Post by Teo Blaze on Mar 10, 2019 22:11:04 GMT -5
The scene that greets the viewer is one that can only be described as, frankly, bizarre. As the scene slowly fades in from black, a colorful swirl of light blasts into the camera, blindingly bright against the dark emptiness that just a moment ago filled the television screen. The muted sound of what seems to be joyful and tinny music fills the ears of an eager audience awaiting at home.
Then, almost instantaneously, the colorful swirl is consumed by a burst of white and orange flame, erupting from the center of the screen, seeming as though it could leap out and touch the audience. The flames burn away the sheet of color from the inside out, and within an instant the flames have burned down the scene to once again fill the screen with that same darkness.
But something is different.
Standing in the center of the screen, with a lone white spotlight shining down, stands the King of All Media, the Infinity Man, and the WCF Television Champion. His faded jeans and red leather jacket seeming all the more bright under the spotlight, and both of his championships shining like beacons on either shoulder.
He stands, staring up at the source of the spotlight, immobile save for barely muted breath, his eyes hidden behind the trademark red lenses.
After a moment’s silence, he lowers his head towards the camera, tilting it off unnaturally to one side, opening his eyes slowly as his face breaks into a very familiar grin.
Teo Blaze: What a difference a few months makes, eh?
Now, there is nothing that would please me more than to be able to look into that ring and take credit for the tremendous leaps forward that my opponent has taken since we last met.
I would like to imagine that when I drove my knee into his face, pinned him down to that mat, that it awoke something deep within him. That in that instant, Matt Draven realized not only what he had signed up for, but just how far he had to go.
And that in that moment of embarassment, of defeat, of failure...that Matt Draven reasserted himself and decided that he would push himself to new heights, to climb mountains and to avenge that loss at any cost.
And that drive, that determination, that gift that I gave him is the very reason that this week I will stand across the ring from my greatest challenge, stand across the ring from a contender that quite frankly is a monster of my own creation.
I would like to tell you all right now that Matt Draven is the future of this company, and that he has proven it by earning his way back to a title shot.
But here’s the thing...
I can’t say that.
When I look at Matt Draven, I still see that same potential that I saw all those months ago. Potential for success, potential even to one day hold this title.
But everything else..?
Teo’s grin grows ever wider as he slowly raises his left hand, holding it out for a moment, almost relishing in the moment, and finally, he snaps his fingers.
All at once, the room becomes illuminated, and where once there stood only one Teo, there now stands dozens. All around him stand floor-to-ceiling reflections, all mirroring his movements exactly as he looks around.
Teo Blaze: Smoke and mirrors.
You see, Matt Draven, based on his reactions to last week’s match, would likely have you believing that his stock is on the rise and that he is on one of the hottest streaks of his life, that he beat four men in two weeks, five if you count McPherson.
Teo taps his forehead with one finger as he cocks an eyebrow, a cocky expression on his face as he grins at the camera.
Teo Blaze: But see, here’s the punchline to that little statistic. Not only have all five men essentially left the company… but every name worth mentioning? I beat them first.
McPherson, Robert Simmons, Far Cry, Jaice Wilds....there’s one common denominator there, Matt, and it’s that these competitors became shells of themselves after stepping into the ring with me.
Though to be fair, you did defeat someone I haven’t to earn a title shot last week...but if that’s supposed to be your Trump card, then quite frankly we have bigger problems.
The champion takes in a deep breath, as though he is carefully considering his next few words, and after a moment, he lets out a breath of air...but the voice that follows is different. Gone is the cocky indifference, gone is the air of confidence, and in its place is a coldness...a sense as though Blaze is holding back a tremendous flood of emotion.
Teo Blaze: Matt, matt, matt… Every time I look at your smug fucking twitter posts I just want to take your head and slam it through your monitor.
You petulant. Child. Week in, week out, you take it upon yourself, you seem to actually go out of your way not to learn from mistake after mistake.
No matter how many times you get carried from the ring by the medical staff, no matter how many times you get your ass kicked for making the same damned mistakes, you fail, you refuse! To change anything.
Every fluke victory against Z-list talent is the crowning achievement, the actual proof that you are worth a damn, and every single loss is just you putting up a valiant effort but coming up short, in testing yourself against the best and gosh darn it, just having a bad night.
As Teo speaks, something peculiar starts to happen. The hall of mirrors slowly begin to change slightly, and rather than reflections, they begin to show compilations of Matt Draven matches, of Draven being pinned repeatedly by the likes of Bonnie Blue and Noble Savage, of particularly painful looking moves being executed on the WCF rookie and one-time tag team champion.
