Post by Adrien on Feb 1, 2021 0:04:14 GMT -5
Charles Akiyama: Hello everyone, I am Charles Akiyama, interviewer for XHF and AWF. Thank you all for joining me here at the Seawolf Sports Complex for some of the highlights of tonight’s action at XHF Supremacy. It was a wild, wild night of a lot of furious action where we had twenty-one spectacular matches! We saw championship retain and championships change hands, ending with one intense match with Dylan Black holding on to the X*Crown Championship.
The resident interviewer gives a warm smile to his audience as he sits in his leather chair on his interview set backstage shortly after Supremacy went off the air. The seasoned backstage veteran has his microphone in his left hand and takes a sip of his water with his right before continuing.
Charles Akiyama: I’m joined here tonight by a man who actually gets to leave out of here with his clients after all three of them went victorious tonight. Please welcome… the Manager Extraordinaire, Eddie Walker!!
After a quick pan, the manager lifts his own water bottle and tips it in the direction of Akiyama.
Eddie Walker: Hello there, Charles. Good that we get to sit down and talk once again now that I’m back to work!
Charles Akiyama: Indeed, it has been awhile. Glad to see you looking well again after that scary car accident. But enough general chatting, let’s talk action. Adrien Cochrane, Adam Sanders, and Betsy Granger all won their matches here at one of the biggest stages here in the entire XHF Network. A lot of smiles going on, right?
Eddie Walker: Oh absolutely. Betsy was able to retain her XHF Phoenix Championship against recent AWF Hall of Fame inductee Kira Izumi and former champion Rob Garcia. And Adam was able to rebound after what happened at XHF Battle for Hegemony with the aid of his teacher to defeat the Graham Brothers.
Charles Akiyama: You know, you haven’t spoken to me a whole lot about Adrien Cochrane. He first appeared in the Network to be Adam Sanders tag team partner at AWF Fired Up, but you were still out with his accident. I usually focus on AWF talent when we talk at actual AWF shows, which means we’re still getting to Betsy granger. I guess while I have you here for a global network show is as good a time as any to talk about the Dropkick King.
Eddie Walker: Ah yes, my first client ever. Honestly, if you think about it, I wouldn’t be this super manager with all sorts of clients all over the wrestling industry. I have three clients here in the Network, but I have ten more elsewhere. And I only started this career because of Adrien.
Charles Akiyama: Hard to believe that sometimes, one little domino can cause that kind of effect, isn’t it?
Eddie Walker: Oh absolutely. Big time ripple. And I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before some of my existing clients come to the network or I sign some new talents to make my count here in XHF a lot bigger than three.
Charles Akiyama: Obviously, I am pretty aware of the goings on of Adam and Betsy since I work for their company over in AWF. What is Adrien up to right now in the Network? Other than the victory against Solomon and Ryan Graham.
Eddie Walker: Well, he did call out the XHF Tag Team Champions since he and Adam have hit the qualifying win count in order to do so. He’s dying to get his hands on Caffrey again. But that match isn’t booked yet. The only thing set in stone that he’s up to is honestly the Third Annual NPW Cruiserweight Cup. He has advanced to the semi-finals and is currently scheduled to face Jay Stevens. If he is able to advance against him, Adrien will take on the winner of Eron Hunter and Chris “Trigger” Cavanagh.
Charles Akiyama: And the winner of this tournament faces MYOJIN for the XHF Junior Heavyweight Championship, correct?
Eddie Walker: Correct. So a lot at stake here. Especially since MYOJIN has chosen Adrien as the opponent he really wants from this group. Not exactly sure why he chose Adrien? I don’t know. It could be because he is a big name in terms of the Network as a whole since he has appeared on more than half the companies here and has had some pretty impressive wins.
Charles Akiyama: I was in the building when Adrien Cochrane got a victory over former X*Crown Champion Anthony Caffrey.
Eddie Walker: Indeed. A tournament victory will definitely send a message to the entire network that Adrien Cochrane is here to be one of the top stars in the XHF Network.
