10 Hours: Up/Down
May 17, 2021 17:59:03 GMT -5
Odin Balfore, Hollywood Horror, and 14 more like this
Post by Spencer Adams on May 17, 2021 17:59:03 GMT -5
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Let’s call it like it is, shall we? There are two groups of people in this match. There are rookies, vets, monsters, cruiserweights, returns, and surprises all looking to punch their ticket to Evo through the most physically demanding match that Action Wrestling has to offer, because they know that this is the express pass. You lot, the other ninety nine percent who are here with fingers crossed and bodies tight, you are the others. You’re all here, because you know that at the very least, you can MAYBE walk away with some form of positive takeaway to give your career prospects a nudge with the do something stick. Then, there’s the winner, the one who matters and whose name carries all the weight in the world.
There is one person who is UP in a field full of those who are on one knee at best, because they’ve never really let themselves be down in the first place. Sure, they’ve tripped here and there on sidewalks in need of repair, but that’s how the journey often is. Tell me, is that someone..that winner..is it a washed up drunk or a baby bottomed newcomer? Perhaps, it’s the one who begged to enter first as if surface level determination is gonna save their career from doing the Magikarp splash. No? Is it someone so removed from who they were that mirrors are windows from their point of view or someone whose spirit died by the hand that adversity dealt them?
This is a match of survival bookended by the FACE of survival. If you enter at any position other than last in this match, you are sweating bullets, because you know that final entrant and you know that end result. There’s no mystery to it, no variables with that final countdown. It’s just Spencer fucking Adams, the two time Battlebowl winner who earned this match by taking out everyone thrown in front of them. Not just at Battlefield, but since JANUARY. Hell, since 2018 even. You’ve all seen it. Time after time, I do the unthinkable with the deck stacked against me. Whether it’s fighting through injuries and shaking them off, fending off group after group and seeing them out of this business, or taking it to everyone from the little man to the goliaths. I don’t even have to do that this time. It won’t be Spencer Adams going through the boss battle, because I AM the boss battle. There’s no other countdown, no other participant whose involvement means a goddamn thing. The match will start with Dionysus, but we all know when Havoc does, don’t we?
8:34:13
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Small bursts of chatter ring through the Allstate Arena as the camera fades in on pro wrestling’s premier analyst sitting at the pre-show commentary table. John Thomas smiles from ear to ear alongside a similarly beaming Nate Burleson, both men sporting a pair of headsets as we’re welcomed to the early hours of Havoc Sunday.
John Thomas: Fan.Freakin’.Tastic.
Nate Burleson: We’re all here for one reason, right? To find out WHO is headed to Ford Field to take on Ash Blake and-
John Thomas: With all due respect, I’m gonna have to stop you right there, Nate! We don’t need to play twenty questions, because there’s only one answer!
Nate Burleson: I was getting to that, but I can’t say I’m surprised to hear you have your pick already. Is it still-
John Thomas: It’s Spencer Adams. No question ABOUT IT.
Nate Burleson: I could’ve sworn you said it was Downfall and-
John Thomas: I don’t know where you’re getting your information, but my social media has been EXPLODING for days now with people asking me WHO I’ve got in this and my answer has been the same every time. Look, a lot of talented performers this year. I can’t deny that, but I can tell you that none of them have the experience, the pure talent, and the advantages that Spencer Adams has heading into this one. Not only has he been on a TEAR winning belt after belt over the course of the last year, but this is the Battlebowl winner we’re talking about! This is the hometown KID we’re talking about! You want to talk about who has the advantage? He’s entering last and the crowd here in Chicago is going to blow the ROOF off the Allstate Arena. He’s determined, he’s HUNGRY and these people? They are going to make SURE that he ends the night ON TOP! Spencer Adams IS winning and I’d be willing to bet my salary on it!
Nate Burleson: Well, I mean-
John Thomas: Who do you have, Nate?
Nate Burleson: I mean, you make a compelling case. You know what? I’m gonna have to agree with you!
John Thomas: A man of taste! You love to see it!
6:11:47
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Truth be told, I don’t look at you and see a force to be reckoned with. I see a submissive lump. You didn’t step to Ash Blake and impose your threat at Timebomb, you stood there like an absolute goofball and let her smell the cousin on your breath. Broken chamber doors mean nothing when they’re followed up by an idle controller, Walt. You saw a chance to send a message and turned illiterate when face to face with someone more cunning than you. In your case, scissors beats rock. All it takes is a flyweight woman and you lose motor function and start drooling on your jean jacket.
