Originally posted in 2013 by Justin H.

This is part one of a series I’m doing about my time spent in the e-wrestling world. What I hope to show is the highs and lows of my time in the game, the changes I’ve made as a person, how e-wrestling has helped me in my real life, and give an honest and unadulterated recap of my e-wrestling life up to date.

I’m currently 27 years old and will turn 28 as of November of this year. I started this game at thirteen and have been in and out of it over the years. The story of how I got into the game is really your standard story. I was a huge wrestling fan growing up and when my father and his wife at the time got a computer and the internet for the first time I instantly began searching websites about wrestling. It wasn’t until I stumbled across the old MSN chat rooms that I found there were people that shared my love of wrestling.

At first I was an outsider but eventually I was accepted into the small community of people. There was nothing special about what we did but it was a fun escape from being an awkward teenager going through puberty. We would have two people do a match and the main chat would be silent as it went on. You’d type moves you “hit” and to win you’d type “pin” or “submit” and the only way out was to type “KO” or “BREAK”. There was always one person assigned to be the referee and you had to type one or the other before they reached the count of three.

At this point in my life I had started to develop a love of reading and writing, which, up until that point I absolutely hated. I moved from the chat room to groups where we “role-played”. I use the term loosely due to the fact a long role-play MIGHT have been two paragraphs. In that time I had used The Rock, Stone Cold, Triple H, and my favorite; The Undertaker. After playing for a bit I eventually was told of another federation by a friend that went by “Da Kid”. That fed was none other than PCW.

I sent in what I thought was good and found out soon enough it wasn’t even close to bad, no, that would be insulting to the word bad. I was, however, accepted into PWA. At first I was insulted and that these people were just elitists but then I began to read the roleplays in PCW and realized they were actually really good. I decided to give PWA a shot. That’s when Sylo was born. The name actually came from a short story I wrote for a class I had so I decided to just stick with the name. I really didn’t know what I was doing or where to even begin when I made him but quickly I found a path. Granted there have been many MANY changes over the years but it was the beginning of the one character I could always write with. So I did my time and before I knew it my writing improved thanks to the help there as well as creative writing classes in school. Using what I learned in PWA I actually passed one of my creative writing classes and had the highest grade in the class. In return the class helped me graduate from PWA into NTICW.

NTICW was a great fed and I really enjoyed my time there. I had a chance to work with Frankie Bones as well as the only guy to really sit with me and give me tips on how to improve my writing; Ross. Some of you may know Ross as the handler of Hessian. To this day I have the upmost respect for him and we’re still friends. Although I was in NTICW, my wish was to be in PCW one day, because my biggest inspiration for Sylo was Mo, the handler of Meanstreak, and every time he posted a roleplay I found myself reading and wanting more.

It wouldn’t be long before I’d finally be where I wanted but by that time a lot of changes were going on. OSW, which was the first angle fed I ever saw, opened up and somehow the person (whose name escapes me which happens a lot) had some sort of falling out with Ron. Ron closed the doors on NTICW and I found myself without a fed so I took one more shot at PCW. For me the second time was a charm. I was surrounded by all this talent and had so much respect for everyone involved. I eventually made my way up to winning the “Rising Star Championship” and that lead to an angle where I was in a group with Akiyama. He had this cool yet weird thing he did called the Void where he’d throw jobbers/flakes into it and eventually we had this whole wild match inside the Void. It was ridicules but fun at the same time.

I hate to say my time in PCW was short lived but politics came into play. I had started to see Ron as a dictator and while he was a genius for the way he had constructed things I sometimes still think the power went to his head. I spoke out against what was going on and eventually found myself kicked out of PCW. It was hard to deal with to be honest because all I wanted at the time was to be in PCW but I suppose that’s the way things go.

I had nowhere to go but as luck would have it James, who ran GW, and was better known as Bubba McCoy wanted me in his fed. I joined GW and had a decent run. I remember we had the dumbest tag team name ever in the “Blue Jays”. We ended up winning the tag team titles only to drop them not long after. More politics came up and eventually I parted amicably with James and GW.

