❝It takes a lot from a man to know when to take accountability when things ain’t exactly going his way.
I have no problem getting ahead on this one.
My career isn’t in shambles by no means. We’re not even close to that. I’m still the King Of Elite and I’m still a bad motherfucker. Two weeks ago, I laid Hans Grayson out and dropped ‘em at my feet–I didn’t let a stupid little no contest call stop me from seeing a chance to call my shot and kick some ass. But as I continue to fight my own goddamned vision, as I struggle to make sense of the atmosphere all around me... it’s clear that I have to start taking agency for myself in ways that I haven’t before. And with that, I wanna get ahead of some more things. Drake Armstrong ... is what he is. He’s a slimy, cowardly, sonovabitch, and I know what game he’s trying to play. But if he’s so scared? I mean, I can understand exactly why. It may come down to the wire between myself and Hans with the two big title contracts that hang in the balance—since Drake somehow thinks he’s immortal, he genuinely believes that the shelf life of that reign of his is going to go on for a long, long time... and there’s only two men equipped to do it. Whatever it may be—I ain’t concerned with it at the end of the day. Where my heart currently lies, is fighting. I don’t wanna get stagnant by any means—I don’t wanna use this crown as an excuse to not be the very best that I can be in that ring, but I also have to call things how I see ‘em, and excuse me if my vision isn’t as good as it used to be, but I see a whole buncha bullshit clogging up my way to where I want to be. I wouldn’t exactly say that I’m at odds with Hans Grayson. I respect ‘em, I really do. But at the same time? I would like to put my focus elsewhere. I look at the opponents across the ring from us and I see a shit ton of talent, everyone in there you can’t sleep on—I think about what they have to gain.
Then, I look at our team. Adam Lucas is an emotional wreck right now ... for reasons that aren’t even my place to speak on. Hans and I both have the same destination, but the whole world knows that we can’t reach that destination together, so this is going to be quite the tricky trios match, isn’t it? Nonetheless. I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. I’m an adult. I’m a man. I’ve found myself in situations like this millions of times and what I do is I take lemons and I make lemonade—I’ve strived to do that every single time. And it’s not going to change... just because there’s a guy in my ear... just because I put Hans down with the Sin City Stunner a few weeks back. What that came from was purely competition. And my competitive spirit is telling me that I need to get UP off of my ass and I need to support my teammates in this time, because sometimes in life, things are bigger than you, and that’s what brings us to this event in Oaxaca in the first place. So I’ll give these people something to be pleased with, I’m going to make it awfully hard for Sayuri, Candice, and Miku out there—and I’m not going to let anything else affect that because that would be doing myself and my opponents a disservice.
Now, again, I’m aware that it’s a bit difficult to put it in perspective that Hans Grayson and Adam Lucas are my teammates this week. One thing’s for certain: when it comes down to fighting the evil on this brand—fighting guys like Drake Armstrong and Kai Rabeaux, who would rather serve Drake’s evil desires for Voltage, Hans and I are on the same page. But my vitriol for Drake speaks for itself—we both have common goals there and it’s not going to be very easy to stop us from that. But I can’t look at my opponents this week and say the same. I mean, I look at Miku Sakai and I just roll my eyes. She pisses me off, but she’s an annoyance more than she is a genuine desire to maul. When it comes down to it, I wonder how well Sayuri and Candice can even get along with her. I mean, we’ve seen it firsthand. When things don’t go Miku’s way? She’ll just jump to blaming her partners. She won’t reflect on why she may have not been able to help her team win that match—it’ll just go on whoever was willing to put in more work than she was.
How in the hell is that productive? I’ll answer that real quick for you: it’s not productive. But that’s Miku Sakai’s life, and career, in a nutshell. She thrives on being the anti-thesis of productivity, and it’s taken what could’ve been an all star Elitist into a very good one. Miku can boast up her win over me all she wants. She can tear down my name, throw all the insults about me, say some more bullshit that she randomly dredged up in a dream—and that’s what it’ll be, right? I’m not really phased anymore. Hell, I think a lot of people would love to play the game where they “pretend” to be unbothered by her demeanor, but truly, I have grown accustomed to her antics so much that you HAVE to laugh at it! The one thing that I can give credit for, is this. She never got under my skin for her words—they mean nothing to me, but she got under my skin when she beat me, and I have my own faults to acknowledge on that end. But when it came down to it... when it came to redeeming myself, only one of us left King Of Elite with their career in a much different position than what it was walking in, and that was yours truly.
