Post by Adrien on Dec 25, 2020 11:54:42 GMT -5
“Ever get one of those cliche questions that you know everyone is getting asked? Probably so, right? This is a cliche-heavy industry, and you have to learn to embrace them to a certain extent. Take these little videos for an example… everyone who has ever stepped inside a ring has done at least one that has one of these in a dark room, maybe some faint light source like a single lightbulb hanging above them. Or something similar like an outdoors setting at night with one single streetlamp.”
...Says the thirty-four-year-old sitting in the center of a bouncy castle, surrounded by vibrant reds, greens, blues, and yellows on the surfaces of the structure.
“It’s easy to fall into being just another dime-a-dozen wrestler and into the pattern of everyone else in our wide industry. After all, patterns exist for a reason: there’s usually some level of effectiveness to it or it feels easy to do. I try my best to avoid it, but I’ll admit, even I’ve been in a dark room with a camera on. I mean, I had my back to the camera and was playing an acoustic guitar, but I’m guilty nonetheless.”
The Dropkick King shifts a little as some off-camera jumping shakes the ground slightly.
“But I got to thinking about one of those common questions: how would you describe your in-ring career in one word? I try to stick to my ‘brand’ and answer with #Believe or something along those lines. But you never know when some career introspection might give you a disparate perspective because I have a different answer…
“Overcome.”
The source of the bouncing appears on the edge of the camera’s view: Adrien’s four-year-old stepson, Klaus.
“Because no matter what has been put in front of me, I’ve overcome it. Look at me? I’m barely six foot and weigh less than two hundred pounds. There’s a subset of competitors in this industry I can’t lift off the ground. There’s a couple of people here who will remember me as a struggling rookie in the WWA. But look where I am today?”
Cochrane extends his arms, which prompts the other child in the bouncy castle to crawl over to him and try to use Adrien to hold himself up in a hugging position… the other child being Adrien’s one-year-old son, Alex.
“It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears for me to become the Dropkick King that you know today. And as I pondered the journey that I have gone through the past few years, starting in 2016, I began to realize a pattern. I won the #FSociety World Title in 2016. I had a chance to win the NGW World Title in 2017 but ended up winning it in 2018 instead. And in, 2019, my only match for the HYBRID Grand Championship was taken from me when a certain former friend of mine got the match stopped with a disqualification. But this year… nope…
“I’m not complaining or even bitter. I spent a lot of time holding the Evolution Championship that I won at the end of 2019. I didn’t drop that belt until October. And while that was happening, my tag team partner and sister-in-law won the big belt. Considering she stood with me when I was NGW World Champion, it was my honor to stand with her when she won her title.
“But the side effect to all of this? When Anthony Caffrey announced this battle royale, I technically qualified to enter. I got so used to the fact that I had to have been in at least one of those matches at some point in the year, even if I didn’t win it, that it dawned on me that I had not in 2020.”
At this point, little Alex Cochrane is using his father’s knee to hold himself up until his older brother’s bouncing makes him lose his balance and plop into a seated position. Despite all this, Adrien keeps his focus on the camera.
“But this is about storming into the unknown that is 2021. This is about adapting to new environments such as FIRESIDE as I have many times over and over in my career. All of it, more and more things I have had to overcome and can repeat once more. Yeah… there will always be doubters. I look at the list of people sharing the ring with me at Good Riddance 2020 and that’s what they are. But people have doubted me for almost sixteen years in this industry, and I’m certainly not going to let them stop me now.
“Yes. There is talent in this match. You have a former XHF Junior Heavyweight Champion in Derrick Lancaster, a former X*Crown Champion in Steve Awesome, teammates in Nausicaa Suzuki and Hayley Grimes… and that’s just scratching the surface of all the people we have fighting in this mess. Serena Riot, Sticky the Clown, Vodka Fizz, Ognom, Yung Sauce, Lucas Nix… all of us vying for that golden opportunity to make our presence known.
“But once again, I’m being counted out. I look at my opponents and see how seriously they take me. And they don’t. Hell, one of them tried to pretend like she had no idea who I was and that I wasn’t worth her time despite being in a match with me and being pinned by me…”
Cochrane pauses for a moment before he makes eye contact with his son. He gives a warm smile to the cooing toddler before looking back at the camera.
“But I digress. There is only one way to make sure that people realize what I am capable of here in the XHF Network. After all, I’m still a relatively new face. Though I have had a lot of success outside of here in many companies, I have to perform in front of these locker rooms for it to matter to a lot of people here. And that’s fine because that’s the goal. Winning matches. Winning championships. Further extending my legacy. But for that to happen, I have to constantly be preparing, constantly improving, and constantly succeeding. I’m not afraid of the challenge to prove myself in the Network. I fear no match and no opponent. Whoever I have to beat to reach my potential in the XHF Network, I will take that opportunity with a smile.
“And that’s what this battle royale is to me. Eleven of us enter. Only one of us can leave the winner. We battle like warriors until the last of us remains in the ring. You want to tell me I’m wrong? You want to tell me that it is you and not I that is destined to face off against the best FIRESIDE has to offer? THEN ELIMINATE ME.
“Otherwise…”
Cochrane lifts Alex and places him on his lap, ruffling his hair a little bit playfully.
“I will walk out the winner. And silence all my critics like I have so many times in my sixteen-year career.”
While Adrien finishes this sentence, Klaus jumps in the air and tries to do a dropkick to one of the corners of the bouncy castle. Adrien catches this because he immediately turns around to face his stepson with a wide grin.
“I did it! I did the dropkick like Daddy!”
“Not bad for a first try. We’ll work on it, kiddo.”
