- Event: In GOD’s House
If there’s one thing I know about all these old-timers running around HOW at the moment, it’s that they all love looking back on the good ol’ days in the hopes they can recapture that same brilliant shine as their careers and bodies start to fall apart. None of them are immune to the feeling, no matter how much they try and hide it…not even Steve Solex.
So, since you like reminiscing so much, let this ol’ history teacher run some dates by ya.
February 6, 2021. Refueled 52, a night where everyone in the Best Arena was expecting HOW’s #1 Dad to beat the hell out of a rookie Xander Azula and move on in the DeNucci Cup…only that didn’t happen, did it Solex? No, I shocked everyone in Chicago that night–I might’ve even put Benny Newell on the verge of tears–by beating the ever-loving shit out of a future Hall of Famer, punching my ticket to the semi-finals by punching your lights out.
Have our paths gone vastly different directions since? Yes, but if all these Hall of Famers–yourself included–can go on and on about the glory days, I’m allowed to rag on you about that crucial victory.
Because look at us now, Steve. I can just about hear everyone muttering under their breath about what happened the last time you and I faced off in the ring…but none of that matters, because we’re not stepping into the ring…we’re stepping into a cage, and how did you fare the last time you went up against anyone in HOFC, Solex?
July 3, 2022. The first edition of Chaos in the current era of HOW. You had an opportunity to step into that cage against Christopher America, the man who became HOW World Championship coming out of War Games that year. You even put him to the test in that same situation, looking to use the pressure of HOFC to take the belt away from him…and you failed.
Your failure to stop America that night only further proved a point I made clear two years prior…all those pretty accolades of yours mean zilch inside the gilded cage. A month later at Dead or Alive you got another crack at the title, at America…and the result was the same, a whole lotta nothing.
You just weren’t good enough to stop Christopher America…but you know who was?
April 23, 2023. America’s last title defense before War Games. History will claim that I simply took the champion “to his limit”…but the reality is, I beat Christopher America. I had my hand raised high for everyone in New Orleans to see, and the whole world bore witness to the rise of the REAL World’s Champion.
The point of this little history lesson is not to bore anyone, but to remind everyone just how dangerous I can be…which brings me right back around to you, Solex.
You’ve been talking your shit nonstop, your head so far up your own ass that you may have earned a certification in colonoscopy, insisting that I don’t have what it takes to hang with anyone in this company…least of all you.
But I’ve beaten you before, Solex. I’ve even beaten a man you could never get the job done against. Somewhere deep in that brain of yours, I’m sure you’re holding onto a grudge over these simple truths…and it’s a grudge I’m going to beat out of you in GOD’s house.
October 29, 2023. After months of being dragged down and worn out, the Fighter comes out of his shell and regains his respect at the cost of the MERCDAD. The times you’ve beaten me in the ring will amount to nothing when I make you eat your words once again, the same as I did that fateful night in Chicago.
And with any luck, I might get Benny Newell weeping like a baby as he watches your broken body removed from the cage, and Lee Best regretting his decision to let this fight go down with no rounds. Any worries that I’m soft as fuck are gonna be dropped on Sunday, as your body drops like a sack of potatoes to the mat.
You’ve been at this for a long time, Steve, and unlike some of these other “legends” you didn’t have to take an extended hiatus and come back…but I’m more than happy to send you on your way to the retirement you truly deserve, leaving you with nothing more than a reminder that there are no more good ol’ days to enjoy.