When Eddie Lyons walked into the Lyons Den holding the Roulette Championship he was met with a rousing applause from the other students. Cleo Phillips was at the forefront with a big smile on her face, showing how proud she was of her friend and colleague.
It was a great feeling, like all his hard work had paid off. He never took any shortcuts, and always found a way to bounce back even when faced with defeat. He was just as proud of himself as his colleagues were of him.
A new chapter had begun in the career of “Unbreakable” Eddie Lyons, one of a champion. A champion that is ready for all comers knowing he didn’t fight this hard to become champion just to let it be taken from him so easily. He had proved he can win a championship, now it was time to become a champion.
“Yo, look at the shine on that. SCW spares no expense I see” said Cleo, looking over Eddie’s championship.
“It still doesn’t feel real.” said Eddie,looking at his championship, “I keep thinking I’m gonna wake up and find out Vaughn knocked me senseless again.”
“Well, I know I ain’t sleep.” said Cleo, “So this ain’t no dream. You earned that. You outsmarted both guys, and took home the gold.”
“Oh I know.” said Eddie, “I knew Peter Vaughn was going to get a little too caught up in teaching Justin Smith a lesson. He simply forgot to think that the other man in the match had learned those lessons and was ready to graduate. And he did.”
“Yeah I feel it.” nodded Cleo, “Felt like a dream when I defeated Alexandra Calaway to become the PWS World Champion. You know the road only gets tougher from here.”
“I’m ready. I came this far, and I won’t be stopped anytime soon.” Eddie said, “I achieved my goal of becoming a champion in SCW. My next goal is to do whatever I can to hold this longer than Peter Vaughn did.”
“That’s a tall order.” said Cleo.
“I know, but you gotta set goals for yourself, and I intend to reach for the sky.” said Eddie
“Absolutely.” agreed Cleo as her eye shifted past Eddie, “Heads up, here come your cousins.”
Eddie exhaled, and turned to be greeted by his three cousins, led by Victoria Lyons and clapping their hands Somehow their clapping didn’t feel as welcome as everyone else's did.
“Well well well, you actually did it.” said Victoria.”Gotta say, I’m impressed.You finally did something right. Of course Vincent or Alex would have defeated Peter on the first try, but hey good on you, huh?”
“Victoria, why don’t you get your hater ass out of here before I…” Cleo started, before Eddie stopped her.
“It’s okay, I got this.” he told her, before turning back to Victoria, “She’s just worried I’ll be a better champion than her.”
Victoria scowled, and her eyebrows furrowed.
“Scowl at me all you want, it’s the truth.” Eddie continued, “Vincent, he was a champion way back in HWL, and he fought and defended it. Alex fought and defended the PWS tag titles. I take nothing away from them. But you? You held a stupid emblem in a company that you knew was never going anywhere. Then you won the PWE Victory championship, but never defended it.”
“That wasn’t my fault.” Victoria protested. “They closed the company before I got a chance. Technically I’m STILL the PWE Victory champion.”
“Yeah, well tell it to Aaron then.” said Eddie, “See how she feels about that. Point is, at least the two of them next to you have proved themselves as champions. You’ve proven nothing. Nothing except your ability to brainwash and exert control over others. You are the unproven one in this family, and that’s why you keep those two around you. Because you want to take credit for whatever success comes their way in the future, since you really can’t find it properly on your own.”
“Oh snap!” said Cleo
“So it’s like that?” Victoria taunted, “I try to be nice. But I guess that championship has already made you arrogant.”
“Think whatever you want Victoria.” said Eddie, "But this is my time right now and you won’t ruin it. Like it or not, you’re just going to have to stick to being background characters in MY story. C’mon Cleo, let’s find Coach and get the hell out of here.”
Not waiting for a reply, Eddie walked away from Victoria and her boys, Cleo followed shortly after making sure to smirk at Victoria as she passed her knowing the Lioness of the Lyons family was more roar than bite.
__________
The cameras open on a closeup of the Roulette Championship, as we hear the voice of Eddie Lyons.
“Take a good luck Justin, because this is the closest you’ll ever get to this championship.” said Eddie, as the cameras pulled out, revealing the champ in full form, out in front of his family owned training school, The Lyons Den.
“Do you truly think you can actually take this from me?” asked Eddie, it was of course rhetorical,“No. You can’t and you won’t. I’m not so arrogant as to say nobody ever will because everything comes to an end sometime, just ask Peter Vaughn. However, the person who does take this from me won’t ever be YOU.”
Eddies eyes tell the world how serious he is. He doesn’t see Justin Smith as a threat, given his success over him in their previous two encounters.
“Why would it be you?” said Eddie, “You couldn’t beat me on your own once already, you couldn’t get the job done when Peter was also in the mix, and you won’t get it done for the third time either. Eddie Lyons is getting the three-peat on Justin Smith, and there is nothing he can do about it.”
He looks at the championship on his shoulder, a symbol of everything he’s worked for since he arrived in Sin City.
“So what are you gonna tell me this time Justin?” Eddie asked, again rhetorical. “Is it gonna be different? You gonna make me the shortest reigning champion ever? Gonna inflict pain and punishment upon me? Show no mercy? I mean that’s what you told me the last two times we met. Yet now, I stand here as the NEW Roulette champion. As the man who ended the arguably the greatest reign of all time. And you? You’re just the guy who can’t seem to beat anybody. A guy who barely beat The Troll. Justin, it’s really you who needs to be concerned about what I might have to do to you.”
Eddie smirks with confidence
“Because, I don’t care who you are.” said Eddie, “If you’re my opponent then I’m going to give you everything I can. I don’t care if it’s Justin Smith, Peter Vaughn, Alexander Raven, J2H or even the World Champion Finn Whelan. Whomever it may be, will get Eddie Lyons giving you the best he can possibly give you.”
