Post by Meatball-kun on Nov 15, 2014 23:44:35 GMT -6
Chuck Matthews: "You wanna hear something crazy?
For almost half the year, this company has run around like a chicken with its head cut off. It seems that everybody wanted a piece of the pie. Everyone wanted to topple the regime. This whole place was in tatters. Chaos. Discord. Violence. Everybody somehow getting involved, in some form or another, in this crazy war over the future of EXODUS. Seemed like everybody had a stake in it. Everybody wanted to be the one to turn the tide, to stand out from the rest and establish themselves as either the savior of EXODUS...or the biggest threat to it. And with each new person vying for power, more fuel was added to the fire. More chaos. More confusion.
And all that time, there was one man pulling the strings. Moving the pieces. Ensuring that everything went exactly as planned.
Ain't that crazy? Everything that caused you so much confusion, everything that you couldn't even wrap your head around...and not only did I manage to make sense of it: It was all coming out of my little head.
I believe it was Mr. Scott who asked a few weeks ago what made me so confident. The man made a fair point. Everybody wants to take control. Every promotion goes through it at some point: Some punk walks in and tries to take control of the company by force...and they always fail. What makes me so different? What makes me think that I'll be the one guy that defies the odds and seizes power?
Because I've done it before.
Because I'm the only man smart enough to pull the same con twice.
I think that's the really depressing part about all of this. This could have all been avoided so easily had somebody done their homework. I mean, to tell you the truth, this whole scheme of mine? It was solid, don't get me wrong...but it was a little too predictable for my taste. A few too many holes, you know? Christ, this whole thing could have been sent reeling had somebody just looked into the history of, say...NLWF. Or, if you'd like a more recent example, IWF. OR, if we'd like to go another route, we can talk about Pride.
All three of those companies, at one point or another, were under the ME banner...the same banner I intend to bring EXODUS under after Autumn Effect. NLWF...NLWF was my first. It was a lot like what I did here, actually. Cause a little bit of mayhem....sow the seeds of discord...and watch as the company slowly deteriorates. Watch as the powers that be struggle to maintain control...and when the company calls for a new leader, I step up to the plate...and lo and behold, the madness stops.
Of course, back then, I had other goals in mind. Back then, I had dreams of a new company, and to do THAT, I needed to get rid of the competition. So I took over. I seized control, by force, and when I did, I destroyed NLWF.
No? You don't believe me? Ah, you've never HEARD of such a company. Understandable. It shut down in 2011, before EXODUS had even opened its doors. Three years later, and there's no memories of such a place?
Ah, or maybe you HAVE heard of it....and you've heard bad things. Poor management. Massive egos running rampant. A bunch of nasty self-serving bastards with no sense of camaraderie, maybe? Yes?
Hey, what can I say? I'm just really good at what I do.
Fast forward. IWF. They're still kicking, I believe. Just offered a contract to Miss Casey Faith, if I'm not mistaken. Trivia fact! Did you know that my company put up half the money to get that company off the ground? Did you know that for two years, as IWF grew and expanded, they did so while broadcasting on my network?
Oh! Pride! Mr. Halich. Some of you are familiar with the gentleman, I think. A riddle for you: Who puts Pride's flagship show on television? Any guesses?
Why yes, MEN TV! Imagine that.
Christian Kane was the first to catch onto this phenomenon. Of course, he wasn't bright enough to figure out what it was he was seeing, only that it kicked his warped ideas of this business square in the nuts. He was the kindergartner who found an Incan coin in the sandbox and wondered if it would fit in a gumball machine, never questioning the value of what he'd discovered.
Mr. Kane realized, perhaps before any of you, that Chuck Matthews is NOT hated outside of EXODUS. As a matter of fact...he's actually pretty well-liked. Of course, he couldn't understand why. He thought it must be some act, that I'm just a vastly different person outside the ring than in it, but to tell you the truth, that's really not the case.
