Emblem of Excellence
Apr 13, 2020 2:16:04 GMT -5
Post by OrochiGeese on Apr 13, 2020 2:16:04 GMT -5
*The camera fades in on Geese Walker standing in front of a UBL "Continuum Stream" banner. He is wearing a midnight blue suit with thin gold pinstripes, a white shirt, and a gold tie. He has a smile on his face that appears genuine but becomes more and more strained. This unease seems to be a result of his attire as he keeps glancing at it.*
[Geese:] “Laugh all you want while you fail to understand its significance.”
*Geese adjusts his suit jacket and straightens his tie.*
[Geese:] “‘That’ Geese was an aberration and is long gone. For better or for worse, you’re looking once again at the genuine article. So allow me to explain why I am clad once again in these Wall Street adjacent clothes.”
*Geese takes a deep breath, looks down at his tie, and smiles legitimately.*
[Geese:] “My good friend Senator Steve Phillips retired last month after his final match: a well-earned victory against me. I already credited him as the physical reason for the re-emergence of my true self. But once I had the opportunity to filter the past eighteen months through my own, true, lens of reality, something he said reinvigorated my mind.
Understand that I have been known by many self-created monikers. I have always been partial to the ‘Kaiser of Chaos’ but my heart gravitated more toward the “Prince of Propaganda’ in the year before my retirement. I did not predict that a new one would emerge, and the fact that it came from an opponent left me both surprised and inspired.
In the lead up to our match, Senator called me the ‘emblem of excellence’ for all to measure up to.
Beyond the wonderful alliteration, a quality that I have admittedly tended to favor, I realize that it had a deeper meaning. It is represented by this suit that I wear right now. I am a professional wrestler.
It has become vogue over the past decade to debate about the second word in my chosen career, but I draw your attention to the first. Wrestling is more than just a job or a hobby, it is my profession. This suit is a reminder that I am not here for a salary nor am I in this for leisure – this is not a recreational diversion for me. I did not return to the ring a few years back to ‘have fun.’ I did not even return to the ring to defeat Destiny. I marched back because my legacy still had an end to be written and I demanded to be the one to write it.
As a man of great ambition, I still seek to be the absolute best. What that means is that I have always held myself to the highest standard and refused to tolerate anything less than the loftiest reward. I am not talking about trying my best. I am talking about winning the reward that I set out to achieve. Results define my career and my ambition.”
*A look of uncertainty appears on Geese’s face.*
[Geese:] “Alas, I do not hear the same sentiment in the words uttered by many of my fellow competitors in this Continuum Stream. Certainly, there are those who are approaching this opportunity with the proper mentality. I’d put Corey O’Brian, RYOMA, and Alicia Gordon - with an asterisk - on my short list of fellow professionals. There are a few others gravitating toward that mindset while being shy of the confidence needed to truly belong in this group just yet.
But the vast majority of this bloated league is made up of two types of people: aspirational failures and antagonistic feuders. First, there are the ‘aspirational failures’ - those who seek to ‘have a good showing’ in the league in order to improve their standing on the card and win some new fans. These are wrestlers who enter this league with the mindset that they ‘could win and, even if they don’t, they’ll do well enough to impress Wingate and the mewling crowd.”
*Geese spits on the floor.*
[Geese:] “These people sicken me. The old Geese would have crippled them on Day 1 just to prevent them from diluting the value of the prize I seek: the greatest prize that the UBL has ever created due to the combination of Championships and Champions. But this Geese will pass on the violence to mind his threshold. It is my creed and I abide by it with a conviction equaling my professional ethic. I know what vindictive violence gets you and I will have no part in that.
But do not mistake my ‘mercy’ for respect. The warriors I named before all have one thing in common – an absolute certainty in their minds that they will win this League and a well thought out plan to do so. So to everyone else - if you don’t already see your victory, if you don’t already feel the Infinite Continuum Championship belt in your hands, you are wasting your time and everyone else’s. No one cares about a ‘good showing.’ If you are content with anything less than total victory at the end of this league, I am disgusted by you. And when I inevitably defeat you, don’t you dare smile at me, hold out your hand, and thank me for the experience. And don't you dare try to rouse the fans in an artificial exercise of relieved failure in the name of mutual respect. I’ll take it as an even greater insult than what Rivers did to me.”
*Geese takes a breath and begins to calm down.*
[Geese:] “The other type of wrestler is the ‘antagonistic feuders’ – those who have joined this league out of a pre-existing rivalry with someone else or a general desire to play ‘spoiler’ to those better than they are. Here you have the Kurt Sanders' and Charles Langford’s of the UBL. None of them has any belief that they will win but winning is not actually their goal so they do not belong in the other category. Rather, they have joined this league to taunt and antagonize their betters. To them, victory is not a goal as an end in of itself, but rather a means to troll their rivals. They are the third graders who steal your toys to make you cry while being incapable of the joy in using those toys themselves.
