A Cold Day in Hell, PA

[Corey Black]

You wouldn't know it unless you paid attention, but Creeping Death made a return last week. That's pretty big, considering what that part of Corey Black's persona represents. Ten years with WCF, ten long years, and a host of accomplishments to show for it. The Creeping Death part has taken on a life if it's own, much akin to the GWC days where Corey's mind was seemingly split in four. Corey, however, knows it wasn't him. The video is there, plain as day, yet he denies it with a passion. Is his mind in the right place? Who knows.

The scene opens up with a shot of downtown Reading, PA. The town is a whirlwind of activity, as people are coming in from all over the North Eastern part of the US to attend SLAM at the WCF Arena. The line to get into the Arena itself is already forming, people waiting out in the cold for hours to see their favorite WCF wrestlers go to work. One of those wrestlers, Corey Black, is standing outside the Arena doors on a shoddy looking stage that looks like it used to be the trailer of a semi. Corey is standing there, with a megaphone in his hand. The crowd notices him and begins cheering. He puts his hand up as to hush them, and pulls a rope… behind him drops a big picture of Ryan Blake. He puts the megaphone to his mouth and begins cutting the most amazing promo known to mankind.

Corey Black
You know, Ryan, before last week, I didn't have a problem with you. Sure, you're Odin's friend, but you hadn't ever done me wrong. To me, you were nothing but another guy trying to make a living in the same place I was. A co-worker, nothing more, nothing less. Then, the UWA Supershow happened. You invited three other companies to take part in this big event, and give back to the people watching our products. Or, was that the case at all? See, I think you have an ulterior motive, and you've been outed. You put on the Supershow to get more workers for UWA, to expand and grow as a company. Even that is commendable, I hoped it would work a week ago. The way you went about trying to get employees, however, was a bit ridiculous. Booking yourself in the main event against Team WCF. Did you expect to get UWA over by booking YOURSELF in the MAIN EVENT?! And let's not forget the bullshit that happened in said main event. Come on, Blake, you surely didn't expect me to just roll over and let this fly, did you? Odin Balfore, an eliminated man, powerbombs me to the mat allowing the owner of UWA to get the deciding pinfall in a UWA Supershow Main Event. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that is the way to get people talking about your company. If anything, that points people over to WCF, because of how screwed I ... we got.

I'll be frank; you really are not in my league. My accomplishments here currently, and will always, outshine yours to the Nth degree. Call me back when you get half-way to my level. I'll be in the hospital or grave, I'm sure. You're expendable, Ryan. There are people better, and more willing to be a team player, than you. I won't put it past you, though, you're a very good worker in the ring, but there's more to WCF than just spending twenty minutes in the ring and bouncing to the next company. We have a locker room full of guys that want someone to talk to, someone to help them get better. And where are you when they ask? You're off in UWA, IW, wherever else you work. Which, in fact, brings me to another point... WCF and IWF are all I need. To be perfectly honest, I don't even need to work for IWF, because when you get to my league, Ryan, you only need one job. Enjoy your 'signature' sunglasses and cigars, your UWA, your circle jerks around the campfire, all of it, but at the end of the day, you are envious of my position and there's nothing else to it. You WISH you were the 'Corey Black' of WCF or any other company you wrestle for. You'll never be that guy. I've kept this place open and running longer than anyone besides Seth Lerch. You said it yourself; I signed you. Me, it was this guy that gave you the job here, and not once did I get a 'thank you' or anything. I didn't have to put the weight of the WCF World on my shoulders, but I did, and all I have to show is ungrateful pricks like you treating me like it was my duty to keep it going. Wrong, jackass. You are here because I allow it. You get a WCF paycheck because I allow it. You, Ryan Blake, will be nothing in WCF, because I will NOT allow it.

"I respect you, but I'm not afraid of you."

