“Another show...another obstacle survived, Jeff."

 

[Engage promo!]

 

[Defiance backdrop, standing Last Nighthawk foreground. Today’s outfit consists of blue jeans, a Pittsburgh Pirates Andrew McCutchen jersey, and a pair of sunglasses on his face.]

 

"The Last Nighthawk" Christian Light:

Two shows ago, you tried to physically break me. You tied one hand behind my back and tried to snap my neck. You tried to take me out of the game and send me home a cripple. I'm not gonna lie...my neck still hurts a lot. But you and your buddies couldn't get the job done, no matter how hard you tried.

 

But the no contest happens, so you have an excuse to duck me and my requests for a rematch.

 

Now last show.

 

A two-on-one handicap match.

 

In which you sent out my own personal heckler.

 

I should be flattered. Really, I should.

 

But truth is, I'm not.

 

Another stacked match, another no contest.  I took a three hundred plus pound monster and put him through the ramp, but it doesn't matter because things got out of control and our referee called off the match.

 

Not a knock on Carly, because she did a good job. But it is what it is.

 

Yet another excuse to duck and dodge.

 

This week?

 

I'm one part annoyed, one part intrigued.

 

Annoyed because Justin Voss pinned you, Jeff, clean last week and he hasn't sniffed a World Title shot. But over the weeks I've come to expect you ducking and dodging your way out of title defenses.

 

Seems that's your MO after all. Belt shot, steal a win, and move on.

 

I'm intrigued, however, because of my booking.

 

I did go on record way back on the ESEN TLC special and say that I wanted a one-on-one with Dan Ryan, and I still stand by that. The best way to measure one's own skill is to have a clean, fair contest against skilled opponents, and Dan Ryan is one of the living, breathing legends of this industry.  I have no doubt that I will be in for the fight of my life, and I've spent weeks leading up to this both healing from the damage your Untouchables have done to me and training for this match as best I can.

 

But I just can't help wondering.

 

I can't help but think that somehow, some way, you or someone closely associated with you will come out and try to cause me undue harm. They will try and cost me this match, like they've made every effort to sabotage my last two matches.

 

It’s not a question of "if".  It’s a question of "when" and "how".

 

Unfortunately.

 

Dan hit it right on the head when he said I'm tired of this whole charade. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I'm sick and dang tired of it all.

 

But I made a commitment.

 

I made a commitment to the Good Fight to stand with them against the injustices that you and your Untouchables are perpetrating on the rest of Defiance roster.  And by God I will stand by them, no matter the cost.  And whether it's my hand that fells you, Eric's hand or one of my Good Fight colleagues, Jeff...

 

...I will be there when you fall.

 

But enough talk about happy moments yet to come. I have a rather large, daunting task to take on.

 

One that has had my preparatory focus from the moment that I've been well enough to prepare.

 

I'm not going to lie, Dan.  I've been in better shape physically.

 

[For emphasis, Light taps the sunglasses on his face with his right index finger.  PCS is a bitch.]

 

Light:

But believe me when I say that I've spent my time preparing for this match like it’s the top of the card.

 

I won't make excuses out of my physical state.  You know as well as I that the only wrestler that's 100% healthy is a day 1 rookie who's yet to start training. I am coming at you with all I've got, just like I do for every other opponent I've ever faced.  And when it's all said and done, regardless of the end result, I will have laid it all on the line.

 

If I win clean, I'll be happy with myself for sure.

 

If I lose clean, I know I'll have work to do.

 

Either way, I hope we get that chance. I hope we get the opportunity to steal the show, because I'll be ready to take it and run with it like Kyrie Irving just alley-oop'd me the ball and there's no defenders between me and the basket.

 

Now the only question is, will someone like Kai Scott come in to flagrant foul me out of midair before the ball is slammed home?

 

I hope not. I hope we get a chance for an actual ending, a slam-dunk the kind which would garner millions of YouTube hits and would be shown on SportsCenter's top 10 plays.

 

Matches like this one are those moments in time that I got into this business for.

 

Matches like this are worth fighting through any pain, any agony to make happen.

 

Matches like this make my heart and soul come alive.