I’m looking to reinforce a commonly known fact in this week’s trios’ match, and it is that no matter if you like it or not, Miku... You’re pretty damn good, but I’m simply just better and it’s up to you to TRY and do something about that. I suppose a lesson like that can go towards someone like Sayuri Hamura, who is still young in her career and trying to get ahead to the next level. To this point, for her? It’s been a lot of trial and error. It’s about seeing what works and what doesn’t. Considering she’s not trying to rip my ear drums out with a grating voice and complaints like Miku is—I’d say she’s at least one fourth of the way to figuring things out. Now, Sayuri, I have no problem telling you this. Sure, we both may feel like we’re searching for a new purpose after losing big matches... but we aren’t quite in the ‘same position’ as much as you’d think.
My purpose is right in front of me, but the only person who knows what the Hell that I’m looking at right now is myself. I’m not going to pretend that losing to Drake didn’t hurt my psyche, but I’m also not running away from that L. I’m facing it head on and if two weeks ago was anything to go by? I’m fine. Considering I had to be face-to-face with the motherfucker and I kept my cool, I didn’t let him break me down, I think it’s pretty clear that I’m fine. You can’t knock it out of the park every single time—and I accomplished my match against Drake in such a savvy way that didn’t hold me back from being able to get back to that EAW World Championship. This week is just part of the steps back to getting there. And I promise you, my next time around—when I have no choice BUT to use my King Of Elite crown... I am not failing, even if it costs me a second eye to do so. Right now, it’s all about what you’re willing to give up, Sayuri.
If you can’t look yourself in the mirror and say you’re not fighting to give up everything; even in situations where you DON’T need to do so, then you’re not ready to get to where you need to be, because it is more about the confidence in your own ability than it is anything else. At my side as partners are two guys that I want to be in the spot of, two guys that I want to be better than, two guys that I would give up anything to be able to beat when it matters the very most. I have pinned both Hans Grayson and Adam Lucas, but that’s simply not enough. It’s not enough until the world championship is in my hands. It’s not enough until the whole world is talking about us three and acknowledging how I beat them with the lights brightest. And even though they’re my partners this week, I’m still living and dying by the fact that I have to show up and show out just like they did... because when the time comes? I look back at how we did here, I look back at how we’ve done in all these recent big matches, and I find what gave me the extra edge to work my ass off and I use it for the win.
All my career, I have known to dig deep, and I bet Candice Blair would love to dig deep right now because that’s where she's been. She walked into Shock Value partnering up with ARIA—and it didn’t net her the Unified Tag Team Championships. ARIA is challenging for the EAW World Championship in the main event, while she’s here teaming with us. She’s trying to get to those Unified Tag Team Championships, and the only way for her to get there is by winning another tag team match against Diamond Dixon & Cosmo Goldworthy at Grand Rampage. So, let’s put that in perspective, right? At Grand Rampage, she’s gotta go up against two rising stars and do everything in her power to make sure that they can’t surpass her after all the work that she’s put in to reach where she’s at right now. And then, this week, she’s teaming up with a rookie and an entitled veteran to take on three of the top names of Voltage—guys who stand in positions that she WISHES she could be in. No matter what it is, nothing has ever come easy for Candice. And to some extent? I actually respect that about her. She doesn’t complain, she goes to that ring and she goes to work.
But you can only work, and work, and work, for so long before you grow exhausted and fed up. I don’t know when she’ll grow fed up, but I can say that this is probably going to be another night where it’s not going to benefit her. She’s gotta do everything in her power to boost herself up and her partners all at once. But I don’t know about Adam or Hans, but the last thing that I could give a fuck about is coming all the way down to Oaxaca just to fucking lose. Candice is going to have to toughen up. These are “new” partners for her, and I’ve had my fair share of action on both the same & opposing side as Hans and Adam. I’m ready for whatever, and I know they are too. That’s the cloth that we’ve been cut from. Candice has been here for years, and sometimes, no one can really register which cloth that she’s cut from. But this is just one step closer to figuring it out... too bad, it’ll be all for naught.❞
I have no problem getting ahead on this one.