Charles Akiyama: It would, if he can pull it off.
Eddie Walker: Indeed. Can’t count the chickens before they hatch, that’s for sure. He has to get past Jay Stevens first and foremost. He’s trying to make sure he doesn’t keep his eye too much on MYOJIN or even the winner of Eron and Trigger because it means nothing if he doesn’t get past Jay Stevens.
Charles Akiyama: It seems Jay Stevens seems to have strong opinions about Adrien.
Eddie Walker: Ohhh boyyyy, does he! I swear, I saw that first video and just shrugged his shoulders. Said about two sentences about Adrien. Didn’t seem concerned about him as an opponent… though you could argue he still doesn’t. Barely spoke about the match. Spent most of it talking to his uncle Ty… ummm, no relation.
Charles Akiyama: Thanks for that clarification. Wasn’t assuming it.
Eddie Walker: Always good to stay on top of the questions. But anyway, yeah. Didn’t really seem to realize who his opponent was. Until Adrien spoke for the first time. And man, did Adrien set off a switch! I know Jay claims he got under Adrien’s skin, but man… compare those two videos. I think it was Adrien who got under Jay’s.
Charles Akiyama: There was definitely a change in tone and tenor from Jay’s first and second videos.
Eddie Walker: Absolutely. I don’t think he realizes Adrien’s actual identity until Adrien started talking about his WWA past. I wonder if it was one of those “Oh he’s THAT guy” moments. Which he should have known who he was facing before his first video if that is the case. That is me making an assumption, of course, and I could be absolutely wrong.
Charles Akiyama: You think Stevens wasn’t aware of who he was. He did say he knew who he was right after Day 3.
Eddie Walker: You are correct, actually. Let me rephrase. What’s his favorite Adrien match? No, don’t give me a “I don’t have a favorite” because Adrien just “disgusts you so much”? How about just one little match that you think is a summary of who the Dropkick King is today?
Charles Akiyama: I’m sure Stevens has. He is focused on being professional.
Eddie Walker: Yeah, I can give him that benefit of the doubt that he, at minimum, watched his other three Cruiserweight Cup matches. I usually like to grab five matches for my clients to use as a base to figure out what they are up against. And recent ones are good, but you sometimes want to go for the highlights as well since you never know what hidden tricks someone has up their sleeve. Example: if Jay only watched his NPW matches, Jay has no idea what Adrien’s other finisher is other than the Adrien Cutter. Ohhh wait, he hasn’t actually used that move yet in the Network? I wonder if that’s a strategy on his part…
Charles Akiyama: Are you talking about the…?
Eddie Walker: Oh don’t do Jay’s legwork for him! But that’s my point. You truly need to get to know your opponent to know what to look out for. If Jay doesn’t know what the move is, how is he supposed to counter it or to know how to prepare for it?
Charles Akiyama: Jay Stevens actually said in an interview with NPW.com’s Justin Spencer earlier today that he has used the powers of the internet to research Adrien and just “wasn’t interested”.
Eddie Walker: I saw the interview earlier while we were getting ready for the show tonight. I’ll go ahead and make this statement now: Adrien hasn’t seen it yet. His only focus was making sure his student was able to leave the ring victorious because Adrien loves the kid that much. Honestly, that’s another mistake that young Jay is making. It’s not about how much you like a person that should dictate how “interested” you are in your research. If they are your opponent, that should be your number one interest. Every Jay Stevens match that I sent him, I can tell you he’s watched it at least five times. By the way, to answer one of my previous questions, Adrien’s favorite Jay Stevens match was him standing up to Eric Dane in the Lethal Lottery Rumble. He said he admired the heart that Stevens had in the match.
Charles Akiyama: Well that’s good to hear. Dane did have a short stint in AWF so I’m familiar with the Only Star’s work.
