Post by Sam Kidsgrove on Aug 28, 2022 8:00:54 GMT -5
“Canope, sir?” Asks the steward. Even at 38,000 feet above the Atlantic in a dreamliner do the rich and famous enjoy the tiny delicacies that are canapes. Kidsgrove politely declines, and looks at Zooey somewhat irked.
“Why did we take first class again?” He asks her, in the low grumble of a man who’s frustrated.
“Wasn’t our choice.” She replies. “AW insisted everyone who’s flying and in the all in match take first class. I think it’s probably because one of the girls demanded it so they just decided everyone should, for fairness.”
“Fuck sake.” Kidsgrove replies. “I’ve always hated first class.”
Zooey is amused at this “Sam Kidsgrove, Mr Hollywood himself, the guy who has the reputation to be a silver spooned jackass who has everything, hates first class?”
“Always have”
“Didn’t you have your own plane?”
“That’s how much I hate it. First class is just generally full of the worst sorts of people.” He looks around and starts nodding at groups of people as he sees them. He points out a guy in an expensive suit, face buried in a laptop while loudly talking to a lawyer. “You got the billionaire executives, full of themselves, thinking they are better than the rest of us because his daddy’s trust fund made sure he had better chances than the rest of us.”
He finds another person, a young 20 something, phone in hand and a portable lighting rig on the table, pouting for pictures. “Then you got the richer than how talented reality TV shitbags or Instagram models who spend most of their fucking flight taking selfies of everything from the clouds, to the meal and their asshole in the bathroom.”
Finally he looks at the group making the most noise - a bunch of people wearing leather, drinking the bar dry, causing as much noise and mischief as they could. “Then you have the musicians, the fucking bands who made it big so all they do now is snort coke, drink mixers and play the same 3 fucking chords for a whole album instead of doing something new and creative with their lives.
They aren’t the worst though, the worst are the Hollywood types, those who never left LA, who have only ever been actors, who made it rich because they were just born into it. They were just joining the family business after all so didn’t have to do what the rest of us did, all they’ve ever known is first class, private jets, limousines and yes men. No offence.”
He added no offence as he noticed Zooey’s jaw gradually clenched.
“I get it”, she says. “I’ll always have that label, same as you’ll always have yours, despite everything we do to get rid of it, people just see and think what they wanna and to hell with facts.”
“Yeah, I wonder when people will stop thinking I had a silver spoon and I have everything I want in the world. Wonder when they’ll stop thinking I do this as some sort of rich man’s hobby instead of truly wanting to show that I am the best at what I do? I wonder when they’ll take me seriously? Is it when I win All-In? Is it when I win the World Title? Is it when I go into the Hall of Fame?
You got this new breed of kids who come into the organisation and shoot straight to the top of the card, not having the same issues I had. You’ve got guys who come in from elsewhere and immediately go into that little group of guys who always get the opportunities that I never have.
You have Jill Park - already on her 2nd All-in. She’s been around for what? 5 minutes. You know how many all-ins I’ve had as an AW original? 0. You know why? Because when All-in comes around I’m given a US title opportunity by the management who simply say “Bro, you are Mr US title. I’m giving you this so you can carry the division for the summer because it’s been stagnant since Evolution.” Then I’m out of All-in. Super ironic I wasn’t ever given that courtesy as US champ.
You have CJ - 2nd all in. Teo, multiple all ins, Kemp, won it last year. Downfall must have been in one year I’m sure. Who knows? No one pays attention to him anyway..
And here’s me, my first ever all in. Despite being here longer than all of these fuckers combined, despite me being one of the true pillars of AW and being one of the guys who will be in the HoF one day.
You gotta ask yourself why? When I’m supposedly given everything I ever want, when I am supposedly finished and all that shit that’s thrown at me every single day by those smooth brained vacuous non entities that are the social media generation. Why am I constantly overlooked for these matches?
Because reality isn’t what they put in their mouths with their disingenuous nonsense, where they make shit up just to bring someone down to their level. Reality isn’t about making yourself look good at the expense of someone else or trying to trash a man’s legacy so you can get a little +1 heart in your latest tiktok or whatever the fuck you use.
Reality is I fight and claw for every ounce of respect I get in this business. I work twice as hard and am held back twice as much as every single one of those spoiled brats.
