finally cracked from the weight of having to carry this company for the past eight years. Of course, he’d been champion at the time; it’d been a rare occurrence for him to
not be wearing the belt, and this was no different. Unfortunately, it happened and he was out for now. So, the new writing team who were only recently given the keys to the kingdom, were left without a mega babyface to pass the torch to… anyone.
Kevin Harrison, JP Carling, and Gary Palmer were thrown into the fire then and there. Roddy Quinn came into one meeting, looked Kevin in the eyes and said quite simply: ‘Fix this.’ So, Kevin had done his best. He’d had a plan that ended with Caiden Winters having the title, but it wasn’t time yet. Not then. Too soon.
The lads scrambled and worked their asses off for almost two days straight, fueled by Red Bull, pizza, and the fact that their jobs probably relied on how good of a booking job they did in this instance. Their solution? A tournament. It wasn’t perfect! But, it would work. It would handle the transfer of the title belt to someone else. And that tournament is coming to a head at Sin City Showdown, the upcoming monthly PPV put on by AWE, taking place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kevin and his boys would rebuild the company by the light of a neon moon, dammit.
“Chaos Clayton and Gethin Rhys are going to war this Sunday for the honor of being the next AWE Champion, for the chance to truly step into the spotlight. For the chance to dethrone Drayden as the undisputed king and face of the company. They’ve spilled blood, sweat, and tears alike to get to this point. The entire roster fought hard for their shot, and some of them… some of them got screwed.”The man on the screen paused for a moment, as if everyone should know who he was talking about, but it was his job to reiterate points over and over and drill them into the audience’s head like an annoying bumblebee.
“Of course, I’m talking about Caiden Winters. He took Drayden to one of the closest title defenses he’s seen, and he felt that he should have been handed the belt after it got vacated, rather than have to participate in a tournament for it. And then? He was screwed out in the first round. Beaten because of someone who cheated. He took it personally.”Because who wouldn’t? Caiden Winters wrestled his heart out and put everything he had into his match. The crowd loved him, the crowd wanted him to win and honestly? He all but had the win locked in before he was hit with a lowblow and the tights were grabbed for the win. For all Wade and the fans knew, Caiden should very well be in the main event. But Caiden Winters had overdone it, blaming the official and brutally assaulting the offending referee.
“Perhaps too personally. He almost killed the referee after the match, which even I know was uncalled for — and I’ll be the first one to tell you: I’m a huge Caiden Winters fan. He got suspended, which was a fair call. Let’s face it: you put your hands on an official, and you deserve to be punished. It’s that simple. But, Caiden took that personally too, maybe he thinks Roddy Quinn is out to get him.” Wade shrugged his shoulders hopelessly. It was well known that he’d recruited Caiden Winters for the AWE. Maybe he blamed himself for what happened next.
“Winters attacked a defenseless Roddy backstage, and left the boss bloody on the floor. Then, he went to the ring and was very clear about the reality of the situation: Caiden Winters hates Roddy Quinn, and that hate is driven by a feeling of being overlooked, underutilized, and ignored, all while being one of the best in this business.”“Roddy Quinn has never been one to take, well, anything lying down. This wasn’t an exception. The next week, Roddy laid out a challenge. Roddy Quinn would step into the ring against Caiden Winters in a No Holds Barred match. The week after that? Caiden and Roddy signed a contract. It’s official, and it’s happening this Sunday, at Sin City Showdown. Be sure to catch the finals of the World Championship tournament, and to see if Roddy Quinn has bit off more than he can chew, and so much more as we come to you live, on PPV.”Wade smiled at the camera, and the show came to a close.