The Undertaker.

Mick Foley.

Sting.

Gold Dust.

The scenes continue, but quick flashes of a lone figure, sitting huddled in a dark room begin to enter into the montage.

The names of these four men conjure up legacys of darkness, disturbing behaivor. Personality shifts, alter-egos, and in some cases, true pain. They are now, and will be forever more some of the most twisted ever to step into the squared circle.

The camera now focuses on the lone man. No features can be made out. The camera slowly, slowly zooms in, rotating at the same time…

But there is one saga that rises above even these twisted stories. In six short months, the world has witnessed the torment and agony of a man lost within himself. Betrayal, loss, anarchy… he is a man never to be forgotten. When the history of wrestling is written, he will be a part of it.

And then, a close-up on his face…into gray eyes, that convey such powerful and varied emotions, it becomes difficult to watch… The saga of a man named Ryan Zimmer…

At that moment, the chorus begins.

“Used to be a little boy
so old in these shoes
and what I choose is my choice
what’s a boy supposed to do
the killer in me is the killer in you
my love
send this smile over to you”

The intro rolls. A desolate scene, lightning flickering, thunder crashes. Rain pours down heavily, and then finally, the song trails off…

Cut away to Ryan and Janell Zimmer sitting on a black velvet couch, in their living room. Ryan wears a pair of black cords, a black t-shirt, with the words “melancholy green” on the front, in a pale jade color… A white long sleeved shirt is beneath the outer shirt, so no flesh save his hands and face is visible. Glinting in the light are the three earrings, the eyebrow ring, and the single black stud just above his chin. He is scruffy, not a full beard or goatee yet. Janell wears a full length black skirt, with a few pretty flowers on it, and an oversized navy, gold and white rugby jersey. Her hair is done up in an elegant bun, at odds with her own eyebrow ring and attire, but somehow extremely attractive. They are looking not at the camera, which is viewing them at a slight tilt. Ryan begins to speak. He runs his hand throguh his short-cropped, spiked in all directions black hair.

“It’s usually best to begin at the beginning, or so I’ve been told… (exhaling deeply)So I guess the best part is my formative years…”

His hand moves to take Janell’s in his own. The song “zombie” by the cranberries comes on quietly in the background…

“Short version of my life: It’s been hard. With people, with parents, etc. To top it off, I’m manic-depressive, AKA bipolar-disorder, so until I discovered it, it really made things worse than they could’ve been. It came to a point, when I finally moved out, that it became too much for me. I was eighteen, and I suddenly became involved in a cult, dedicated to the “anarchy”. I don’t even remember how.

I was brainwashed in a lot of ways, and I ended up forgetting about my past. My friends, my life, etc. Even now, a lot of my memories are lost, forever probably. (sighs) Now, I think it was like(shaking his head)…two or three years, I think…geez… that I was involved in this. But for some reason, I had this desire to become a pro wrestler. I got into it, albiet with my really messed up world view, but hey. I went to a couple feds, and then ended up in the AEA. Which is where the story really begins…

There, I just started interviewing, etc, yapping about “the anarchy, and chaos”, and all sorts of crap. One man took exception to my views… his name is Nathaniel Pendragon. And in a lot of ways, he’s the reason why I’m where I am today. That and God, but God works in many ways…

So Pen challenged me to a match. Me, the rookie, going to take on Pendragon…and everybody knows what a tough bastard he is. But first, I got a place in a twenty man battle royal at a pay per view that aired very shortly after I joined. I don’t recall the name…

I’m losing track here. The thing is, something about Pen’s words to me, they snapped me back into reality. And it was then that I realized that my life was gone. I recalled nothing, not even my name. I was literally Whirlwind, my mind and soul became a storm of emotions...all negative. I realized that the anarchy had screwed me up, and I realized I once had a life…but I didn’t remember anything. It really, really sucked, to put it that way.”

Various footage from the AEA battle royal plays, as Zimmer’s voice continues in the background.

