“You think I’ve come this far just to fucking lose?
You think I’ve come this far, to see the first great test of my championship reign, just to fucking stumble and drop it?
You think I slaved in the fucking independent scene for the years I did, took the fucking damage I did, crawling through this business like an neglected wretch to let my first taste of real fucking success PASS ME BY without even a fucking FIGHT?!
I don’t mean to insult, don’t mean to degrade…but you two, you vocal minority, you are so FUCKED if you think that this will be an easy fight, if you think that I’m not going to go to the last breath in my lungs and last drop of blood in my veins to END you both. You can talk all you fucking want about how I haven’t proven myself yet, how I’ve only wrestled three matches in the history of this company-despite them being three of the best, three of the most technically inclined-but you can SEE how this place has thrived under someone like me, you can SEE talents who ain’t had that spotlight elsewhere are finally starting to fucking get it!
You can see that if this place were lead by someone like Jacob Senn, if The Punisher had taken that title from me way back then, there would be a different fucking brood cropping up. There’d be a few old veterans trying to worm their parasitic fucking tendrils into the lifeblood of this company and take it for their own.
…Well, moreso than the two of you, that is.
Despite what the advertising may say, despite what some of the roster may say, this house is still THE HOUSE THAT I FUCKING BUILT. I am still the fucking CORNERSTONE of APEX Wrestling, and I won’t let men like you take that from me. I won’t let you warp and twist the vision of this company, of this world, into something that it isn’t. You think I’m protected? You think I didn’t want this belt on the line against you, Finn? You think that I would turn down this shot that you’ve got now, Arata? Things may not have fallen into place originally, but let me tell you-this was the plan, this was the fucking vision, this was the TEST THAT I SET FOR MYSELF to prove that I am REALLY JUST AS FUCKING GOOD AS I THINK I AM!
You can call it fear, you can call it cowardice, and you might even call this decision to take this match foolish, but I am NOT FUCKING BACKING DOWN.
Not now.
Not ever.
I’m not backing down, because i’ve seen what a company with Arata Asakura at the head looks like. Hell, I’ve got various examples from the time I’ve spent in this business-the so-called Self Made Man finds his way into a top position, gets his goons in high places, and the entire fucking world has to bend itself around him. I saw it happen in ALPHA, when his Shadow Empire finally managed to get Arata to the top of the card, time and fucking time again. I saw him take the ruleset that worked in WrestleWorld, keeping him at the top of an ailing division for months at a fucking time, and coerce others into accepting it, into stepping into the Shogun’s World, since that was the only place that Arata could find a fucking advantage. Moreover, I saw it happen across SSW and OWA, with the Black Sun and the Golden Dawn doing whatever they could to make sure that their man stayed on top.
It’s a key reason why I’ve wasted matches over the last few months beating the shit out of a girl who doesn’t belong in those companies, nor in this fucking timeline, because Arata Asakura can’t exist in a space that is not built for him. He can’t thrive in an environment where the rules don’t bend to his will. He can’t find success unless success is placed for him on a golden fucking platter-and even then, someone will come along and knock that shit out of his hands time and time again.
It’s for these reasons-this present, recurrent history-that I cannot let APEX become just another conquest for this Golden Shogun. I can’t let you bend APEX to your will, Arata, because you will do so at the cost of every rising star backstage, of every single fucking person in this locker room who has starved and waited, for years and fucking years, to get this chance. I know the minute you get your hands on this title, you are legitimate, you will find success, you will be king of this company. You will be exactly where you need to be to twist and turn the image of this world into whatever you want.
So many others have tried, so desperately, to avoid the same outcome, and they've failed. I've seen what happens when they fail, too-the volume of fuckery that breaks down the gates in the aftermath is enough to tear any world of sanity asunder. Brave men have faced you down and lost, Arata, but it is their loss that keeps me strong, that keeps my heart driven and my mind focused.
For these reasons, it won’t happen on my fucking watch.
I can’t let another company in this industry fall into the depths because you have worked the fucking rules to be in your favor. I can’t sit here and listen to you whine and bitch and moan about how this industry pays you no respect when you’ve done not a fucking thing to earn it, Arata, and I refuse to let APEX become another example of a company that you dominate, that you overtake, only to piss and moan the moment things stop going your way, the moment that people get tired of your Golden Dawn bullshit.
You may have pulled it off in various others…but with me standing in your fucking path, you won’t find the same outcome here.
I promise you that.