My career isn’t in shambles by no means. We’re not even close to that. I’m still the King Of Elite and I’m still a bad motherfucker. Two weeks ago, I laid Hans Grayson out and dropped ‘em at my feet–I didn’t let a stupid little no contest call stop me from seeing a chance to call my shot and kick some ass. But as I continue to fight my own goddamned vision, as I struggle to make sense of the atmosphere all around me... it’s clear that I have to start taking agency for myself in ways that I haven’t before. And with that, I wanna get ahead of some more things. Drake Armstrong ... is what he is. He’s a slimy, cowardly, sonovabitch, and I know what game he’s trying to play. But if he’s so scared? I mean, I can understand exactly why. It may come down to the wire between myself and Hans with the two big title contracts that hang in the balance—since Drake somehow thinks he’s immortal, he genuinely believes that the shelf life of that reign of his is going to go on for a long, long time... and there’s only two men equipped to do it. Whatever it may be—I ain’t concerned with it at the end of the day. Where my heart currently lies, is fighting. I don’t wanna get stagnant by any means—I don’t wanna use this crown as an excuse to not be the very best that I can be in that ring, but I also have to call things how I see ‘em, and excuse me if my vision isn’t as good as it used to be, but I see a whole buncha bullshit clogging up my way to where I want to be. I wouldn’t exactly say that I’m at odds with Hans Grayson. I respect ‘em, I really do. But at the same time? I would like to put my focus elsewhere. I look at the opponents across the ring from us and I see a shit ton of talent, everyone in there you can’t sleep on—I think about what they have to gain.
Then, I look at our team. Adam Lucas is an emotional wreck right now ... for reasons that aren’t even my place to speak on. Hans and I both have the same destination, but the whole world knows that we can’t reach that destination together, so this is going to be quite the tricky trios match, isn’t it? Nonetheless. I’m willing to let bygones be bygones. I’m an adult. I’m a man. I’ve found myself in situations like this millions of times and what I do is I take lemons and I make lemonade—I’ve strived to do that every single time. And it’s not going to change... just because there’s a guy in my ear... just because I put Hans down with the Sin City Stunner a few weeks back. What that came from was purely competition. And my competitive spirit is telling me that I need to get UP off of my ass and I need to support my teammates in this time, because sometimes in life, things are bigger than you, and that’s what brings us to this event in Oaxaca in the first place. So I’ll give these people something to be pleased with, I’m going to make it awfully hard for Sayuri, Candice, and Miku out there—and I’m not going to let anything else affect that because that would be doing myself and my opponents a disservice.
Now, again, I’m aware that it’s a bit difficult to put it in perspective that Hans Grayson and Adam Lucas are my teammates this week. One thing’s for certain: when it comes down to fighting the evil on this brand—fighting guys like Drake Armstrong and Kai Rabeaux, who would rather serve Drake’s evil desires for Voltage, Hans and I are on the same page. But my vitriol for Drake speaks for itself—we both have common goals there and it’s not going to be very easy to stop us from that. But I can’t look at my opponents this week and say the same. I mean, I look at Miku Sakai and I just roll my eyes. She pisses me off, but she’s an annoyance more than she is a genuine desire to maul. When it comes down to it, I wonder how well Sayuri and Candice can even get along with her. I mean, we’ve seen it firsthand. When things don’t go Miku’s way? She’ll just jump to blaming her partners. She won’t reflect on why she may have not been able to help her team win that match—it’ll just go on whoever was willing to put in more work than she was.
How in the hell is that productive? I’ll answer that real quick for you: it’s not productive. But that’s Miku Sakai’s life, and career, in a nutshell. She thrives on being the anti-thesis of productivity, and it’s taken what could’ve been an all star Elitist into a very good one. Miku can boast up her win over me all she wants. She can tear down my name, throw all the insults about me, say some more bullshit that she randomly dredged up in a dream—and that’s what it’ll be, right? I’m not really phased anymore. Hell, I think a lot of people would love to play the game where they “pretend” to be unbothered by her demeanor, but truly, I have grown accustomed to her antics so much that you HAVE to laugh at it! The one thing that I can give credit for, is this. She never got under my skin for her words—they mean nothing to me, but she got under my skin when she beat me, and I have my own faults to acknowledge on that end. But when it came down to it... when it came to redeeming myself, only one of us left King Of Elite with their career in a much different position than what it was walking in, and that was yours truly.
