I've dealt with more impressive and successful Elitists than Clayton M. Golde during my seven-plus-year tenure here in Elite Answers Wrestling.
I had to fend off elements like him before. I've seen how they operate, what they want the World to believe, each of them gaslighting themselves and trying to get the World to believe the lies they see as truth. From Xander Payne to Miku Sakai, every member of Silas World, and others. What we have with someone like Clayton Golde, is a failure to communicate. The only way to properly address such a rotten apple is with a swift kick in the ass, for no amount of words will stop the likes of him from vomiting his garbage every chance he's got.
You'd figure I would be impressed by the way Clayton Golde comports himself, perhaps angry or triggered when it comes to all the bad things he does, including manipulating an intern into speaking my native tongue, and sound like abuse is at play. But I feel total and utter indifference, knowing that all of that is nothing but smoke and mirrors designed by a deeply insecure fraud who knows the moment he parts ways with the title is when his entire World goes in the bin. Sort of like the President of the United States, only I don't get to kick the old man around a ring like I will Clayton. I will settle with defeating the New Breed Champion, should he bother to show up. Smarter? Better? Braver? I think not. Lazy? Entitled? Undeserving? Absolutely, proven by the way he operates, rendering his victories hollow and meaningless by cheating and being weak-willed to a point where he would rather con his way to unearned success rather than put in actual work and dominate in a significant way. I'll let the whole French part of his video slide, because I won't give him the satisfaction of getting angry at his mindless attempt to get under my skin. You can tell how warped his view of things are when he thinks his bank account equals to not being a fraud. I'd ask him to make that one make sense, but as most of what he says is nonsensical, it would be a waste of my time which I'd rather use to prepare for my Championship match at Grand Rampage against Daryl Kinkade.
Listening to Clayton's verbiage, I admit, is always entertaining. But that is not a compliment to him or his oratory acumen, I get a smile and a chuckle out of listening to his ego flailing about, knowing just how silly he sounds. I should know, in my early years, I was guilty of doing similar things. Talking a bunch of bull to sound edgy, talking about things in ways that had no relation to the match to come. And then there is the whole schtick about money. I could remind the World of the wealth I actually own, which could make Clayton's financial advisor blush and ask if I could poach him away, but I don't because I do not need to do so. It got Drake Armstrong to raise an eyebrow once, for he couldn't believe my net worth. Yet, there is no point in flashing it around, because I don't rely on it for relevance. I don't need to use it to make myself look bigger than I am, and I don't need it to cover wrong doings and illegal activities like my opponent does. It's pathetic, really, to see the man dig himself such a hole, and he knows he won't get out of it once he no longer has the means to keep justice and the law at bay. I won't be surprised if one day we see him vanish from EAW programming because he got grabbed for tax evasion, and even worse. The day that happens is the day I'll say good riddance, for this company doesn't need of a mediocre human being like Clayton Golde.
No matter, because when it comes to battling him, I know there is nothing he can do against me without resorting to shenanigans for a chance of winning. Which won't happen, and when the L does smack him in the face like a banned account on Insta, he'll be making all sorts of excuses to try and justify the L. And I wager the first thing he'll say is it was his partner's fault.
Christian, what I told you earlier is not a matter of personal belief; it has nothing to do with the way I feel and my opinion of EAW and the business. This isn’t opinion. This is how this place works. Keep promoting yourself as a wrestling God if you want, fact is no one sees you as such, and deep down, neither do you. Let me make it clear: You are not without merit. I've seen you work both here and on the independent scene; your experience can take you places you only could dream of around here. And truth is, If I had to choose between you and Golde to hold the title I once held and proudly defended? I'd pick you every time. But when we but the two of us together in a match? The only bet I'll make is on myself to win. Let me be perfectly blunt with you: I couldn't care less whether you just signed here, or you've been around long enough to be part of the decor. It doesn't matter to me if you are a daisy fresh rookie who just got his wrestling school diploma or you've a veteran with a golden pedigree. To me, all you are is my next opponent, and I prepared for you the same way I've prepared for everybody else.
