- Event: Refueled LXXV
Two Sides of Greed
I’m not much of a forgiving man, really. In fact, I use my unforgiving nature to fuel my results in the ring. It’s how I stay alive, how I stay in contention in HOW. It’s how I can come in and out and remain talked about. Sure…there are a few things people say about me, usually negative, but the point is they are talking about me. Seems Jatt Starr is the one guilty of it the most. Gotta love the guy, but I digress.
I’m not in some match at Rumble at the Rock. I’m in a seven deadly sins match where the winner will get a shot at the HOW World Championship. Call it what you will, but the opportunities, they come knocking on my door. I don’t just butcher them, either. There is one title that I seemed to have gotten a shot for more than anything else in my career…and it is also one of only two titles I have never held in High Octane Wrestling and that’s the HOW Television Championship. I’m really not sure why that title is the one that I’ve had the most difficult in winning, but perhaps when I’ve fought for it, I was still developing my game. I mean, it had to have been, right? I’ve won the HOW World Championship twice, the HOW ICON Championship, the LSD Championship twice and the HOW Tag Team Championships three times. So what’s been so god damn hard about winning the HOW Television Championship?
In my defense, though, I just didn’t have that proper drive that I do now. After looking back on my entire career, I can safely tell you all that it was my own fucking fault in dropping the ball when it has come to the HOW Television Championship.
That ENDS this week!
This week, I’m literally facing a man who looks like the wish version of Johnny Depp, QT Reese. I’ll give you credit where credit is due, Reese, you were able to take down one of the best in HOW and a rightful legend in Jace Parker Davidson. Remarkable. Truly remarkable. The question remains, though, are we literally seeing you break through that glass ceiling already? Or is it a simple case of mistaken assumption on everyone’s part and you come crashing back down to earth this week? I must admit, I was very impressed when you knocked off Jace to become the new Television Champion and you did it in three matches to win your first gold in HOW and no one can take that away from you. However, what I can do is take that television title away from you. It’s a simple formula really, QT. You’re riding a high wave in HOW but you really can’t experience everything HOW has to offer until you lose that first match…then everything changes. You have that bar that you have set and then you have that bar that you must overcome. It’s every emotion you could think of that hits you all at once. You come down from that high and you start questioning yourself a million times over. Case in point, I plan on providing you that example this week when I kick your head off. You’re the one that’s going to be in the danger zone this week and when you fall in that line of fire, it will only take one Decree to take that precious title away from you.
The whole scene will look exactly like two sides of greed looks. There truly is two sides of everything. A story. A coin. Cause and effect. Heads or tails. Happy and tragic endings. However, this week it will come in the form of greed. Greed doesn’t play fair, and neither do I, Reese. I’m done proclaiming promises. It just doesn’t work anymore. You have to evolve and I have done just that. I’ve finally found what was missing and it turns out that nothing was missing just a few short years ago. I don’t know why it took me so long to figure out why but I’m literally in a position where I can’t let my emotions get in the way…let alone miscalculating or second guessing. I tried the honorable road and it didn’t work. I tried to rid myself of the fame, the money…the greed…but that’s the funny thing, about greed…it always has a way of consuming your life and I stopped fighting it a few weeks ago. I was always destined to be run by it. It’s literally my shadow…it constantly follows me everywhere…silently pushing me to make the right choices. Greed will either make you or break you…and it did both for me.
I’ve seen both sides of it and I got complacent. Complacency is a common thing in life and when you get complacent, that’s when the mistakes start to happen. That’s when you start letting your guard down and if life taught me anything, it’s to NEVER let your guard down no matter what…because if you show weakness or show your hand, you’re going to get played EVERY fucking time. That’s why I’m done with getting played. It’s played or get played and I don’t plan on making it the latter.
Winning the HOW Television Championship has given you a confidence boost, there’s no denying that. However, if history is anything to point out here it’s that short reigns happen more often here in HOW than you think. All you’re doing in this scenario, Reese, is holding onto a title that is not meant to be yours for a long period of time. I realize that this title is defended basically on a weekly basis and I just don’t think you can keep up the momentum pressing forward. HOW is a cruel working schedule and there are a lot of hungry people here in HOW who are looking to add to their resumes. Speaking of resumes, I’m pushing to win my first HOW Television Championship thus crossing off another championship off the bucket list of accomplished feats to do here in HOW and I’ve got my full attention on you this week, Reese. I’ve gone too long, lost too many opportunities at winning this championship and the window to winning it is closing. I’m far from done and I don’t plan on letting that window close on me just yet. I plan on continuing my momentum towards Rumble at the Rock running strong and if I have to take that championship into Rumble at the Rock and defend it, then so be it!
