Post by MYŌJIN on May 19, 2021 22:52:49 GMT -5
14. Life Is Not Fair
VS Lance Williams| Proving Ground XVI
The Summer of 2019.
This was where it all really started. Where MYOJIN got his first real steps into both his greatest passion and most bitter obsession.
MYOJIN hadn't always been the confident, flamboyant, must-see competitor of the night that he had thought himself of. Back when the hair wasn’t as stylish, the eyeliner wasn’t as sharp, the lips weren’t as glossy, the skin wasn’t as perfect, and the nails weren’t as acrylic- He had spent a good amount of time wrestling at a local indie promotion in San Diego before big places had ever even thought about scouting him. Truth be told, when he first got the gig at the place- His expectations had been set rather high for himself. He believed that he would rise as a big name, show everyone just how good he was all the while entertaining fans. The blonde had thought the experience would be exciting and that things would go the way that he had expected them to. After all, he was the Shining Star- and there was no bar too high for him…
At least, that’s what he had thought, as he leaned his chin against the top rope staring as his tag partner continued doing pretty much slight variations of a bodyslam on one of their opponents who wore a goofy looking luchador mask that was most definitely crudely homemade. Close to a year in and the only difference from when he started was that he now had a locker with his name on it, albeit they had spelled and kept pronouncing MYOJIN wrong. That sure didn’t get old fast. The Shining Star boredly looked over his nails as his bigger tag partner, a fan favorite, continued to show just how limited and flawed he was as a wrestler- pretty much throwing the wannabe lucha wrestler around without any technique, any finesse, any style to his methods. Every moment he wasn’t doing that, he was ridiculously flexing his muscles. MYOJIN, even as a bit of a rookie to wrestling himself, could tell that the guy didn’t exactly have a lot of experience in any combat sport whatsoever.
And the worst part? The audience was absolutely eating it up. Every single flex of his muscles, every poorly performed move, every time he stood tall as their opponent went down- there were so many cheers… And it felt annoying to MYOJIN. Not only had he not been tagged into the match once, but he couldn’t understand. What was special about his partner? Was it that he was big and strong and had such a square chin that he could probably cut through metal with it? Whatever! What truly amazed him was how much they loved what the big guy was doing, no matter how repetitive it was, it was praised. He was basically groomed to be the new hero of the promotion, and MYOJIN simply couldn’t see what made him deserving of that role beyond his appearance.
The reason the Shining Star had signed up for the place was that he had expected to grow from it, to learn from others, and grow as a wrestler. By now, he would have thought that he’d have progressed and found himself doing more. He wanted more, he wanted to finally have a chance to be able to prove himself.
Instead, MYOJIN found himself constantly in tag matches low on the card- rarely doing more besides elevating whoever his more established partner was for the week- being forced to let them do all the work. It was the same thing every time- and it grew more and more frustrating.
Eventually, he was snapped back to reality as he realized that his partner had been careless- and was now getting jumped by the other team. His eyes widened as he realized they were setting him up for their finisher, and he pulled himself with nimble precision onto the top rope and propelled himself forward with a springboard dropkick-! He sent them all down and the crowd came alive, an energetic hyperness in his eyes as he quickly ran back to his corner- begging for the hot tag from his partner as he began slowly getting up…
Though once he finally got up, he DIDN’T tag MYOJIN in. Instead, he posed again for the audience and the cameras- and received a clothesline to the back of the head. The hope and adrenaline quickly faded from MYOJIN as he had finally had enough- and dropped from the apron and began walking backstage. The crowd stared in confusion as he began walking away, throwing his hands up in the air- as his partner, surprised and distracted by being abandoned, got rolled up for the…
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
Later.
A little while later- after getting scolded by the head of the promotion for leaving his partner alone and about how he was fortunate to even get a spot on most cards (that completely went through Shouta’s head and out the other), the blonde had begun to start packing his bags and was ready to leave. Though he was suddenly stopped by a large hand that landed on his shoulder. He froze and quickly turned around to see it was his partner from earlier in the night.
“What the hell was that out there, man?!” He yelled in the blonde’s face, red with embarrassment and anger as he stood there seething. Shouta simply blinked, his expression not changing much as he kept a cool look on his face, but he crossed his arms and tilted his head.
“What’s up, Keith? Something wrong, hun-?”
“Don’t give me that BULLSHIT! You cost us that match!” Keith spoke through gritted teeth, slamming his fist against one of the locker doors.