If you opt to underestimate me by thinking all I want is to just be here and wrestle, that is your problem, which will factor into the expected loss soon to be added to your record. You just proved that you don't study your opponents, not enough to evade mistakes like this one, which makes you look less ready to face me because you have no idea who stands before you and what he is about. I won't waste time explaining my motivations. I've grown tired of explaining what I've made clear so many times before. You are a professional wrestler, but you will be relegated to a lesser standing than what you hold yourself to when you disrespect your opponents by failing to study them. Good on you if you refuse to get stepped on, and take shit from anyone; it won't save you from losing in our match, for I have absolutely no intention of leaving this match without the win because that is part of the job. You don't come in every week hoping to just do your best; clearly, you don't, as do I. Ryan Joseph Wilson is going to defeat you and Clayton Golde on the next episode of Showdown, the question is, how much opposition will you put between us and make this claim a reality?
I will agree with you about what you said at the end of your video, it is true that if people were to learn from their mistakes rather than repeat the same thing hoping it'll one day work, then they would be better off. I am proof of what you say, having tried for years to do things a certain way and it brought only meager success. I changed my view on things, shifted how I operate and while I haven't won a title or major accolades yet since, my career trajectory has been going upward with no sign of stopping. But let me ask you a question: What does what you said have to do with going against the grain? Here is what I think, and I will leave it at that: We called you out on your self-appointed title, and you took offense to it when you should've simply shrugged it off and moved on. You are wasting your time by questioning why we went for it. What you could do, however, is ask yourself why you would succeed in changing things around here if most, if not everyone, who tried before you failed? A trio of Elitists on Voltage some seasons ago tried to change the culture of the brand; they had control and Championships to their names, yet while they were successful wrestlers, they failed to change the yellow brand. The members of that group are all multiple World Champions, all of them Hall of Famers, and you think you can achieve what they couldn't? Please. I won't answer your question about your sobriquet tonight, I've already done so, but also because I won't pander to the request of a man who clearly refuses to accept the reality of the World he is a part of. You’re alone in that belief. That’s why it breaks so easily. Maybe one day you will be considered a God in the ring, earned the accolade through making yourself undeniable. Unfortunately for you, for now, you have yet to do so.
I may be proven wrong, but I get the impression that you don't understand either Daryl or I to be blunt. You think my tag team partner this week would feel entitled if you give him his flowers, you would be wrong to think that. You just need to check how he operates since he became National Elite Champion, and the many challenges he had to overcome in order to keep the title in his possession, to see he has every right to feel confident in his chances of leaving this match victorious. That, along with his history as a successful tag team wrestler, while you apparently have very little experience in such matches. The harsh reality of your situation is that you are at a severe disadvantage in this match because your opponent made it clear he doesn't care about you, or even this match, which to me, is disrespect to the brand. You’re walking into this match with a partner who won’t stand beside you, facing two opponents who will. Clayton sees you as less than human, a dog to be leashed, even, and he will make this match about him. He did imply you'd just be there to sit in his corner while he goes on the offensive. You won't have a modicum of cohesion together; you more than likely are going to be bickering over getting the tag while he taps into his Main Character complex, which I've experienced against previous tag team partners myself. Look up Ronan Mal-ah no, you won't do that, won't you. If you can't be bothered to study your opponent, you won't go for a deep dive about them either. At least you don't pretend to have an intern do your research for you.
The biggest challenge of your young EAW career so far isn't this week; it'll be at Grand Rampage. Matches like ours happen every week. What comes after doesn’t. Your first true test comes with Championship implications, and while you proved you can hold your own in a ring, this test isn't about whether you can win or lose any other match. This particular challenge is about delivering when the stakes are high, and if you want the World to stop looking down on you for calling yourself something you aren't, then you must become the new New Breed Champion. I don't expect to see you slack off, not one bit. I know, Daryl knows, and everyone who'll watch knows you'll give us your all, everything you've got, and go the extra mile if needed. I want you to own up to your words, I want you to make good on your promise to go further and beyond your limits. See, your weakness isn't your talent, your abilities, your desire and drive. It's between your ears, and it goes beyond the nickname you carry. It isn't belief, it's focus, and mental preparation. Maybe you'll realize you can't change how things work around here eventually, but it won't alter the result of this upcoming match, one you are going to lose. The question is how the inevitable will happen, and we will find out soon. How you eat that L is irrelevant to me, because once Showdown ends, I'll be getting on the road to Peoria, Illinois, and you'll be a distant memory as my focus goes back to the only thing I care about: The National Elite Championship.
At the end of the day, you both can call yourself whatever you want. You can believe whatever you need to. But when that bell rings, belief doesn’t carry you. preparation and reality do, and that’s where both of you fall short. When this match is over, you won’t be questioning me or even Daryl Kinkade, and you won’t be questioning each other. You’ll be forced to face the one thing you’ve both been avoiding.