Look at you, though, Reese. I mean, really take a hard look at yourself. You’re supposed to be an entrepreneur, right? All I see is a man who is struggling to keep a knocked off version of K-Mart open. You’re broke. I know that weighs on your mind. I get it. I’ve hit rock bottom before, too. I struggled to keep the money flowing in. However, I made a decision and I pressed forward vowing never to put myself in that position again. Hollywood Enterprises was partially blown up, my mansion was entirely blown up and it almost looked as if I was ready to check myself out. The pressure was on for me to make a change and so I bet on myself and now I have a chance to make everything right. The difference between me and you, though, is that I’m willing to risk it all. Bet on myself. It is the only true way of testing your character and knowing that risk is part of the game and I’ve made a career out of making risky calls. I look at you, and quite frankly, I don’t see the same man on the other side. I see a man who’s afraid to make the adjustment. I see a man who wants to only play it safe and not make the decisions that you have to do on a daily basis. I look across from me and I see a man who’s full of fear and quite frankly I can practically smell it, taste it from where I’m at right now.
This week, I will teach you a lesson when it comes to betting on yourself. You still have a lot to learn in this business, Reese, and I will show you firsthand what that is like and what it fucking feels like. I’m going to take that television title away from you and show you just how fast things can not only change in how, but also how fast you can be handed something and then it is taken away. Make no mistake, Reese, you will just be another stepping stone in my quest to get back to the top in this company….a mountain top that I should have never been knocked off of.
I’m not playing games anymore, QT. You and everyone else witnessed what I did to Doozer just a couple weeks ago and that wasn’t even me at my best. You have to know how to play the game, you have to be willing to make that decision in putting yourself in the position to win…to achieve at being the best version of yourself. You have to be willing to make the call in putting yourself on a pedestal and taking that risk, taking that choice that may not be a popular one or even a great one in the eyes of everyone else. However, if it’s right for YOU than nothing else fucking matters! I’m not afraid to make that judgement call that I know most will not agree with…but if it makes sense for me and feels right for me, and in the end elevates me further, than I’m going to fucking do it. It’s because I know I can live with myself when I go to sleep at the end of the night. I sleep soundly knowing that I’m bettering myself and achieving everything I need to achieve and knowing I won’t lose any sleep over it. That’s exactly how this Saturday will shape up, QT, and I’m not ashamed to admit it.
Green is good and being greedy has only done made things better for me in the long run. Now I know you’re still fairly new here in HOW, but the rest of the HOW roster will see it for what it is and that is playing the long game. Having all the right moves in helping me achieve just a little bit more power than I had the previous week and I won’t fucking apologize for it. Apologizing only makes you appear weaker and weakness is a luxury you can’t have if you strive to be the best. I’ve always been the best when it comes to exposing the weaknesses of others and yours is a writing on the wall and I’m going to knock your god damn head off in an effort just to prove a fucking point. But I warn you again, Reese, greed doesn’t play fair…and neither do I. I have gold on the mind and I plan on grabbing me some before Rumble at the Rock. Plus winning the HOW Television Championship will finally allow me to cross off another accomplishment off the list of gold that I’ve won.
I can appreciate the heart you will undoubtedly bring to our match but I warn you it will not be enough. You have to go where the green is, where the money calls out to you and the heart is the absolute worst thing to listen to. I tried the whole follow your heart and listen to your heart bullshit and it doesn’t pay off at all. In fact, it is but another fucking weakness and the only thing I’ve filled my heart with has been hate. I can’t be just satisfied with one win or even with one title. I have to fucking have it ALL to be satisfied and that’s the only thing that keeps you on the path to having it all. I can eat my cake and have it, too, and I’m going to continue to prove that statement furthermore when we lock up in that ring this Saturday night.
I’m going to do what I need to do in order to win my first HOW Television Championship and the bad thing for you or anyone else in HOW will be that that will simply be the START of it all! I will show you what it means to lose. I will show you what’s on the other side of winning and being a champion and it’s going to be a lesson you’re going to learn quite quickly and at the end of the day, you’re going to end up thanking me for it later. I won’t even charge you a cent for that lesson, either. The only payment I will ask for is that HOW Television Championship you’re holding onto right now. This match will not be for the faint of heart, Reese, and judging by you, you wear your heart on your sleeve. I’m going to fucking make you eat it and it will be a cheaper discount than anything you’ll ever have at a ReeseMart.
Don’t fret though, Reese. Life lessons are hard to come by in HOW and all it will take in showing you that lesson is a swift kick to the side of the head and a three count to show you just how fast things can change in HOW. You should feel lucky and privileged that all this lesson is going to cost you is a brutal beating and a championship at the expense of your misgivings and a slapped penalty that will undoubtedly cause the prices at ReeseMart to skyrocket.
