The future.

[Hayleigh Blake]

”Do you ever feel like you don’t belong?”

{ I can’t help but shrug. How else should I feel? }

”Because that’s how I’m starting to feel.”

{ I hate being this down on myself, it isn’t my usual style. }

”But how should I feel? I lost to earn this match, I’ve lost to two of the women in this match, until last week I was on a pretty epic losing streak. How else should I feel besides like I don’t belong?”

{ Aggressively confident, maybe? }

”I know I shouldn't be so down on myself. I’m only eight matches into my professional career and I’m fighting for a major championship. I should be confident and cocksure, ready to tear it up in the ring against three of the best. I should be verbally dissecting my opponents, shattering their own sense of self worth before soaring to victory over their fallen bodies.”

{ I bet that’s what Mom would tell me to do. }

”But I’m not going to stand here and lie to the people watching at home or my opponents.”

{ Some people call that a weakness. }

”Honesty is always the best policy and if I’m being honest? I don’t deserve to be in this match. I don’t deserve this title opportunity and I don’t feel like I deserve the respect of my opponents.”

{ I shrug before shooting the camera a little smirk. }

”The thing is, they do respect me. All three of them have had nothing but positive things to say about me since I got here. So what do they know that I don’t? What do they see when they look at me? Clearly it’s something impressive, something worth paying attention to. Clearly they see little old me as something of a threat to their dreams and goals and that?”

“Gives me hope.”

“It reminds me that you aren’t your last match, you aren’t even your eight last matches. You’re who you chose to be in your next match. Loss is the world's greatest teacher and I’ve been paying very close attention, Rina and Sorcha.”

{ Classic name drop punchline. }

”Everyone is their own worst critic, except for my Mom, she’s her biggest fan. But me? I acknowledge my shortcomings. I understood getting into this I wasn’t just going to become the next big thing overnight. And even with that understanding I’ve been pretty damn hard on myself because I know I’m better than my last match or my last loss.”

“It seems my opponents do too.”

“And that really brings my confidence level up a notch. It makes me stop dwelling on the past, overthinking every move I made leading up to a loss. It makes me rethink my position going into this match because if the Champion herself thinks I’m worthy of a shot then maybe I’m doing something right.”

{ Just maybe. }

”I know I have a tendency to get in my own way. It’s hard not to when you should have been born with a god complex. Thankfully I was able to avoid kool-aid time at the Blake family picnic. There’s nothing wrong with a little humility or humanity. And there’s nothing wrong with taking the correct lesson from a loss.”

{ I nod my head a little, I’m starting to feel a smidge optimistic. }

”I’m hard on myself because I know I can be better. I’m a little down in the dumps from the last month because I know that my best is yet to come. Sunday at Survival of the Fittest is my first opportunity to prove I belong. I started this promo feeling a little bit of imposter syndrome but as we reach the climax?”

“I know this is exactly where I’m supposed to be.”

“I didn’t earn this, not in the traditional sense of winning a single match with a shot on the line. But clearly my body of work is speaking for itself. People are starting to wake up to who Hayleigh Blake is and how good she’s going to become.”

“Even me.”

“And with the Glaiatorix Championship on the line, I know I can’t let myself down. I can’t let the people who have started to believe in me down. I can’t walk in there over confident and cocksure, I need to be humble, to take the lessons I’ve learned and apply them.”

{ I can’t believe I’m thinking this but just like my mother taught me. }

”I know Rina and Sorcha feel like winning is probably they’re destiny. They’ve dreamed their whole lives about holding a title as prestigious as the Gladiatorix Championship. They’ve more than earned the opportunity to be in this match.”

“Rosa has already proved she belongs at the dance as the Champion. Someone little kids all over the world can look up to. A champion's champion.”

“It would be an honor to share the ring with any one of you at any time. I mean that in all honesty. Because the three of you are truly three of the best in the world today.”

“So what do I bring to the table?”

{ I raise an inquisitive eyebrow. }

”Would it be too cliche to say, the future?”

“Coliseum is all about showcasing the next generation of IWF and who better to represent them than me?”

“Who else can truly be the epitome of what the future holds then the daughter of two of the all time best?”

“I can’t think of a better candidate.”

“I don’t just have the pedigree, I have the training to back it up.”

“I have the work ethic, the drive, the sheer determination to become the absolute best in the world today.”

{ I nod. }

”Sunday, you see the future.”