THE WAR IN BUD PRODUCES A NEW SOLDIER
By: Damian Everett

About a month ago, the halls of BUD were rocked by the arrival of a man by the name of Zarek Lyle. A newcomer, scoring a match against the returning Evan Pierce, and Corey Vega, as well as entering a free-for-all for the THC Championship. This man, unknown to any of the big company's, let alone anyone in BUD, walked out of 2007 Wayz 2 Die with two wins under his belt, one against two men, and the other scored him the THC Championship. Throught the weeks, not only did he manage to defeat Evan Pierce three times, but he also scored a win over a BUD legend, Dark Child, in a tag team match involving Jade and Kimberly Pain as well. A couple weeks after Zarek's arrival, the BUDvision Champion, Bobby Johnson, left BUD, vacating the title upon his departure. To settle who the next BUDvision Champion was to be, management set up a free-for-all, which Zarek went up against ten other superstars in order to be crowned the new BUDvision Champion. Not even a month in BUD, and already capturing one of the most prestiges titles in the company.

Between Zarek's glory moments, he also encountered the bad that comes along with being a member of the roster. One of these bad moments, or good depending on how you look at it, is Zarek's controversal relationship with BUD diva, Jade. Jade arrived a little after Zarek did, but she had something he didn't, recognition, there were many people who knew exactly who she was. Both entered the BUDvision free-for-all, seeing that this free-for-all was a golden oppurtunity, and only the incompetant would pass it up. Throughout the competition, insults flew from superstar to superstar, but Zarek and Jade never had anything bad to say about each other, which arose suspicion. The two were seen conversing in the halls right before the free-for-all, and in the match, never laid a hand on each other. After the match, crowning Zarek has champion, the two disappeared, and it was believed that they were together. The worst part is that the card for Hangover had them facing each other in Dark Child & Jade Versus Zarek Lyle & Kimberly Pain. Both partners were furious in hearing the rumors, which lead to a week of confusion and anger. In the end, both showed for the match, but the ending was just as controversal as the week leading up to it. Jade signaled to Kimberly, causing Kimberly to step into the ring, distracting the ref. In that moment, Jade slapped DC across the face, leaving him in shock long enough for Zarek to capatlize and get the win. The relationship as yet to be resolved, and no questions on the two have been answered.

Another problem that Zarek managed to get himself entangled in, is somewhat of a hate-hate relationship with a guy named Manic. With the mass influx of talent coming into BUD, Manic was also one of them, like Zarek, he too never wrestled in a mainstream federation. A week after Zarek's shocking win at 2007 Wayz 2 Die, naturally, his head was full of steam, and expected a straight-out win in stepping into the ring with Manic. Zarek's mistake was underestimating Manic, and it was one of the variables that lead to his downfall. Honestly, the match was pretty even the whole way through, and both men put on an amazing display of stalemates the entire time. In the end, Zarek climbed to the top of a statue, and his ego took effect, as he miscalculated his "Death of a Hero". This miscalculation lead to Manic's win, and gave him bragging rights up the ass. Of course, Zarek wanted some sort of revenge, some sort of chance to redeem himself. Seeing as how the week after, Manic also entered the free-for-all for the BUDvision Champion, gave Zarek the chance he needed. Unfortunantly, Manic, very conviently, dropped out of the free-for-all, which lead to many rumors of Manic being afraid of something, of what, no one knows.

Being the BUDvision Champion, Zarek is having to defend his championship at the next pay-per-view, Ultimate War XI. The number one contender, Leaky Format, although attacking Zarek the night of his victory, is unable to challenge for the championship due to the fact that he is tied up with other buisness. The title shot then goes to the number two contender, no matter how much they don't deserve it. Who happens to be the number two contender? Manic, of course. At Ultimate War XI, it will be Zarek Lyle facing off against Manic, for somewhat of a rematch, for the BUDvision Championship in a flaming caskets match. Will Zarek be able to take the revenge upon Manic of which he has been wanting, or will Manic again defeat Zarek, and take the BUDvision Championship in the process?

This week, we sat down with the soldier himself, in order to get some answers out of him. Our first question was what was up with the relationship between him and Jade. Zarek laughed a bit and rolled his eyes, responding, "You know, I've gotten questions after questions about Jade, and I. The fact is, it really is none of anyone's buisness, but mine and Jade. Jade and I, have never answered any questions on this matter, and don't plan on it at the moment. To be honest, you can draw your own conclusions..." The conclusion that the people have come to is that the two are together, but I suppose we'll never know for sure...atleast for now.

In asking what he felt about his partner, Kimberly Pain, and Jade's partner, DC's, thoughts on the two, Zarek let out a great sigh. "I really didn't mean for them to get involved into whatever was going on between Jade and I. I realize where they were both coming from, but in truth, I don't see any reason to their actions. Dark Child went off and slapped Jade, which was totally uncalled for, and Kimberly went on some outrage rampage. As for the signal and slap goes, it's a little something called payback. DC slapped Jade, so Jade slapped DC and cost him the match. It's that simple." Zarek seemed a little worked up about this subject, almost as if he was angry at DC slapping Jade. He kept his cool, but you could still see something attempting to break though. Zarek shurgged his shoulders at the end of his explanation.