Is that so? Then why, by chance, did you pin me after Odin powerbombed me through the mat, basically? That isn't a sign of respect at all. That's a sign of a guy looking out for himself, and himself alone. You got the pin on me, Ryan, congratulations. You'd never have been in that match if you didn't book it yourself. And you'd never be in THIS match if I didn't request it, either. More or less, the only thing of truth you said. I'm not going to make you famous, that isn't my line nor my philosophy. If you were anyone else, someone who went about their business in a respectable mannor, then maybe I'd help you along the way. But you? You're getting a Burning Hammer, Ryan Blake. No bullshit. I haven't had a reason to be this pissed off for as long as I can remember. Odin Balfore has pulled some shit, but he is the World Champion, he doesn't need to make a name for himself. You, though? You are trying to use my name value to elevate your game. Having my name on the list of people you have pinned will get you farther than you could ever imagine. It's obvious you knew this, because you had to take advantage of a situation to get my shoulders on the mat. On Slam, there will be no powerbombs from The Champ. There will be no crap. It'll be you and I in the ring, nobody else. I'm not worried about Odin, or D-Day, or anyone else you mentioned. This is going to be two guys going out there and trying to prove a point. You're not afraid of me, but you aren't going to beat me, either. You haven't beat me. Odin beat me, you picked up the scraps. Don't forget that. You had no chance if it wasn't for Odin, and I'm going to show you that tonight at Slam. WCF is MY home, not yours. You have UWA. I have IWF, but I'm simply there to compete. You run the everyday operation of UWA. That, my friend, makes it your home. Look at the Supershow, which company did you represent? Which did I represent? Exactly. Your care for WCF begins and ends with a paycheck. I bleed green and black.

This business and company gets hate because people come in and think they own the place and everyone in it. People turn into bad asses because there's pompous assholes that run their mouth, and someone needs to shut them up. Bad asses are formed through others taking advantage of them in their fallen state, without honor. WCF if full of people looking to get themselves over at the expense of anyone. I used to be that guy. I'd run around, jobber killing whomever I saw fit. But then, I myself, was jobber killed. Odin made me look like a fucking child, and ever since then, my perspective on wrestling has changed. I'm not about getting myself over, like you are, Ryan, but now all I want is to compete. Wrestling is fun again. I get paid to do what I love to do, what more can I ask for? I just wish everyone thought like I do.. because if they did, we wouldn't have the situations we have on our hands.

But then, we get to the meat and potatoes. Why do I care about WCF when I am working for IWF? If I've said it once, I'll say it again.. WCF is below me now, Ryan. It's people like you that make me want to go wrestle elsewhere. The simple fact that I can do that pisses you off, doesn't it? I can come back and have a match in WCF whenever I want, collect a huge paycheck, and go to IWF to actually have competition. There's nobody on my level here. It's sad, and frankly, pathetic, looking at the roster. But everybody thinks they are 'billy badass' and the greatest wrestler on the planet. Wrong, wrong, wrong. I am the best WCF has ever, and will ever see, and I'm nowhere NEAR the top of the card in IWF. What does that say about you, Ryan Blake? It says you're a small fish in a big fish bowl on a boat in the ocean. You're not even in the ocean. Your name isn't mentioned when someone says 'WCF.' It's 'oh, WCF? That's where Logan used to wrestle. Oh, yeah, Gravedigger and Slickie T too! PC Cradle! Creeping Death!' The only time you will ever be in the same sentence as 'WCF Main Event' is when people talk about today, the day Corey Black got his redemption in the main event of WCF Slam against that unsavory son of a bitch Ryan Blake. I wrestle for IWF because you're not good enough to satisfy my need for competition. Odin Balfore isn't good enough to satisfy my need. TORTURE IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH. WCF ... is not ... good enough.

Go ahead and get better, Ryan. Use WCF to better yourself like I use IWF to make myself better. But know this... it will not do you any good. You can become the best in WCF, but you'll never be the guy. Look back on WCF throughout the years, and it is obvious who was 'the guy' at any certain time. Everyone I mentioned before has had their run at the top, but there has only been one man to stick it out and be 'the guy' when the other 'the guys' decided they had had their fun. For ten long years, only one person has stood by WCF, through closings, relationships, bullshit, other companies, and everything else under the sun. For that very reason, every 'the guy' has played second fiddle to 'the only guy.'

