Post by Ace Watson on Oct 30, 2016 22:52:59 GMT -6
“Legacy. That's what it's all been about. That's what it will always be about. I've never cared for anything more than how I want to be remembered as when I'm gone. I don't want to be just another man who lived, a statistic and name that would be forgotten years down the line. I don't even want to be just another wrestler. I want to be one of the best. I want to be one of the greatest. When people think “wrestling” I want them to think of me. I want them to think of my accomplishments, my skill, my ability.”
Death is final. There is nothing after that. I fear it. But until then I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I reach the goals I want to reach. They are big goals, some may say they are unattainable, but I've been wrestling for twelve years, and I will wrestle for another twelve if it means I can reach those goals. I will work and work and work until I get to them, just like I have been ever since I started my training in secret lessons with my father. And it's not just for selfish reasons, I owe it to my father’s legacy in wrestling to work to match or better it, I owe it to him and the hours he put in to help me grow as a wrestler and as a person. That's what this is all about for me. I care. I really fucking care. And if that's what it comes down to in the end, I have no doubt I'll walk out Champion at the end of the night.”
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DAY 129
Ace hung up the phone. He had received the news that Visionaries of Wrestling was closing on the 12th of November. His arm fell to his side, phone still in hand. The company that brought him back to wrestling after a very long time away soon would no longer be running. The company he had spent a year and a half at, the company where he had become a Champion.
He slid his phone into the pocket of his jeans and walked through to the living room of the house he shared with Bianca, who was sat on one of the sofas, watching television, eyes flickering to and from her phone in between text messages. Ace dropped himself down on the sofa perpendicular to the one the “Queen B” was seated on, his face blank and devoid of emotion, still processing the news he had just received.
Bianca looked to him, having noticed the way he had sat down. “What's wrong, boo?”
For a moment he did not say anything, his eyes blankly staring at empty space on the far wall directly opposite him. Then he looked at Bianca, “VoW is closing down…”
“Oh boo… That's such a shame… But, I mean, that place was full of freaks, I would never have joined and get hit on by weirdos.” She said, in her usual catty tone.
“Yeah… But… I won't technically be champion anymore… when it closes… All my hard work…” His eyes fell to the floor. Despite what people thought of him he cared for the company and he cared for the title he held. Watson wanted to hold it for a very long time, he wanted to make sure his time as Zero Gravity Champion really meant something. He wanted to break records, specifically Ziu Zhong’s records, as longest reigning Zero Gravity Champion of all time at 175 days and his record of the most successful defences of the belt at five. And, of course, he wanted to hold it for longer than Katie Moicelle had.
“You've held it long enough, now you can go for bigger and better things. Like, I'm a superstar, and I don't need a title to say that.”
He didn't like what she said. He thought a lot of the Zero Gravity Championship, even if it was the lowest ranked title in VoW he treated it as if it was the highest. Every other title had changed hands at least once since Ace won the ZG Championship, and he felt that had made the belt really mean something. But he still wanted more…
“I was going to break records… I was going to be the best Zero Gravity Champion in VoW history…” Ace said, solemnly, choosing not to respond to Bianca’s earlier comment.
“Well you're the best Champion to me, and like, no one else’s opinions matter, you know that, I've told you before.”
Ace nodded lightly.
“Plus now you can be the last Zero Gravity Champion.”
Oh now that sounds good…
Ace perked up at the idea of being the final Zero Gravity Champion. If he could do that he would be champion forever, in a way. There would be something to show for all the work he had put into earning a shot at the belt and keeping hold of it that was more than just a number of days he had held it for. That was his goal now, that was his motivation to keep going even when the company he was wrestling for was in it’s final days. Ace Watson: The Last Ever VoW Zero Gravity Champion. “You know what? That doesn't sound so bad…”
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“Everything I have done as champion builds to this. This defence will most likely be the last before this company closes its doors. Whoever wins this match will be the final ever Zero Gravity Champion. I spent over a year of my career fighting, improving and growing to earn a shot at this title, then I held it for one hundred and thirty five days, and counting. I did not do all of that just to lose it at the final hurdle. Keelan Lightwood will not beat me at Breakthrough 53. I will be the final, the last ever, Zero Gravity Champion.”
“That's the plain and simple truth. I’m telling it how it is, and I don't need any silly ladder metaphors to do it.”
