Post by Cross Recoba on Apr 13, 2023 1:52:38 GMT -5
The XHF camera crew lie in wait for Recoba inside a Tap Out locker-room. The walls adorned with whiteboards that cover notes that Cross has made for his preparation, a few stand out:
Their patience is soon rewarded as Cross enters the room. He used the towel around his neck to wipe away beads of sweat from his forehead and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
“We’re getting closer to the Rumble and soon we’ll have the media blackout where instead of talking to everyone about what we’re going to do, we’ll be deep into a training camp to go through the most gruelling and demanding match on the XHF calendar!"
You’ve sat through Donzig’s promos, you can relate.
“People have said to me that even if I win, I lose because the belt won’t really be with Tap Out but with HardKore World and they’re right. But surely the X*Crown going to a different company might actually break the monotony we’ve seen for the last year or so. JROK makes everyone sit through fifteen deathmatches before they see the top title and GUNS shoves the Crinkly Bottom Boys down your throat just so you can watch the Champion. Tap Out has its chances though…”
Heading to one of the whiteboards, Recoba checks off a series of drills from the board for that day.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Random McConalogue continue to surprise those who underestimate her. Those who write her off for learning her trade in Europe before coming to Tap Out. Before they know it they’ll be stuck in her spider’s web and unable to stop her from hold after throw after hold that breaks them down. In four matches she’s undefeated, which proves nothing until you consider that the four names she beat were Capone, Solomon, Kane, and Long. But do I see her winning it? It’s highly unlikely but we’ve seen odder things happen in the Rumble. Random, my advice is to treat this how I did my first time in this match. My name on the entrants list barely elicited a raised eyebrow, let alone any concern but by the time that match ended and I placed sixth out of nowhere? I’d made my name. That’s what I want from you in this match, I want to be batting away offers across the Network to buy-out your contracts because I’m convinced I got the signing of the year last year when you inked your deal with Tap Out!”
Dana, this is what someone who helps you develop sounds like.
“Similarly, The Thespian is a rank outsider and there’s some merit to that. He’s more at home in singles competition, look at what he did and who he beat in NLW, than he is in multi-men matches. If he can regain that focus; he could prove the doubters wrong and far exceed what I’m expecting his race to look like at the Rumble. One thing I can expect though, he won’t have forgotten that Bloodied Fox got in the way of his chance of winning the NLW World Championship at Hostile Intent last year…”
Though you’re probably both glad Nathan Cage isn’t there to take you out this time.
“Then, if you can excuse me for leaving my Champion for another day, we come to Merric. Aiden’s a hoss, he’s an out-and-out brawler and if Tucker actually did more than be the comedic foil for his friend, he’d be a force. I mean that, Merric has all the parts to become a major player, not just in Tap Out but also when it comes to these Global Events. What’s missing though is consistency at the highest level.”
Cross takes a heavy intake of breath as if preparing for something he doesn’t want to address.
“When you held that Phoenix title in AWF, you were on fire, you took that belt and made it matter. The likes of Carner, Frankie Webb and even the man to beat your record, Redmond Fury…they all owe you for the work you did to make that title what it was. But then, after you lost the title, you built-up a run and gambled on the wrong match to see out your AWF career and that’s something you still haven’t learnt, how to pick your battles. It’s not a question of talent, Aiden, it’s a question of judgement and pushing yourself to get better inside that ring match-after-match-after-match, and it kills me to agree with Dylan on that. I put you in matches because I believe you can excel, I always want to be in your corner, but this match…this Rumble, it’s just not your time. Go out there, take some scalps, and make it impossible for myself or anyone on the Tap Out board to say no when you tell us you want to compete at End of Days or Battle for Hegemony.”
[ 3rd April 2023]
[Pinedale, WY]
Waking, Cross felt a burning sensation rip through his temples as the light entered his pupils. Somewhere deep inside his head, a soft but piercing high-pitched wail rang-out.
Squinting to try to reduce the glare, Recoba saw the end of a bed and knew where he was immediately. The low-quality, low-cost footboard was a big hint but confirming it was the unique scent of disinfectants and an artificial fragrance that left bitter undertones in your nose.
An attack on the olfactory system like a Steve Awesome production.
Moving his hand to his head to prop himself up, Cross felt stitches on the back of his head and a distorted vision of a pole coming his way disappeared as quickly as it materialized.