“So at the battle royal, I end up doing very well…in fact, for a brief moment I thought I had won. But, the man who I thought I had eliminated to win, he held on, and ended up hitting me with a standing side kick that I felt for weeks afterward. And that man was Pendragon.”

Footage of his match with Pendragon a few days later rolls…In the match, he snaps, and ends up somehow beating Pendragon. “Zombie” fades out, only silence.

That…that was the only loss Pen ever had in the AEA, save the tag match that came about a week later. I’ll get to that later. But now, things went up a notch. I had taken to sleeping in the stands, basically cos I had no home, nowhere to go. I hitchhiked from show to show. Basically, wrestling was the one thing that kept me holding on. It was a place where I could escape my life.”

“If you let me love you” by SmallTown Poets plays.

“And then, one night, I wake up suddenly to find this note on my chest. All it said was ‘I don’t know what to do to ease your mind’. And it triggered something in me. I knew I should remember it, but I couldn’t. I slid more into despair.

So over the next…man, it was like a month or so, I think, this kept happening, more little lines. One of the notes used my real name, Ryan. But I couldn’t remember. I caught a glimpse of a female fleeing into the night once. I chased, but she was gone…”

He looks to Janell, who begins to talk.

“Actually, one time I picked him up and drove him to the next show. It was the middle of the night, and he couldn’t really see me. He ended up passed out in the passenger seat… And my heart was breaking. It was like this. I’ve loved him dearly for years, and we were actually engaged when he vanished. Myself, his friends, we searched, we never found him. Then, he’s twenty-three, I’m twenty-two, and suddenly, his buddy Jed is watching wrestling…and I saw him. He was different looking, but I knew his eyes. And I wept for days, cos we’d found him. We’d found him, but we watched his interviews and he didn’t remember…even me.

I know him. If I had just came up to him and said, “remember me?”, he wouldn’t have accepted it. He needed to be broken in some ways. It’s weird, but it’s the only way to get through to him. Pen did it in the ring, I did it emotionally. It hurt so much… But he had to remember on his own.”

A slight smile crosses her face…

“Actually, that night in the car, I kissed him on the lips as he slept. That was our first kiss, in actuality. He’d never really shown emotion before. I loved him, but how jaded he was, I guess he just really was unaffectionate. That there, with a man who didn’t even remember me, we finally kissed…”

She laughs in amusement. Ryan simply leans back, and slips his arm about her waist. He talks again.

“So I pieced together the notes. And I realized that she was quoting a song to me, it was a song that held a lot of meaning for the both of us. But it became too much, and I couldn’t take it. Wherever the AEA was at that time, I found my way to a cliff. But as I was about to throw myself off it, the song played. I turned, and standing by an old chevette, was Janell. And I became lucid.”

The song kicks in louder, while silently, in slow motion, the scene he’s referring to plays. Ryan turning, shock and surprise, then recognition cross his face. Janell, tears streaming down… the two run toward each other, meet in an embrace, kneeling together, tears flowing, and for the first time, a smile of joy on his face.

I don’t know what to do to ease your mind
Don’t have the perfect words to make it fine
I’m not so qualified for sympathy
Still I am not without love

Psalm number 4 falls on your grieving ear
Yes, I believe the peace of Christ is near
And I’m here in His name
You’d do the same, you’d do the same

If you let me close
Closer than a brother
If you let me love you we’ll sit here and cry

If you let me love (let me love you)

Never failing, ever hoping
Seeking to preserve
It always is giving
Often beyond words
And when there’s nothing left to say
Love has a voice
In sorrow and in heartache
There’s a greater joy

I don’t know what to do to ease your mind
Whatever pain you have I take as mine
If you let me love(let me love you)

Cut back to Ryan…

“(sigh)… So then, all these memories came flooding back… It was a trying time, picking through all of them again. But I came to a sense of peace, though my depression did not subside. It is my natural state, I guess.

“Lightning crashes” by LIVE begins.