I can see some of them now in this match thinking they got the best of me. Jill and Downfall are probably giddy at the fact I’m in this, after all they beat me recently, right? Hell even fuckin’ Angelo and Lissie are probably looking at this field and laughing, completely ignoring me as any sort of credible threat because they have victories over me too.
It’s a fair argument to make on the surface, but when has anything EVER been black and white?
I’m fighting those people while being held back by management, I’m fighting those people while fighting an uphill battle against the very industry who wants to see me fail. By the time I get to these matches, by the time I’ve hit that ring, I’ve already probably fought 10 times the battles against management, lawyers, agents, Hollywood and hell, sometimes even bellboys just to get there. I’ve had to contend with the sword of damocles over my head as AW won’t even discuss a contract renewal and even then I’ve managed to get my ass into the All-in match for the first time.
Despite all this I won the US title for the 4th time, almost shut Jill Park up, almost shut Downfall up and almost halted any sort of momentum that Angelo had.
Now imagine what I can do when these shackles are off.
I go and win this match? Then everything that management has done to hold me back, everything that people do behind the scenes to politic me out of a good spot and stand on my shoulders to go to the World title, all of the shit I have to deal with on a day to day basis will be gone.
Management will treat me like I’m their fucking golden egg. I’d be able to take my destiny into my own hands for the first time in years. I’d be indispensable.
And then we’d see what the fuck I can do against tragic shitbags like Lissie, Angelo, Jill, Downfall and whoever else wants to call me a fake or washed up, whatever the flavour of the month insult is. When I’m actually treated with respect I can go out there and do my thing without being drained before I’m even in the ring.”
Kidsgrove looks away for a moment, noticing a guy occupying 3 seats, eating 2 dinners and generally treating the cabin as his own buffet. He’s being a real Karen about things too, demanding more things from the cabin crew.
“Look at that guy.” He nudges Zooey. “Pure fucking greed, no one needs that many seats, no one needs that much food, no one needs to take the time of everyone around him. Well, no one except for the biggest of narcissists anyway.
And that’s a big problem we have in AW. I’m old enough to remember when All-in was for people who were ready to move up the card and just needed that extra little bit of motivation, they were hungry for more, they were chomping at the bit to get their hands on the glory.
Not for people who are already sitting at the top of their little trees.
What could Jill Park, Teo and CJ possibly need the shot at another title for? Hell Jill already owns two! It just shows how much respect she has for the two venerated titles she holds. Not content with bastardising the media and making a mockery out of television by doing her reality TV shit, or usual social media as some sort of vanity mirror where all her fake fans fawn all over her to buy a bottle of her bathwater, no. She’s taken her brand of “all about me” to new heights with this latest stunt.
I’ve never been offered an All-in match, but you know what? If I represented the US title division as its champion, obviously I can’t represent the woman’s division, but if I represented the TV or Hardcore division as Champion I would be focussing on making that title the best I can make it. I’d be focussing on ensuring that title is the number 1 thing on people’s lips. Not using it as some fucking accessory to collect like they are some gold plated gucci pokemon shits. Not wanting to hold those and the World title at the same time because I am that conceited I want EVERYTHING to be about me. No.
Same goes with Teo, mind. We already know he’s holding back Jenson so he can hold on to that Cruiserweight title for the 90th time and be the man in the division, rather than letting his so-called best friend shine. Teo just wants control, he’s that egotistical that he thinks he can control both shows. He thinks that Jenson would just help him keep a hold of both belts I guess. He can hide behind his phalanx of security and stand out there being a dual champion, king of the mountain, the big shit. You know the guy who can truly call himself the king, not of all media but of all wrestling.
The weird one is CJ. I mean he’s happily chugging along as tag champs with Spence, but the tag team division has been so weak lately that I even managed to be a champion with Dandy for fuck sake. So maybe he wants to branch out, make a name for himself. Win the World title so he can finally stand out of Spence’s considerable shadow and shout loud and proud that he made it, by god ma he made it!
I actually don’t begrudge him for that, who wouldn’t want to chase down their dreams? Who wouldn’t want to go and have the career he’s dreaming of? Coming out of a tag team with Spencer fuckin Adams and being a dual title holder?