The sad fact of the matter is that people just don't think I'm all that bad. People realize that I'm here to do good things. EXODUS on MEN TV? That is a good thing.
But of course...nobody's ever really stopped to question this, have they? Nobody's ever wondered if perhaps the change I represent will be for the better. It seems like the common opinion is that should I take over EXODUS, I'll destroy it. Sell it in pieces. Relocate it, maybe.
You know...like I did to IWF or Pride, right?
That was sarcasm, gentlemen.
Fact of the matter is, there's all sorts of crazy accusations about the evil Chuck will do if he gets his hands on EXODUS, but all of these wild allegations lack this pesky thing that we in the legal system call "evidence." And the kicker? I've got a long and proven track record of building companies UP, not tearing them DOWN. Matthews Enterprises: A top-level corporation. IWF: A national-based wrestling promotion, originally funded in no small part by Matthews Enterprises. Pride: A fast-rising promotion, funded and televised by Chuck's company...I mean, with the sole exception being NLWF, I'm some sort of Midas of the business world: Everything I touch turns to gold. I bring change...and I've never denied that when I take EXODUS under my control, there WILL be changes...but what nobody's bothered to ask is: What if those changes are for the better?
But I've been labeled the villain...and that's fine. I've been the bad guy before. I can take the punishment. It's part of what I do. But what's painfully frustrating is how willingly an entire company will submit to the opinions of one man...or, I suppose, one family.
I've blamed the Collins' for the degradation of EXODUS, and perhaps that was a bit harsh. No....they haven't degraded EXODUS...but in a world where stagnation means death, they may as well have. I offered to bring this company into the future. I offered to help bring EXODUS to the next level. And to do THAT, I offered to rid you of the one man that has been holding it back. I offered to get rid of the powers that refuse to accept change. Who stick to this twisted sense of tradition. Who are arrogant enough to think that this industry still needs them. Who have fooled themselves into believing that professional wrestling hasn't passed them by. This business is constantly changing...constantly evolving. This industry changes you, you don't change the industry. And what makes me a successful businessman, and what makes me a successful WRESTLER, is that I've accepted that I cannot stop progress. I can only adapt to it. I can change as the business changes. I can accept the new ideas. I can adapt to these 'new traditions.' And more importantly, I can steer my company, and others with it, to embrace these changes.
Now, you tell me, Zack Lifer: Am I really, truly the villain in our twisted little story? Am I really the bad guy I've been made out to be?
We find ourselves at a crossroads. Take one path, and EXODUS will come under my company banner. What happens further down that road? That's the gamble. Maybe it's exactly as you feared: I pick this company apart, piece by piece. I've already got Pride, right? Maybe my reason for wanting EXODUS is to eliminate some of the competition for my other business ventures. But...maybe I'm being honest. Now there's a scary thought. Maybe I intend to make this company better. Maybe I intend to give the hardworking individuals of this roster that dream they've been chasing since they came into this business. You don't know, do you?
....of course, there's the other path. I lose, and I'm sent packing. I'm gone. I'm out of your hair. And EXODUS remains....exactly...the same.
That's depressing.
But, you see...there is one more path here, and it's the one we tend to ignore. It's the path we just walked down. It's the path we've been walking down that led us to this point. The past. All the crazy shenanigans that have brought us here.
In the nine years since I made my professional debut, I've done a lot of things...some good, some bad...and contrary to what the unheralded master of business has to say about it, I've created an enterprise that has brought a whole new level to this industry. I've built an empire, that, as Mr. Lifer will so kindly point out, fails so hard it's grown exponentially over the last three years. It makes sense if you don't think about it, right?
And here I stand in EXODUS...and, like I've said, this is not my first trip to the rodeo. And as much as I hate to bust everyone's bubble...this isn't even the toughest. NLWF? IWF? These were national promotions. These were massive companies, far larger, far wealthier than EXODUS. What makes you think, in all of your unrestrained hubris, that YOU will be the company that survives my onslaught? Contrary to what Mr. Scott has said, it is not ME that should be questioning why I'LL be the one to take YOU down...it's YOU that should be asking...what is this intangible? What is that mysterious ace in the hole that's going to save you where it failed to save anyone else? What is going to prevent you from going down the road of so many companies before you?