“But, of course, you all know me well enough to know that I can't leave it at just that. I always have a lot to say. And the first thing I'd like to do is talk about how I just beat Valerie Beasley at Armed and Dangerous, just like I said I would. I had to remind you all because I think you all forgot, or perhaps it slipped your minds. But there was no mention of my victory by anyone other than myself, you all just ignored it and pretended you never even supported Beasley, turning your backs on your “friend.”
“And that annoys me, not because I care for Valerie Beasley’s feelings, because I really don't, but for another reason. That being that none of you are acknowledging the fact that I beat her without the need for my the use of opportunistic qualities, or my skill of being in the right place at the right time. I pinned her clean, and went home with my title once again. I've proved I can do it, not that I really needed to prove it, but you all seemed to want to deny my ability to beat people without the need for “lucky” circumstances.”
“Which brings me onto this… Keelan, you've been known to be rather “creative” in gaining victories, using your father to help you get wins more often than you actually defeat your opponents on your own. I've done my research, as I know you have too, so I know your techniques, I know what to look out for, what and who to be aware of. All it means is that I'll have to expand my already higher than average spacial awareness to the area outside the ring, not just inside it.”
“You can say we’re similar, you can say our paths in this company have similar patterns. But everything we do that you say is similar, I do better than you.”
“And to be honest it's almost like you're actively trying to be like me… Maybe, that's why you want to take this title from me. Maybe deep down you don't think you can do the things I do as well as me, and want to try to take the title as some kind of “proof” that you can.”
“But you can't take this title from me. You act like your journey to the shot at this title has been impressive, but it hasn't. You've beaten people who are in your eyes “unworthy” and you've had to cheat to do it. You've relied on outside interference behind the referee’s back to get to where you are today. And trust me, Keelan, I've been there and done that, I know you can't get by for so long doing that. Soon enough you’ll be exposed, your true abilities shown. If that's what I have to do, if I have to put you in your place, to teach you that lesson, then so be it.”
“And Keelan you spoke of patterns but you missed a glaringly obvious one when it comes to me and defending my title. I win every time. I've faced every challenger put in front of me and I've beaten them all. Yes I've lost the matches that were not for your title, but when it matters I bring everything I have to the table. I'm willing to do anything I have to do to keep this title. You said you want to face a specific version of me, but this time you're getting a whole new one. This will be a version of myself that knows he needs to win this title, who knows he has a lot to lose. I don't want to hear the comments about me people will make if I lose this title. I don't want my reign to end here. I want to be the final Zero Gravity Champion. No, I need to be.”
“It wasn't even that long ago you were belittling this championship, mocking it for its ranking in the prestige of VoW championships. You saw it as a stepping stone, a ladder rung, if you will, to bigger things. Some kind of “necessary step” you feel you have to take to work your way to the top. Well I see it as so much more than that. And with VoW in its final days you should be, like me, seeing it as the biggest thing this company has to offer. Because neither of us is going to get a chance to aim “higher” than this title before VoW is gone.”
“Since winning this title it has looked better than the others. There were shows when multiple titles changed hands but this has always stayed with me. I am the current longest reigning VoW champion and the third longest reigning Zero Gravity Champion in history for a reason. I treat this title with respect. I care for this title. If I didn't care for it I would have never got to my feet when Moicelle busted up my eye. If I didn't care for it I would never have stopped Ambrose from pinning Jamo. If I didn't care for it I wouldn't have put everything into my match with Beasley. But you, Keelan, you don't care. You just want the title so you can have an accolade to your name, to show off to anyone who might hire you when VoW is gone. You don't care.”
“And you shouldn't expect any respect from me in that ring either. You haven't earned my respect. You haven't worked for as long as I have to earn a shot at this title. Nobody even knew who you were when you signed here. And that's exactly why I don't want your respect when we face off. It means nothing, because at the end of it all, we’re fighting until one of us is down for the count of three or have to submit. Respect is pointless in that ring.”
“ And yes, the pressure will be on me, yes everyone's eyes will be on me, watching, hoping to see me fall. Hoping to see my title reign come to an end. I'm well aware of all of that. But all of that is where my experience is such a vital factor, I've spent so long wrestling and dealing with people wanting to see me lose that I can handle the pressure. I can deal with it. And you can deny it all you want but I DO thrive in situations where everyone is against me. I won this title when everyone was against me and I've retained it three times when everyone was against me. This is no Cinderella story. People wanted see Cinderella with the prince, nobody wants to see me with the Zero Gravity Championship, my reign lasting another day. But I will have myself my very own “happily ever after” when I walk away from Breakthrough 53 the Zero Gravity Champion, for ever after.”
