Post by Matthias Mintzel on Nov 8, 2020 17:54:23 GMT -5
11 weeks is a long time. A lot can change in 11 weeks.
It had been 11 weeks since Matthias successfully defended his Pure Title at Uprising: All In in convincing fashion.
In fact, 11 weeks ago Downfall was the victim, now he was Matthias’ Lost Breed brother. Hell, 11 weeks ago The Lost Breed meant absolutely nothing to him.
Matthias had been flying; the unbeatable Pure Champion. He was an unstoppable force who was brushing off this dangerous newcomer like it was nothing. Just 11 weeks ago Matthias was one of the hottest guys in the whole of Action Wrestling.
11 weeks. It felt like a lifetime ago.
That was how long it had been since Matthias Mintzel last tasted victory and he had felt the stale taste of 11 weeks of losing and nothingness in his mouth every waking second ever since.
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10 weeks is a long time, Odin.
I don’t know if you obsess over the details and numbers like I do, but it’s been 10 weeks since Kyle Kemp dumped you on the scrapheap, kicking you out of the miserable failure that was the first attempt The Following.
Why did he do it? The world asked.
We didn’t have to wait long to find out. The Following, the failed tag team experiment, won the most competitive trios tournament of all time. How? Easy. Kemp replaced the weak link with 2 strong replacements. Out with the old, in with the new. The Following win trios and Odin is long, long forgotten about.
Our Lost Breed team got knocked out by The Following 2.0, as I’m sure you noticed Odin, and I wondered aloud before the match about why someone as successful as Wesley would join something as closely linked to failure as Kyle Kemp’s group of merry misfits. I didn’t realise what I was missing though, that the second incarnation was something very different indeed. I thought they’d replaced one wrestler on the scrapheap with another, but I got that wrong. You were the guinea pig, Wesley and Dandy were the ones to take the group to the next level.
Embarrassing, huh?
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Did Matthias see the edge of the cliff coming 11 weeks ago, as he knocked out Downfall?
Nope.
Were the warning signs there?
Maybe?
Was effectively coming second in a triple threat with Kidsgrove and QDT a disaster? At the time it didn’t feel it.
Was losing to World Champion elect, Mr Carter Shaw a result that indicated what was coming? Nobody thought that way at the time.
But momentum is a funny thing. When you lose it it’s hard to get it back, in any context, let alone professional wrestling. One thing led to another, and now, 11 weeks on, where is Matthias Mintzel?
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Did you see it coming, Odin?
When you were doing well did you see the long, downward slope on the horizon?
I guess not. I don’t know what happened with you and Kemp after the Havoc Rumble but I’m pretty fucking sure this wasn’t the plan?
I don’t blame you. The tag team division was ripe to be picked, waiting for some new teams to come and dominate it. Kyle Kemp, a former US champion (albeit for 3 weeks) and Odin Balfore a former Heavyweight champion (albeit for 3 weeks), it sounded like a perfect match, 2 big names who could turn the division round and dominate for a long time, or at least… y’know… 4 weeks this time?
As I say, I don’t know what you wanted to achieve, but I’m guessing it wasn’t to be cannon fodder?
From World Champion to the 4th placed team in a 4 way tag team match at Evolution. The landing must’ve hurt?
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How do you get over losing to Noris Cranley… twice?
Matthias didn’t see a threat but he couldn’t overcome him. Was Noris the real deal it seemed? Well he’d lost the title already. That hurt the most, Matthias’ precious title that meant the world to him was getting passed around like nothing. Who the fuck was Max Daemon? What was he doing with Matthias’ belt?
The bounce back? Pinned in the trios...
Shit, as far as anyone was concerned even NATE had more momentum than Matthias. From somewhere, he nearly beat Frank Lowe in the match of the night…
Loneliness wasn’t a feeling Matthias was used to, but worrying about becoming a dimming light on the bright stage could’ve driven a man to feeling isolated. Years alone were no problem, but 11 weeks could have felt like a lifetime.
But he had company now. When momentum started shifting again he’d be unstoppable again, and here it was...
An opportunity had been handed to him, one that he was going to seize with both hands.
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I understand how it feels to fall from a height Odin. You and I aren’t so different.
I bet you’ll hear me say that and laugh, I bet you didn’t have a fucking clue who I was before this week. You’ll see yourself as being on a different level to someone like me. You’ll have your eyes on the Hardcore title, if Frank Lowe struggled with NATE that’s your belt waiting. I bet you couldn’t give a flying fuck that I’m in the mix now.
But we’re on the same level right now, Odin- we’re both nowhere.
The difference is your fall has been long, slow, painful and from a great height. People don’t look at you like you’re a big deal any more, they haven’t for a very long time.
From the World Heavyweight Champion, to the weak part of a mediocre tag team, to scrambling around for an opportunity.
What if this turns into nothing?
Then what’s next?
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When Matthias Mintzel joined The Lost Breed it raised eyebrows.
Matthias had been a lone wolf for most of his life. From growing up in Rostock, to moving to America to quitting wrestling. He’d had colleagues in security, sure, but no one who had his back, but that was changing.
Not NATE, fuck NATE. He couldn’t deny he put up a fight against Frank Lowe in a way no one expected, but that went the way that was expected. But in doing so he saw in Frank weaknesses he could exploit, he saw his next target and his route back to the top table.
But to do that he needed some others in his corner. That’s what appealed to Matthias about The Lost Breed, when they want something as a group they’re going to just take it. If they want a Hardcore title shot you can bet your ass they’re getting it.
This was the Matthias Mintzel we’d seen before. Focussed, locked in, and on his way back. This was the Matthias Mintzel The Lost Breed had seen. This was the Matthias Mintzel that was taking the Hardcore Championship at Turmoil.
All it took was a little help to turn it round.
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You could ask me the same thing, you probably will.
Where do I go from here? Not even 3 months ago I was on fire, now I can’t buy a win.
On the face of it I’m a one hit wonder right now. One good run, that no one can ever take away from me but once I’m facing top people, away from the rules of the Pure division, I come up short.
But that’s where me and you are different Odin. You’ve had your time in the sun but I’m just getting started. You’ve been to the top and fallen off the other side and everyone knows you’re a busted flush now. There are no roads that go from where you are now to where you’ve been, it’s over.
Neither of us are where we want to be right now and winning the Hardcore title represents a way out, back to where we feel like we belong. Beating you this week proves why I’m in there, this isn’t Lost Breed nepotism, this is where I deserve to be. I’m the next hardcore champion and if it was hard to prise the Pure Championship from my hands, you’ll have to kill me to take this one.
This week, though, is about a statement. Nothing is won and nothing is lost this Monday night but we both know this means a lot.
I swear to god, unlike you my fall from grace is temporary. I’m just getting started and “first Pure Champion” will not be the only thing on my Action Wrestling CV.
The pieces are falling into place now and I'm at the bottom of my mountain again about to start climbing, just as it becomes clear your demise is terminal. We're perfect for each other.