- Messages
- 159
- Points
- 63
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EAW PERFORMANCE CENTER ● NOVEMBER 7TH, 2018
Harlow Reichert slipped into the EAW Performance Center knowing damn well she was running late. The powerful redhead had been hoping to catch the guest speaker the trainers had invited to class that day. Harlow usually never cared about that sort of thing, especially since she wasn’t a student there, but today it was a little different. The person speaking to the eager EAW up and comers was one of the biggest names to ever grace the company. He knew exactly what it took to compete at the highest level in the company and truly, this person had done it all. Harlow was slowly becoming a student of the game in EAW, and she was definitely curious about what he had to say. Hoping to slip into the main area of the PC undetected, Harlow quietly closed the door behind her.
“Better late than never.”
All eyes turned and looked at Harlow and she felt her cheeks flush. “I mean, my bad?”
“The opportunity to pick the brain of someone that managed to conquer this business in almost record time - and you decide that it would be a smart idea to turn up late? Seeing that you tried so hard to sneak in hoping to be unnoticed; come stand up the front.”
Harlow’s eyes widened and after hesitating for a moment, she finally shuffled her feet forward. She made her way towards the guest lecturer and tried not to smirk as he extended his hand. She gave it a shake.
“Your name?”
“Harlow.”
“Why were you late, Harlow? Something a little more important holding you up?”
A six-foot something golden god of a man had held Harlow up several times that morning but she didn’t say that out loud. Instead, she went with the humble approach. “It depends on your definition of important. I was actually wrapped up in listening to my opponent’s promo this week and lost all track of time. I apologize for that. I didn’t mean to hold up your lecture.” She capped it off with a sweet smile.
“A match this week should be enough reason to make sure you’re not late for such an opportunity to learn. But, I guess you can’t expect everyone to hold the right attitude to succeed in this business.”
Harlow tried her best to not to roll her eyes. Before she could reply, another person spoke up.
“Excuse me, Mr. Williams? Can you tell us what exactly that right attitude is?”
Harlow looked up at EAW Hall of Famer Xavier Williams and raised a perfectly arched eyebrow. “I’d like to know since you think me being late somehow diminishes the fact I want to succeed in this sport.”
“Because the right attitude for this business is putting yourself first. It’s about making sure that you’re constantly in the right position that’s going to benefit your career more than any other. For someone in your position, Harlow, that opportunity is to learn from someone like myself. The opportunity to learn from someone who knows the struggles, the trials; the blood, sweat and tears that you’re going to have to endure if you want to one day stand at the top of this business is absolutely vital.” Xavier’s full attention remained on Harlow as he shook his head. “The right attitude for this business is making sure you’re constantly putting yourself in the right position to succeed. The right attitude is making sure that you’re giving yourself every opportunity you can to learn from those who have achieved everything that you’ve dreamed of achieving. If you had the right attitude - there would have been nothing that would have stopped you from being the first person at the door waiting for this to start.”
Harlow couldn’t help it. She rolled her eyes. “Alright look. I didn’t purposely come in here to disrupt you and I apologized for being late, but you’re not going to treat me like I’m beneath you simply because you might have already achieved everything you’ve wanted and called it a day.”
Xavier took a deep breath. “You’re more than welcome to lead the lecture for everyone here, Harlow. Tell them about everything that going to help you conquer this business. Tell them about how a girl who entered this company without knowing whether she really wanted to be in this business or not, suddenly has the ambition needed in this business. Do you know what puts someone like me above you, Harlow? It’s not the accolades that I’ve acquired throughout my career - it’s that this was always the only option that I gave myself. This business was my life. I lived professional wrestling. I breathed professional wrestling. This business was my religion. There wasn’t anything that I wasn’t willing to do to make sure that I gained everything that I wanted. I put myself through unimaginable tortures to obtain my dreams. That’s why I’m annoyed that you had the gall to turn up late. If this business isn’t your first priority - then this isn’t the business for you.”
Harlow pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. She didn’t like to be challenged and she didn’t like having this man undermine her dedication to her craft. The look that Xavier was giving her was practically begging her to challenge him, and honestly Harlow was tempted. However, she took the high road and forced a big, fake smile to cross her face. “Duly noted.”
Xavier rolled his eyes and motioned for her to go find a seat. Harlow happily moved off to the side and found a place to sit on the ring steps.
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“So what happens when you take away someone’s ability to present a logic based argument against you? You get to sit back, prop your feet up, and watch them resort to using a disability as an insult. Now I can approach this a few ways. I can rationalize that Xavier Arnold has not done his homework on Harlow Reichert. I can assume that up until the other day, he had never heard me speak or watched a single match of mine. I can assume he doesn’t know my story.
I could also take the time to lecture him.
Clearly this man enjoys playing the role of a villain and by referring to me as ‘autistic’ he thinks he’s being funny and mean. He wants to use this as a way to get under my skin and make me angry. But maybe I can assume Xavier is just ignorant. After all, he had referred to other opponents as Nazis before, and what mature person does that in the year 2018?
