Post by MERICA on Aug 31, 2023 7:50:45 GMT -5
Some exposition…
Another match. Another loss. What is there even to say at this point? Everything MERICA had trained for, everything he had hoped for and wished for, prayed for and fought for has been nothing but one failure after another and now even MERCIA’s mentor, Wrestling Legend Chet Dakota has seemingly given up on his once prized protege. And he did so in a most embarrassing fashion. Leaving MERICA high and dry during his match against Matthew Knox and Thaddeus Duke. The latter of which “pinned’ MERICA to secure the victory. Another match, another disappointment. Another match with literally nothing to show for it. Four matches, 1 total point accrued. Some might even call it a pity point.
Where does MERICA go from here? Does he just fold up shop and walk away with one match to go? Forget about the next set of Trials or the one after that. MERICA hasn’t earned even the right to put his name in the hat. TLS was kind enough to give MERICA a shot to show the world what he could do and so far it’s been nothing but disappointment. Team TLS is in last place because of MERICA. There is no other way to say it.
The truth is clear. MERICA is not fit for this business. Not physically and not mentally. He has been beaten. Not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times. He. Has. Been. Beaten.
But he has not been broken.
Not yet anyway. MERICA will not give up because giving up is not in his blood. Giving up is what those Frog eating fucks over in France do. But not the Red, White and Blue Praying Patriot who spends his Sundays with his momma at church and then helping the less fortunate at the local food kitchen. Giving up is not in MERICA’s vocabulary. Just the thought makes MERICA dry heave.
Chet may have abandoned MERICA but MERICA has not abandoned hope. He has not abandoned his promise to put his best foot forward and do everything he can to help his team. Even though he knows deep down inside they are all incredibly disappointed in him. Even if they, unlike Chet, are too kind to just come out and say it. MERICA will not give up hope because without hope we have nothing.
Some more training aka (Verbal Harassment)
Fade in but this time instead of a church we find MERICA sitting on a bench across from a taco truck in Venice Beach California. Pacing back and forth a few feet in front of MERICA is Pro Wrestling Legend and 50 time World Champion Chet Dakota. The look of unbridled disgust on Chet’s face is hard to miss and the anger in his words is impossible to mistake.
“When are you going to get it Patriot? Your way doesn’t work. Maybe one day it will after years, maybe decades of training but we don’t have years. We don’t have decades. We have days and not even many of those left. You’ve wasted the opportunity your team Captain, such as he is gave you by drafting you, second to last I might add. I should have seen the writing on the wall then but I was blinded by your flag waving love for our wonderful country. But now my eyes have been opened and I hope yours have been too because now, maybe, just maybe you will make the adjustments I’ve begged you to make you can go out with a bang instead of a whimper like you have in every single match you’ve had so far.”
“I hear you Chet I do. I know what you want me to do. I’ve thought long and hard about it. I’m not ignoring you or even think you’re wrong, I just don’t know if I can do it.”
“Patriot, you aren’t listening to me. You can’t afford NOT to do it. Not unless you want to exit this event as one of only 2 people without a single win to their name. You realize that right? After this match one of you is going to get their first and only win of the Trials and the other two will be left with none. At this point the only person in the Trials who's been more worthless to their team than you is Alexander Raven and by the grace of God that schmuck is in this match with you. As is Lachlan Kane, you remember him right? The guy who was kind enough to eat a pin for you on night 2 otherwise you’d be as worthless as the lesser Raven…”
“But…”
“No. No. No dammit. No buts. I don’t want to hear any excuses like how you’ve lost to two team leaders and Stephen Strafford twice who is 4th in overall points. I don’t care how hard a road to hoe it’s been for you. You signed up to be a professional wrestler. You felt the calling you said. You agreed to train with me. To learn from me. To allow me to impart ALL of my wisdom on you. No one ever said it was going to be easy. If you want easy go play Old Maid with the cotton heads down the road. I’m sure they’d get a kick out of you.”
