Post by Old Line Jeff on Aug 22, 2021 21:53:52 GMT -5
“This is the weirdest invasion I’ve ever heard of, and looking back on things, I think the majority of my career was in some kind of invasion or other. And my career has spanned 21 years and counting.”
Ronnie Long. Just a plain old backdrop behind him.
“The Galactic Pirates have one cocky heel, one fat guy heel, one gross-out guy who’s inexplicably a face, two decent-family-man big hoss types, and a second cocky heel. I don’t get what they have in common. They’re not really doing much invading, and most of them aren’t bad guys. Even Greg Adkins was surprisingly alright behind the gross-out stuff.”
“I came here and I was ready to fight, and now, I guess everyone’s just… doing their own thing.”
“I don’t want to dismiss this match. Takaru Matsui and I, we teamed, but we didn’t really connect, and I was horribly off my game that night. It happens once in a while in tag matches, you just can’t get out of first gear and your timing’s off. Andrew Morgan - what exactly am I supposed to say about him? He’s not like Greg Adkins, he’s a decent guy with a family he cares about - what kind of person would I be if I ripped on him for that? I don’t disrespect it, I relate to it - my wife is what keeps me going half the time, and if it weren’t for her faith in me I’d have given up on this sport ages ago. Yeah, Morgan probably single-handedly induced scoliosis in me when he stood on my back that time, but it’s not like I haven’t bragged about lariating people so hard they foamed at the mouth. It’s wrestling, it hurts sometimes. Edward Zepp, same deal with Andrew Morgan, just, he’s not quite as big. Why they’d be friends with guys like Parsons and Fowler I don’t get… but Jeff Andrews is one of my best friends even beyond pro wrestling, so I shouldn’t judge.”
Long tosses his head back, clearing his hair out of his eyes.
“With these three guys, I respect them as athletes and as individuals - they’ve yet to give me any reason to do otherwise. There’s only one thing that I have a problem with, and frankly, it’s equal across all of them, and here’s what it is.”
“We’re talking about title shots.”
“Are titles not the biggest deal in pro wrestling? Are they not what bring you that extra paycheck? If you’re a family man, does a champion’s salary not pay for your kids bike or game system, or the ability to take your wife out for steak and lobster on your anniversary? Even if you don’t personally care for the champion’s bragging rights, is it not worth it for them?”
“Look, I know there’s a clownshoe from New York who said that titles aren’t important in wrestling, and I know there’s a lot of younger guys wrestling right now who grew up watching what that man was putting on the table. That’s why they value wacky antics over work ethic. But titles, legacies for both a man and a promotion, they’re what built this crazy sport. There’s a reason that pro football has a structure with playoffs and a superbowl as opposed to assigning points based on what looked coolest on the ESPN recaps.”
Another shake of his head.
“But speaking of titles, there’s something else too. The man I beat last week, he was the XHF Phoenix Champion not too long before he lost to me, and when he lost to me… well, quite a few ‘big names’ here in the XHF didn’t like it. I didn’t come from the XHF, I didn’t pay my dues here, and well, they just didn’t like it. That’s one thing my three opponents and I all have in common. If Matsui, or Zepp, or Morgan had been the one to knock Adkins out of his boots, they’d all be getting the same derision from the old boys club.”
“I don’t want to be zany. I’ve got enough trouble with that old acquaintance of mine sniffing around after my career. I’m not joining the assassin’s guild, I’m not going to start up a drug manufacturing syndicate, and I’m not going to travel through time or . I’m going to do what wrestling has always been about - I’m going to step in front of this camera, tell all my opponents and all the boys in the back why I’m better than them, and then I’m going to step into the ring and back it up.”
“And if I fall short, I’ll just make an excuse for it and try again.”
Ronnie Long. Just a plain old backdrop behind him.
“The Galactic Pirates have one cocky heel, one fat guy heel, one gross-out guy who’s inexplicably a face, two decent-family-man big hoss types, and a second cocky heel. I don’t get what they have in common. They’re not really doing much invading, and most of them aren’t bad guys. Even Greg Adkins was surprisingly alright behind the gross-out stuff.”
“I came here and I was ready to fight, and now, I guess everyone’s just… doing their own thing.”
“I don’t want to dismiss this match. Takaru Matsui and I, we teamed, but we didn’t really connect, and I was horribly off my game that night. It happens once in a while in tag matches, you just can’t get out of first gear and your timing’s off. Andrew Morgan - what exactly am I supposed to say about him? He’s not like Greg Adkins, he’s a decent guy with a family he cares about - what kind of person would I be if I ripped on him for that? I don’t disrespect it, I relate to it - my wife is what keeps me going half the time, and if it weren’t for her faith in me I’d have given up on this sport ages ago. Yeah, Morgan probably single-handedly induced scoliosis in me when he stood on my back that time, but it’s not like I haven’t bragged about lariating people so hard they foamed at the mouth. It’s wrestling, it hurts sometimes. Edward Zepp, same deal with Andrew Morgan, just, he’s not quite as big. Why they’d be friends with guys like Parsons and Fowler I don’t get… but Jeff Andrews is one of my best friends even beyond pro wrestling, so I shouldn’t judge.”
Long tosses his head back, clearing his hair out of his eyes.
“With these three guys, I respect them as athletes and as individuals - they’ve yet to give me any reason to do otherwise. There’s only one thing that I have a problem with, and frankly, it’s equal across all of them, and here’s what it is.”
“We’re talking about title shots.”
“Are titles not the biggest deal in pro wrestling? Are they not what bring you that extra paycheck? If you’re a family man, does a champion’s salary not pay for your kids bike or game system, or the ability to take your wife out for steak and lobster on your anniversary? Even if you don’t personally care for the champion’s bragging rights, is it not worth it for them?”
“Look, I know there’s a clownshoe from New York who said that titles aren’t important in wrestling, and I know there’s a lot of younger guys wrestling right now who grew up watching what that man was putting on the table. That’s why they value wacky antics over work ethic. But titles, legacies for both a man and a promotion, they’re what built this crazy sport. There’s a reason that pro football has a structure with playoffs and a superbowl as opposed to assigning points based on what looked coolest on the ESPN recaps.”
Another shake of his head.
“But speaking of titles, there’s something else too. The man I beat last week, he was the XHF Phoenix Champion not too long before he lost to me, and when he lost to me… well, quite a few ‘big names’ here in the XHF didn’t like it. I didn’t come from the XHF, I didn’t pay my dues here, and well, they just didn’t like it. That’s one thing my three opponents and I all have in common. If Matsui, or Zepp, or Morgan had been the one to knock Adkins out of his boots, they’d all be getting the same derision from the old boys club.”
“I don’t want to be zany. I’ve got enough trouble with that old acquaintance of mine sniffing around after my career. I’m not joining the assassin’s guild, I’m not going to start up a drug manufacturing syndicate, and I’m not going to travel through time or . I’m going to do what wrestling has always been about - I’m going to step in front of this camera, tell all my opponents and all the boys in the back why I’m better than them, and then I’m going to step into the ring and back it up.”
“And if I fall short, I’ll just make an excuse for it and try again.”