Hawk Nelson- The Final Toast
The screen fades into a silent, slow-motion recording of a side view of Phoenixfire walking up the ramp as she left the arena her last match with Jarel Damone had been in. The camera angle changed as she reached the apex of the ramp and stopped to look back at the crowd one last time, the look on her face seemingly knowing what awaited her after she completed her journey to the back. Phoenixfire brought her hands up to her face, kissing them before she offered a quaint smile as she waved what would be her last goodbye and turned to face the curtains. With her back now to the camera, what seemed to be a pinpoint of light weaved its way through the curtains and began growing in size at an alarming rate the closer Phoenix got to the curtains, engulfing the Diva as she passed through before fading to black and cueing the audio to tribute that was to follow.
“Warwickshire to Fraserville and all between
You have left us here a life of memories
You forever changed the lives of all of us
Who have known you…”
A slide show of pictures and video was faded in as the first verse of the song began to play. There were pictures of Phoenixfire throughout her childhood and adolescent years in Anchorage and all things memorable that those years contained for her- the footage her mother had taken of her venturing out in her first snow with all but her red hair covered by winter gear; pictures of her crawling then standing before walking during her toddler years when she was moving from apartment to apartment Anchorage with her elder sister and mother; class photos as she cycled between the public schools of Anchorage School District before a last picture of Phoenix beaming with pride after a victorious win over Landry with the help of Matt Shanahan.
“Truth be told this world feels cold without you
You gave all of us a better name”
The last picture faded out to Phoenix’s mother seated and holding a picture of Phoenixfire framed with edging of gold leaf, eyes slightly red from weeping over her lost daughter, while her elder sister stood with her hands on her mother’s shoulders and trying her best to comfort her mother in her time of grief. These two were the ones left in the wake of the senseless tragedy committed by Landry, never to fully heal from the impact of what had left an already splintered family in even more fragments than before.
“So here's the final toast we raise to you, dear friend
Good times will never be the same
And our thoughts still remain
We'll hold you in your hearts forever and a day
And we'll never be the same
So the last toast that we raise goes to you
So if you ever lost someone that's close to you
Waiting for the answers like the spring to bloom
I hope their tears are wiped away
When they're at the Pearly Gates praying for you
You have made this world a better place…”
Highlights from Phoenixfire’s greatest matches and face-offs with her biggest adversaries in every federation were fading in and out on the titantron as the song progressed. The glorious footage of classic Phoenixfire moves like The Descent and Phoenix Flight soon gave way to the harrowing footage from News 3 of the coverage of the discovery of Phoenix’s body near the Route 3 Overpass by a fisherman. It was something that most could agree should never have happened and was a travesty that the guilty was allowed to run free without even a hint at punishment.
“So here's the final toast we raise to you, dear friend
Good times will never be the same
And our thoughts still remain
We'll hold you in your hearts forever and a day
And we'll never be the same
So the last toast that we raise”
The titantron faded into footage that focused in on the light snowfall occurring in an Anchorage graveyard before moving out to the pallbearers with the casket adorned with gold handles and gold leaf striping on the lid atop their shoulders and separating the crowd of co-workers, family, and friends on their venture down the path to the open grave that waited for the oak casket with Phoenixfire’s remains. The men placed the coffin holding the remains on a stand before the oak coffin was lowered into the grave, leaving the footage to fade out again.
“ So here's the final toast we raise to you, dear friend
Good times will never be the same
And our thoughts still remain
We'll hold you in your hearts forever and a day
And we'll never be the same
So the last toast that we raise goes to you
The last toast that we raise goes to you”
The camera panned in on a group of all the wrestlers Phoenixfire had worked closely with and befriended during her years on the circuits working out of Anchorage and prior to WWFG, singing to an acoustic track of the latest verse while surrounding a big promotional portrait of Phoenixfire which was on a stand in the middle of the group. The camera continued to pan slowly from side to side, catching each and every emotion that the song was pulling from each of Phoenixfire’s closest colleagues. Some were tearing up from the obvious shock of losing someone who wasn’t just another rival to be faced but almost like a sister; while some were facing the reality that Phoenixfire was gone by putting up a steely exterior. It was apparent to all that the life of this Diva hadn’t been merely for pleasing the rowdy males that packed the rows of foldable chairs each night, but had made a lasting impact on the life of wrestlers that came in contact with her.
The footage transitioned into slow-motion again after the song ended and Phoenixfire’s friends filed out of the studio where the acoustic verse was film, leaving the portrait alone in the focus of the camera. The screen faded out all except for Phoenixfire’s face as the birth and death years were crowned by the real name and stage name of the woman the video had been in tribute of before the titantron faded into live footage of the mix of “Thank You Phoenix” chants and teary-eyed fans as the ten bell salute sounded throughout the arena.
((Only GBL, Landry, Mardy, and Phoenixfire can post here. No exceptions unless stated otherwise.))