Teo Blaze: Do you think that you are getting a title shot this week because you smeared a cheeto across the ring last week? Do you think that people are calling out Matt Draven as an up and coming contender, a worthy challenger to the greatest Title reign in years?
Teo’s eyes close and his demeanor changes slightly, letting out an audible chuckle that seems to echo throughout the house of mirrors, multiplying in on itself until it becomes a practical cackle.
Teo Blaze: News flash motherfucker, you’re here by default.
You are here because I have beaten every other man on this roster worthy of the opportunity, because I have time and time again, without fail, defended this championship against every single man or woman I have been thrown in the ring with for months!
And I have not just beaten them, oh no, I have beaten them so badly that it leaves an impact on them, it changes them. How many men, Matt, have come up against me with such fire, with such vigor, with such determination, only to have it ripped from their bodies by one Blazing Knee! How many men have gone from promising contenders to has-beens in a single match with the Infinity Man, huh?
I do not just beat contenders, Matt! I change contenders! One match with me and they realize just how far they have to go, just what they have to sacrifice to be able to rip this away from me! You earned this championship shot because you defeated those that I had already broken!
And that, Matt….that list includes your tag team Partner. He beat you to the rematch, didn’t he? Hardly surprising, seeing as he’s been carrying you through that tag tournament for months.
Beyond that, what do you have to show in your career? Loss after loss, failure after failure, embarrassment after embarrassment. Name one name you’ve beaten this year that is still with the company. Name one victory you’ve gotten to someone that I did not first defeat.
That includes Samuel McPherson, the same man who gave so little of a damn about you that he didn’t even bother coming to the ring.
Really think about that, Matt. A victory over you means so little, a match with you is so empty, so devoid of significance that a forfeit is preferable.
That, Draven...That’s just fucking sad.
Teo turns and looks at the numerous mirrors, each playing out a moment of Draven’s career that is less than ideal, whether an outright loss or a botched move, and at the apex of it all, dead center behind the champion, is that first loss to Blaze.
Teo Blaze: I’m not going to stand here and say that I don’t see potential in you, Draven. Hell, you are still swinging after dual matches with Bonnie Blue and Noble Savage. But the simple facts are the facts, and Matt…
You are not ready for me yet.
Teo’s face suddenly cracks into a familiar, crooked grin as he cocks his head to one side. He slowly reaches out and removes the Television Championship from his shoulder, holding it forward as he looks towards the camera. Behind him, the mirrored images slowly begin to change, becoming distorted as the screens slowly begin to..change. From the bottom of each mirrored screen, small orange flames begin to appear, growing in intensity with each passing second as Teo raises the Television belt, holding it out in front of him and slowly raising it ever higher, the flames matching the height, rising in tandem with the championship and consuming the images of Draven in orange flame, and before long, the Television Champion stands in a virtual inferno, the light of the monitors shining off of him, bathing the whole scene in an otherworldly orange glow.
Teo Blaze: It always seems so easy, doesn’t it Matt? This championship is just within reach, barely inches away from your grasp. I’ve got it held out to you, all you have to do is grab it.
And then you put your hands on it, you feel its weight, the collected weight of countless names, of hundreds, maybe thousands of title matches. Blood, sweat, so much collected in this golden prize, and you realize just what it is you’re asking for.
And then you try to pull…
And you realize that I don’t do handouts.
That’s the thing Matt, you don’t want to admit it, hell you probably don’t want to think about it, but you were handed this title match. You beat a joke last week in what could barely be called a wrestling match, and quite frankly you weren’t given a challenge, you were given an apology!
You were given the chance to stand tall over someone who had absolutely no business inside a WCF ring so that the audience would be distracted from the fact that Samuel McPherson, like so many before him had taken his ball and gone home after I humiliated him in front of the world.
It wasn’t a match, it was goddamned charity.
And right now...this is the moment that you realize that winning last week is the worst thing that you could have possibly done.
You might have your eyes set on this championship, you might be looking and thinking that all you have to do is reach out and grab it.
But you, like so many before you, have forgotten just who grasps it. You have forgotten just who you’re dealing with. Hell, I had to remind you on twitter to focus on the match at hand because you were busy trying to paint Samuel McPherson as “afraid” of you.
Teo’s voice suddenly erupts into a thunderous cackle, echoing viciously throughout the corridors of flame as he throws his head back.
