Blaze of Glory

[Ben M]

With Fallout a little more than 24 hours away, Chris Jericho was in Detroit, some 700 miles away from the Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, where Fallout would be held. Jericho was filming a promotional video at the BCW Arena; it was well known that Wes Ikeda owned BCW, and used it as a development territory for EBWF, but what was less well known was that Jericho co-owned BCW with Wes. Jericho had bought BCW from Wes back in 2011, when Wes had sold several of his assets in order to buy EBWF out of its toxic TV deal with NBC. Jericho's ownership of BCW was supposed to have been temporary - a bit of security that ensured Wes didn't lose the company where he had trained, and wanted his son to train - but when the time had come to buy it back, Jericho had asked Wes to let him keep half of it, and Wes had been all too happy to oblige. In the time that Jericho had been interim CEO, he had made regular visits to BCW to keep tabs on the young talent that was working there, but he had a different reason for visiting the BCW Arena today. As Jericho arrived, he was greeted by Scott D'Amore, the founder of BCW, who still ran the company despite no longer owning it.

Scott D'Amore: Hey, Chris. How are you?

Chris Jericho: Hey Scott. I'm good, how are you?

Scott D'Amore: I'm good. Everything has been set up just how you asked.

Chris Jericho: Great, thanks.

Scott D'Amore: No problem.

Scott smiled, then left Jericho to it. Jericho headed to the ring, then looked around the arena. A number of EBWF PPV posters adorned the walls, and directly across from the ring was a Fallout poster, advertising the Elimination Chamber. Scott had arranged for one of the BCW crew members to film Jericho, and Jericho asked the cameraman to point the camera at the Fallout poster. The cameraman did so, and the camera started rolling. The initial shot was a close up of the Fallout poster; the camera then zoomed out, showing Jericho looking at the poster. Jericho turned to face the camera, then began to speak.

Chris Jericho: In case you're wondering where I am, I'm at Border City Wrestling in Detroit. BCW was founded just across the border in Windsor, which is where our beloved Wes Ikeda first trained to become a wrestler. Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin trained at BCW too, as did Petey Williams. Nowadays, BCW serves as EBWF's developmental territory, which is why you can see those pay-per-view posters behind me on the walls. We like to remind any wrestler that comes here what they're working towards. Every wrestler that comes here dreams of being called up to the main roster, but tomorrow night at Fallout, the six men you see on that poster will be dreaming of something bigger. WrestleMania.

Jericho looked across at another PPV poster - the poster for Survivor Series, which advertised the World Title match between Solomon Crowe and John Cena.

Chris Jericho: Three months ago at Survivor Series, Solomon Crowe shocked the EBWF Universe when he beat John Cena for the World Title. Not only did he shock people, he pissed a lot of people off too. People said it was bullshit, a fluke, that Crowe didn't deserve to be the World Champion. Since then, Crowe has proved everyone wrong, and successfully defended the World Title against two of the men entering the Elimination Chamber with him - The Rock, and Dean Ambrose. Congratulations, Solomon. I mean that. I know you pissed Wes off when you beat his golden boy, and you've continued to piss him off since then by holding on to the title. It's funny, Wes pushes himself as the "rebel without a cause", so you'd think he'd be happy to see an underdog like Crowe succeed. But actually, when John Cena lost at Survivor Series, all Wes was thinking about was the sponsors, and how they'd react to an "unmarketable" champion like Solomon Crowe. It's hard being a corporate stooge, isn't it Wes? That's why I'm glad to be back doing what I do best - wrestling. Unfortunately for you Solomon, that means your journey ends here. You've had a good run as champion, but tomorrow night at Fallout, you're in for the fight of your life. You'll have five hungry men gunning for you, wanting to take that title from you, and I'm the hungriest man of all. I hope you and I are the last two men in the Chamber, Solomon, because I respect you more than the other assclowns we're entering the Chamber with. But just because I respect you, doesn't mean I won't make you suffer. Forget about the World Title, and forget about your WrestleMania main event, because I'm going to take both of those things from you.

Jericho turned around and looked at another poster - the poster from last year's WrestleMania, where the main event had been Brock Lesnar versus Dolph Ziggler.