And I've got no doubt you have one. Why else would you put everything on the line in a wrestling match? At the end of the day, you've gambled the fate of your company on a game of chance. You're wagering that I won't have every angle thought through. You're betting that I'll have a night where I won't be able to beat Zack Lifer...a man that I've beaten before...and a man whose mind breaks with the resistance of your average toothpick.
You are COUNTING on me to make a mistake, and as I look back at my plan, I can tell you right now exactly where my big mistake lies: I accepted the match.
Now...that is not a recent revelation. I walk into this match knowing full well what I've just done...and I know damn well that I didn't need to do it. You think this was the only way I'd get what I want? You think I wouldn't be able to break little Nicolas, manipulate him into selling me his company? No...I accepted the wager. Why?
I do not hate EXODUS. Believe it or not, I don't. I do not hate this industry. I've made my living doing....this. Wrestling. Stepping into the ring and showing the world what I can do. This was never about money for me. Money, I've got. Fame? Power? Prestige? I've got that. Yet....I came into this independent promotion out of California. I came here, instead of going national. Instead of going where there was money. Why?
The same reason I accepted this match. Because you've finally made it interesting. You've finally made it fun.
Your desperation is amusing, to say the least. You threw it ALL on the table in one last ditch effort: Either lose your last bit of ground to Chuck, or hit the big ol' undo button on all the damage I've cause since I've arrived. Tell me: In what universe would it have been a good idea to take this match? I've already won. Another few weeks, and this company would have been mine anyway. Jon Collins himself is stepping out of active competition, and is that not half of what I've been doing for months? I mean, you're quick to point out that Mr. Collins holds none of the power that I so desperately need to take over EXODUS...a fact that I myself am very well aware of. But I chose to target him anyway. Why?
It goes to show exactly how little you really understand. You know that the pieces will fall, but you fail to see where. I see where. I see where things will go. I see how people will react. I know that, with one particular individual out of the picture...out of action...the rest of the resistance falls apart. And from there? That's a cakewalk.
I would give it another two months before this company would have been in my power, AND YET....and yet...I took this match.
What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good Cinderella story.
So let's see what you can bring, Lifer. Let's see if you can do what so many people...in EXODUS...in IWF...In NLWF...in Pride...in UGW...in RWF...in wrestling itself...have failed to do: Let's see if you can finally be the man to stop the Chuck Matthews master plan.
They chose you, Lifer. Out of everyone they could have picked...they chose you.
You, who has never been able to get inside my head. You, who once realized the great potential an ally like me could be. You, who understands that there is no single person in this business who can outsmart me. And you're supposed to be the savior of this company?
You're right about one thing, my friend: You need this far, far more than I do. If I win, my plan succeeds...again. I get a company under the Enterprise banner....again. I mean, if I win....EXODUS wins. I bring EXODUS to a bright and glorious future.
But you? If YOU win this? You're the hero who delivers EXODUS from it's greatest threat. Maybe you'll get that recognition you so desperately crave.
That's the big difference between us, Zack...you need that acceptance. You CRAVE it. You need some sort of validation that you're doing the right thing. You obsess over this battle of right and wrong, and THEN...then, like you're in any position to talk to ME about morals, you try and get me to call this whole thing off? THAT's your strategy? You're going to try and appeal to the better nature of a man who has made his career by ignoring that very thing?
You're really not as smart as you think you are, are you?
But, of course, you have that one thing that nobody can take away: You just don't fucking quit. You don't. Doesn't matter that half of this roster doesn't think you've got what it takes. Doesn't matter that Nick Grey himself had so little faith in you, he opted to insert a guest referee. Doesn't matter that you, in some bizarre botch job that only you could manage, figured out how to get on the bad side of BOTH sides of the same war.
