To Be a Champion

[Teo Blaze]

“Victory is addictive. You’d be amazed what a man would do for another hit.”

As the scene slowly comes into view, the audience is greeted with a familiar sight. The long-time Television Champion and newly minted infinity champion standing happily with both championship belts. The Television championship is slung over his left shoulder while the infinity championship rests around his waist, the pristine gold and bright purple strap conveying an air of prestige simply by their presence alone.

His eyes are closed, even behind the trademark red lenses, and he is slowly drawing in a long breath, taking in the moment.

The champion stands in what looks to be a large television studio, with a soundstage and a row of seats for a live studio audience. Various props from previous segments can be seen in the background, whether the Iron throne fashioned from computer keyboards or the smashed pickle jar from the first Cooking with Teo set, the room provides a veritable buffet of familiar sights for long-time fans.

And as Teo finishes taking his deep breath, he opens his eyes slowly, his face changing in to a look of focus that has become his trademark.

As he looks directly into the camera, he removes the Television Championship from his shoulder and holds it slowly up to the screen. The closer it gets, the more small imperfections become clear on it, the relics of battle, of people using the belt as a weapon or projectile to steal a win or deal extra damage to an opponent.

Teo Blaze: Do you know what this is?

The statement seems to hang in the air for a moment as the camera focuses on the championship, the small cracks or chips or blood stains becoming perceptible to a wary eye.

Teo Blaze: I’m sure you have an answer that pops in your mind right away. It’s fifteen pounds of gold and leather. It’s the championship which has been defended more times in WCF’s history than any other. It’s the hallmark of any career worth mentioning in the record books. It’s a gateway to greater things, it’s the chance to prove yourself and to work towards accomplishments that people will talk about long after it’s passed from your grip. It’s power, it’s control, it’s everything we want in this business.

As Teo speaks, a glint of light flashes across the lenses as he cocks his head to the side, the focus tightening in his expression as he looks at the camera.

Teo Blaze: All true. This belt is all of these things and so much more. But there is one thing, one crucial detail, one ever-present fact that so many have overlooked in their quest to obtain it.


This belt is mine.


Teo’s eyes turn towards the plate of the championship, towards the shining prize that he has held aloft for so many weeks, turning away challenge after challenge, and he smiles.

Teo Blaze: And this detail? This one little fact? That is the most overlooked aspect continues to fascinate me.

No matter how many odds I overcome, no matter how many hungry competitors I turn away, no matter how many times I walk out with my hand held high over my head...People still seem surprised.

The Infinity Champion chuckles to himself as though he is considering something funny, though the look returns shortly to his face.

Teo Blaze: I’ve beaten so many contenders that Corey Black has taken to hotshotting in returning superstars. Simply put, I’ve worked my way through the active roster.

And so here I am, put against Leon “Saint Purple” Hayze. Now, truth be told we haven’t heard from Leon in a while here in WCF, although you could raise the point that it’s not his fault. He bet on the wrong horse’s ass when he hitched his wagon to that Church of Singh, and sure enough within a few months that “stable” was anything but, collapsing under a practical civil war.

So where did that leave poor little Leon? Caught in the crossfire of a bad breakup like the poor child that neither side really wanted to deal with, he took his ball and he went home.

Teo taps his temple with two fingers, cocking an eyebrow with a wise look, the kind of look a guy gets when he’s waiting to tell the punchline of a particularly funny joke.

Teo Blaze: Of course, if you’d been paying attention to Leon’s career up to that point, it wouldn’t exactly surprise you to find out that he folded under the pressure. Hell, he snapped in half under the pressure.

Because if you’d been paying attention, you’d realize that’s just who Leon Hayze is. Talent, maybe, but also arguably the most inconsistent wrestler in the history of this company, and that’s no small statement.

I’d say that he runs hot and cold, but it’s more like lukewarm and fucking ice water.

Teo looks around at the studio, at the empty sets he has accumulated over the past several months, then he looks at the camera, and he smiles as a thought hits him.

Teo Blaze: Take a walk with me, Leon. I know you’re watching.

