Post by Spencer Adams on Feb 28, 2021 19:10:16 GMT -5
There’s always going to be those times where you are quite literally alone. That whole mantra about not being able to count on anybody but yourself is tangled in misunderstanding, too often used as a strip of flex tape slapped against a tank of water that struggles to hold back an eager wall of negative world views. For me, it means knowing that you could be it. I’m not guaranteed everlasting friendships, relationships, adoration..nothing is given. I’m not promised this win or the next, longevity with this belt or ones that may follow.
Faith: Why are they all looking at you like that?
Spencer: It’s just sort of a reaction some people have.
Faith: Cause you’re famous?
Bless his heart.
Faith: They don’t stare like this in other cities.
Fortville, Indiana...kinda says it all...A town of less than five thousand where they all share the same skin tone. It’s a town that barely registers as an actual city, yet manages to call itself home to both a high capacity indoor arena and the airport we’ve landed at.
Spencer: Not very well.
Faith: Was he popular?
Spencer: Not..particularly.
Faith: Oh, I wonder why they would name the match after him then.
Spencer: Well, there are other things that matter too. There’s a lot more to it than just popularity.
Faith: Like what?
Spencer: There’s just more that determines impac-
Spencer: I’ll give credit where it’s due, this is a way more competent bunch than the overall field was two years ago. Save for Kemp, the inaugural Battlebowl match was mostly cannon fodder that seemingly existed just so I could have a showcase where I get to treat them like a half dozen crash test dummies. Hell, most of those names from 2019 edition aren’t even in this sport right now and you’d be hard pressed to remember their existence beyond being a vaguely familiar name at this point. I won Battlebowl and made it look like a light sparring session. That wasn’t exactly a bunch of ring warriors and I’m eager to step in against a group that doesn’t need their collective pulse checked as soon as we hear the opening bell.
The final match in that first year was a fucking cake walk, but this has drama! THIS has excitement! We share enough gold between us to give Smaug a high like he’s flown to the summit of BlueChew Mountain and that gives you weight. That’s how you justify a Road to Evolution hashtag sitting in the top right corner of the screen for four hours. You’ve got a PPV to sell and figure that filling your tournament with competent bodies for once will keep you in the green for a fast approaching quarterly. Don’t worry, you can rest your heads. I’ll make sure that it delivers just like I always have.
That begins with addressing the elephant in the room, Mr. CJ Phoenix. Kyle Kemp has had a solid career to this point, but everything he’s done gets completely overshadowed by this. THIS is Kyle Kemp’s greatest achievement to date. The midcard title runs, the aesthetic reinvention..everything pales in comparison to somehow securing CJ Phoenix a spot at the big kids table. Color me impressed that Kemp was even able to get CJ into the conversation for this thing in the first place. This is WCF era Kevin Bishop using his status as a fringe star to leverage salary for a bunch of subpar motherfuckers nobody actually remembers type shit.
Still, swapping out the leading man doesn’t change that ending now, does it? CJ Phoenix got here, but he hasn’t exactly arrived and the hard part is helping him keep it. Spotlight isn’t easy to hold and you at least need a modicum of consistent drive to not go out like an ant walking under a magnifying glass. CJ Phoenix is a supporting cast member that can’t even support himself and that is the issue. CJ is not a prospect or a hasbeen, he’s a never will be and it’s all because while some of us from the last few years of WCF’s existence have been busy putting in the work, CJ has been comfortable to exist as someone who disappears for decades at a time only to pop back in without the demand for it as if it’s cicada season.
For some, the promotional pictures and video packages for this one may give off the idea that this match will be decided by whichever pre-existing alliance is able to slide in one of their own for a win at the final buzzer. It won’t be. Some may think that despite CJ’s shortcomings and lackluster career thus far, an extra hand for The Following grants them an advantage. It does not. CJ is the outlier who is here to make the man eliminated second feel a little bit better about themselves, to give them an inkling of optimism fueled by the fact that at least they aren’t that guy.
I’m sure it’s not an easy spot to be in if you’re Dandy DiVito, especially given that there’s an actual connection there. I had no trouble shrugging at Chase Jackson being out of his element when I drug him to the finals, but I can imagine it’s probably pretty rough when that person is an actual ally. Dandy is a gritty, slimy bastard with a heart sculpted from ice, but this is where pity for your homie becomes a step that you trip over. I can’t imagine having to look at your buddy who’s a glorified refrigerator artist and tell them that they’re a glorified refrigerator artist. For me, this battle royal looks like war. For Kemp and Dandy, this is bring your kid to work day no matter how you try to spin it.