But still you’d have to question his hunger for going for the big one while he’s still under the mentorship of Spencer. I mean there’s a reason he’s taken him under his wing right? Because the kid isn’t ready to carry a whole company on his back, he isn’t prepared to go through hell and fire, alone because there is literally nobody he can trust that won’t stab him in the back to get 5 minutes of glory. Hell, even Spencer would take the kid’s kidney for another shot at the World title. While they are tag champs, sure they got each other's back, but what happens when one of the tag champs becomes bigger? When they get the all-in or world title? Just ask Dion and Downfall that.
The tag champs become secondary to the main event, the partner left behind just gets forgotten about and, well, the team just doesn’t last because inevitably the other guy just takes everything into their own hands. So CJ would have to be very careful as Spence? Well Spence doesn’t take it well when he’s not actually King Shit. So whether CJ has the hunger to have to deal with a petulant Spence is a big question mark over his ass.
But you know, these champions might talk a good game, say they have the hunger to go on and win the world title, they might be out there saying they deserve it even, pointing to their titles as their justification for it.
But they don’t know true hunger, they don’t know how it is to go into this all-in - for the first ever time, knowing that it’s also your last. They know they’ve got nothing to lose, they put a good showing here, they go back to being champions. Jill goes back to being Jilly two belts, CJ goes back to his excellent mentorship, Teo goes back to being the King under the mountain, hoarding all his gold from his best friend like Thorin Oakenshield and generally being the worst. They go back to this knowing that they’ll get the exact same chances to win the World title in the next few months as they are the chosen ones. Hell, Regan and Kemp have the same exact issue. Sure they got no titles to hold on to right now but what happens after All-in? Regan and Kemp will be first in line for a World Title opportunity, you know why?
Because they always are.
They have it set, they don’t have to win this match to get the opportunity of a lifetime, because they know they’ll get one soon anyway. Serenity doesn’t have to win this match to get the opportunity at Teo’s Cruiserweight title either, she’s going to get one soon anyway. Hell they’ll all probably be in all-in again next year.
I’m the only person going into this match who has the hunger and the fear. Not a fear of losing, not a fear of anyone else, because I don’t fear those things. No, mine is a bit more existential than that. Mine is knowing that I only ever have one shot, or I’m out - no more than that.
After all, I've had precisely 1 official shot at the world title since I’ve been here, and that was at the tail end of wrestleseason. The other shot? I literally had to pay a referee to let me get in that Chamber.
This is my first and probably only all-in because guess what’ll happen if I fail, same thing as always - I’ll be told “Oh yeah we got nothing for you” and the next thing you know I’m doing comedy vignettes for the Shop or appearing in other people’s Paramount plus shows as an extra before I’m eventually released in February, while one of the guys who wins this is fired by November because they go and do a fuckin’ Graham Baker.
That’s true hunger, that’s what I mean by the fear - This is my one opportunity to go out and make myself a legend, this is my one opportunity to go all-in and take the title off Lissie or Angelo, I don’t care which, both are on my shit list.
No one else in the match has this worry hanging over them, even the guys who aren’t champions have shit to fall back on. Then again, they also have major distractions in their lives.
You see, to truly succeed in this industry I’ve realised you can’t have two masters. You can’t be distracted by other careers or circumstances - you have to give your mind, body and soul over to AW because anything less than 100% commitment to wrestling means you get flattened.
You can’t spend half your time making music, or strip selling your family’s assets or doing whatever the fuck Downfall is doing in Japan, I dunno, getting himself drowned in Saki and spending way too much time looking at anime chicks in a soapland or some shit. I don’t know, Japan is mad.
This is why I’ve stopped taking acting gigs, this is why I stopped the fancy jets, the lavish lifestyle, the cars, the houses and all that shit.”
He smiles wryly at Zooey
“This is also why I don’t like first class, it’s far too comfortable, and you can’t be comfortable when you’re in the fight of your life.
But the same can’t be said of everyone else, I know this is going to sound hypocritical, considering I practically built my life around this but when did it become in fashion for everyone to have two careers?
Alice, Regan, Jill, hell even Teo arguably. All have a secondary career.
We all know Jill is going to be taking on far too much if she holds two titles and all-in, as well as spending most of her time on onlyfans - when does she even sleep? That’s not even taking into account how much she’s gonna have to worry about Regan’s sudden but inevitable betrayal.
But you got Alice, who, much like those dufuses over there” He nods to the musicians “Spends more time trying to claw themselves up to a stadium tour than taking care of themselves, physically or mentally. There’s a reason why drug and alcohol overdoses are the main causes of death amongst musicians - because they are doing too much to satisfy their record labels. They don’t have time to pretend they are wrestlers too.
