Post by Teo Blaze on Jan 7, 2024 13:26:35 GMT -5
“Have you ever wanted something so badly, so much that you can’t stop thinking about it?”
The words come in a rather pensive tone, as though the consideration is mixed with other emotions.
“So badly that you’d risk everything in your life for it? Everything that you’ve built, that you’ve worked for, through pain and suffering, through loss and regret, through triumph and companionship?
Say, for example, to give up a championship that you have spent years chasing, that after countless battles, you finally have an undisputed grip over?
After all, isn’t that what any champion wants? To shut out and beat all challengers? To have an unchallenged claim to greatness and a virtual guarantee that those belts will be around their waist until they decide they are ready to call it a career?”
Teo lets the question turn itself over in the mind of the listener, to allow them to connect the dots to his references as a creeping grin chases the corners of his mouth.
“No, we know that isn’t true. A champion, a real champion- they want competition- check that, they need competition. They need the wolf howling at their back, they need the threat that someone will come along who wants it that much more, who is willing to stab them in the back, someone with the tenacity to chase that prize until they get it, no matter what it takes.
That’s why. That’s why even though it tore my heart out to do it, even as I put that belt in Bunga’s hand and tears came to my eyes, I kept them in, I held back the pain of that decision, and for one reason.
I needed to know that I could do it.
My entire career has been filled with begrudging compliments, people telling me that even as I stacked record after record, even as the Two Gents compiled a hall of fame career on Cruiserclash multiple times over, even as we broke record after record, they have always qualified my accomplishments.
It’s always been the same story- ‘yeah, but that was just Cruiserclash, wasn’t it?’ as if that made any goddamned difference. As if those victories somehow didn’t count, didn’t matter…
And then there’s you, Karlie.”
The grin that Teo had been growing has now bloomed into a full on smile as he cocks his head toward the camera.
“You and I, well, we have what could charitably be called history. We’ve battled for both belts on the brand time after time, and god damned if you haven’t shown tenacity. Setback after setback, struggle after struggle, and you’ve alway hung in, always been back in there to give it another go. I daresay that it’s admirable.
But Karlie, it’s been a long time since we stood across from each other in this ring, and things have changed. I am chasing after some of the most dangerous and most vile talent Action Wrestling has ever seen, I have been pushing myself week in, and week out to get stronger, to get better, to push myself to a level that so many wondered if I was capable of.
It’s killed me not to be there each week on Cruiserclash, to be away from my home in what might have been its final era.
But it needed me. It needed me to make sure that it would not be forgotten, to fight for her until there was nothing left to fight for! And that war has left me with one goal, and that is to be the best in the world, to prove myself worthy of everything that show asked of me!
I’ve been hardened, Karlie, sharpened by each near miss- and I can not allow our feelings to let me think twice about what I have to do this week.
You are my warning, Karlie Nash, a signal flare that something is different this time. The undisputed Champion of Cruiserclash is coming for the world championship, and anyone that gets in his way is going to end up like Karlie Nash!
I remember, Karlie, every dirty trick along the way, every sneak assault, every last minute changeup, every time that Red White and Bruised took a shortcut to the top! I remember every failed attempt at reinvention, every time that you were left looking at the lights by someone who saw you as easy pickings, and rather than go back and improve yourself you simply tried to create a smokescreen under a new variation, to reinvent what Karlie Nash was rather than ever capitalizing on the potential you had!
Because you were afraid of true Growth, Karlie. Afraid of acknowledging that you might have to make real sacrifices to get better. Putting yourself in a bubble time and time again because with Cruiserclash, you would always have a home to return to.
It’s a feeling I know all too well.
That is your weakness, Karlie- complacency. Having always in the back of your mind an escape route, a way to build yourself back up if you needed.
And I will be damned if I let myself be complacent ever again.
On Monday, we write another chapter in our long-time rivalry, but this time, something will be different. I am no longer fighting for reputation, for respect, Karlie- I am fighting for legacy. My actions will determine how people remember my home, how they remember everything that we fought for.
That legacy begins with Teo Blaze putting Karlie Nash down with a Blazing Knee in the middle of that ring, and it ends with me holding the World Championship over my head!
Your legacy will be as a footnote, a stepping stone. The one who made people remember just who the hell Teo Blaze is.
And that will be all you are remembered for.”
With that, Teo lets the smile fade from his face, replaced with a look of dire determination as the scene slowly fades.