You're a soldier, Lifer. You're a fighter. You are designed to go in guns blazing and hope to God it hits. You're a homing missile: Fire him off and he will do whatever the fuck it takes to ensure that the target is destroyed. But....the thing about missiles is that somebody needs to fire them off. The thing about soldiers is that someone needs to tell them who to shoot. You lack leadership. You lake that strategic mind.
I've got that. And that, undoubtedly, is why you came to me for help, those many weeks ago. You weren't looking for an ally. You were looking for someone to see all the moving parts. I was your eye in the sky, telling you where the enemies were, where they were headed, and where you should go next.
But I have no allegiances. I learned that painful lesson years ago: People are expendable. Everybody's replaceable.
Even me.
So if you win, Zack...you're absolutely right. I'll have to give up my crusade for EXODUS. Whatever my reasons for taking it...whatever my goals once I had it...none of it matters. And as for me? I'm out of a job.
Well...a wrestling job.
You tell me who really wins, Zack? Who are you really doing this for? The company? The company that could, potentially, have a lot to benefit from my control? Or...are you doing this for you? Are you doing this as one final shot in the dark, to hope to God that maybe THIS, if nothing else, will get somebody to acknowledge your talent. To tell you that you've done a good thing. To assure you that you're not as hopelessly corrupt, as irredeemable, as a man like me?
If I should lose, by some strange twist of fate...I'll be out of your hair. Gone to torment some other poor souls. No more attacks in the ring. No more going home beaten and sore from a grueling match the night before. No more painfully stupid individuals who have put all their faith behind their ability to kick someone in the skull....I will be free, not of EXODUS...but of this industry that has taken everything I've had left to give.
But if I should win...we find ourselves in a new world. A new leadership, away from the arcane traditions of the old EXODUS and everyone who stood for it. A new era, you might say. A bright and prosperous future. The promised land. No more Gods & Monsters. No more Sekigun. No more Furor, no more Collins, no more war.
Free at last...free at last...
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."
For almost half the year, this company has run around like a chicken with its head cut off. It seems that everybody wanted a piece of the pie. Everyone wanted to topple the regime. This whole place was in tatters. Chaos. Discord. Violence. Everybody somehow getting involved, in some form or another, in this crazy war over the future of EXODUS. Seemed like everybody had a stake in it. Everybody wanted to be the one to turn the tide, to stand out from the rest and establish themselves as either the savior of EXODUS...or the biggest threat to it. And with each new person vying for power, more fuel was added to the fire. More chaos. More confusion.
And all that time, there was one man pulling the strings. Moving the pieces. Ensuring that everything went exactly as planned.
Ain't that crazy? Everything that caused you so much confusion, everything that you couldn't even wrap your head around...and not only did I manage to make sense of it: It was all coming out of my little head.
I believe it was Mr. Scott who asked a few weeks ago what made me so confident. The man made a fair point. Everybody wants to take control. Every promotion goes through it at some point: Some punk walks in and tries to take control of the company by force...and they always fail. What makes me so different? What makes me think that I'll be the one guy that defies the odds and seizes power?
Because I've done it before.
Because I'm the only man smart enough to pull the same con twice.
I think that's the really depressing part about all of this. This could have all been avoided so easily had somebody done their homework. I mean, to tell you the truth, this whole scheme of mine? It was solid, don't get me wrong...but it was a little too predictable for my taste. A few too many holes, you know? Christ, this whole thing could have been sent reeling had somebody just looked into the history of, say...NLWF. Or, if you'd like a more recent example, IWF. OR, if we'd like to go another route, we can talk about Pride.
All three of those companies, at one point or another, were under the ME banner...the same banner I intend to bring EXODUS under after Autumn Effect. NLWF...NLWF was my first. It was a lot like what I did here, actually. Cause a little bit of mayhem....sow the seeds of discord...and watch as the company slowly deteriorates. Watch as the powers that be struggle to maintain control...and when the company calls for a new leader, I step up to the plate...and lo and behold, the madness stops.