Eddie Walker: Oh indeed. You would think Jay Stevens would have found some sort of commonality with Adrien after Adrien stood up to Eric Dane as well on the third day of this tournament. He cleared the ring of all those Syndicate guys when they were ganging up on Joseph Mack. By the way, Mr. Mack, Adrien doesn’t actually drink alcohol but loves a good cup of Earl Grey tea if you still want to offer him that drink.
Charles Akiyama: So Stevens and Adrien might have a common threat.
Eddie Walker: If Stevens could get over whatever prejudices he has against Adrien, absolutely. And that was one of the points Adrien was trying to make to Jay, which I think Jay missed that point completely: how do you treat others, especially those who have no value to you? Jay stepped in when necessary to make sure Dane didn’t go killing a guy. But what happens when Jay sees a guy who he only sees the 2007 version of? “Awww, he’s trash! I don’t respect him!” It’s so short-sighted when you realize that this man did what you should have been doing when Joseph Mack when in danger. If your goal is Cruiserweight Cup first and foremost, and Adrien is in your way, fine. Cool. Go win the match. But you don’t have to bury the man who wants the same thing you want.
Charles Akiyama: Well, Stevens said Adrien hasn’t improved since 2007.
Eddie Walker: Jay Stevens, like I and Adrien said, is stuck in this 2007 frame of mind, which is highly unusual for such a young kid. But Adrien knows that he wasn’t all that great back then. He’s absolutely well aware that he had a very rocky start to his career. But doesn’t he see? That’s one more thing Adrien had to overcome. His struggles in the WWA is a HUGE reason why Adrien DID improve. He needed to be humbled and struggle so that he can keep fighting his way to the top, or up the mountain as he likes to say. He needed that chip on his shoulder to keep motivating himself to become even better, no matter how far he’s come. Even if you take out the smaller championships and tag team championships, Adrien went on to win four World Heavyweight Championships in four different companies: PCW in 2012. EXODUS Pro in 2013. #FSociety in 2016. NGW in 2018. These are no small ponds. Huge talents from all over the wrestling industry were in these companies. Former XHF X*Crown Champion Alex Jones was one of the people Adrien defeated on his way to become the final NGW World Title. Former WWA alums Jimmy Riley and Justin Brooks were also on the card when Adrien won it in EXODUS Pro. But all that success doesn’t matter because Adrien still sees his early career struggles and knows that he has to keep training to stay on the top of his game to win whatever the next challenge is.
Charles Akiyama: Did you say Adrien is the last NGW World Champion? You know what happens when people have World Titles from closed companies, right?
Eddie Walker: Yes. He has a shot at the X*Crown Championship currently held by Dylan Black. Whenever he feels the moment is right to request that match, he has it.
Charles Akiyama: But as you were saying…
Eddie Walker: Adrien is not a bad person to have on your side when there is a bad group of wrestlers causing all sorts of terror and mongering fear. He fought against the Elite in PCW, LEGION as well as Gods and Monsters in EXODUS Pro, and the Destroyers in NGW.
Charles Akiyama: So you think that Jay Stevens is missing out on someone who he could benefit from?
Eddie Walker: I truly do. I’ll make this absolutely clear now: Adrien actually does respect Jay’s abilities. I’ve seen what the kid can do and I definitely think he is a great competitor. And Adrien knows how good Jay’s teachers are much more than I do, that’s for sure. I didn’t know Adrien yet back in the WWA days. But Adrien will always do what he believes in his heart to do the right thing. Honestly, after everything Jay has said, if Eric Dane was about to go after his nephew with his legion of Syndicate muscle for what went down at Crowning of a Champion II, Adrien would not hesitate one moment. He’d sprint down to the ring and do the right thing. That’s what being a man is all about. Jay has no respect for Adrien. Adrien gains nothing from doing something like that for Jay. But that doesn’t matter. If Adrien is in the building, he would aid Jay. Not because it helps Adrien, but because it’s the right thing to do. THAT is what being a man is all about.
Charles Akiyama: Bold words. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.
Eddie Walker: Yeah, here’s hoping.