He looks back to the camera one last time.
“At Good Riddance 2020, you’ll see just why they call me the Dropkick King. And you will see how I’ve done everything I’ve done. Nothing better than firsthand experience.”
...Says the thirty-four-year-old sitting in the center of a bouncy castle, surrounded by vibrant reds, greens, blues, and yellows on the surfaces of the structure.
“It’s easy to fall into being just another dime-a-dozen wrestler and into the pattern of everyone else in our wide industry. After all, patterns exist for a reason: there’s usually some level of effectiveness to it or it feels easy to do. I try my best to avoid it, but I’ll admit, even I’ve been in a dark room with a camera on. I mean, I had my back to the camera and was playing an acoustic guitar, but I’m guilty nonetheless.”
The Dropkick King shifts a little as some off-camera jumping shakes the ground slightly.
“But I got to thinking about one of those common questions: how would you describe your in-ring career in one word? I try to stick to my ‘brand’ and answer with #Believe or something along those lines. But you never know when some career introspection might give you a disparate perspective because I have a different answer…
“Overcome.”
The source of the bouncing appears on the edge of the camera’s view: Adrien’s four-year-old stepson, Klaus.
“Because no matter what has been put in front of me, I’ve overcome it. Look at me? I’m barely six foot and weigh less than two hundred pounds. There’s a subset of competitors in this industry I can’t lift off the ground. There’s a couple of people here who will remember me as a struggling rookie in the WWA. But look where I am today?”
Cochrane extends his arms, which prompts the other child in the bouncy castle to crawl over to him and try to use Adrien to hold himself up in a hugging position… the other child being Adrien’s one-year-old son, Alex.
“It took a lot of blood, sweat, and tears for me to become the Dropkick King that you know today. And as I pondered the journey that I have gone through the past few years, starting in 2016, I began to realize a pattern. I won the #FSociety World Title in 2016. I had a chance to win the NGW World Title in 2017 but ended up winning it in 2018 instead. And in, 2019, my only match for the HYBRID Grand Championship was taken from me when a certain former friend of mine got the match stopped with a disqualification. But this year… nope…
“I’m not complaining or even bitter. I spent a lot of time holding the Evolution Championship that I won at the end of 2019. I didn’t drop that belt until October. And while that was happening, my tag team partner and sister-in-law won the big belt. Considering she stood with me when I was NGW World Champion, it was my honor to stand with her when she won her title.
“But the side effect to all of this? When Anthony Caffrey announced this battle royale, I technically qualified to enter. I got so used to the fact that I had to have been in at least one of those matches at some point in the year, even if I didn’t win it, that it dawned on me that I had not in 2020.”
At this point, little Alex Cochrane is using his father’s knee to hold himself up until his older brother’s bouncing makes him lose his balance and plop into a seated position. Despite all this, Adrien keeps his focus on the camera.
“But this is about storming into the unknown that is 2021. This is about adapting to new environments such as FIRESIDE as I have many times over and over in my career. All of it, more and more things I have had to overcome and can repeat once more. Yeah… there will always be doubters. I look at the list of people sharing the ring with me at Good Riddance 2020 and that’s what they are. But people have doubted me for almost sixteen years in this industry, and I’m certainly not going to let them stop me now.
“Yes. There is talent in this match. You have a former XHF Junior Heavyweight Champion in Derrick Lancaster, a former X*Crown Champion in Steve Awesome, teammates in Nausicaa Suzuki and Hayley Grimes… and that’s just scratching the surface of all the people we have fighting in this mess. Serena Riot, Sticky the Clown, Vodka Fizz, Ognom, Yung Sauce, Lucas Nix… all of us vying for that golden opportunity to make our presence known.
“But once again, I’m being counted out. I look at my opponents and see how seriously they take me. And they don’t. Hell, one of them tried to pretend like she had no idea who I was and that I wasn’t worth her time despite being in a match with me and being pinned by me…”
Cochrane pauses for a moment before he makes eye contact with his son. He gives a warm smile to the cooing toddler before looking back at the camera.
“But I digress. There is only one way to make sure that people realize what I am capable of here in the XHF Network. After all, I’m still a relatively new face. Though I have had a lot of success outside of here in many companies, I have to perform in front of these locker rooms for it to matter to a lot of people here. And that’s fine because that’s the goal. Winning matches. Winning championships. Further extending my legacy. But for that to happen, I have to constantly be preparing, constantly improving, and constantly succeeding. I’m not afraid of the challenge to prove myself in the Network. I fear no match and no opponent. Whoever I have to beat to reach my potential in the XHF Network, I will take that opportunity with a smile.
“And that’s what this battle royale is to me. Eleven of us enter. Only one of us can leave the winner. We battle like warriors until the last of us remains in the ring. You want to tell me I’m wrong? You want to tell me that it is you and not I that is destined to face off against the best FIRESIDE has to offer? THEN ELIMINATE ME.
“Otherwise…”
Cochrane lifts Alex and places him on his lap, ruffling his hair a little bit playfully.
“I will walk out the winner. And silence all my critics like I have so many times in my sixteen-year career.”
While Adrien finishes this sentence, Klaus jumps in the air and tries to do a dropkick to one of the corners of the bouncy castle. Adrien catches this because he immediately turns around to face his stepson with a wide grin.
“I did it! I did the dropkick like Daddy!”
“Not bad for a first try. We’ll work on it, kiddo.”
He looks back to the camera one last time.
“At Good Riddance 2020, you’ll see just why they call me the Dropkick King. And you will see how I’ve done everything I’ve done. Nothing better than firsthand experience.”