“Relax. You’re just here for observation. It’s a concussion at worst.” Cross turned his head to the voice and saw Al Costello. “Be thankful a dog-walker spotted you.”
Cross lifted his head up in acknowledgement.
“Did you have anything on you other than your phone and wallet?”
Visually going through his pockets, Cross shook his head.
“That rules out a robbery. I tried to advise the doctor that there was no need to press charges but you’re going to have to confirm that.”
“Ther-” Cross corrected himself. “I’m only here on business. I’ll save them the paperwork, shouldn’t be an issue.”
The story’d check out. He hadn’t booked a hotel room or even an Airbnb, no reason to inconvenience a day-tripper.
“Did you see who hit you?”
“No, I saw Butler leave with his kid so it couldn’t have been him. My best guess? His friend who he was talking to at the game.” He didn’t slur his words but there was a slight resistance in forming them in his head, it’d fade and was no worse than when Fox had hit him with the Bloody Rainmaker all that time ago in Ascension Wrestling. It’d be clear by the end of the month for the Rumble.
“We’ll leave him be…” The unspoken words did a lot of the heavy-lifting.
“I wasn’t planning on getting him tit-for-tat but…”
“Butler’s still who you see as the best way to get what you want?” A slight smile formed on Costello’s face, neither mocking nor encouraging.
“If he keeps a low-profile it’s difficult. I don’t want to go to his home, there’s no reason to even tip his family’s suspicion. He’s got twenty different locations he could be at that he owns.”
“If I told you that we know where he is now?” Costello dangled the carrot.
“I’d be thankful.” Cross dropped his head back onto the pillow and closed his eyes.
A knock on the door brought them back open. A nurse peered around the door.
“Mr Recoba, are you up for answering a couple of questions from the Sheriff?” Her eyes met Al’s. “Are you family?”
Costello shook his head although the answer was closer to yes than it was no.
“Then I’m going to have to ask you to wait elsewhere whilst they talk.”
Al smiled and stood up, patting Cross on the leg as he left the room. A few seconds later the Sheriff and his Deputy walked in.
“Mr Recoba, I’m Sheriff Wolfe and this is Deputy Fuller. Do you mind if we ask you a few things about the assault?”
“Be my guest, Sheriff.”
Cross downed a post-work-out energy gel and leant against the wall.
“In some ways, Natasha is what Merric could become if he doesn’t realize the sport iscalled wrestling and not fighting for a reason. When was Natasha last relevant? When did she show she was anything but a tornado on the Network? We both owe how far we’ve come on the same man, Chris Card, but that’s where the similarities end.”
Recoba drank from the water bottle.
“Whilst I’m not just a master of the sweet science of wrestling, I’m the doyen of the dark arts that come with it…Natasha is nothing but an embodiment of chaos. She’s the person you employ if you want to blow the doors off, I’m the skeleton key. She’s the bat with which you bludgeon your rival in broad daylight, I’m the killer hiding in the wind at night. I might be being dismissive but she’s in this match for one reason and one alone: to attack indiscriminately and without prejudice or concern for getting the result at the end. At the end of it, what will she have earned? A brief reminder she still exists. She took one thing from Card, the need to be known….to be heard. I took everything he taught me and built on it further.”
Tap Out Wrestling, a company made in my own image.
“Maybe I’m being overly harsh, Natasha at least led Legion which is more than can be said for others like Alexander von Blankenship. Never has so much hot air come from a man so small in stature. AVB, no matter where you’ve been you’ve underwhelmed. FIRESIDE? Were you even really a member there if Caffrey didn’t bother to tell you why he was better than you? How about HardKore World? You’re a member of the Anointed…after Stein…and Wesley Crane and Marty Donovan. In a four-man set-up you still come off as the Pete Best of the group. Always very blessed? With what?
Don’t say genetics, it’s embarrassing. You’re the product of a parent who would sell themselves to whoever had the right money, made all the right noises, and carried more diseases than a syringe clean-up in an inner-city school…and a Dutch working girl.
“You’re nothing without an association. In HardKore World you’ve got Crane and Donovan always there to give you something to to keep you just above irrelevant and then there’s your father, you just HAD to get involved with Diamond, didn’t you? Not that that went particularly well but that’s just par for AVB. Last year’s Rumble? Forgettable. Call to Arms with HKW? A ‘blink and you miss it’ appearance. You’re the definition of overpromise and under-deliver and really? You should be offering to stand in front of me in that Rumble and wear down anyone who takes me on because we both know that when I become the first X*Crown Champion to take the title back to HKW, you become that little less immaterial!”
