Debut Against a Blade With No Edge
May 4, 2017 19:03:19 GMT -5
Post by C.S.O. on May 4, 2017 19:03:19 GMT -5
The scene opens inside an office. The camera pans around taking in the details of it. The walls are painted forest green in colour. The floor is a light brown hardwood. There is a sizable desk in the room, with one chair behind it and two chairs in front of it. There is also a large window with open blinds behind the desk. A couple of snake plants sit on either side of the doorway inside the room. The desk has an aloe plant on one side and a phone on the other. There are a couple of pictures on the wall showing images of Logan Alexander at varying points along his career. Logan himself sits behind the desk, currently going over some paperwork. The camera moves closer to the desk and the person holding it settles into one of the open chairs facing Logan.
After several moments of silence, Logan sets his papers down and then looks up towards the camera. He nods slightly and smiles towards it.
LA: “Good day everyone. Here we are, on the final approach to my in ring debut on the debut of FGA’s new show Flashpoint. Apparently the influx of new talent in the last month or so may be pushing the company into an expansion of their productions. That likely means the roster is going to be filling up with even more talent than it already had to begin with. I know that means that there are going to be some new and likely interesting opportunities opening up here as well, so it looks like this is a very good time for me to make my first appearance as a competitor.”
“That is a moment that’s been a long time in coming for me. Three years ago I brought the most recent chapter of my career to a close with one last great match in my home city. Now I stand ready to begin a new chapter. To add just a little bit to this match, if I’m very lucky it will be a trivia question at some point, as my debut will be in the first singles match to take place on Flashpoint. That’s exciting stuff, folks.”
He grins a bit more widely.
LA: “Other than that though, my tenure in FGA will begin with one of the standard tests for a newcomer. I’ll be facing another fairly recent addition to the roster, who hasn’t quite established themselves as a steadier, up and coming competitor. I think that is a rather apt description of my opponent for this week, John Blade.”
He sits back in his chair and look a bit more contemplative as he continues.
LA: “I’ve gone over the available material regarding John’s time in FGA, which is a fairly small collection here. Four singles matches and an appearance in the Gold Rush Rumble. He’s been a middle of the road guy in his outings with a couple of wins and a couple of losses. He’s got fight in him though and has made some good showings in his matches. Based on just his in ring work, I’d say I’m looking at quite a challenge for a debut match. I honestly think that John is a really solid first match opponent for a lot of people.”
“Of course, that in and of itself isn’t really a good thing to be saying about a wrestler. Being classified as a good opponent for new arrivals doesn’t really suggest that you’re meant for bigger and better things. While I might be a new arrival in FGA, I have plenty of other matches under my belt already and that gives me plenty of knowledge and experience to use against you.”
He tips his head to one side.
LA: “John, you definitely come across as a guy who knows what he is good at and sticks with it, for better or worse. When you started off in FGA, it was for the better. You notched a couple of victories right off the bat and looked like you might be going places. As things have progressed since your debut, things got worse for you. Your quality of opponent has gone up and what you’ve been doing hasn’t worked out against them.”
“That sort of thing happens though. I’m a teacher and trainer, so I see a lot of it with my students. They decide on an approach for their matches then they go out there and execute it. Now it may work for a while initially, but eventually they’ll stop having success. It’s inevitable. Either it will be a series of losses for them or it ends up being a specific opponent, or opponents, who they can’t overcome. It’s at that point that they need to do something if they intend to make any more progress, and it’s something you have avoided doing thus far. You need to look at what went wrong in your matches and figure out what you have to do to fix it.”
He then points towards the camera as he now looks disappointedly towards it.
LA: “That’s not what you do, John. You stick to what you know and you ignore what you may have done wrong. The proof of that is in your own promotional work. After you lose a match, you start making excuses for why you lost. I think you phrased it as ‘losing only because they wanted someone else to win’. You make it sound like someone sits on high and chooses the winners and losers based on a whim, but that’s not how things work, even though I have seen my share of fixed matches over my career. Rather than pointing fingers, you should take a long look at what you’re bringing to the table and correct the flaws there. Until you’re willing to do that, you’re never going to move up the ladder here.”
“And I know how important it is to you to move up in FGA. In every piece of your promotional work, you’re asking for title matches. Before you’ve even shown you deserve them, you just try and muscle your way in. You wanted a Pride championship match for winning your debut. You wanted, or expected, an Undisputed championship match for winning your second match.”