Teo Blaze: So you want an opponent who won’t be afraid of you Matt. You want someone who will walk into the ring and treat you with the respect and dignity you deserve. Someone who takes you seriously.
Blaze turns and scratches his chin with one hand, as though he is considering something, then smiles as he looks back at the camera.
Teo Blaze: No, I don't think you do.
Funny how the comments about McPherson’s courage didn’t come up until after he had pulled his vanishing act. How only after he had made it clear that he saw no point in fighting you that you tried to spin it into a positive.
Seems to me Matt that the man I’m facing is something of an opportunist. Turn a negative into a positive, right?
But Matt, you bet your ass I’m going to be there in that ring come Monday. You can try and convince the world that the reason Samuel McPherson refused to step in that ring with you came from a place of fear, tell the whole world how afraid he was to get his ass kicked by the lord of the memes.
Anything to distract from the fact that you have been handed an opportunity at something that you simply are not ready for.
Teo’s face suddenly twists into a new expression, his eyebrows lower and his eyes narrow, his mouth drops into a frown and his entire body seems to tense. He is laser-focused, almost unmoving as he stands staring directly into the camera.
Teo Blaze: Because Matt Draven, no matter how you try to twist it, no matter how many jokes you make you can never change the simple fact that without me? You have nothing. Your biggest victories are against men who I either made famous or broke! Your continual failures against the top tier names of WCF reinforce the fact week after week that your ceiling is lowered every time you step into the ring! Your only claims to anything in this company say less about your talents in the ring than they do about your ability to be in the right place at the right time! You have squandered your time here in WCF and are damned close to ruining any potential you started with!
As Teo speaks, his voice reaching a violent crescendo, he throws his hands out to the side with a roar of frustration. Almost instantaneously, the screens engulfed in flame simultaneously shatter! Shards of glass fly everywhere, some even nicking the skin of the Television Champion, but he stands, without reacting, breathing heavily. After a very tense few seconds, he collects himself.
Teo Blaze: So it falls to me, once again. I take no joy in this Matt Draven, but I can see that you have become twisted, that being handed easy victories has turned you into something vulgar and incomplete. There is no point in letting you continue in your current form...
Like a bone that has healed wrong, you will have to be broken so that you can start again.
And Matt...I’m very good when it comes to that.
See you Monday.
With that, the Television Champion turns and walks through the broken glass, the crunch beneath his feet echoing as he leaves.
Then, almost instantaneously, the colorful swirl is consumed by a burst of white and orange flame, erupting from the center of the screen, seeming as though it could leap out and touch the audience. The flames burn away the sheet of color from the inside out, and within an instant the flames have burned down the scene to once again fill the screen with that same darkness.
But something is different.
Standing in the center of the screen, with a lone white spotlight shining down, stands the King of All Media, the Infinity Man, and the WCF Television Champion. His faded jeans and red leather jacket seeming all the more bright under the spotlight, and both of his championships shining like beacons on either shoulder.
He stands, staring up at the source of the spotlight, immobile save for barely muted breath, his eyes hidden behind the trademark red lenses.
After a moment’s silence, he lowers his head towards the camera, tilting it off unnaturally to one side, opening his eyes slowly as his face breaks into a very familiar grin.
Teo Blaze: What a difference a few months makes, eh?
Now, there is nothing that would please me more than to be able to look into that ring and take credit for the tremendous leaps forward that my opponent has taken since we last met.
I would like to imagine that when I drove my knee into his face, pinned him down to that mat, that it awoke something deep within him. That in that instant, Matt Draven realized not only what he had signed up for, but just how far he had to go.
And that in that moment of embarassment, of defeat, of failure...that Matt Draven reasserted himself and decided that he would push himself to new heights, to climb mountains and to avenge that loss at any cost.
And that drive, that determination, that gift that I gave him is the very reason that this week I will stand across the ring from my greatest challenge, stand across the ring from a contender that quite frankly is a monster of my own creation.
I would like to tell you all right now that Matt Draven is the future of this company, and that he has proven it by earning his way back to a title shot.
But here’s the thing...
I can’t say that.
When I look at Matt Draven, I still see that same potential that I saw all those months ago. Potential for success, potential even to one day hold this title.
But everything else..?
Teo’s grin grows ever wider as he slowly raises his left hand, holding it out for a moment, almost relishing in the moment, and finally, he snaps his fingers.
