"Familiar Territory"


On screen is a close-up of steel. As the camera zooms back, it becomes obvious that it's a steel cage surrounding a wrestling ring. The steel appears the way it's always described by commentators - cold, hard and unforgiving.

As the camera pans to the right, a lone figure stands on the floor outside of the ring, peering up at the cage silently. The hooded cloak and ominous presence makes it obvious who the person is well before his face is revealed.

Providence.

A couple of minutes pass by as Providence looks all over the cage and the ring, the same cage and ring where his Underground Title match with Pietro Geist will take place at Thieves Honor. A second later, Providence steps forward and moves closer to the ring, close enough to run his hand up and down the side of the cage. He runs the back of his rught hand slowly up and down, then reaches up with his left and places the palm against the cage, grabbing onto the mesh.

"So many times I felt it," he said softly, the hood of his cloak still keeping most of his face in shadows. "It was steel just like this. I feared it at first, but you had to conquer that fear early or else you would become a victim." He paused for a second to lean his forehead against the cage, then whispered even softer, "And none of us wanted to be a victim. We always had a reason to fight, even if we didn't always have a reason to live."

Providence remained there in place for a moment, taking a couple of deep breaths. In a way, it almost seemed as if he was trying to draw strength. Then, he turned to face the camera and pulled the hood back to reveal his face, his long black hair still partially covering the sides of his face.

"Mr. Geist....at Thieves Honor we will find ourselves inside this very cage. And although I have looked into your eyes and seen a fire I didn't think existed at first, I don't know that you're truly prepared for what will be unleashed between us when we step in there.

"Maybe you know my past and maybe you don't. Maybe you don't really care. But I will remind you...and I will remind all of the jOlt fans out there...that I spent YEARS of my life fighting inside of a cage, battling some of the most vicious human beings in existence. The Asylum was a battle for life and death every single night. Every time I went inside that cage, the fighter inside of me took over another piece of the wrestler I had been before then."

Providence took a moment to glance back at the cage again, running his hand back through his hair, the muscles in his neck twitching.

"This cage brings pain and suffering, Mr. Geist," he said softly, his eyes once again looking up and down, then side to side, taking the whole structure in. "You've shown yourself to be a fighting champion. You've shown yourself to be willing to take on any challenge. You've shown yourself to be someone who doesn't fear anyone."

Turning back toward the camera, his voice was louder and more forceful now.

"But I think you should be a little afraid. I think you should be a little concerned about this challenge. Being back in that cage...I know what's going to come out, Mr. Geist. I can feel it already just standing here...

"You see, I didn't always win my fights in the Asylum. I won a couple of championships and was successful, but I lost my share of matches as well. But I never lost the fight. Every fighter who stepped into that cage with me left that night with a little less will...a little less life...a little less soul inside of them. I made sure of that."

Before speaking again, Providence moved even closer to the camera, his eyes fixed into the center of the screen.

"I have a destiny to fulfill here, Mr. Geist. Maybe it includes taking your Underground Championship or maybe there's another path. But I do know your destiny. I know it because I witnessed it time after time when I fought in these cages all those years ago...

"Your destiny, Mr. Geist, is pain...agony...fear...

"And the realization that sometimes when you've won a battle, all you've really done is lost a war."