“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.” ~ Lance Armstrong

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My body is still in unimaginable pain and because of my addictive personality the doctors have deemed morphine too much of a risk and have restricted me to less potent and less addictive painkillers.

They’re not working…

But as I live and breathe I guarantee I will make it to Underground.

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Griffiths: Thank you all very much for attending today, I want to keep this short and sweet, as I am still in a great deal of pain, but I will open the floor to questions at the end.

(Jack pauses, taking a swig of a glass of water in front of him. He is stood at stand not too dissimilar to that of the President, albeit with fewer microphones in front of him. Beyond the stands is a small group of gathered journalists.)

Griffiths: Yesterday morning RJ Stone was released from police custody and is a free man, there has been some speculation as to whether this was due to insufficient evidence or because Stone made bail; I am here today to tell you that neither of these are the reason.

(Jack pauses again, taking a moment to compose himself.)

Griffiths: RJ Stone has been released because I have refused to press charges against him. What he did was unforgivable and just plain insane, however, I would much rather shut him up and condemn him to more title shots in 2010 by beating him in the ring than see him behind bars.

(Jack briefly pauses.)

Griffiths: As much as I would enjoy that!

(A small chuckle from the journalists and a final pause before opening the floor to questions.)

Griffiths: Which is why I can exclusively confirm to you that Griffiths versus Stone Two will be going ahead even if I have to walk into that ring with my ribs bandaged up, supporting myself on crutches. Are there any questions?

(A flurry of hands goes up, before Jack motions to one of the journalists in the front row.)

Female Journalist: Mr. Griffiths, Emily Lancaster for the Tulsa World. You have said that you will be competing at Underground regardless of your injuries, are you not concerned that being weakened could hand Mr. Stone the advantage?

Griffiths: Not in the slightest! RJ is an excellent, if misguided competitor. You have to be to have held the WWA title, however you have to remember that he too was involved in the car accident. He was the psycho driving the car that hit mine and he, as I understand it, is also suffering from related injuries. His injuries may not be as serious as mine but even if I am little more affected by the crash than him that I truly believe that I can still beat him… again.

(Griffiths motions for more questions; before a male journalist stands up.)

Male Journalist: Mr. Griffiths, Dan Patstone for nolimitswrestling.com.  You recently lost a match against Chris Bagwell and following his victory over Copeland last week many people have been tipping him for a title shot in the not too distant future, I was wondering if you have any comments about?

Griffiths: I can’t speak for Copeland but Bagwell only beat me for one reason. I took my eye off of things; I dismissed him as not being a threat. Something, which I realise now, was a mistake. He definitely has a bright future here in the WWA if he can buckle down and keep the hard work up but a couple of victories, no matter who they are against, doesn’t make him worthy of a title shot. We could however be having a different conversation in a few weeks if he can keep this impressive run up.

(Jack pauses.)

Griffiths: For the time being though I just want to focus on RJ Stone, that having been said I will be watching the Last Man Standing match with anticipation.

Patstone: Could you give us your thoughts on that match?

Griffiths: Well, I’ve made no secret of my desire to face off against Jaymz Watkins at Meltdown but I think any of us would be a fool to suggest that Trendkiller doesn’t stand one hell of a chance of taking that match away from both Jaymz and myself. Anyway lets make it one more question so that I can get back to resting up this aching body of mine.

(The journalists go crazy again, Jack settles on a 2^nd male journalist.)

2^nd Male Journalist: Mr. Griffiths, Simon Dawson from The Leicester Mercury. Can you elaborate on why you aren’t pressing charges against Stone? It seems like an open and shut case to the outside observer.

Griffiths: It probably is, however as I previously stated I have more desire to beat Stone in the ring than to see him behind bars. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but he’s a very arrogant man and even though I’ve beaten him once, I haven’t shut him up and beating him again appears to be the only way to stop him running his mouth once and for all.

(Griffiths pauses again.)

Griffiths: Anyway I do need to get back to the hotel; my ribs are killing me but thank you for your time.

(Griffiths turns and leaves as the journalists hopeless throw their arms up again.)

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I’ve not slept properly in days.

I’ve not been home in longer.

Even before the collision I’d made the commitment to be out on the road spreading the news as much as possible. Local radio and TV appearances consume the days and staying up until Europe wakes up to give telephone interviews for magazines and radio shows limits the amount of time I have to sleep.

