“What good is being the one when you the only one that knows it?”
“The moment that I lose faith in myself is the moment that I fade into obscurity like everyone else.”
“The moment that I let losses define me is the moment that I lose a grip over myself.”
“Quite frankly, I’m not bothered by my loss to Jake Smith last week. Was I determined to prove him wrong and pick up a career defining victory? Of course I was, but it wasn’t in the cards because per usual – it ain’t easy to take down a former world champion and a staple of this brand. But I’m in good company because neither of my opponents this week have been able to pull off the feats that I can’t either. All four of us have so much to prove, and we need to rise to the cream of the crop rather than get left behind. But here’s the thing, whether it be Mig De Decker, Rory Slate, or BRAE, I can’t accept a defeat to any of these three. There’s a reason that at Operation: Doomsday, I was the only person to score a pinfall over Michael Machina. There’s a reason that there was a three way tie amongst myself, BRAE, and Machina. There’s a reason that Decker got pinned in the end and my only flaw came at an impulse decision, getting caught up in the heat of the moment and paying for it. I can’t be mad at myself and I haven’t beaten myself up for it. I’m at peace with Operation: Doomsday, while my actions still eat up at BRAE because that was his only chance to step up to the plate, because if you keep lining this guy up against me I will beat him every single time. I think Rory Slate is somewhat cool, I’m just agitated because most of Machina’s points came off pinning her. As for Mig De Decker? How the tables have turned. I live rent free in his head because he knows that I’ve eclipsed him and all I need is that big victory to push myself right back up the card where I belong.”
“But there’s a difference between feeling that you belong and putting in the work to actually get there. Jake Smith pointed it out, I feel it with every match I have. More and more people are starting to get behind me. Those brash days being a nobody that not a single soul knew are past me. But just because people know me now, it don’t mean that I’m a ‘somebody’. Mig De Decker had his chance to be a somebody and he failed when the KAI-ZEN project flopped. Rory Slate had her chance to be a somebody when she was on PPV after PPV, in three different championship matches and she still can’t find a way to stand out amongst the pack. BRAE had his chance to be a somebody when he advanced to the quarter-finals of the King Of Elite tournament, but just like me, he couldn’t get past Joso. There’s a whole militia of people who form together to try and shut someone like me up. In some ways, I feel like this time, Decker ain’t public enemy number one in this match. I feel like it’s me, because I am continuing to push the envelope in different ways, win or lose, and I’m starting to become the name that people are dubbing for the future. But no matter how many times I try to put myself in that conversation, I don’t want to be the future, I want to be the present because when you talk about who should be on billboards and magazine covers, it’s my face. When you talk about the guy who only needs his mouth to cut into his opponents like a knife slicing through butter, it needs to be pointed out that nobody can put down the talk that I talk. Are there skepticisms of if I can walk the walk on a consistent basis, there sure are, but that goes for everyone in this match. But put yourself in my shoes, think long and hard.. Who has the most momentum here? Who is the guy that the brass has the most faith in? The breakout superstar who is improving with every single match, putting the fear of god in his opponents and making the hearts of everyone he comes across beat at the speed of a rocket launching in the air? It’s me. Jake Smith wanted to drag me into the deep waters but I think it’s safe to say that Jake got more than he was prepared for, and he had to dig deep to defeat me. Almost defeating Jake Smith only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, but I do know that I’m still leaving a blaze of glory with that grenade. I know that the verbal cuts these three bring to the table pale in comparison to the pipe bombs that I drop.”
“BRAE’s dropped two videos this week. I’m proud of him for getting ahead of the game, but he tried it at Operation: Doomsday and it didn’t work either. BRAE talks about me scratching the wrong part of his brain, my bad, bro. I’ll aim for the part of the brain that knocked your silly ass out when I beat you the first time. What agitates me about BRAE is that he remained docile, unsure of how he wanted to come at me and Machina the entire build to Operation: Doomsday. I even called him out for it and nothing changed! He was more focused on ripping Decker to shreds and now, all because I grabbed his leg – he wants to get disrespectful. Now he wants to get vile, but where was this at the PPV? Where was this in our match? I have always been clear about the kind of man I am. I like BRAE, I respect him, but there’s not a chance that I let a guy that I KNOW I am better than take what belongs to me. I got caught up in the moment, and I can acknowledge that it was a mistake that I’ve made. But if we’re going to judge people off of mistakes, then I can give you an entire Powerpoint Presentation of times where this guy slipped up. His failures are shown in full display on the Summer Jam stage yet he’s threatening me about how it won’t be pretty? Give me a fuckin’ break. I’m not holding you back, BRAE. The only person holding you back is yourself, because you don’t know what you want to be. One day you’re respectful, one day you’re coming for necks. But you came for the wrong neck this time because the moment you got me down? I’ll grab that knife in your hand and flip your wrist back and cut your throat. Because I have preached from the beginning, I have the cutthroat attitude to push me to the top. D.T.A. Don’t Trust Anybody, and I could never trust a mentally ill freak that doesn’t know if he wants to be my friend or my enemy. I know how good you are though, BRAE. But I know what this rodeo is like already. We’ve been on our horses before, and mine passed you up. But go ahead, take another swing! Try your hardest! But if you wanna come for the Sin City Superstar, you best not miss, because I’ll make it go Lights Out for you. Because you tried to show me Red Death, but you don’t got what it takes to kill me. The closest I got to seeing red from you was those contacts in your eyes, trying to artificially bring that fire out of you because I saw them for myself at Operation: Doomsday and there ain’t no fire in those eyes of yours. I don’t take kindly to disrespect, and I understand that you’re pissed at the PPV! I mean, I’d be pissed too. But I’d have way more ground to stand on than you do. We all had a bad week last week, didn’t we? But only one of us was the main event. Only one of us had the toughest competition to step up against. You didn’t learn from past mistakes against Hans Grayson, and you won’t learn from past mistakes against me. I’m the gates of agony that you have to try and break down in your attempt to get further in your career, but at these gates? It’s a deadend. You can’t break me down with your words, you can’t break me down with your strikes. I turned the Imperial Symphony into broken strings and shattered dreams, and yet you want me to believe that you’re going to hurt me? You’re going to tear me apart? I will do more than force you to address your failure next week. I want you to get up here and admit that I am better than you, because you’re throwing shots at the wrong guy.”
