Hey everybody. Today, I think I want to give a little bit of a public shout-out, praise, adulation, congratulations and much love to my original trainer, mentor, and eventually best friend in the wrestling business, Ace Steel (AKA Sexy Ace Steel).

Ace was the first man who broke me into this business and taught me everything he knows— or hopefully everything he knows. Contrary to popular belief, it's a whole hell of a lot. He taught me more about life than he actually taught me about the business. That's not a slight; that's a compliment.

Recently, Ace was offered a contract here at World Wrestling Entertainment and in one of life's many twists and turns, Ace watched me come up in this business and he watched me get signed. A lot of people thought it was over for Ace -- he was going to rest on his laurels and it was time for him to wrap it up. This just proves that when you're from Chicago and you're tough as nails like Ace Steel and me, you can do anything in life. As long as you love it, it's your passion and you put your heart and soul into it like Ace does.

Ace, from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank you. I can't wait to travel with you. I can't wait to see you here. I can't wait to see those crazy eyes. And I can't wait to see you do extremely well here in WWE. Welcome to a new chapter of life. I'm glad I'm here to share it with you.