“I mean-” Shouta then placed his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow, “I don’t know, it seemed like you had the match by yourself. Didn’t look like you needed my help at all.”
Suddenly, his collar was tightly grabbed by the bigger wrestler as he pushed him against a wall. “Do you think this is fucking funny? I could end you right now and you wanna laugh?!” The blonde kept a cool look on his face, or at least attempted to- admittedly, his heart began thumping wildly against his chest as he started to get ready for a fight, his hands curling into fists.
“Hey, can you not? You’re being really loud and we’re trying to have a conversation here.” A feminine voice filled with a lot of bravado caught both of their attention. She was still in wrestling gear, fair but somewhat tanned skin with mermaid blue pixie cut hair. She also wore black lipstick with an eyebrow piercing and had a few visible tattoos on her arms. Standing next to her, was a pretty intimidating brown skinned young man who had short but thick black hair- also in his wrestling gear.
“Stay out of it.” Keith uttered, before the man stepped closer. The girl spoke again, “You know, if we get involved- it’s three against one, would you really want to get your ass beat after losing a match, tough guy? Is it really worth it?”
As if for emphasis, the tallest of them raised his eyebrows and cracked his knuckles. The anger on Keith’s face quickly began to fade as he let go of Shouta, stepping back. “Tch- You’re lucky you even got to be in some of MY spotlight.” He uttered at the blonde who simply gave him a smug smile in return as he walked away.
“That guy’s such a tool, right?” The girl mused, shrugging her shoulders.
He then turned to the two, a bit surprised anyone had come to his rescue at the moment. Fixing the collar of his shirt, he simply took a breath and laughed, nodding in agreement. “Yeah. Uh, thanks for that..? I’ve seen you two around here and in some matches, but I don’t think I’ve ever caught your names?”
“Oh, right-! I’m Faye, he’s Jamie.” She introduced them with a little smile. Jamie nodded with a grin so brief that if you blinked, you would have missed it. “Jamie doesn’t really talk that much. Very few words kind of guy. We saw how you walked out on that douchebag earlier tonight and just wanted to say congratulations.”
Shouta stared at Faye, slightly perplexed at her words. “Congratulations? What do you mean?”
“Oh, just having the balls to stop letting jerks like that walk all over you. The head guy has been treating Keithy-boy las if he’s the second coming of Christ. Like he’s going to be the big name that draws this place more money, he’s so full of himself because he knows it- and has been treating everyone like shit.”
“Yeah, well, no one really seems that pleased with me because of it.” Shouta spoke, picking up his bag with a little sigh.
“I mean, let’s be honest- Who cares? It’s not like you were going to be treated any better. Me and Jamie have both been here for a while, and kissing up only really gets you a pat on the head and maybe one big match before right to doing jack shit. Pretty damn annoying, yeah? Only the favorites here get an actual chance- doesn’t that annoy you too?”
Shouta paused, looking down at the floor as he thought to himself.
“It doesn’t just annoy me.. It pisses me off.”
Faye’s grin simply grew bigger, “Welcome to the club.”
Innocence. It's something none of us really appreciate until we lose it, isn't it? Things felt simpler, the world was painted black and white. It's easier to make sense of things that way when you have a naive mindset like that. There's a reason why people say ignorance is bliss after all, and innocence is just a polite word for ignorance. Though, one way or another- everyone learns the simple truth that tends to wipe away that naivete pretty fast in life:
Life is not fair.
Things don't always happen for a reason. Despite your hard work, you won't always get your way. Some have to work harder for the things that they earn- and that's a very, VERY relevant thing to learn when you're a wrestler. You can do the best you can, every single time- and put out as MUCH as you possibly can….
And it still won't be enough for the opportunities that you reach so desperately for. Maybe it's because management doesn't think you'll be a boost to the company's popularity, maybe they just don't think you're what they're looking for. But, oh, what can you do?
No, I mean- Really. What can you do? Do you just suck it up and deal with it? Do you just cry about it? No, I don't think so, honey. You fight with the best of your ability, you punch upward, and you take control. If they want to set you aside, you keep fighting until they can't hold you back any longer.