“Don’t you ever get tired of being in a contemplative state? Meditating for what? To get knocked out again? There was a time that BRAE was one to be genuinely afraid of. The first time I crossed paths with him, I was unsure of what was to come. I knew that his blows would hurt. I knew that he had a determined and focused aura that could throw me off my game, but I was adamant that if I stay composed in the face of adversity, I can get the job done. He wanted to hit me so hard that he would fall on his own impact. He wanted my chest to blister and turn red from his every chop. And at the end of the day, I outlasted him. That’s where my boxing background comes into play. I know how to go rounds, I know how to go the distance. And the distance I went with BRAE. And with a fatal four way in effect? I’m sure this match will go on for a while, and it’ll play to my advantage because no one has the grit that I do. That overwhelming desire to not just be a ‘New Breed’, but one of Dynasty’s stars. I called myself the Sin City Superstar from day one because I am here to manifest destiny! I am divinely ordained to stand amongst the rest of the pack in this company! One of the new faces of the future, and BRAE, you claim that I hold you back, but YOU. YOU WON’T HOLD ME BACK FROM MY DESTINY. You don’t wanna lose, you can’t lose. Guess what, you’re just like the rest of us. But when you close your eyes and you see reality for what it is? You see that it’s me with my arm raised again. You see that no matter how hard you fight on Friday, I keep getting it up because I want it more than ALL of you. Anytime I’m in the picture, his thoughts rush to anger, he says. These are the exact same things I called him out for in our first match. He can’t stay focused when he most needs to. His rage is his biggest enemy and instead of learning from it, he continues to let it consume him. Well let it consume you all you want, cause you ain’t the bad guy. You ain’t the villain that everyone is scared of. I’m hearing you out BRAE, I can even acknowledge where I went wrong at the PPV but what you’re giving off right now is ‘No More Mr. Nice Guy’ attitude. Expecting us to shake in our boots when our most important objective is to win, and win I will because you’re cutting off your nose to spite your face. You think that the solution to me grabbing your leg at Operation: Doomsday is to hurt me until I can’t talk or move anymore – have you forgotten what your goal is? You speak of the fact that you can’t lose anymore, yet you borderline want to kill me. All you see is red, and if you want to go to the depths of hurting me – then it is red you’ll see. You’ll see it in the mirror, as blood drips down your face for trying to fuck with me. I have so much to prove and with Grand Rampage so close, this is my chance to show that I belong. So while you may feel on the brink of insanity. You may even feel like a ‘psycho’.. You think you’re becoming Christian Bale, when you’re as intimidating as Christian Combs.”
“Tough Friday, won’t it be, Rory? You get to go home and compete in front of a sold out crowd in your hometown of Chicago. I’m sure your friends and family will be there, I’m aware that the entire city of Chicago will be rooting behind you. But all that tells me is that you won’t be fighting with the support of a whole city, you will be fighting with the PRESSURE of an entire city on your shoulders. And we’ve seen how you operate in the face of pressure and adversity. You don’t do very well, don’t you? You squash nobodies like Jamie Crass, is that her name? But when you get thrown in that ring with the sharks you always find a way to drown. Your boo Michael Machina was aware of how weak you are compared to him, so he pinned you and pinned you until he found a just as weak competitor to take advantage of for the win. I don’t even have a problem with you – I just feel that it’s irresistibly true that you don’t want this as much as I do. You’re a better person than I am, happy because he won, I’d be swearing death on that man for seeing you as so inferior to him. But it’s hard to speak down on you. In some ways, I kinda pity you. You bring energy for Mig, you’ve even learned to get under BRAE’s skin.. But you bring nothing for me. Are you afraid of me? Do you fear what I bring to the table? I would love to see Rory Slate unfiltered and at her very best. I warned you what would happen when you rely on something unorthodox and unindicative of your ability like using outside tactics. To your credit, you tried your hardest to fight a clean fight. But it appears that even if you play fair or unfair, you still can’t get the job done. And I hate that for you, because no matter how many times you keep trying, no matter how many times you claim to finally bring that A-1 effort, you either ain’t trying enough or you simply ain’t good enough. And let me believe it’s the former, because while I think I am better than y’all, and as much fun as it would be to run through three other people like it’s nothing – what raises my stock is me leaving the victor of a hard fought match.”