Not me.
Not each other.
Reality.
I had to fend off elements like him before. I've seen how they operate, what they want the World to believe, each of them gaslighting themselves and trying to get the World to believe the lies they see as truth. From Xander Payne to Miku Sakai, every member of Silas World, and others. What we have with someone like Clayton Golde, is a failure to communicate. The only way to properly address such a rotten apple is with a swift kick in the ass, for no amount of words will stop the likes of him from vomiting his garbage every chance he's got.
You'd figure I would be impressed by the way Clayton Golde comports himself, perhaps angry or triggered when it comes to all the bad things he does, including manipulating an intern into speaking my native tongue, and sound like abuse is at play. But I feel total and utter indifference, knowing that all of that is nothing but smoke and mirrors designed by a deeply insecure fraud who knows the moment he parts ways with the title is when his entire World goes in the bin. Sort of like the President of the United States, only I don't get to kick the old man around a ring like I will Clayton. I will settle with defeating the New Breed Champion, should he bother to show up. Smarter? Better? Braver? I think not. Lazy? Entitled? Undeserving? Absolutely, proven by the way he operates, rendering his victories hollow and meaningless by cheating and being weak-willed to a point where he would rather con his way to unearned success rather than put in actual work and dominate in a significant way. I'll let the whole French part of his video slide, because I won't give him the satisfaction of getting angry at his mindless attempt to get under my skin. You can tell how warped his view of things are when he thinks his bank account equals to not being a fraud. I'd ask him to make that one make sense, but as most of what he says is nonsensical, it would be a waste of my time which I'd rather use to prepare for my Championship match at Grand Rampage against Daryl Kinkade.
Listening to Clayton's verbiage, I admit, is always entertaining. But that is not a compliment to him or his oratory acumen, I get a smile and a chuckle out of listening to his ego flailing about, knowing just how silly he sounds. I should know, in my early years, I was guilty of doing similar things. Talking a bunch of bull to sound edgy, talking about things in ways that had no relation to the match to come. And then there is the whole schtick about money. I could remind the World of the wealth I actually own, which could make Clayton's financial advisor blush and ask if I could poach him away, but I don't because I do not need to do so. It got Drake Armstrong to raise an eyebrow once, for he couldn't believe my net worth. Yet, there is no point in flashing it around, because I don't rely on it for relevance. I don't need to use it to make myself look bigger than I am, and I don't need it to cover wrong doings and illegal activities like my opponent does. It's pathetic, really, to see the man dig himself such a hole, and he knows he won't get out of it once he no longer has the means to keep justice and the law at bay. I won't be surprised if one day we see him vanish from EAW programming because he got grabbed for tax evasion, and even worse. The day that happens is the day I'll say good riddance, for this company doesn't need of a mediocre human being like Clayton Golde.
No matter, because when it comes to battling him, I know there is nothing he can do against me without resorting to shenanigans for a chance of winning. Which won't happen, and when the L does smack him in the face like a banned account on Insta, he'll be making all sorts of excuses to try and justify the L. And I wager the first thing he'll say is it was his partner's fault.
Christian, what I told you earlier is not a matter of personal belief; it has nothing to do with the way I feel and my opinion of EAW and the business. This isn’t opinion. This is how this place works. Keep promoting yourself as a wrestling God if you want, fact is no one sees you as such, and deep down, neither do you. Let me make it clear: You are not without merit. I've seen you work both here and on the independent scene; your experience can take you places you only could dream of around here. And truth is, If I had to choose between you and Golde to hold the title I once held and proudly defended? I'd pick you every time. But when we but the two of us together in a match? The only bet I'll make is on myself to win. Let me be perfectly blunt with you: I couldn't care less whether you just signed here, or you've been around long enough to be part of the decor. It doesn't matter to me if you are a daisy fresh rookie who just got his wrestling school diploma or you've a veteran with a golden pedigree. To me, all you are is my next opponent, and I prepared for you the same way I've prepared for everybody else.
If you opt to underestimate me by thinking all I want is to just be here and wrestle, that is your problem, which will factor into the expected loss soon to be added to your record. You just proved that you don't study your opponents, not enough to evade mistakes like this one, which makes you look less ready to face me because you have no idea who stands before you and what he is about. I won't waste time explaining my motivations. I've grown tired of explaining what I've made clear so many times before. You are a professional wrestler, but you will be relegated to a lesser standing than what you hold yourself to when you disrespect your opponents by failing to study them. Good on you if you refuse to get stepped on, and take shit from anyone; it won't save you from losing in our match, for I have absolutely no intention of leaving this match without the win because that is part of the job. You don't come in every week hoping to just do your best; clearly, you don't, as do I. Ryan Joseph Wilson is going to defeat you and Clayton Golde on the next episode of Showdown, the question is, how much opposition will you put between us and make this claim a reality?