Xavier, I’m not autistic, but you were right when you made reference to me having a disability. I was diagnosed as dyslexic when I was a child, and some things have always been a struggle for me. It’s not always easy for me to see letters, numbers, and words, but I make the most of my situation. I’ve worked extremely hard to overcome my limitations because I know that they’ll never define me. I’ve stated several times that professional wrestling was not my first choice when it came to professions. For the longest time I drifted through life without any direction because I had zero desire. My passion in life is storytelling and I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to craft my own world and fill that space with wonderfully unique characters who had their battles to face. But that wasn’t in the cards for me.
And for the longest time I let that eat alive me.
But here in EAW I’ve found my own creative outlet. I can still tell a story, but it’s just done in a different way. It took me a few months to recognize this and appreciate it, but I’m determined to make up for lost time now. Even though I am an Empire Elitist, competing on Battleground is no demotion for me. I crave these experiences and any opportunity I can get to face off against another person. Battleground is such a unique outlet and concept. It gives you a chance to face absolutely anyone in EAW. I could go on my social media account right now and challenge World Heavyweight Champion Rex McAllister to a match, and if he accepted, we would be the main event of Battleground. If I somehow pulled off the upset win there, imagine what that would do for me on Empire! That kind of victory would instantly elevate me to that next level. Absolutely no one on Empire would be able to overlook me or just assume that they’re getting an easy victory.
I’ve been lectured about not having the right attitude for this business and that’s something I’m working hard to change. Xavier, you should probably follow my example in that regard because that is the only way you are going to change your situation. Your attitude will forever be the reason you’re held back in this company. You’re extremely rude, come off as ungrateful, and don’t seem to appreciate that you have a place in this company. I say this because that’s exactly how I started off here. All it did was give me a losing record and paint me as an easy target for the rest of my roster.
At this point in time, no one takes you seriously or is at all intimidated by you. Your cheap insults mask your lack of confidence and the fact you’re scared you’re going to be on Battleground for the rest of your time here in Elite Answers Wrestling. Hurling insults at me and contradicting yourself when you address me isn’t going to make this match any easier for you. I don’t care if you respect me or if you despise me. The great thing about this place is you get to decide for yourself how you approach someone but you better be prepared to stick to that. Actions and words have consequences, and I’m going to treat you like I do everyone else I step into the ring with. I’m going to take the match seriously, formulate a winning strategy, and then I’m going to execute it perfectly against you. I’m going to beat you on Monday night, and I’m going to make sure that you stay on Battleground for the foreseeable future since you see it as such an insult to you.
If you truly believe that Battleground is an insult then you need to stay there and continue getting humbled. If you were truly as good as you think you are, then you would have already fought your way up through the ranks and got yourself back on the main roster. But instead you have chosen to wallow in your own self-pity and complain about your situation. You do realize that whatever you project out into the universe is always going to come back around to you, right? If you constantly harp on the negatives and refuse to see the positives, then you will never get anywhere in life, let alone in Elite Answers Wrestling. The people in this company that are successful are the ones who have swallowed their pride in the toughest of times, fought through adversity, and prepared themselves for the possibility that things might not immediately work in their favor. They have remained confident in themselves and their abilities, and most importantly, they have trusted the process. Things aren’t easy, Xavier. Wrestling isn’t easy. You aren’t going to be an overnight success because almost no one is. There are one or two athletes who come along and are able to immediately make an impact, but for the most part, you have to be patient and you have to work hard. People aren’t going to care if you’re unhappy. Life is going to go on regardless. You can either let it pass you by, or you can suck it up and make the most of your situation.
Personally, I chose to embrace whatever comes my way. It’s funny how opening your mind up and looking towards the bigger picture can change your perspective. Xavier, you might not want to be on Battleground, but when I got here, I didn’t want to do this period. I had to make peace with my situation and you should really do the same. Once you find peace of mind and start living a positive life, good things will come your way. You’ll get some wins. You’ll start to pad your stats with impressive matches. Opportunities are going to find you, and because you’ll have the right attitude, you’ll be ready to handle the challenge. But right now, you’re not. Nothing about you is rscreams I’m ready to be an impact player here. Monday night is going to be a huge lesson for you. Not only am I going to beat you, but I’m going to enjoy myself while I’m twisting your limbs into various submission holds. I’m going to giggle every time I send you stumbling back with one of my strikes, and I’m going to be proud of the fact that every one of my perfectly placed kicks knock more and more sense into you. You’ve given me no reason to believe otherwise. You’ve made no argument to try and convince me that your skill set is better than mine. Insults and pettiness aren’t going to help you avoid my ‘Fate’s End’ finisher. Attempting to be a bully isn’t going to help you reverse or avoid my bridging fuijiwara armbar. You’re getting pinned or submitted come Battleground, and I hope that when all is said and done it helps you mature as a person and a performer.”