I’m not foolish enough to deny your talent, to deny that you’ve got a win over me from a few years back, to deny that you’ll put up a challenge, but I’m willing to go to ground to defend APEX from the fucking likes of you. I’ll push myself further than I ever have before, because I’m going to need to if I want to go toe to toe with a flawed God and the so-called Best in the World.
On that later note…let’s turn our attention to Finn Wakefield.
Identity crisis, fear of mediocrity, or what? What’s got your guts, Finn? I know you’ve been here before, at the precipice of the top of the fucking food chain, a deep set desire in your heart to win, to rush forward and claim what you think is so rightfully yours. You think that you’ve earned not just this championship, but this title, too-the Ace of APEX. You think that, because you’ve been here week in and week out, that you’ve earned this title-or, at the very least, you think you deserve it more than me.
Let me tell you, Finn, I wanted to be here each week. I wanted to be in the ring, each week. I wanted to go toe to toe with the best the same way I went toe to toe with you, even if I fucking lost, even if I couldn’t make it to the finish line, even if I couldn’t put you away, I wanted to be out there. This championship around my waist may make me champion, but I’ll agree with you on one point-at times, I don’t quite feel like the fucking ace. I don’t feel like the face of this fucking company. I look at the banners, I look at the advertisements, and I don’t see Liz Karlson.
I see people like you, and Alyssa Grace, and Jacob Senn.
The three of you have a lot in common-a shared history of dominance, no matter where you’ve gone. The cream will rise to the top, and you very much have. It’s been a treat to watch you rip through companies like Kings’ Road, where you’ve made a hell of an impression early on, and Death Graps, where you sought to redefine violence, even if your methodology on the latter borders on cowardice and some form of mat-based terrorism. I felt it, when I was in the ring with you, that there was no need for that asterisk I put next to your name-you truly are the best technical wrestler on the planet right now, Finn.
For that exact reason, that deep-seeded knowing-that is exactly why you’re going to have one more thing in common with those two mentioned on the banner above.
You’re going to take a loss against me in the pursuit of this championship.
In between these four ropes, I am going to beat you, and I am going to do so cleanly, away from Arata Asakura or whatever other inconveniences or distractions come forth in this match. I’m going to do so not because I think that I cannot, because I know that I can, but to prove to every single motherfucker watching back home, every singular soul who thinks that this is an easy win for you, that this isn’t your place. This isn’t your time. You may be king elsewhere, your meteoric rise may shock and stun the others, burning away anyone who may be a hanger on, but right here in APEX, I am still the person you need to beat without relying on some wrist-clutch fancy footwork bullshit.. A desperate loss aside, I am still the top of this fucking company.
I am still the Final Boss.
If you want this championship, Finn, you’re going to have to contend against a literal God, and moreover, you’re going to have to contend against me. There won’t be a fucking fluke this time, no, just the definitive moment that comes when I drag you to the canvas after what I imagine will be a war unlike any ever seen, that comes when I wrap my arms around your throat, when I lock you in the Karlson Clutch, and when I tap you out.
There’ll be no excuses, no flukes, no bullshit.
I mean, honestly, I’ll go for either of you. I know that you won’t hesitate to take advantage of the desires of the other, so I’ll happily settle for an unconscious God in my arms, too. There’ve been too many doubters, and it’s made me wonder-perhaps I went a bit too soft, despite coming out on top? Perhaps I could’ve done more? Perhaps I could’ve leaned into that…charm that made my mentor so well-feared when he was making his first run in the major circuits.
Perhaps it’s time to try that out.
Perhaps it’s time to leave my mark on APEX in a grander way, so all the doubters-both you and every sycophant watching back home that you’ve convinced in a title change-can see the truth, one prevailing image that sets the course for this company and this industry;
Two legends in their field, beaten, bruised, bloodied. They’ve tried their hardest, but their hardest wasn’t enough to withstand the momentum of a champion like me, someone who knows exactly what they’re fighting for, someone who knows the exact stakes of the fucking situation. Try as you may, you cannot escape destiny. Either of you may call victory inevitable...but I know the truth, that it’s a contest of who can fight hardest, that preparation goes out the window in a situation like this. You’ll know that too, from your place on the ground, watching me.
Standing above, championship in hand.
As it has been…
…and as it will be, until my last fucking breath."
![[LK] DOUBT. Apexba10](https://i.servimg.com/u/f27/18/43/44/09/apexba10.png)
![[LK] DOUBT. I_icon_minitime](https://2img.net/s/t/18/87/65/i_icon_minitime.gif){kind=icon}
by MinaAizawa Thu Oct 13, 2022 3:46 am
![[LK] DOUBT. Empty](https://2img.net/i/empty.gif)
Subject: [LK] DOUBT. 