Charles Akiyama: We’re going to go to break and hopefully talk about some other goings on around the XHF Network. I’m actually really interested to hear your thoughts on some of the title changes that occurred tonight. But before we wrap up our Adrien talk, do you have any closing remarks for Jay?
Eddie Walker: Jay, you seem like a good competitor with a good head on your shoulders… most of the time. Adrien said you have a great wrestling pedigree. But remember that there are always lessons to be learned. And I truly hope you learn something from this match with Adrien. I truly do. If you want to keep strong to your stubborn opinion you formed about Adrien and want to find confirmation bias on whatever is presented to you, that’s your choice. That’s all up to you. But I want you to keep an open mind. Maybe Adrien isn’t the same person he was a decade ago, you know? Ten, eleven years is a long time. Everyone changes at least a little bit in that kind of time. I know I’m not who I was ten years ago or even in the same career. But when this match is over, understand this is a brand new Adrien Cochrane, not the one you saw in the WWA on television. He’s matured from that twenty-one-year-old goofball. He is raising two boys who look up to him. He’s got people who credit their careers to him in this very network. There’s top names here that wanted to get in the ring with him. There are lives that he has changed in the ring and out. Let go of that anger. Let go of that toxic biases you have. Accept him for what he is: a new man. I’m not asking you to like the guy. I’m not asking you to tag team with him or even ally together to fight the Syndicate. Just acknowledge that you might have missed what’s happened since you were a kid and realize that you could be wrong about who he is. I hope that, after this match with him, you at least feel… neutral about him. Win or lose. If you beat Adrien, I want you to know this: he’s rooting for you to win the whole thing. He won’t be mad. He won’t complain. He will tip his hat and say “Good on you, Jay.” He’s my best friend, I promise you this is true. So with that, I close. Good luck, Jay. I’m hoping for a great match between the two of you, and I know that Adrien will give you the best fight he can. I have a rooting interest in him, but know that we won’t be mad if you get this. And hopefully, things will get less tense once this match is over.
Eddie Walker gives Charles a quick bow.
Eddie Walker: Thank you for having me, Charles.
Charles Akiyama: Thank you, Eddie! We’ll be right back to talk about the huge title changes from Supremacy right after this!!
The resident interviewer gives a warm smile to his audience as he sits in his leather chair on his interview set backstage shortly after Supremacy went off the air. The seasoned backstage veteran has his microphone in his left hand and takes a sip of his water with his right before continuing.
Charles Akiyama: I’m joined here tonight by a man who actually gets to leave out of here with his clients after all three of them went victorious tonight. Please welcome… the Manager Extraordinaire, Eddie Walker!!
After a quick pan, the manager lifts his own water bottle and tips it in the direction of Akiyama.
Eddie Walker: Hello there, Charles. Good that we get to sit down and talk once again now that I’m back to work!
Charles Akiyama: Indeed, it has been awhile. Glad to see you looking well again after that scary car accident. But enough general chatting, let’s talk action. Adrien Cochrane, Adam Sanders, and Betsy Granger all won their matches here at one of the biggest stages here in the entire XHF Network. A lot of smiles going on, right?
Eddie Walker: Oh absolutely. Betsy was able to retain her XHF Phoenix Championship against recent AWF Hall of Fame inductee Kira Izumi and former champion Rob Garcia. And Adam was able to rebound after what happened at XHF Battle for Hegemony with the aid of his teacher to defeat the Graham Brothers.
Charles Akiyama: You know, you haven’t spoken to me a whole lot about Adrien Cochrane. He first appeared in the Network to be Adam Sanders tag team partner at AWF Fired Up, but you were still out with his accident. I usually focus on AWF talent when we talk at actual AWF shows, which means we’re still getting to Betsy granger. I guess while I have you here for a global network show is as good a time as any to talk about the Dropkick King.
Eddie Walker: Ah yes, my first client ever. Honestly, if you think about it, I wouldn’t be this super manager with all sorts of clients all over the wrestling industry. I have three clients here in the Network, but I have ten more elsewhere. And I only started this career because of Adrien.
