Post by Malachi White on Dec 12, 2019 20:58:26 GMT -5
Malachi White stood on a street corner in Minneapolis looking up. Pedestrians passed back and forth, faces staring forward or eyes buried in their phones as they parted around the Midnight Son, but White paid them little mind. His attention was focused on the mural emblazoned across the faded brick of an abandoned grocery. The Artist himself, Prince, was emblazoned across the stone, from the shoulders up with two hands pressing a microphone to his open mouth, from which streams of purple flowed. After a few moments, the noise from the street faded away, replaced with a voice-over.
“I find success stories to be more compelling, more beautiful, when they begin with humble beginnings. A child with dreams and the will to see those dreams become a reality. A kid who came from little, be it wealth, locale, or even his own physical limitations, and made so, so much out of it. Perhaps its because my own story so closely resembles that of such a youth. Just an upstart aboriginal from the farthest corner of the United States who probably isn’t as talented and definitely isn’t as big as the men and women I face week in and week out. I haven’t achieved any noteworthy success yet in this business; no one is painting murals of me on street corners. But hey, Prince’s first demo was passed up on too. Maybe my slow start is just the beginning of a gradual, breath-taking rise.
And it seems my next chapter involves a pair of antagonists who have already played a role. Men who have resorted to underhanded tricks and treacherous acts to find success thus far in their careers. Felix Fortain and James Nightingale are men that I do not respect, at least not for their actions outside the ring. They are thieves and bullies, men who believe cruel violence to be the quickest path to the top in this company. They would rather break the competition instead of just beat them, a sickening war of attrition that only weakens Action Wrestling, not strengthens it.
With that said, I cannot deny that they are both extremely talented competitors. Even before Aurora’s distraction that cost me the match, Felix Fortain dominated me for most of our last meeting. He’s a force to be reckoned with between those ropes. And James, despite his outward disregard for rules and protocol, is a very talented competitor as well. A former top prospect who suffered the fate of politics, he’s a technically sounds with training in a multitude of styles from around the world. Even my tag team partner, Thomas Snow, is a former World Champion from Trinity. On paper, I cannot deny that I am the weakest link in this contest.
Yet I am also the connecting thread.
I am the only competitor in this match with history with all three competitors, who like I have said are all very talented individuals. But the thing is, you don’t earn the right to compete on a show quite like this one on talent alone; that’s what Clash and the Pay-Per-Views are for. Not XIII. No, Corey Black has been in this business for so many years that talent doesn’t always catch his eye. But a story? A tale where very little is molded and crafted into something so fine that it cannot be overlooked, cannot be denied? That’s a demo that Corey Black can give a second look at. That’s a person he can work with.
My story.”
White turns to face the camera, as the voice over continues.
“He has looked into my eyes and bore witness to my dreams, my passion and love for this business, feelings that my opponents do not share for this sport. Felix Fortain fights for pride, for his god-complex and for the desire to have men and women worship his successes. James Nightingale fights because of bitterness, for being passed over once in his life and determined that that never happens to him again. I am not inspired by such motivations, because they do not offer anything positive to this sport; they are variations stemming from arrogant and selfish roots. I hope to give the men, women, and children of the AW universe something else to take away after my career is through, something they can emulate in their own lives.
My never-give-up attitude. Felix Fortain beat me once, but he did not break me. James Nightingale declared me weak, yet here I stand still willing to step into that ring with him and prove otherwise. Felix may beat me a hundred more times before I hang these boots up and James may try to blindside a hundred more men, but you best believe that I will go into that hundred-and-first meeting with the same drive. You best believe that I will try my darndest to thwart James every single time. And my will will never falter during that time, either.
But yours will. I have a head that refuses to be broken and a back that refuses to bow before undeserving men. I stare across no-man’s land at these wars you wage and declare that I will not yield an inch. And all the while, every single day, I am improving in the ring. Before too long, you’ll have forgotten that I used to wrestle in high school gyms and armory halls. Soon, you won’t even mention Alaska, because you’ll have seen me wrestle from sea to shining sea, defending and defeating men who aim to undermine this company and this sport.
The man who could not be broken, not by your hands.