“It’s what I expect. I will give you a little credit though. BRAE has been sitting here crying and complaining for two whole weeks about me grabbing him when he simply wasn’t strong enough to get me off of him. It happens. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Honestly, the fact that you went hard on him, the fact that you went hard on Mig? It makes me kinda respect you. You’re smart, and you know your place. There’s a lot that I could say about you, but well.. People preach that actions speak louder than words and the action you made of choosing not to address me spoke a thousand words.”
“So is that all– or am I forgetting someone?”
“Ah, right. Mig, saving the ‘best’ for last. I don’t know if anyone ever knows what this guy is talking about. He’s been trying his hardest to prove that he was a dog since he’s gotten here. Made his debut, nobody cared about him. He overcompensated. Joined KAI-ZEN, he was the fifth relevant member behind Ricky and got passed up by two guys who he’d been in the company longer than them, overcompensated. Without KAI-ZEN, he’s back to nothing. He overcompensates every week. His effort against Ronan Malosi was hardly an all star effort. I can see where I went wrong against Jake Smith, and it’ll simply push me for the win this Friday. The guy is a complete and utter moron. Claiming that he wasn’t outperformed by BRAE, even though he was tied for least points of the match with Rory Slate. I’m so in Decker’s head that my original point got lost in translation. I said that he could set such a record of scoring no falls in the match, never said it was a guarantee. And the fact that he’s still holding onto that shows how much my word means to him. It shows the change that has come from us two over the past few months. He’s proudly repping the fact that he ended up with one fall, like that’s something to be proud of. I’m aware that Decker ended up pinning me, but let’s make it clear that it was charity work. He took advantage of someone else’s work and pinned me. I pinned him too, big deal. He’s neglecting that part as if I didn’t have him dead to rights as well. And Decker is flexing this one fall over me, flexing that he somehow proved me wrong when he’s grasping for straws. The guy was tied for least points in the match and he was the man who got pinned to give Machina the win. You have the least ground to stand on in this ring out of everyone, because you accept moral victories because you’re incapable of picking up actual victories. Decker says I shouldn’t be proud of my performance in that match, yet he’s throwing this idea that I proved him right in my face as if it means something. I pinned Michael Machina and you don’t see them rolling me a red carpet shot at the New Breed Championship despite the fact that he still hasn’t pinned me? And that’s fine, because I’ll work my way up for anything. Do you even hear yourself? I STOLE another man’s point? What do you think happens when you hit your finisher on me?! We weren’t fighting! I kicked out Machina's signature and he was trying to finish me off, until you stole that from him and hit your finisher on me when I was already hurt! But of course, you’re too delusional to recognize that. Nobody proved you right.”
“The only thing that you proved is that you’re a chump willing to shift a narrative just to make your pathetic ass feel better about yourself. I’m ready. I’m always ready for you because when it comes to you and I in that ring? You’re the only blemish on my record that I can say shouldn’t belong. I can accept losing to some of the best wrestlers Elite Answers Wrestling has ever seen, but I can’t accept losing to you. And every single time we cross paths? Every time I out-do you? Like in that six man tag? Like at Operation: Doomsday? I will keep doing it and doing it until you shut the fuck up. Until I’m to new horizons and you are just a distant memory. But I will humor you, and I will acknowledge you as the threat that you desperately want to be. I’m aware that you’re going to make my life hard this Friday. You’re going to bring the heat, but all it takes is one Lights Out, one Sin City Stunner, and you’re back to being cooled down. Everyone in this match is a downward slope but I’m the most capable to step up to the plate and snatch this victory from all of y’all. Because Friday Night Dynasty needs me. They don’t need BRAE. They don’t need Rory Slate. They sure as hell don’t need Mig De Decker.”
“There’s a reason that the World Heavyweight Champion, Myles, refers to me. There’s a reason that he respects what I’ve become. Because every goddamn week, I am making everyone I cross paths with WORK for every single bit of offense! For just that victory, they have to sit there and give me my flowers because never can anyone say they had an easy night out there facing Cody Maverick! It’ll be awhile before I can truly get there and stay there, but I know what peak looks like. I know what it’s like to get a glimpse of it. I’m closer to that spotlight than any of y’all will ever be. So compliments of the Sin City Superstar, The Main Event Mogul, The Headliner.. Get the fuck out of my way so I can move on to my fourth Dynasty main event, maybe even a marquee match in the event I enter and win Grand Rampage..”
“But if you don’t wanna move? That’s fine by me.”
“Because I’ll run all of your asses down, because I look all of y’all up and down and I just got that feeling that no one here can stop me dead in my tracks on returning to my winning ways.”
