Post by Meatball-kun on May 24, 2014 9:37:49 GMT -6
Chuck Matthews: "So it's all come to this, hasn't it? Twenty men and women from all over the world. Different countries, different companies, different backgrounds. All chasing after the same prize. The same victory. One winner. Nineteen losers. You win this sucker, you seal your spot in a future world championship match. What's not to love?
To win, though...that's no easy feat, now, is it? It's tough, there's no two ways around it. You have to outfight and outlast nineteen other people. And they're not just any ordinary people, are they? No...no, these are top talents. These are some of the most respected and most intense fighters in the entire world. Grizzled vets like Pat Gordon Jr., a guy who was already a respected name when I was lacing up my boots for the first time. You get people who are no strangers to big matches...to world championships. Look at Fiona Collins, perhaps one of the best women wrestlers of the last decade. Look at White Phoenix, a man already holding the F1W Championship. Everywhere you look, names you can recognize. Names that demand respect: Brandon Banks. Michael Hopkins. Kerry Windsor.
Chuck Matthews.
See...I do, contrary to what you might suspect, read the dirtsheets. I may not always comment on it, but I do pay very close attention to the world around me. I'm quite aware of the things going on in the wrestling world...in the EXODUS world.
I know that there are whispers, rumors flying around, everybody scurrying as they try to figure out where I'm going to enter into the match. There are quite a number who, even not knowing exactly where I'll come in, are putting my name on the shortlist of those with the best chance of taking it. Why?
Is it because they know that I've already thought it out? Is it because they know that, wherever I may choose to come in, I have chosen that spot for a reason?
So who really stands as the biggest threat in this match?
Is it the grizzled veteran, or the former world champion? The people with the most experience in big matches, who are no strangers to world championship gold?
Is it the outsiders? Is it the man who, if he should win, could very well be the man who steals the world championship and carries it with him to another company? Another home?
Is it the man with the distinct perk? The man allowed an advantage over everyone else, who decides his own spot into the match, thereby knowing a piece of information that nobody else yet knows?
Which name, among all these names, poses the biggest threat?
And that's a word I'd like you all to think about. That is the core of the questions I want you all to ask yourselves this week. Who is a threat? Who decides a threat?
Or, more importantly...WHAT makes a threat?
It seems that, over the course of the last month, I've slowly been climbing that rank, haven't I? I mean, let's recap. I return to the ring after a two-year hiatus from active competition. I lose my first match back in singles competition...and then what? Two multi-competitor matches? A triple threat match, a four-way match...and now a twenty-competitor bout.
That's not a terribly difficult code to crack. I think it's been made known that management and I do not see eye-to-eye. Contrary to what you might think, I am actually very well aware that there are quite a few people, both in EXODUS and in the wrestling world, who don't approve of my methods...who don't approve of the way I conduct business. I know quite well that every week, more and more people are adding me to their shit list. Hell, you've seen twitter, you've seen the blogs, the locker room reports. You know, just as well as I do, that EXODUS management and I do not always see eye-to-eye. And I've been warned of that. And I've been told that I should keep a wary eye on the company I keep, and the things I say.
But, of course, if you've noticed THAT, then you've also likely noticed that I've paid attention to it somewhere in the realm of "jack" and "shit."
And here come the naysayers, just in time. See, I can call it right on cue now. It's so simple. It's so predictable. I do something...let's say "questionable." And there are doubters, throwing up their arms, crying heresy, angry little doubt-mongers, claiming I can't POSSIBLY be as smart as my reputation says I am. Doesn't Chuck realize who he's upsetting? Does he realize what he's done? Does he not see the potential consequences for his actions?
And you all wonder why I smile. I'll tell you what brings a smile to my face: It isn't you, who doubt what I'm doing, who think I've done something irreparable, detrimental to my career. You types have been around for my entire career, and I've gotten quite good at keeping you quiet. No, it's the other half. It's the quieter fans...those are the ones that I hold dearest.