Order her for “MERICA” a large hispanic man behind the window of the Taco truck shouts out.
Hearing this MERICA gets up from his seat and walks a few feet over to the food truck to retrieve his order. Once he gets there the man’s face lights up.
“Oh wow you’re that professional wrestler…” The man in the food truck says excitedly.
“More like professional pin eater.” Chet shouts from the area he is still pacing.
MERICA lowers his head as he grabs his container of food and heads back to his bench.
“As I was saying, I don’t want to hear any excuses from you. In fact all I really want to hear from you is a commitment to doing things my way from now on because as we have seen over and over and over again your way doesn’t work.”
“I swear to you I am trying to see things your way. To do things your way but it’s a struggle. I’ve lived my whole life having a code and now you want me to abandon it like it’s as simple as Thanos snapping a finger. I can’t do that.”
“You HAVE to do that. If not now when? Tomorrow is not guaranteed. This match very well could be your last match ever as a professional wrestler. Your record literally speaks for itself. Who is going to want to hire you after this? The answer is likely no one. ESPECIALLY if you can’t manage to get a win over Alexander Raven of all people.”
“You say it like the guy is some two bit indie wrestler who accidentally found himself in the big leagues…”
“Congratulations Patriot! You just described yourself. No see Alexander Raven actually has accomplishments worth talking about. Not in the Trials mind you. He’s managed to be the only guy whose shit the bed worse than you so maybe you are going into this match thinking you have the upper hand but you don’t. Because while Alexander Raven has been 50 shades of dog shit in the Trials you’ve been 49 and a half shades of dog shit. So it’s basically a wash and the smart money is on the veteran and not the rookie. But you know what Patriot, I have faith in you this match. I really do…”
“That’s nice of you to say Chet.” MERICA interrupts.
“I wasn’t finished. Don’t interrupt me again Patriot. What I was going to say was that I have faith in you, IF and ONLY if you start doing the things I’ve been talking to you about for the last month. If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, mark my words you will walk out of the trials as the single greatest failure of them. Is that what you want?”
“Of course not. You know I don’t.”
“What I know is what I can see and what I can see makes me weep inside. For you and for AMERICA. You don’t seem to realize what you are. I’m not just talking about a failed wrestler but as a symbol. A symbol of hope and promise. You are SUPPOSED to be a symbol of AMERICA but the AMERICA I know dominates. In all things. And you…well...the only thing you’ve dominated is the bottom of the standings. You, Alexander Raven and Lachlan Kane. Three blind mice.”
MERICA doesn’t respond. Instead he just lowers his head again in shame and places his food next to him on the bench. An ill advised move as only seconds later a California Gull swoops down and takes the food right out of its container. MERICA reaches forward to try and snatch the food back but it’s too late as the bird has already started it’s rapid climb to the sky.
“Can’t even win a fight with a disgusting bird. How are you supposed to win a wrestling match?”
“You know what Chet…” MERICA says as he pushes himself up from the bench and starts walking towards his mentor.
“No Patriot. Why don’t you tell me? Tell me what. What do you have to tell me?” Go on. Say it. Say what’s on your mind.” Chet responds as he stops pacing and remains in place as MERICA approaches him.
MERICA finally reaches Chet, coming to a stop only a few inches away from the wrestling legend’s face. MERICA tilts his head slightly one way and then the other way before he lowers his head and retreats back to his bench.
“See this is what I am talking about. For a fleeting second there I could see the fire in your eyes, and hear the anger in your words. I thought finally, FINALLY, the MERICA that we deserve is going to come out and play but just like you’ve shown in all of your matches so far, you weren’t up for the task. You weren’t willing to do what you need to do and because of that the results of at the PPV will be just like they were in the first four nights of the trials.”