I, MYOJIN, yours truly- undoubtedly one of the best this company will ever see come through its doors- broke the ceiling that they tried to set for me. No, I didn't just do that- I shattered. I won their one and only Iron Man main event of a Pay Per View, and I stand here now in the semi-finals of this tournament for the X-Factor Tournament… and believe me, I will be the next X-Factor Champion, but… I still have this bitter disgust. This frustration that I can't find the words for- until I remembered the other matches on the card for this upcoming show.
You know, the Soundcloud twig getting a shot at the Grand Championship- while multiple other names could be fighting for it. Instead of the person whose only claim to fame is that he's least cared about clown in Big Drip Productions- ...Simply speaking that name makes me nauseous, by the way- gets the chance of a lifetime to be fighting for the top prize of Proving Ground- which, let's be honest, is just handing Mark Hunter a free title defense as we all know his reign has been pretty much a borefest.
As I said earlier, life just isn't fair. I can't help but think anyone in this tournament would have been a better option to challenge for the Grand title. Raven, Reynolds, me. Wait… There's one more name in this tournament, Lance! Lance Williams-
You couldn't have thought I'd be referring to you as well, right? I mean, after all, sweetheart, you don't even really belong here against me. Or in this tournament. After all, you seem like you've been pretty much misplaced here. Not only do you have more losses than you've won here, but you know- Haven't I beaten you already? In a tag match?
Yes, yes, sure you can make the excuse that you weren't the one that I pinned- but your inability and failure to win a tag team match highlights pretty much some of the biggest issues with you as a whole. You have lost time and time again and the only reason you’re here in the semi-finals now? Is because you’ve happened to get the lucky draw to go against Cadillac Jackson, who we all know, is pretty much a cakewalk for just about anyone here.
You’re exactly representing the problem I have with Project: Honor, hun. Jokes like you continued to be given chances without deserving them. You lose, fall, screw up, and no matter what you’re given a choice to wrestle in this tournament. Do you know why? It’s not because you’re actually good at what you do, if you were, maybe your win-loss record wouldn’t be looking so harsh there, sweetheart. Maybe you’d be more than just guy who mentions that he beat Mark Hunter once upon a time that NO ONE cares about just to cling onto the littlest bit of relevancy so people would pay attention to you. You’re not here because of anything involving your own skill, your own ability, and talent or charisma.
Lance, sweetheart, you’re here because you’re just a charity case.
Indy Darling even admitted it on Twitter when he brought up that you had no important wins, and you gave you this spot just for you to have something to look forward to. You’re only here because our general manager felt bad for you- and the only reason you’re in the semi-finals is because you got the luck of the draw, you faced a loser. If you had gone against anyone else? Especially ME? You’d have been sent back to the gym and working only muscles that are only there for show because you clearly don’t have the brain to use them to win a fight.
Honey, you’re outmatched against me. You have big muscles, sure, but I’ve made a career out of breaking down and dismantling wrestlers larger and stronger than me. You may think that gives you an advantage- but did it when you couldn’t beat me with your shitty tag partner a while back? Hell, has it given you an advantage with just about anyone that’s important? IThe chance I get a hold on any of your limbs, suddenly those big arms won’t be intimidating when they’re bent backward. I’m going to take you and rip you to shreds- because my technical skill and graceful agility will be more than enough to outdo you.
When I was injured earlier this year- I took time, I thought over everything, I rebuilt myself piece by piece and now I’m better than ever. I’ve pushed myself to the limit. I was at my lowest when I got injured, but do you know what I did when I came back? I made and keep making the best of every situation I’m put into. I haven’t been beaten in ANY match since my return, I wrestled thirty minutes against someone who everyone considers one of the best on Proving Ground- I GAVE BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS AND CAME OUT AS THE ONE ON TOP! I AM THE PERSON WITH THE MOST WINS IN THIS ENTIRE COMPANY! And this hot streak is SURE as hell not going to end by the likes of some bitch boy with a terrible fade. That’s the difference between me and you: I was brought to my lowest and I came back swinging, you? You’re just a journeyman.
And you know something? I’m going to ENJOY making you tap out. I’m going to enjoy making people watch this tall, well-built titan scream and desperately reach for the ropes as they all begin to see you for what you TRULY are- a nobody. I’m going to do what I’ve always done and show that mediocrity and cheapness will never outdo real talent, real ability-
I am your superior, Lance. Not only do I wrestle better? But I look WAY better.
This is the Summer of the Shining Star. I'm going to get past you, I"m going to win the finals-
And I will have what should have been mine from the very beginning of this company, the X-Factor Championship.
