Reputations, Legacies and Broken Promises | X*Crown #2
Jan 24, 2020 21:22:05 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer likes this
Post by Mav. on Jan 24, 2020 21:22:05 GMT -5
Reputations, Legacies and Broken Promises
Chapter Two; Part Two
Chapter Two; Part Two
The Penthouse. Canton, Ohio.
We’ve opened the scene back to an old and familiar place, back to the Penthouse in Canton, situated a few blocks away from The Diamond Lounge. The Penthouse seems rather empty but still seemingly newly furnished, suddenly the sounds of footsteps walking along its wooden floor echo throughout the house as we watch Maverick step out from a room, as always he is dressed to the nines from head to toe as he adjusts his cuff links upon his sleeve. The camera watches him move from the room to the kitchen where he pulls out a bottle of soda from the refrigerator, he unscrews its cap before taking a gulp from it.
“A legacy is not leaving something for people, but leaving something in people.”
Screwing the cap back on the bottle, he takes a walk towards a large window that ends up being a doorway to the back garden, he slides the door open and takes a few steps onto the black granite tiles that make up the porch area of the garden. He looks out further, out to the fields beyond the rather tall fencing going around the garden itself, the grass looks recently cut and also looks well after by the bright shade of green it is. He takes a few more steps until he’s at the edge of the porch as he closes his eyes and takes a long and deep breath before opening his eyes back up.
“Sadly I could not tell you how my own legacy ends but I sure as fuck can tell you when it began, twenty-first of December in Hartford, the day I made everything I fought for come to life and won the X*Crown. I tried to be the new person when I won this belt but I always saw myself turning back to the former self of mine, I always found a way to still be the same person that done all that nasty shit. It’s hard to become someone you’ve never been for all of your career.”
He unscrews the cap back off the bottle and takes another gulp of its contents before screwing the cap back on and putting the bottle into his pocket.
“It’s also hard to look back into your past and see the man you once were and how far you’ve come, that’s why I find it difficult when people like to bring up my past and tell me how much I either fucking sucked or still do to this day and that’s not the legacy I want to build myself upon, I want to build my legacy on top championship reigns and historic matches but never being that one guy who did all the flippy shit and big spots that turned out to his own demise.”
He lets out a long sigh.
“With that, I was leaving the fans with memorable moments and amazing matches that they can go and watch time after time again but just as I said… A legacy is not leaving something for people but leaving something in people. The more I think of that quote, the more it becomes clearer. What I am living in today is my legacy, but to live with one legacy… I must burn down another.”
He takes his first step onto the grass and lets the wind flow through his hair.
“Now normally… I would be working my way up to the hot topic, so to speak, I would start with the least valuable asset in the match to the so-called MVP of the lot in muli-man matches but with as much thought put into its process, I could not do that. Every time I began to brainstorm, it’s always lead me to one man, and we should all know who it is. The most valuable opponent in this match… David ‘Death Trap’ Carloni. A former holder to the X*Crown itself and multiple World Championships, a man who’s earned the right to be called an XHF Legend, if you asked the right people. Some would tell you he isn’t an XHF Legend and that is fair, we’ve all got a right to our own opinions but the more you look into it, the clearer it becomes.”
He stands in one spot and looks around the garden, looking beyond the fencing around the garden itself and seeing the city of Canton from a distance, a small glance to the right showing The Diamond Lounge in all of its glory.
“David, it’s clear that you know much about me and how my past went… You know about my losses, you know about my downpour of sorrows and those nights where every bit of me crumbled under the spotlights, you knew about my reputation on being second best but there’s one thing you hide and finally let it all out. You were a former European and Phoenix Champion, a big difference from the many that know Death Trap as the multiple time heavyweight champion he was. Even with those reigns, one or two month stints with the belts was all you were able to pick up for yourself, and it’s not with the European Championship or the Phoenix Championship that you suffered from short reigns.”
He begins to tut, shaking his head as he does so.
“The XHF World Heavyweight Championship, you held that until Supremacy of 2005 but then came that controversial night where eight men laid on top of you as Venom made the count which left you strapless… and it left you the odd man out as all eight of those men went into the Annihilation Complex on Christmas Day at XHF Xtreme Xmas. Snake, Mongo, Chris Kanyon, Jake Conway, AJ Phoenix, Magnus, Mueller and Harry all went into that structure with one goal in mind whilst you took the consolation prize of it all, you sat back and watched it all happen.”
A slight little smirk appears on his face.
“But from there, you made it clear you wanted a comeback story like no other and you pursued the X*Crown Championship and you won it, David, but not two months into your reign as X*Crown Champion… Tragedy struck and you’ve suffered a neck injury which caused you to vacate the belt. Have you noticed the trend? You’ve not gone at least three months with a reign under your belt, and trust me when I say I tried my fucking best to find old ECF shows that included you in this reign that last over six months and more defenses than you could count for but the results came up with nothing, it’s lost footage that I still wish to seek.”
He simply shrugs his shoulders.