“When VoW closes its doors, and signs off the company history books, there will only be one of our names etched into it in ink forever, Keelan. And that name is Ace Watson, the final ever Zero Gravity Champion.”
Death is final. There is nothing after that. I fear it. But until then I’m going to do everything I can to make sure I reach the goals I want to reach. They are big goals, some may say they are unattainable, but I've been wrestling for twelve years, and I will wrestle for another twelve if it means I can reach those goals. I will work and work and work until I get to them, just like I have been ever since I started my training in secret lessons with my father. And it's not just for selfish reasons, I owe it to my father’s legacy in wrestling to work to match or better it, I owe it to him and the hours he put in to help me grow as a wrestler and as a person. That's what this is all about for me. I care. I really fucking care. And if that's what it comes down to in the end, I have no doubt I'll walk out Champion at the end of the night.”
================================
DAY 129
Ace hung up the phone. He had received the news that Visionaries of Wrestling was closing on the 12th of November. His arm fell to his side, phone still in hand. The company that brought him back to wrestling after a very long time away soon would no longer be running. The company he had spent a year and a half at, the company where he had become a Champion.
He slid his phone into the pocket of his jeans and walked through to the living room of the house he shared with Bianca, who was sat on one of the sofas, watching television, eyes flickering to and from her phone in between text messages. Ace dropped himself down on the sofa perpendicular to the one the “Queen B” was seated on, his face blank and devoid of emotion, still processing the news he had just received.
Bianca looked to him, having noticed the way he had sat down. “What's wrong, boo?”
For a moment he did not say anything, his eyes blankly staring at empty space on the far wall directly opposite him. Then he looked at Bianca, “VoW is closing down…”
“Oh boo… That's such a shame… But, I mean, that place was full of freaks, I would never have joined and get hit on by weirdos.” She said, in her usual catty tone.
“Yeah… But… I won't technically be champion anymore… when it closes… All my hard work…” His eyes fell to the floor. Despite what people thought of him he cared for the company and he cared for the title he held. Watson wanted to hold it for a very long time, he wanted to make sure his time as Zero Gravity Champion really meant something. He wanted to break records, specifically Ziu Zhong’s records, as longest reigning Zero Gravity Champion of all time at 175 days and his record of the most successful defences of the belt at five. And, of course, he wanted to hold it for longer than Katie Moicelle had.
“You've held it long enough, now you can go for bigger and better things. Like, I'm a superstar, and I don't need a title to say that.”
He didn't like what she said. He thought a lot of the Zero Gravity Championship, even if it was the lowest ranked title in VoW he treated it as if it was the highest. Every other title had changed hands at least once since Ace won the ZG Championship, and he felt that had made the belt really mean something. But he still wanted more…
“I was going to break records… I was going to be the best Zero Gravity Champion in VoW history…” Ace said, solemnly, choosing not to respond to Bianca’s earlier comment.
“Well you're the best Champion to me, and like, no one else’s opinions matter, you know that, I've told you before.”
Ace nodded lightly.
“Plus now you can be the last Zero Gravity Champion.”
Oh now that sounds good…
Ace perked up at the idea of being the final Zero Gravity Champion. If he could do that he would be champion forever, in a way. There would be something to show for all the work he had put into earning a shot at the belt and keeping hold of it that was more than just a number of days he had held it for. That was his goal now, that was his motivation to keep going even when the company he was wrestling for was in it’s final days. Ace Watson: The Last Ever VoW Zero Gravity Champion. “You know what? That doesn't sound so bad…”
================================
“Everything I have done as champion builds to this. This defence will most likely be the last before this company closes its doors. Whoever wins this match will be the final ever Zero Gravity Champion. I spent over a year of my career fighting, improving and growing to earn a shot at this title, then I held it for one hundred and thirty five days, and counting. I did not do all of that just to lose it at the final hurdle. Keelan Lightwood will not beat me at Breakthrough 53. I will be the final, the last ever, Zero Gravity Champion.”
“That's the plain and simple truth. I’m telling it how it is, and I don't need any silly ladder metaphors to do it.”
“But, of course, you all know me well enough to know that I can't leave it at just that. I always have a lot to say. And the first thing I'd like to do is talk about how I just beat Valerie Beasley at Armed and Dangerous, just like I said I would. I had to remind you all because I think you all forgot, or perhaps it slipped your minds. But there was no mention of my victory by anyone other than myself, you all just ignored it and pretended you never even supported Beasley, turning your backs on your “friend.”