“Then you were given a chance to get a Mid-Atlantic Legacy championship match… and you couldn’t get the job done. Then in the Gold Rush Rumble, you were the first one eliminated. Then last week, you had a chance to make a statement against 3GW’s Fifteen champion. You had a chance to earn a shot there… but you didn’t.”
“So you can continue to proclaim that ‘the champ is here’, but the gold will continue to reside elsewhere until you take this a bit more seriously and take the steps necessary to make yourself better.”
He sits up straight again and steeples his fingers together in front of himself.
LA: “The way things look John, I don’t think you’re going to enjoy Flashpoint. You’re already looking ahead to the point when you’re going to finally have a title around your waist here, but you’ve got no idea how to get from here to there. Maybe there’s a promising direction for you go in if you beat me on Saturday, but I plan on being another detour for you.”
“I can guarantee that however much you might want to win this match, I’m going to step into the ring wanting it as much, if not more, and I’m also going to be ready to go out and do the work necessary to make it happen. I’m not planning on coasting through this match or just assuming that I’m going to be the better wrestler at the end of the match. I can assure you though that from the moment that opening bell rings, I’m going to start defining my time here in FGA by showing what I can do against you.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be my best work on Saturday, as I have been away for a while after all. But that isn’t something I’m going to use as an excuse. Instead, it will be my motivation going forward. I’m going to give you the best that I’ve got John. Then, regardless of how the match ends, that performance will serve as a bar for me going forward. From there, I’ll always be trying to improve my work and get at least a little bit better every time I go out to the ring. I’m not going to settle for doing one thing good enough and then rely on just that to carry me through.”
“So, you’d better be prepared for our match John. You’re not a big star here in FGA now, but I will be facing you as if you are. I’ll throw everything I’ve got at you when we meet at Flashpoint, because this match is the most important one in the world to me right now. Beating you is all that matters. I’ll worry about where the end result leads to after the match has ended.”
“This is going to be my first step into the FGA world, and I plan to make the most of it. Not because I think I deserve it, but because I’m going to work hard, I’m going to push myself to accomplish everything I can, and I’m going to prove that I am deserving of the opportunities that come my way. I can’t claim that I’m going to be the best, so from this point forward, I will do everything in my power to show that I have the potential to be the best here.”
He smiles to the camera, looking focused and confident.
LA: “I think this is going to be one heck of a ride and it starts on Saturday. I hope you’ll all be there to take it in and that you’ll enjoy this as much as I will. See you there.”
He lifts his right hand, touching two fingers to his right temple, and offers the camera a quick wave. A few moments later, the scene fades to black.
After several moments of silence, Logan sets his papers down and then looks up towards the camera. He nods slightly and smiles towards it.
LA: “Good day everyone. Here we are, on the final approach to my in ring debut on the debut of FGA’s new show Flashpoint. Apparently the influx of new talent in the last month or so may be pushing the company into an expansion of their productions. That likely means the roster is going to be filling up with even more talent than it already had to begin with. I know that means that there are going to be some new and likely interesting opportunities opening up here as well, so it looks like this is a very good time for me to make my first appearance as a competitor.”
“That is a moment that’s been a long time in coming for me. Three years ago I brought the most recent chapter of my career to a close with one last great match in my home city. Now I stand ready to begin a new chapter. To add just a little bit to this match, if I’m very lucky it will be a trivia question at some point, as my debut will be in the first singles match to take place on Flashpoint. That’s exciting stuff, folks.”
He grins a bit more widely.
LA: “Other than that though, my tenure in FGA will begin with one of the standard tests for a newcomer. I’ll be facing another fairly recent addition to the roster, who hasn’t quite established themselves as a steadier, up and coming competitor. I think that is a rather apt description of my opponent for this week, John Blade.”
He sits back in his chair and look a bit more contemplative as he continues.
LA: “I’ve gone over the available material regarding John’s time in FGA, which is a fairly small collection here. Four singles matches and an appearance in the Gold Rush Rumble. He’s been a middle of the road guy in his outings with a couple of wins and a couple of losses. He’s got fight in him though and has made some good showings in his matches. Based on just his in ring work, I’d say I’m looking at quite a challenge for a debut match. I honestly think that John is a really solid first match opponent for a lot of people.”
“Of course, that in and of itself isn’t really a good thing to be saying about a wrestler. Being classified as a good opponent for new arrivals doesn’t really suggest that you’re meant for bigger and better things. While I might be a new arrival in FGA, I have plenty of other matches under my belt already and that gives me plenty of knowledge and experience to use against you.”