“Now, by this time, I’d been in contact with a few people in the AEA behind the scenes. And their names were…yep, Pendragon and Iron Will. They’d invited me into the Knights several times, but I always declined. But then, with my new outlook, I started to consider it. And we’d become friends. I already had a lot of respect and gratitude to Pen, whose words snapped me out of the anarchy. Iron Will I hated at first, but then came to like him. He’s a really cool guy.

Of course, then Azual Scramble turned on the Knights, turned on Rob Harris, and became the dWo World heavyweight champion. And so, at the next Pay per View, OUTBREAK, a match was signed.”

Until it sleeps by Metallica comes in

“The TAGSTRAVAGNZA. It was the WWA Alliance(Bad Attitude and Unknown Soldier), Raided X(Rob Harris, Sticks ‘n’ Stones), The Bestiray Draco(Azual Scramble, then going by the name Crayle, and two others I don’t recall)… and of course, the Knights. Iron Will, Pendragon, and a mystery partner. As you can probably guess, I was that mystery partner.

But then, because of the idiotic business practices, or some stupid reason, the AEA folded. On the eve of OUTBREAK, our contracts were annulled, and the AEA died. It was a huge disappointment. I suppose people like that jerk Tindall just were never cut out for running a fed. But I picked it up, and began to look for another fed. I found a new one called the dWo… and joined as Whirlwind.”

A shadow crosses his face, and he becomes sullen. He speaks as though he’s not there, detached from the world. Janell closes her eyes, and grasps his arm tightly.

“And then… Janell was in a car accident. And everyone thought she had died. Her car plunged into Okanagan Lake, into one of the deepest sections. The divers couldn’t recover it. I…lost all touch… I couldn’t handle her loss…

I became extremely violent…and at that time, I joined the dWo. But within my first week in the federation… everything I knew disappeared…”

Twisted Reality by Circle of Dust starts.

”And then, it began. One night, I lit fire to my hotel room, my “Whirlwind” attire. And in my subconscious, to distance myself from the pain of Janell’s loss…I created a complete world…and a complete personality.

He was The White Wolf, Jaxom.

I…it wasn’t even the same person. Literally, another mind had taken over this body. At first, Jaxom was very odd. He…or I… claimed to be from a hidden enclave, of a warrior class that was thought wiped out centuries ago. And he had come out, to pursue his goals. He also had a companion…a white wolf named Larad. That there, is the pasr that really, really creeps me out. Larad, I don’t know what happened to him, but somehow, I---Jaxom--- found an albino wolf, and developed a bond. It was bizarre.

But then, the dWo seemed to fold, and Jaxom wandered the world…

This is the part that noone has ever heard. Because when he came back to the new dWo, under Scribe’s authority, he was not the same. He was an arrogant, cocky, self-serving heel, I suppose you could say. Somewhere within that month or so, something changed.”

Psychopomp by The Tea Party plays.

“It was this time, that is very vivid, for some reason. I left, and wandered, just living out a life. Jaxom, he still believed the whole hidden enclave thing. But it was at this point, that his foe Multi-Man contacted him. The two had already had a very brutal feud… but now, something was changed. Multi-Man, Inferno and Ravage were planning on forming a stable, and needed some extra muscle. Needless to say, he was very surprised.

It started him on a train of thought, though, that would prove to be a catalyst.

Jaxom pondered an alliance with his rival… and in this time, the world, its riches, its pleasures, began to for the first time appeal to him. But also, he was disgusted with humanity. He truly, truly believed himself to be superior. And the arrogance was borne…and it led the other traits. And at ABOSLUTE CHAOS, he returned. And from then on, nothing was ever the same.”

Zimmer stops, takes a drink of water. Psychopomp fades out… and then Firestarter by Prodigy plays.