I’m speaking to Rachael everyday and the new FaceTime feature on a popular smart phone is making being away from her a little easier but its still difficult; particularly seeing as after the crash all either of us want to do is see each other.

She wants to know I am not lying, claiming I am better than I am and I want her to see that through the wonder of side airbags and improved car safety that things could’ve been a lot worse.

That added to the fact that a different city everyday and a different hotel every night is difficult on the body has made this particularly leg of the WWA “tour” the most demanding ever.

It’s no secret though that it’s a hard life on the road, particularly seeing as to save money within the WWA we’ve been asked to use coaches and rental cars wherever possible, rather than the jet-setting that some of us had become accustomed to before the closure…

…but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

I love meeting new people and seeing new cities, I love going out there and meeting the fans and finding out their stories.

I love being the face of the WWA, its taken me six years to reach this point but now, when people turn on their computers or come to the shows a lot of them are coming to see me. To see the champion and to find out what he’s going to do next, but truth be told as much as they come to see me I come to see them.

I don’t come because I like dealing with Stone’s shenanigans or living in fear of Trendkiller turning his attention from Watkins to me.

I come to the shows to see the fans, to hear them cheer my name and then after the Internet stream ends to speak to as many of them as possible, find out about them and hopefully inspire them to follow their dreams.

I want them to see that I had to fight to be living this dream, and to realise that you dreams are worth fighting for and nothing worth having comes easily.

It’s worth hearing from your enemies that you’ll never achieve your dreams because when you prove them wrong it makes your achievements even sweeter.

Every time I see RJ Stone, I remember everything he said and everything he ever did and I smile.

I was right…

And he was wrong…

We both gave it our all…

And HE tapped out!

And as the last ounce of fight in his body left him and he gave up his position of guardian to the realisation of my dreams, something inside me was set free.

The suffering, the disappointments all suddenly had meaning.

The bruises, welts and broken bones were suddenly worth it.

They were worth it just to be able to say say:

“I am WWA Champion and you are a pretender.”

Because as he tapped out, he proved that he was nothing more than an interim Champion as I had always claimed.

He wasn’t even able to successfully defend your title against a man who for years has labelled as a choke artist.

When the time came for him to make his point, HE choked and I survived.

And yet he’s been granted a rematch and this is where the hard work begins, I need to get my head down and focus on being ready. So that when the bell rings at the end of the match it’s him who is lying on his back, screaming in agony as he again taps out.

I am going to make sure that he is the one looking up at the ceiling, seeing lights.

And even though I am doing this for me, I am doing it more so for the ten innocent WWA Fanatics that RJ heinously attacked last week.

Those ten were, innocent, unsuspecting fans who came to the show hoping to see Marcus Mancuso overcome all the obstacles and win the Harrington Cup and in that respect they didn’t go home disappointed.

Instead they went home with mixed emotions, elated at having seen a truly superhuman effort from a rising superstar but also bruised and battered by the WWA’s biggest coward with the lingering feeling of disappointment.

However on Friday the thirteenth those ten fans, and every fan watching at home or in the arena will not be disappointed in the slightest because they will get to witness that coward being beaten to within an inch of his life.

The match won’t be pretty and there won’t be any highflying nor any overly technical wrestling.

It’s going to be a war and it’s going to be one hellacious battle because when there are two men, hell bent on destroying the other.

One of whom is willing to nearly kill himself taking out his enemy and the other fuelled by a desire to defend not just his championship but also the dignity and wellbeing of the WWA Fanatics around the world against the man who threatens them all.

When there are two men, both injured but both determined.

One desperate to take back what he believes is rightfully his and the other determined to prove once and for all that he is the best in the world at what he does.

And when there are two men, destined to fight till the other can fight no longer, then to the victor, will go the spoils!

And on supposedly the unluckiest day of the year, there is only one guarantee, only one safe bet.

And that is that when the curtain rises and then when the curtain falls on Undeground the WWA Champion will have the same name.

Jack Griffiths.

And when my hand is raised, as the WWA gold is secured around my waist again, a new chapter in the annals of WWA history begins.

The new chapter begins when Stone taps out… again!

The new chapter begins on Friday the thirteenth.