Sanders – you stole from Robin and OG-Joshi. For that, the old Geese would have already made your career a historical footnote and given a nurse a full time professional position as your caretaker. But I have no desire to maim you now, nor do I have any belief whatsoever that you’ll make it beyond your Block. Everyone you face outclasses you. And I say that despite the anger I feel knowing that one of them has already drawn my blood while the other seems to want it.
So, you may be asking – why not put Alicia Gordon in this antagonistic category? She had very harsh words for me recently. Granted, she is one of the few in this promotion who hate me less than they have legitimate reason to, based on the way I have contributed to her considerable ‘obstacles’ over the years. Approaching the issue objectively, Alicia is a professional who is one mere step from turning into an antagonistic feuder. It depends on who her opponent is. Against Corey O’Brian – I have no doubt that she’d live up to her NEXUS Championship mentality. Against me, she’d rival Kyle Walker’s violence. She still lacks the self-control and perspective over her past to allow her to fully focus on her future.
Alicia – from one professional to an aspirational one - I’ll offer you this advice. Celes would even say I owe it to you and she is not wrong. In ten years, it’s better to have remaining unresolved rage toward me than shame in yourself for losing your professional edge if we face each other. Whether your rage causes you to make a mistake or engage in an action you regret, it will be you who replaces me and Robin as someone to hate. Spare yourself the professional and personal lapse.
For everyone else, I offer you this final piece of guidance – you are looking at a multi-time Universal Champion. No one has won that league and Title more than I have. The only one that comes close is Thunder Strike who, in full disclosure, I practically begged to compete in this League. He has the professional credibility equivalent to half the names in each block combined but it isn’t to be. I understand the importance of his work though, especially with Gauntlet’s re-emergence. That is his chosen form of excellence right now and I can't protest. Selfishly, his professionalism can only help my goals.”
*A hint of a smile is seen on Geese’s face before he goes stoic again.*
[Geese:] “UBL – chase your threshold and sharpen your sights for success. If you truly want to win a Championship, you have to already see that own emblem of excellence around your waist every single day before each battle of this war. Every loss must feel like that of a limb, and every win must feel like an inevitability. Otherwise, you are wasting your time and, more importantly, mine. And if there’s one thing a man who has suffered amnesia for the past eighteen months can’t abide, it’s a further waste of time. If you don’t see this league as your way, get the hell out of mine.”
*Geese stares down the fading camera with fire in his eyes and nostrils flaring.*
[Geese:] “Laugh all you want while you fail to understand its significance.”
*Geese adjusts his suit jacket and straightens his tie.*
[Geese:] “‘That’ Geese was an aberration and is long gone. For better or for worse, you’re looking once again at the genuine article. So allow me to explain why I am clad once again in these Wall Street adjacent clothes.”
*Geese takes a deep breath, looks down at his tie, and smiles legitimately.*
[Geese:] “My good friend Senator Steve Phillips retired last month after his final match: a well-earned victory against me. I already credited him as the physical reason for the re-emergence of my true self. But once I had the opportunity to filter the past eighteen months through my own, true, lens of reality, something he said reinvigorated my mind.
Understand that I have been known by many self-created monikers. I have always been partial to the ‘Kaiser of Chaos’ but my heart gravitated more toward the “Prince of Propaganda’ in the year before my retirement. I did not predict that a new one would emerge, and the fact that it came from an opponent left me both surprised and inspired.
In the lead up to our match, Senator called me the ‘emblem of excellence’ for all to measure up to.
Beyond the wonderful alliteration, a quality that I have admittedly tended to favor, I realize that it had a deeper meaning. It is represented by this suit that I wear right now. I am a professional wrestler.
It has become vogue over the past decade to debate about the second word in my chosen career, but I draw your attention to the first. Wrestling is more than just a job or a hobby, it is my profession. This suit is a reminder that I am not here for a salary nor am I in this for leisure – this is not a recreational diversion for me. I did not return to the ring a few years back to ‘have fun.’ I did not even return to the ring to defeat Destiny. I marched back because my legacy still had an end to be written and I demanded to be the one to write it.
As a man of great ambition, I still seek to be the absolute best. What that means is that I have always held myself to the highest standard and refused to tolerate anything less than the loftiest reward. I am not talking about trying my best. I am talking about winning the reward that I set out to achieve. Results define my career and my ambition.”
