They were foolish – so foolish – thinking they could walk into the pit more than one time, man.

Any foe across the ring I had told: “you ain’t nothing special to me, you’re just a piece of flesh.”

Whenever I brought Damian to the ring, I struck fear into their souls, always, again and again,

Fought for meal tickets, fought for the gold; fought every week to prove that I was the very best.

But the war I was living on wasn’t enough to fill me up – wanted a little bit more, then came him,

He, with the urges and the irrationality, he, with the tantalizing glare at the poison in the bottle,

The venom of which slid down my throat, showering my soul with sickening deadliness within.

With that, with even just a drop I became ill – forgetting my war, my past; it had taken throttle.

You could have it all, my empire of dirt

It wasn’t my reflection in the mirror with that sly smile, knowing that I needed to lose control,

Complicit was I to let toxins in, complicit were those that let it happen, I no longer held the reins.

The snake became me, I became it, and my loved ones left me, they left me with such vitriol.

Could you blame them? I was not the man I was supposed to be, no, I was riddled with stains.

And so, I sought refuge from this demon, this scaly, slithering monster, sook solace in the Lord.

Through Him I was able to cleanse myself of him and show that Jake the Snake’s still the same.

Wait a second, did you actually trust me with that – accepting this as truth on your own accord?

You should have learned by now to never trust a snake, for that you should be so, so ashamed.

I will let you down, I will make you hurt

Though yes, I had failed, I knew myself to be better than that, I knew this too well in my soul,

No matter who you are, the toughest battle one may ever face is the one within their own mind.

We all have our crusades we must face, but we don’t have to go it alone in escaping that hole.

With some help, this snake was able to slither out, to be the man to send shivers down spines.

This I swear to be the truth, I vow to be honest – I was not alone, many held out a helping hand,

And each time I betrayed them – never trust a snake – until I reached out to a heart of Diamond,

A man who started and ended a career with a bang –shedding skin, rehabbed at his command.

Wasn’t easy, I was a prick at times, but he never gave up, for he knew that no man is an island.

I wear this crown of shit upon my liar’s chair

Whereas I would be mocked, tossed aside, the Lord and the Diamond took me in – saved me.

Little by little, the children I never got to raise came to me, proud that this Snake is their father,

In this, I was baptized a new man, who still had more to give, one to inspire others who to be.

The place I made my name didn’t want me, so fare thee well to them, for I am not  a martyr.

Instead, I slithered my way between the ropes once more, to a man I saw as today’s Caesar.

With client in tow, we made a pact, as Cody Rhodes and everything he stood forever on the line.

He’s eaten well, eaten his fill; to me, he’s made his name off of his daddy’s name at his leisure.

That’s why I’m here, I’ve seen it before, and Jake’s fed up, you see, I want a piece of that pie.

Full of broken thoughts I cannot repair

So often I was kicked to the curb – the same place that had deprived me of the damn spotlight –

Spotlight of which would’ve stolen cheers from the twenty-four-inch pythons on his golden boy,

The same place that had made a mockery when I was bettering myself and making things right,

As they found their rattlesnake, WWF, bored, cast me aside like I was an unwanted, broken toy.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely – should any hand put themselves in places of authority,

For whom does it behoove to be employee and boss, to be in charge and on that grand stage?

Call to me, call to anarchy, and call to the Murderhawk Monster, even if we are in the minority,

We will be there, and we will strike down upon them with just, holy violence and primal rage.

Beneath the stains of time, the feelings disappear

My eyes were murky, clouded even, now baptized by venom that had dripped from those fangs –

Fangs of which burned the retinas like fabled Loki, mischief son in the hallowed city of Asgard,

Whose lies his people once trusted in – never trust a snake – just as mine did, whilst bells rang.

Verily, though we walk in this territory to take what’s ours, we hold the keys in this Elite yard.

It takes time for poison to spread through the bloodstream – sometimes soon, sometimes later,

Victims will feel weak, unable to go any further until the will is broken, their body collapsed.

Breath grows short, limbs begin to tremble, and life leaves the eyes as they meet their Creator.

I should know, I have felt it more times than I’m comfortable to admit, every time I relapsed.

You are someone else, I am still right here

As I stand outside the ring, life’s battle scars on me, know my past self is not yet disintegrated,

Each night as I follow Lance Archer through the tunnels, I see he who had traded east for west,

And I see myself, who I could have been, someone who proved himself better than I anticipated.

By his side I stand, so if you didn’t like me at my worst – well – you would hate me at my best.

There is a new reflection this time, and he stands in the ring against his foe, his next meal ticket.

Towering above most, snarling in defiance as he fights to one day claim his shining little prize,

Winning with big boots and chokeslams, lariats, and powerbombs, then a Blackout to finish it,

With strikes, the ferocity of my old DDTs, certainly he lives up to his motto: “Everybody Dies!”

You could have it all, my empire of dirt – I will let you down, I will make you hurt

When Lance Archer drops someone on the floor, drops someone in the ring, they don’t get up.

He’s the kind of guy who, if he needs to sneeze, he will use your hand, and that’s just the thing,

He is an innovator, they are just imitators; he’s a leader, they are merely followers in this club – 

He is a winner and all of them are but losers, be it Jon Moxley, Darby Allin, or even you, Sting.

From the very beginning, you’ve all let this snake in – to this day, I’ve shown what I’m made of,

You all were the sheep, and I the shepherd; I’ve grabbed you all by the heart and broke it in two.

Today, my love for this business will reflect in my body of work but did not share back that love.

Have you seen what I’ve done? Let me ask you, can you handle this Snake, and if so, could you?

If I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself – I will find a way