Charles Akiyama: Hard to believe that sometimes, one little domino can cause that kind of effect, isn’t it?
Eddie Walker: Oh absolutely. Big time ripple. And I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before some of my existing clients come to the network or I sign some new talents to make my count here in XHF a lot bigger than three.
Charles Akiyama: Obviously, I am pretty aware of the goings on of Adam and Betsy since I work for their company over in AWF. What is Adrien up to right now in the Network? Other than the victory against Solomon and Ryan Graham.
Eddie Walker: Well, he did call out the XHF Tag Team Champions since he and Adam have hit the qualifying win count in order to do so. He’s dying to get his hands on Caffrey again. But that match isn’t booked yet. The only thing set in stone that he’s up to is honestly the Third Annual NPW Cruiserweight Cup. He has advanced to the semi-finals and is currently scheduled to face Jay Stevens. If he is able to advance against him, Adrien will take on the winner of Eron Hunter and Chris “Trigger” Cavanagh.
Charles Akiyama: And the winner of this tournament faces MYOJIN for the XHF Junior Heavyweight Championship, correct?
Eddie Walker: Correct. So a lot at stake here. Especially since MYOJIN has chosen Adrien as the opponent he really wants from this group. Not exactly sure why he chose Adrien? I don’t know. It could be because he is a big name in terms of the Network as a whole since he has appeared on more than half the companies here and has had some pretty impressive wins.
Charles Akiyama: I was in the building when Adrien Cochrane got a victory over former X*Crown Champion Anthony Caffrey.
Eddie Walker: Indeed. A tournament victory will definitely send a message to the entire network that Adrien Cochrane is here to be one of the top stars in the XHF Network.
Charles Akiyama: It would, if he can pull it off.
Eddie Walker: Indeed. Can’t count the chickens before they hatch, that’s for sure. He has to get past Jay Stevens first and foremost. He’s trying to make sure he doesn’t keep his eye too much on MYOJIN or even the winner of Eron and Trigger because it means nothing if he doesn’t get past Jay Stevens.
Charles Akiyama: It seems Jay Stevens seems to have strong opinions about Adrien.
Eddie Walker: Ohhh boyyyy, does he! I swear, I saw that first video and just shrugged his shoulders. Said about two sentences about Adrien. Didn’t seem concerned about him as an opponent… though you could argue he still doesn’t. Barely spoke about the match. Spent most of it talking to his uncle Ty… ummm, no relation.
Charles Akiyama: Thanks for that clarification. Wasn’t assuming it.
Eddie Walker: Always good to stay on top of the questions. But anyway, yeah. Didn’t really seem to realize who his opponent was. Until Adrien spoke for the first time. And man, did Adrien set off a switch! I know Jay claims he got under Adrien’s skin, but man… compare those two videos. I think it was Adrien who got under Jay’s.
Charles Akiyama: There was definitely a change in tone and tenor from Jay’s first and second videos.
Eddie Walker: Absolutely. I don’t think he realizes Adrien’s actual identity until Adrien started talking about his WWA past. I wonder if it was one of those “Oh he’s THAT guy” moments. Which he should have known who he was facing before his first video if that is the case. That is me making an assumption, of course, and I could be absolutely wrong.
Charles Akiyama: You think Stevens wasn’t aware of who he was. He did say he knew who he was right after Day 3.
Eddie Walker: You are correct, actually. Let me rephrase. What’s his favorite Adrien match? No, don’t give me a “I don’t have a favorite” because Adrien just “disgusts you so much”? How about just one little match that you think is a summary of who the Dropkick King is today?
Charles Akiyama: I’m sure Stevens has. He is focused on being professional.