Adjust and adapt because things in HOW can change on a weekly basis. Just know that you will be the second person I’ve placed an Executive Decree on and it hits a lot harder than any empty Executive Promise ever could and after this week the decree will show me as your new HOW Television Champion and my continued rise back to power in High Octane Wrestling. Keep your chin up, though, Reese because you’re going to need a lot of mental and physical toughness to be able to continue to swim in these shark infested waters of HOW…and while you’re barely able to keep your head above water in HOW, I’ll be riding a raft of momentum as I push myself further in my quest in proving just why greed belongs at the very center of this company and prove that you really can have it all and more as I demonstrate that by first becoming you’re new HOW Television Champion!
The Decree calls for it, after all, and when it comes to greed…
Anything and Everything is truly possible!
==========================
A Pedestal for Greed
BUMP!
Hollywood is immediately woken up as he looks over at his friend, Phil Woods, with a bit of shock.
Brian Hollywood: “What the hell was that?!”
Phil Woods: “Sorry bud, I reckon the entire world hates potholes.”
Hollywood was silent as he was actually woken up from a deep sleep. He hadn’t slept much since he returned to HOW. It wasn’t just the fight he had with the Chair and trying to take him down, but he really found new life recently in HOW as he prepares himself for Rumble at the Rock where there was a lot at stake. Ever since Hollywood’s reawakened quest to achieve power once again in HOW, he hadn’t stopped thinking about everything he could do and win. It was like he had heard a calling in the night and since hearing this call, Hollywood has been a different man. It was if sleep was a waste of time and that it only kept him from achieving everything he set his eyes upon. Still, he knew he at least needed some rest to keep up his strength. Phil looks over at Hollywood and he could tell something had directed most of his attention elsewhere.
Phil Woods: “Can I ask ye a question, Bri?”
Brian Hollywood: “If it will help you sleep better at night, sure.”
Phil Woods: “Well ye know that I’m on the road quite a lot and don’t really have the time to tune into much when it comes to watchin television or spending any extra time doin some of the things I love to do…but I feel like there’s something eatin away at ya and don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s almost as if ya have become obsessed over it.”
Hollywood laughs and scoffs at the notion. Turns out, Phil was right. Hollywood, however, was starting to eat, breathe and sleep hungry for more. What he had already wasn’t enough. He wanted to be better, wanted to be held in a more unique light and this new found vision Hollywood has had when it comes to the shadow of greed made him more aggressive, more desired to chase more and more of it. It was a satiable salvation, a thirst that Hollywood craved. His dreams were becoming darker and they were becoming more vivid in which he was dreaming that he was held on a pedestal over everyone else. He was surrounded by gold, money and power that made everyone else around him beneath him and he couldn’t stop thinking about it. Hollywood finally looks over at Phil and clarifies his statement.
Brian Hollywood: “I’ve taken all the wrong approaches at things lately, Phil. I was able to get a victory over Doozer a couple weeks ago and that win felt….undeniably great! I didn’t show any remorse and I just found myself loving tearing him down and proving a point and it seems like that’s all I want to do anymore. There are too many points I have to make in HOW and the best thing is I didn’t have any regret feeling the way I did! Imagine…for a second….if I took this approach a long time ago against my fight with The Chair that this would have ended a long time ago. I let my own weakness and my own self doubt get in the way of that. Well, I’m done being in a position of weakness and I vow to put myself in a position where I am the one wreaking the havoc and I’m the one holding all the cards! Imagine, I hold the leverage over him and making the call in doing this without regret or worry about what anyone thinks of my actions.”
Phil Woods: “Tread carefully, my friend. I have had the pleasure of calling ya my friend for a good year and a half and I have seen a change in you from the time we’ve met to now. If ya don’t mind me being blunt, be careful how you approach the goals you want in life because it sounds like you might be sick…”
Hollywood bats an eyebrow raise as he didn’t take too kindly to Phil’s statement.
Brian Hollywood: “Sick, you say?! SICK?! The only thing I’m sick of is being the man who’s always losing everything! I’m done being a victim of circumstance and I won’t let anything stand in my way of getting what I want! That success, that goal, starts in HOW and this Saturday, I have the chance to add to my power by getting a chance at fighting for the HOW Television Championship. I need MORE, Phil, I need to stand my ground and prove why I should be taken seriously all around the world and it’s high time that I use the fear as a weapon in my favor….to unleash it on everyone who opposes me! One way or another, Phil, you’ll see. Just you watch…just you fucking watch!”
Phil sighs as the conversation between the two is short as Hollywood stares out the window and to the open scenery as the sickness, the greed in his eyes becomes more defined. He was definitely clinging onto something and it was clearly feeding him as the want, the need for power continues to grow within Hollywood as the scene slowly fades to black.