[ 4th April 2023]
[Cheyenne, WY]
Butler pulled up outside the Seven-Eleven. He picked up a Dr Pepper and paid for it with single-bills. Exiting, he spotted a familiar face.
“Tom! Good to see you.” Far enough from Pinedale but close enough for it to make sense for the two to run into each other. “You might find this an interesting read, call it repayment for the tip you gave me at the weekend.”
Butler passed the newspaper to him, the Sports section holding an envelope.
“Thanks.” Tom took the paper and placed it on the passenger seat. “Catch you at the game this weekend?”
“Sure thing!” Butler was already halfway inside his car and starting the engine. He watched Tom enter the store before heading home.
He felt lighter, his problems physically lifted from him. Tomorrow he’d be back in Cheyenne to collect his winnings from the previous week and then Vegas would be a step closer, even if he’d have to go to a new Casino; the touchline was in sight.
He hit a red-light at an intersection just outside of Pinedale as “Opposites Attract” by Paula Abdul started to play inside the car.
The lights turned to green and he pulled away, twenty minutes from home. But out of the corner of his eye he saw a car speeding up towards the driver-side door.
“But AVB, you’re not alone in having an inflated sense of your own worth. You could be someone like Jesse Jamester who’s the last person to realize that the minute Dylan doesn’t have that belt, he goes back to being nothing. A man who willingly played low-man in a group with Eric Dane. Jesse, when I looked back through the archives and saw people talking you up as a favorite in any Rumble, it was hard to suppress my laughter. Sure, you’ve got GUNS but it’s never about you, always about the guy you’re facing. You’re the guy next to the guy who sells tickets and that’s been true ever since you came to the Network.”
Well done on comprehensive victories over Irwin Collins and the Evanston Express, career-making wins, I’m sure.
“Even when you had success in NPW it was never about Jesse Jamester, never The Murder Lizard getting the headline from the match. Eric Dane took the headlines as the leader of the Syndicate and in tag-team action it was always Scott Steel getting the pin, never yourself. I’m not picking one match to show a trend, it’s almost every match. When you beat The Dark Stars to win some tag gold…Scott Steel got the pin and that has to be a kicker, doesn’t it? You can’t really brag about who you beat to get the titles and then you’re left being the guy who tagged the hand of the man that won!”
Mind you, it does explain why you cling to Dylan so very, very tightly.
“No matter where I looked to find the substance to back-up the hype around you, Jesse, I came up lacking. I watched every Network appearance you made on a global stage and I’m left wondering if this is some sort of private joke between the pundits and the XHF experts; a form of modern art where the punchline is the patrons who buy it in the first place.”
Recoba runs the towel over his face and hair one last time before discarding it.
“The one time there was a glimmer of promise, it led nowhere. At Call to Arms you got to the second-round and faced two Amazons against NPW’s three-man group and yet you lost. That though, that’s not the damning fact, that fact is that Dominicus did nothing to try and save you or his team’s chances when you were about to be eliminated.”
Strange though that of all the Champions NPW saw, Lord Dominicus is the only one you’d really call relevant in 2023.
“Do you think it was hubris or pragmatism that made him do it? How did that feel when the Triple Crown Champion of NPW decided that you were just a millstone, that you were more hindrance than help to his chances in the tournament. If it makes you feel better, maybe his mental game was going even then. Now he’s too busy worrying about people who aren’t going to be in the ring and happy to take part in Grandma Barbera’s Wacky Races every month.”
Maybe he’ll give you a starring role in Lord Dominicus: Dominitossing the Donkey.
“When it comes to it though, Jesse, you’ve really only got one note, one card to play that I’m interested in. You’re going into this match having told Dylan you’re coming after him. I’m only too glad to let you have him along with the other dozen entrants who’ve decided to settle the score with him. Why should I go out of my way to try and take out the Champion when so many people are willing to do it for me? Jamester, you can get your half-yearly merchandise boost from being within six-inches of Dylan and be fresh in time for another nothing performance at Oh Violent Night like always. Just know that when I walk out of the Rumble wearing that X*Crown, you'll get your shot after Scott Steel requests one of his own!”
NOMAD DOESN’T WORK FOR TAP OUT NOW, DYLAN!
