0014.MP4 - "Believe the Hype"
Dec 26, 2015 2:33:03 GMT -5
Post by Izzy Anders on Dec 26, 2015 2:33:03 GMT -5
Did it really matter?
Izzy could have killed Dom Harter at Final Frontier, but no one would bat an eye. Some people would get up in arms like Lacey did. Dom actually had friends. A majority of the people cast their eyes towards Zero McHannon. In one night, he managed to solidify himself as the Newcomer of the Year. Izzy had been striving to win that award since she came into FGA. It would mean the world in all to her if she did manage to win it, but of course, she was ignored.
“Thirty percent of the vote…whatever,” Izzy mumbled to herself. She sat annoyingly at the airport after the SSWA show. Originally, she held her phone with excitement, a growing feeling towards winning the award. Now, she gripped it haphazardly, not caring for its state. The excitement quickly turned into disappointment at the revelation that Zero McHannon was the Newcomer of the Year. Whoever ran the Twitter gave her a bit of pity and told her that she won 30% of the votes. It didn’t do anything to change the forlorn expression on her face.
“I knew it,” she continued to murmur to herself. In hindsight, why would she win the award? Zero took FGA by storm faster than she did. While she was making her way up the ranks, Zero had taken a record already. He personified hype, while Izzy had to play another role. Izzy had to remember who she was. She had a trophy that reminded of the fact that she was just a rookie. She had to pay her dues and make her own way. Yet, nothing came from her hard work. No recognition other than the proverbial pat on the shoulder.
The little things that came after couldn’t fix her mood. She gotten percent of a vote for Wrestler of the Year. “I didn’t win it, did I?” Izzy thought, rolling her eyes and scrolling down her notifications. It was an absent-minded action at this point, something to block out the pestering noise of other travelers. She kept going through the likes and retweets, until she reached a conversation she had with the oh-so polite Tony Carmine.
It was his normal act of belittling Izzy. It stung, sure. Tony had a penance for using truth to insult people. Izzy’s skin had grown tougher against it. She even fired back at him a few times, but eventually, he said something that shut Izzy up. It wasn’t necessarily harsh, not a zinger in any regard. It was something that made her think.
Izzy had never preoccupied herself with the fascination of ratings. She still had to adapt to the TV cameras that surrounded the ring every Vertigo. Sometimes, she would forget that FGA had a TV deal. They were making a good sum of money. Izzy’s paycheck had grown a little bit, not just because of her title defenses. But Tony made it clear that people didn’t tune into FGA to watch Izzy. They turned in to watch Tony, Zero, Chandler, and even the man she nearly crippled, Dom Harter. They weren’t particularly interested in Izzy Anders. Yeah, she knew that they cared for her skill, but she was only a midcard girl with a title that no one really cared about.
Tony Carmine was right, but Izzy translated his words as something else. They were motivation. Dom Harter was indisposed currently. She didn’t have to worry about people trying to sneak up on her anymore. She got her vengeance and had a great laugh about it. But now, she had to readjust herself. She had to make a name for herself and be a reason why people came to see Vertigo.
She looked up, feeling some latent fury build up in her chest. Furthermore, she clenched her fist and got an immediate reaction. She looked down at her bandaged hand. Izzy’s body still ached somewhat from her brutal execution of Dom Harter. She had to recover first, because she had her first chance to solidify her status as a top level talent.
Upon the horizon, the last episode of Vertigo. Izzy had her first one on one main event. Many like to think it’s unfortunate for Izzy. Her opponent was the person she was jealous most of. In some facility in his mind, Zero McHannon, the new FGA World Champion, stood there. Izzy could hear him now. Of course, he would say something about her wanting attention or her status in FGA. She made that weakness for herself.
It was a matter of beating it. He wouldn’t focus on it, no. He’s not an idiot. He would find other ways to try to get under her skin. If this was a different time, she wouldn’t be able to deal with it. Now, getting under her skin was a bad thing. Those who did found themselves hurt. Mixcoatl, Dom Harter, and four other people who jeopardized her SSWA Rising Star Championship reign. It was because she trusted people. That's why they could peel underneath her skin. She put herself out there and only got hurt.
Izzy looked at her hand again, knowing that it was only that way because of her. In fact, she looked at the bruises that riddled her body. Dom did some of it, but they didn't stick out. They didn't hurt. They made her grin. Cuts and bruises may litter her body, but he remained in a hospital bed, needing a nurse to help him.
"Zero better watch his words," Izzy thought to herself. "If he says the wrong thing, FGA may not have a world champion at the end of the year."
Izzy's previously grim expression began to brighten up. A grin of anticipation came upon her face.