I’m looking to reinforce a commonly known fact in this week’s trios’ match, and it is that no matter if you like it or not, Miku... You’re pretty damn good, but I’m simply just better and it’s up to you to TRY and do something about that. I suppose a lesson like that can go towards someone like Sayuri Hamura, who is still young in her career and trying to get ahead to the next level. To this point, for her? It’s been a lot of trial and error. It’s about seeing what works and what doesn’t. Considering she’s not trying to rip my ear drums out with a grating voice and complaints like Miku is—I’d say she’s at least one fourth of the way to figuring things out. Now, Sayuri, I have no problem telling you this. Sure, we both may feel like we’re searching for a new purpose after losing big matches... but we aren’t quite in the ‘same position’ as much as you’d think.
My purpose is right in front of me, but the only person who knows what the Hell that I’m looking at right now is myself. I’m not going to pretend that losing to Drake didn’t hurt my psyche, but I’m also not running away from that L. I’m facing it head on and if two weeks ago was anything to go by? I’m fine. Considering I had to be face-to-face with the motherfucker and I kept my cool, I didn’t let him break me down, I think it’s pretty clear that I’m fine. You can’t knock it out of the park every single time—and I accomplished my match against Drake in such a savvy way that didn’t hold me back from being able to get back to that EAW World Championship. This week is just part of the steps back to getting there. And I promise you, my next time around—when I have no choice BUT to use my King Of Elite crown... I am not failing, even if it costs me a second eye to do so. Right now, it’s all about what you’re willing to give up, Sayuri.
If you can’t look yourself in the mirror and say you’re not fighting to give up everything; even in situations where you DON’T need to do so, then you’re not ready to get to where you need to be, because it is more about the confidence in your own ability than it is anything else. At my side as partners are two guys that I want to be in the spot of, two guys that I want to be better than, two guys that I would give up anything to be able to beat when it matters the very most. I have pinned both Hans Grayson and Adam Lucas, but that’s simply not enough. It’s not enough until the world championship is in my hands. It’s not enough until the whole world is talking about us three and acknowledging how I beat them with the lights brightest. And even though they’re my partners this week, I’m still living and dying by the fact that I have to show up and show out just like they did... because when the time comes? I look back at how we did here, I look back at how we’ve done in all these recent big matches, and I find what gave me the extra edge to work my ass off and I use it for the win.
All my career, I have known to dig deep, and I bet Candice Blair would love to dig deep right now because that’s where she's been. She walked into Shock Value partnering up with ARIA—and it didn’t net her the Unified Tag Team Championships. ARIA is challenging for the EAW World Championship in the main event, while she’s here teaming with us. She’s trying to get to those Unified Tag Team Championships, and the only way for her to get there is by winning another tag team match against Diamond Dixon & Cosmo Goldworthy at Grand Rampage. So, let’s put that in perspective, right? At Grand Rampage, she’s gotta go up against two rising stars and do everything in her power to make sure that they can’t surpass her after all the work that she’s put in to reach where she’s at right now. And then, this week, she’s teaming up with a rookie and an entitled veteran to take on three of the top names of Voltage—guys who stand in positions that she WISHES she could be in. No matter what it is, nothing has ever come easy for Candice. And to some extent? I actually respect that about her. She doesn’t complain, she goes to that ring and she goes to work.
But you can only work, and work, and work, for so long before you grow exhausted and fed up. I don’t know when she’ll grow fed up, but I can say that this is probably going to be another night where it’s not going to benefit her. She’s gotta do everything in her power to boost herself up and her partners all at once. But I don’t know about Adam or Hans, but the last thing that I could give a fuck about is coming all the way down to Oaxaca just to fucking lose. Candice is going to have to toughen up. These are “new” partners for her, and I’ve had my fair share of action on both the same & opposing side as Hans and Adam. I’m ready for whatever, and I know they are too. That’s the cloth that we’ve been cut from. Candice has been here for years, and sometimes, no one can really register which cloth that she’s cut from. But this is just one step closer to figuring it out... too bad, it’ll be all for naught.❞