WHY DID FOX GIVE KEITH WILLIAMS A PRESTIGE SHOT ANYWAY?
WHERE DOES THE HYPE FOR JAMESTER COME FROM?
WHY DID FOX GIVE KEITH WILLIAMS A PRESTIGE SHOT ANYWAY?
WHERE DOES THE HYPE FOR JAMESTER COME FROM?
Their patience is soon rewarded as Cross enters the room. He used the towel around his neck to wipe away beads of sweat from his forehead and grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge.
“We’re getting closer to the Rumble and soon we’ll have the media blackout where instead of talking to everyone about what we’re going to do, we’ll be deep into a training camp to go through the most gruelling and demanding match on the XHF calendar!"
You’ve sat through Donzig’s promos, you can relate.
“People have said to me that even if I win, I lose because the belt won’t really be with Tap Out but with HardKore World and they’re right. But surely the X*Crown going to a different company might actually break the monotony we’ve seen for the last year or so. JROK makes everyone sit through fifteen deathmatches before they see the top title and GUNS shoves the Crinkly Bottom Boys down your throat just so you can watch the Champion. Tap Out has its chances though…”
Heading to one of the whiteboards, Recoba checks off a series of drills from the board for that day.
“I’m looking forward to seeing Random McConalogue continue to surprise those who underestimate her. Those who write her off for learning her trade in Europe before coming to Tap Out. Before they know it they’ll be stuck in her spider’s web and unable to stop her from hold after throw after hold that breaks them down. In four matches she’s undefeated, which proves nothing until you consider that the four names she beat were Capone, Solomon, Kane, and Long. But do I see her winning it? It’s highly unlikely but we’ve seen odder things happen in the Rumble. Random, my advice is to treat this how I did my first time in this match. My name on the entrants list barely elicited a raised eyebrow, let alone any concern but by the time that match ended and I placed sixth out of nowhere? I’d made my name. That’s what I want from you in this match, I want to be batting away offers across the Network to buy-out your contracts because I’m convinced I got the signing of the year last year when you inked your deal with Tap Out!”
Dana, this is what someone who helps you develop sounds like.
“Similarly, The Thespian is a rank outsider and there’s some merit to that. He’s more at home in singles competition, look at what he did and who he beat in NLW, than he is in multi-men matches. If he can regain that focus; he could prove the doubters wrong and far exceed what I’m expecting his race to look like at the Rumble. One thing I can expect though, he won’t have forgotten that Bloodied Fox got in the way of his chance of winning the NLW World Championship at Hostile Intent last year…”
Though you’re probably both glad Nathan Cage isn’t there to take you out this time.
“Then, if you can excuse me for leaving my Champion for another day, we come to Merric. Aiden’s a hoss, he’s an out-and-out brawler and if Tucker actually did more than be the comedic foil for his friend, he’d be a force. I mean that, Merric has all the parts to become a major player, not just in Tap Out but also when it comes to these Global Events. What’s missing though is consistency at the highest level.”
Cross takes a heavy intake of breath as if preparing for something he doesn’t want to address.
“When you held that Phoenix title in AWF, you were on fire, you took that belt and made it matter. The likes of Carner, Frankie Webb and even the man to beat your record, Redmond Fury…they all owe you for the work you did to make that title what it was. But then, after you lost the title, you built-up a run and gambled on the wrong match to see out your AWF career and that’s something you still haven’t learnt, how to pick your battles. It’s not a question of talent, Aiden, it’s a question of judgement and pushing yourself to get better inside that ring match-after-match-after-match, and it kills me to agree with Dylan on that. I put you in matches because I believe you can excel, I always want to be in your corner, but this match…this Rumble, it’s just not your time. Go out there, take some scalps, and make it impossible for myself or anyone on the Tap Out board to say no when you tell us you want to compete at End of Days or Battle for Hegemony.”
*****
[ 3rd April 2023]
[Pinedale, WY]
Waking, Cross felt a burning sensation rip through his temples as the light entered his pupils. Somewhere deep inside his head, a soft but piercing high-pitched wail rang-out.
Squinting to try to reduce the glare, Recoba saw the end of a bed and knew where he was immediately. The low-quality, low-cost footboard was a big hint but confirming it was the unique scent of disinfectants and an artificial fragrance that left bitter undertones in your nose.
An attack on the olfactory system like a Steve Awesome production.