Of course, back then, I had other goals in mind. Back then, I had dreams of a new company, and to do THAT, I needed to get rid of the competition. So I took over. I seized control, by force, and when I did, I destroyed NLWF.
No? You don't believe me? Ah, you've never HEARD of such a company. Understandable. It shut down in 2011, before EXODUS had even opened its doors. Three years later, and there's no memories of such a place?
Ah, or maybe you HAVE heard of it....and you've heard bad things. Poor management. Massive egos running rampant. A bunch of nasty self-serving bastards with no sense of camaraderie, maybe? Yes?
Hey, what can I say? I'm just really good at what I do.
Fast forward. IWF. They're still kicking, I believe. Just offered a contract to Miss Casey Faith, if I'm not mistaken. Trivia fact! Did you know that my company put up half the money to get that company off the ground? Did you know that for two years, as IWF grew and expanded, they did so while broadcasting on my network?
Oh! Pride! Mr. Halich. Some of you are familiar with the gentleman, I think. A riddle for you: Who puts Pride's flagship show on television? Any guesses?
Why yes, MEN TV! Imagine that.
Christian Kane was the first to catch onto this phenomenon. Of course, he wasn't bright enough to figure out what it was he was seeing, only that it kicked his warped ideas of this business square in the nuts. He was the kindergartner who found an Incan coin in the sandbox and wondered if it would fit in a gumball machine, never questioning the value of what he'd discovered.
Mr. Kane realized, perhaps before any of you, that Chuck Matthews is NOT hated outside of EXODUS. As a matter of fact...he's actually pretty well-liked. Of course, he couldn't understand why. He thought it must be some act, that I'm just a vastly different person outside the ring than in it, but to tell you the truth, that's really not the case.
The sad fact of the matter is that people just don't think I'm all that bad. People realize that I'm here to do good things. EXODUS on MEN TV? That is a good thing.
But of course...nobody's ever really stopped to question this, have they? Nobody's ever wondered if perhaps the change I represent will be for the better. It seems like the common opinion is that should I take over EXODUS, I'll destroy it. Sell it in pieces. Relocate it, maybe.
You know...like I did to IWF or Pride, right?
That was sarcasm, gentlemen.
Fact of the matter is, there's all sorts of crazy accusations about the evil Chuck will do if he gets his hands on EXODUS, but all of these wild allegations lack this pesky thing that we in the legal system call "evidence." And the kicker? I've got a long and proven track record of building companies UP, not tearing them DOWN. Matthews Enterprises: A top-level corporation. IWF: A national-based wrestling promotion, originally funded in no small part by Matthews Enterprises. Pride: A fast-rising promotion, funded and televised by Chuck's company...I mean, with the sole exception being NLWF, I'm some sort of Midas of the business world: Everything I touch turns to gold. I bring change...and I've never denied that when I take EXODUS under my control, there WILL be changes...but what nobody's bothered to ask is: What if those changes are for the better?
But I've been labeled the villain...and that's fine. I've been the bad guy before. I can take the punishment. It's part of what I do. But what's painfully frustrating is how willingly an entire company will submit to the opinions of one man...or, I suppose, one family.
I've blamed the Collins' for the degradation of EXODUS, and perhaps that was a bit harsh. No....they haven't degraded EXODUS...but in a world where stagnation means death, they may as well have. I offered to bring this company into the future. I offered to help bring EXODUS to the next level. And to do THAT, I offered to rid you of the one man that has been holding it back. I offered to get rid of the powers that refuse to accept change. Who stick to this twisted sense of tradition. Who are arrogant enough to think that this industry still needs them. Who have fooled themselves into believing that professional wrestling hasn't passed them by. This business is constantly changing...constantly evolving. This industry changes you, you don't change the industry. And what makes me a successful businessman, and what makes me a successful WRESTLER, is that I've accepted that I cannot stop progress. I can only adapt to it. I can change as the business changes. I can accept the new ideas. I can adapt to these 'new traditions.' And more importantly, I can steer my company, and others with it, to embrace these changes.