*A look of uncertainty appears on Geese’s face.*
[Geese:] “Alas, I do not hear the same sentiment in the words uttered by many of my fellow competitors in this Continuum Stream. Certainly, there are those who are approaching this opportunity with the proper mentality. I’d put Corey O’Brian, RYOMA, and Alicia Gordon - with an asterisk - on my short list of fellow professionals. There are a few others gravitating toward that mindset while being shy of the confidence needed to truly belong in this group just yet.
But the vast majority of this bloated league is made up of two types of people: aspirational failures and antagonistic feuders. First, there are the ‘aspirational failures’ - those who seek to ‘have a good showing’ in the league in order to improve their standing on the card and win some new fans. These are wrestlers who enter this league with the mindset that they ‘could win and, even if they don’t, they’ll do well enough to impress Wingate and the mewling crowd.”
*Geese spits on the floor.*
[Geese:] “These people sicken me. The old Geese would have crippled them on Day 1 just to prevent them from diluting the value of the prize I seek: the greatest prize that the UBL has ever created due to the combination of Championships and Champions. But this Geese will pass on the violence to mind his threshold. It is my creed and I abide by it with a conviction equaling my professional ethic. I know what vindictive violence gets you and I will have no part in that.
But do not mistake my ‘mercy’ for respect. The warriors I named before all have one thing in common – an absolute certainty in their minds that they will win this League and a well thought out plan to do so. So to everyone else - if you don’t already see your victory, if you don’t already feel the Infinite Continuum Championship belt in your hands, you are wasting your time and everyone else’s. No one cares about a ‘good showing.’ If you are content with anything less than total victory at the end of this league, I am disgusted by you. And when I inevitably defeat you, don’t you dare smile at me, hold out your hand, and thank me for the experience. And don't you dare try to rouse the fans in an artificial exercise of relieved failure in the name of mutual respect. I’ll take it as an even greater insult than what Rivers did to me.”
*Geese takes a breath and begins to calm down.*
[Geese:] “The other type of wrestler is the ‘antagonistic feuders’ – those who have joined this league out of a pre-existing rivalry with someone else or a general desire to play ‘spoiler’ to those better than they are. Here you have the Kurt Sanders' and Charles Langford’s of the UBL. None of them has any belief that they will win but winning is not actually their goal so they do not belong in the other category. Rather, they have joined this league to taunt and antagonize their betters. To them, victory is not a goal as an end in of itself, but rather a means to troll their rivals. They are the third graders who steal your toys to make you cry while being incapable of the joy in using those toys themselves.
Sanders – you stole from Robin and OG-Joshi. For that, the old Geese would have already made your career a historical footnote and given a nurse a full time professional position as your caretaker. But I have no desire to maim you now, nor do I have any belief whatsoever that you’ll make it beyond your Block. Everyone you face outclasses you. And I say that despite the anger I feel knowing that one of them has already drawn my blood while the other seems to want it.
So, you may be asking – why not put Alicia Gordon in this antagonistic category? She had very harsh words for me recently. Granted, she is one of the few in this promotion who hate me less than they have legitimate reason to, based on the way I have contributed to her considerable ‘obstacles’ over the years. Approaching the issue objectively, Alicia is a professional who is one mere step from turning into an antagonistic feuder. It depends on who her opponent is. Against Corey O’Brian – I have no doubt that she’d live up to her NEXUS Championship mentality. Against me, she’d rival Kyle Walker’s violence. She still lacks the self-control and perspective over her past to allow her to fully focus on her future.
Alicia – from one professional to an aspirational one - I’ll offer you this advice. Celes would even say I owe it to you and she is not wrong. In ten years, it’s better to have remaining unresolved rage toward me than shame in yourself for losing your professional edge if we face each other. Whether your rage causes you to make a mistake or engage in an action you regret, it will be you who replaces me and Robin as someone to hate. Spare yourself the professional and personal lapse.
For everyone else, I offer you this final piece of guidance – you are looking at a multi-time Universal Champion. No one has won that league and Title more than I have. The only one that comes close is Thunder Strike who, in full disclosure, I practically begged to compete in this League. He has the professional credibility equivalent to half the names in each block combined but it isn’t to be. I understand the importance of his work though, especially with Gauntlet’s re-emergence. That is his chosen form of excellence right now and I can't protest. Selfishly, his professionalism can only help my goals.”
*A hint of a smile is seen on Geese’s face before he goes stoic again.*
[Geese:] “UBL – chase your threshold and sharpen your sights for success. If you truly want to win a Championship, you have to already see that own emblem of excellence around your waist every single day before each battle of this war. Every loss must feel like that of a limb, and every win must feel like an inevitability. Otherwise, you are wasting your time and, more importantly, mine. And if there’s one thing a man who has suffered amnesia for the past eighteen months can’t abide, it’s a further waste of time. If you don’t see this league as your way, get the hell out of mine.”
*Geese stares down the fading camera with fire in his eyes and nostrils flaring.*