Ain't that right?
Actions have consequences.
For a moment there, I thought I could make my peace with missing out on Cash in the Vault and find a way to carry that forward without it weighing too heavily, and then the Draft Show happened, and that sense of comfort was gone just as quickly as it arrived.
Honestly? I expected it.
And the more I think about it, the more I am certain that letting things slide any further is not something I am willing to do.
We will get into the details of that when the time comes, because right now we are back on Season 20 of Voltage, and here I am, stepping into my first match of the season, and it is already shaping up to be an interesting one. But speaking of Season 20, we are already here. Time really does get away from you, doesn't it? I came into this company just as Season 15 was finding its footing, and now five full seasons have gone by since I first walked through that door. It feels like it has been a long road to get to this point, and yet somehow everything moved so quickly that you barely realize it has already passed you by. Anyway, where am I? Steel Cage match. If I am being honest, it might be the first proper one of my career. The closest thing I can recall is the Extreme Elimination Chamber, which has always been the only enclosed environment I have found myself in before, but this is genuinely new territory. And to add another layer to it, this is also a tag team match, so I genuinely have no idea how all of this is going to unfold, but I will be out there doing what needs to be done regardless. I have not picked up a win since the fatal four-way qualifying match, so why not kick this season off by taking something meaningful from some notable names right out of the gate? On top of that, I have the Team Captain position coming up before long, so getting some early momentum and establishing myself as a proper leader sooner rather than waiting for Bloodsport to roll around feels like the right call.
Jake Smith asked me to fall in line, so he must be expecting some automatic compliance from me, like I am just going to nod along and say “Sir, yes, sir!
” whenever he opens his mouth….
I shrugged.
More importantly, I laughed at the thought of it.
He must be sitting on that little throne of his, going on about greatness like it is something he needs to remind everyone of every time he speaks. This new persona he has been building is coming across as tough, I will give him that much, but that is about as far as my interest in it goes.
Unfortunately for him, I do not care about any of it.
After hearing the tone he decided to take with me, I have no intention of falling in step behind him, because he has not shown me a single ounce of respect, and if he wants to insert himself into MY business, I will have something to say about that at Bloodsport personally. He should watch the way he just spoke to me before I slapped his teeth down his throat and PK'd his head off. Who does this megalomaniac cunt think he is? For the love of every possible thing, I did not spend my time grinding through a working arrangement with Drake Armstrong, enduring being treated like some kind of subordinate last season, just to have another self-styled anime villain from Yodobashi Akiba deliver the exact same monologue about following his lead. But he should consider himself lucky, because even though I disagree with everything he is saying, I will make this match work. I will make this partnership function because that is simply what I do. That is the job, keeping things in their proper order and making sure my business runs the way it should. Jake can carry that attitude with me all he wants, but I will deal with it the same way I intend to deal with Damon Lazarus and that irritating approach of his. There is a creeping sense of complacency settling into this match, and he can either do his part or he can try something reckless and find out very quickly who is actually in control here. So Jake, I apologize if it looks like I am standing in your way, but the reality is that you are the one who is going to end up being the complication on my side. I am here because Damon needs to be held accountable for what he has done to my career, and he should not be walking around collecting new opportunities after repeatedly costing me mine, letting that cold and calculated presence of his convince everyone around him, including Captain Charisma, to hand him another shot when he just cost Voltage their first overall draft pick by taking me out, and if you have a problem with any of that, you are going to have to do a great deal more than talk about a greatness I could not care any less about.
After all, it is quite rich being told to fall in line by someone who knows a great deal more about playing second fiddle in his own relationship than he would ever care to admit.
But, as much as I would rather not draw any comparison between myself and him, we do share something coming into this match. Neither of us is willing to take anything from anyone. We are both carrying the weight of what last season put us through, and somehow that common ground creates a combined force of two people who are walking into this wanting to push further and come out of it sharper than before.