“The audience’s going to start flaunting around statistics and the word ‘experience’ when it comes to this match. People are going to say that I have no chance because you just won that pretty belt of yours. You won the Newcomer of the Year. You dethroned Chandler Scott, the ‘immortal’ champion. You have changed the landscape of FGA forever.”
“They’re going to minimize me as just another poor, young victim to No. 1. I already know the song and dance. I’ve lived it my entire time here in FGA. You know it too, Zero. Hell, you’ve lived it yourself and had a whole campaign behind it. So let’s cut the crap and get down to the brass tacks.”
“I’m going to beat the ever living crap out of you, Zero McHannon, Mistah FGA World Champion is going to end the year with a loss. My win is going to be a statement to the FGA audience that needs to take notice. It might sound pathetic to you and other people, but I would like for the eyes to be on me. I would love for people to think of me as someone of your caliber,” Izzy directed a finger at the camera.
“Because yeah, I’m starting to feel as if people have glanced over me,” Izzy’s words came out low and pitiful. She regained her energy quickly, not allowing it to waver. “At Final Frontier, I became the best Mid-Atlantic Legacy Champion in FGA history. More importantly, I did it by beating a man that many people thought was going to end me. No, I can’t say that.”
“I didn’t beat Dom Harter,” Izzy said, her eyes widening with a deep sadistic pleasure of her deeds. “No, I broke Dom Harter. Six long months of freedom of the Fratboy Assassin. No one cared. A rookie like me doing that to an obvious Hall of Fame candidate? It stopped being my fault that no one paid attention to me at that point.”
“So I got to take everything in my own hands and make them love me. And it starts with a main event match on the last show of the year. My rise to the top of this cesspool starts with you, Zero. I’m not going to break you or anything vicious like that, no. I have that much respect for you. Matter of fact, I like you even though the whole world seems to be slowly turning against you," Izzy placed her hand upon her chest, appalled by the possibility.
“We’re just in a match that will set off the course of the new year.”
“That’s ratings! People want to see if the champ is going to keep his hype, his momentum going. There are those who just want to see two of the best in FGA fight it out. Some people want to actually see you lose, because everyone loves a good underdog story.”
“That’s right, Zero, I said it. I’m the underdog in this match. I’m picking up from your story just a few weeks ago. You played the role for a bit of time, but now you’re the FRANCHISE OF FGA. Welcome to the Age of Zero McHannon. How long is it going to last? Who is going to be the one to take you out?” Izzy took a sharp breath. “I wish it would be me,” she added, lowly.
“Everyone just pegs me as the first person to lose to the new headliner. Because I’m a rookie. They’ll glorify your statistics, your accomplishments. They’re going to talk about how it is to be the FGA World Champion,” Izzy coughed, adjusting her voice. “Oh, Zero’s going to have a hard beginning of the year. Chander’s going to come back for his belt,” she dropped the impersonation.
“They don’t know what’s really hard,” Izzy said. “In a freaking business like this, being a rookie is the hardest thing to ever be. Not only do you have to beat out every other rookie out there, which I did in a little tournament. But you have to constantly deal with this stupid mentality that you’re just another face in a crowd. You have to pay your dues and rip your way into the limelight. I tried to do that, no, I DID THAT. But guess what…nothing. I…I don’t bring the ratings. I don’t have the hype. People talked more about Dom being injured than me putting that bitch down!”
Izzy stood there, panting. “I have tried so hard to grab that spot becoming a person on the forefront like you, but nothing. I can go out there and break Chandler Scott’s spine and I bet you everyone will be praising his resilience somehow, some fucking way. Day and day out, I have fought to even get to this spot, to be in a main event fighting a world champion!”
“And actually, a part of this, my hard work going to waste, is because of you, Zero.”
“While I had to work my ass off just to get this championship, you were well on your way to getting what you have now. I’m over here taking on people all around the world, beating them, and trying to make this belt worth something. You, on the other hand, have been given all the chances you needed to get at Chandler Scott. All because you had some seniority over me. You had the hype. You had the credit.”
“It’s like a job application. The employer wants someone under the age of twenty-five with thirty years of experience,” Izzy began, titling her head slightly. “Or, I’m the young girl, a prodigy if you will, that can take the world by storm. You’re the experienced man who just happens to have some great credentials. The same place hires us both. I’m doing the same things you’re doing, but they give you bigger rewards. All because I don’t have the same experience.”
“I don’t have the EXODUS World Championship or the PDW Bloodlust Championship in my closet. That’s not my fault. I wasn’t here yet to try to compete for those championships. Those opportunities never existed for me. But for you, you were alive and well. You got all those credentials and companies just marvel over your fucking presence because of it.”