Eddie Walker: Yeah, I can give him that benefit of the doubt that he, at minimum, watched his other three Cruiserweight Cup matches. I usually like to grab five matches for my clients to use as a base to figure out what they are up against. And recent ones are good, but you sometimes want to go for the highlights as well since you never know what hidden tricks someone has up their sleeve. Example: if Jay only watched his NPW matches, Jay has no idea what Adrien’s other finisher is other than the Adrien Cutter. Ohhh wait, he hasn’t actually used that move yet in the Network? I wonder if that’s a strategy on his part…
Charles Akiyama: Are you talking about the…?
Eddie Walker: Oh don’t do Jay’s legwork for him! But that’s my point. You truly need to get to know your opponent to know what to look out for. If Jay doesn’t know what the move is, how is he supposed to counter it or to know how to prepare for it?
Charles Akiyama: Jay Stevens actually said in an interview with NPW.com’s Justin Spencer earlier today that he has used the powers of the internet to research Adrien and just “wasn’t interested”.
Eddie Walker: I saw the interview earlier while we were getting ready for the show tonight. I’ll go ahead and make this statement now: Adrien hasn’t seen it yet. His only focus was making sure his student was able to leave the ring victorious because Adrien loves the kid that much. Honestly, that’s another mistake that young Jay is making. It’s not about how much you like a person that should dictate how “interested” you are in your research. If they are your opponent, that should be your number one interest. Every Jay Stevens match that I sent him, I can tell you he’s watched it at least five times. By the way, to answer one of my previous questions, Adrien’s favorite Jay Stevens match was him standing up to Eric Dane in the Lethal Lottery Rumble. He said he admired the heart that Stevens had in the match.
Charles Akiyama: Well that’s good to hear. Dane did have a short stint in AWF so I’m familiar with the Only Star’s work.
Eddie Walker: Oh indeed. You would think Jay Stevens would have found some sort of commonality with Adrien after Adrien stood up to Eric Dane as well on the third day of this tournament. He cleared the ring of all those Syndicate guys when they were ganging up on Joseph Mack. By the way, Mr. Mack, Adrien doesn’t actually drink alcohol but loves a good cup of Earl Grey tea if you still want to offer him that drink.
Charles Akiyama: So Stevens and Adrien might have a common threat.
Eddie Walker: If Stevens could get over whatever prejudices he has against Adrien, absolutely. And that was one of the points Adrien was trying to make to Jay, which I think Jay missed that point completely: how do you treat others, especially those who have no value to you? Jay stepped in when necessary to make sure Dane didn’t go killing a guy. But what happens when Jay sees a guy who he only sees the 2007 version of? “Awww, he’s trash! I don’t respect him!” It’s so short-sighted when you realize that this man did what you should have been doing when Joseph Mack when in danger. If your goal is Cruiserweight Cup first and foremost, and Adrien is in your way, fine. Cool. Go win the match. But you don’t have to bury the man who wants the same thing you want.
Charles Akiyama: Well, Stevens said Adrien hasn’t improved since 2007.
Eddie Walker: Jay Stevens, like I and Adrien said, is stuck in this 2007 frame of mind, which is highly unusual for such a young kid. But Adrien knows that he wasn’t all that great back then. He’s absolutely well aware that he had a very rocky start to his career. But doesn’t he see? That’s one more thing Adrien had to overcome. His struggles in the WWA is a HUGE reason why Adrien DID improve. He needed to be humbled and struggle so that he can keep fighting his way to the top, or up the mountain as he likes to say. He needed that chip on his shoulder to keep motivating himself to become even better, no matter how far he’s come. Even if you take out the smaller championships and tag team championships, Adrien went on to win four World Heavyweight Championships in four different companies: PCW in 2012. EXODUS Pro in 2013. #FSociety in 2016. NGW in 2018. These are no small ponds. Huge talents from all over the wrestling industry were in these companies. Former XHF X*Crown Champion Alex Jones was one of the people Adrien defeated on his way to become the final NGW World Title. Former WWA alums Jimmy Riley and Justin Brooks were also on the card when Adrien won it in EXODUS Pro. But all that success doesn’t matter because Adrien still sees his early career struggles and knows that he has to keep training to stay on the top of his game to win whatever the next challenge is.