If they think they do then they’re naive as fuck and are either mediocre musicians or bad at wrestling. Now I’ve seen Alice wrestle, and let’s just say I hope she’s not a mediocre musician as well.
But you know, it’s not her fault. She was sold a dream and a prayer when she hit rock bottom as a teenager and you know, I have to sympathise with that. It took me 20 years to get over the fact that my parents were manipulative fuckers who put me into acting to feather their nests and I lost out on my childhood. Granted, that’s not nearly as abhorrent as the shit she went through but emotional scarring as a child just carries with you until your dying days.
But yeah I know the feeling of being absolutely rock bottom as a kid and then you have a guy show you what life can be like, you can have it all if you just apply yourself and why not be a world famous rock star and world famous wrestler at the same time?
It’s possible, I’m a world famous Actor and a world famous wrestler. But I didn’t even think about wrestling until I had absolutely mastered my world of Acting. I can’t see a situation where you’re just starting up in both and expect to be great at both. It’s impossible. It’s one or the other until you reach the top and THEN branch out. Otherwise it’s distracting and you get half baked results which don’t help anyone - especially not the fans. They know if you’re playing in another pond and whether or not you’re truly in and they don’t accept anything other than total commitment.
And total commitment is what you need to even remotely think about being at the top. As Regan has found out. She burst onto the scene like her pappa bursting out the chest cavity of her favourite sow. Big things were expected, huge things even! The world is hers to carve up in neat little squares, her reign would be drenched in blood and chaos.
But it didn’t happen, then it didn’t happen again. Now she’s the head of a company and her inheritance is all on the line. Gotta be a little bit of a distraction right? Selling your family’s assets off one by one until there is nothing left of the great and glorious empire other than cold hard cash.
Because that’s all that matters to people like her, like Kemp, money. It’s the be all and end all. Do whatever it takes to grab the green, to hell with anyone else around them - this is their world and we’re all just in it, as long as it pays them anyway. She’s literally selling off the family farm to fund her lifestyle, it doesn’t get any worse than that. Kemp would do the same, for a shot at fame and wealth they would do anything. Hell Kemp has, the fucker lost the rights to the following because of his arrogance, his shot at fame and fortune - thinking he was bigger and better than Dandy. I mean he’s right, Dandy is the worst person in the world, but even so, Kemp didn’t burn down the compound because of vengeance, he didn’t do it because of petty jealousy or any shit like that, no. I was told by someone in the know that it was 100% an insurance job. He burned down his own legacy just so he could get some green in his pocket. That’s the sort of man we’re dealing with here, a guy who not only chases down money and will do anything to get it, but also the kinda guy who just gets given opportunity after opportunity by whoever makes decisions up in HQ. I mean honestly, how many times now does he need to leave, come back be all “Yeah I’m Kyle Kemp bitch” and management go all love heart eyes and give him an immediate spot at the top of the table when you have guys who are here week in, week out that give 100% every single day and you don’t even think they’re worth the contract? Fuck Kemp, he’s all that’s wrong with the modern day wrestling landscape. Part time big ticket asshats.
I would say it was better back in the day, but we had the likes of Andre Holmes doing the exact same shit, and now? Well his daughter is here. Granted I knew nothing of her, to be perfectly honest, until we were randomly paired with her on Clash but she’s going after Teo’s gold like that elf in the Hobbit.”
“Legolas?” Zooey asks, confused.
“No, Evangeline’s character.”
“Tauriel? She didn’t go after gold I think.”
“I dunno, all I know is she’s an elf that isn’t even supposed to be there. Like she was just made up or something and wasn’t even in the books. She’s like that, she’s not even supposed to be here. She’s talented, for sure but she’s too out of her depths to be a major player in this, she’ll go do what every rookie with a grudge does and go purely after Teo - after all it’s his title she wants. She wants to fulfil her father’s legacy and take Teo down. She’s going to be way too distracted by that to realise there are 7 more people in the match that will literally capitalise on anything she does at a moment’s notice with zero hesitation.
But yeah, mark my words - on Sunday we go into there as underdogs, but we’re the only people with nothing to lose, we go in there on our last, and only chance. Management would love for me to be destroyed at all-in and disappear. But you know what? I’m not gonna go down without a fight.