Sorry, not sorry.
This was where it all really started. Where MYOJIN got his first real steps into both his greatest passion and most bitter obsession.
MYOJIN hadn't always been the confident, flamboyant, must-see competitor of the night that he had thought himself of. Back when the hair wasn’t as stylish, the eyeliner wasn’t as sharp, the lips weren’t as glossy, the skin wasn’t as perfect, and the nails weren’t as acrylic- He had spent a good amount of time wrestling at a local indie promotion in San Diego before big places had ever even thought about scouting him. Truth be told, when he first got the gig at the place- His expectations had been set rather high for himself. He believed that he would rise as a big name, show everyone just how good he was all the while entertaining fans. The blonde had thought the experience would be exciting and that things would go the way that he had expected them to. After all, he was the Shining Star- and there was no bar too high for him…
At least, that’s what he had thought, as he leaned his chin against the top rope staring as his tag partner continued doing pretty much slight variations of a bodyslam on one of their opponents who wore a goofy looking luchador mask that was most definitely crudely homemade. Close to a year in and the only difference from when he started was that he now had a locker with his name on it, albeit they had spelled and kept pronouncing MYOJIN wrong. That sure didn’t get old fast. The Shining Star boredly looked over his nails as his bigger tag partner, a fan favorite, continued to show just how limited and flawed he was as a wrestler- pretty much throwing the wannabe lucha wrestler around without any technique, any finesse, any style to his methods. Every moment he wasn’t doing that, he was ridiculously flexing his muscles. MYOJIN, even as a bit of a rookie to wrestling himself, could tell that the guy didn’t exactly have a lot of experience in any combat sport whatsoever.
And the worst part? The audience was absolutely eating it up. Every single flex of his muscles, every poorly performed move, every time he stood tall as their opponent went down- there were so many cheers… And it felt annoying to MYOJIN. Not only had he not been tagged into the match once, but he couldn’t understand. What was special about his partner? Was it that he was big and strong and had such a square chin that he could probably cut through metal with it? Whatever! What truly amazed him was how much they loved what the big guy was doing, no matter how repetitive it was, it was praised. He was basically groomed to be the new hero of the promotion, and MYOJIN simply couldn’t see what made him deserving of that role beyond his appearance.
The reason the Shining Star had signed up for the place was that he had expected to grow from it, to learn from others, and grow as a wrestler. By now, he would have thought that he’d have progressed and found himself doing more. He wanted more, he wanted to finally have a chance to be able to prove himself.
Instead, MYOJIN found himself constantly in tag matches low on the card- rarely doing more besides elevating whoever his more established partner was for the week- being forced to let them do all the work. It was the same thing every time- and it grew more and more frustrating.
Eventually, he was snapped back to reality as he realized that his partner had been careless- and was now getting jumped by the other team. His eyes widened as he realized they were setting him up for their finisher, and he pulled himself with nimble precision onto the top rope and propelled himself forward with a springboard dropkick-! He sent them all down and the crowd came alive, an energetic hyperness in his eyes as he quickly ran back to his corner- begging for the hot tag from his partner as he began slowly getting up…
Though once he finally got up, he DIDN’T tag MYOJIN in. Instead, he posed again for the audience and the cameras- and received a clothesline to the back of the head. The hope and adrenaline quickly faded from MYOJIN as he had finally had enough- and dropped from the apron and began walking backstage. The crowd stared in confusion as he began walking away, throwing his hands up in the air- as his partner, surprised and distracted by being abandoned, got rolled up for the…
ONE!
TWO!
THREE!
Later.
A little while later- after getting scolded by the head of the promotion for leaving his partner alone and about how he was fortunate to even get a spot on most cards (that completely went through Shouta’s head and out the other), the blonde had begun to start packing his bags and was ready to leave. Though he was suddenly stopped by a large hand that landed on his shoulder. He froze and quickly turned around to see it was his partner from earlier in the night.
“What the hell was that out there, man?!” He yelled in the blonde’s face, red with embarrassment and anger as he stood there seething. Shouta simply blinked, his expression not changing much as he kept a cool look on his face, but he crossed his arms and tilted his head.
“What’s up, Keith? Something wrong, hun-?”
“Don’t give me that BULLSHIT! You cost us that match!” Keith spoke through gritted teeth, slamming his fist against one of the locker doors.
