Being the villain for a night

Ethan Murphy took pride in not just being a professional wrestler but a warrior of the ring. It sounded corny on paper but that’s how he carried himself. His wife and pro wrestling were the only things in the universe he cared about to any notable extent and he revolved everything else around those two things. Because of this Ethan lived a narrow, purposeful life. Nothing stopped him from doing what he loved and being with who he loved. Bonus points since his hot wife supported his professional wrestling endeavors to the fullest.

Every training day, every trip, every bit of media work to promote the AWS brand. Hell, you can argue that Ethan’s matches helped make this world tour go even smoother since every show Ethan had a match on was sold out. But the Red Rocket wasn’t arrogant like that to see himself that way. He’d be more than happy to give some credit and praise to his opponents for being nothing short of fun. His opponent for the AWS New Zealand episode of Ward, the one and only Orphius Marius, definitely qualified in that regard.

Orphius and Ethan won their tag match against TJ Alexander and Hector Venegas at the last AWS Ward show in Wellington, New Zealand but there was no celebration, no smile, no post-match warmth between the two. Why? Because they knew that after that tag team win they’d have to do battle with each other at Maitai Bay in the finals of the 2026 AWS Shortcut To The Top tournament. And it wasn’t a regular bout either. It was a Fun House Of Horrors Match! Which by definition meant that there were going to be weapons, lots of them. Orphius and Ethan were going to bleed, get bruises, get welts too from the violence they’d inflict on each other. As for the referee along with it though? He was just there to make sure the two of them would be able to fight and function through it all.

Ethan was totally into this by the way! He wasn’t sweating this AT ALL. Why? Well look at his opponent Orphius Marius! He and Ethan were eerily similar in how they carried themselves. No-nonsense, no gimmicks, what you see is what you get and what you get is a badass wrestler with genuine intensity and high drive to win. Ethan was just more talkative. 

However, there was one thing that Ethan was wary about before their main event, tournament-closing, match. The whole show was in Orphius’s homeland of New Zealand. Granted Orphius was not a crowd-pleasing babyface that cared about rallying the crowd like Ethan did but these were “The Endgame’s” people. Ethan was aware he would be extra-violent or try some brand new tactic or move or just be extra violent to give his people something to cheer about at the end of the show.

Ethan was aware of all of that from his training to his prep and his promo he was planning. In fact, his scene took place in his Asylum Wrestling Society cell. Simple and plain with the minimum furnishing. Still keeping the “asylum inmate” aesthetic while he looked deeply into the camera.

Ethan Murphy: Well…it’s all come down to this. The Shortcut To The Top tournament, which had the most ironic name I’ve ever heard of in my wrestling career, ends tonight. I say that because there was nothing short or easy or simple about it. I got welts, bruises, I got a faded blood gash on my forehead that the top tier medical team in the AWS patched up for me. Only to know that I might get a new one tonight in the finals match of the tournament against Orphius Marius in our Fun House Of Horrors match against a man who’s more like me than even he might admit.

The bracket of the Shortcut tournament was shown, a brief highlight reel of Ethan’s matches were put on screen as well. Not to mention Ethan pointing to a largely faded red mark on his forehead from one of the earlier bouts of the series of matches just for emphasis…knowing that he was prepared to have it reopen tonight given his opponent Orphius who he believed had some similarities to him. What were they? He was going to continue…

Ethan Murphy: Like I said before we teamed up in Wellington we have a lot of things in common Orphius. Important things that matter in this company. We’re as real as we can be. They’re nothing mysterious about us, nothing goofy or ridiculous about us, we’re just two grown men who are easy to understand but hard to beat. It’s damn near like fighting my reflection. A quiet-ass reflection with the personality of wheat bread who’s half as good of a wrestler as I really am but a reflection.

Ethan gave some competitive trash talk in this regard. Making it crystal clear about how he felt about Orphius Marius. While there were some ideological similarities between the two, the redhaired warrior was all too happy to let people know that he thought that his darker-haired opponent was inferior to him. And he was only getting started..

Ethan Murphy: And last time we were in the same ring we were teaming up with each other in front of your people. Now I know because you have the emotional expression range of a block of ice you didn’t show how proud you were on the outside but inside I know you were. Even though you are a straightforward Lunatic who wears what little emotion he has on his chest I know you cared about how these New Zealanders were cheering you on when we were teaming up against TJ and Hector. Now when we fight tonight I know I’m gonna get booed, heckled, taunted, and mocked by your people. Yeah we ain’t in Christchurch, we’re in Maitai Bay but it’s going to be the furthest thing from a beach night for me and these people will let me know…and I’m more than happy to be the villain tonight! Just as long as it means I win. So bring your best, I’ll bring mine, and yeah I might have to take a special exit tonight…But I don’t care as long as I win. See you out there Orphius.

Ethan made it clear that he was expecting a hostile, negative crowd tonight since he was fighting a New Zealander in New Zealand at Clash At The Beach. But his confidence was not shaken. He’d heel it up if he had to, be the bad guy in their match. But winning the Shortcut To The Top tournament was more important than anything the people he was dealing with. Blood and hometown disadvantage be damned.