Charles Akiyama: Did you say Adrien is the last NGW World Champion? You know what happens when people have World Titles from closed companies, right?
Eddie Walker: Yes. He has a shot at the X*Crown Championship currently held by Dylan Black. Whenever he feels the moment is right to request that match, he has it.
Charles Akiyama: But as you were saying…
Eddie Walker: Adrien is not a bad person to have on your side when there is a bad group of wrestlers causing all sorts of terror and mongering fear. He fought against the Elite in PCW, LEGION as well as Gods and Monsters in EXODUS Pro, and the Destroyers in NGW.
Charles Akiyama: So you think that Jay Stevens is missing out on someone who he could benefit from?
Eddie Walker: I truly do. I’ll make this absolutely clear now: Adrien actually does respect Jay’s abilities. I’ve seen what the kid can do and I definitely think he is a great competitor. And Adrien knows how good Jay’s teachers are much more than I do, that’s for sure. I didn’t know Adrien yet back in the WWA days. But Adrien will always do what he believes in his heart to do the right thing. Honestly, after everything Jay has said, if Eric Dane was about to go after his nephew with his legion of Syndicate muscle for what went down at Crowning of a Champion II, Adrien would not hesitate one moment. He’d sprint down to the ring and do the right thing. That’s what being a man is all about. Jay has no respect for Adrien. Adrien gains nothing from doing something like that for Jay. But that doesn’t matter. If Adrien is in the building, he would aid Jay. Not because it helps Adrien, but because it’s the right thing to do. THAT is what being a man is all about.
Charles Akiyama: Bold words. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that.
Eddie Walker: Yeah, here’s hoping.
Charles Akiyama: We’re going to go to break and hopefully talk about some other goings on around the XHF Network. I’m actually really interested to hear your thoughts on some of the title changes that occurred tonight. But before we wrap up our Adrien talk, do you have any closing remarks for Jay?
Eddie Walker: Jay, you seem like a good competitor with a good head on your shoulders… most of the time. Adrien said you have a great wrestling pedigree. But remember that there are always lessons to be learned. And I truly hope you learn something from this match with Adrien. I truly do. If you want to keep strong to your stubborn opinion you formed about Adrien and want to find confirmation bias on whatever is presented to you, that’s your choice. That’s all up to you. But I want you to keep an open mind. Maybe Adrien isn’t the same person he was a decade ago, you know? Ten, eleven years is a long time. Everyone changes at least a little bit in that kind of time. I know I’m not who I was ten years ago or even in the same career. But when this match is over, understand this is a brand new Adrien Cochrane, not the one you saw in the WWA on television. He’s matured from that twenty-one-year-old goofball. He is raising two boys who look up to him. He’s got people who credit their careers to him in this very network. There’s top names here that wanted to get in the ring with him. There are lives that he has changed in the ring and out. Let go of that anger. Let go of that toxic biases you have. Accept him for what he is: a new man. I’m not asking you to like the guy. I’m not asking you to tag team with him or even ally together to fight the Syndicate. Just acknowledge that you might have missed what’s happened since you were a kid and realize that you could be wrong about who he is. I hope that, after this match with him, you at least feel… neutral about him. Win or lose. If you beat Adrien, I want you to know this: he’s rooting for you to win the whole thing. He won’t be mad. He won’t complain. He will tip his hat and say “Good on you, Jay.” He’s my best friend, I promise you this is true. So with that, I close. Good luck, Jay. I’m hoping for a great match between the two of you, and I know that Adrien will give you the best fight he can. I have a rooting interest in him, but know that we won’t be mad if you get this. And hopefully, things will get less tense once this match is over.
Eddie Walker gives Charles a quick bow.
Eddie Walker: Thank you for having me, Charles.
Charles Akiyama: Thank you, Eddie! We’ll be right back to talk about the huge title changes from Supremacy right after this!!