If I have to win this contract to extend my other contract, then so be it. I’m taking the All-in contract, I’m hunting down the winner of Dickhead and Dickette and I’m taking what’s mine.
Then I dare AW to try and sack me.”
“Why did we take first class again?” He asks her, in the low grumble of a man who’s frustrated.
“Wasn’t our choice.” She replies. “AW insisted everyone who’s flying and in the all in match take first class. I think it’s probably because one of the girls demanded it so they just decided everyone should, for fairness.”
“Fuck sake.” Kidsgrove replies. “I’ve always hated first class.”
Zooey is amused at this “Sam Kidsgrove, Mr Hollywood himself, the guy who has the reputation to be a silver spooned jackass who has everything, hates first class?”
“Always have”
“Didn’t you have your own plane?”
“That’s how much I hate it. First class is just generally full of the worst sorts of people.” He looks around and starts nodding at groups of people as he sees them. He points out a guy in an expensive suit, face buried in a laptop while loudly talking to a lawyer. “You got the billionaire executives, full of themselves, thinking they are better than the rest of us because his daddy’s trust fund made sure he had better chances than the rest of us.”
He finds another person, a young 20 something, phone in hand and a portable lighting rig on the table, pouting for pictures. “Then you got the richer than how talented reality TV shitbags or Instagram models who spend most of their fucking flight taking selfies of everything from the clouds, to the meal and their asshole in the bathroom.”
Finally he looks at the group making the most noise - a bunch of people wearing leather, drinking the bar dry, causing as much noise and mischief as they could. “Then you have the musicians, the fucking bands who made it big so all they do now is snort coke, drink mixers and play the same 3 fucking chords for a whole album instead of doing something new and creative with their lives.
They aren’t the worst though, the worst are the Hollywood types, those who never left LA, who have only ever been actors, who made it rich because they were just born into it. They were just joining the family business after all so didn’t have to do what the rest of us did, all they’ve ever known is first class, private jets, limousines and yes men. No offence.”
He added no offence as he noticed Zooey’s jaw gradually clenched.
“I get it”, she says. “I’ll always have that label, same as you’ll always have yours, despite everything we do to get rid of it, people just see and think what they wanna and to hell with facts.”
“Yeah, I wonder when people will stop thinking I had a silver spoon and I have everything I want in the world. Wonder when they’ll stop thinking I do this as some sort of rich man’s hobby instead of truly wanting to show that I am the best at what I do? I wonder when they’ll take me seriously? Is it when I win All-In? Is it when I win the World Title? Is it when I go into the Hall of Fame?
You got this new breed of kids who come into the organisation and shoot straight to the top of the card, not having the same issues I had. You’ve got guys who come in from elsewhere and immediately go into that little group of guys who always get the opportunities that I never have.
You have Jill Park - already on her 2nd All-in. She’s been around for what? 5 minutes. You know how many all-ins I’ve had as an AW original? 0. You know why? Because when All-in comes around I’m given a US title opportunity by the management who simply say “Bro, you are Mr US title. I’m giving you this so you can carry the division for the summer because it’s been stagnant since Evolution.” Then I’m out of All-in. Super ironic I wasn’t ever given that courtesy as US champ.
You have CJ - 2nd all in. Teo, multiple all ins, Kemp, won it last year. Downfall must have been in one year I’m sure. Who knows? No one pays attention to him anyway..
And here’s me, my first ever all in. Despite being here longer than all of these fuckers combined, despite me being one of the true pillars of AW and being one of the guys who will be in the HoF one day.
You gotta ask yourself why? When I’m supposedly given everything I ever want, when I am supposedly finished and all that shit that’s thrown at me every single day by those smooth brained vacuous non entities that are the social media generation. Why am I constantly overlooked for these matches?
Because reality isn’t what they put in their mouths with their disingenuous nonsense, where they make shit up just to bring someone down to their level. Reality isn’t about making yourself look good at the expense of someone else or trying to trash a man’s legacy so you can get a little +1 heart in your latest tiktok or whatever the fuck you use.
Reality is I fight and claw for every ounce of respect I get in this business. I work twice as hard and am held back twice as much as every single one of those spoiled brats.
I can see some of them now in this match thinking they got the best of me. Jill and Downfall are probably giddy at the fact I’m in this, after all they beat me recently, right? Hell even fuckin’ Angelo and Lissie are probably looking at this field and laughing, completely ignoring me as any sort of credible threat because they have victories over me too.
