Post by Andrew Jacobsen on Oct 26, 2015 3:21:57 GMT
"I hope it was worth it."
I've heard that phrase a lot in the last few months. I've had people ask me if "it" was worth what "it" cost. I've had a hard time figuring out what they were talking about. At first I thought it was revenge, but that's not right. Then I thought it was about the title, but...it hasn't faded since.
I think I've finally figured it out. I didn't just gain some petty revenge, or a title. I gained a brotherhood. That brotherhood has saved my life, my career...and maybe it'll save my soul now.
Yeah, I still think I have a soul to save. Kyle's the one of us who goes to the dark places the rest of us don't want to. I owe him for that. He takes that burden on himself, and I couldn't. I thank him for that. And I thank him for what he'll help me do to Rob Diamond.
This isn't about revenge for me. It's not about the childish, ridiculous games he plays, it's not about all of the times he's stuck his head in the sand like an ostrich and pretended that nothing has happened in the last six years. No...this is about restoration. This is about taking the tarnish off of the Man of Steel Championship that he layers on it with every single sentence and moment.
Roberto Verona wants a free company, an independent company. He doesn't want to be beholden to the sponsors and the whims of corporations. Even if that's just a smokescreen, it's something that I want, and I've become far less hesitant to move for what I want. And the first step to that is a face that this company can be proud of. Is it me? I think so. But I know it's not Rob Diamond.
I'm not going to address him directly, because the moment I do that is the moment I become entangled in his toying. If I sink to his discourse, I let that same creeping corrosion he inflicts on everything around him touch me again. It's led me down dark paths, made me say things I would have never said before. The man is a disease that shrivels and warps everything he touches, and the sooner he's deprived of what he would have held over all of us the better.
And when he is finally broken...when I no longer have to hear his braying laugh, when his venom is flushed from this company's veins, then I war with my brother.
Kyle, we are each other's antithesis. You're a brutal, bloody-toothed mauler who beats his opponents senseless. I'm a technician par excellence who knows a submission hold for every day of the year three times over, and has no qualms about using them to achieve victory. We exemplify the polar ends of the Man of Steel Championship's spectrum, and no matter which of us wins, we will carry that title with pride.
But make no mistake, I won't hold back on you. That title, you...the fans watching...none of those parties deserve anything less than my utmost. We put down the slobbering mutt and we do ourselves proud, you understand? We work hard and we throw everything at the wall. We are proud of who we are and what we do.
We don't let pettiness break us apart. We're more than that. Our bonds have been forged in fire, in battle, and in our blood. They tried to bleed us out and leave us crumpled on the floor, reduced to ashes of what we could have been. But we stood back up. We walked out of every fire they tried to throw us on. We'll do it again. And when we come out of this, no matter who wins, we raise each other's hand and we walk to the back.
Together.
So, Kyle...bring your best. I'll bring mine. And may the best man win.
We open on Andrew sitting in front of a mirror in his home. The clock ticks silently in the background as he stares at his reflection, sighing quietly. He stands up, walking downstairs, and taps a button on a remote. His sound system crackles to life, and Andrew begins walking towards the couch. His eyes drift across his photo frames, and he pauses in his tracks as the lyrics begin.
I'm looking at you through the glass
Don't know how much time has passed
Oh God, it feels like forever
But no one ever tells you that forever feels like home
Sitting all alone inside your head...
He walks over, picking up the most recent-looking photo: Andrew and Callie, the siblings grinning ear to ear. Andrew is wearing a "GENISYS SUCKED" T-shirt, and Callie's reads "YES IT DID". He chuckles to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Lost that bet hard...miss you, sis."
Andrew takes another step along, this time looking at a photo of his family. He smiles softly, shaking his head as he looks over the faces in the shot: his brother Rick, his parents, Rick's wife Cassandra..and himself. They were all...
"Happy." Andrew murmurs, staring at it in quiet disbelief. "We were...happy." He pauses, shaking his head again as he moves on to the next photo. This one's simple: a picture of Andrew and Emma, grinning like fools. Emma has a copy of her NCW Starlets Championship and Andrew has his NCW World Championship, and a small engraved plate sits below the photo, simply two words:
CHAMPIONS TOGETHER
Andrew looks at the photo for a long, hard moment. He angrily flips it down, glaring at the back of the frame for a moment before moving on and doing the same thing over and over again. He repeats it until all of his old photos are hidden.
'Cause I'm looking at you through the glass
Don't know how much time has passed
All I know is that it feels like forever
And no one ever tells you that forever feels like home
Sitting all alone inside your head...
"Don't need it." he insists firmly, glaring down the flattened frames. "Don't need them. I've got people. I've got things. I've...got what I need." He breathes deeply, nostrils flaring. "I've got what I need."
Andrew walks back towards his trophy case, eyes fixed firmly on one thing: the copy of the Man of Steel Championship. The music crescendos as he stops, kneeling down to stare at the replica.
And it's the stars, the stars
That shine for you, yeah-ah
And it's the stars, the stars
That lie to you, yeah-ah, yeah
Oh when the stars
Oh oh when the stars that lie...
"Soon, you'll be real again." Andrew whispers quietly as he stares at the belt.