Face it, Gomer, you’re fucking cooked. You can do as many teasers and thinly veiled toe dips as you’d like, but the bottom line is that you’ve gone cold enough to shatter as soon as someone manages to convert you to the supine position. You got solved months ago and when you got solved, you became unquestionably mortal, even more so than most would’ve ever thought you to be. Not a man evolved, but an out of shape mass eaten alive by the fact that he’s ultimately done in by Corey “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” Black and the gender he’s spent his whole life trying to make bow to him. The absolute fucking irony, man.
You know why I’m so invested in your continued devaluation? It’s not just the behind the scenes reasons we’ve covered a million times over, although that’s certainly still part of it. It’s because when it comes to wrestling, you are boring. You’re predictable. Ash Blake versus Walter at Evolution wouldn’t just be an unlikeable main event, it would be downright unwatchable. I not only care as an opponent, but as a fan of the sport too. These people, MY people, they deserve better than to watch Ash shout checkmate with a simple chokehold while you flail around like Ralphie’s little brother.
We need someone who can take the fight to Ash Blake AND actually win when that time comes, someone who not only cares about Action Wrestling, but also has the ability to carry it on their back. Most of us want to see a happy ending to the biggest show of the year and would love nothing more than to watch Philidor crumble, but we can’t bullshit about the can and can’t. Spencer Adams is the can and no matter how badly you wish you could change the narrative, Corey, you are the can’t in this scenario.
They’re absolutely killing you, at least your spirit anyways. It’s always the next time that you’re supposed to turn the tide on them, but you never do. One more match, right? You’re one match away from what? Having one more match? One more instance of blunt force trauma to the aura you’ve spent your entire career sculpting? Viking God Corey Black is in danger of going bye bye and being replaced with a sad sack drunkard in a Party City costume who waits for Jayson Price to pass the bottle to his right. Seriously, you can’t keep this up. Even you must recognize you don’t really want another shot at Ash Blake. You are one rabbit in the Philidor hat away from your girlfriend topping the Billboard charts off your name.
Sure, Corey before Ash Blake would be a favorite in this match. After her though? The evil empire has your mojo in a vial and they’re taunting you with it. Villagers, lovers, friends, and foes alike have to watch you crawl around in search of what made you who you were. No, this is not another old guy shoot, it’s just that you can’t be you against them. You can’t look like the guy who held AW gold for record time, because you’ve become Frank adjacent, a man stuck remembering a time when he was mentally with it and once you find yourself in that position, there’s not much you can do to fix it. Too little too late, ya know?
Speaking of closed windows, I can’t say I look forward to this next part, Howard. I’d love to cut another “praise Howie promo” on you, but it’s honesty week, brother. This retirement run wasn’t a softball pitch for Howard Black, it was a grown man playing tee ball. Even then, you’ve let everything else get to you and strike you out. You’re already somber, already broken and it isn’t even the bumps that are responsible. I care enough to tell you what we both know, that Howard Black is entering Havoc dragging a bucket of tears uphill in the rain.
It pains me to say, but they got to you. SHE got to you. Philidor found the heart in you and jabbed a greedy palm straight through your chest cavity just to add it to the trophy case. I don’t fault you for falling for it, because I know that you’re a person who despite their mistakes, cares deeply about other people. They found you when you were most vulnerable and she sold you on relatability only to show you exactly where the priorities lie. They saw your limited run and sped up the end date and now Howard Black is in the rough spot he never was supposed to be in. This was supposed to feel happier. Now, you’re in this match simply to fulfill contractual obligations with AW’s resident buzzard hot on your trail. I hope you come out of the road to Evo in one piece, I really do. Howard, I’m going to do what you couldn’t. I’m going to do them in. No attachment, no remorse, no holding back.
5:20:08
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I don’t care to go through and answer the flurry of texts and believe me, there’s a lot. All generally the same, a basic “Hey, you all good?”. I get it. It’s human nature to worry. At the same time, I’m not the one to be asking right now.