Following that, I asked him about his thoughts on Manic. The two were never on the best of terms, and seemed to hate each other from the start. It would be interesting to know what ignited this hatred from both of them, "I've said it before, I'll say it now, and I'll probably say it many times throughout my career, I have no doubt in Manic's ability, he just has a big mouth that comes along with his talent, unfortunantly. Truthfully, Manic uses lies in attempting to get ahead of the game, and where he doesn't need any of that. Manic has some natural talent, but he needs to be put in check, most definitely. Manic is not a particularly likable character, because he starts off right with the insults. It's his only form of defense, to throw out lies and insults as soon as he is threatened. That, and violence, and we all know that violence is the first refuge for the incompetant." Surprising to me, Zarek didn't get angry at any rate, but seemed to accept the way Manic is, and deal with it. Manic was going to be Manic, and there is no use in trying to change who someone is. It's going to be the same, and Zarek shouldn't worry about it, so he's not going too, all he has to do is prove to Manic that he is not as hot as he believes he is.

It was true however, that Manic didn't appear to be a very likable character. He has no source of allies, as far as anyone knows, and no one has anything good to say about him, ever. It was predictable though, due to his personality. Of course, he had one of those, I don't care what people say about me kind of gimmick, which is overworked and useless if you ask me, but that's his fortay I suppose.

It came to my attention, in viewing Manic's promo, that he believed that he controlled the situation, saying something along the lines of Zarek was lucky that Manic gave him this chance at redemption. I asked him a bit about it, and Zarek did nothing but laugh, he even shed a tear. "Manic, controls this situation? Nobody controls this situation but the BUD management, and if anyone else, then me. You see, I'm the one with the BUDvision Champion. I'm not saying I am better than him...yet, but it does mean I control more than he does. There would be no match without me, besides, the only reason he is being given this title shot is because Leaky had other things to take care of, so he should really be thanking Leaky. Lucky for giving me this chance to redeem myself? Ha. That's a laugh. It's random lines like this that makes Manic so laughable, as a person." Zarek laughed again, and then shook his head, amazed at how ignorant Manic could be sometimes.

I then asked about his sudden change of mind. One second he respects Manic, while then he is saying he is laughable. It was a little confusing for my taste to leave it unanswered. "I still have respect for Manic, ability wise, but I will probably never have respect in the whatever dribbles out of his mouth. As you can see, from this week, and the first time we went head to head, Manic makes outragous assumptions, and still underestimates the very people that will probably end his winning streak in the end. For one, the whole homosexual thing, is just something for entertainment, something for everyone to laugh out. Evan Pierce said it, although his tag partner was in fact gay, but atleast Manic isn't as hypocritical as Pierce. Then we have the assumption of that I consider myself 'Mr. Hot Shot'. I said it the first time, and again, I'll repeat it, maybe he can understand this time, I never consider myself to be anywhere close to the best. I do however, consider myself to be above certain people. Lastly, he insulted every person in that free-for-all, basically calling them weak. He didn't outright say it, but he worded it so he inferred them to be weak. People like Emerald, right behind him in the BUDvision contendership, DSL, fighting for the World Heavyweight Championship at Ultimate War, and Matt Matlock, possibly the next number two contender for the World Heavyweight Championship. What Manic fails to see, is that this garbage coming out of his mouth, can, and will, get him into some trouble..." Again, Zarek didn't get worked up, but stayed as calm as he was when walking into the room with me. Something told me that he was ready to go up against Manic, more ready than he had ever been, and that title was staying right on his shoulder.

Another question ran across my mind, what will happen to the relationship of these two after the match? Will they move on, go their seperate ways, or will they continue in this hate-hate relationship? "Ha. Honestly, I have no idea what is going to happen. As said before, Manic is not someone you can easily get along with. He would be a powerful ally, but even if we were to forget the past, Manic and I, our personalities just to mix well. Besides, if Manic is knocked out of his contenders spot, I doubt he'll be very happy if he has to climb all the way back up. Even though he gave me a hard time in not letting go my loss to him, I highly doubt he'll move on if he loses this match, because that's just the type of person Manic is. He spills insults when they don't apply to him, but when they do, he's doing what he needs to do. The fact is, as long as I have this championship on my shoulder, there will probably not be any friendships with anyone on the contenders list." Zarek knodded, assured of his decision, and knowing that he could never keep a friendship if that person was after his championship, that excludes Jade of course. Ha. Although by the way, we still don't know the result of that...

Getting back on topic, just to inform you, Zarek is speaking on a promo that Manic had cut earlier. In it, he said Zarek couldn't be the bigger man, and just walk away from the loss, and in truth, he couldn't. It is expected, however, that if Manic manages to loose this title shot, he will in fact do the exact same thing Zarek did, and not let the loss go. In seeing this, it's highly predictable that Manic will reply to this article, saying something along the lines of he won't let it go because it's a title shot, with different circumstances. Without lie, it doesn't matter.

I could see that he was bouncing in his chair, waiting for this to be over so he can go do whatever it is he needed to do in order to prepare for his match, so I decided to wrap it up with one final question. That question? How does you think that match will play out? Zarek put his hand to his chin and thought for a few seconds, and then a smile came across his face. "To be honest, I really have no clue, no thought in my head, as to how this match will play out. Two men, I have admitted, are somewhat equal in ability heading off against each other, equals one hell of a match. The only thing I hope is that Manic brings in as hard as he thinks he can. I will be definitely be disappointed if he makes this match a dud. All I know is, with a flaming casket in the equation, there's only one thing for sure. One person will walk away as BUDvision Champion, and the other...well...you get the picture..." Zarek stood up, did a little bow, and left the interview, myself waving behind him.

I have to say, it was one of the most interesting interviews I had been on, and he was one of the most interesting men I have ever met. He seemed so collected, and I only hope that Manic is as collected as he is. I have one suggection, tune in to watch these two men duke it out in a flaming casket's match for the BUDvision Championship, it's sure to make the card. On another note, there are still so many questions. What will become of this hatred between Manic and Zarek? Who will walk out as the BUDvision Champion at Ultimate War? What is going on between Jade and Zarek? Well, you know what they say...

All is fair in love and war.