Chris Jericho: After the Royal Rumble, people always assume that whoever is the World Champion at the end of January will be the person that defends the gold at WrestleMania. But that isn't always how it plays out, and one man that knows that better than most is AJ Styles. AJ beat my main man Trent for the World Title at the Royal Rumble last year, and I'm sure from that moment he started dreaming about main eventing WrestleMania again. But instead, he lost the World Title to Brock Lesnar, and spent WrestleMania getting beat up by Wes Ikeda. AJ was an angry man last year, but since he came back he's been "reformed". Do you think losing that anger has made you a better person, AJ? It doesn't, it just makes you weak. I'm angry about the way things are in EBWF, and that anger has liberated me. It's made me stronger, and my anger is what will allow me to win the Elimination Chamber. That devastating steel structure is no place for someone who is weak, AJ. Maybe I'll do you a favour and eliminate you first - after all, if you're in the Chamber too long, you might get hurt... And we wouldn't want that, would we?

Jericho grinned sadistically, then continued to speak.

Chris Jericho: You won't see The Rock on any posters in here, because despite having had countless EBWF runs, The Rock has never been a main event player in the EBWF. That's what happens when you're only in EBWF long enough to promote your latest movie - you aren't around for long enough to make an impact. Although I will give you credit where it's due, Rock - this time, you've stuck around for longer than I expected, and it actually seems like you want to wrestle rather than promote Furious 7. How did your agent respond when you told him you were competing in a Taipei Death Glass Table match? I guess compared to that, the Elimination Chamber doesn't seem so bad. But you didn't have to contend with me at Christmas Eve of Destruction, Rock. If Crowe doesn't get to you first, I'll take great pleasure in taking you out myself.

Jericho looked back at the Fallout poster, this time focusing on Dean Ambrose.

Chris Jericho: You know Dean, I'm not sure how you did it, but you managed to make your World Title match with Crowe seem more intense than his Taipei Death Glass Table match with The Rock. I guess when two crazy SOBs like you and Crowe are going at it, you don't need a fancy stipulation... the result was the same though, and just like The Rock before you, you lost. I'm sure you're relishing the prospect of entering the Chamber, given your psychopathic tendencies, and when I look at the men entering the Chamber tomorrow night, apart from Crowe you're probably my biggest threat. But I've been in the EBWF for a long time, Dean. I've faced countless threats, and I've overcome every single one of them. Fallout is my night, not yours, and if you get in my way, I'll show you just how crazy I can be.

Jericho turned around again, this time looking at a poster for King of the Ring. The four semi-finalists from last year's tournament - AJ Styles, Justin Gabriel, Randy Orton and Chris Sabin - were on the poster. Jericho turned back to the camera, and continued to speak.

Chris Jericho: Last but not least, we have EBWF's resident "nearly man", Chris Sabin. You always seem to be close to glory, Sabin - you just never seem to be able to take that final step, to reach out and grab it. Last year, you made it to the final four of the King of the Ring tournament, beating Wes Ikeda and The Miz on your way to the semi finals. But you lost to AJ Styles, who then lost to Randy Orton. This past Monday on Warfare, you picked up another big win, beating last year's King, Orton, to get the final spot in the Chamber. And I'm sure you're dreaming of another big win at Fallout, but it isn't going to happen, Sabin. There's a reason you never get the glory that you seek, Sabin - you lack conviction. That's why you always choke at the final hurdle. Tomorrow night will be no different.

Jericho exited the ring and walked over to the wall, where he stood underneath the Fallout poster. Looking up at the poster, Jericho pulled some lighter fluid out of his jacket pocket, and threw the fluid onto the poster. Jericho then pulled a lighter out of his pocket, and set the poster alight. As the poster went up in flames, Jericho turned back to the camera.

Chris Jericho: Crowe, Styles, Rock, Ambrose, Sabin. I'm sure you all want to win the Elimination Chamber, but I guarantee I want it more. It's been too long since I held the World Title; it's time I took the gold again. And if you get in my way, you're going to get burned.

Jericho grinned as the scene faded.