Post by The Ace on Mar 20, 2016 19:01:30 GMT
There is perhaps no idea that speaks to the human heart any more than the idea of living forever in some form or fashion.
So it really no surprise to me then that this ideology is as firmly rooted in the hearts and minds of every man and woman who has ever laced up their boots to step in between those ropes to compete as it is.
Every one of us who lays our bodies on the line every time we step in that twenty by twenty ring do so not only because we want to be see as a professional wrestler, but because we want to be remembered as the greatest professional wrestler in this industry.
Each of you that will come down that ramp when your number is up and your music hits at High Stakes will come into this Roulette with a single goal, a single purpose in mind, to capture lightning in a bottle.
Each of you will march into this match with the express and very specific desire of taking this one shot at the ultimate professional wrestling glory and punching your ticket straight into the main event of Night of the Immortals.
You'll look to throw anybody and everybody who dares stand in between you and your dreams of carving a legacy everlasting, over the top rope and out of your way because you're so deeply committed to the notion that a sense of immortality is something that can be won or lost on this one night and in this one match.
Each of you in this match are so enamoured with this idea in fact that you've convinced yourselves that if you can guarantee yourself a place in the ultimate spotlight at the showcase of the immortals, then you will somehow become immortal yourself.
But as any one who is a fan of any sport at all will tell you, it's not enough to simply be a part of the show.
You cannot simply expect to be hailed as anything special just because you hold some golden ticket to the greatest show of them all.
You have to make it count.
Immortality is not something this Roulette or any other single match in the history of this company can bestow upon you.
You have to work for it.
Immortality, true immortality is not something that can be won in this business on a single night. It has to be earned, and it has to be earned not by eliminating your competition over a ring rope, but by rising above it. Slowly, steadily, and in a way nobody will ever truly understand or fully appreciate until its far too late to deny.
Immortality is not the end result of one singular career defining moment, match or victory, but rather a culmination. A culmination of moments, matches, victories, losses, each earned over not just one or two special nights of a single year but over many, many nights over many, many years.
Like the years I have put into not only this company, but also into my entire career.
Every moment, every match, and every night I have spent in that ring over the last thirteen years.
I did id it all because I knew that one day every drop of blood I sacrificed, every bead of sweat I left behind on the canvas in my ring and every bitter tear of disappointment I shed would be worth something one day.
So whilst the rest of you continue to concern yourself with the larger implications of winning this one match on this one night, I will continue my journey towards that one day.
I always knew I was building something special with all of this, I just didn't know what it was, or realise exactly how much it all meant to me until now.
I have worked much too hard for far too long to let any one of you dispose of the fruits of my labour as casually as you would like to believe you can discard the rest of me in this match.
So whilst the rest of you sacrifice each other for just one single fleeting moment of all or nothing, I will savour every last moment of my opportunity in this match.
While you run towards a time in your career where you can change everything in one night, I walk into this match, knowing everything that has changed me has done so one step and one day at a time.
Because that's how things begin to change in this business and that's how people grow in this life.
That's how they become immortal, one day at a time.
There are no instant fixes, there is no sure-fire path to victory, and there is no short cut to immortality.
It's not the matches you win that ensure your immortality in this business, but rather the memories you leave behind in the hearts and minds of others.
I will not concern myself with how much or how little any of you regard me in this match or any other because none of you matter to me, and you never will.
All I will concern myself with are those few, those precious few who do matter to me, my wife, my children.
I don't know exactly how they will remember me when I'm gone, I only know that they will remember me always.
They are my legacy and in being everything that they are, they are everything that you will never be to me.
They are living proof of my immortality in this life.
Each of you can keep your thousands of faceless fickle fans, I have never needed them.
All I have ever needed is my family, for what they keep inside of themselves for me is truly everlasting.
It is what makes me truly immortal, in ways you've never even dreamt of, in ways that none of you will ever be.
Their love has carried me through so much in this life already, and it makes me special in ways the rest of you can only imagine.
So when this Roulette match is over and I'm left standing in the middle of the ring whilst you're on the outside looking back at me, consumed with jealousy and disappointment, I hope that its not just the Imperial Championship opportunity that I will have that kills you inside, but also the fact that an already rich man just became even richer.
For the rest of you, life sucks and then you die, but for me, it's just another day living out another one of my greatest dreams.
Nothing changes at High Stakes, but the dream I will end up living once more.
Only this time, I will have taken many of yours along the way too.