So again, I was homeless, but what lied around the corner would start to really develop my history. We’ll save that for part 2.

I had just parted ways with GW and found myself floating in the ether so to speak. I had no real place to call home anymore. A friend who’s name escapes me at the moment suggested I try a tournament ran by Kyle (some of you should remember Kyle, he handled Turk, and for the life of me I can’t remember the tournament name).

I joined not thinking I’d go very far because this was a world unknown to me but surprisingly I did well. While I didn’t win (and there actually was some controversy over the newbie (me) not making it to the finals which was incredibly surprising). I did end up catching the eye of a few feds. One of these feds was in the process of gearing back up for its latest run: PIW.

John Cusimano approached me and asked me if I wouldn’t mind filling out an application. He told me he’d like to see more and know more about the character and that, while spots were limited, he may have a spot for me. He showed me around a little and before I knew it I was typing as hard as I could type to get my application in on time. At this point I really only had a basic understanding of what an angle fed was.

John saw to paring me with someone that would not only teach me but would welcome me into this new world with open arms. That man recently returned as I’m referring to Stephon with Steve Hayden. He showed me the ins and outs of the angle fedding game and more surprising than that was the fact that John wanted me to go over. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that at the time seeing as how green I was and how nice Stephon had been in showing me the ropes. Something happened between Cusi and Stephon though, which to this day, no one really knows what and before I knew it my first major angle I was going over in a steel cage match.

Now a lot of negative things can be said about Cusi but the one really good thing I can say about him is this: When Ron found out I was applying to PIW he went to Cusi, still holding a grudge, and told him that if he let me into his fed he could consider PIW blacklisted from PTC. Knowing there were an infinite supply of resources in the PTC community at the time Cusi still told Ron pretty much verbatim to “Fuck off, this is my fed, I’ll bring in whoever I see fit.”

When I first learned of the ultimatum I won’t lie, I was a bit nervous, but who wouldn’t be? You’re the new kid on the block so why throw away a potential resource for one handler? Cusi did just that. Before I knew it I was a buffer champ (moving the title off one guy to another) which I didn’t mind. The fact that I was even selected to be “that guy” was a huge honor plus it was the first time in e-fedding I’d be able to put down “Heavyweight Champ” on my resume.

I was to take the title off of JCON and then drop it a month later to KroW. The plan was later on I’d get a lengthier run which was fine by me I was just happy to help and be considered a trust worthy guy. To this day I miss John which may not be a popular choice of words but it’s the truth. John opened up a whole new world to me and without him I wouldn’t even be close to where I am now. Being in PIW also gave me one of my longest rivals to date as well which is still going on in the form of Jim Johnson.

I met a bunch of “life time” friends in PIW. One of them being Dan McDevitt. When Dan and I first met I’d never thought I’d become best friends with someone I’d never meet (at least not up until the writing of this, I still have plans to have a beer with that guy one day). Unfortunately PIW closed on the same night I dropped the title to KroW in a triple cell match where KroW put Sylo through all three cells before retrieving the belt. I was happy, at least, that I got to see that through even if it was our last show ever.

Problem was, we all found ourselves homeless again. Guy had feds going strong and I can’t remember what fed I opted for. I just remember it didn’t “feel like home”. One day Dan and I were chatting about his upcoming project, Legacy of Champions, it was interesting and I wanted to handle there but I wasn’t about to drop the place I was at (this was before becoming a fed whore). Eventually Dan had crafted an angle with Mike/Paul (whatever you want to call him) which involved KroW and Scott Riktor. This angle was never meant for me. It was going to be revealed later that it was KroW behind all these disgusting acts.

Well for some reason Paul/Mike disappeared and Dan was left in a bind. I finally said forget it, gave notice to the place I was in, and eventually made my way to LoC to help write out this angle. I’d never take anything away from the KroW character but to this day I feel that Sylo was the right fit for the angle that was conceived. The way it was pulled off was flawless and in a time where people would have flaming death matches to prove how evil and sadistic they were we simply played on human emotion.

