By: B.P. Burke
PPW Nation, as our 10th Anniversary show approaches and we prepare for one of the most monumental events in our storied history, I have a bit of a confession to make.
I am a recovering Adrien Soriano doubter.
While I have seen the error of my ways, it took a while.
The story of PPW X really begins last September at PPW IX. Leading up to our 9th Anniversary, it was announced that Adrien Soriano would be challenging Andy Header for the WYLN TV Title, and while Primal Fear had been impressive in tag team and trios action, it was, frankly, a bit of a surprise to see 1/3 of the group earning a one-on-one chance at a singles title.
Soriano pulled off what some at the time, myself included, considered an upset against the 2-time TV champion, and he's never looked back since. One-by-one, top contenders fell to the new champion. Encore, Griffin McCoy, Killian McMurphy, and many more gave Soriano their best shot and were unable to stop the champion from building more and more momentum.
But all title reigns must come to an end at some point, and Adrien Soriano's TV title run did so at the hands of Nolan Pierce at PPW 100. The measure of a true champion, however, is how they come back after coming up short, and Soriano has been on an absolute tear post-title reign, winning the Slatington Rumble and then defeating Mecca and Dio Bando in tag team action at Badlands.
That Rumble win has put Soriano one step away from reaching the top of the PPW Mountain, but to get there, he has to pass one final test - a test that will undoubtedly prove to be his toughest of all.
That resiliency that Soriano has shown, The Mecca has displayed an immense amount of it himself. After ending Breaux Keller’s record-setting nearly year long PPW title run last August, the Mecca found himself having one of the shortest reigns, as Facade immediately cashed in his Golden Ticket contract to claim the title as his own. While the Mecca stormed out of the building in anger that night, he regrouped and was able to reclaim the gold from Facade a few months later.
Since then, The Mecca has dared anyone to step in the ring with him, facing all comers in a series of open challenges. And while his tactics and demeanor have drawn the ire of the PPW Nation, he has proven himself to be a dominant champion and the top professional wrestler in the world today.
With opposition like that, it’d be easy to let that old doubt creep in and think that, once more, Adrien Soriano is in over his head, and his Cinderella story will not reach the conclusion we all want it to.
But I’ve learned my lesson. I’m not doubting Adrien Soriano. Not now. Never again.
“All Fight, No Flight,” is not just a slogan that Soriano and the other members of Primal Fear use to end promos and sell t-shirts -- it’s a credo that reverberates through everything that the three of them do. With a year’s worth of momentum, the entire PPW Nation, and his two closest friends by his side,I can’t help but think that there’s a sense of magic in the air.
PPW’s 9th Anniversary was the night that Adrien Soriano knocked on the door to signal his arrival, but the 10th is the night he kicks that door off its hinges.
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