King! Throne! Crown!… Meaningful as they are they are simply words, and as much as Carter Mason embodies these words, at the end of the day he is simply a man.
However, his opponent one week from now, at Toronto’s Opera House for A Merry Lucha Libre Christmas Show, is not a man. He is Ophidian, The Ouroboros, The Vicious and Vile, Master of Snake Style, He is the Demand Lucha Premier Champion and make no mistake about it, at the end of his day… he is still a snake.
Over the last year and a half, these two luchadores have taken very different paths. At Luchafest 2 last year Ophidian made his debut facing Carter Mason, a man who after a year atop Demand Lucha, had fallen hard and lost his last few bouts. Unfortunately, he lost this one too. Ophidian, however, went on to win the Premier Championship a few months later and has been undefeated during his entire tenure here at the company. Mason began clawing his way back to the top, becoming the number one Contender for the Tag Team Championship with his partner Lionel Knight, before being struck down by injury.
Although Mason has been tight-lipped about the exact nature of his injury, he’s been very open with the wrestling community about the depression he has felt and his difficult road to recovery. Mason has reached the end of that road which stops at the base of the Demand Lucha mountain. Carter Mason will try to leap to the top of that mountain in a single bound, reclaim his place and stand tall. But if he doesn’t land this kamikaze jump… it’s a long way down.
All metaphors aside, this one match has so many stakes for the King of the North. The Premier Championship seems almost paltry compared to defeating the unbeaten champion and taking his first steps back into the heat of competition. Recovery must have included bumps and bruises, grappling and training, but no one was out to hurt him. Not like Ophidian… who has hurt Mason more than one might think.
Sure, Ophidian’s debut was a turning point. Mason began moving down the singles ranks as Ophidian moved up. But it was the irony of it all. The tension building between champion DeSean Pratt and Mason was obvious. The two began sparring on social media and the desire for fans to see them face off for the gold was palpable. DeSean Pratt had “technically” defeated Mason for the championship in a multi-man match, although not pinning The Man himself. One can only imagine how much that must have stung, for the King to be dethroned after being dominant for so long, and without truly being defeated. Then Ophidian swept in, defeating Mason and every other person put in front of him, before betraying Pratt and taking the title for his own. To not only have your revenge stolen but for your usurper to flaunt his victory and contentment in your face as you struggle to heal… to make sense of it all and hold tight to your belief in yourself, must have been close to impossible for Mason.
This is the demon Carter Mason faces on Thursday evening. Not A Snake. Not his physical opponent. But his mental one. His personal one. That nagging voice of doubt that we’re sure we’ve silenced, before a whisper again become a shout.
People talk about Mason coming full circle. Perhaps. Although one of Mason’s last matches was in the very building he will compete in this Thursday, and although he defeated Ophidian’s head foot soldier in the Bearded Bull, Seraphis, that evening, it is not Carter Mason who will be coming full circle, it is Carter Mason who will attempt to bring Ophidian full circle. All the way back to the very first man he faced whilst slithering into Demand Lucha. To look him in the eye and let him know… you breached my walls once, you stormed my throne room, you took what was rightfully mine… But never again.
Long Live The King
Carter Mason credits much of his recovery to the Tyson Dux Wrestling Factory.
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