“I get it Chet. You’ve made it abundantly clear that I’m worthless. That I stink. That i’m the worst wrestler on the planet. That I’ve failed you and your legacy. You are a wrestling legend that took a chance on me and I’ve been nothing but a disappointment to you. You’re upset with me because you think I am not listening to you and refusing to do what you want me to do but it’s just not that simple Chet. I’ve valued my time with you. You’ve taught me so many things. You’ve made me a better wrestler even if the results don’t reflect that but doing what you are asking me to do, it’s not just as simple as flipping a switch and just turning into this other guy. I spent years in the military learning how to operate within a strict code. It’s something extremely important to me Chet. It’s hard to explain to someone who has never been part of the military but it’s not an easy thing to just wash away.
But I promise you this, at the Pay Per View I will be more aggressive out there. I will do anything and everything within the rules to win. I already showed that I can beat Lachlan Kane. As good as he is, he wasn’t able to beat me. Granted I didn’t exactly win the match either but I didn’t lose it. Low bar Chet I know but it’s all I have. Lachlan is great. Great wrestler, great guy but he still couldn’t get the win and he is going to go into this match knowing that he couldn’t take advantage of my greenness. Alexander Raven as you said has accolades a plenty but they aren’t here and thus they don’t matter. All that matters is the here and now and in the here and now Alexander Raven is going to face a guy who, to borrow a tired sports cliche “Wants it more.” I read a quote somewhere, I can’t remember where but someone asked Raven why he wanted to take part in the trials and he said 'It's a matter of knowing. I will not be forgotten. I am not forgettable. I will be the one who dismantles the Invisible Hands hold on us all.' Well so far he hasn’t dismantled anything except his credibility and when this match is over he’s 100% right, he won’t be forgettable because he will be remembered forever as the guy who limped out of the first set of trials as the lowest scoring wrestler in a field that includes the eternally hopeful masked Patriot you see standing before you. Now if it would be ok with you Chet, I’d like to go and get some lunch and actually be able to eat it this time.”
“Sure kid, here, go buy some lunch, on me.”
Chet reaches into his pocket and pulls out his money clip. He takes a $20 bill from it and hands it to MERICA.
“Get some for me too.”
Fade to Red White and Blue!
Another match. Another loss. What is there even to say at this point? Everything MERICA had trained for, everything he had hoped for and wished for, prayed for and fought for has been nothing but one failure after another and now even MERCIA’s mentor, Wrestling Legend Chet Dakota has seemingly given up on his once prized protege. And he did so in a most embarrassing fashion. Leaving MERICA high and dry during his match against Matthew Knox and Thaddeus Duke. The latter of which “pinned’ MERICA to secure the victory. Another match, another disappointment. Another match with literally nothing to show for it. Four matches, 1 total point accrued. Some might even call it a pity point.
Where does MERICA go from here? Does he just fold up shop and walk away with one match to go? Forget about the next set of Trials or the one after that. MERICA hasn’t earned even the right to put his name in the hat. TLS was kind enough to give MERICA a shot to show the world what he could do and so far it’s been nothing but disappointment. Team TLS is in last place because of MERICA. There is no other way to say it.
The truth is clear. MERICA is not fit for this business. Not physically and not mentally. He has been beaten. Not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times. He. Has. Been. Beaten.
But he has not been broken.
Not yet anyway. MERICA will not give up because giving up is not in his blood. Giving up is what those Frog eating fucks over in France do. But not the Red, White and Blue Praying Patriot who spends his Sundays with his momma at church and then helping the less fortunate at the local food kitchen. Giving up is not in MERICA’s vocabulary. Just the thought makes MERICA dry heave.
Chet may have abandoned MERICA but MERICA has not abandoned hope. He has not abandoned his promise to put his best foot forward and do everything he can to help his team. Even though he knows deep down inside they are all incredibly disappointed in him. Even if they, unlike Chet, are too kind to just come out and say it. MERICA will not give up hope because without hope we have nothing.