Moving his hand to his head to prop himself up, Cross felt stitches on the back of his head and a distorted vision of a pole coming his way disappeared as quickly as it materialized.
“Relax. You’re just here for observation. It’s a concussion at worst.” Cross turned his head to the voice and saw Al Costello. “Be thankful a dog-walker spotted you.”
Cross lifted his head up in acknowledgement.
“Did you have anything on you other than your phone and wallet?”
Visually going through his pockets, Cross shook his head.
“That rules out a robbery. I tried to advise the doctor that there was no need to press charges but you’re going to have to confirm that.”
“Ther-” Cross corrected himself. “I’m only here on business. I’ll save them the paperwork, shouldn’t be an issue.”
The story’d check out. He hadn’t booked a hotel room or even an Airbnb, no reason to inconvenience a day-tripper.
“Did you see who hit you?”
“No, I saw Butler leave with his kid so it couldn’t have been him. My best guess? His friend who he was talking to at the game.” He didn’t slur his words but there was a slight resistance in forming them in his head, it’d fade and was no worse than when Fox had hit him with the Bloody Rainmaker all that time ago in Ascension Wrestling. It’d be clear by the end of the month for the Rumble.
“We’ll leave him be…” The unspoken words did a lot of the heavy-lifting.
“I wasn’t planning on getting him tit-for-tat but…”
“Butler’s still who you see as the best way to get what you want?” A slight smile formed on Costello’s face, neither mocking nor encouraging.
“If he keeps a low-profile it’s difficult. I don’t want to go to his home, there’s no reason to even tip his family’s suspicion. He’s got twenty different locations he could be at that he owns.”
“If I told you that we know where he is now?” Costello dangled the carrot.
“I’d be thankful.” Cross dropped his head back onto the pillow and closed his eyes.
A knock on the door brought them back open. A nurse peered around the door.
“Mr Recoba, are you up for answering a couple of questions from the Sheriff?” Her eyes met Al’s. “Are you family?”
Costello shook his head although the answer was closer to yes than it was no.
“Then I’m going to have to ask you to wait elsewhere whilst they talk.”
Al smiled and stood up, patting Cross on the leg as he left the room. A few seconds later the Sheriff and his Deputy walked in.
“Mr Recoba, I’m Sheriff Wolfe and this is Deputy Fuller. Do you mind if we ask you a few things about the assault?”
“Be my guest, Sheriff.”
*****
“In some ways, Natasha is what Merric could become if he doesn’t realize the sport iscalled wrestling and not fighting for a reason. When was Natasha last relevant? When did she show she was anything but a tornado on the Network? We both owe how far we’ve come on the same man, Chris Card, but that’s where the similarities end.”
Recoba drank from the water bottle.
“Whilst I’m not just a master of the sweet science of wrestling, I’m the doyen of the dark arts that come with it…Natasha is nothing but an embodiment of chaos. She’s the person you employ if you want to blow the doors off, I’m the skeleton key. She’s the bat with which you bludgeon your rival in broad daylight, I’m the killer hiding in the wind at night. I might be being dismissive but she’s in this match for one reason and one alone: to attack indiscriminately and without prejudice or concern for getting the result at the end. At the end of it, what will she have earned? A brief reminder she still exists. She took one thing from Card, the need to be known….to be heard. I took everything he taught me and built on it further.”
Tap Out Wrestling, a company made in my own image.
“Maybe I’m being overly harsh, Natasha at least led Legion which is more than can be said for others like Alexander von Blankenship. Never has so much hot air come from a man so small in stature. AVB, no matter where you’ve been you’ve underwhelmed. FIRESIDE? Were you even really a member there if Caffrey didn’t bother to tell you why he was better than you? How about HardKore World? You’re a member of the Anointed…after Stein…and Wesley Crane and Marty Donovan. In a four-man set-up you still come off as the Pete Best of the group. Always very blessed? With what?
Don’t say genetics, it’s embarrassing. You’re the product of a parent who would sell themselves to whoever had the right money, made all the right noises, and carried more diseases than a syringe clean-up in an inner-city school…and a Dutch working girl.
“You’re nothing without an association. In HardKore World you’ve got Crane and Donovan always there to give you something to to keep you just above irrelevant and then there’s your father, you just HAD to get involved with Diamond, didn’t you? Not that that went particularly well but that’s just par for AVB. Last year’s Rumble? Forgettable. Call to Arms with HKW? A ‘blink and you miss it’ appearance. You’re the definition of overpromise and under-deliver and really? You should be offering to stand in front of me in that Rumble and wear down anyone who takes me on because we both know that when I become the first X*Crown Champion to take the title back to HKW, you become that little less immaterial!”