“So you got higher bidding. People were already hyping you up beyond many of us other hard working individuals. And I hate every bit of it. While I had a superb rookie year in FGA and in wrestling as a whole, I don’t get a look because of my ‘inexperience’. I don’t get world championship matches because of that. I get overlooked and screwed out of EVERYTHING, because I’m a rookie.”
“I can hold this belt until the damn end times and I still won’t get a look, because of people like you, Zero. You, Johnny Cannon, Salem Cartier, Aries Reed, Savannah Taylor, and so many more are going to continue to get looks and better chances over people like Yun and myself. All because we never had a chance. Not because of our own ability. No, because of how the business fucking works,” Izzy shrunk away, lowering her head for a moment. She dragged her hand across her head. “It’s shit like that made you the Newcomer of the Year. Yeah, voting was over before you won the world championship. So what really made you stand out? Beating Noelle and Jimmy? I beat Noelle for this belt here. Jimmy beat you down before. So where else can I look for a fucking answer?”
Izzy adjusted herself, calming herself down considerably. “FGA homegrown right here,” Izzy beat lightly on her chest. “That isn’t to say that I’m mad at you or hate you, Zero. No, I believed in you the whole way through. I wanted Chandler to lose, but I knew it would be hard for it to happen. So— “ Izzy coughed pretty roughly. She stopped momentarily.
“Let me get this out of the way, champ. Congratulations, you did it. You can come up to anyone who told you that you weren’t going to win and rub in their face. You proved the world wrong. And now, you can lead FGA into the age of prosperity that you think it needs. Be the shining light amidst the filth? You can the champion that respect every strand of grass on God’s green earth. Most of all, you can be the proper face of FGA…one people can be proud of.”
Izzy stopped, looking to the ground. She lost herself there, not looking back up at the camera. But whatever images were in her head brought a gentle smile to herself. She held her championship close to her form. After a while, her eyes looked up to the camera, giving it an obscure gaze.
“That sounds a lot like Fujiko Mine a couple weeks back to me. She had that same kind of hope. She was going to take this belt from me,” Izzy rose up the MAL Championship, “and show everyone how much hope remains in wrestling. She wanted me to feel that same hope.”
“What did I do? I kicked her ass and left her wondering what the hell she can do now. I think of that mentality as selfish, Zero. Instead of masquerading yourself around as the underdog that people can get behind or the hero that FGA deserved, worry about the people like me. Worry about people who want to be the best over outsiders like you. The people that are devoid of all that cute, little hope.”
“So don’t bring that into this match. Actually, don’t bring any kind of stupid sentiments like that to this match. Don’t bring any of that ‘seasoned veteran’ thinking to this match either. It doesn’t work out for anyone who face me. Dom Harter was the Triple Crown Champion. He thought he had it all played out. Then I beat him. Dan Herrera, a while back, has wrestling experience from the in-ring and business side of things. Beat him too.”
“As I’ve stated earlier, the fans will bring all that knowledge of statistics and what not to the match. You, Zero, you just bring your ass and you bring your very best. Because that world champion just means you’re my goal. As long as you hold that championship, every time I wrestle, I’m going to be thinking about getting a step closer to you. Match after match, I'll be on my way to take that belt. It's my goal. Just like everyone else's."
"Unlike everybody else, I’ve achieved every goal I’ve set for myself. I don’t plan on stopping now. Some time, next year, I will be facing you for that championship there. I don't know if it'll be a chance for me to become the first Double Champion, I dunno. I just know that I have to do this for myself. I have to do it in order to break away from this rudimentary existence I have lived in!” there was a slight break in Izzy's voice. "This pitiful existence where no one sees me!"
“I’m going to make people notice me. I have to beat you, Zero, in order to do that. I have to break the normal patterns that FGA has gone through. If you want to bring in a new era, then I have to help you with that. I’m immune to hype. I’m just as good as a wrestler as you are, Zero. I’m world champion material. I am triple crown material. Hell, I’m going to end up being the first Grand Slam Champion in FGA one day.”
“So beating you on this, the last show of the year, allows me to preview and test myself. Can I beat the world champion? I asked myself this when I fought Chandler in a tag match, my first main event ever. It is the same question I have now. There are no variables getting in the way of being able to get a solid answer,” Izzy shook her head, bringing herself back from the memory of Chandler dropping her face first into the ring apron. Her jaw instinctively shifted because of the relapse.
“Merry Christmas, Zero McHannon. Congratulations on your win, but I have to ruin that feeling of euphoria you’re riding on. I know it is the happiest thing in the world right now. Your friend is in the hospital. HKW and probably more of the world are coming at you with knives and pitchforks. I know that winning here would bring a little bit of sunshine in your miserable life. I just can’t let you find happiness on my expense.”
Izzy looked forlorn at her revelation. “Not on me.”
“Never on me.”
