Post by Carter Shaw on Jan 29, 2022 22:42:27 GMT -5
1/20/22
Boston, MA
It wasn’t home anymore. Carter Shaw couldn’t help but drive past the house that had been sold already by its previous PH L.L.C. owner. Ofcourse it would sell that quick, it was a brand new build and Shaw had no doubt Philidor Holdings took first offer just to get it out from under their thumb and away from any chance Shaw had to try and procure his own house.
Shaw hit a few Boston stops, but didn’t revel in much. There was no point. He was a glutton for punishment enough in driving through his old neighborhoods while in town for AW Clash. This was not like any other time he had been here. His brother, Chris, was still nowhere to be found, or atleast didn’t want to be found. No family. No home.
He swung his Jeep Wrangler into the Post Office parking lot, running in quickly to grab his held mail from the previous two weeks. He sat in his jeep, windows cracked open despite the bitter cold outside. Flipping through the envelopes and papers, he questioned why he even bothered as the result was nothing but credit card trash and flyers ending up on his passenger seat for disposal.
Until one paused the world around him. Time stamped 3 days prior. From the handwriting of “Shaw” centered on the envelope, he knew it was from Peter Garvey immediately. A slow unfold of the paper inside revealed more words in that same, familiar handwriting.
Shaw,
If you have received this letter, I am dead. Work beside the devil long enough, eventually the pitchfork swings your way. I did my job. I did it the best I could do, and for what it’s worth, kid, you were my favorite investment. I enjoyed having your back and watching you usurp the usurper. You were a good man before you signed away your light, and you will have a chance to find that version of yourself again. I know you will because if you have received this letter, it also means you’re still alive. And if you are at this point? You’re off their radar.
This is not your fault.
It all comes down to the things we do for the bees and the honey.
In Peace,
Garvey.
Shaw sat in silence for an eternity in that post office parking lot. He knew Philidor would burn everything, and he knew that it wasn’t the kind of situation you came away from with any chance at friendship.
Investment in your future.
When you’re locked in a submission, from the most simple efficient arm bar to the most complicated pretzel, you’re faced with a decision. Does it measure toughness? Sure. It measures alot of things but coming from the world of fighting and MMA to the world of professional wrestling, one thing stuck out to me…the shame that a tap out carries. As if it’s the ultimate admittance of weakness. But that’s an issue of pride, let’s talk about the real power a tap out brings.
A tap out is an investment in your future. Through the pain and agony of a solid lock, you have to ask yourself many questions.
“Is this worth the pain?” Situational.
“Where is the pressure? Will something break?” Execution.
“Where in the ring am I and can I move?” Location.
“Will I pass out?” Self-awareness.
Jill Park’s FRANKLE LOCK is not some expertly applied submission perfected over time. It’s a move that became famous after helping her beat an already-hobbled FPV in a Submission Match last year. And, ofcourse, it’s subsequent naming after its first ‘victim’.
Let’s call her Halloween Spirit, because she is nothing but costumes. Trying to figure out what she wants to be from one day to the next. But the jig is up. Jill, you’ve played games all year long. So much so that you, in all of your egotistical glory, still see this as a game. Why did I want our match to be a Submission Match? To pick a single brick of your undeserved confidence and take it the fuck away. The rest will crumble, even if I have to dismantle you brick by brick.
You looked me in the eyes and said with a genuinity I couldn’t believe…that a Submission Match was something in your “wheelhouse”. Oh Jill, ill is no longer a cute nickname. Your only proven wheelhouse in Action Wrestling is being an insufferable bitch. Anything else has been window dressing that you’ve managed to do well enough to draw customers in. The jokes have gotten you this far, but you need to know these words are real when I tell you…
It stops here. It stops at Revolution 5. The buck stops with Carter Shaw.
To you, this is nothing.
To me, this is everything.
That’s the difference. That’s why, when you tap out and invest in your own future, you’ll know that, even if just for a minute of agony…your future was in Carter Shaw’s hands.
That’s the real power.
Let’s be clear, I’m not looking to end Jill Park as a whole. No. I’ve established the admiration I have for her, the way she’s cleared the overgrown path in front of her throughout 2021. The way she’s picked her spots to make an impact and did all it takes to capitalize on them. But to this point, all she’s doing is kicking dirt over the failures along the way. Every self-propelling victorious moment she had over FPV was with vicious sneak attacks. Coattail successfully ridden. It was a solid way to boost your own stock after proving yourself smarter than the rest of the newcomers.
