Brett Angel: The Outcast traveling during the blackest nights

by **krzy** Tue Feb 28, 2017 3:08 pm

Brett Angel’s theme hits the speakers and the crowd roars as he walks through the curtains. Angel kneels on the stage and the lights in the arena dim leaving just a lone spotlight on him.

I want you to walk a mile in my shoes. Walk with me through the darkness that has haunted me since that fateful day. To not know joy or love or peace or happiness because it was all ripped away from you--that’s me--that’s the hell I’ve had to endure for years.

But I never asked for pity or special treatment.

I never asked for my success--I earned it.

I never asked to be cast aside.

Yes, I am The Outcast, Brett Angel. The man who outlived his usefulness, who overstayed his welcome and was kicked out of the only place that felt like home.

That’s the kind of world that we live in.

Angel scans the arena around him.

It’s a world that’s either black or white. You either win or you lose. You’re either alive or you’re dead. You’re either a wrestler or someone standing on the sidelines.

Here’s the thing about people with power, they get selfish and they get stupid and they get scared to lose it. And the thing about stupidity is that it attracts stupidity and when you have stupid people making decisions it leads to Brett Angel no longer being on UnMatched. When you have stupid people getting their feelings hurt, it leads to Hayden Kitely coming out of the woodwork, conveniently being asked about me out of the dozens of people on Fusion and UnMatched just so the powers that be at UnMatched can be petty and laugh at the cheap shot he took at me.

I find it funny that Hayden Kitely did exactly what I did--put a career on the line for a title--but I’m the only one who gets vilified for it. The only difference is that I was champion heading into that match. I put my career on the line, not because I had to, but because of my pride. Hayden Kitely--and I know he’ll see this because he’s nothing short of obsessed with me--Hayden Kitely put his career on the line because that was the only way to get his declining self another shot at the big belt. The thought of Sane beating his ass ridding Fusion of him once and for all was too good of an opportunity to pass up and that’s exactly what they got.

A hush falls over the crowd.

Ignorance in power means that the moment I got here I keep hearing whispers that I needed to throw caution in the wind and be the bad guy. They heard that I was going to be at ringside to personally watch the match between Pierre Thompson and Randy Borton, and they all but got on their knees and told me that I had to attack him. “Wouldn’t it be so cool if you hit him with the Borto End?” No rhyme to it. No logical reasoning. Just that it would look cool in the moment despite turning the world against me, And it almost got to me, thinking that is what I had to do to secure my job...until someone stopped me.

It’s even worse when the one in power is a man who is watching everyone else live his dream--especially one of those men is me, someone who never wanted to do this in the first place. Dave Turner looked me in the eyes and told me that I was a nobody. Forget about personal feelings. How is that good business? How does it help your show to ignore the merits of wrestling elsewhere under the CMV umbrella? A place that was established long before Genesis ever existed? A place whose brand split directly lead to Genesis existing in the first place?

Tell me, Dave, you’ve had three or so separate Alpha World Champions on this brand so far, haven’t you? Tim LaFave. Furious Frank. Bob Luger. Is everyone else on the show a nobody like me? What about you? Who are you to tell me that I’ve done nothing on Genesis? The last time I asked you that the commentator ignored it to spread your narrative instead. I don’t expect it to be any different this time.

Angel pauses for a moment to collect his thoughts.

An outcast. Even here.

It’s not what I set out to be all those years ago, and I don’t know if it’s a blessing or a burden but it’s something I’ll have to carry with me on this journey.

But I’ll need your help.

I don’t know where this path is taking me. After my match with Borton, I don’t know what comes next for me, but this darkness is too much for me to bear alone. I need you to illuminate the everlasting night for me. Be the stars in the sky.

Slowly but surely, the thousands in the arena turn on their phone’s flashlights and raise them in the air creating a breathtaking display.

Thank you.

Angel’s theme hits and he returns backstage before the show fades into a commercial break.