It’s a fair argument to make on the surface, but when has anything EVER been black and white?
I’m fighting those people while being held back by management, I’m fighting those people while fighting an uphill battle against the very industry who wants to see me fail. By the time I get to these matches, by the time I’ve hit that ring, I’ve already probably fought 10 times the battles against management, lawyers, agents, Hollywood and hell, sometimes even bellboys just to get there. I’ve had to contend with the sword of damocles over my head as AW won’t even discuss a contract renewal and even then I’ve managed to get my ass into the All-in match for the first time.
Despite all this I won the US title for the 4th time, almost shut Jill Park up, almost shut Downfall up and almost halted any sort of momentum that Angelo had.
Now imagine what I can do when these shackles are off.
I go and win this match? Then everything that management has done to hold me back, everything that people do behind the scenes to politic me out of a good spot and stand on my shoulders to go to the World title, all of the shit I have to deal with on a day to day basis will be gone.
Management will treat me like I’m their fucking golden egg. I’d be able to take my destiny into my own hands for the first time in years. I’d be indispensable.
And then we’d see what the fuck I can do against tragic shitbags like Lissie, Angelo, Jill, Downfall and whoever else wants to call me a fake or washed up, whatever the flavour of the month insult is. When I’m actually treated with respect I can go out there and do my thing without being drained before I’m even in the ring.”
Kidsgrove looks away for a moment, noticing a guy occupying 3 seats, eating 2 dinners and generally treating the cabin as his own buffet. He’s being a real Karen about things too, demanding more things from the cabin crew.
“Look at that guy.” He nudges Zooey. “Pure fucking greed, no one needs that many seats, no one needs that much food, no one needs to take the time of everyone around him. Well, no one except for the biggest of narcissists anyway.
And that’s a big problem we have in AW. I’m old enough to remember when All-in was for people who were ready to move up the card and just needed that extra little bit of motivation, they were hungry for more, they were chomping at the bit to get their hands on the glory.
Not for people who are already sitting at the top of their little trees.
What could Jill Park, Teo and CJ possibly need the shot at another title for? Hell Jill already owns two! It just shows how much respect she has for the two venerated titles she holds. Not content with bastardising the media and making a mockery out of television by doing her reality TV shit, or usual social media as some sort of vanity mirror where all her fake fans fawn all over her to buy a bottle of her bathwater, no. She’s taken her brand of “all about me” to new heights with this latest stunt.
I’ve never been offered an All-in match, but you know what? If I represented the US title division as its champion, obviously I can’t represent the woman’s division, but if I represented the TV or Hardcore division as Champion I would be focussing on making that title the best I can make it. I’d be focussing on ensuring that title is the number 1 thing on people’s lips. Not using it as some fucking accessory to collect like they are some gold plated gucci pokemon shits. Not wanting to hold those and the World title at the same time because I am that conceited I want EVERYTHING to be about me. No.
Same goes with Teo, mind. We already know he’s holding back Jenson so he can hold on to that Cruiserweight title for the 90th time and be the man in the division, rather than letting his so-called best friend shine. Teo just wants control, he’s that egotistical that he thinks he can control both shows. He thinks that Jenson would just help him keep a hold of both belts I guess. He can hide behind his phalanx of security and stand out there being a dual champion, king of the mountain, the big shit. You know the guy who can truly call himself the king, not of all media but of all wrestling.
The weird one is CJ. I mean he’s happily chugging along as tag champs with Spence, but the tag team division has been so weak lately that I even managed to be a champion with Dandy for fuck sake. So maybe he wants to branch out, make a name for himself. Win the World title so he can finally stand out of Spence’s considerable shadow and shout loud and proud that he made it, by god ma he made it!
I actually don’t begrudge him for that, who wouldn’t want to chase down their dreams? Who wouldn’t want to go and have the career he’s dreaming of? Coming out of a tag team with Spencer fuckin Adams and being a dual title holder?
But still you’d have to question his hunger for going for the big one while he’s still under the mentorship of Spencer. I mean there’s a reason he’s taken him under his wing right? Because the kid isn’t ready to carry a whole company on his back, he isn’t prepared to go through hell and fire, alone because there is literally nobody he can trust that won’t stab him in the back to get 5 minutes of glory. Hell, even Spencer would take the kid’s kidney for another shot at the World title. While they are tag champs, sure they got each other's back, but what happens when one of the tag champs becomes bigger? When they get the all-in or world title? Just ask Dion and Downfall that.