Now we have some opponents to address, starting with Kai Rabeaux. Ah, if it's not my favorite god complex wrestler. This kid is genuinely unhinged after the way he terrorized Adam Lucas on his way out and what he put that entire family through. I already had a sense that there was something deeply unsettling about him, but I would not let that cloud the fact that the last time we crossed paths in a singles match, he was still beneath me. That said, I will give credit where it is due, because he has grown considerably. He has taken that particular darkness of him and sharpened it into something that actually works in his favor, becoming more calculated and more twisted in equal measure, and the results speak for themselves, whether you agree with his methods or not. In this company, some people tear down whatever moral framework they had and use the wreckage to fuel their climb to another level, and I have watched that play out more times than I can count. But here is the thing about being a dominant force in a smaller or less competitive environment, that same level of dominance does not always translate when the competition stiffens, and that is a fairly accurate description of what we saw when he could not hold onto the momentum that had been propelling him forward after retiring Adam Lucas and coming out of Pain for Pride with real wind behind him, because he could not get the job done on Draft Show against someone he had the nerve to call a joke, who also happens to be his partner this week. Which makes a certain kind of sense, because what has never changed about him is that he is only almost as good as he believes himself to be, like a Vincent Mondrian with a different sickness attached to it. Two people living inside their own perfectly constructed ideal worlds, capable of nothing more than clinging to the conviction that they are exactly as great as they have told themselves, while the reality outside of their own bubbles tells a considerably different story. Kai can count himself fortunate that his partner brings enough genuine talent to shore up his chances in this match, because if it came down to him alone, the result would look a lot like it did the last time we were in the same ring together, and that did not go his way then either.
Much like the last time around, he was the least talented, the most expendable, and the least consequential musketeer of a group he used to run with, and it is fair to add that he is also the only one among them who still has not held a world championship and is still walking around lost in a daydream where he pictures himself as some egyptian ra or whatever he worshiped these days.
Says quite a lot for someone his age, I suppose.
If he is a child, then he needs someone to set him straight and point him toward something looking like a better path, and his partner is going to have a considerable amount of heavy lifting to do on that front.
It is going to be a strange week for me regardless, because there is a lot to process when it comes to how these teams are actually going to function and hold together, and that includes my own. I do not particularly trust Jake Smith, and especially given how I came to be in this match in the first place, I am fairly certain he has something in mind where I am concerned, but I also cannot approach this like it means nothing or like I am walking in with any hesitation, so I have no real choice but to make it work. Though making it work is honestly something that applies to every team in this match. Whether any of these pairings can actually coexist is something we are all going to find out when the cage door closes, and Minerva is no exception to that. What a main event that was, by the way, a brutal and chaotic affair with everything short of a quiet moment, and once again she finds herself back at the top, reigning as the Universal Women's Champion. In the end, this business tends to reward whoever is willing to endure the most punishment at the moment their career demands it most, and that is exactly what she delivered. I genuinely have no clear read on what her approach is going to look like this time around, but the last time we were on the same side, she made a point of saying she intended to stay in control no matter what… even though she then promptly walked away from the match because she decided there was nothing in it worth competing for and left her own team behind. This is probably a different situation now. She is competing against us and has been paired with someone she has apparently decided is not worth her admiration. Her plan is probably to try and make it work on her terms and stay in control… or abandon the whole thing again the moment she decides her partner does not measure up to a standard she has set for? I don't know, but whatever it is, I'll be at work regardless. Eventually, this stops being something I simply want to do and becomes something I feel like I have to do, and that is just the nature of who I am at this point. Five seasons of showing up and doing this, years of living inside this grind, and through every shift and change that has come and gone, what has remains constant is the dedication to the craft. Every motivation leads back to the same kind of match and the same reality I have to live through, so I just accept whatever strangeness comes with the territory and meet it head on. Damon has been a persistent thorn in my side, but this is not the first time someone has made a habit of getting in the way of what I am building for whatever reason they have themselves convinced makes sense, and I have had to acknowledge all of them and work through them in time. Everyone else in this match is going to come in with something to prove and a reason to win, and that is really the whole point of it.
Nobody genuinely enjoys losing regardless of whatever reasoning they wrap around it, and there is nothing wrong with being straightforward about that.
I have seen plenty of people dance around that truth and talk in circles rather than just saying what they mean, and I do not need to do any of that.
If I want to win something, I am telling you plainly that I want it — and this is one of those matches.
The only thing left for everyone else to figure out is what I am planning to do about it.
