Punching Above Your Weight Gets You Nowhere [#1]
Apr 3, 2020 13:53:15 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, mosler, and 1 more like this
Post by Ryan on Apr 3, 2020 13:53:15 GMT -5
23rd of March, 2020 - Anaheim, CA
The opening of the camera shot begins from The Young Household in Anaheim, California as the sun shines bright through the windows and into the bedroom of Ryan and Selena as we see Ryan sits upon his king-size bed, dressed to the nines in a dark navy blue three-piece suit. His hands held together and close to his face, elbows resting along with his upper calves. His right leg bouncing up and down, shaking if you would describe it. Ryan brings his hands away from his face as he begins to speak.
“My trust... feels broken. Could you imagine how I felt when I got that superkick to the jaw three weeks ago? Could you imagine how I felt knowing it came from the one man I trusted since Fired Up, since our first ever tag team matches and now... He sees nothing but fury. He sees anger. He sees red. He doesn’t see the lines he’s crossing, they are blurred,” Ryan speaks in a soft tone. “I feel... different. I don't feel the same as I would normally be after a show or on the lead up to a match as big as what I've got coming up. It's a weird feeling. My team has begun to show cracks, something I never wished to happen. I’ve been sitting here for the past half an hour and all I can think about in my head is if I was the one that’s caused all of this? Could I have wedged the gap and pushed us apart? Nothing feels the same anymore, what the hell do I need to do to fix it all?”
Ryan’s tone seems to increase, stress filling his mind with negative thoughts and doubt. His conscience is slowly corrupting, his train of thoughts are fighting a battle with his demons. He takes a small deep breath, trying to calm himself down a little and clear his head.
“That… That’s something I need to think about off-camera. I need to compose myself. I need to fucking compose myself.” Ryan takes a few more deep breaths. “Now, I guess we’ve got to get onto the hot topic going on right now, yes? The XHF Rumble, it’s that time of the year where everyone is bidding for a chance to become the XHF X*Crown Champion, everyone’s jumping in for a shot. Being perfectly honest, I never had any interest in joining in the cluster of men and women entering the match but something drew me in. Something within me said that I needed to enter this match, and now I’m here. Now I’ve to work double duty and try to defend my Tag Team Championship belt.” Ryan looks to his side and sees his prize nearby. “My odds are limited. I am outnumbered. Outgunned and without a partner to trust right now. I’m going into this Rumble as the only member of LGBTKO entering, and that would be perfect news to many. Amazing news to Dos Angeles who are challenging for the Tag Championships and entering the Rumble as well.”
Ryan knows the stakes, bets on him winning are very slim. But he also knows the bets on either Angel brother winning are very slim, even slimmer than Dos Angeles’ chances of winning the Tag Team Championships. Ryan grabs the singular XHF Tag Team Championship in his possession and places it down along his lap, he looks down at the golden plates of the championship as they shine with the beaming sunlight entering the room through the window, seeing his reflection within the gold.
“I’ve always been a fan of the XHF Rumble, even when I was a kid. I remember watching the first XHF Rumble when I was thirteen years old, seeing Scorpion throw Destruction over the ropes with a release Scorpion Plex was something I could only ever wish to be as a young teenager. Now, seventeen years later and the time has come for me to enter the ring with just about fifty people to try and make my own XHF Rumble moment. But I know I’m not alone, as I’ve mentioned, there are about fifty other people trying to fight for that grand prize… that XHF X*Crown Championship.” Ryan lifts his head to look up to the camera. “Not only would I be winning it for myself, not only would I be winning it for LGBTKO, but I would be winning it for AWF. The last time we had the X*Crown was when Maverick was king for a day and then he lost it to the old man. Speaking of the man, a lot of peop-- actually, no… Just Caffrey has been calling me a Maverick 2.0 because ‘I choke’. Now if I were to choke, I’d have to be losing. Though I’ve not been on my A-game recently, I’ve not been choking. More so, the last two losses came from unfortunate circumstances. I was outnumbered when I faced Bobby and Seth lost the plot when we faced Copycat and Terry Bradshaw. I’ve only been pinned three times and two of those came fairly, whereas a certain asshole has been getting pinned, submitted and knocked out. But don’t worry, I’m the supposed Maverick 2.0 - Isn’t that right, Caffrey?”
Ryan simply shrugs his shoulders as if brushing off the backhanded attempts at “roasting” him.
“Anthony, let’s be real here. You and I have never crossed paths but you’ve always been the one saying that I wouldn’t come close to beating you or I’m not as good as you, maybe even going as far as to tell me how bad you’ll snap my ankle but that seems to be the case with everyone, no matter who they are. You were so content with saying you’d beat me but I waited for you at Call Your Shot in January… to challenge. What happened a month later? You left AWF and ran right into SWAT, thinking you’d be the hot shit there,” Ryan slightly chuckles to himself. “How’s that going for you, eh? Lost out on a chance to be in line for the SWAT World Championship by the man you beat at Supremacy, won a few short matches, and then lost when you were so close to becoming SWAT International Champion. I’m still waiting for you to actually do something of value over there since you couldn’t even do that in AWF. You ran for the hills when the X*Crown moved over because you thought you’d take the easy road and step right up into contendership, or maybe you were scared of Seth and ran when you had the chance… Calling him out every so often to do this Key versus Kingpin like it’s actually going to do something for you.”