The tag champs become secondary to the main event, the partner left behind just gets forgotten about and, well, the team just doesn’t last because inevitably the other guy just takes everything into their own hands. So CJ would have to be very careful as Spence? Well Spence doesn’t take it well when he’s not actually King Shit. So whether CJ has the hunger to have to deal with a petulant Spence is a big question mark over his ass.
But you know, these champions might talk a good game, say they have the hunger to go on and win the world title, they might be out there saying they deserve it even, pointing to their titles as their justification for it.
But they don’t know true hunger, they don’t know how it is to go into this all-in - for the first ever time, knowing that it’s also your last. They know they’ve got nothing to lose, they put a good showing here, they go back to being champions. Jill goes back to being Jilly two belts, CJ goes back to his excellent mentorship, Teo goes back to being the King under the mountain, hoarding all his gold from his best friend like Thorin Oakenshield and generally being the worst. They go back to this knowing that they’ll get the exact same chances to win the World title in the next few months as they are the chosen ones. Hell, Regan and Kemp have the same exact issue. Sure they got no titles to hold on to right now but what happens after All-in? Regan and Kemp will be first in line for a World Title opportunity, you know why?
Because they always are.
They have it set, they don’t have to win this match to get the opportunity of a lifetime, because they know they’ll get one soon anyway. Serenity doesn’t have to win this match to get the opportunity at Teo’s Cruiserweight title either, she’s going to get one soon anyway. Hell they’ll all probably be in all-in again next year.
I’m the only person going into this match who has the hunger and the fear. Not a fear of losing, not a fear of anyone else, because I don’t fear those things. No, mine is a bit more existential than that. Mine is knowing that I only ever have one shot, or I’m out - no more than that.
After all, I've had precisely 1 official shot at the world title since I’ve been here, and that was at the tail end of wrestleseason. The other shot? I literally had to pay a referee to let me get in that Chamber.
This is my first and probably only all-in because guess what’ll happen if I fail, same thing as always - I’ll be told “Oh yeah we got nothing for you” and the next thing you know I’m doing comedy vignettes for the Shop or appearing in other people’s Paramount plus shows as an extra before I’m eventually released in February, while one of the guys who wins this is fired by November because they go and do a fuckin’ Graham Baker.
That’s true hunger, that’s what I mean by the fear - This is my one opportunity to go out and make myself a legend, this is my one opportunity to go all-in and take the title off Lissie or Angelo, I don’t care which, both are on my shit list.
No one else in the match has this worry hanging over them, even the guys who aren’t champions have shit to fall back on. Then again, they also have major distractions in their lives.
You see, to truly succeed in this industry I’ve realised you can’t have two masters. You can’t be distracted by other careers or circumstances - you have to give your mind, body and soul over to AW because anything less than 100% commitment to wrestling means you get flattened.
You can’t spend half your time making music, or strip selling your family’s assets or doing whatever the fuck Downfall is doing in Japan, I dunno, getting himself drowned in Saki and spending way too much time looking at anime chicks in a soapland or some shit. I don’t know, Japan is mad.
This is why I’ve stopped taking acting gigs, this is why I stopped the fancy jets, the lavish lifestyle, the cars, the houses and all that shit.”
He smiles wryly at Zooey
“This is also why I don’t like first class, it’s far too comfortable, and you can’t be comfortable when you’re in the fight of your life.
But the same can’t be said of everyone else, I know this is going to sound hypocritical, considering I practically built my life around this but when did it become in fashion for everyone to have two careers?
Alice, Regan, Jill, hell even Teo arguably. All have a secondary career.
We all know Jill is going to be taking on far too much if she holds two titles and all-in, as well as spending most of her time on onlyfans - when does she even sleep? That’s not even taking into account how much she’s gonna have to worry about Regan’s sudden but inevitable betrayal.
But you got Alice, who, much like those dufuses over there” He nods to the musicians “Spends more time trying to claw themselves up to a stadium tour than taking care of themselves, physically or mentally. There’s a reason why drug and alcohol overdoses are the main causes of death amongst musicians - because they are doing too much to satisfy their record labels. They don’t have time to pretend they are wrestlers too.
