Welcome to Gaia! ::

As the murmurs in the crowd began to gain volume as time passed by, the thought that ran through everyone's minds was, "Who's going to come out?" Even the announcers pondered the question, "Who's it going to be? An old timer? A young gun wanting to make a splash? Not just anyone can stand toe-to-toe with a guy like Jed! A Hall of Famer for Pete's sake!"

Then came the answer.

Anyone who had been around a while would have known the music. The torpor and the sound of a twanging guitar punching out a whimsical tune of melancholy. An old slide show that started to play on the titantron, a sense of dread that hadn't been felt in ages. As a drum line kicked in, the lights, cameras, and the attention spans were drawn to the top of the ramp. An old face, finally revealing a pair of nearly dead, mascara-painted eyes hiding behind greasy bangs. The dull roar building, this must be a joke. Well Shadow wasn't laughing.

Emerging from the curtain to his infamous music, an older, but just as sinister Hall of Famer, Shadow, stood and took in the moment. The hype exploded in his face, as even the chatty announcers were silent in surprise. Slowly making his way to the ring, Shadow gazed over the jam-packed arena, taking in each fan, each cry, each curse and cheer for such a man to appear in their presence again.



He climbed the stairs, paused and took in Jed, who was just as surprised as everyone else there. Through the dead expression he wore, Shadow cocked a rare grin of satisfaction. Already he had caused an uproar and hadn't even laid a finger on anyone yet. Climbing into the ring, Shadow took in more of the energy around him and waited for the music to cut. Finally, after another pause, he took a mic in hand and stood a few feet in front of Jed with his arms spread open in a shrug.

"What? Were you expecting someone else?"

True, there never was much a problem between these two guys. Except for some nagging issues in the back of Shadow's mind, but the current affair was what was getting to him.

"Oh mean besides your puns, your neurotic gimmick changes, your hair, your constant need for the spotlight, your Betty White porno stash, your fixation on spoons, your Netflix subscription, your assassination attempt on the Olsen Twins, your rap music, your a** in spandex, and your favorite food being tacos?"

The more that Shadow opened his mouth, the more the audience began to realize that perhaps he wasn't quite as there as they remembered him to be. But they were still quite nostalgic about Shadow's way with words, and they let him know as they hissed at him for insulting one of their long-time favorites.

"Well the fact that you're parading a broken arm as if it's a major deal is what's got me a little irked at the moment."

Shadow began to pace, rubbing his neck.

"I mean, it's not like some of us haven't gone through something nearly as painful as that. Like say, a broken neck that leads to a pill-popping addiction that leads you to rehab because you can't get work like you could in the old days where pain meds were like public water fountains, then getting hit on by a soccer mom who's in rehab after drinking morphine after a Cesarean section of her new baby girl who's really the trash man's kid who isn't all that hot to begin with, then get out of rehab, find out that you've gotten old and a bit baggy in some areas, and see old guys you used to wrestle with on TV and realize you haven't kicked their a** yet get some attention?"

Shadow pointed to the camera.

"Now THAT's painful."

Then back to Jed, "So since I'm emotionally unstable again, in need of Vicatin soup for the soul, and wanting a chance to shut your whiny a** up, I thought 'Hey. Why not?' Any questions?"

Unfortunately, Jed had left little room for Shads to put his input in on the subject. Between the music and the crowd there wasn't much of a chance for him to say anything. The two men stared each other down as the cameras rolled and the audience with the benefit of flash photography took their pictures. After a minute, Shadow dropped to the mat and rolled out of the ring back towards the entrance ramp. He was booed for not attacking, and the positive energy from earlier had just as quickly turned negative towards the man. But that was fine, he was used to being forsaken. His hands in his pocket, the man made his way to the backstage area for some Sun chips and beverages, appearing to be talking to himself as the camera man following him caught his lips moving, but without any intelligible words to be made out. What was he thinking? And was Shadow anywhere able to wrestle? The world would find out soon enough!