“To put it simply, Anthony, you’re nothing more than a weak coward that runs his mouth all over the damn place ‘til someone finally shuts him the fuck up. Hopefully, Syberius was that man that shut you the hell up. Speaking of people who need to shut the hell up already, Ratty… It’s about time I got around to you. I’ve been hearing everything you said, and it seems as if my name couldn’t leave your mouth at first. Calling me overrated at first, then pathetic, then a ‘bum ass bum’.” Ryan can’t help himself but to laugh. “Bum ass bum… I’ve heard children come up with better insults and Rat, a so-called living legend and the first-ever X*Crown Champion, decides to call me that? Oh man, I haven’t had a good laugh in quite a while, but thank you for that, Rat. I really appreciate it. But I’m not going to let you just waltz away with calling me overrated or pathetic? Sorry, I’m not Joe Nobody, I’m not a punching bag for horrible insults you try to practice in the mirror.”
Ryan continues to laugh at the very horrible attempts to insult by Rat Bastard.
“Now, Ratty… It’s nice to know that the first thing you start off with is boyfriends and side bitches, and I’m going to assume this is because we’re apart of the LGBT Community we must be fucking at some point. Yeah, I’m not surprised you’re going to attack me for my sexuality, it’s probably why you were kicked out of the XHF all those years ago… Wasn’t it?” Ryan questions as he shrugs his shoulders. “And yes, of course, you try to tell me that I always play second fiddle because I’m not the one holding the Prestige Championship or even held any singles gold, unlike my partners. That’s… not showing me anything about me being overrated or pathetic. That’s just you mocking me over how I’ve only got a Tag Team Championship reign which is like really petty of you to even come at me for considering you’ve not held a title in over fifteen years! Bless your heart, you’ve got an XHF Phoenix Championship match coming up, I’m so proud of you, Rat.” Ryan rolls his eyes with the sarcasm coming through.
“Let me ask you this, Rat, what makes you think I’m overrated or pathetic or even a bum ass bum? What makes you think that I’m not the main attraction of LGBTKO? Is it because you have this special privilege of being called an ‘XHF Legend’ it grants you the right to call people you don’t like the look of whatever you’re pleased? Rat, you were something about fifteen to twenty years ago and hell, you were one of the best there ever has been but as I said, that was fifteen to twenty years ago. You’ve lost your touch, you’ve lost your place, you’ve lost every bit of momentum you might have had back then.” Ryan exclaims as he points to the camera. “But now that you’re back in the year of 2020, it’s time for ‘the revolution to be televised again’ but guess what, you’re nowhere near my level, Rat. I’m able to punch main event status and I’ve been doing that since I got here in AWF, take a look back to my first few matches here. For you, Rat? You’re TRYING to punch Main Event status like you did all those years ago, you’re TRYING to punch yourself into the X*Crown picture like you did all those years ago and that’s where you become overrated because you may be punching up that high but you’re realistically punching lower-midcard.”
Ryan’s right-hand lowers from above his head to just below his knee, his face is able to tell us that he’s not here to fuck around anymore. This is no joke. Ryan stands up from his bed and walks over to the doors that lead out to his large bedroom balcony that looks out onto the city skyline of Anaheim. The slight breeze flows through Ryan’s hair.
“Though it is nice to see you try and punch above your weight, Rat, it’s going to get you nowhere. I learned that lesson many years ago and I’ve learned from that piece of advice all those years later to get me to where I am. Sadly I simply cannot just give you that advice and hope to god you take it seriously because it’s you, Rat, you never take anything seriously.” Ryan rolls his eyes again. “There’s only one way to give you that small yet very helpful piece of advice, Rat, and that’s to beat it into you. Now I know you’ve threatened violence first with the whole ‘if we cross paths, I’m going to beat the shit outta you’ ordeal or the classic ‘I am going to expose you’ yada yada bullshit that comes out of your mouth. Now, let me show you a little something, Rat. I want you to watch and listen very closely.”
Ryan then points down to his right knee. The camera zooms in on it but it’s just a plain ol’ knee, nothing special about it.
“Do you see that right there, Rat? That’s a knee. But it's not just any knee, it’s my knee. Do you know what happens to people who’ve been on the receiving end of my knee strikes? They fall, they crumble… They lose. You’re not going to be any different, Rat. You’re going to try and avoid it, but by the end of the night, you will take the knee and you won’t be winning that Rumble.” Ryan takes a deep breath. “I can promise you that. You may be punching above your weight now but all it takes is that one person to step in and knock you back down to reality and I am so glad it’s going to be me to do it. Of course I’m walking into this match with the intention of winning it, some of us might say we don’t but they’ll come around sooner than later. But if it’s not me walking out with that X*Crown Championship? Then I’m just going to walk in and hurt every bastard that stands in my way because I am Ryan effin Young… and I’m just that damn good at what I do.”
Ryan waves to the camera before heading back inside, closing the doors as the scene pans out to the city skyline before everything fades out to black.