The champion reaches out his left arm to the side, letting his hand coalesce into a simple snap of his fingers. The sound echoes loudly and all at once the champion is walking down a crowded street, belts on his shoulders. As he walks past the various pedestrians, most of whom stop and stare in amazement, the champion winks and pats the Infinity championship around his waist before continuing.

Teo Blaze: Leo, can I call you Leo? Fuck it, I’m going to anyway.

Leo, do you ever stop and look back on your career, at all your accomplishments? Do you stand up and look in the mirror and smile?

I hope so, I really do Leon. I hope that you are proud of everything you’ve accomplished in the WCF. People’s title, Internet, Hardcore, Television Championship…

Teo chuckles, reaching into his pocket and grabbing a dollar bill as he walks past a fruit stand. He grabs a green apple and leaves the dollar on the counter without breaking his stride.

Teo Blaze: Do you know why I hope you’re proud Leon? It’s because somewhere in that smoke-addled brain of yours, somewhere deep in that subconscious that you’ve twisted up, you know that you by all rights should be ashamed.

Embarassed.

That your biggest accomplishments are- listen closely- bad jokes.

I’m sure you are proud to have had the chance to hold all those championships. But that part that you don’t want people to remember, the part that just eats you up inside, the part that makes you toss and turn at night when you remember it..?
It’s not just that you were an awful champion, it’s not that you took each and every title from some of the weakes, most pathetic names to ever hold those belts.

The risen, William the Behemoth, Adam goddamned Young! Hell, you were physically handed the Television Championship in your one and only reign...

Teo takes a bite from the apple and shakes his head in disgust at the very idea.

Teo Blaze: It’s not just that every championship reign has lasted from at most, two weeks to at least less than an hour, that your name on every single championship you’ve ever held is a speck of dust, a stain that can’t be washed off, no.

Teo’s voice has become colder as he walks down the street, he stops at an intersection, and the camera pans out to show traffic. A group of people are waiting and staring at the “Do not walk” sign, as cars speed past with roars, blasting along to unseen destinations at speeds that far surpass typical urban traffic, gusts of wind blowing people’s hair and clothes as they pass by.

Teo Blaze: Leon, the reason that you should be ashamed to show your head in this company, to even lift your face, is that you are responsible for killing not one, but two championships. Mere days after you unified the People’s and Internet championships, two belts that I elevated, two championships that I didn’t just set records with, but became synonymous with.

Just days after you managed to unseat William the Behemoth, the belts were dead. Thrown into a filing cabinet to gather dust.

The coldness in Teo’s voice has amplified, moving beyond simple resentment, twisting into an almost inhuman calmness. But even in the relative calmness, there is a hint, a shred that betrays Teo’s emotions. It is beyond anger, beyond contempt, beyond explanation.

Teo Blaze: That, Leon Hayze, that is a sin that I cannot forgive. You had the chance to carry those championships with honor, to inherit the legacy that I had built, and you threw it in the fucking garbage.

You took everything that I had worked for, everything that I had built, and you traded it for this Television Championship.

Teo’s eyes narrow behind the lenses as he looks at the championship that now sits over his shoulder, as though he is considering something .

Teo Blaze: You revealed your true colors in that moment, Hayze. You showed the world that you did not give a shit about legacy, about honor, about everything that these titles represented. You only wanted what you could be handed.

You wanted to win championships, but you could give a damn about actually being a champion.

That’s why Bonnie blue buried you and took that Hardcore Championship in two weeks.

That’s why Corey Black stripped you of those two championships in mere days and literally handed you the Television Title.

And that’s why Tyler Debonair took that Television title away the very same night.

Teo’s grip on the apple in his hand has been tightening as he speaks, unable to contain his emotions towards his opponent, the veins in his arm starting to show as he speaks.

Teo Blaze: That, Leon Hayze, that is your legacy. You give the bare minimum, you push yourself just hard enough to steal a victory or a notable moment, and then you just stop giving a damn. Every chance you have had to prove yourself, every moment you’ve had to elevate yourself beyond a punchline, you have laid down again and again.

It. Is. Pathetic!