I will agree with you about what you said at the end of your video, it is true that if people were to learn from their mistakes rather than repeat the same thing hoping it'll one day work, then they would be better off. I am proof of what you say, having tried for years to do things a certain way and it brought only meager success. I changed my view on things, shifted how I operate and while I haven't won a title or major accolades yet since, my career trajectory has been going upward with no sign of stopping. But let me ask you a question: What does what you said have to do with going against the grain? Here is what I think, and I will leave it at that: We called you out on your self-appointed title, and you took offense to it when you should've simply shrugged it off and moved on. You are wasting your time by questioning why we went for it. What you could do, however, is ask yourself why you would succeed in changing things around here if most, if not everyone, who tried before you failed? A trio of Elitists on Voltage some seasons ago tried to change the culture of the brand; they had control and Championships to their names, yet while they were successful wrestlers, they failed to change the yellow brand. The members of that group are all multiple World Champions, all of them Hall of Famers, and you think you can achieve what they couldn't? Please. I won't answer your question about your sobriquet tonight, I've already done so, but also because I won't pander to the request of a man who clearly refuses to accept the reality of the World he is a part of. You’re alone in that belief. That’s why it breaks so easily. Maybe one day you will be considered a God in the ring, earned the accolade through making yourself undeniable. Unfortunately for you, for now, you have yet to do so.
I may be proven wrong, but I get the impression that you don't understand either Daryl or I to be blunt. You think my tag team partner this week would feel entitled if you give him his flowers, you would be wrong to think that. You just need to check how he operates since he became National Elite Champion, and the many challenges he had to overcome in order to keep the title in his possession, to see he has every right to feel confident in his chances of leaving this match victorious. That, along with his history as a successful tag team wrestler, while you apparently have very little experience in such matches. The harsh reality of your situation is that you are at a severe disadvantage in this match because your opponent made it clear he doesn't care about you, or even this match, which to me, is disrespect to the brand. You’re walking into this match with a partner who won’t stand beside you, facing two opponents who will. Clayton sees you as less than human, a dog to be leashed, even, and he will make this match about him. He did imply you'd just be there to sit in his corner while he goes on the offensive. You won't have a modicum of cohesion together; you more than likely are going to be bickering over getting the tag while he taps into his Main Character complex, which I've experienced against previous tag team partners myself. Look up Ronan Mal-ah no, you won't do that, won't you. If you can't be bothered to study your opponent, you won't go for a deep dive about them either. At least you don't pretend to have an intern do your research for you.
The biggest challenge of your young EAW career so far isn't this week; it'll be at Grand Rampage. Matches like ours happen every week. What comes after doesn’t. Your first true test comes with Championship implications, and while you proved you can hold your own in a ring, this test isn't about whether you can win or lose any other match. This particular challenge is about delivering when the stakes are high, and if you want the World to stop looking down on you for calling yourself something you aren't, then you must become the new New Breed Champion. I don't expect to see you slack off, not one bit. I know, Daryl knows, and everyone who'll watch knows you'll give us your all, everything you've got, and go the extra mile if needed. I want you to own up to your words, I want you to make good on your promise to go further and beyond your limits. See, your weakness isn't your talent, your abilities, your desire and drive. It's between your ears, and it goes beyond the nickname you carry. It isn't belief, it's focus, and mental preparation. Maybe you'll realize you can't change how things work around here eventually, but it won't alter the result of this upcoming match, one you are going to lose. The question is how the inevitable will happen, and we will find out soon. How you eat that L is irrelevant to me, because once Showdown ends, I'll be getting on the road to Peoria, Illinois, and you'll be a distant memory as my focus goes back to the only thing I care about: The National Elite Championship.
At the end of the day, you both can call yourself whatever you want. You can believe whatever you need to. But when that bell rings, belief doesn’t carry you. preparation and reality do, and that’s where both of you fall short. When this match is over, you won’t be questioning me or even Daryl Kinkade, and you won’t be questioning each other. You’ll be forced to face the one thing you’ve both been avoiding.
Not me.
Not each other.
Reality.