Some more training aka (Verbal Harassment)
Fade in but this time instead of a church we find MERICA sitting on a bench across from a taco truck in Venice Beach California. Pacing back and forth a few feet in front of MERICA is Pro Wrestling Legend and 50 time World Champion Chet Dakota. The look of unbridled disgust on Chet’s face is hard to miss and the anger in his words is impossible to mistake.
“When are you going to get it Patriot? Your way doesn’t work. Maybe one day it will after years, maybe decades of training but we don’t have years. We don’t have decades. We have days and not even many of those left. You’ve wasted the opportunity your team Captain, such as he is gave you by drafting you, second to last I might add. I should have seen the writing on the wall then but I was blinded by your flag waving love for our wonderful country. But now my eyes have been opened and I hope yours have been too because now, maybe, just maybe you will make the adjustments I’ve begged you to make you can go out with a bang instead of a whimper like you have in every single match you’ve had so far.”
“I hear you Chet I do. I know what you want me to do. I’ve thought long and hard about it. I’m not ignoring you or even think you’re wrong, I just don’t know if I can do it.”
“Patriot, you aren’t listening to me. You can’t afford NOT to do it. Not unless you want to exit this event as one of only 2 people without a single win to their name. You realize that right? After this match one of you is going to get their first and only win of the Trials and the other two will be left with none. At this point the only person in the Trials who's been more worthless to their team than you is Alexander Raven and by the grace of God that schmuck is in this match with you. As is Lachlan Kane, you remember him right? The guy who was kind enough to eat a pin for you on night 2 otherwise you’d be as worthless as the lesser Raven…”
“But…”
“No. No. No dammit. No buts. I don’t want to hear any excuses like how you’ve lost to two team leaders and Stephen Strafford twice who is 4th in overall points. I don’t care how hard a road to hoe it’s been for you. You signed up to be a professional wrestler. You felt the calling you said. You agreed to train with me. To learn from me. To allow me to impart ALL of my wisdom on you. No one ever said it was going to be easy. If you want easy go play Old Maid with the cotton heads down the road. I’m sure they’d get a kick out of you.”
Order her for “MERICA” a large hispanic man behind the window of the Taco truck shouts out.
Hearing this MERICA gets up from his seat and walks a few feet over to the food truck to retrieve his order. Once he gets there the man’s face lights up.
“Oh wow you’re that professional wrestler…” The man in the food truck says excitedly.
“More like professional pin eater.” Chet shouts from the area he is still pacing.
MERICA lowers his head as he grabs his container of food and heads back to his bench.
“As I was saying, I don’t want to hear any excuses from you. In fact all I really want to hear from you is a commitment to doing things my way from now on because as we have seen over and over and over again your way doesn’t work.”
“I swear to you I am trying to see things your way. To do things your way but it’s a struggle. I’ve lived my whole life having a code and now you want me to abandon it like it’s as simple as Thanos snapping a finger. I can’t do that.”
“You HAVE to do that. If not now when? Tomorrow is not guaranteed. This match very well could be your last match ever as a professional wrestler. Your record literally speaks for itself. Who is going to want to hire you after this? The answer is likely no one. ESPECIALLY if you can’t manage to get a win over Alexander Raven of all people.”
“You say it like the guy is some two bit indie wrestler who accidentally found himself in the big leagues…”
“Congratulations Patriot! You just described yourself. No see Alexander Raven actually has accomplishments worth talking about. Not in the Trials mind you. He’s managed to be the only guy whose shit the bed worse than you so maybe you are going into this match thinking you have the upper hand but you don’t. Because while Alexander Raven has been 50 shades of dog shit in the Trials you’ve been 49 and a half shades of dog shit. So it’s basically a wash and the smart money is on the veteran and not the rookie. But you know what Patriot, I have faith in you this match. I really do…”
“That’s nice of you to say Chet.” MERICA interrupts.
“I wasn’t finished. Don’t interrupt me again Patriot. What I was going to say was that I have faith in you, IF and ONLY if you start doing the things I’ve been talking to you about for the last month. If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, mark my words you will walk out of the trials as the single greatest failure of them. Is that what you want?”
