Layton's The Luck of Draw Remarks

March 27, 2006

Shocked.

There are no other words for it.

I left the Alliance Armory March 25th in shock.

Was it watching the "old" Lones Oaks make a comeback, leaving a bloody Jazin Blaze in his wake, that surprised me so?

Was it seeing Wilbur Whitlock continue his winning ways, leaving the Armory as the first North American Champion, that startled me?

Was it watching Chris Kole nearly defend the Tag Titles himself against Team X that left me in disbelief?

No, none of those events came close to shocking me the way the main event did... although being hugged by an ecstatic Wilbur Whitlock, who has always enjoyed making me miserable, was pretty surprising.

It was the actions of "The Natural" Christian Vaughn that left me... Well... at a loss for words.

And since I can find no words to explain Vaughn's actions, I'll let him speak for himself. These comments come right from the horse's mouth, and were posted on MEWL's forum: "For years I have chased title after title... Championship after championship... And time and time again I have failed. I have come so close to obtaining that brass ring so many times, only to have it ripped away from me at the last second. And after my humiliating elimination from the North American Title Tournament... It hit me. Justin Diaz was right all along... I'm just not ready to win the big one. I'm not ready... "What better way to reach that level than to learn from the best? In all his wisdom and glory, "The Pure One" has shown me the light and taken me under his wing to be his prodigy. There I will stay and there I will learn until the time comes for me to take my rightful place as the successor to Diaz's great legacy..."

And there, apparently, it is. Vaughn says he has chased belts for "years," and yet he has been in the business for less than two years. Vaughn says his elimination from the Luck of the Draw Fourway Match was "humiliating," and yet there is no embarrassment in submitting to a wrestler like Lones Oaks.

No, there is no logical explanation for Vaughn's actions. None whatsoever. It seems logic has left the building. But I could forgive Vaughn for letting impatience drive him to irrational extents. I could learn to write off his support of Diaz as the impetuous mistake of a young competitor.

But what I can't forgive him for is the sight that shocked me the most that evening, and has haunted me ever since: the look in Jazin Blaze's eyes as he peered helplessly around the ring through a mask of blood. There he was, Vaughn's best friend, a young wrestler who I watched train side-by-side with "The Natural" for months in hopes of making it to the pros, the man who was Vaughn's opponent in their very first professional match.

And the so-called Prodigy left his best friend beaten, battered and bloody, all for the love of his new messiah.

Well something tells me Vaughn's triumph will be short-lived. At MEWL's April 29th show in Alliance, Vaughn will team with Diaz and "The Reject" to take on Blaze, Oaks, and Cannon. And to be perfectly honest, Friar is no wrestler, which means this is basically a handicap match. Vaughn and Diaz against the former champ they screwed, the cruiserweight they left in a pool of blood, and the new-and-improved Lones Oaks...

Something tells me "The Natural" is going to have hell to pay and blood to spill on the 29th.

You made your bed, Vaughn. I hope you're ready to die in it.