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The Biggest Match of Their Careers
For any superstar, fighting for the Professional Wrestling Federation Championship is the ultimate opportunity. It is the biggest prize in the sport, and tonight, it is being put on the line on the biggest stage in wrestling history:
WrestleFest V.
The participants? Shane Douglas, Edge, Rob Van Dam, and champion Steve Austin. The match? A
Fatal Four-Way Elimination contest where the last man remaining leaves with the title. The stakes? Not only the prestigious Federation Championship but the ability to walk away from the contest with the entire wrestling world knowing
that, simply put, you're the best in the business.
For these four men, it is very familiar territory when they look across the ring. For every opponent they see, it's a long back-story
of heated words and classic matches. You can take any two of the wrestlers, and
you would have a match worthy of headlining any PWF pay-per-view event. Telling the individual stories that are so interwoven
would be a difficult task; what might be better is taking a look at each individual competitor:
Only once in his career has Edge had a legitimate shot, all by himself, at the Federation Championship -- which happened to be against current champion Stone Cold Steve Austin. It was a long-awaited opportunity that was years in the making, and Edge came about as close as anyone can come without walking away with the gold. He also steps into this contest against
Rob Van Dam and Shane Douglas, two men he has long histories with, so heading into this contest, Edge is definitely
feeling strong about his chance to win. Also going for him is a complete turnaround in
attitude, one he underwent after stepping away from the sport for half-a-year.
He is now a more focused, more dangerous, more lethal competitor in the ring,
looking out for only himself and no one else. For a match that truly is the
ultimate opportunity, can the Ultimate Opportunist find a way to win it? If so,
he can finally achieve a spot in the sport that has eluded him for nearly a decade.
RVD is a man that has seen many successes in the Professional Wrestling Federation. He set a record for the longest reign as Television Champion in 2005, has headlined some of the biggest shows in PWF history, and earlier this year, defeated Steve Austin for the Federation
Championship. It was a bloody, brutal feud the two superstars had, one that saw RVD
hold the title for three months before Austin won it back in a Last Man Standing
match. After getting a taste of what the top is like, Van Dam has expressed an
extreme interest in returning, possibly becoming more dominant than he ever was
before. Van Dam is not without his doubters, to include people going up against
him in this match. If RVD wins this contest, he silences his doubters altogether, as well as sets himself up to close the year as PWF Champion for the second time. With RVD's unorthodox style and violent tendencies, he may just have the right mix to walk away with the
title.
Shane Douglas is a man, without a doubt, that has left his mark on the wrestling industry. He was responsible for taking Taz out of the sport (twice), he has won the Intercontinental Championship more than anyone else in PWF history, and
he has headed one of the most powerful stables the PWF has ever seen. The man has also been Federation Champion, but that is a bit of a sore subject with The Franchise. It was two years ago, for one, and he also believes he has not been given his fair shake to recapture the gold since
losing it at WrestleFest III. His opponents whole-heartedly disagree with
his opinion on the subject. On top of that, Douglas has been to war with each of these men, maybe none more so than the current Federation Champion, and the two have been a part of some of the most memorable matches over the past few years. Can Douglas finally win his second PWF Championship,
two years to the event after losing it, and if he does, what can his detractors
say about his legacy then?
In his own words, Stone Cold Steve Austin flipped a switch last year at Nuclear Frost,
winning the PWF Championship for the first time and cashing in on the Lethal Lottery in the biggest of ways. What some may not have expected was the year that followed, watching Austin dominate what is being called the "Stone Cold Age" of professional wrestling, winning recent classics against the likes of Edge, Rob Van Dam, Shane Douglas, and Raven. He has spent a total of
eight months as the company's champion, quickly becoming the man to beat. He is also probably the man in this match
with the most bitter history, overall, with the others, all three of which were feuds that have been going on for years and/or ended in large amounts of bloodshed. But they're all coming back for him once again, this time all at once, and it's possible that it may be too much for Austin to overcome. Then again, Austin has overcome a lot of odds this year during the Stone Cold Age. Maybe put best in his own words, his opponents have to go through him to leave as champion at
WrestleFest, and that may be harder than they expect.
It is a huge match taking place tonight in the Scottrade Center. The stakes couldn't be higher. The expectations couldn't be bigger. Each man has a lot riding on this contest and its end result, and the wrestling world will forever remember who walked out of this hellacious encounter
as PWF Champion. For whoever finds a way to outlast his three opponents, the Lethal
Lottery of Nuclear Frost does await -- an event that has spelled the end for the PWF Champion every, single year. Tonight, however, it is only about this moment at
WrestleFest V, where men become legends.
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