Meaning [Dylan Rumble #2]
Apr 12, 2023 1:56:45 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, Venom 🕷, and 4 more like this
Post by Dylan on Apr 12, 2023 1:56:45 GMT -5
The shot opens on Dylan Black sitting in a brightly lit room, or at least more lit up than his usual promo area. He's wearing a sweatshirt, jeans, and a backward baseball cap. He's sitting on a chair in front of a grey wall with his hands clasped. He brushes some hair out of his face before he speaks. When he speaks, it's in an indoor voice. Not shouting. Not full of anger or malice. Calm, almost.
There are thirty men who are seeking to claim the ultimate glory on April 30th. Twenty-nine of them are looking to win the X*Crown Championship. For some, it would be their first time with the esteemed championship. Reaching the top of the mountain that for years they were denied. Others have had a taste of that fresh breeze from the mountain top and they hunger for more. For some people, this is about settling scores. Old rivalries. Cross-promotion beef where this is the only time they can get a hold of the people they hate most. And others? Some are just here for a good time.
But what about Participant #30? What's in this for me? What does winning the Rumble mean to me?
He pauses, his eyes looking away from the camera as he does some quick soul-searching.
I'm a bit of a history buff. I don't think I've shied away from that in my time here. I'm all about acknowledging the past of the XHF and reshaping the future history of the XHF around me. I know that Rage is the first-ever XHF Rumble winner and we've had thirteen winners across all twelve XHF Rumbles. 2005 saw Hardcore Harry and Gravedigger both walk out as the winners. And in 2021, I became the latest in a line of great wrestlers who were able to win the Rumble. The thought of winning back-to-back Rumbles was stricken when Zoran was able to upstage me last year, but I still have a chance to create history this year. If I am able to walk out of the Rumble still the X*Crown Champion, I will have made history as the first person to win two Rumbles. Ever.
A sly grin grows on his face.
There's something about holding records in the annals of XHF History that just... tickles my ego? Breaking old records and creating new ones, it's a hobby of mine. And after I become the first to win the Rumble twice, I'm working to make sure I stay champion all the way through August. Win at Night of Champions, which is a personal goal. That's the only premium live event I've not walked out of the main event victorious in. And then work through, say, late August? Somewhere around August 20th would be the right time because that would be day two-hundred-and-three of this title run.
He purposefully nods.
Yeah, I intend on breaking my own record. But that's future shit. The now is the Rumble, and right now I have to focus on survival. But surviving comes naturally to me. When the going gets tough, ninety percent of this lineup would crumble. But I've never been one to falter with my back to the wall. I THRIVE! And this is perhaps the biggest test to any X*Crown Champion's reign. Where unless your name is Rob Arnold, you are certainly going to lose the title here. I plan on changing that.
Dylan leans in.
Because I'm better than Rob Arnold. I've proven that time and time again. There's a certain stigma that the defending champion has a twenty percent chance of retaining the title in the Rumble. I know the odds are slim. I know most people are going to be eager to take advantage of that statistic. I want them to. Go ahead and try every one. I want some good competition when I walk out to the ring. I want you all at your best so when you lose, there's nothing to complain about. No crooked XHF refs, no "I was tired." If you ain't tryin', you're going to go flyin'.
He sits back.
But at the end of the day, it's all going to come down to the X*Crown Championship. And this here is worth more to me than life itself. I eat, sleep, and breathe this championship for as long as it is around my waist, all will be right in the world. A lot of you may disagree but face it. My runs with the X*Crown, hell the very design I created is synonymous with the X*Crown. I have strived to bring the X*Crown to a new level. One where companies want to die, just to have their world titles folded in. To keep raising the bar, I have to win this match. I have to break these records, create history, and leap over barriers to make the X*Crown mean more for the next guy who wins it. That's what being a champion is about. The championship doesn't make the man. The man makes the championship.
And when my days are done, you will know me as the man who made the X*Crown the real world championship.
Dylan takes a beat to stare into the camera, a soft intensity in his eyes as he keeps his voice low.