Now, you tell me, Zack Lifer: Am I really, truly the villain in our twisted little story? Am I really the bad guy I've been made out to be?
We find ourselves at a crossroads. Take one path, and EXODUS will come under my company banner. What happens further down that road? That's the gamble. Maybe it's exactly as you feared: I pick this company apart, piece by piece. I've already got Pride, right? Maybe my reason for wanting EXODUS is to eliminate some of the competition for my other business ventures. But...maybe I'm being honest. Now there's a scary thought. Maybe I intend to make this company better. Maybe I intend to give the hardworking individuals of this roster that dream they've been chasing since they came into this business. You don't know, do you?
....of course, there's the other path. I lose, and I'm sent packing. I'm gone. I'm out of your hair. And EXODUS remains....exactly...the same.
That's depressing.
But, you see...there is one more path here, and it's the one we tend to ignore. It's the path we just walked down. It's the path we've been walking down that led us to this point. The past. All the crazy shenanigans that have brought us here.
In the nine years since I made my professional debut, I've done a lot of things...some good, some bad...and contrary to what the unheralded master of business has to say about it, I've created an enterprise that has brought a whole new level to this industry. I've built an empire, that, as Mr. Lifer will so kindly point out, fails so hard it's grown exponentially over the last three years. It makes sense if you don't think about it, right?
And here I stand in EXODUS...and, like I've said, this is not my first trip to the rodeo. And as much as I hate to bust everyone's bubble...this isn't even the toughest. NLWF? IWF? These were national promotions. These were massive companies, far larger, far wealthier than EXODUS. What makes you think, in all of your unrestrained hubris, that YOU will be the company that survives my onslaught? Contrary to what Mr. Scott has said, it is not ME that should be questioning why I'LL be the one to take YOU down...it's YOU that should be asking...what is this intangible? What is that mysterious ace in the hole that's going to save you where it failed to save anyone else? What is going to prevent you from going down the road of so many companies before you?
And I've got no doubt you have one. Why else would you put everything on the line in a wrestling match? At the end of the day, you've gambled the fate of your company on a game of chance. You're wagering that I won't have every angle thought through. You're betting that I'll have a night where I won't be able to beat Zack Lifer...a man that I've beaten before...and a man whose mind breaks with the resistance of your average toothpick.
You are COUNTING on me to make a mistake, and as I look back at my plan, I can tell you right now exactly where my big mistake lies: I accepted the match.
Now...that is not a recent revelation. I walk into this match knowing full well what I've just done...and I know damn well that I didn't need to do it. You think this was the only way I'd get what I want? You think I wouldn't be able to break little Nicolas, manipulate him into selling me his company? No...I accepted the wager. Why?
I do not hate EXODUS. Believe it or not, I don't. I do not hate this industry. I've made my living doing....this. Wrestling. Stepping into the ring and showing the world what I can do. This was never about money for me. Money, I've got. Fame? Power? Prestige? I've got that. Yet....I came into this independent promotion out of California. I came here, instead of going national. Instead of going where there was money. Why?
The same reason I accepted this match. Because you've finally made it interesting. You've finally made it fun.
Your desperation is amusing, to say the least. You threw it ALL on the table in one last ditch effort: Either lose your last bit of ground to Chuck, or hit the big ol' undo button on all the damage I've cause since I've arrived. Tell me: In what universe would it have been a good idea to take this match? I've already won. Another few weeks, and this company would have been mine anyway. Jon Collins himself is stepping out of active competition, and is that not half of what I've been doing for months? I mean, you're quick to point out that Mr. Collins holds none of the power that I so desperately need to take over EXODUS...a fact that I myself am very well aware of. But I chose to target him anyway. Why?