It's the folks who DON'T question. It's the fans who DON'T boo. It's the fans who have familiarized themselves with the way I work. With the way I think. The fans who, while they may not fully understand it themselves, realize that there is always a plan in place...and that when Chuck Matthews has a plan, there's not a soul on God's green Earth that can put a stop to it. They sit in awe. They don't boo. They don't get up in arms when I do something they don't understand. They realize that there is nothing that Chuck Matthews does that he has not thought out ten steps in advance. There is no reaction, no consequence, no match, that Chuck does not have a plan for. They realize, very simply, that not only does Chuck KNOW the reactions of people like, oh, for instance, Darrin Stearns and Jon Collins...
...He's COUNTING on them. And so I am. Oh, absolutely I know they don't like me. I know Cleon Gray doesn't like me. I know Christum Furor doesn't acknowledge that I exist...and that, if he did, he probably wouldn't like me either.
So the question you need to be asking yourself is not "Is Chuck Matthews a threat?" Because, as time goes on, and as we progress through these months, we are realizing the answer more and more every day: Absolutely, Chuck Matthews is a threat. We've watched in just one month's time, as I have gone from the some returning has-been, hardly a threat to a tag champion, to the man poised to steal this match, this..."Crucible," and go on to challenge for the biggest prize this company has to offer. In three matches, I have gone from opening the show to main eventing it. In one month's time, I went from green to orange, and with a victory this week, I'll kick that sucker into Code fucking Red.
But, of course, you've planned for that. And I know you've planned for that. Hell, I've been watching you plan for it for weeks. Do you think I haven't noticed the matches I've been thrown into? I come into EXODUS, and even while brushing off two years of ring rust, I still come close to tearing down your beloved tag champion. The next show, I outsmart two men and emerge victorious. The show after that, I'm tossed more names. THREE opponents this time....and that proved futile as well. Yet again, I think my way through the match. Yet again, I compete, I see my opportunity, and I seize it. Yet again, I do exactly as I say I will: I use my brains...my genius...to win the match.
Nobody else noticed this? Nobody's noticed what it is that EXODUS has been doing to me for the last month? They've been trying to know their enemy. EXODUS has realized that it has the smartest mind in the business walking its halls, and it wants to know exactly how far-reaching that intelligence truly goes.
And so, every show, I'm faced with more opponents. More men to keep my eyes on. More moving parts. More variables. And each time, I have it scouted out. Each time, I'm aware of my surroundings. Each time, I pull out the win.
And now we get the Crucible. Nineteen individuals for me to watch. More parts. More pieces of the puzzle, all moving, all changing. Variables. Thousands of possibilities.
And one constant: Abby Park. Abby, who earned her spot as the first entrant simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She made one poor move, and it cost her dearly....I, on the other hand, get to choose where I enter into this match. Anywhere I want...any number I choose. I suppose you're wondering where that will be?
Miss Park? You'll be seeing me again real soon, sweetheart.
I am entering the Crucible at number two.
Now, by show of hands....how many of you saw that coming? YOU have passed the class. You're FINALLY starting to see how I work. Well done.
I know what the rest of you are thinking, though. 'Why in the world would you come in second? Why not nineteen? Why not enter LAST?' A valid concern, to be sure. Why WOULDN'T I enter at number twenty? Why WOULD I choose to fight the entirety of the match, facing all nineteen combatants, in order to win the bout? Don't I know that the odds of me entering first and winning the match are astronomical? Don't I realize how tough the competition is going to be, which will only serve to lower those odds even further? How do I expect to win?
Now, why would you ask that? Why would you ask HOW I expect to win, when the more delicious question is: DO I expect to win? Do I PLAN to win? Does a victory on Monday play into this master plan that I preach?
Well...but...WHY WOULD YOU WILLINGLY THROW AWAY A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OPPORTUNITY?
Hey, you're getting ahead of yourself, Mr. Inexplicably Frustrated Wrestling Fan! At no point did I say I wasn't aiming to win this thing. On the contrary, I would love nothing more...but if you think for a second that I haven't calculated the possibility that I might lose...if you think that my entire plan RELIES on me winning this match...if you think that a victory is the surest way to advance my plans...you certainly have another thought coming.
