Josh Konnely sits behind the steering wheel of a rented BMW, parked outside of the Ice Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia. He is wearing an Under Armour HeatGear T shirt in Steeltown Gold along with a black leather jacket. Josh holds a Bible in his hands, reading out loud to himself.

"And God said, 'Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.' And it was so. God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good."

Konnely places the Bible on the dashboard and climbs out of the car.

"It strikes me that the very start of the Bible- the very start of creation- begins with the creation of light. And even if you don't happen to believe in the Book or the Creator, chances are you believe in the Big Bang. The theory of the Big Bang suggests that in the beginning there was nothing, until that empty abyss suddenly exploded in that 'Big Bang.' From out of that explosion formed the sun and the Earth and the entire universe.

Regardless which form of creation you believe in- and I don't necessarily believe that two concepts are mutually exclusive- the universe is said to have begun with the birth of light: the formation of the sun, which gives light and life to the Earth.

I realize that I may be just about the only man of faith in Strike Towers, but I am sure we can all accept this as truth. From out of the lifeless darkness in the endless void of space, the gift of life was bourn from the gift of light.

I have been thinking about this for the last couple of weeks as I try to recover from the tragic loss of yet another source of light in my life. When I lost my father to Diabetic coma and resulting blood poisoning, I lost my best friend and the light of my life. That light went out and plunged my life into darkness. For almost fifteen years I have lived most of my days in darkness. The darkness of bitterness, rage, and depression.

How could life be so cold and hateful to me? How could the world be so cold and so full of hate for me? I was just a child. Only eleven years old. And I was a child born into the lower class, born to a blue collar dad and a stay at home mom who dropped out of college to care for her children. My father was a journalist who had to keep a second job to pay the bills and to put us in often second hand clothing. What had I done to deserve such wrath? Throughout school and on into my SFT career, I turned away from the light of the world. I dwelled in darkness, and refused to get close to anyone who might pull me out. I masked my pain behind a cold and hard exterior. I was hiding from myself. I was hiding from the world. I was hiding from the truth.

Now this tragedy of three weeks ago has pierced my heart like a stilleto, stabbing right into the scar tissue of the first. But the new wound has not only opened the old, it has also opened my eyes. I knew an angel, and her name was Light. Even still, I hid in the shadows. I was touched by the light and felt its warmth, but I pulled away and stayed introverted. Locked away in myself. Nice and safe in the cold, unfeeling darkness.

I have been a fool. I have sold myself short. Rather than living for the biggest and the best, rather than living in the light, I buried myself away from it all. Why? Because I feared that I would be hurt if I failed or if I lost anything more than I already had. I pulled away to protect myself from the pain of failure or loss. What I now realize is that it all hurts just as bad from a distance as it does up close. It may even hurt more. The regret of knowing that countless opportunities have been lost while I was hiding away burns at me. Where would my life be if I had strived all these years for the things I desired? How much better and happier could my life have been?

It is for this reason that I now seek to reform my life and pull away from the darkness. I will embrace the Marvelous Light, the Beautiful Light. I will keep my feet on the ground and reach for the stars every day from now until the day I die. This is a vow that I intend to keep.

Tomorrow night I take on World Heavyweight Champion Gary Mac here at the Ice Palace. Gary is a man that seems to know plenty about living in the darkness. His dear daughter Chloe was abducted, and Mac went on a vigilante crusade to get her back. But I am glad for you, Gary. I am glad you rescued your Chloe from the clutches of darkness, from the hands of evil men.

While I generally have little respect for you as a seemingly bloodthirsty lunatic, I have absolute respect for you as SFT Champion. It has been a long journey hence for you to get to the top of Strike Towers, and no one can argue that it is a place where you most definitely belong. You may or may not be a murderous degenerate with ties to violent drug cartel scum, but between those ropes you are as skilled as anybody.

And so I look forward to taking you on at Titans right here in lovely St. Petersburg, Russia. I believe that you have been and remain a lot like the man I once was: a man whom I now despise. I look back at the man- the boy- I used to be and I have nothing but 'kontempt' for that broken shell of a human being.

I have lived as a ghost for almost fifteen years. Now I want to live as a man, and the best man I can. Gary Mac, facing you gives me an opportunity to face down the sort of demons who once consumed me. I see you as the very epitome of the cold-hearted rage and brutality which clutched my own heart and mind.

You spoke a lot about Jeff King and Lionel Kingston. You spoke about retaining the SFT World Heavyweight Championship against The Lion on pay-per-view. Somewhere in all of that I became a stepping stone and an afterthought. Gary, I tell you in absolute sincerity that I will NOT be a STEPPING STONE. I will NOT be an AFTERTHOUGHT! You hear me? I will not be disrespected.

Gary, you might just want to forget about Nirvana. You might just want to forget about The Lion. You might just want to start thinking about squaring off with The Marvelous Light. You HAD BETTER start thinking about facing Josh Konnely at Titans, because if you don't there will BE no Retribution. There will be no World Heavyweight Championship, and no title defense against Lionel Kingston. If you overlook me tomorrow, you won't make it to facing The Lion. You look past me to Retribution and I will send you into the Beautiful Light.

Requiescat in pace. Descance en paz. Rest in peace."

Josh removes his jacket and slings it over his shoulder.

"Gary, you look forward to facing and beating Nirvana and The Lion. I, on the other hand, look forward to facing YOU, Gary Mac. I look forward to beating you. I'll see you at Titans."

Konnely walks off into the setting sun, and the scene fades to LIGHT.