If they think they do then they’re naive as fuck and are either mediocre musicians or bad at wrestling. Now I’ve seen Alice wrestle, and let’s just say I hope she’s not a mediocre musician as well.
But you know, it’s not her fault. She was sold a dream and a prayer when she hit rock bottom as a teenager and you know, I have to sympathise with that. It took me 20 years to get over the fact that my parents were manipulative fuckers who put me into acting to feather their nests and I lost out on my childhood. Granted, that’s not nearly as abhorrent as the shit she went through but emotional scarring as a child just carries with you until your dying days.
But yeah I know the feeling of being absolutely rock bottom as a kid and then you have a guy show you what life can be like, you can have it all if you just apply yourself and why not be a world famous rock star and world famous wrestler at the same time?
It’s possible, I’m a world famous Actor and a world famous wrestler. But I didn’t even think about wrestling until I had absolutely mastered my world of Acting. I can’t see a situation where you’re just starting up in both and expect to be great at both. It’s impossible. It’s one or the other until you reach the top and THEN branch out. Otherwise it’s distracting and you get half baked results which don’t help anyone - especially not the fans. They know if you’re playing in another pond and whether or not you’re truly in and they don’t accept anything other than total commitment.
And total commitment is what you need to even remotely think about being at the top. As Regan has found out. She burst onto the scene like her pappa bursting out the chest cavity of her favourite sow. Big things were expected, huge things even! The world is hers to carve up in neat little squares, her reign would be drenched in blood and chaos.
But it didn’t happen, then it didn’t happen again. Now she’s the head of a company and her inheritance is all on the line. Gotta be a little bit of a distraction right? Selling your family’s assets off one by one until there is nothing left of the great and glorious empire other than cold hard cash.
Because that’s all that matters to people like her, like Kemp, money. It’s the be all and end all. Do whatever it takes to grab the green, to hell with anyone else around them - this is their world and we’re all just in it, as long as it pays them anyway. She’s literally selling off the family farm to fund her lifestyle, it doesn’t get any worse than that. Kemp would do the same, for a shot at fame and wealth they would do anything. Hell Kemp has, the fucker lost the rights to the following because of his arrogance, his shot at fame and fortune - thinking he was bigger and better than Dandy. I mean he’s right, Dandy is the worst person in the world, but even so, Kemp didn’t burn down the compound because of vengeance, he didn’t do it because of petty jealousy or any shit like that, no. I was told by someone in the know that it was 100% an insurance job. He burned down his own legacy just so he could get some green in his pocket. That’s the sort of man we’re dealing with here, a guy who not only chases down money and will do anything to get it, but also the kinda guy who just gets given opportunity after opportunity by whoever makes decisions up in HQ. I mean honestly, how many times now does he need to leave, come back be all “Yeah I’m Kyle Kemp bitch” and management go all love heart eyes and give him an immediate spot at the top of the table when you have guys who are here week in, week out that give 100% every single day and you don’t even think they’re worth the contract? Fuck Kemp, he’s all that’s wrong with the modern day wrestling landscape. Part time big ticket asshats.
I would say it was better back in the day, but we had the likes of Andre Holmes doing the exact same shit, and now? Well his daughter is here. Granted I knew nothing of her, to be perfectly honest, until we were randomly paired with her on Clash but she’s going after Teo’s gold like that elf in the Hobbit.”
“Legolas?” Zooey asks, confused.
“No, Evangeline’s character.”
“Tauriel? She didn’t go after gold I think.”
“I dunno, all I know is she’s an elf that isn’t even supposed to be there. Like she was just made up or something and wasn’t even in the books. She’s like that, she’s not even supposed to be here. She’s talented, for sure but she’s too out of her depths to be a major player in this, she’ll go do what every rookie with a grudge does and go purely after Teo - after all it’s his title she wants. She wants to fulfil her father’s legacy and take Teo down. She’s going to be way too distracted by that to realise there are 7 more people in the match that will literally capitalise on anything she does at a moment’s notice with zero hesitation.
But yeah, mark my words - on Sunday we go into there as underdogs, but we’re the only people with nothing to lose, we go in there on our last, and only chance. Management would love for me to be destroyed at all-in and disappear. But you know what? I’m not gonna go down without a fight.
If I have to win this contract to extend my other contract, then so be it. I’m taking the All-in contract, I’m hunting down the winner of Dickhead and Dickette and I’m taking what’s mine.
Then I dare AW to try and sack me.”