Truth is, this is the “i in team” match. This presents Dandy with a chance to get that much closer to a return to the main event and is a shot for Kemp to finally get there in the first place. Any shred of comradery is going to go out the window, but I don’t need to tell them that. This is real shit season and people want theirs, they NEED theirs. Dandy and Kemp could simply wait and carry those tag straps through a currently thin division and defend against a pair of rival stable goons again as a way to get on that card, but that’s not enough right now. They’re going to want that spot, as they should.
This event is selflessness first, selfishness after. It’s the entire science behind the thing. This gives you the chance at an easy pass through a lead up that includes the return of the elimination chamber. Can Kemp reach that point without this? Does he have it in him to last if this match doesn’t pan out in his favor? What if he were to find his way into an elimination chamber? I can only imagine the trauma carried from the first major step in our storied rivalry where I drug Kyle Kemp up and down the ring and beat him senseless inside of a modified cell.
The sad reality is that some people can’t have nice things, just ask Corey Bull. Ask Corey Bull what it’s like being one of the most physically imposing people in that entire locker room who consistently fails to take advantage of his obvious upper hand. On paper, Corey Bull should’ve spent the last few years plowing through this entire roster. We should all be at Corey Bull’s mercy. Corey Bull should have a stranglehold on upper card contests, but he always ends up falling back instead while people like Walter take on the role it would seem that he’s actually destined for.
What happened to the guy who stood across from Spencer Adams and chokeslammed him into the ground for the UCI title in year one? Corey Bull could’ve walked over a trail of bodies, but instead he chose to nae nae down the road like a next gen version of #BeachKrew era Oblivion. All speak of doom and gloom, no tangible results. For all that power, the only positive thing to say about Corey Bull’s career is that he was the guy who held the hardcore title before Corey Black dismissed him from the division and left him floating face down. This is the peak and Corey Bull now resides at rock fucking bottom.
The monster that resides in him is chained down by the lump sum of every “Florida man” article. It’s as if Corey watched Walter become a better him than he ever could and found himself ironically receiving a leash of his own. Unfortunately, the two leashes are applied for different reasons. In most battle royals, the biggest man in the ring is usually public enemy number one, but Corey Bull can’t be, because Corey Bull is not a threat under these conditions or any others. Corey Bull is simply a threat to himself, someone who lacks the mind, whose spirit just got fucking shattered by a comic book villain. This is what he is and having his menace shrunk next to that of another’s is what he does. Walter? Better. Frank Lowe? Better. Corey Bull? No bark and no bite, a man without a voice.
I’ll give him this much though, at least his identity is one that is genuine to him. Can anyone say the same about Sam Kidsgrove? Corey Bull may be a lot of things, but at least he’s actually an edgelord and not some fucking doofus portraying one under the pretense of marketability. Corey Bull may mutter some nonsense under his breath about gifting us all a grave plot next to the man the match is named after, but at least he won’t cling to a dying child for PR succ with a five minute handshake and photo op session full of forced smiles and a weird amount of hand sanitizer unrelated to pandemic safety measures. I’ve watched FPV anti-mongrel soda campaigns that were more sincere than Kidsgrove’s less than half-hearted thumbs up next to Make-A-Wish recipients.
What exactly is Kidsgrove’s reason for existing here in this tournament? Is it so he can climb that ladder, slip after three rungs, and fall into a triple stacked hell in a cell match against a street rat or a literal murderer and be given two months off post-Evolution? Who and what does he actually fight for other than to assume his position as the guy that other guys make a name off beating? What are the real differences between a Beto O’Rourke or a Pete Buttigieg other than career choice?
Kidsgrove is a career bridesmaid. No matter how many US title reigns he manages to rack up, he’ll still be that other guy. It’s not because he doesn’t know how to do his job in the ring or can’t hang. I mean, the guy does have a win over me after all. Sam Kidsgrove can’t break through his own ceiling, because there isn’t a time where he stops being a hack actor. If you want to, you can choose to manufacture life from the outside. Between the ropes, that bites you. People like Sam Kidsgrove spend so much time trying to be something that the plot gets lost and you’re left with...well, you’re left with Sam Kidsgrove, aren’t you?
