Before dancing with death
Jamal Payne, in his thirty-year wrestling career had no matches that threw him off. There wasn’t a single match that made him nervous. He had been in multiperson matches, ultra-violent matches, and cage matches. But never all three! So what he was thrown into for Monday Night Ward in the Rosemont Arena put him in an unusual spot without a doubt. Not because he couldn’t handle himself or the match psyched him out or because he didn't truly need a weapon.
Just look at Jamal for God's sake. Even at his age he was jacked! Built with muscle like a heavyweight who could brawl with anyone in the Asylum Wrestling Society. He didn’t NEED a weapon to win a match. His body was a weapon in itself! He's won matches and championships without going under the ring to grab an object. And yes indeed he could brutalize a man with his bare hands.
On top of that none of his opponents worried Jamal in the slightest.”Dirty Dragón vs. Timothy Sterling vs. 'The Playtime Problem' Mixie vs. Damien Kostich vs. JohnZo Scary vs. Wade Mercer vs. Jamal Payne vs. Blight” was on the match card and “Freight Train” only had experience with Damien and Wade in the ring early in his AWS career. So he was facing mostly new opponents in a match that even by AWS’s standards was barbaric. How was he going to train for this? How was he going to promo for this? How was he going to explain this type of match to his wife? The answer was simple…very carefully!
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So the scene was set in Jamal’s “Cell” which was the Asylum Wrestling Society nickname for locker room sitting on a steel chair in his street clothes, looking intently into the camera with stone-cold focus. He had something to get off of his mind before his Japanese Deathmatch tonight at AWS Ward in Rosemont.
Jamal Payne: Look at me. Just genuinely look at me. Look at how I'm built. The muscles on my body. How even at 50 years old I am strong enough to break a man's back and win a match and I'm still going strong, doing damn good in the ring! I don’t need a weapon to beat a man into the hospital yet I'm thrown into this match with SEVEN other Lunatics who do. This -BEEP- company I swear…But it’s fine, I’ll do my work, I’ll kick some ass and get the win. Why? Because I’m Jamal Payne and no matter what the match I give a hundred percent. Y’all need weapons just to stand a chance against me. I don’t!
Jamal was making his case quite clear. He wondered why he was even in this match as he was one of the lunatics that didn’t use weapons or tricks to win matches. His muscles, his mind, were all he needed to win a match. So someone could wonder why he was even here in this fight? But regardless Jamal was a hard worker if there ever was one. He was going to win this match regardless because that’s who he was. And he hadn’t even started talking about his opponents just yet! But that was going to change…
Jamal Payne: I mean I look at my opponents. Damien, Wade, long time no see. It's been a while since we scrapped. We got older, shit changed, we all held gold at one point. We’re the vets in this match so hell yeah I’m scoutin’ y’all. Taking y’all seriously. But I’m looking forward to beating your ass now like I did back then on the real. But y’all are the only ones I got any experience with because everybody else in this damn match I never fought before! Yeah we got that pretty boy Timothy Sterling looking like a damn GQ model, wonder how he feels about being in a match like this. We got the usual AWS freakos like that grown ass kid Moxie and that creepy ass bitch Blight. And I wonder how it will feel getting your ass kicked by someone who’s old enough to be your daddy? Y’all are gonna find out when I get in that ring tonight regardless of what shit y’all take into battle
Jamal had no issues talking about his age. He was an old man in the wrestling business but still going strong doing the one thing that his body was trained and molded to do since the rest of his opponents in this match were children, if they were born at all! Wrestling. For the opponents he had history with, Jamal was going to remind them of just how dangerous he was and as for the new opponents…they were going to find out for the first time that you don’t want to stand across from the “Freight Train.”
Jamal Payne: So my choice of weapon for this match since AWS management cooked this crazy-ass match up…is this here steel chair and it fits me well. Reliable to give pain, dependable in hurting someone, classic in wrestling but it never goes out of style. That’s my weapon for this deathmatch because it embodies ME, I can’t put it any simpler than that. And that’s all I need to beat all your asses at Ward tonight!. We’re done. Now I gotta get ready to dance with death. Y’all do the same
Jamal made everything clear in his statement. What his weapon of choice was going to be, how screwed his opponents were, and how while his weapon was simple that was going to be all he needed to win tonight. He stood up from his black steel chair which formally ended the promo.