“Any dWo vet remembers what happened next. The Firestarters, under the leadership of Jaxom and Multi-Man, dominated the title scene, the rankings. And finally, Jaxom became the World’s Heavyweight Champion. The Firestarters numbered almost a dozen. Everything was going his way, to his designs…

And then, Multi-Man cost him the title. Not on purpose, but it split the FS. Two factions. Jaxom ended up on the winning side though. Somehow, most of the FS had developed a sense of loyalty to him. And he won the FS war, I guess you could call it.

So logically, the only thing for him to do was betray, those who had trust in him. The Firestarters seemed to die. Though Inferno, Madd Maxx, and a few others picked it up, that era of the FS was never to be again.

Jaxom then joined Superman’s Dead, and then betrayed them one day after joining. He was hated by all, and he hated all. He was still the arrogant, cocky Jaxom, but then, I think my true personality was beginning to resurface…the bitterness, the anger.”

Lonely House by Grammatrain plays…

“And then, Scribe and Max Phantom, the president of the EaWF, I think it was, got into some kind of business feud. The wrestlers from that fed began to attack us here, and we invaded them. It seemed harmless enough…

Until a man named Maniac took notice of me.

He had another name, though.

Rob Harris. The former AEA World Heavyweight Champion.

He claimed he knew me from the AEA, where I competed as Whirlwind. At that point, my illusion was such that I literally did not recall any of my true life. But his constant verbal attacks began to break into my psyche…

And then, Jaxom died, and Whirlwind was reborn.”

My Own Prison by Creed plays.

“It’s not like it was a total good thing. All I was was pain, anger, bitterness, resentment, etc., etc., the list goes on. I can’t say really any more. I was myself again, but it wasn’t fun.

But things kept happening. One day, I’m watching the television, as I wallow in self-pity…and I see Iron Will. On the TV. In a dWo interview. I was pretty bloody surprised…but not half as surprised as I was to hear the phone ring about twenty minutes later, and it was Pendragon.

The Knights had returned.

And we reformed. I didn’t change, but I was not alone. Someone in the fed trusted me, and it probably went a long way to helping me retain some semblance of stability.

And we went on, and the fed changed. Freaknik arrived…Bad Attitude… Unknown Soldier… the AEA seemed to be reborn in the dWo. I didn’t mind, really. But I had no focus.

Iron Will and I won the Tag Team Titles. And it brought a little bit of joy to me. A little.”

The music changes to Distant Voices by Bush…

“Of course, it didn’t last. The next big event wasn’t a title defense, it was my near death.

Blade…attacked me, and brutalized me with chairs…finishing with a powerbomb, or some other high impact move on about three chairs…and my back did not take it well.

My kidney’s ruptured…they didn’t know if my spine would ever heal…and I lost a lot of blood. I barely survived…

I almost died. That’s all I remember, was the thought that it was over, I could be at peace. But I heard God say to me, “No. It’s not time yet, you’ve got stuff left to do.” And He didn’t let me die.

Obviously, The Knights went after Blade. And suprisingly, he beat not only Titan, but Pendragon. I was still in the hospital then, the surgery had been successful, but… it was actually quite amusing. The doctors were going nuts trying to figure out how I was healing so fast…I had an explanation, of course, but they wouldn’t accept that there is a God, and He can heal. But anyways…

And the, one night, insomniac, and bored, and sick to death of hospital food, I snuck out of my room, and found a pop machine, blah blah blah, real food. And I walked back to my room… right when someone burst out and almost took me off my feet.

In the shock, I kind’ve instinctively tightened my arms around the person…I realized it was female…but I was kinda angry that some fan had been in a dying man’s room, without permission. And I raised her chin to see my face…

Must be your skin
That I’m sinking in
Must be for real cos now I can feel
I didn’t mind
It’s not my time
It’s not my kind
To wonder why…

And looked into the eyes of an apparition…of my lost love, Janell.

