Before Andrew Styles and Kujakuu would make their entrances for the semi-finals, the cameras had turned their focus towards the commentary team. Commentator Guy looked right into the eyes of the lens in front of him and spoke, while Commentator Troy silently sat in his seat, shifting his glance between the camera and the man speaking next to him. Without commercials on HBO, these were the kinds of transitions that the color commentators and television staff needed to do in order to show vignettes, and Jake Roman was not going to make his return in Buttf*ck Alabama of all places. He was going to start the process of becoming a household name. Last week, Roman created a buzz of a potential return in the near future, and he needed to remind them week after week that he still exists; he needed the extra exposure anyways.

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"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, LAST WEEK WE RECEIVED A VIDEO FROM ONE OF BBW'S FORMER WRESTLERS, JAKE ROMAN, WHO HAD BEEN INEXPLICABLY
MISSING IN RECENT MONTHS, AND RIGHT NOW, WE'RE GOING TO SHOW YOU A VIDEO THAT ARRIVED AT OUR CORPORATE OFFICES LAST NIGHT.
HERE'S THE SECOND INSTALLMENT OF WHAT SOME FANS ARE CALLING, 'ROMAN'S REDEMPTION'."


--


[x]


After the screen faded to black, the lights in the arena would turn off to help put even more focus on the titantron. All of a sudden, the video of a brick building illuminated by nothing but street lights would be shown. The night's darkness would not let anyone in the audience or at home forget that this summer was still incredibly humid and uncomfortable. The fact that there wasn't anybody seen outside for the moment made the fans look at this setting equal to a night in the desert. It wasn't long until that Jake would walk out of the double doors (away from the camera) and come into everyone's sight, seemingly emerging from the right of the screen. He had a cigarette in his mouth, a full-capacity gym bag in one hand, and a protein shake in the other. Jake wore his old-school D.A.R.E jacket, despite the dry weather, to sweat more. More muscle, less fat was repeated in Jake's mind everyday when he went to the gym. He stopped in his tracks, perfectly dead center in the middle of the camera shot. 'The Juvenile' turned to the camera after pulling a lighter out of his pocket and lighting his cancer stick. After a quick exhale, he would look off in the distance try to explain himself even more without giving away too much of his plans.


"They say... they say that everybody has their own battles. Everybody struggles with some things in life, but that's bullshit to me. Everyone might suffer, but they all suffer in their own ways."



Jake Roman took another drag of his cigarette, this time much longer than his first. It wasn't because he was stressed or needed it by any means, he just started to notice that each time he went further into showing his perspective, the more frustrated he became. Anger was motivation without purpose, but the Kid had a purpose. He couldn't say it out loud, of course; only fools revealed their strategies and goals. But it was only right to give his colleagues and customers some sort of heads up. Before continuing, Jake shook his head with a sly crooked grin on his face. It was a reflection of dark humor, laughing at whatever negative energy he had.


"I remember... about five or six years ago, I got expelled. I mean, c'mon, I was just standing up for myself. When some rich punk thought he could comment on how I only had three different outfits to choose from, I followed him all around campus. Patiently, patiently waiting for him to be away from his friends. I wanted to see this spoiled kid's real colors, and you know something? His only color was red, and I only know that cause I decorated that outfit in his own blood. It was like finger painting on a blank canvas while getting the emotional release I so rightly deserved. Artistic in it's own sick and twisted way. I thought that would teach these kids to keep their criticisms to themselves, and they did, I just wasn't supposed to be within a thousand feet of the same campus as them. I might have been able to stay if poor little Joshua fought back, but he didn't. Because he never had to fight for anything in his life. Now he has to fight back tears and repressed memories because he decided to ******** with the wrong guy."



Another cold, dark silence from Jake after taking a long drag of his Newport Menthols. Diving deeper into Roman's background has caught the audience's attention greatly since he was so young and still such a mystery. Hell, there were barely even dirtsheets on the guy until recently. Looking down at the cigarette inbetween his fingers, he would soon rise his head and tell the crowd another story they may have not known about the Kid.


"So I move schools... move cities... and go to a different high school. And my mom always wanted me to play sports to release all my 'inner demons' if you will, so when she suggested that I do, I gave it a chance. Girls were noticing me more and I was making more friends, so what am I supposed to do other than try harder? Everytime that lineman tried to stop be from getting past him, I reminded him what it was like to really fight for something you want. And I'd tell him how he was getting better, even give him a couple tips, but honestly? I knew he was never gonna stop me from getting what I want. I loved getting his hopes up. Watching the discouragement on his face transform into depression, watching him be an obnoxious jock in a letterman jacket one week, and a social outcast the next. And it was all because he didn't know how to bite and scratch and claw for his goals. Now he has to suffer with knowing there is always gonna be someone above him, and I gotta say, that's one form of suffering I'll never have to deal with."


"You see, I've made a whole life out of putting my best foot forward each and every step, because when life put obstacles in my way, I turned it around and gave myself an advantage over everyone! Because that's what I do, and if it means breaking someone else's spirit, or their bones, or their mind, I don't give a rat's a**. Nobody else is gonna pave my path to success for me; in fact, I've already started to pave it, I just gotta step over a few bodies to get there. I am the best wrestler in the world. No matter how young I am, or short my career has been, my in-ring ability and my work ethic have already proved that. I came back to prove that after fighting uphill battles for over twenty years, I can show the world the best fighter in the world. See, wrestling has a code of conduct, and some hidden rule-of-thumbs, but when you fight, you do everything and anything to get what you want, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. You might think you have tough skin, but you will never be able to break through mine."


"Next week, I got one more thing I need to show you. You might like it, you might not, but you will finally understand that now?... Nobody can prepare to be choked by the hands of defeat. All you can do is hope you're not next. Jake Roman's Redemption Tour has just begun."