Jake Conway is sat in his home study on his laptop, watching an on demand stream of High Stakes 2014, and even more specifically the first time he was involved in the annual IWF attraction that was the Roulette match, when there is a knock at his door.
"Come in," said Jake, not bothering to pause the stream or look up from the screen.
Kathy entered the room slowly, carrying a plate of sandwiches. The way their two cats, Casino and Snowdrop followed her in expectantly, with their tails twitching in the air, immediately let Jake know that they were tuna sandwiches.
"Ignore them, they've been fed already," said Kathy as she placed the plate on his desk. "Hope I'm not interrupting too much."
"Not at all, there's only so many times a man can watch himself come so close and yet be so far away."
"It was impressive performance, even if it didn't quite go your way in the end," said Kathy.
"Yes, it was, wasn't it? Still I'd rather not make it a habit." said Jake, taking one of the neat triangles from the plate in front of him.
"What? Coming so close but never quite managing to walk away with the big win, you mean?"
Jake took a bite and started chewing before he nodded solemnly at his wife. She moved around the desk and sat herself down on the edge of it, taking the plate of sandwiches into her lap.
"Everybody deserves another chance, babe, even you," smiled Kathy.
"Yeah, and if you hadn't give me mine years ago, I shudder to think where I might have ended up today," said Jake, after swallowing.
"Neither of us has ever managed to get things absolutely perfect, at least nor on the first go," said Kathy, finally giving in and taking a sandwich for herself.
"Oh, I know," admitted Jake, "It's why we're so good together."
Kathy chuckled and nodded in agreement before taking a bite out of her own sandwich.
"So, I've been thinking about what you said the other day," began Jake.
"Hmmm?" asked Kathy, it's the best she could manage with a mouth full of tuna, cucumber and low fat mayonnaise.
"About Bertie taking advantage of me and seeing me as little more than a follower, I think you might be right, at least in part," said Jake. "I can't afford to live by the grace of his charity alone, or else I'll always be indebted to him for something."
"I'm so glad to hear you say that, Jake," said Kathy, swallowing. "Friendship is one thing, but being indentured is another. It's no way for us to live. We should be able to provide for our kids on our own, not because we owe our boss a favour."
"Yes, we should," said Jake, fixing his eyes on Angel Blake, who relishes in the moment, having just beaten him to immortality. "And I will."
So it really no surprise to me then that this ideology is as firmly rooted in the hearts and minds of every man and woman who has ever laced up their boots to step in between those ropes to compete as it is.
Every one of us who lays our bodies on the line every time we step in that twenty by twenty ring do so not only because we want to be see as a professional wrestler, but because we want to be remembered as the greatest professional wrestler in this industry.
Each of you that will come down that ramp when your number is up and your music hits at High Stakes will come into this Roulette with a single goal, a single purpose in mind, to capture lightning in a bottle.
Each of you will march into this match with the express and very specific desire of taking this one shot at the ultimate professional wrestling glory and punching your ticket straight into the main event of Night of the Immortals.
You'll look to throw anybody and everybody who dares stand in between you and your dreams of carving a legacy everlasting, over the top rope and out of your way because you're so deeply committed to the notion that a sense of immortality is something that can be won or lost on this one night and in this one match.
Each of you in this match are so enamoured with this idea in fact that you've convinced yourselves that if you can guarantee yourself a place in the ultimate spotlight at the showcase of the immortals, then you will somehow become immortal yourself.
But as any one who is a fan of any sport at all will tell you, it's not enough to simply be a part of the show.
You cannot simply expect to be hailed as anything special just because you hold some golden ticket to the greatest show of them all.
You have to make it count.
Immortality is not something this Roulette or any other single match in the history of this company can bestow upon you.
You have to work for it.
Immortality, true immortality is not something that can be won in this business on a single night. It has to be earned, and it has to be earned not by eliminating your competition over a ring rope, but by rising above it. Slowly, steadily, and in a way nobody will ever truly understand or fully appreciate until its far too late to deny.
Immortality is not the end result of one singular career defining moment, match or victory, but rather a culmination. A culmination of moments, matches, victories, losses, each earned over not just one or two special nights of a single year but over many, many nights over many, many years.
Like the years I have put into not only this company, but also into my entire career.
Every moment, every match, and every night I have spent in that ring over the last thirteen years.
I did id it all because I knew that one day every drop of blood I sacrificed, every bead of sweat I left behind on the canvas in my ring and every bitter tear of disappointment I shed would be worth something one day.