I came back for that very reason. Without me, what is WCF? It's a place where guys will spout off, bashing me, even though I'm not there. Every time I take a break, someone always says something and asks for me to come back and get into the ring. Maybe not directly, but it never fails, I will always be talked about here. And I won't let anyone slander my name for their own benefit. Odin Balfore tried, and look what happened to him. Jason Kash tried, and where is he now? It's like people try to use my name to get themselves over. You're no better, Ryan, but you did it in the stupidest way. If you would have just said 'hey douche, I can beat you' then MAYBE I'd show some kind of mercy. I've been all about not hurting people for the past few months, only striving for great matches and good competition, until it comes to you and Odin. You two have rubbed me the wrong way, and that's not a good thing to do by any means. There's no excuses, no thinking I am better, no nothing, Blake. You pinned me in the middle of the ring. You pinned me in the main event of a show you booked, after Odin broke the rules. That will forever be the case. Nothing will ever change that. Your victory over me will have an asterisk. That isn't a win at all, that is a robbery. If you would have pinned me, just you, with no other bullshit, I'd be the first guy to give you props. But that isn't the case, is it? Enjoy your victory over me. Your ONE win, because there will not be another. No home field advantage, either, Ryan. You sure do like to put words in my mouth, don't you? It's an advantage because it'll be one on one, with no run-ins or cheatery. That is what makes it different. Not because of the setting. Even though, it truly is a home field advantage, for the reasons I stated before.

I'm not going down the path you laid for me, either, Blake. It's humorous how you spout off like you know exactly what I was going to talk about. Sorry chap. I'm not about being 'hardcore' anymore. If you'd pay attention to anything but yourself, you'd probably realize the fact. That was back before I had the level of training I now have. You can handle anything I throw, huh? So you're well versed in Lucha, Strong Styla, and MMA? Please. You're a punk kid. You'll always be viewed as a rookie because that is how you handle yourself. You don't treat others with respect, yet you expect them to give it to you. Not how it works. That's a rookie mistake. Not having the balls to let a guy regain his bearings after a seven foot jackass dropped him from the sky... that's a rookie thing to do. You're a fucking rookie, Ryan Blake, you're going to have to accept it. Running your mouth about knowing what someone is going to say, and how their time is up, blah blah, rookie things to do. Handle yourself like a rookie, and you'll be regarded as such. Saying things like 'mentally breaking you down' and that, come on. You're nothing but a mouse to me. An annoying little prick running around my house and leaving tiny deposits of poop in my catfood. Slam, the boot comes down, and squashes the annoying little mouse. After Slam, you'll be thrown back outside with nowhere to go but in the dirt of mid-card hell. Enjoy your fifteen minutes of fame, Blake, because it's the only fifteen you'll ever get.

I have been dealing with a lot of crap lately, and one thing I won't stand for is injustice. First Blake, then Balfore. I'm heading for you, big man, one on one. The last time, you powerbombed my ass directly to IWF. This time, I Burning Hammer you into obscurity. I'm not looking passed you, Ryan, but let's let facts be facts... I'm only dealing with you to prove a point. And that point is; nobody in WCF can touch me now. I am above this, I am above you, I am above Odin Balfore. You're dealing with Corey Black; be fucking thankful you aren't dealing with Creeping Death. The bell, however, will still toll, for you, Ryan.

Corey Black finishes his promo by throwing the megaphone he was speaking into right at the giant picture of Ryan Blake. As the megaphone makes contact, the picture explodes into the air like confetti, raining down on the crowd that has now moved from the line to the front of the stage. The crowd begins chanting Corey Black’s name, and he leaps off into them. They catch him and crowd surf Corey around as the scene closes out.