“Of course not. You know I don’t.”
“What I know is what I can see and what I can see makes me weep inside. For you and for AMERICA. You don’t seem to realize what you are. I’m not just talking about a failed wrestler but as a symbol. A symbol of hope and promise. You are SUPPOSED to be a symbol of AMERICA but the AMERICA I know dominates. In all things. And you…well...the only thing you’ve dominated is the bottom of the standings. You, Alexander Raven and Lachlan Kane. Three blind mice.”
MERICA doesn’t respond. Instead he just lowers his head again in shame and places his food next to him on the bench. An ill advised move as only seconds later a California Gull swoops down and takes the food right out of its container. MERICA reaches forward to try and snatch the food back but it’s too late as the bird has already started it’s rapid climb to the sky.
“Can’t even win a fight with a disgusting bird. How are you supposed to win a wrestling match?”
“You know what Chet…” MERICA says as he pushes himself up from the bench and starts walking towards his mentor.
“No Patriot. Why don’t you tell me? Tell me what. What do you have to tell me?” Go on. Say it. Say what’s on your mind.” Chet responds as he stops pacing and remains in place as MERICA approaches him.
MERICA finally reaches Chet, coming to a stop only a few inches away from the wrestling legend’s face. MERICA tilts his head slightly one way and then the other way before he lowers his head and retreats back to his bench.
“See this is what I am talking about. For a fleeting second there I could see the fire in your eyes, and hear the anger in your words. I thought finally, FINALLY, the MERICA that we deserve is going to come out and play but just like you’ve shown in all of your matches so far, you weren’t up for the task. You weren’t willing to do what you need to do and because of that the results of at the PPV will be just like they were in the first four nights of the trials.”
“I get it Chet. You’ve made it abundantly clear that I’m worthless. That I stink. That i’m the worst wrestler on the planet. That I’ve failed you and your legacy. You are a wrestling legend that took a chance on me and I’ve been nothing but a disappointment to you. You’re upset with me because you think I am not listening to you and refusing to do what you want me to do but it’s just not that simple Chet. I’ve valued my time with you. You’ve taught me so many things. You’ve made me a better wrestler even if the results don’t reflect that but doing what you are asking me to do, it’s not just as simple as flipping a switch and just turning into this other guy. I spent years in the military learning how to operate within a strict code. It’s something extremely important to me Chet. It’s hard to explain to someone who has never been part of the military but it’s not an easy thing to just wash away.
But I promise you this, at the Pay Per View I will be more aggressive out there. I will do anything and everything within the rules to win. I already showed that I can beat Lachlan Kane. As good as he is, he wasn’t able to beat me. Granted I didn’t exactly win the match either but I didn’t lose it. Low bar Chet I know but it’s all I have. Lachlan is great. Great wrestler, great guy but he still couldn’t get the win and he is going to go into this match knowing that he couldn’t take advantage of my greenness. Alexander Raven as you said has accolades a plenty but they aren’t here and thus they don’t matter. All that matters is the here and now and in the here and now Alexander Raven is going to face a guy who, to borrow a tired sports cliche “Wants it more.” I read a quote somewhere, I can’t remember where but someone asked Raven why he wanted to take part in the trials and he said 'It's a matter of knowing. I will not be forgotten. I am not forgettable. I will be the one who dismantles the Invisible Hands hold on us all.' Well so far he hasn’t dismantled anything except his credibility and when this match is over he’s 100% right, he won’t be forgettable because he will be remembered forever as the guy who limped out of the first set of trials as the lowest scoring wrestler in a field that includes the eternally hopeful masked Patriot you see standing before you. Now if it would be ok with you Chet, I’d like to go and get some lunch and actually be able to eat it this time.”
“Sure kid, here, go buy some lunch, on me.”
Chet reaches into his pocket and pulls out his money clip. He takes a $20 bill from it and hands it to MERICA.
“Get some for me too.”
Fade to Red White and Blue!