We ran an arc long feud that kept Sylo in the shadows and, at one point, had the finger of suspicion pointed at Kross. The way the story went was simple, there didn’t need to be some sort of complex sublevels to it, someone in LoC was tormenting not only Scott Riktor but those closest to him. This included finding his brother crucified in barbed wire, his wife mentally tortured to the point of needing extreme therapy, to Scott Riktor confronting one of his closest friends, Kross, only to watch him be set on fire while tied to a cross (Irony, heh). Eventually Riktor would become the victim himself being lit on fire while tied to a cross and the grand reveal was here’s this Sylo guy everyone had heard so much about.

The most amazing part of that angle was the fact it was never written for me. It never even had me in mind. For the most part it was an alien angle for my character but in that one angle it just seemed to fit and born from it was a side of my character unseen before. He had truly become one of the most sadistic and twisted sons of bitches walking the planet. Through that one angle Sylo had lived up to his moniker in full: The SuperBeast.

It wasn’t long after that I believe LoC took a hiatus. Hurricanes were slamming Florida and we lost all contact with Dan. I remember we tried to run the fed ourselves but it didn’t feel right without Dan around. I personally put a statement up on the main page saying Legacy of Champions would go no further without Dan. In fact I ‘m going to see if I can find a copy:

“From: LoC

To: The fans

Dear LoC readers,

We here at LoC have always thrived to bring you the best product imaginable. We love to tell a story but as of late the heart and soul of everything we did has become MIA. Everyone should know by now that Dan, the owner, has suffered the effects of all the hurricanes that have been hitting Florida. The last we heard from Dan was that he was getting Internet access back and would be back but then Frances hit. Now we are looking at Ivan hitting and we have no clue as to when he will return or even if he’s okay.

We here at LoC can only pray that Dan is okay and that he is somewhere safe. I, Justin Herron, write this for the soul reason that I have been with Dan on this for a long while and I know that this was his. We, the writers, were just telling a story for him and what a great story it was. I do not feel worthy of taking all of Dan’s work and trying to move it forward because it just wouldn’t be the same. Dan will always be the glue that held things together and after trying to walk in his shoes I have a newfound respect for anyone who works as hard as he did.

It is my hope that Dan returns after Florida’s problems have ceased and that LoC will return with the force it was building up. This isn’t a case of an owner quitting, far from it, natural disasters happen and now we can only pray that our friend is safe. May God watch over him and deliver him back to our community safe and sound for he is truly a cherished friend by us all.

And finally I would like to end this letter with a special thank you to Kyle (Christian Keaton) for all he’s tried to do for us. Kyle picked up the ball when I couldn’t carry it myself and I will always be grateful for that. Just remember though…Dan will return, I am sure of it, and when he does LoC will be stronger because we are not dead…far from it. For I know that none of us have told our full story and stories never die. Thank you to all the readers and all of those that supported us. Now I just ask that you pray (if you do) that our friend is safe. Until then, good luck to everyone and once again thank you…for everything.

One of many LoC supporters,

Justin H.”

This would be displayed on the main page until either Dan returned or Kyle kept trying to run things. Dan has a better grasp on that time line than I do. I just remember writing that and thinking to myself “This is a game and a community. My friend is out there somewhere and I have no idea what’s happened to him. I just want my friend back.”

Some may find that corny and that’s fine but the friendships we build in this game is part of the reason we’re sometimes able to tell such amazing stories.

I would bounce around from fed to fed always watching for Dan to return and finally he would. The next step in the evolution of my longest character would be just over the horizon. Neither I nor Dan could foresee the drama it would cause but in the long run bad press is better than no press at all. I’ll continue that in Part 3.

As I said in Pt. 2 neither Dan nor myself would know the fall out of what would happen when we tried to build an angle that would propel someone to the main event in LoC. We started what’s now referred to as the “infamous streak” where Sylo went unbeaten for quite a long time. It took him to an Underground Title match against Frost, which he won, and then put him on a path to do a title vs. title match with Ninja K for the Legacy Title.

