Big events.
Big Stages.
Title Matches.
I’m familiar with it all.
When I came to Prestige Championship Wrestling, I told everyone that would listen that situations like these are what I’m here for, it’s what I feel that I was born to do. It took longer than I would have hoped to net myself some gold, but here we are, heading to SoFi Stadium with the Platinum Standard carrying the Valor Championship. There were lots of trials and tribulations along the way. Controversies, lost opportunities, moments where I had to humble myself and get better.
I think we can all agree that I’ve managed to get better.
And, goddamn, have I gotten my reward for it! A chance to wrestle in front of what’s practically a home crowd for me, defending a championship I treasure against a man that not only I consider one of the greatest wrestlers on the planet, but one of my greatest rivals.
Arata. I hate to say it, but your arrival and joining up with Chris was a scenario that I was hoping never came to pass. I know the two of you have history, good and bad, but seeing you both on the opposite side of me of the battle lines that have been drawn is a scenario that I am not a huge fan of. It’s like turning the difficulty of your favorite game from Normal to “Nintendo Hard”. The fact that you’re barging your way into the championship scene at the expense of someone who has a legitimate gripe about things after all the chaos that went on during our match isn’t necessarily something that bothers me. Hell, I came here demanding title matches from the jump. Granted, I earned most of those opportunities in the ring, but having the big head to come here and demand things was audacious enough. The thing is, I know you’re more than qualified for this. We’ve had this song and dance so many times before that I’ve lost track. I’ve built my career off of your name more than anyone else and I’m not ashamed to admit that. Nor am I ashamed to admit that you, Arata, have handed me a couple of the most humbling, devastating losses of my career.
And just like it is for me with your best buddy Christohper, those losses never cease fueling my fire. If I see your face across the ring from me, there is no further motivation necessary. Every time I step in the ring and beat either of you, it gives me a level of joy and accomplishment that I don’t think you can comprehend. What I can’t comprehend is why you’ve come here to play nurse for Chris and his faction. You’re better than this. You’re better than stooping to this level to retrieve titles and make Chris’s inflated ego drift further in his delusional quest to “save PCW from mediocrity” or whatever he rambles about now.
You could have had this match any time you wanted, under any circumstances you wanted. As much as I don’t like you personally, I have that level of respect for you as a wrestler. You didn’t need to tie yourselves to that train. But you did. And you made it very clear that you want this beautiful red belt that I’ve been carrying around the past couple of months.
So here we are.
I’m curious as to why you thought it would be best for us to compete in a submission match. That kind of wrestling isn’t my bag at all, but if you want to have a definitive winner I do think it’s appropriate. You see, I don’t like all the controversy, all the confusion. I have been a constant victim of people sticking their noses in my business all season and during my title defense I actually got to be the beneficiary of it. Is it something that I’m thrilled about?
No.
When I won this title from Sawyer, I made a promise to him when I looked him in the eyes. I want this title to mean something. I want to know that holding it has value, that when I eventually lose it to someone that it matters, that it’s not the next piece of some overarching melodrama, but another beautiful chapter in a saga of sweat and blood. I want this title to continue to grow. It started with the lofty standard Sawyer set when he won it, and now it has to continue while it’s in my hands. Just like I told my first challenger, Arata, I’m not just wrestling for myself when it comes to defending this title. I’m defending the honor of the people who bled in the Chamber of Valor to make this title mean anything in the first place. I’m defending, in my own way, Sawyer’s honor. To lose the title after EVERYTHING that both of us went through, the promise that we made each other that the real work for both of us would begin now that I have it in my possession…that would be a dishonor that I can’t allow.
Heh.
Look at me. Four years ago I didn’t give a fuck about Valor, honor, or anything else in this business. I hated wrestling, the only reason that I did it was to get paid and raise enough money to fund my lifestyle and my business ventures away from the ring. Look at me now, emotionally invested. A champion, but still hungry. Not for competition, not just to defend my title in front of thousands of friends, family and fans….But I’m hungry just to shut you and your Salvation friends up.
I get it, Chris and your other buddies have problems of their own and probably won’t have much time time to come to your aid, but I am mentioning them again because you and Chris have something in common that really, really pisses me off beyond words: you believe that you have the right to tell me what my limitations are.
It’s the one thing that I ask people not to do. Day after day, month after month, year after year, I have shattered expectations that people have had of me. They look at me and see just a pretty face, a model pretending to be a wrestler, a rich girl who had everything handed to her ... .and every time I get that feeling that someone has that vibe, it only pushes my drive even further. You know better than to do that. But you still do. No amount of back-handed compliments or window-dressing politeness can hide from me the fact that you don’t respect me as a wrestler. You never have. And you probably never will.
And that’s why Standing Room Only is going to mean that much more to me. If you think that I’m going to allow you, YOU OF ALL FUCKING PEOPLE, to take a title away from me that I nearly killed myself over TWICE, to let you back up all this suit-wearing, mean-mugging for the camera bullshit that you’ve been spouting since you’ve arrived to PCW, then you’re in for the shock of a thousand lifetimes when you see me at Standing Room Only! This first year in PCW has been difficult. I’ve suffered losses, I’ve had friends injured, I’ve made enemies that have nagged me my whole time here.
But I’m stronger for it. Stronger than I was when I bested you four years ago. Definitely stronger than I was when you beat me for a crown. The adversity that used to cloud my mind and my judgment has only started to steel my resolve. This match may be the ultimate test of Skill versus Will. There are plenty of people on this roster that I can outskill. You are not one of them. You’ll always have that advantage over me, no matter how much I learn and how hard I train. I understand and concede that. But there’s one thing that you lack when it compares to me, Arata, and it’s always been the case:
My soul burns hotter than yours.
That wounds you. You will never admit it, but I know it does. You never thought that someone who couldn’t measure up to your skills could stand in the ring with you as an equal, taking whatever punishment you could dish out and ask for more. You never thought that the meddlesome little accountant-turned-wrestler could measure up on the battlefield. And it pisses you off. Someone with your training, your resume, your wrestling ability could still be beaten by someone like me.
At Standing Room Only, we’re going to recreate that first encounter of ours in a unique way. The Overconfident Challenger getting humbled by a wily, experienced, and mentally tough Champion. Valor belongs to me and me alone, Asakura.
And I don’t plan on giving up anything to anyone any time soon.
In your own way, you taught me Valor once.
Now, I’m teaching you.
Yesterday at 2:43 pm by 
Subject: All Those Familiar Places (vs Arata) 