This is why EXODUS, for all of its efforts, has failed to stop me. This is why everyone they've thrown at me has failed to stop me. I do the things that nobody else would even dream of. Do you see my magic trick? Do you see what makes me the smartest man in wrestling?
I can stand here and I can tell you, flat-out, that I can be stopped. I tell you, week after week, to think of specific questions. Has it ever occurred to you that if you just once stopped and thought for a moment, you might just figure out what my end result IS?
Do you wonder why I sound like a broken record? Why every week, I come out here and talk about the master plan? Why every week, I ask you what my end result is?
BECAUSE YOU JUST DON'T GET IT, DO YOU?
It seems that no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to drill it into your heads! So every week, I feed you a little bit more. I give you a few more clues to the puzzle. I TELL YOU, PIECE BY PIECE, EXACTLY WHAT I PLAN TO DO. And every week, you never cease to disappoint. Every week, you solve the problem by throwing MORE people at me. MORE wrestlers. HARDER! BETTER! FASTER! STRONGER!
Yeah, I did make a pop culture reference there. Glad you caught it.
But every week, I take your best laid plans and shut them down. But the important thing is that you're doing SOMETHING. You're at least TRYING. And I encourage that. I appreciate that there are nineteen men and women in this match who, at the end of the day, need to accomplish ONE thing:
They need to stop Chuck Matthews.
They need to stop the threat.
So...I have given you all a golden opportunity on a silver platter served up by a diamond butler. All nineteen of you will have the chance to stop me. All nineteen of you will have the opportunity to fight me, to see if you're the guy that can stop my momentum dead...who can kill the threat.
I'm curious to see which one of you does it. I'm curious to see if ANY of you can do it.
Do you see it now? Now that I'm spelling it out for you? Do you see what I've been building towards?
It's power. It's ALWAYS about power. And do you know who, of all people, knows exactly how to manage and direct power? It's the man who has seen this business from every angle, and knows it like the back of his hand. It's the man who connects with the fans, who speaks to them, who electrifies their souls. It's the man that understands that few things are more endearing to the fans than a fighting champion: A man who doesn't take the easy way out. A man who accepts the impossible challenge with open arms. A man who, say...sacrifices a chance to enter at number twenty so he can walk in at number two.
THAT is how you earn the respect of the people. And to win it? To walk in as entrant number two, and survive until the very end...To outsmart nineteen of the top competitors in the world...to beat the likes of White Phoenix, of Pat Gordon Jr., of Fiona Collins, all in one fell swoop...to prove to be smart enough to think my way through a 19-competitor bout, just as I've done a three-man...a four-man?
I mean...would there be ANYONE in EXODUS who could stop me? Would there be anyone who could doubt my ability? Would there be anyone who could contest that I am not only one of the fastest rising stars in this company today, but one of the most respected? One of the most revered?
Now, does that sound like a man that you can very easily get rid of, EXODUS faithful? Does that sound like a man that you can shove around without some serious backlash from your fans? Do you see what I've done? In just one month, I have made myself an asset. I've already become something you cannot hurt...and with a victory this week, I will become something you can't even touch.
And that means that I can walk into this match with no pressure. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The rest of you...you'll focus on the championship. You'll focus on the victory, by any means necessary. I admire that. But me? If I win, I get a world championship match....the icing on the cake. But surely you realize that even if I lose, I win. Even if, by some chance, someone can take me out of the match...the plan always continues. Unaffected. Unchanged.
It's on the shoulders of you fine men and women. Which of you will stop me? Which of you will try and put an end to the months of meticulous planning? Which of you will try and take me out. Because you realize, by now, that allowing me to win this match would make me an indestructible force in this locker room. It would make me the biggest threat this COMPANY has faced, let alone the world champion. I would become a king amongst men. I would become untouchable.
...And when that happens...then the REAL fun begins.
So I beg you. I implore you. Fight your hearts and souls out. Take me, head on. Beat me. End my plans. Throw a wrench in my system. Make me rethink my strategy. Make me work that extra bit to get back on my game. But you won't. You can't. You can't beat me, because you don't understand me. You can't see the things I see...you can't think the way I think.
You want to go to war, but you've forgotten the number one rule: Know your enemy.