The idea was for Sylo to win, which he did, and drop the Underground Title for the Legacy title. It was designed for him to lose the Legacy Title and propel someone for not only becoming champ but also beating the streak. Real life issues would pull me from the game which lead to an ant-climatic ending. Not long after winning the title Alias (handled by Russ) would interfere as Sylo took on Derecho who would then win the Legacy title.

While I’m happy it was Derecho (handled by Josh) that won the title I was never satisfied that the angle itself never did what it was supposed to do. Right after that I left the game for almost five years. World of Warcraft would help with keeping me from the game and thank God I finally quit that game. When I would return I found plenty of anti-Sylo fedders and I can’t really say I blame them.

Did I have an ego back in the day? Yeah I did and I’m ashamed of that. Maybe it was because I felt validated in the game where I didn’t feel validated in life or maybe I let all the pats on the back go to my head but either way people had a reason to hate me. People think I demanded to do the streak but it was honestly an idea between Dan and me.

When I returned there was some animosity and I can’t blame anyone for that. LoC rebooted again and I started writing. I refused to work with anyone but NPC’s because I didn’t want to let anyone down. Eventually Dan gave me word he was going to turn LoC into jOlt. Of course I protested that because I’ve always said LoC was my home and it always will be. The only man that can get me to really write in this game is Dan though so of course I came around and started helping work on jOlt where I could.

I approached Dan and told him if he’d allow me I’d like to try running as a champion again. This wasn’t for my ego or because I thought I had “earned” it but rather I wanted to try to propel the belt and make it worth something. I needed to prove to myself and the guys I respected that I could do it. So Dan thought about it and finally gave me the green light. To say I was nervous was an understatement but I had the chance to work the angle with a guy I respect. The feud for the title would be “Superstar” Vince Jacobs vs. Sylo and I knew Ed was the guy to pull this off with.

Ed was a great angle partner because he was so open to ideas and I like to think for two arcs we put on a good show. I started pouring more and more of myself into Sylo and I hope to this day I helped raise the bar of the jOlt title. I even had a chance to finally do a solid feud with Derecho (Josh) and I felt it went really well. I had handpicked Josh to drop the title to for the sole reason of what happened in Legacy of Champions.

It wasn’t some profound conversation either I just told Dan “Hey I wanna drop the title to Josh” and he was on board. I think it’s one of the best decisions I’ve made in this game. Now I won’t go into detail but Dan had some things to take care of outside of the game which meant one of two things: Someone had to step up or jOlt was going to close.

At first Ed, myself, and Josh took care of things. Eventually Josh started running everything and getting cards up on time. It was amazing to see the switch. At this point I was Underground Champion and after seven long years I had the chance to work a program with Ninja K which I still consider to this day to be one of Sylo’s greatest rivals.

The thing to understand is at this point burnout was setting in. When I write Sylo I write with my feelings, my thoughts, and my emotions. I was pouring so much of myself into Sylo I knew a break was needed and the title was to be dropped to Ninja K but unfortunately we didn’t get to see things out like we wanted because I had some serious real life issues come up that I’m still dealing with as I write this (August 17^th, 2013)

I told Dan, Josh, and Tramel I had to pull out. The ending to Ninja K/Sylo at Thieves Honor was quickly rewritten but at the same time I didn’t want to eclipse any other angles going on with me leaving. To those that are wondering yes there’s something coming for that but it needed to wait.

For now I’ll leave it at that. If/When I decide to write Pt. 4 I’ll explain even more to everyone and where I’m at (if I’m back in the game or not) and what lead to all those decisions. I like to think I’m an open book because I’m not ashamed of my past. I’ve learned from every bad thing that’s ever happened in my life and in this game. Have we seen the end of Sylo? Not by a long shot. I know that because I know I’ll never be satisfied until I’ve told all the stories I want to tell.

So for now just know to my friends in this game I love you guys and to my critics maybe I changed some opinions, maybe I didn’t, but they say even bad press is good press. Until next time…

- J