As soon as Teo speaks the words, his grip tightens just enough, causing the apple to practically explode in his hand, sending chunks everywhere. Teo’s hand clenches into a fist, his arms shaking with emotion, his hands waver back and forth and it looks as though he is on the brink of cracking…

But after a few tense moments, he calms himself, the rage that is bubbling just below the surface subsides as he turns his face upwards towards the camera.

Teo Blaze: It is not enough to win this championship, Leon.

This is not a belt that rewards the complacent.

This is a belt that punishes weakness, that seeks out imperfection and that twists every knife without hesitation.

As Teo speaks he closes his eyes, holding his arms out to the sides.

Teo Blaze: To be Television Champion is to face a wild and chaotic future, every match is a threat, every moment a new chance to fail.

You should know this all too well, Leon, but it falls to me to remind you.

As Teo speaks, he slowly begins walking forward, without opening his eyes, into the speeding traffic, his arms still outstretched. People gasp in surprise but he walks forward without hesitation, stepping with almost impossible timing between the speeding vehicles, horns blaring as they come within inches of slamming into the champion.

But Teo continues walking as he speaks down the long street.

Teo Blaze: A true champion cannot show hesitation, cannot show doubt! He cannot show a moment’s imperfection.

To hesitate is to be lost! To reach the infinite, you must be willing to suffer for it! To die for it!

As if to punctuate the champion’s statement, a car roars past, blaring its horn in anger as it just swerves to miss Teo, but the champion does not flinch. And finally, he reaches the other side of the street, completely unscathed.

Teo opens his eyes and looks at the camera. He does not speak a word, but merely stares at the screen, his eyes cold steel behind the red lenses, his expression belying a passionate fire roaring within. He merely reaches out his hand and once again snaps his fingers.

Instantly, he is no longer on the crowded street, he is somewhere new, somewhere unfamiliar. He is standing in what looks like an old gymnasium, a broken down building that he has not set foot in years.

He is standing in front of a peeling poster, showing a Luchador in a white mask holding up the same championship that rests over his shoulder. In the ring, the legendary Jonny Fly is looking up at the title with a combination of remorse and approval.

Teo stares at the poster for a moment. Beneath it, sitting in custom made racks, are a very beaten up People’s Championship and Internet Championship, both custom made with white straps, and bearing the names “Teo del Sol” and “Teddy Blaze” respectively.

Teo seems to consider the scene for a moment before looking into the camera.

Teo Blaze: Leon, I don’t give a damn if you’ve listened to a single word I’ve said. I know that smoke-addled, Singh-poisoned brain of yours is filled with so much self-delusion that you probably are proud of the legacy you’ve left in the WCF.

But this match is about something more.

Whether you’re too dumb to realize it, Hayze, you are a stain on the legacy of this company, an embarrassment to every championship you’ve held, and beyond that little more than the sad punchline to a joke that stopped being funny long ago.

You’re so weak, so pathetic, so caught up in stroking your own ego that not even Singh wants you back.

You’re poison.

You destroy everything that comes into contact with you.

Teo turns and looks at the championships that sit on the wall and turns his eyes towards the ones that now adorn his body.

Teo Blaze: Do you know what these are?

You know what they represent. You know what they embody. The principles that make them mean something.

That may be true.

But don’t you ever fucking forget.

They are mine.

My legacy is that of a champion, as a man who has turned away challenger after challenger, who has fought tooth and nail, blood sweat and tears for these prizes.

Your legacy is of a greedy failure who willingly gave up two of the most cherished prizes in WCF for a belt he never deserved to hold in the first place and lost as quickly as he won it.

It doesn’t matter whether or not you have a physical belt. Though I carry these with the same vigor, the same dedication? Unlike you, I realize that there is a world of difference between winning a championship and being a champion.

I am still the People’s Champion.

I am still the King of All Media.

You..?

Teo's face turns into a twisted grin, the familiar grin that has taken over his face so many times before.

You’re Leon fucking “Purple” Hayze.

And that’s all you ever will be.

Teo turns and places his hand over the poster, looking at it for a few more moments before turning and walking into the distance. The camera slowly pans over one more time, hanging on the ghosts of the past before slowly fading to black.