He tips his head to one side.
LA: “John, you definitely come across as a guy who knows what he is good at and sticks with it, for better or worse. When you started off in FGA, it was for the better. You notched a couple of victories right off the bat and looked like you might be going places. As things have progressed since your debut, things got worse for you. Your quality of opponent has gone up and what you’ve been doing hasn’t worked out against them.”
“That sort of thing happens though. I’m a teacher and trainer, so I see a lot of it with my students. They decide on an approach for their matches then they go out there and execute it. Now it may work for a while initially, but eventually they’ll stop having success. It’s inevitable. Either it will be a series of losses for them or it ends up being a specific opponent, or opponents, who they can’t overcome. It’s at that point that they need to do something if they intend to make any more progress, and it’s something you have avoided doing thus far. You need to look at what went wrong in your matches and figure out what you have to do to fix it.”
He then points towards the camera as he now looks disappointedly towards it.
LA: “That’s not what you do, John. You stick to what you know and you ignore what you may have done wrong. The proof of that is in your own promotional work. After you lose a match, you start making excuses for why you lost. I think you phrased it as ‘losing only because they wanted someone else to win’. You make it sound like someone sits on high and chooses the winners and losers based on a whim, but that’s not how things work, even though I have seen my share of fixed matches over my career. Rather than pointing fingers, you should take a long look at what you’re bringing to the table and correct the flaws there. Until you’re willing to do that, you’re never going to move up the ladder here.”
“And I know how important it is to you to move up in FGA. In every piece of your promotional work, you’re asking for title matches. Before you’ve even shown you deserve them, you just try and muscle your way in. You wanted a Pride championship match for winning your debut. You wanted, or expected, an Undisputed championship match for winning your second match.”
“Then you were given a chance to get a Mid-Atlantic Legacy championship match… and you couldn’t get the job done. Then in the Gold Rush Rumble, you were the first one eliminated. Then last week, you had a chance to make a statement against 3GW’s Fifteen champion. You had a chance to earn a shot there… but you didn’t.”
“So you can continue to proclaim that ‘the champ is here’, but the gold will continue to reside elsewhere until you take this a bit more seriously and take the steps necessary to make yourself better.”
He sits up straight again and steeples his fingers together in front of himself.
LA: “The way things look John, I don’t think you’re going to enjoy Flashpoint. You’re already looking ahead to the point when you’re going to finally have a title around your waist here, but you’ve got no idea how to get from here to there. Maybe there’s a promising direction for you go in if you beat me on Saturday, but I plan on being another detour for you.”
“I can guarantee that however much you might want to win this match, I’m going to step into the ring wanting it as much, if not more, and I’m also going to be ready to go out and do the work necessary to make it happen. I’m not planning on coasting through this match or just assuming that I’m going to be the better wrestler at the end of the match. I can assure you though that from the moment that opening bell rings, I’m going to start defining my time here in FGA by showing what I can do against you.”
“I don’t think it’s going to be my best work on Saturday, as I have been away for a while after all. But that isn’t something I’m going to use as an excuse. Instead, it will be my motivation going forward. I’m going to give you the best that I’ve got John. Then, regardless of how the match ends, that performance will serve as a bar for me going forward. From there, I’ll always be trying to improve my work and get at least a little bit better every time I go out to the ring. I’m not going to settle for doing one thing good enough and then rely on just that to carry me through.”
“So, you’d better be prepared for our match John. You’re not a big star here in FGA now, but I will be facing you as if you are. I’ll throw everything I’ve got at you when we meet at Flashpoint, because this match is the most important one in the world to me right now. Beating you is all that matters. I’ll worry about where the end result leads to after the match has ended.”
“This is going to be my first step into the FGA world, and I plan to make the most of it. Not because I think I deserve it, but because I’m going to work hard, I’m going to push myself to accomplish everything I can, and I’m going to prove that I am deserving of the opportunities that come my way. I can’t claim that I’m going to be the best, so from this point forward, I will do everything in my power to show that I have the potential to be the best here.”
He smiles to the camera, looking focused and confident.
LA: “I think this is going to be one heck of a ride and it starts on Saturday. I hope you’ll all be there to take it in and that you’ll enjoy this as much as I will. See you there.”
He lifts his right hand, touching two fingers to his right temple, and offers the camera a quick wave. A few moments later, the scene fades to black.