“So the question on my mind right now, David, is… What makes you worthy of being X*Crown Champion again? Your whole life, your whole career as a wrestler depicts you as somewhat of a transitional champion. A reputation you’ve continued to this day! The MCCW World Heavyweight Championship that you won in a Steel Cage against Eichi Yamaguchi but less than a month, days before your End of Days Finals against Jeremiah Vastrix, twenty-seven days to be exact… You transitioned the belt over to Jason Justice. You see, David, you’ve talked about how my reputation of being second best was always my downfall but it’s what your reputation stands for that’s going to devour you from within.”
Again, that smirk appears.
“David, I have held Championships longer than you ever had. When I win those titles, I cherish them, I look after them, I do my best to make sure nobody could take them from me unlike you who holds them for a month or two and then thinks he’s had enough, time to move on to something else and be the transitional champion to that belt. That’s your reputation, David, you’re just like me… Someone who pushes themselves high but they crumble at the top, it’s why you don’t have memorable reigns, it’s why people question the fact you are an XHF Legend, it’s why nobody believes in you anymore. But then again, a lot of people would like to see you win at Supremacy, its as if they’ve forgotten the man you were.”
He says as he points to the camera lens.
“I thought many would have jumped on the wagon that’ll love to see me be a successful champion, I’d get the cheers I’ve worked so hard for, I’d be the people’s champion but that was all an elaborate hoax I like to tell myself on occasions. I wanted the parade entering into Supremacy to be cheering for me but they all turned their backs once you cashed in that briefcase. It’s always going to be about you when Supremacy arrives and you get the cheers I worked for but they’ll reign in the boos once I come out on top as the fucking winner. David, I ain’t here ready to be the man who’s going to help you reach that peak within your legacy, I’m here to end it and put a stop to the so-called legend.”
He walks over to the fencing and looks out to the city of Canton itself, there's no smirk but a light smile on his face.
"Mike Lio, long have I waited to hear from the man who dares to complete the boyhood dream but then all I got some short words from you? I waited so long, and of course, all I get is some muttering of words like what happened when I showed up. Pathetic and speaks of you being… lazy. When we speak of legacies, where do we start with yours? Do we even know if you have one? I know, I know, you’ve won some titles and you’ve got yourself a GWA Hall of Fame to your name but I’ve heard they handed those out to anyone not named Dexter Point. You’re a former three-time GWA World Champion, seven-time GWA Tag Team Champion and six-time GWA Intercontinental Champion. A pretty impressive record, a pretty impressive legacy, if you want to call it that, and all of that… is nothing compared to what I have seen from you lately.”
Once again, he points to the camera lens as he turns to face it.
“I watched you get destroyed by Armageddon and then watched you come oh so close to beating Thomas Galloway and then falling at the last hurdle, you slipped at the last moment… A common occurrence, isn’t it? Here’s the thing about you, Mikey, you talk a big game and yet you can’t back your words up at all. I wish I could name one example but there’s just so fucking many! Mike, you want to talk about how I’ve only won the secondary belts? What do I hold and what you’re trying to take from me? Is that a *secondary* title to you? I mean… I’m also an Undisputed Champion in another place that for legal reasons I cannot mention because Mongo hates me mentioning the other competition by name but that still means a World fucking Championship.”
He says with a smirk on his face.
“But go ahead… let’s mention the fact that before late 2019, I was only good at the midcard championships, that’s the reputation I built.”
He rolls his eyes.
“And then there’s Zoran Sainovic, someone I thought would be a dark horse in this but it’s been too long since we’ve heard from Der Kommissar himself. Believe me when I say this and I probably speak for many here when I say that I had hoped for more from Zoran, I think we really did but there’s not been enough from him and any mention of the match has been against Mike Lio and not against Death Trap or myself.”
He scratches the side of his head.
“I know this might sound a little bit dumb and slightly egotistical from myself and Death Trap but have you forgotten about the other two men… the two men who’ve held the X*Crown before… the two men who’s actually been successful. Zoran, you’ve been working so hard on destroying that reputation that other SWAT roster members built up but there’s just one small problem I’m noticing here.”
He points one finger up in the air.
“The people who’ve represented SWAT in the past has done more than you have leading up to this match, hell, Psychotic Goth has done soooo much more than you have Zoran and that’s worrying because we all know what happened to Goth and his ancient English dialect, don’t we?”
He begins to chuckle to himself as he takes the bottle back out of his pocket and unscrews the cap to take one last gulp from it before screwing the cap back on and placing it back into his pocket. He begins to walk back to the Penthouse doors as he takes his first steps back on the granite tiles before turning back to the camera with a smile on his face.
“This is where everything is revealed. From our reputations to our legacies to even our broken promises, this is where everything succeeds or everything fails horribly but it’s up to us on how we do that… and to take my advice on it all… You ain’t touching my X*Crown Championship, nobody is, and I’ll keep it that way. I said this was my kingdom and you better be ready to slay the king to take my kingdom from me.”
He turns his back to the camera and walks into the Penthouse, closing it’s doors as the scene fades to black. Suddenly, his voice is heard through the darkness in an echo.
“Make way for the Legend Killer.”
End Transmission.