Everything going white
Everything’s gray
Now you’re here
Now you’re away
I don’t want this
Remember that
I’ll never forget where your at

Don’t let the days go by
Glycerine
Glycerine
Glycerine

I’m never alone
I’m alone all the time
Are you at one
Or do you lie
We live in a wheel
Where everyone steals
And when we rise it’s like strawberry fields
If I treated you bad
You bruise my face
Couldn’t love you more
You got a beautiful taste
Don’t let the days go by
Shoulda been easier on you
Couldn’t change though I wanted to
Shoulda been easier by three
Our old friend fear and you and me
Glycerine
Glycerine
Glycerine
Don’t let the days go by

Bad moon white again
Bad moon white again
And she falls around me

Needed you more
Wanted us less
Could not kiss, just regress
It might just be clear simple and plain
Well that’s just fine, that’s just one of my names

Ryan and Janell seem oblivious to the camera, Ryan pulling Janell on his lap, and the two staring deeply into one another’s eyes… She leans forward, putting her forehead on his shoulder.
“Janell was alive. That’s why God wouldn’t let me die…at least part of the reason. Somehow, she survived.”

Janell looks to the camera, eyes cloudy as she recounts her story…

“It’s like something out of a movie. I was thrown from the car before it plunged into the water… but I ended up amnesiac from the impact. Seems to run in this family, so to speak(with a smile to Ryan). I ended up catching a ride with some people to Vancouver, and well, wandered. Again, something that seems to run in our family. It’s not really a remarkable story, just a strange one. I was at a woman’s shelter one night, and they were watching the dWo. They liked most of the guys in it… heh. And then, I saw Ryan get…it was horrifying what Blade did to him. The place was silent. And it snapped in then, who he was, and what I had forgotten. The problem then, was trying to find him. And then when I did, no one aside from Knights were allowed in his room. I had lost all my i.d., and I had no proof that I was his wife. So I ended up sneaking in, and finding my way to his room… Lovely, cos I came across an empty bed. My heart broke. And then I ran into him…”

Ryan kisses her on the forehead…the continues speaking himself, as One by Creed plays.

“So somehow, Janell was alive. I thank God for that. And I was on the way to healing. I still had my problems, but it gave me some hope. We got our old band back together, psalt & l!ght, and started that again… Jed, me, Kristina, Jannie… and ended up with a number one single(smiles ruefully)… I dunno, I just play the music. It’s for God, for myself… Whatever. I give the money I get from that to my family. But I digress. I lost it again, when I came back, to fight Blade… Iron Will was gone, needing some time off…I felt a bit lost without him. Blade drove me nuts…that was a crazy period…

But I came through it. I’m here, I’m back, I’m alive. My name is Ryan Zimmer. I have a wife. I have a career. I serve the one and only God. And wherever I go from here, I don’t know. Life has may possibilities…many paths. No matter where I go, though… Or who I’m with, I always keep with me one thing…

We may rise and fall, but in the end, we meet our fates together.”

This is where Into the Storm originally ended. The following is a brief run-down on the recent events in Ryan Zimmer's life.

After the departure of Iron Will, Zimmer fought a few mid-card matches, seeming to lose his focus. However, tensions between Zimmer and Pendragon led to Zimmer losing all semblance on reality. He ended up severly injuring a rookie wrestler, and seemed lost... however, four days after the injury, Zimmer was scheduled to be "Superstar" Kenny Williams' partner against Mad Dog and Inferno. Instead, JAXOM became his partner, and though he broke the rules, he and the Superstar won the match.

However, the next night at the Pay Per View Trust Noone, it was Ryan Zimmer who fought. Over the next few days, an inner battle was raged. It is theorized that the Zimmer personas skay mental state allowed the Jaxom persona to once again become dominant.

Since then, Jaxom has returned to his egotistical, contemptous ways of old. He has constantly bad-mouthed World Heavyweight Champion Dante Burn and former ally Pendragon, and generally made himself a deadly advesary...perhaps the only one to ever outsmart, outplan Pendragon. He has attacked numerous wrestlers, and thus far the return of Iron Will has had no effect on his mental state. Time will tell...