All at once, the room becomes illuminated, and where once there stood only one Teo, there now stands dozens. All around him stand floor-to-ceiling reflections, all mirroring his movements exactly as he looks around.
Teo Blaze: Smoke and mirrors.
You see, Matt Draven, based on his reactions to last week’s match, would likely have you believing that his stock is on the rise and that he is on one of the hottest streaks of his life, that he beat four men in two weeks, five if you count McPherson.
Teo taps his forehead with one finger as he cocks an eyebrow, a cocky expression on his face as he grins at the camera.
Teo Blaze: But see, here’s the punchline to that little statistic. Not only have all five men essentially left the company… but every name worth mentioning? I beat them first.
McPherson, Robert Simmons, Far Cry, Jaice Wilds....there’s one common denominator there, Matt, and it’s that these competitors became shells of themselves after stepping into the ring with me.
Though to be fair, you did defeat someone I haven’t to earn a title shot last week...but if that’s supposed to be your Trump card, then quite frankly we have bigger problems.
The champion takes in a deep breath, as though he is carefully considering his next few words, and after a moment, he lets out a breath of air...but the voice that follows is different. Gone is the cocky indifference, gone is the air of confidence, and in its place is a coldness...a sense as though Blaze is holding back a tremendous flood of emotion.
Teo Blaze: Matt, matt, matt… Every time I look at your smug fucking twitter posts I just want to take your head and slam it through your monitor.
You petulant. Child. Week in, week out, you take it upon yourself, you seem to actually go out of your way not to learn from mistake after mistake.
No matter how many times you get carried from the ring by the medical staff, no matter how many times you get your ass kicked for making the same damned mistakes, you fail, you refuse! To change anything.
Every fluke victory against Z-list talent is the crowning achievement, the actual proof that you are worth a damn, and every single loss is just you putting up a valiant effort but coming up short, in testing yourself against the best and gosh darn it, just having a bad night.
As Teo speaks, something peculiar starts to happen. The hall of mirrors slowly begin to change slightly, and rather than reflections, they begin to show compilations of Matt Draven matches, of Draven being pinned repeatedly by the likes of Bonnie Blue and Noble Savage, of particularly painful looking moves being executed on the WCF rookie and one-time tag team champion.
Teo Blaze: Do you think that you are getting a title shot this week because you smeared a cheeto across the ring last week? Do you think that people are calling out Matt Draven as an up and coming contender, a worthy challenger to the greatest Title reign in years?
Teo’s eyes close and his demeanor changes slightly, letting out an audible chuckle that seems to echo throughout the house of mirrors, multiplying in on itself until it becomes a practical cackle.
Teo Blaze: News flash motherfucker, you’re here by default.
You are here because I have beaten every other man on this roster worthy of the opportunity, because I have time and time again, without fail, defended this championship against every single man or woman I have been thrown in the ring with for months!
And I have not just beaten them, oh no, I have beaten them so badly that it leaves an impact on them, it changes them. How many men, Matt, have come up against me with such fire, with such vigor, with such determination, only to have it ripped from their bodies by one Blazing Knee! How many men have gone from promising contenders to has-beens in a single match with the Infinity Man, huh?
I do not just beat contenders, Matt! I change contenders! One match with me and they realize just how far they have to go, just what they have to sacrifice to be able to rip this away from me! You earned this championship shot because you defeated those that I had already broken!
And that, Matt….that list includes your tag team Partner. He beat you to the rematch, didn’t he? Hardly surprising, seeing as he’s been carrying you through that tag tournament for months.
Beyond that, what do you have to show in your career? Loss after loss, failure after failure, embarrassment after embarrassment. Name one name you’ve beaten this year that is still with the company. Name one victory you’ve gotten to someone that I did not first defeat.
That includes Samuel McPherson, the same man who gave so little of a damn about you that he didn’t even bother coming to the ring.
Really think about that, Matt. A victory over you means so little, a match with you is so empty, so devoid of significance that a forfeit is preferable.
That, Draven...That’s just fucking sad.
Teo turns and looks at the numerous mirrors, each playing out a moment of Draven’s career that is less than ideal, whether an outright loss or a botched move, and at the apex of it all, dead center behind the champion, is that first loss to Blaze.
Teo Blaze: I’m not going to stand here and say that I don’t see potential in you, Draven. Hell, you are still swinging after dual matches with Bonnie Blue and Noble Savage. But the simple facts are the facts, and Matt…
You are not ready for me yet.