So you want to know who's the biggest threat? You want to know who the real target is, who the real Public Enemy number One is? You wanted to know the most dangerous man in this match?
It's the one with the vision."
To win, though...that's no easy feat, now, is it? It's tough, there's no two ways around it. You have to outfight and outlast nineteen other people. And they're not just any ordinary people, are they? No...no, these are top talents. These are some of the most respected and most intense fighters in the entire world. Grizzled vets like Pat Gordon Jr., a guy who was already a respected name when I was lacing up my boots for the first time. You get people who are no strangers to big matches...to world championships. Look at Fiona Collins, perhaps one of the best women wrestlers of the last decade. Look at White Phoenix, a man already holding the F1W Championship. Everywhere you look, names you can recognize. Names that demand respect: Brandon Banks. Michael Hopkins. Kerry Windsor.
Chuck Matthews.
See...I do, contrary to what you might suspect, read the dirtsheets. I may not always comment on it, but I do pay very close attention to the world around me. I'm quite aware of the things going on in the wrestling world...in the EXODUS world.
I know that there are whispers, rumors flying around, everybody scurrying as they try to figure out where I'm going to enter into the match. There are quite a number who, even not knowing exactly where I'll come in, are putting my name on the shortlist of those with the best chance of taking it. Why?
Is it because they know that I've already thought it out? Is it because they know that, wherever I may choose to come in, I have chosen that spot for a reason?
So who really stands as the biggest threat in this match?
Is it the grizzled veteran, or the former world champion? The people with the most experience in big matches, who are no strangers to world championship gold?
Is it the outsiders? Is it the man who, if he should win, could very well be the man who steals the world championship and carries it with him to another company? Another home?
Is it the man with the distinct perk? The man allowed an advantage over everyone else, who decides his own spot into the match, thereby knowing a piece of information that nobody else yet knows?
Which name, among all these names, poses the biggest threat?
And that's a word I'd like you all to think about. That is the core of the questions I want you all to ask yourselves this week. Who is a threat? Who decides a threat?
Or, more importantly...WHAT makes a threat?
It seems that, over the course of the last month, I've slowly been climbing that rank, haven't I? I mean, let's recap. I return to the ring after a two-year hiatus from active competition. I lose my first match back in singles competition...and then what? Two multi-competitor matches? A triple threat match, a four-way match...and now a twenty-competitor bout.
That's not a terribly difficult code to crack. I think it's been made known that management and I do not see eye-to-eye. Contrary to what you might think, I am actually very well aware that there are quite a few people, both in EXODUS and in the wrestling world, who don't approve of my methods...who don't approve of the way I conduct business. I know quite well that every week, more and more people are adding me to their shit list. Hell, you've seen twitter, you've seen the blogs, the locker room reports. You know, just as well as I do, that EXODUS management and I do not always see eye-to-eye. And I've been warned of that. And I've been told that I should keep a wary eye on the company I keep, and the things I say.
But, of course, if you've noticed THAT, then you've also likely noticed that I've paid attention to it somewhere in the realm of "jack" and "shit."
And here come the naysayers, just in time. See, I can call it right on cue now. It's so simple. It's so predictable. I do something...let's say "questionable." And there are doubters, throwing up their arms, crying heresy, angry little doubt-mongers, claiming I can't POSSIBLY be as smart as my reputation says I am. Doesn't Chuck realize who he's upsetting? Does he realize what he's done? Does he not see the potential consequences for his actions?
And you all wonder why I smile. I'll tell you what brings a smile to my face: It isn't you, who doubt what I'm doing, who think I've done something irreparable, detrimental to my career. You types have been around for my entire career, and I've gotten quite good at keeping you quiet. No, it's the other half. It's the quieter fans...those are the ones that I hold dearest.
It's the folks who DON'T question. It's the fans who DON'T boo. It's the fans who have familiarized themselves with the way I work. With the way I think. The fans who, while they may not fully understand it themselves, realize that there is always a plan in place...and that when Chuck Matthews has a plan, there's not a soul on God's green Earth that can put a stop to it. They sit in awe. They don't boo. They don't get up in arms when I do something they don't understand. They realize that there is nothing that Chuck Matthews does that he has not thought out ten steps in advance. There is no reaction, no consequence, no match, that Chuck does not have a plan for. They realize, very simply, that not only does Chuck KNOW the reactions of people like, oh, for instance, Darrin Stearns and Jon Collins...