Actions have consequences.
For a moment there, I thought I could make my peace with missing out on Cash in the Vault and find a way to carry that forward without it weighing too heavily, and then the Draft Show happened, and that sense of comfort was gone just as quickly as it arrived.
Honestly? I expected it.
And the more I think about it, the more I am certain that letting things slide any further is not something I am willing to do.
We will get into the details of that when the time comes, because right now we are back on Season 20 of Voltage, and here I am, stepping into my first match of the season, and it is already shaping up to be an interesting one. But speaking of Season 20, we are already here. Time really does get away from you, doesn't it? I came into this company just as Season 15 was finding its footing, and now five full seasons have gone by since I first walked through that door. It feels like it has been a long road to get to this point, and yet somehow everything moved so quickly that you barely realize it has already passed you by. Anyway, where am I? Steel Cage match. If I am being honest, it might be the first proper one of my career. The closest thing I can recall is the Extreme Elimination Chamber, which has always been the only enclosed environment I have found myself in before, but this is genuinely new territory. And to add another layer to it, this is also a tag team match, so I genuinely have no idea how all of this is going to unfold, but I will be out there doing what needs to be done regardless. I have not picked up a win since the fatal four-way qualifying match, so why not kick this season off by taking something meaningful from some notable names right out of the gate? On top of that, I have the Team Captain position coming up before long, so getting some early momentum and establishing myself as a proper leader sooner rather than waiting for Bloodsport to roll around feels like the right call.
Jake Smith asked me to fall in line, so he must be expecting some automatic compliance from me, like I am just going to nod along and say “Sir, yes, sir!
” whenever he opens his mouth….I shrugged.
More importantly, I laughed at the thought of it.
He must be sitting on that little throne of his, going on about greatness like it is something he needs to remind everyone of every time he speaks. This new persona he has been building is coming across as tough, I will give him that much, but that is about as far as my interest in it goes.
Unfortunately for him, I do not care about any of it.
After hearing the tone he decided to take with me, I have no intention of falling in step behind him, because he has not shown me a single ounce of respect, and if he wants to insert himself into MY business, I will have something to say about that at Bloodsport personally. He should watch the way he just spoke to me before I slapped his teeth down his throat and PK'd his head off. Who does this megalomaniac cunt think he is? For the love of every possible thing, I did not spend my time grinding through a working arrangement with Drake Armstrong, enduring being treated like some kind of subordinate last season, just to have another self-styled anime villain from Yodobashi Akiba deliver the exact same monologue about following his lead. But he should consider himself lucky, because even though I disagree with everything he is saying, I will make this match work. I will make this partnership function because that is simply what I do. That is the job, keeping things in their proper order and making sure my business runs the way it should. Jake can carry that attitude with me all he wants, but I will deal with it the same way I intend to deal with Damon Lazarus and that irritating approach of his. There is a creeping sense of complacency settling into this match, and he can either do his part or he can try something reckless and find out very quickly who is actually in control here. So Jake, I apologize if it looks like I am standing in your way, but the reality is that you are the one who is going to end up being the complication on my side. I am here because Damon needs to be held accountable for what he has done to my career, and he should not be walking around collecting new opportunities after repeatedly costing me mine, letting that cold and calculated presence of his convince everyone around him, including Captain Charisma, to hand him another shot when he just cost Voltage their first overall draft pick by taking me out, and if you have a problem with any of that, you are going to have to do a great deal more than talk about a greatness I could not care any less about.
After all, it is quite rich being told to fall in line by someone who knows a great deal more about playing second fiddle in his own relationship than he would ever care to admit.
But, as much as I would rather not draw any comparison between myself and him, we do share something coming into this match. Neither of us is willing to take anything from anyone. We are both carrying the weight of what last season put us through, and somehow that common ground creates a combined force of two people who are walking into this wanting to push further and come out of it sharper than before.