Teo’s face suddenly cracks into a familiar, crooked grin as he cocks his head to one side. He slowly reaches out and removes the Television Championship from his shoulder, holding it forward as he looks towards the camera. Behind him, the mirrored images slowly begin to change, becoming distorted as the screens slowly begin to..change. From the bottom of each mirrored screen, small orange flames begin to appear, growing in intensity with each passing second as Teo raises the Television belt, holding it out in front of him and slowly raising it ever higher, the flames matching the height, rising in tandem with the championship and consuming the images of Draven in orange flame, and before long, the Television Champion stands in a virtual inferno, the light of the monitors shining off of him, bathing the whole scene in an otherworldly orange glow.
Teo Blaze: It always seems so easy, doesn’t it Matt? This championship is just within reach, barely inches away from your grasp. I’ve got it held out to you, all you have to do is grab it.
And then you put your hands on it, you feel its weight, the collected weight of countless names, of hundreds, maybe thousands of title matches. Blood, sweat, so much collected in this golden prize, and you realize just what it is you’re asking for.
And then you try to pull…
And you realize that I don’t do handouts.
That’s the thing Matt, you don’t want to admit it, hell you probably don’t want to think about it, but you were handed this title match. You beat a joke last week in what could barely be called a wrestling match, and quite frankly you weren’t given a challenge, you were given an apology!
You were given the chance to stand tall over someone who had absolutely no business inside a WCF ring so that the audience would be distracted from the fact that Samuel McPherson, like so many before him had taken his ball and gone home after I humiliated him in front of the world.
It wasn’t a match, it was goddamned charity.
And right now...this is the moment that you realize that winning last week is the worst thing that you could have possibly done.
You might have your eyes set on this championship, you might be looking and thinking that all you have to do is reach out and grab it.
But you, like so many before you, have forgotten just who grasps it. You have forgotten just who you’re dealing with. Hell, I had to remind you on twitter to focus on the match at hand because you were busy trying to paint Samuel McPherson as “afraid” of you.
Teo’s voice suddenly erupts into a thunderous cackle, echoing viciously throughout the corridors of flame as he throws his head back.
Teo Blaze: So you want an opponent who won’t be afraid of you Matt. You want someone who will walk into the ring and treat you with the respect and dignity you deserve. Someone who takes you seriously.
Blaze turns and scratches his chin with one hand, as though he is considering something, then smiles as he looks back at the camera.
Teo Blaze: No, I don't think you do.
Funny how the comments about McPherson’s courage didn’t come up until after he had pulled his vanishing act. How only after he had made it clear that he saw no point in fighting you that you tried to spin it into a positive.
Seems to me Matt that the man I’m facing is something of an opportunist. Turn a negative into a positive, right?
But Matt, you bet your ass I’m going to be there in that ring come Monday. You can try and convince the world that the reason Samuel McPherson refused to step in that ring with you came from a place of fear, tell the whole world how afraid he was to get his ass kicked by the lord of the memes.
Anything to distract from the fact that you have been handed an opportunity at something that you simply are not ready for.
Teo’s face suddenly twists into a new expression, his eyebrows lower and his eyes narrow, his mouth drops into a frown and his entire body seems to tense. He is laser-focused, almost unmoving as he stands staring directly into the camera.
Teo Blaze: Because Matt Draven, no matter how you try to twist it, no matter how many jokes you make you can never change the simple fact that without me? You have nothing. Your biggest victories are against men who I either made famous or broke! Your continual failures against the top tier names of WCF reinforce the fact week after week that your ceiling is lowered every time you step into the ring! Your only claims to anything in this company say less about your talents in the ring than they do about your ability to be in the right place at the right time! You have squandered your time here in WCF and are damned close to ruining any potential you started with!
As Teo speaks, his voice reaching a violent crescendo, he throws his hands out to the side with a roar of frustration. Almost instantaneously, the screens engulfed in flame simultaneously shatter! Shards of glass fly everywhere, some even nicking the skin of the Television Champion, but he stands, without reacting, breathing heavily. After a very tense few seconds, he collects himself.
Teo Blaze: So it falls to me, once again. I take no joy in this Matt Draven, but I can see that you have become twisted, that being handed easy victories has turned you into something vulgar and incomplete. There is no point in letting you continue in your current form...
Like a bone that has healed wrong, you will have to be broken so that you can start again.
And Matt...I’m very good when it comes to that.
See you Monday.
With that, the Television Champion turns and walks through the broken glass, the crunch beneath his feet echoing as he leaves.