It goes to show exactly how little you really understand. You know that the pieces will fall, but you fail to see where. I see where. I see where things will go. I see how people will react. I know that, with one particular individual out of the picture...out of action...the rest of the resistance falls apart. And from there? That's a cakewalk.
I would give it another two months before this company would have been in my power, AND YET....and yet...I took this match.
What can I say? I'm a sucker for a good Cinderella story.
So let's see what you can bring, Lifer. Let's see if you can do what so many people...in EXODUS...in IWF...In NLWF...in Pride...in UGW...in RWF...in wrestling itself...have failed to do: Let's see if you can finally be the man to stop the Chuck Matthews master plan.
They chose you, Lifer. Out of everyone they could have picked...they chose you.
You, who has never been able to get inside my head. You, who once realized the great potential an ally like me could be. You, who understands that there is no single person in this business who can outsmart me. And you're supposed to be the savior of this company?
You're right about one thing, my friend: You need this far, far more than I do. If I win, my plan succeeds...again. I get a company under the Enterprise banner....again. I mean, if I win....EXODUS wins. I bring EXODUS to a bright and glorious future.
But you? If YOU win this? You're the hero who delivers EXODUS from it's greatest threat. Maybe you'll get that recognition you so desperately crave.
That's the big difference between us, Zack...you need that acceptance. You CRAVE it. You need some sort of validation that you're doing the right thing. You obsess over this battle of right and wrong, and THEN...then, like you're in any position to talk to ME about morals, you try and get me to call this whole thing off? THAT's your strategy? You're going to try and appeal to the better nature of a man who has made his career by ignoring that very thing?
You're really not as smart as you think you are, are you?
But, of course, you have that one thing that nobody can take away: You just don't fucking quit. You don't. Doesn't matter that half of this roster doesn't think you've got what it takes. Doesn't matter that Nick Grey himself had so little faith in you, he opted to insert a guest referee. Doesn't matter that you, in some bizarre botch job that only you could manage, figured out how to get on the bad side of BOTH sides of the same war.
You're a soldier, Lifer. You're a fighter. You are designed to go in guns blazing and hope to God it hits. You're a homing missile: Fire him off and he will do whatever the fuck it takes to ensure that the target is destroyed. But....the thing about missiles is that somebody needs to fire them off. The thing about soldiers is that someone needs to tell them who to shoot. You lack leadership. You lake that strategic mind.
I've got that. And that, undoubtedly, is why you came to me for help, those many weeks ago. You weren't looking for an ally. You were looking for someone to see all the moving parts. I was your eye in the sky, telling you where the enemies were, where they were headed, and where you should go next.
But I have no allegiances. I learned that painful lesson years ago: People are expendable. Everybody's replaceable.
Even me.
So if you win, Zack...you're absolutely right. I'll have to give up my crusade for EXODUS. Whatever my reasons for taking it...whatever my goals once I had it...none of it matters. And as for me? I'm out of a job.
Well...a wrestling job.
You tell me who really wins, Zack? Who are you really doing this for? The company? The company that could, potentially, have a lot to benefit from my control? Or...are you doing this for you? Are you doing this as one final shot in the dark, to hope to God that maybe THIS, if nothing else, will get somebody to acknowledge your talent. To tell you that you've done a good thing. To assure you that you're not as hopelessly corrupt, as irredeemable, as a man like me?
If I should lose, by some strange twist of fate...I'll be out of your hair. Gone to torment some other poor souls. No more attacks in the ring. No more going home beaten and sore from a grueling match the night before. No more painfully stupid individuals who have put all their faith behind their ability to kick someone in the skull....I will be free, not of EXODUS...but of this industry that has taken everything I've had left to give.
But if I should win...we find ourselves in a new world. A new leadership, away from the arcane traditions of the old EXODUS and everyone who stood for it. A new era, you might say. A bright and prosperous future. The promised land. No more Gods & Monsters. No more Sekigun. No more Furor, no more Collins, no more war.
Free at last...free at last...
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last."