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42-Second Loss Inspires Fuel to Sooner Stampede Victory

Posted: Jul 5th 2024 By: CMBurnham

No matter how much you train, diet and prepare, there is one enemy of athletes everywhere they just can't be defied forever: age.

The greatest of all time in any sports eventually have to recognise that their bodies don't work the way they used to. After a career of 10, 20 or more years, the age, along with the injuries and general wear-and-tear force physical specimens to confront reality and understand that their time has come and gone. It's not easy, as most of these competitors are proud people who have spent most of their lives in the public eye, being adored by their fans. And the realisation that they are not what they once were is humbling to say the least.

UWE owner Fuel has been competing in the ring for 22 years. In that time, he has virtually every type of match that can be imagined. He has been fortunate not to suffer any truly debilitating injuries physically, but there have been some personal issues that have caused mental trauma. But as a father of three and as someone with that much ring time, Fuel is coming to that same realisation about his furture in the ring. And as such, he has cut back on his in-ring time, hoping to allow other bright new stars to step up and have their chance like he was given.

Unfortunately, there are also going to be those wrestlers who smell the slightest weakness. Who pounce on that like a rabid wolf. Who know the psychological ploys to make anyone feel worse than they already are. And one of the best in that position is the UWE Champion Killbane. As the frontman for the Wave of the Future, Killbane has reigned as champion for 4 months, using his own skill, the presence of his fellow WotF members and the aggressive persistance of manager Mike Andrews to make sure no one threatens his championship position. But Killbane is also one who loves to berate others, especially those he believes to be weaker than him.

On a recent edition of the UWE television show, Killbane arrived and exchanged some heated words with Fuel. Despite Fuel not being prepared to fight a match and repeatedly acknowledging that he was not the competitor he used to be, Killbane seemed to feel he had a point to prove. And eventually, the champion forced Fuel to defend his honour.

And then, in an amazing act of humilitation, Killbane beat Fuel in 42 seconds.

Physically, this was a show of dominance. But mentally, it did much more damage than Killbane probably expected. Fuel was completely disheartened. It seemed like there was no way he was going to recover from that. In a video released for the UWE Facebook, Fuel stated that he did not know if he was good enough to compete in the Stampede and felt that he might not even be good enough to call himself Fuel anymore. The mental damage done was overwhelming.

On the day of the Stampede event, another video was shown to the UWE fans and posted on the UWE FB. In a conversation between Fuel and UWE Director of Operations Dereck Rhodes, Rhodes revealed that he had a signed contract to enter the Stampede from Fuel. Fuel denied signing the contract and again stated that he did not believe that he was fit to compete in the event. Rhodes said that Fuel could do one of two things: Either go out and tell the people that he would forfeit the opportunity or get ready for when his number came up. And fortunately for Fuel, he had quite a bit of time to consider his position as he was the 26th entrant out of 28 for the Stampede. And no matter his mental state prior to the match, Fuel came in with a point to prove. He wanted to show everyone that he could still compete and could get revenge for what happened to him at the Cyber Attack tapings.

The match came down to Fuel, Brandon Warhawk, K. J. Everly and UWE Tag Team Champion Anarchy [2nd]. Warhawk was the first of those 4 to be eliminated, but was quickly followed over by Anarchy. This left Fuel and Everly, but as soon as that happened, Killbane came to the ringside area and immediately began to verbally accost Fuel, reminding him of the 42-second loss. Killbane even went so far as to demand that Fuel leave the match (which would have allowed Killbane's WotF brother, Killbane, to win the match) and Fuel reluctantly began to comply. But before Fuel could eliminate himself by jumping down off the apron after climbing over the top rope, Dan Webber arrived and took some retribution for his loss to Killbane earlier in the night. This seemed to revitalise Fuel and he climbed to the top rope, launching a huge cross-body onto Everly. Everly blocked a follow-up superkick and hit a thunderous clothesline, which levelled Fuel. As Everly set to powerbomb Fuel out of the match, Fuel elevated Everly over the top rope, but Everly was able to land on the ring apron. Fuel then connected with a superkick, knocking Everly out of match and winning the 2024 Sooner Stampede. With that, he earned the right to challenge the UWE Champion at Showdown in September.

After the match, an exhausted Fuel told the crowd that he was not supposed to be in the match, but he intended to get his confidence back and while he can't promise he can beat Killbane, he swears that, even if this is his last Showdown, he and the town of Tahlequah are going to light Killbane up! So no matter the outcome, Fuel intends to face it head on. Killbane needs to be aware that this will not be a 42-second match. Fuel will be prepared. Fuel will be ready. And Fuel will do any and everything to gain redemption and correct the most embarassing moment of his professional career.