By this point, I know what kind of things to expect from Sam, but I am actually disappointed by what we’ve gotten from Carter Shaw in recent memory. There was a time, back when Shaw was still cutting his teeth in this company, that you could identify something real, something fresh in him. I stood across from Carter and allowed him to get his shots in. I saw a fire in him that reminded me a lot of myself and a week later when we faced off, I felt like I was getting a taste of what was to come for the future of the business and in that moment..I was okay with what it looked like. I beat Carter Shaw and I went back through that curtain and I told Torture that he was going to be it.
Fast forward to the current and I don’t feel the same and that’s really a fucking shame. It’s a shame that when I look up to a monitor in the back, I don’t see the same guy I did then. The Carter Shaw from that time was more pure and honest and while I do believe a good bit of that still exists, I know that desire and urgency led him into the arms of a group that sees themselves as the predator and him as the prey, even if he doesn’t realize that himself. For every bit of success he has and every step he takes towards that world title, The Don King Corporation is there with a Shia clap and ten grubby fingers reaching for his back pocket.
I want a better path for people like Shaw and I know that all the man himself wants is a spot like this, a spot like Spencer Adams. The issue is that Shaw isn’t playing for himself anymore, he’s playing for them. We’re talking about someone with a single that charted high and a label that came through with a predatory contract full of fine print. Carter Shaw could get there on his own terms, but now Philidor hangs overhead and truth be told, he doesn’t need this one and they don’t need him to get it either, right? That briefcase, the title already in their possession. Battlebowl for Carter Shaw is simply an extra tax break for Philidor and call me crazy, but maybe..just maybe..it’s worth more than that. Maybe THIS means something, but we’ll get to that..don’t worry.
I’m sure that Howard Black is a strong favorite here, because of course he is. Wrestler of the year is a huge accomplishment that is easily on the same level as accolades like a world title and a Havoc Rumble win itself. That’s what the talk has been all week, Howard Black or Spencer Adams securing that final entry spot. After all, it’s two future Hall of Famers who just absolutely steamrolled their way into this battle royal and are arguably approaching the prime of their respective careers that we’re talking about. Sure, Howard’s prime comes months before he decides to close the curtains for good, but that’s besides the point.
Being pitted against each other is where we shine brightest and we both know it. Back about a year ago, when I was in Howard’s ear about making a run like this a reality, I wanted nothing other than to see it play out perfectly. Howard Black deserved better than to quietly disappear never to be seen again after an unsuccessful UCI title defense and he knew it, because there is just too much heart in that man to not end things on a proper note. That’s why he’s here and I know he can see the finish line ahead.
I just...I really hope he reaches it. This is his shot..and my biggest concern is distractions. No, a loss or two won’t spoil this retirement tour for Howard Black, because the match quality is guaranteed to be good enough to where that sort of thing is irrelevant. My real concern is..that they-
Spencer: Has anybody in this really stopped to think about this match itself and what it means? I’m not talking about viewing Battlebowl as a way to enter Havoc last, but thinking about the significance of the decision to name the event after the late OG Bishop? On the surface, sure, it’s a goodwill gesture towards people close to Bishop..but maybe it goes deeper than that.
It clicked with me recently. Bishop was not the most successful and he was almost never selected as a betting odds favorite, but the man had something that in hindsight, does carry a lot of weight in competition. See, nobody looked at him and thought he could pull of multiple title reigns..but he did it. He found himself in a bitter rivalry with the co-owner of this very company and every single person on the planet thought he’d be done with in minutes. Instead, he went through hell against Gravedigger and managed to come out on top and THAT...that is why this can be called a memorial match. Bishop should’ve never won half the matches that he did, he did anyways. When tasked with the seemingly impossible, he kept his confidence, even during the times where only Bishop believed in Bishop. That’s why I’m going to win this match, why I’m focused on this one first and why I care so much about what happens next, because I can see now..that we’re kindred spirits.
Spencer Adams was never supposed to win a world title or beat Wade Moor at Evolution.
I figured it out.
Spencer Adams was never supposed to win the first Battlebowl.
I figured it out.
Spencer Adams was never supposed to become a TRIPLE CROWN WINNER.
I figured it out.
Spencer Adams was never supposed to win a tag team title alongside Ryan fucking Lockhart of all people.
I figured it out.
Spencer Adams was never supposed to make it to Revolution to face Matthias, let alone beat him for his championship.
I figured it out.
I am here, because I figured it out. Through tension with a friend, I figured it out. Tonight, when it matters most..I will figure it out.