Ring of Honor Newswire Thread

[Silk]

Völlig überraschend gibt es einen weiteren Open Letter von Kevin Steen, diesmal an seine Freitags Gegner, die Briscoes gerichtet.

My Dearest Briscoes,

I would say we have had quite a volatile relationship. Before I first came to ROH, from the very first match against you two in February of 2007, I admired you. I remember being 17 years old; having just had my very first match, watching highlight videos of your matches in CZW on my computer and thinking you were pretty good. Fast-forward a few years. I watched you have an amazing tag match in PWG and I remember thinking then, you were actually the best tag team I had ever seen.

A few months later, I got the call. I was to tag with ‘him’ against you – the mighty Briscoe Brothers – in a match that could very well make or break my career. While I certainly wasn’t very keen on the idea of teaming with the love child of Octagon and a bottle of bleach, I was definitely excited at the prospect of stepping into the ring with guys I thought I could learn a lot from. But as the contest began, and the battle lines were quickly drawn, I realized that every time you two step into the ring, you’re not just trying to win. You’re trying to hurt, cripple, and kill your opponents. I could feel Jay’s forearm connecting with my jaw, Mark’s kicks connecting with my head…each shot rattling my brain, making my vision blurry and with each impact, each one harder than the one before it. Then I had an epiphany: I hated the both of you.

About four minutes into that match, I knew I wanted to end both of your careers. Up to that point I had been into some very crazy, intense matches in other promotions. I remember Samoa Joe kicking my face in in Montreal back in 2004, causing it to be so swollen and bloody that my grandfather vowed that would be the last time he’d ever see me wrestle. Or Super Dragon, for the entire year of 2005, from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, pretty much trying to kill me every chance he got. And I’ll never forget Susumu Yokosuka in Japan, throwing three of the hardest lariats I have ever felt, and feeling like my spine was literally going to break in half.

But all of those things still didn’t have the effect on me that our first match at the Fifth Year Festival had. The intense pain I felt through all those experiences still didn’t compare to what I felt that night and what I would feel for the next 8 months of my career as I did all I could in my power to make your careers and lives complete hell. But I’ll give you two the credit you deserve: Everything I did, you brought right back to me. The street fights, the lights out matches, the cage match, 2-out-of-3 falls match…and of course the first ladder war. When I heard that Cabana and his little mentally challenged buddy had picked you as our opponents for Dayton, I went back and watched all of those matches.

I got goosebumps watching the intense hatred we had for each other, and the violence and pain we inflicted upon our bodies. I still can’t believe the cut throat driver Mark gave me at Manhattan Mayhem II didn’t end my career. I’m sure you both wished it had but I still walked out that night. And you know, after we lost the ladder war, I was ready to go back and fight you both by myself just to make sure you would lose the tag titles that I ended up loving so much.

Something happened after the ladder war. I got…distracted. Sidetracked. For some strange reason, a reason that I still can’t explain, when faced with the choice to either blast him or help him, I chose to help him. And I guess that by making that choice, I’m the only one to blame for the last 2 years where all he did was grow closer and more attached to me with each passing day. When I made that decision, I changed. Something inside me started dying and I know you both realized it. You even used it to your advantage.

Let’s face it, our battles in 2009, while intense and competitive in their own right, were nothing compared to the wars we waged on each other in 2007. And that’s because of who I had become. I honestly can’t believe, looking back, that I made a conscious choice not to kick Mark in the knee in Chicago, the night after he got injured. Sure, in the end, I did go for his leg but the old – the REAL Kevin Steen wouldn’t have had hesitated for a second to do it and would have ended the match immediately. This neutered version of myself you two were wrestling late last year is the only reason you ended up winning the number one contender’s match for Final Battle 2009 and ultimately regaining the tag teams titles and you know it.

Now you two may be wondering why I choose to write you this letter. Actually, if I know you as well as I think I do, you’re probably wondering ”Man, what’s a letter, Mark?” and ”How come ‘dem words everywhere, Jay?” but I’m sure Jay’s infant son can read this, grasp most of it, and sum it up for you guys in a way you’ll both understand.

The reason I wrote this is because I want to let you know, I still meant what I said at Final Battle when I was saying my good byes. Obviously, things turned out quite differently than what I originally had in mind on that night but everything I said STILL STANDS. I thanked you for the battles and the wars because they helped me make me who I am. I thanked you for being my best, toughest opponents and I still mean it. See, after everything we’re been through together, I don’t hate you anymore. I’m back to respecting you, admiring you…I’m back to loving you.

That’s why I need you guys to know that in two days, when we meet in Dayton…you won’t be looking at that bastardized and weak 2009 version of Kevin Steen. No. As you stare at me from across the ring on that night, standing side-by-side with the legend that is Steve Corino, please remember that this is the Mr. Wrestling of old. The same ‘Mr. Wrestling’ who tried to literally rip your eyeballs out of your heads in 2007, the same ‘Mr. Wrestling’ who had very explicit and exciting dreams at the idea of hurting you and causing you unbearable pain, the same ‘Mr. Wrestling’ that hit Mark in the back of the head two weeks after he nearly died at ASE3…

And most importantly, remember this. Friday night, after it all has gone down and the pain is at its most intense, the blood is flowing and you’re wondering what the hell you did to deserve this…remember that YOU DID NOTHING. Remember that you were CHOSEN for this…and remember who it was that made that choice.

It will all become clear then.

Love and admiration,
Kevin

Honestly, I want to make love to this letter, so good is THAT!