Maybe not Friday. Maybe not for a long time. But I absolutely, without a doubt, promise you this: Malachi White will prevail in the end. And on brick and mountain faces across the world, it will be my likeness that will be memorialized, not yours.
Because I will have earned it, while you will have never succeeded to bully or steal any longer.”
“I find success stories to be more compelling, more beautiful, when they begin with humble beginnings. A child with dreams and the will to see those dreams become a reality. A kid who came from little, be it wealth, locale, or even his own physical limitations, and made so, so much out of it. Perhaps its because my own story so closely resembles that of such a youth. Just an upstart aboriginal from the farthest corner of the United States who probably isn’t as talented and definitely isn’t as big as the men and women I face week in and week out. I haven’t achieved any noteworthy success yet in this business; no one is painting murals of me on street corners. But hey, Prince’s first demo was passed up on too. Maybe my slow start is just the beginning of a gradual, breath-taking rise.
And it seems my next chapter involves a pair of antagonists who have already played a role. Men who have resorted to underhanded tricks and treacherous acts to find success thus far in their careers. Felix Fortain and James Nightingale are men that I do not respect, at least not for their actions outside the ring. They are thieves and bullies, men who believe cruel violence to be the quickest path to the top in this company. They would rather break the competition instead of just beat them, a sickening war of attrition that only weakens Action Wrestling, not strengthens it.
With that said, I cannot deny that they are both extremely talented competitors. Even before Aurora’s distraction that cost me the match, Felix Fortain dominated me for most of our last meeting. He’s a force to be reckoned with between those ropes. And James, despite his outward disregard for rules and protocol, is a very talented competitor as well. A former top prospect who suffered the fate of politics, he’s a technically sounds with training in a multitude of styles from around the world. Even my tag team partner, Thomas Snow, is a former World Champion from Trinity. On paper, I cannot deny that I am the weakest link in this contest.
Yet I am also the connecting thread.
I am the only competitor in this match with history with all three competitors, who like I have said are all very talented individuals. But the thing is, you don’t earn the right to compete on a show quite like this one on talent alone; that’s what Clash and the Pay-Per-Views are for. Not XIII. No, Corey Black has been in this business for so many years that talent doesn’t always catch his eye. But a story? A tale where very little is molded and crafted into something so fine that it cannot be overlooked, cannot be denied? That’s a demo that Corey Black can give a second look at. That’s a person he can work with.
My story.”
White turns to face the camera, as the voice over continues.
“He has looked into my eyes and bore witness to my dreams, my passion and love for this business, feelings that my opponents do not share for this sport. Felix Fortain fights for pride, for his god-complex and for the desire to have men and women worship his successes. James Nightingale fights because of bitterness, for being passed over once in his life and determined that that never happens to him again. I am not inspired by such motivations, because they do not offer anything positive to this sport; they are variations stemming from arrogant and selfish roots. I hope to give the men, women, and children of the AW universe something else to take away after my career is through, something they can emulate in their own lives.
My never-give-up attitude. Felix Fortain beat me once, but he did not break me. James Nightingale declared me weak, yet here I stand still willing to step into that ring with him and prove otherwise. Felix may beat me a hundred more times before I hang these boots up and James may try to blindside a hundred more men, but you best believe that I will go into that hundred-and-first meeting with the same drive. You best believe that I will try my darndest to thwart James every single time. And my will will never falter during that time, either.
But yours will. I have a head that refuses to be broken and a back that refuses to bow before undeserving men. I stare across no-man’s land at these wars you wage and declare that I will not yield an inch. And all the while, every single day, I am improving in the ring. Before too long, you’ll have forgotten that I used to wrestle in high school gyms and armory halls. Soon, you won’t even mention Alaska, because you’ll have seen me wrestle from sea to shining sea, defending and defeating men who aim to undermine this company and this sport.
The man who could not be broken, not by your hands.
Maybe not Friday. Maybe not for a long time. But I absolutely, without a doubt, promise you this: Malachi White will prevail in the end. And on brick and mountain faces across the world, it will be my likeness that will be memorialized, not yours.
Because I will have earned it, while you will have never succeeded to bully or steal any longer.”