"Starters Acting Like Bench Players."

Posts : 11 Join date : 2022-04-26

Disappointment doesn't even begin to cover how I am currently feeling now.

I know. It's a strange thing to hear, especially given what I just recently accomplished. I won the Sovereign Cup. I became the first-ever winner of it. My performance, many may argue, can set the tone for others who will compete in it for years to come. Coming in as the unknown, not many people thought highly of me. People were more gravitated towards the made men and the potential stars that were involved. However, in the span of about a month, I turned the doubters into believers. It was I who broke brackets, threw wrenches, and disrupted things unceremoniously. I made more and more people open their eyes with each match in that tournament. It had the makings of a fairytale ending. Of course, this was only half of the battle that needed to be done. The war is still raging on. It's my hope that with the efforts I have made so far, I have left a positive impression on the minds of everyone else here. All-in-all, I wanted each and every single person that I had to deal with to wake up and know that what they are doing is wrong and that it is wrong to go on as they are.

In fact, in the back of my mind, I held onto this hope that Jacob and Arata would've taken a step back and looked at the picture that's been painted before them. They did everything to try and steer things in their favor. They both practically felt that it was their destiny to not only win the Sovereign Cup but to face off against each other in the finals. They looked down upon me, taking me for nothing more than a lamb cast out to be slaughtered. However, that wasn’t the case. Despite their proclamations and hasty, desperate actions to cut me down, I remained standing. I conquered two men that were thought to be unconquerable.

With my victories against them, I thought that that would be it. I thought that you two would wake up and realize the errors of their ways. I had hoped that with the brief break we had, the two of you would have had that much-needed moment of clarity. That chance to ruminate upon the consequences of your actions and truly understand how your methods brought you to your own undoings. However, nothing has changed. Instead, you both have become even more persistent and annoying. Despite everything I’ve done, you continue on with your babbles of entitlement and decry me as someone unfit of this trophy that is in my possession. You’ve fallen deeper into the pit of your own vanities, and for a while, I… felt upset. There was this frustration that was gripping me. Why aren't they getting it, I thought. Why can't they just accept everything that has happened? I asked myself those questions over and over again in my head. It never made sense to me at first. It just didn't.

Then, I had my own burst of clarity. There was no point in getting frustrated. I did my job. I played my role. Mentally, you're both all over the place. In fact, I would say that you’re feeling scared.

That’s right. Scared. Do you want to know why? It’s because, for the first time in a long time, the two of you have felt what it was like to experience a defeat that had you second-guess yourselves. Because in me, you saw glimpses of yourselves. Your old selves. Back when the two of you were bright-eyed and eager, ready to prove your worth with just a faint bit of innocence in your pursuit of greatness. So, you have to convince yourselves that it had all been a fluke in order to keep together the broken pieces of your egos. In doing so though, you're cutting into your own flesh because you insist on not letting those brittle remains go. You would much rather hurt and bleed and keep this irreparable facade of yours together instead of just accepting something that cannot be changed. You are no masters of fate. You cannot control it. It isn't meant to be. What we can control however is ourselves and how we react to the cards fate has dealt to us. It is up to us to make careful choices in how we decide to progress in this thing that we call life.

I have lost only once, but that one loss helped me to grow tremendously as a competitor. In that encounter, I became stronger. Wiser. More aware of the sort of people I would be going toe-to-toe with. Every wrestler should see their defeats as opportunities for improvement instead of failures. Even when we don't get the desired outcomes, there is no sense in dwelling on it. The two of you should be well ascribed to that line of thinking, but you aren't. When someone like me is able to accept their defeat with more grace than two former world champions, then that is an issue. A big one, at that. After all, which one of us is supposed to be the rookie here?

Ha. But you know what? I’m not the only one here that has to deal with the two of you. Fortunately for me, Hideo has decided to take to my side, and I couldn’t be any more grateful. He is an incredible talent with a vast amount of potential going for him. In a way, just like me, he represents your old selves. It’s only fitting that we’re teaming up for this occasion. It’s like the two of you are looking straight at the ghosts of your past selves. Two “boys” who represent everything you used to be - and everything that used to make you better. But hey, you can continue to call us boys and further perpetuate these false ideals that we are nothing more than selfish egomaniacs to convince yourselves that what you are doing is somehow right. Instead of accepting a loss with grace as many other wrestlers of your calibers would've done, you rejected it with effrontery. You throw tantrums and try to demand the respect that both of you would've gotten if you simply had acted accordingly.

You said it yourself, Arata: "Sometimes, inept pursuit of something that you cannot achieve turns into a nightmare, that is haunting you every day." Yes… I see the truth. I am looking straight past the facade and seeing just how much I have truly ingrained myself into you. If I am the fluke that the two of you want to make me out to be, then you wouldn't be so hasty to face me again. Surely, you would leave it to time to dictate just how soon I would fizzle out, simmering away and becoming just another relative newcomer smoldering what was once a bright light. But now here you two are, deciding to carry an imaginary chip on your shoulders that you created to burden yourselves with because your egos are so frail at this point that just a bit of failure has you ready to crumble to pieces.

How disappointing indeed.

It should go without saying, but Hideo and I are not going to back down to the likes of you two. I mean, I certainly didn't when I had to face off against you both, so what makes you think that this time anything will be different? We dare to spit right in your faces and defy you. We aren't going to kneel before you. We are going to remain to stand and look at the two of you right in your eyes instead of cowering before your supposed might. For a face you thought you wouldn't remember, I have certainly gotten you and your comrade riled up, Arata. And let's get one thing out of the way, Jacob: I'm not here to be a king. I do not need to be constantly seeking praise and worship from people that I disparagingly view as being below me. I am nothing like you or Arata. Fear and idolation are what the two of you want. Not me. I do not wish to be like how you two are now. Don't you ever try and push that sort of foolishness onto me ever again.

I live in truth and reality whereas the two of you seek to enshrine yourselves within your fragmented worldviews. You continue to do so, and that is why the two of you will lose yet again. You are the victims of your own delusions of grandeur. You are the ones blinded by your own naivety. You cling on to what you think is owed to you, but gentlemen, you need to let go of it all.

Let go, and you will finally be free. Once and for all.