That is how much this match means to me. That is why I cannot let anyone else win. I won't let anyone besmirch my years of work and turn it into some hot potato paperweight, some toy for cowards to use to circle jerk with their friends. I am bringing prestige back to the X*Crown, one fallen foe at a time.
Fin.
There are thirty men who are seeking to claim the ultimate glory on April 30th. Twenty-nine of them are looking to win the X*Crown Championship. For some, it would be their first time with the esteemed championship. Reaching the top of the mountain that for years they were denied. Others have had a taste of that fresh breeze from the mountain top and they hunger for more. For some people, this is about settling scores. Old rivalries. Cross-promotion beef where this is the only time they can get a hold of the people they hate most. And others? Some are just here for a good time.
But what about Participant #30? What's in this for me? What does winning the Rumble mean to me?
He pauses, his eyes looking away from the camera as he does some quick soul-searching.
I'm a bit of a history buff. I don't think I've shied away from that in my time here. I'm all about acknowledging the past of the XHF and reshaping the future history of the XHF around me. I know that Rage is the first-ever XHF Rumble winner and we've had thirteen winners across all twelve XHF Rumbles. 2005 saw Hardcore Harry and Gravedigger both walk out as the winners. And in 2021, I became the latest in a line of great wrestlers who were able to win the Rumble. The thought of winning back-to-back Rumbles was stricken when Zoran was able to upstage me last year, but I still have a chance to create history this year. If I am able to walk out of the Rumble still the X*Crown Champion, I will have made history as the first person to win two Rumbles. Ever.
A sly grin grows on his face.
There's something about holding records in the annals of XHF History that just... tickles my ego? Breaking old records and creating new ones, it's a hobby of mine. And after I become the first to win the Rumble twice, I'm working to make sure I stay champion all the way through August. Win at Night of Champions, which is a personal goal. That's the only premium live event I've not walked out of the main event victorious in. And then work through, say, late August? Somewhere around August 20th would be the right time because that would be day two-hundred-and-three of this title run.
He purposefully nods.
Yeah, I intend on breaking my own record. But that's future shit. The now is the Rumble, and right now I have to focus on survival. But surviving comes naturally to me. When the going gets tough, ninety percent of this lineup would crumble. But I've never been one to falter with my back to the wall. I THRIVE! And this is perhaps the biggest test to any X*Crown Champion's reign. Where unless your name is Rob Arnold, you are certainly going to lose the title here. I plan on changing that.
Dylan leans in.
Because I'm better than Rob Arnold. I've proven that time and time again. There's a certain stigma that the defending champion has a twenty percent chance of retaining the title in the Rumble. I know the odds are slim. I know most people are going to be eager to take advantage of that statistic. I want them to. Go ahead and try every one. I want some good competition when I walk out to the ring. I want you all at your best so when you lose, there's nothing to complain about. No crooked XHF refs, no "I was tired." If you ain't tryin', you're going to go flyin'.
He sits back.
But at the end of the day, it's all going to come down to the X*Crown Championship. And this here is worth more to me than life itself. I eat, sleep, and breathe this championship for as long as it is around my waist, all will be right in the world. A lot of you may disagree but face it. My runs with the X*Crown, hell the very design I created is synonymous with the X*Crown. I have strived to bring the X*Crown to a new level. One where companies want to die, just to have their world titles folded in. To keep raising the bar, I have to win this match. I have to break these records, create history, and leap over barriers to make the X*Crown mean more for the next guy who wins it. That's what being a champion is about. The championship doesn't make the man. The man makes the championship.
And when my days are done, you will know me as the man who made the X*Crown the real world championship.
Dylan takes a beat to stare into the camera, a soft intensity in his eyes as he keeps his voice low.
That is how much this match means to me. That is why I cannot let anyone else win. I won't let anyone besmirch my years of work and turn it into some hot potato paperweight, some toy for cowards to use to circle jerk with their friends. I am bringing prestige back to the X*Crown, one fallen foe at a time.
Fin.