Now we have some opponents to address, starting with Kai Rabeaux. Ah, if it's not my favorite god complex wrestler. This kid is genuinely unhinged after the way he terrorized Adam Lucas on his way out and what he put that entire family through. I already had a sense that there was something deeply unsettling about him, but I would not let that cloud the fact that the last time we crossed paths in a singles match, he was still beneath me. That said, I will give credit where it is due, because he has grown considerably. He has taken that particular darkness of him and sharpened it into something that actually works in his favor, becoming more calculated and more twisted in equal measure, and the results speak for themselves, whether you agree with his methods or not. In this company, some people tear down whatever moral framework they had and use the wreckage to fuel their climb to another level, and I have watched that play out more times than I can count. But here is the thing about being a dominant force in a smaller or less competitive environment, that same level of dominance does not always translate when the competition stiffens, and that is a fairly accurate description of what we saw when he could not hold onto the momentum that had been propelling him forward after retiring Adam Lucas and coming out of Pain for Pride with real wind behind him, because he could not get the job done on Draft Show against someone he had the nerve to call a joke, who also happens to be his partner this week. Which makes a certain kind of sense, because what has never changed about him is that he is only almost as good as he believes himself to be, like a Vincent Mondrian with a different sickness attached to it. Two people living inside their own perfectly constructed ideal worlds, capable of nothing more than clinging to the conviction that they are exactly as great as they have told themselves, while the reality outside of their own bubbles tells a considerably different story. Kai can count himself fortunate that his partner brings enough genuine talent to shore up his chances in this match, because if it came down to him alone, the result would look a lot like it did the last time we were in the same ring together, and that did not go his way then either.
Much like the last time around, he was the least talented, the most expendable, and the least consequential musketeer of a group he used to run with, and it is fair to add that he is also the only one among them who still has not held a world championship and is still walking around lost in a daydream where he pictures himself as some egyptian ra or whatever he worshiped these days.
Says quite a lot for someone his age, I suppose.
If he is a child, then he needs someone to set him straight and point him toward something looking like a better path, and his partner is going to have a considerable amount of heavy lifting to do on that front.
It is going to be a strange week for me regardless, because there is a lot to process when it comes to how these teams are actually going to function and hold together, and that includes my own. I do not particularly trust Jake Smith, and especially given how I came to be in this match in the first place, I am fairly certain he has something in mind where I am concerned, but I also cannot approach this like it means nothing or like I am walking in with any hesitation, so I have no real choice but to make it work. Though making it work is honestly something that applies to every team in this match. Whether any of these pairings can actually coexist is something we are all going to find out when the cage door closes, and Minerva is no exception to that. What a main event that was, by the way, a brutal and chaotic affair with everything short of a quiet moment, and once again she finds herself back at the top, reigning as the Universal Women's Champion. In the end, this business tends to reward whoever is willing to endure the most punishment at the moment their career demands it most, and that is exactly what she delivered. I genuinely have no clear read on what her approach is going to look like this time around, but the last time we were on the same side, she made a point of saying she intended to stay in control no matter what… even though she then promptly walked away from the match because she decided there was nothing in it worth competing for and left her own team behind. This is probably a different situation now. She is competing against us and has been paired with someone she has apparently decided is not worth her admiration. Her plan is probably to try and make it work on her terms and stay in control… or abandon the whole thing again the moment she decides her partner does not measure up to a standard she has set for? I don't know, but whatever it is, I'll be at work regardless. Eventually, this stops being something I simply want to do and becomes something I feel like I have to do, and that is just the nature of who I am at this point. Five seasons of showing up and doing this, years of living inside this grind, and through every shift and change that has come and gone, what has remains constant is the dedication to the craft. Every motivation leads back to the same kind of match and the same reality I have to live through, so I just accept whatever strangeness comes with the territory and meet it head on. Damon has been a persistent thorn in my side, but this is not the first time someone has made a habit of getting in the way of what I am building for whatever reason they have themselves convinced makes sense, and I have had to acknowledge all of them and work through them in time. Everyone else in this match is going to come in with something to prove and a reason to win, and that is really the whole point of it.
Nobody genuinely enjoys losing regardless of whatever reasoning they wrap around it, and there is nothing wrong with being straightforward about that.
I have seen plenty of people dance around that truth and talk in circles rather than just saying what they mean, and I do not need to do any of that.
If I want to win something, I am telling you plainly that I want it — and this is one of those matches.
The only thing left for everyone else to figure out is what I am planning to do about it.