“And that annoys me, not because I care for Valerie Beasley’s feelings, because I really don't, but for another reason. That being that none of you are acknowledging the fact that I beat her without the need for my the use of opportunistic qualities, or my skill of being in the right place at the right time. I pinned her clean, and went home with my title once again. I've proved I can do it, not that I really needed to prove it, but you all seemed to want to deny my ability to beat people without the need for “lucky” circumstances.”
“Which brings me onto this… Keelan, you've been known to be rather “creative” in gaining victories, using your father to help you get wins more often than you actually defeat your opponents on your own. I've done my research, as I know you have too, so I know your techniques, I know what to look out for, what and who to be aware of. All it means is that I'll have to expand my already higher than average spacial awareness to the area outside the ring, not just inside it.”
“You can say we’re similar, you can say our paths in this company have similar patterns. But everything we do that you say is similar, I do better than you.”
“And to be honest it's almost like you're actively trying to be like me… Maybe, that's why you want to take this title from me. Maybe deep down you don't think you can do the things I do as well as me, and want to try to take the title as some kind of “proof” that you can.”
“But you can't take this title from me. You act like your journey to the shot at this title has been impressive, but it hasn't. You've beaten people who are in your eyes “unworthy” and you've had to cheat to do it. You've relied on outside interference behind the referee’s back to get to where you are today. And trust me, Keelan, I've been there and done that, I know you can't get by for so long doing that. Soon enough you’ll be exposed, your true abilities shown. If that's what I have to do, if I have to put you in your place, to teach you that lesson, then so be it.”
“And Keelan you spoke of patterns but you missed a glaringly obvious one when it comes to me and defending my title. I win every time. I've faced every challenger put in front of me and I've beaten them all. Yes I've lost the matches that were not for your title, but when it matters I bring everything I have to the table. I'm willing to do anything I have to do to keep this title. You said you want to face a specific version of me, but this time you're getting a whole new one. This will be a version of myself that knows he needs to win this title, who knows he has a lot to lose. I don't want to hear the comments about me people will make if I lose this title. I don't want my reign to end here. I want to be the final Zero Gravity Champion. No, I need to be.”
“It wasn't even that long ago you were belittling this championship, mocking it for its ranking in the prestige of VoW championships. You saw it as a stepping stone, a ladder rung, if you will, to bigger things. Some kind of “necessary step” you feel you have to take to work your way to the top. Well I see it as so much more than that. And with VoW in its final days you should be, like me, seeing it as the biggest thing this company has to offer. Because neither of us is going to get a chance to aim “higher” than this title before VoW is gone.”
“Since winning this title it has looked better than the others. There were shows when multiple titles changed hands but this has always stayed with me. I am the current longest reigning VoW champion and the third longest reigning Zero Gravity Champion in history for a reason. I treat this title with respect. I care for this title. If I didn't care for it I would have never got to my feet when Moicelle busted up my eye. If I didn't care for it I would never have stopped Ambrose from pinning Jamo. If I didn't care for it I wouldn't have put everything into my match with Beasley. But you, Keelan, you don't care. You just want the title so you can have an accolade to your name, to show off to anyone who might hire you when VoW is gone. You don't care.”
“And you shouldn't expect any respect from me in that ring either. You haven't earned my respect. You haven't worked for as long as I have to earn a shot at this title. Nobody even knew who you were when you signed here. And that's exactly why I don't want your respect when we face off. It means nothing, because at the end of it all, we’re fighting until one of us is down for the count of three or have to submit. Respect is pointless in that ring.”
“ And yes, the pressure will be on me, yes everyone's eyes will be on me, watching, hoping to see me fall. Hoping to see my title reign come to an end. I'm well aware of all of that. But all of that is where my experience is such a vital factor, I've spent so long wrestling and dealing with people wanting to see me lose that I can handle the pressure. I can deal with it. And you can deny it all you want but I DO thrive in situations where everyone is against me. I won this title when everyone was against me and I've retained it three times when everyone was against me. This is no Cinderella story. People wanted see Cinderella with the prince, nobody wants to see me with the Zero Gravity Championship, my reign lasting another day. But I will have myself my very own “happily ever after” when I walk away from Breakthrough 53 the Zero Gravity Champion, for ever after.”
“When VoW closes its doors, and signs off the company history books, there will only be one of our names etched into it in ink forever, Keelan. And that name is Ace Watson, the final ever Zero Gravity Champion.”