...He's COUNTING on them. And so I am. Oh, absolutely I know they don't like me. I know Cleon Gray doesn't like me. I know Christum Furor doesn't acknowledge that I exist...and that, if he did, he probably wouldn't like me either.
So the question you need to be asking yourself is not "Is Chuck Matthews a threat?" Because, as time goes on, and as we progress through these months, we are realizing the answer more and more every day: Absolutely, Chuck Matthews is a threat. We've watched in just one month's time, as I have gone from the some returning has-been, hardly a threat to a tag champion, to the man poised to steal this match, this..."Crucible," and go on to challenge for the biggest prize this company has to offer. In three matches, I have gone from opening the show to main eventing it. In one month's time, I went from green to orange, and with a victory this week, I'll kick that sucker into Code fucking Red.
But, of course, you've planned for that. And I know you've planned for that. Hell, I've been watching you plan for it for weeks. Do you think I haven't noticed the matches I've been thrown into? I come into EXODUS, and even while brushing off two years of ring rust, I still come close to tearing down your beloved tag champion. The next show, I outsmart two men and emerge victorious. The show after that, I'm tossed more names. THREE opponents this time....and that proved futile as well. Yet again, I think my way through the match. Yet again, I compete, I see my opportunity, and I seize it. Yet again, I do exactly as I say I will: I use my brains...my genius...to win the match.
Nobody else noticed this? Nobody's noticed what it is that EXODUS has been doing to me for the last month? They've been trying to know their enemy. EXODUS has realized that it has the smartest mind in the business walking its halls, and it wants to know exactly how far-reaching that intelligence truly goes.
And so, every show, I'm faced with more opponents. More men to keep my eyes on. More moving parts. More variables. And each time, I have it scouted out. Each time, I'm aware of my surroundings. Each time, I pull out the win.
And now we get the Crucible. Nineteen individuals for me to watch. More parts. More pieces of the puzzle, all moving, all changing. Variables. Thousands of possibilities.
And one constant: Abby Park. Abby, who earned her spot as the first entrant simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time. She made one poor move, and it cost her dearly....I, on the other hand, get to choose where I enter into this match. Anywhere I want...any number I choose. I suppose you're wondering where that will be?
Miss Park? You'll be seeing me again real soon, sweetheart.
I am entering the Crucible at number two.
Now, by show of hands....how many of you saw that coming? YOU have passed the class. You're FINALLY starting to see how I work. Well done.
I know what the rest of you are thinking, though. 'Why in the world would you come in second? Why not nineteen? Why not enter LAST?' A valid concern, to be sure. Why WOULDN'T I enter at number twenty? Why WOULD I choose to fight the entirety of the match, facing all nineteen combatants, in order to win the bout? Don't I know that the odds of me entering first and winning the match are astronomical? Don't I realize how tough the competition is going to be, which will only serve to lower those odds even further? How do I expect to win?
Now, why would you ask that? Why would you ask HOW I expect to win, when the more delicious question is: DO I expect to win? Do I PLAN to win? Does a victory on Monday play into this master plan that I preach?
Well...but...WHY WOULD YOU WILLINGLY THROW AWAY A WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OPPORTUNITY?
Hey, you're getting ahead of yourself, Mr. Inexplicably Frustrated Wrestling Fan! At no point did I say I wasn't aiming to win this thing. On the contrary, I would love nothing more...but if you think for a second that I haven't calculated the possibility that I might lose...if you think that my entire plan RELIES on me winning this match...if you think that a victory is the surest way to advance my plans...you certainly have another thought coming.
This is why EXODUS, for all of its efforts, has failed to stop me. This is why everyone they've thrown at me has failed to stop me. I do the things that nobody else would even dream of. Do you see my magic trick? Do you see what makes me the smartest man in wrestling?