So whilst the rest of you continue to concern yourself with the larger implications of winning this one match on this one night, I will continue my journey towards that one day.
I always knew I was building something special with all of this, I just didn't know what it was, or realise exactly how much it all meant to me until now.
I have worked much too hard for far too long to let any one of you dispose of the fruits of my labour as casually as you would like to believe you can discard the rest of me in this match.
So whilst the rest of you sacrifice each other for just one single fleeting moment of all or nothing, I will savour every last moment of my opportunity in this match.
While you run towards a time in your career where you can change everything in one night, I walk into this match, knowing everything that has changed me has done so one step and one day at a time.
Because that's how things begin to change in this business and that's how people grow in this life.
That's how they become immortal, one day at a time.
There are no instant fixes, there is no sure-fire path to victory, and there is no short cut to immortality.
It's not the matches you win that ensure your immortality in this business, but rather the memories you leave behind in the hearts and minds of others.
I will not concern myself with how much or how little any of you regard me in this match or any other because none of you matter to me, and you never will.
All I will concern myself with are those few, those precious few who do matter to me, my wife, my children.
I don't know exactly how they will remember me when I'm gone, I only know that they will remember me always.
They are my legacy and in being everything that they are, they are everything that you will never be to me.
They are living proof of my immortality in this life.
Each of you can keep your thousands of faceless fickle fans, I have never needed them.
All I have ever needed is my family, for what they keep inside of themselves for me is truly everlasting.
It is what makes me truly immortal, in ways you've never even dreamt of, in ways that none of you will ever be.
Their love has carried me through so much in this life already, and it makes me special in ways the rest of you can only imagine.
So when this Roulette match is over and I'm left standing in the middle of the ring whilst you're on the outside looking back at me, consumed with jealousy and disappointment, I hope that its not just the Imperial Championship opportunity that I will have that kills you inside, but also the fact that an already rich man just became even richer.
For the rest of you, life sucks and then you die, but for me, it's just another day living out another one of my greatest dreams.
Nothing changes at High Stakes, but the dream I will end up living once more.
Only this time, I will have taken many of yours along the way too.
Jake Conway is sat in his home study on his laptop, watching an on demand stream of High Stakes 2014, and even more specifically the first time he was involved in the annual IWF attraction that was the Roulette match, when there is a knock at his door.
"Come in," said Jake, not bothering to pause the stream or look up from the screen.
Kathy entered the room slowly, carrying a plate of sandwiches. The way their two cats, Casino and Snowdrop followed her in expectantly, with their tails twitching in the air, immediately let Jake know that they were tuna sandwiches.
"Ignore them, they've been fed already," said Kathy as she placed the plate on his desk. "Hope I'm not interrupting too much."
"Not at all, there's only so many times a man can watch himself come so close and yet be so far away."
"It was impressive performance, even if it didn't quite go your way in the end," said Kathy.
"Yes, it was, wasn't it? Still I'd rather not make it a habit." said Jake, taking one of the neat triangles from the plate in front of him.
"What? Coming so close but never quite managing to walk away with the big win, you mean?"
Jake took a bite and started chewing before he nodded solemnly at his wife. She moved around the desk and sat herself down on the edge of it, taking the plate of sandwiches into her lap.
"Everybody deserves another chance, babe, even you," smiled Kathy.
"Yeah, and if you hadn't give me mine years ago, I shudder to think where I might have ended up today," said Jake, after swallowing.
"Neither of us has ever managed to get things absolutely perfect, at least nor on the first go," said Kathy, finally giving in and taking a sandwich for herself.
"Oh, I know," admitted Jake, "It's why we're so good together."
Kathy chuckled and nodded in agreement before taking a bite out of her own sandwich.
"So, I've been thinking about what you said the other day," began Jake.
"Hmmm?" asked Kathy, it's the best she could manage with a mouth full of tuna, cucumber and low fat mayonnaise.
"About Bertie taking advantage of me and seeing me as little more than a follower, I think you might be right, at least in part," said Jake. "I can't afford to live by the grace of his charity alone, or else I'll always be indebted to him for something."
"I'm so glad to hear you say that, Jake," said Kathy, swallowing. "Friendship is one thing, but being indentured is another. It's no way for us to live. We should be able to provide for our kids on our own, not because we owe our boss a favour."
"Yes, we should," said Jake, fixing his eyes on Angel Blake, who relishes in the moment, having just beaten him to immortality. "And I will."
Well howdy there pardner.