The endless monitors lining the walls around us tell the whole story, a literal red carpet rollout for Philidor with no expense spared. Plastic smiles, every last one of them. They’ve stuck to their gameplan of keeping her front and center. The vultures are swarming and she is loving every bit of it, stopping to look directly into the feed with eyes piercing through the screen as cameras click around her.
Spencer: Don’t worry, it won’t be much longer.
3:06:06
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Isn’t it crazy how they’re able to disrespect you, Frank? How every single person who speaks on the name FPV is able to look straight into cameras just like this and tell you that you aren’t shit? This is YOU we’re talking about, the two-time WCF grand slam, the first and only three time world champion in Action Wrestling...but just about all of your contemporaries and even those who still have yet to cut their teeth at this level refer to you like you’re no different than Claire or Karlie. Do you ever stop and think about why that is, my man?
Probably not enough, right? After all, you’ve got that MMG blood running through your veins, that “It’s the children who are wrong” DNA. Well let me tell you, it’s not because anyone thinks that you lack the talent. You don’t get where you have without that much. The reason people shit on Frank Venable is because you have trouble actually being FPV. You’ve got a soft belly and a lethargic spirit. You cock the heater just to immediately forget how to fire it. You let others take the boom out of your headshot and then come to war with blanks and think a name is enough.
Other people don’t see a dangerous man, because not so deep down, you don’t either. When people come for your neck, it’s unprotected. You are vulnerable, because you allow it. When they tell you to eat shit, you eat shit. When Corey Black tells you to throw your morals out the window to bolster a show with his branding all over it, you do it. When Nightingale beats you into the ground, you lay there like a panting dog. Frank, I will not let you win or even come close, because when it comes to Philidor and Ash Blake, you are about as guaranteed of a win for the most morally bankrupt group in wrestling as CB is. There will be no “Frank gonna Frank” when we know that Philidor is gonna Philidor.
You aren’t the most “lolnope” entry here though, because that title goes to another postmortem veteran who projects themselves to the world in hologram form. I won’t spend too much of my time here on you, Odin, because I know you aren’t in this match for Ash as much as you are for Walter. Even if you did care about winning though, Hajeet is supposed to be returning for this, so your ceiling is already set in place. However, I’ll never pass up an opportunity to remind you who we both are relative to one another.
I am a titan in this industry who continues to prove his longevity every time I step in that ring. I’m the exact competitor you claim to be, but you already know that don’t you? The times we’ve stepped in the ring together previously let you in on that, didn’t they? Hell, the times you’ve spent stepping in the ring against anyone the past few years should tell you that. You step up, you make the Clint Eastwood face, and then eat a Gran Torino special knowing full well there isn’t even fluid in your Zippo to begin with. I’d invite you to prove me wrong, but chances are, you’ll be long gone by the time my music hits. Feel free to remind whoever you pass on your way back up that ramp what’s at the end of the tunnel.
Unless, of course, it happens to be that other guy I’ve spent several encounters clowning. How’s it going, Kyle? Seems like it’s been a bit iffy on your front lately. Surely, all that tension between you and your boys doesn’t have anything to do with your own shortcomings as a leader and world title hopeful, right? Maybe it’s the stress, the isolation that comes with long nights spent staring out through the tree line waiting for a miracle to come your way after the rest of The Following has already called it a night.
Maybe it’s envy that’s got you driving the wedge between you and the moderately more accomplished 1A you somehow convinced to join you as a sidekick, the tangible green that you feel when you look at Dandy and wonder what it’s like to actually hold the world title or when you look at CJ Phoenix and try to fathom how it must feel to have not hit your ceiling yet. If my time spent getting to know you both as an enemy and an ally has taught me anything it’s that this isn’t new or surprising coming from you. Becoming increasingly bitter towards those close to you who have more success is your M.O. and this match is going to amplify those negative emotions for you.
Spencer Adams entering Havoc last is bad for everyone else involved, but for you, Spencer Adams being an entrant at all means you leave disappointed. It means that those long nights spent looking out into that tree line are about to get that much worse. When this ends, there will be no audience countdowns to add some air of mystery for you. You will be sent back to your village with your head hung, left to play damage control with the shitty friendships you’ve forged. This is where I take your optimism and use it as snuff film inspiration. No Havoc, no world title dream, not even a singular cricket. They say it’s that silence that is one of the toughest things to deal with. Then again, I suppose you’re used to it, aren’t you?