“I mean-” Shouta then placed his hands on his hips and raised an eyebrow, “I don’t know, it seemed like you had the match by yourself. Didn’t look like you needed my help at all.”
Suddenly, his collar was tightly grabbed by the bigger wrestler as he pushed him against a wall. “Do you think this is fucking funny? I could end you right now and you wanna laugh?!” The blonde kept a cool look on his face, or at least attempted to- admittedly, his heart began thumping wildly against his chest as he started to get ready for a fight, his hands curling into fists.
“Hey, can you not? You’re being really loud and we’re trying to have a conversation here.” A feminine voice filled with a lot of bravado caught both of their attention. She was still in wrestling gear, fair but somewhat tanned skin with mermaid blue pixie cut hair. She also wore black lipstick with an eyebrow piercing and had a few visible tattoos on her arms. Standing next to her, was a pretty intimidating brown skinned young man who had short but thick black hair- also in his wrestling gear.
“Stay out of it.” Keith uttered, before the man stepped closer. The girl spoke again, “You know, if we get involved- it’s three against one, would you really want to get your ass beat after losing a match, tough guy? Is it really worth it?”
As if for emphasis, the tallest of them raised his eyebrows and cracked his knuckles. The anger on Keith’s face quickly began to fade as he let go of Shouta, stepping back. “Tch- You’re lucky you even got to be in some of MY spotlight.” He uttered at the blonde who simply gave him a smug smile in return as he walked away.
“That guy’s such a tool, right?” The girl mused, shrugging her shoulders.
He then turned to the two, a bit surprised anyone had come to his rescue at the moment. Fixing the collar of his shirt, he simply took a breath and laughed, nodding in agreement. “Yeah. Uh, thanks for that..? I’ve seen you two around here and in some matches, but I don’t think I’ve ever caught your names?”
“Oh, right-! I’m Faye, he’s Jamie.” She introduced them with a little smile. Jamie nodded with a grin so brief that if you blinked, you would have missed it. “Jamie doesn’t really talk that much. Very few words kind of guy. We saw how you walked out on that douchebag earlier tonight and just wanted to say congratulations.”
Shouta stared at Faye, slightly perplexed at her words. “Congratulations? What do you mean?”
“Oh, just having the balls to stop letting jerks like that walk all over you. The head guy has been treating Keithy-boy las if he’s the second coming of Christ. Like he’s going to be the big name that draws this place more money, he’s so full of himself because he knows it- and has been treating everyone like shit.”
“Yeah, well, no one really seems that pleased with me because of it.” Shouta spoke, picking up his bag with a little sigh.
“I mean, let’s be honest- Who cares? It’s not like you were going to be treated any better. Me and Jamie have both been here for a while, and kissing up only really gets you a pat on the head and maybe one big match before right to doing jack shit. Pretty damn annoying, yeah? Only the favorites here get an actual chance- doesn’t that annoy you too?”
Shouta paused, looking down at the floor as he thought to himself.
“It doesn’t just annoy me.. It pisses me off.”
Faye’s grin simply grew bigger, “Welcome to the club.”
Innocence. It's something none of us really appreciate until we lose it, isn't it? Things felt simpler, the world was painted black and white. It's easier to make sense of things that way when you have a naive mindset like that. There's a reason why people say ignorance is bliss after all, and innocence is just a polite word for ignorance. Though, one way or another- everyone learns the simple truth that tends to wipe away that naivete pretty fast in life:
Life is not fair.
Things don't always happen for a reason. Despite your hard work, you won't always get your way. Some have to work harder for the things that they earn- and that's a very, VERY relevant thing to learn when you're a wrestler. You can do the best you can, every single time- and put out as MUCH as you possibly can….
And it still won't be enough for the opportunities that you reach so desperately for. Maybe it's because management doesn't think you'll be a boost to the company's popularity, maybe they just don't think you're what they're looking for. But, oh, what can you do?
No, I mean- Really. What can you do? Do you just suck it up and deal with it? Do you just cry about it? No, I don't think so, honey. You fight with the best of your ability, you punch upward, and you take control. If they want to set you aside, you keep fighting until they can't hold you back any longer.
I, MYOJIN, yours truly- undoubtedly one of the best this company will ever see come through its doors- broke the ceiling that they tried to set for me. No, I didn't just do that- I shattered. I won their one and only Iron Man main event of a Pay Per View, and I stand here now in the semi-finals of this tournament for the X-Factor Tournament… and believe me, I will be the next X-Factor Champion, but… I still have this bitter disgust. This frustration that I can't find the words for- until I remembered the other matches on the card for this upcoming show.
