Face; Your Fear (Hardcore Heaven)
Aug 28, 2023 15:41:14 GMT -5
Kira Izumi, Jonnie Valentine, and 1 more like this
Post by bloodiedfox on Aug 28, 2023 15:41:14 GMT -5
The setting is familiar: the table, the microphones, the backdrop, the belt. Something feels different though. It takes a moment to pin it down. That’s when it hits you; you’re so used to seeing this scenery with a different man sitting in it. For so long this was Dylan Black’s domain, but now there is no Dylan Black. In his place is your newly undisputed JROK Visual Kai champion, Brendan Harding.
Hello Cross. That was a nice promo. This is the part where I get angry at all the personal cheap shots and start ranting at you, I take it? Tempting, but I’ll pass, thanks. Not because you haven’t made me angry, but because I know that’s what you want. You want me out of control because that’ll make me sloppy and easy to beat. You want me to feel that I have to prove something to you.
Brendan leans forward, looking straight down the camera.
I don’t have to prove shit to you, Recoba.
He settles back in his seat.
I care what the fans think, I care what the people I love think, but some smarmy prick who acts like a Sopranos side character that wandered onto the set of Lucha Underground?
Brendan makes a dismissive gesture with his hand.
And that’s the recurring theme of your entire XHF run, isn’t it? You have to try so desperately hard to make anyone care about you. You were in the AWF and went unbeaten for a long time but no-one gave a fuck. You’re living proof that people want something more from a wrestler than the ability to wrestle. Then you started TAPOUT because you figured if people didn’t care about your wrestling they might at least care about you as a fedhead. But fostering a new generation of talent while also giving Jack Diamond another run at the top just didn’t stroke your ego enough, did it? So off you went to HKW because you thought it would be a soft touch. Turns out you were right, but now you’re stuck as champion of a company you despise, knowing in your heart of hearts that you couldn’t hack in any other company on this network. The only title you’ve held in the XHF and it’s an achievement you can’t even pretend to take pride in.
Brendan taps two fingers on the Visual Kai title in front of him.
This belt? I take pride in wearing this. Just as I took pride in being New Wave champion, just like I took pride in in being XHF Tag Team champion. You see, that’s the difference between you and me, Cross. I work my arse off to achieve a worthwhile goal and I take satisfaction in the subsequent accomplishment. You, on the other hand, take the easy route and then just demand everyone validate you to drown out the nagging voice in the back of your mind telling you how hollow and pathetic it all is. That’s why you’re lashing out at me, trying to tell me I’m inferior to you when a simple look at achievements has me above you. You mock me for having a brief run with the tag titles when you’ve never so much as sniffed them. You try to downplay winning King of Hokkaido like you’ve ever one a tournament of that magnitude. You insult the wrestlers in my company because you view everyone else in yours as step stools to make yourself feel bigger.
Brendan takes a deep breath before pushing onto his next point.
You throw my ex-husband in my face when you’re the one so obsessed about your ex-girlfriend being more over than you with barely any effort that you still have a finishing move named after fucking her.
He takes another pause, stamping down the anger he doesn’t want to show.
You can keep talking about how much better you think Dylan Black was than me, Cross, but note the tense of the verb: “was”. Dylan Black’s gone, and he isn’t coming back, at least not to waste his time on you. You’re fighting me. But more than that, you’re fighting JROK. See, Dar can run her mouth and claim she’s the face of this company, but we all know that’s bullshit. I am the face of JROK; I am its champion, and I’ll be damned if I let some narcissistic blowhard with delusions of grandeur spit on it.
You were right about one thing: there’s a difference between a champion and a man wearing a belt. Unfortunately for you, you’ll never truly be the former however long you’re the latter. And after the beating I give you, ‘however long’ won’t be all that long at all…
Hello Cross. That was a nice promo. This is the part where I get angry at all the personal cheap shots and start ranting at you, I take it? Tempting, but I’ll pass, thanks. Not because you haven’t made me angry, but because I know that’s what you want. You want me out of control because that’ll make me sloppy and easy to beat. You want me to feel that I have to prove something to you.
Brendan leans forward, looking straight down the camera.
I don’t have to prove shit to you, Recoba.
He settles back in his seat.
I care what the fans think, I care what the people I love think, but some smarmy prick who acts like a Sopranos side character that wandered onto the set of Lucha Underground?
Brendan makes a dismissive gesture with his hand.
And that’s the recurring theme of your entire XHF run, isn’t it? You have to try so desperately hard to make anyone care about you. You were in the AWF and went unbeaten for a long time but no-one gave a fuck. You’re living proof that people want something more from a wrestler than the ability to wrestle. Then you started TAPOUT because you figured if people didn’t care about your wrestling they might at least care about you as a fedhead. But fostering a new generation of talent while also giving Jack Diamond another run at the top just didn’t stroke your ego enough, did it? So off you went to HKW because you thought it would be a soft touch. Turns out you were right, but now you’re stuck as champion of a company you despise, knowing in your heart of hearts that you couldn’t hack in any other company on this network. The only title you’ve held in the XHF and it’s an achievement you can’t even pretend to take pride in.
Brendan taps two fingers on the Visual Kai title in front of him.
This belt? I take pride in wearing this. Just as I took pride in being New Wave champion, just like I took pride in in being XHF Tag Team champion. You see, that’s the difference between you and me, Cross. I work my arse off to achieve a worthwhile goal and I take satisfaction in the subsequent accomplishment. You, on the other hand, take the easy route and then just demand everyone validate you to drown out the nagging voice in the back of your mind telling you how hollow and pathetic it all is. That’s why you’re lashing out at me, trying to tell me I’m inferior to you when a simple look at achievements has me above you. You mock me for having a brief run with the tag titles when you’ve never so much as sniffed them. You try to downplay winning King of Hokkaido like you’ve ever one a tournament of that magnitude. You insult the wrestlers in my company because you view everyone else in yours as step stools to make yourself feel bigger.
Brendan takes a deep breath before pushing onto his next point.
You throw my ex-husband in my face when you’re the one so obsessed about your ex-girlfriend being more over than you with barely any effort that you still have a finishing move named after fucking her.
He takes another pause, stamping down the anger he doesn’t want to show.
You can keep talking about how much better you think Dylan Black was than me, Cross, but note the tense of the verb: “was”. Dylan Black’s gone, and he isn’t coming back, at least not to waste his time on you. You’re fighting me. But more than that, you’re fighting JROK. See, Dar can run her mouth and claim she’s the face of this company, but we all know that’s bullshit. I am the face of JROK; I am its champion, and I’ll be damned if I let some narcissistic blowhard with delusions of grandeur spit on it.
You were right about one thing: there’s a difference between a champion and a man wearing a belt. Unfortunately for you, you’ll never truly be the former however long you’re the latter. And after the beating I give you, ‘however long’ won’t be all that long at all…