I can stand here and I can tell you, flat-out, that I can be stopped. I tell you, week after week, to think of specific questions. Has it ever occurred to you that if you just once stopped and thought for a moment, you might just figure out what my end result IS?
Do you wonder why I sound like a broken record? Why every week, I come out here and talk about the master plan? Why every week, I ask you what my end result is?
BECAUSE YOU JUST DON'T GET IT, DO YOU?
It seems that no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to drill it into your heads! So every week, I feed you a little bit more. I give you a few more clues to the puzzle. I TELL YOU, PIECE BY PIECE, EXACTLY WHAT I PLAN TO DO. And every week, you never cease to disappoint. Every week, you solve the problem by throwing MORE people at me. MORE wrestlers. HARDER! BETTER! FASTER! STRONGER!
Yeah, I did make a pop culture reference there. Glad you caught it.
But every week, I take your best laid plans and shut them down. But the important thing is that you're doing SOMETHING. You're at least TRYING. And I encourage that. I appreciate that there are nineteen men and women in this match who, at the end of the day, need to accomplish ONE thing:
They need to stop Chuck Matthews.
They need to stop the threat.
So...I have given you all a golden opportunity on a silver platter served up by a diamond butler. All nineteen of you will have the chance to stop me. All nineteen of you will have the opportunity to fight me, to see if you're the guy that can stop my momentum dead...who can kill the threat.
I'm curious to see which one of you does it. I'm curious to see if ANY of you can do it.
Do you see it now? Now that I'm spelling it out for you? Do you see what I've been building towards?
It's power. It's ALWAYS about power. And do you know who, of all people, knows exactly how to manage and direct power? It's the man who has seen this business from every angle, and knows it like the back of his hand. It's the man who connects with the fans, who speaks to them, who electrifies their souls. It's the man that understands that few things are more endearing to the fans than a fighting champion: A man who doesn't take the easy way out. A man who accepts the impossible challenge with open arms. A man who, say...sacrifices a chance to enter at number twenty so he can walk in at number two.
THAT is how you earn the respect of the people. And to win it? To walk in as entrant number two, and survive until the very end...To outsmart nineteen of the top competitors in the world...to beat the likes of White Phoenix, of Pat Gordon Jr., of Fiona Collins, all in one fell swoop...to prove to be smart enough to think my way through a 19-competitor bout, just as I've done a three-man...a four-man?
I mean...would there be ANYONE in EXODUS who could stop me? Would there be anyone who could doubt my ability? Would there be anyone who could contest that I am not only one of the fastest rising stars in this company today, but one of the most respected? One of the most revered?
Now, does that sound like a man that you can very easily get rid of, EXODUS faithful? Does that sound like a man that you can shove around without some serious backlash from your fans? Do you see what I've done? In just one month, I have made myself an asset. I've already become something you cannot hurt...and with a victory this week, I will become something you can't even touch.
And that means that I can walk into this match with no pressure. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. The rest of you...you'll focus on the championship. You'll focus on the victory, by any means necessary. I admire that. But me? If I win, I get a world championship match....the icing on the cake. But surely you realize that even if I lose, I win. Even if, by some chance, someone can take me out of the match...the plan always continues. Unaffected. Unchanged.
It's on the shoulders of you fine men and women. Which of you will stop me? Which of you will try and put an end to the months of meticulous planning? Which of you will try and take me out. Because you realize, by now, that allowing me to win this match would make me an indestructible force in this locker room. It would make me the biggest threat this COMPANY has faced, let alone the world champion. I would become a king amongst men. I would become untouchable.
...And when that happens...then the REAL fun begins.
So I beg you. I implore you. Fight your hearts and souls out. Take me, head on. Beat me. End my plans. Throw a wrench in my system. Make me rethink my strategy. Make me work that extra bit to get back on my game. But you won't. You can't. You can't beat me, because you don't understand me. You can't see the things I see...you can't think the way I think.
You want to go to war, but you've forgotten the number one rule: Know your enemy.
So you want to know who's the biggest threat? You want to know who the real target is, who the real Public Enemy number One is? You wanted to know the most dangerous man in this match?
It's the one with the vision."