The screen fades into a silent, slow-motion recording of a side view of Phoenixfire walking up the ramp as she left the arena her last match with Jarel Damone had been in. The camera angle changed as she reached the apex of the ramp and stopped to look back at the crowd one last time, the look on her face seemingly knowing what awaited her after she completed her journey to the back. Phoenixfire brought her hands up to her face, kissing them before she offered a quaint smile as she waved what would be her last goodbye and turned to face the curtains. With her back now to the camera, what seemed to be a pinpoint of light weaved its way through the curtains and began growing in size at an alarming rate the closer Phoenix got to the curtains, engulfing the Diva as she passed through before fading to black and cueing the audio to tribute that was to follow.
“Warwickshire to Fraserville and all between
You have left us here a life of memories
You forever changed the lives of all of us
Who have known you…”
A slide show of pictures and video was faded in as the first verse of the song began to play. There were pictures of Phoenixfire throughout her childhood and adolescent years in Anchorage and all things memorable that those years contained for her- the footage her mother had taken of her venturing out in her first snow with all but her red hair covered by winter gear; pictures of her crawling then standing before walking during her toddler years when she was moving from apartment to apartment Anchorage with her elder sister and mother; class photos as she cycled between the public schools of Anchorage School District before a last picture of Phoenix beaming with pride after a victorious win over Landry with the help of Matt Shanahan.
“Truth be told this world feels cold without you
You gave all of us a better name”
The last picture faded out to Phoenix’s mother seated and holding a picture of Phoenixfire framed with edging of gold leaf, eyes slightly red from weeping over her lost daughter, while her elder sister stood with her hands on her mother’s shoulders and trying her best to comfort her mother in her time of grief. These two were the ones left in the wake of the senseless tragedy committed by Landry, never to fully heal from the impact of what had left an already splintered family in even more fragments than before.
“So here's the final toast we raise to you, dear friend
Good times will never be the same
And our thoughts still remain
We'll hold you in your hearts forever and a day
And we'll never be the same
So the last toast that we raise goes to you
So if you ever lost someone that's close to you
Waiting for the answers like the spring to bloom
I hope their tears are wiped away
When they're at the Pearly Gates praying for you
You have made this world a better place…”
Highlights from Phoenixfire’s greatest matches and face-offs with her biggest adversaries in every federation were fading in and out on the titantron as the song progressed. The glorious footage of classic Phoenixfire moves like The Descent and Phoenix Flight soon gave way to the harrowing footage from News 3 of the coverage of the discovery of Phoenix’s body near the Route 3 Overpass by a fisherman. It was something that most could agree should never have happened and was a travesty that the guilty was allowed to run free without even a hint at punishment.
“So here's the final toast we raise to you, dear friend
Good times will never be the same
And our thoughts still remain
We'll hold you in your hearts forever and a day
And we'll never be the same
So the last toast that we raise”
The titantron faded into footage that focused in on the light snowfall occurring in an Anchorage graveyard before moving out to the pallbearers with the casket adorned with gold handles and gold leaf striping on the lid atop their shoulders and separating the crowd of co-workers, family, and friends on their venture down the path to the open grave that waited for the oak casket with Phoenixfire’s remains. The men placed the coffin holding the remains on a stand before the oak coffin was lowered into the grave, leaving the footage to fade out again.
“ So here's the final toast we raise to you, dear friend
Good times will never be the same
And our thoughts still remain
We'll hold you in your hearts forever and a day
And we'll never be the same
So the last toast that we raise goes to you
The last toast that we raise goes to you”
The camera panned in on a group of all the wrestlers Phoenixfire had worked closely with and befriended during her years on the circuits working out of Anchorage and prior to WWFG, singing to an acoustic track of the latest verse while surrounding a big promotional portrait of Phoenixfire which was on a stand in the middle of the group. The camera continued to pan slowly from side to side, catching each and every emotion that the song was pulling from each of Phoenixfire’s closest colleagues. Some were tearing up from the obvious shock of losing someone who wasn’t just another rival to be faced but almost like a sister; while some were facing the reality that Phoenixfire was gone by putting up a steely exterior. It was apparent to all that the life of this Diva hadn’t been merely for pleasing the rowdy males that packed the rows of foldable chairs each night, but had made a lasting impact on the life of wrestlers that came in contact with her.
The footage transitioned into slow-motion again after the song ended and Phoenixfire’s friends filed out of the studio where the acoustic verse was film, leaving the portrait alone in the focus of the camera. The screen faded out all except for Phoenixfire’s face as the birth and death years were crowned by the real name and stage name of the woman the video had been in tribute of before the titantron faded into live footage of the mix of “Thank You Phoenix” chants and teary-eyed fans as the ten bell salute sounded throughout the arena.
((Only GBL, Landry, Mardy, and Phoenixfire can post here. No exceptions unless stated otherwise.))