Then you scraped your way to that All-In Ladder match to watch Kyle Kemp of all fuckin’ people take that briefcase home. How to kick dirt over shit 101: Kyle Kemp Edition. You attacked and attacked, the problem was…Kyle Kemp is pretty damn smart too. But. You staying on Kemp’s case, pun intended, for long enough carried you into that Turmoil World Title match. Coattail successfully ridden. And you got one OVER on Kemp in that match, you got one OVER on ME in that match, and yet still…the match ended with Dandy DiVito getting to claim an exaggerated ‘third reign’ as AW World Champion.
This is what makes Jill Park such a force up to this point? You got me with that Cancel Culture so good, knockin’ me out for the perfect 3 seconds. So you may not have won the match, but you gathered another cute little nugget of bragging right. Coattail successfully ridden.
Horseshoes. Hand Grenades. Jill Park.
Being close counts as a victory, right?
And now? Affluenza. Regan and Jill, two peas in a pod. Regan ends the year as the Rookie Of The Year, snuffing out Jill’s acknowledgement of her first year rise. Regan ends up the Fan Vote Wrestler Of The Year, because the world loves ignoring my accomplishments. And Jill? Ends up getting Finisher Of The Year because of a cute name and proper marketing. So what happens next to a flailing potential star who has started to run out of dirt to kick? Well, Jill hitches up to Regan Voorhees, ofcourse. Coattail…you get the picture.
This ain’t a reality show, this is just plain old cold reality. Jill Park needs a dose of it. And I need yet another place to prove it. A year ago, I sat beside Joe Biden as the Guest Of Honor at Revolution 4. Fast Forward to 2022? I’m not a guest at anyone’s table. I’m not perceived as a power player now that Philidor Holdings is no longer tattooed on my merchandise. And I got cheated out of regaining the World Title I lost at a single drop of blood enough times to be deemed out of the picture.
Oh how wrong you all are. You’ve all been wrong about so many things this entire time. But now we’re back to square one, asking “Who is Carter Shaw?” And while I take away what Jill Park pretends to be brick by brick, I parallel those actions by rebuilding myself brick by brick.
It all ties together. Every action, every reaction. We both bring the bark to the table, Jill, but there’s a stark difference when I can throw every major victory I had throughout 2021 at you and the only response you have left is, “Yeah, but that one time, where I eliminated you for that Title Match.” You hold nothing over me, Park. And when I had you thinkin’ you broke my ankle at Clash last week? Outsmarting you? There was a moment where your eyes lit up and you thought you were gonna get to relive the Venable Advantage once again.
…Gotcha.
Not this time. You’ve got a fresh Shaw to deal with. More determined than ever. This ain’t a bridge you’re gonna get to cross to your ‘next pasture’. Not Sunday. Scoff all you want in my direction, I’m ok with being a peon in your world until I course correct your perception. Because you’re about to realize that your world exists within mine. Some real Inception shit. I’m not coming at you with the goal of finality to your career. No. I don’t want to end you, Jill Park. I just want to end your chapter.
And there’s mercy in that finality. You will thank me because if you keep going the way you are? You will become a parody of yourself within 2 more months. We’ve seen it happen time and time again, and what you need to realize is that you’re on the exact same path of many of those that you have laughed at. Creating excuses. Creating distractions. Holding the wrong things up high as accomplishments while wondering why the likes of myself keep saying you’ve accomplished nothing.
At Revolution 5? You tap out to Carter Shaw. You learn that submission art is not your wheelhouse. You learn that in order to hang with the big leaguers, you’ll have to pick and choose your spots when making a joke out of things. On Clash last week, I held you in the End Quote and the world watched you get folded while knocked the fuck out. If you keep going around in the same circles you’re aiming to go around, that’ll continue to be the only image anybody remembers.
Comeuppance, Ms. Park, Is not something to try and avoid. It is a necessity. And it always finds a way to happen just when you need it. I got mine almost 2 years ago from Spencer Adams. And in time? I learned from it, came back around in 2021 and suddenly it was fuckin’ me dishing out a rebranded comeuppance on Spencer Adams time and time again.
Make it your goal for that to be you and me, huh? Come back around in a year and show me what you’ve fuckin’ learned. Until then, there’s not some empty slot at the top where Carter Shaw used to reside. No.
I’m still here.
And I ain’t goin’ anywhere.
And the executor of the 2021 Finisher Of The Year will fall to the 2021 World Champion Of the Year. Take pride in that.
“Wheelhouse”. Who the fuck do you think you are? They’re gonna be wheeling you right out of my house at Revolution if you don’t pick the right time to invest in your future.
The hotel concierge was cute. Not your conventional concept of beauty, but she’d qualify as a Tuesday 8. A lippy smile sat permanently on her face as she accepted Carter Shaw’s credit card. Shaw leaned forward calmly, his mind clearly elsewhere.
“There’s uh-lot to do around here, uh-lot of it is free too, D.C. is such a great place…”
She rambled until that smile met gravity.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Shaw, but this card has been declined.”