*****
[ 4th April 2023]
[Cheyenne, WY]
Butler pulled up outside the Seven-Eleven. He picked up a Dr Pepper and paid for it with single-bills. Exiting, he spotted a familiar face.
“Tom! Good to see you.” Far enough from Pinedale but close enough for it to make sense for the two to run into each other. “You might find this an interesting read, call it repayment for the tip you gave me at the weekend.”
Butler passed the newspaper to him, the Sports section holding an envelope.
“Thanks.” Tom took the paper and placed it on the passenger seat. “Catch you at the game this weekend?”
“Sure thing!” Butler was already halfway inside his car and starting the engine. He watched Tom enter the store before heading home.
He felt lighter, his problems physically lifted from him. Tomorrow he’d be back in Cheyenne to collect his winnings from the previous week and then Vegas would be a step closer, even if he’d have to go to a new Casino; the touchline was in sight.
He hit a red-light at an intersection just outside of Pinedale as “Opposites Attract” by Paula Abdul started to play inside the car.
The lights turned to green and he pulled away, twenty minutes from home. But out of the corner of his eye he saw a car speeding up towards the driver-side door.
*****
“But AVB, you’re not alone in having an inflated sense of your own worth. You could be someone like Jesse Jamester who’s the last person to realize that the minute Dylan doesn’t have that belt, he goes back to being nothing. A man who willingly played low-man in a group with Eric Dane. Jesse, when I looked back through the archives and saw people talking you up as a favorite in any Rumble, it was hard to suppress my laughter. Sure, you’ve got GUNS but it’s never about you, always about the guy you’re facing. You’re the guy next to the guy who sells tickets and that’s been true ever since you came to the Network.”
Well done on comprehensive victories over Irwin Collins and the Evanston Express, career-making wins, I’m sure.
“Even when you had success in NPW it was never about Jesse Jamester, never The Murder Lizard getting the headline from the match. Eric Dane took the headlines as the leader of the Syndicate and in tag-team action it was always Scott Steel getting the pin, never yourself. I’m not picking one match to show a trend, it’s almost every match. When you beat The Dark Stars to win some tag gold…Scott Steel got the pin and that has to be a kicker, doesn’t it? You can’t really brag about who you beat to get the titles and then you’re left being the guy who tagged the hand of the man that won!”
Mind you, it does explain why you cling to Dylan so very, very tightly.
“No matter where I looked to find the substance to back-up the hype around you, Jesse, I came up lacking. I watched every Network appearance you made on a global stage and I’m left wondering if this is some sort of private joke between the pundits and the XHF experts; a form of modern art where the punchline is the patrons who buy it in the first place.”
Recoba runs the towel over his face and hair one last time before discarding it.
“The one time there was a glimmer of promise, it led nowhere. At Call to Arms you got to the second-round and faced two Amazons against NPW’s three-man group and yet you lost. That though, that’s not the damning fact, that fact is that Dominicus did nothing to try and save you or his team’s chances when you were about to be eliminated.”
Strange though that of all the Champions NPW saw, Lord Dominicus is the only one you’d really call relevant in 2023.
“Do you think it was hubris or pragmatism that made him do it? How did that feel when the Triple Crown Champion of NPW decided that you were just a millstone, that you were more hindrance than help to his chances in the tournament. If it makes you feel better, maybe his mental game was going even then. Now he’s too busy worrying about people who aren’t going to be in the ring and happy to take part in Grandma Barbera’s Wacky Races every month.”
Maybe he’ll give you a starring role in Lord Dominicus: Dominitossing the Donkey.
“When it comes to it though, Jesse, you’ve really only got one note, one card to play that I’m interested in. You’re going into this match having told Dylan you’re coming after him. I’m only too glad to let you have him along with the other dozen entrants who’ve decided to settle the score with him. Why should I go out of my way to try and take out the Champion when so many people are willing to do it for me? Jamester, you can get your half-yearly merchandise boost from being within six-inches of Dylan and be fresh in time for another nothing performance at Oh Violent Night like always. Just know that when I walk out of the Rumble wearing that X*Crown, you'll get your shot after Scott Steel requests one of his own!”