0:57:51
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John Thomas: Folks, we’re backstage here in Chicago with less than an hour to go until the start of the Havoc Rumble and I am STOKED! Why? Because I’m here with the WINNER of tonight’s Rumble match, Spencer Adams and Spencer, I’ve got to say that it is just SUCH an honor to be in the presence of greatness tonight! Darcy has been calling me repeatedly, just BLOWING UP my phone about today and everything going on right now, but all of that is going to have to wait, because this is history in the making!
Spencer: Wow, John. I’ve got to say, quite the intro. You been practicing that all day?
John Thomas: Of course! If you’re gonna interview THE GOAT, you better come prepared, righ-
Jesus FUCK!
John Thomas: Excuse me, but we’re a little busy over here. Do you mind?
JT signals to cut the feed as Adilene Floyd approaches with eyes full of frustration.
Adilene: Sorry, but you just can’t catch a break lately, ya know?
Spencer: Can you give us a minute?
John Thomas: I supposssse…
He wanders off, shaking his head in disappointment as his crew follows.
Spencer: I don’t think I’ve ever seen you fired up like this before.
Adilene: I feel like I’m going crazy.
Spencer: No, I get it. It has been hectic lately.
Adilene: Sorry to just unload on you like this. I just needed to say it and you’re about the only person around right now that hasn’t completely lost their mind.
Spencer: It’s fine.
Adilene: Thanks..
She turns back towards the media mob she’d just cut away from for a moment before pivoting back again.
Spencer: Are you...asking me out?
Adilene: I just need a break from all of this and you seem like a nice guy. I just figured that maybe you could use a night out too.
Spencer: I’d like that.
0:22:01
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There’s no mincing words here, Carter, you are an absolute bitch. It’s been so pathetic watching you go from the determined hopeful who stepped up to the challenge I laid out a year ago to a grunt carrying out the marching orders of others and for what reason? So that you could try to speed up the process and add a bigger security net as if All-In isn’t a big enough one in itself? I’m not even disappointed in you, Shaw, I’m fucking disgusted and you should be too. See, I know that my family would be proud of the man I am. Can you honestly say the same?
Don’t worry, I’m not here to try to convince you to back away from the dark side and wake up to the fact that you’ve been had. That ship has sailed and the grievances you’ve caused against the man you used to be are yours to live with. You’re the one who has to wake up everyday knowing that the man in the mirror is a stranger. You get to punch in on that Philidor time clock and it’s you who has to accept that someone who started out as a bright star in this company sold their soul to people who don’t have an ounce of real respect towards him. Carter, you went from your own man to someone else’s plan B only for them to rearrange the alphabet and put you in the back of it in favor of the Lissie Hope spectacle. How fucking pathetic.
You should be even more ashamed, Lissie. For all the effort you put in to create a lane for women in general in this industry, you sure were quick to sell one off to the evil empire the second that she started to get comfortable around this industry. You’ve made a pattern off of throwing people’s trust away, especially good hearted people who put trust in you. You’re fucking disgusting. Imagine thinking you’re the face of a revolution when you’re really just Ghislaine Maxwell in compression leggings.
You get no sympathy from me this time, Liss. I reserve that for decent folk. When we end up standing across that ring from each other near the end of Havoc and I know that we will, there will be no love or care in my heart towards you. I’m going to show you the same amount of mercy that you showed towards others who gave you trust. I am going to turn the same cold shoulder towards you that you gave Bacchus when he went to you begging for answers, because he was actually fucking worried about somebody other than himself. You are not a vulnerable person, you’re a vain creep who’s in this for nothing more than the back pats.
I realize now, I can’t save Lissie Hope from Philidor, but I can save Action Wrestling from Lissie Hope. I can’t help you get away from them, because this is who you are. It’s time that the adult gets treated like an adult for once in her miserable life. I’m going to hit you where it hurts the most by denying you that moment of spotlight that you care so much about. I’m going to Evolution and it won’t be as a challenger, but a spoiler for you and everyone you surround yourself with. Lissie, fuck you and the clique that you came with. I’m not sorry.
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Forget about the storylines. I am the storyline.
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Main events, this company, this business. It all runs through Spencer Adams.
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My arena, my city, my Rumble, and my Evolution main event.
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One outcome, one winner.
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B A D M O N.