"...soon."
I've heard that phrase a lot in the last few months. I've had people ask me if "it" was worth what "it" cost. I've had a hard time figuring out what they were talking about. At first I thought it was revenge, but that's not right. Then I thought it was about the title, but...it hasn't faded since.
I think I've finally figured it out. I didn't just gain some petty revenge, or a title. I gained a brotherhood. That brotherhood has saved my life, my career...and maybe it'll save my soul now.
Yeah, I still think I have a soul to save. Kyle's the one of us who goes to the dark places the rest of us don't want to. I owe him for that. He takes that burden on himself, and I couldn't. I thank him for that. And I thank him for what he'll help me do to Rob Diamond.
This isn't about revenge for me. It's not about the childish, ridiculous games he plays, it's not about all of the times he's stuck his head in the sand like an ostrich and pretended that nothing has happened in the last six years. No...this is about restoration. This is about taking the tarnish off of the Man of Steel Championship that he layers on it with every single sentence and moment.
Roberto Verona wants a free company, an independent company. He doesn't want to be beholden to the sponsors and the whims of corporations. Even if that's just a smokescreen, it's something that I want, and I've become far less hesitant to move for what I want. And the first step to that is a face that this company can be proud of. Is it me? I think so. But I know it's not Rob Diamond.
I'm not going to address him directly, because the moment I do that is the moment I become entangled in his toying. If I sink to his discourse, I let that same creeping corrosion he inflicts on everything around him touch me again. It's led me down dark paths, made me say things I would have never said before. The man is a disease that shrivels and warps everything he touches, and the sooner he's deprived of what he would have held over all of us the better.
And when he is finally broken...when I no longer have to hear his braying laugh, when his venom is flushed from this company's veins, then I war with my brother.
Kyle, we are each other's antithesis. You're a brutal, bloody-toothed mauler who beats his opponents senseless. I'm a technician par excellence who knows a submission hold for every day of the year three times over, and has no qualms about using them to achieve victory. We exemplify the polar ends of the Man of Steel Championship's spectrum, and no matter which of us wins, we will carry that title with pride.
But make no mistake, I won't hold back on you. That title, you...the fans watching...none of those parties deserve anything less than my utmost. We put down the slobbering mutt and we do ourselves proud, you understand? We work hard and we throw everything at the wall. We are proud of who we are and what we do.
We don't let pettiness break us apart. We're more than that. Our bonds have been forged in fire, in battle, and in our blood. They tried to bleed us out and leave us crumpled on the floor, reduced to ashes of what we could have been. But we stood back up. We walked out of every fire they tried to throw us on. We'll do it again. And when we come out of this, no matter who wins, we raise each other's hand and we walk to the back.
Together.
So, Kyle...bring your best. I'll bring mine. And may the best man win.
We open on Andrew sitting in front of a mirror in his home. The clock ticks silently in the background as he stares at his reflection, sighing quietly. He stands up, walking downstairs, and taps a button on a remote. His sound system crackles to life, and Andrew begins walking towards the couch. His eyes drift across his photo frames, and he pauses in his tracks as the lyrics begin.
I'm looking at you through the glass
Don't know how much time has passed
Oh God, it feels like forever
But no one ever tells you that forever feels like home
Sitting all alone inside your head...
He walks over, picking up the most recent-looking photo: Andrew and Callie, the siblings grinning ear to ear. Andrew is wearing a "GENISYS SUCKED" T-shirt, and Callie's reads "YES IT DID". He chuckles to himself, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Lost that bet hard...miss you, sis."
Andrew takes another step along, this time looking at a photo of his family. He smiles softly, shaking his head as he looks over the faces in the shot: his brother Rick, his parents, Rick's wife Cassandra..and himself. They were all...
"Happy." Andrew murmurs, staring at it in quiet disbelief. "We were...happy." He pauses, shaking his head again as he moves on to the next photo. This one's simple: a picture of Andrew and Emma, grinning like fools. Emma has a copy of her NCW Starlets Championship and Andrew has his NCW World Championship, and a small engraved plate sits below the photo, simply two words:
CHAMPIONS TOGETHER
Andrew looks at the photo for a long, hard moment. He angrily flips it down, glaring at the back of the frame for a moment before moving on and doing the same thing over and over again. He repeats it until all of his old photos are hidden.
'Cause I'm looking at you through the glass
Don't know how much time has passed
All I know is that it feels like forever
And no one ever tells you that forever feels like home
Sitting all alone inside your head...
"Don't need it." he insists firmly, glaring down the flattened frames. "Don't need them. I've got people. I've got things. I've...got what I need." He breathes deeply, nostrils flaring. "I've got what I need."
Andrew walks back towards his trophy case, eyes fixed firmly on one thing: the copy of the Man of Steel Championship. The music crescendos as he stops, kneeling down to stare at the replica.
And it's the stars, the stars
That shine for you, yeah-ah
And it's the stars, the stars
That lie to you, yeah-ah, yeah
Oh when the stars
Oh oh when the stars that lie...
"Soon, you'll be real again." Andrew whispers quietly as he stares at the belt.
"...soon."
Well howdy there pardner.