You know, the Soundcloud twig getting a shot at the Grand Championship- while multiple other names could be fighting for it. Instead of the person whose only claim to fame is that he's least cared about clown in Big Drip Productions- ...Simply speaking that name makes me nauseous, by the way- gets the chance of a lifetime to be fighting for the top prize of Proving Ground- which, let's be honest, is just handing Mark Hunter a free title defense as we all know his reign has been pretty much a borefest.
As I said earlier, life just isn't fair. I can't help but think anyone in this tournament would have been a better option to challenge for the Grand title. Raven, Reynolds, me. Wait… There's one more name in this tournament, Lance! Lance Williams-
You couldn't have thought I'd be referring to you as well, right? I mean, after all, sweetheart, you don't even really belong here against me. Or in this tournament. After all, you seem like you've been pretty much misplaced here. Not only do you have more losses than you've won here, but you know- Haven't I beaten you already? In a tag match?
Yes, yes, sure you can make the excuse that you weren't the one that I pinned- but your inability and failure to win a tag team match highlights pretty much some of the biggest issues with you as a whole. You have lost time and time again and the only reason you’re here in the semi-finals now? Is because you’ve happened to get the lucky draw to go against Cadillac Jackson, who we all know, is pretty much a cakewalk for just about anyone here.
You’re exactly representing the problem I have with Project: Honor, hun. Jokes like you continued to be given chances without deserving them. You lose, fall, screw up, and no matter what you’re given a choice to wrestle in this tournament. Do you know why? It’s not because you’re actually good at what you do, if you were, maybe your win-loss record wouldn’t be looking so harsh there, sweetheart. Maybe you’d be more than just guy who mentions that he beat Mark Hunter once upon a time that NO ONE cares about just to cling onto the littlest bit of relevancy so people would pay attention to you. You’re not here because of anything involving your own skill, your own ability, and talent or charisma.
Lance, sweetheart, you’re here because you’re just a charity case.
Indy Darling even admitted it on Twitter when he brought up that you had no important wins, and you gave you this spot just for you to have something to look forward to. You’re only here because our general manager felt bad for you- and the only reason you’re in the semi-finals is because you got the luck of the draw, you faced a loser. If you had gone against anyone else? Especially ME? You’d have been sent back to the gym and working only muscles that are only there for show because you clearly don’t have the brain to use them to win a fight.
Honey, you’re outmatched against me. You have big muscles, sure, but I’ve made a career out of breaking down and dismantling wrestlers larger and stronger than me. You may think that gives you an advantage- but did it when you couldn’t beat me with your shitty tag partner a while back? Hell, has it given you an advantage with just about anyone that’s important? IThe chance I get a hold on any of your limbs, suddenly those big arms won’t be intimidating when they’re bent backward. I’m going to take you and rip you to shreds- because my technical skill and graceful agility will be more than enough to outdo you.
When I was injured earlier this year- I took time, I thought over everything, I rebuilt myself piece by piece and now I’m better than ever. I’ve pushed myself to the limit. I was at my lowest when I got injured, but do you know what I did when I came back? I made and keep making the best of every situation I’m put into. I haven’t been beaten in ANY match since my return, I wrestled thirty minutes against someone who everyone considers one of the best on Proving Ground- I GAVE BLOOD, SWEAT, AND TEARS AND CAME OUT AS THE ONE ON TOP! I AM THE PERSON WITH THE MOST WINS IN THIS ENTIRE COMPANY! And this hot streak is SURE as hell not going to end by the likes of some bitch boy with a terrible fade. That’s the difference between me and you: I was brought to my lowest and I came back swinging, you? You’re just a journeyman.
And you know something? I’m going to ENJOY making you tap out. I’m going to enjoy making people watch this tall, well-built titan scream and desperately reach for the ropes as they all begin to see you for what you TRULY are- a nobody. I’m going to do what I’ve always done and show that mediocrity and cheapness will never outdo real talent, real ability-
I am your superior, Lance. Not only do I wrestle better? But I look WAY better.
This is the Summer of the Shining Star. I'm going to get past you, I"m going to win the finals-
And I will have what should have been mine from the very beginning of this company, the X-Factor Championship.
Sorry, not sorry.