Eddie exhales, taking a moment before he continues.
“You still need a huge wakeup call Justin.” Eddie continued, “You’re so delusional, it’s almost kind of sad. There is a reason I’m a champion and you’re not. Because you show no growth, and give minimal effort. I may have some off weeks, all of us do. But I always try to give something. You just make the same idle threats each and every time we see you. No growth, nothing.”
Eddie shakes his head, showing his disappointment.
“I don’t agree with all of his tactics, but I have a ton of respect for Peter Vaughn.” said Eddie, “And I need to honor his reign by making sure I step up and be a proper champion. Losing this championship so quickly, especially to the likes of you, would be disrespectful to everything Peter did for this championship.”
He makes a motion, and pats the Roulette Championship.
“So go ahead, bring all the pain and punishment you can Justin.” said Eddie, “Because I’ve felt it all before and came out on top twice. Doing it a third time is going to be a walk in the park. Prove me wrong if you can Justin. But something tells me you won’t. All you’re going to be is the first victim in the reign of Eddie Lyons. The reign of honor, before glory.”
Eddie raise the championship high above his head, and glares daggers into the camera, as it fades to black.
__________
Being a champion is a lot of work. Eddie Lyons was ready for whomever came his way. Not letting the new target on his back get to him, he in fact welcomed it as he welcomed all competition. But being a champion isn’t just about competition and Eddie had to start getting used to the other part of being a champion.
Promotional work.
That’s how he found himself as a guest on a podcast, to discuss all things Eddie Lyons and SCW. He brought Coach Kaiser along, since Kaiser had done plenty of this sort of thing in his day.
Once everyone had their headsets and mics on, ready checked and raring to go the host began his intro.
“Hello and welcome again to Top Rope Throwdown. I’m your host Jordan McCrady and I’m here today with SCW’s newest champion No I’m not talking about Finn Whelan, I’m talking about “Unbreakable” Eddie Lyons. Welcome to the show Eddie.” began Jordan the host.
“Thank you Jordan. Happy to be here” said Eddie.
“Of course, Coach Kaiser is here as well.” said Jordan, “How are you doing?”
“I’m doing great. I’m real proud of Eddie.” said Coach Kaiser, “I’m just here for some moral support. This is Eddies interview.”
“Of course” said Jordan, “So Eddie. “You won the first championship of your career at My Bloody Valentine.Must be quite the feeling.”
“It is.” said Eddie, “I still think it’s a dream sometimes, but it’s not. Eddie Lyons is the new SCW Roulette Champion and I’m ready to prove myself at the next level.”
“Of course.” said Jordan, “So, what I’ve been told from some of the listeners in preparation for having you on the show is they want to know more about you. It’s known how much you respect the business and how much competition means to you, but not a lot is known about the man himself. What sort of things do you do for fun? Any TV shows you enjoy? Music?”
“Well, truth be told. Wrestling is in my blood.” said Eddie, “It’s always been my main focus. But I did enjoy Breaking Bad, and saw a couple seasons of Game of Thrones before I sort of fell off. Heard it ended bad, so I really never tried watching again. As far as music. I mostly listen to older rock music, and some I guess they call it conscious rap.”
“Any favorite artists?” asked Jordan
“Well, I chose NF as my theme song, I think Nate is a great artist and very well written. His song Clouds I feel fits me perfectly and it helps pump me up when it plays on my way to the ring.” Eddie replied.
“Let’s talk about SCW. So we’re on the road to Blaze of Glory XII.” said Jordan, “Any idea who you might be defending against? Or maybe who you might want to?”
“Well, I don’t know who I’ll be facing there yet, and if I did I wouldn’t say until it became public knowledge.” replied Eddie, “It doesn’t matter to me who it is. Maybe get my win back against Barnhart or Mercer. I’m sure SCW has someone lined up for me but we’ll have to wait to find out who.”
“Fair enough.” said Jordan,”Is there anything you can tell us about your personal life? Is there a lady in your life?”
“Not at the moment no.” said Eddie, “Like I mentioned I’m pretty career focused so I’m not looking to get into any relationships or anything. Right now I just want to focus on being the best champion I can be. A relationship would only get in the way and complicate things. One day I’ll find a Miss Lyons, but now isn’t that time.”
“Absolutely, it’s not a good idea to rush things.” Jordan agreed.
“I can attest to that.” Coach Kaiser chimed in, “Had my share of bad relationships because I rushed into them. One in particular was really awful and corrupted me into a horrible person.”
“Wasn’t her name Kat?” asked Jordan.
“Yeah, but she’s a ghost now. Haven't heard from her in years.” said Coach Kaiser.
“Perhaps for the best.” Jordan went on, “So Eddie, in closing is there anything you want to say to your fans?”
“I just want to thank them for sticking with me.” said Eddie, “Always believing in me. Their support helped give me the motivation I needed to become Roulette Champion. Now it’s time for me to be the best champion I can be. That means taking on all comers and never backing down from anyon. Peter Vaughn never ran, and neither will I. I will live and die on my sword but I won’t run. Anybody who underestimates me will find out why I was the one that was able to dethrone Peter Vaughn when nobody else could.”
“Very good” said Jordan, “I’m afraid that’s all the time we have. We have a few more guests to get to. I’d like to thank Eddie Lyons and Coach Kaiser for stopping by today, and best of luck to you in your SCW future Eddie.”
“Thanks Jordan.” Eddie replied, “Everyone out there, be sure to order Blaze of Glory in a few weeks, and tune into Climax Control every Sunday.”
“Thanks again Eddie.” said Jordan.
As the interview ends, a musical jingle plays and the host prepares for his next guest as Eddie and Coach Kaiser head out to prepare for Eddie’s first title defense against Justin Smith.
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