Post by Josh Kennedy on Oct 1, 2017 14:32:02 GMT -5
"This is not the sound of a new man, or crispy realisation. It's the sound of the unlocking and lift away." - Bon Iver (re:stacks)
"I've been floundering, I'll be the first to admit it."
Josh confesses. His eyes bear directly into the camera with an intense, unflinching focus as he grapples with the truth of this fact. It clearly pains him to say it. The truth doesn't always have less of a sting in it. His thick, Southern drawl attempts to conceal this.
"I won't excuse it either, but it doesn't negate what I've done. Nor the other way around. I could rattle off the list of UWF legends I've beaten, all the Championships I've won, I could do all of that and it won't change the fact that I've done almost nothin' but fail in Redemption. I'm the last guy here who's gonna cut myself any kinda slack for that, I'm better than that, and I'm gonna prove it. Luckily for me, this rebrandin' back to NGW's given me the chance to reassess everything. If there's one pattern that's clear over my whole career, for those of you that cared enough to watch me for any length of time, it's that I'll always break through eventually. The pieces are gonna fall into place at some point, and I'll work myself into the ground in the pursuit of makin' sure that happens. Runnin' into walls in this business is inevitable, it's how you deal with it that comes to define you sooner or later."
Josh leans back, pulling away from the camera slightly as the shot zooms out. He's sitting on a bench outside of an old courthouse, the famed Gateway Arch of St. Louis looming behind him. The setting is fairly tranquil, and Josh - despite looking perpetually under-slept as he almost always does - actually seems somewhat put together, save for the grisly, uneven burn scar that runs down the right side of his neck. Swollen and bright red, a recent and brutal souvenir from a deathmatch he'd wrestled earlier in the week. His long hair's pinned back, his face clearly visible, all of the small nicks and cuts that litter it on full display. He still practically hums with a perpetual energy, making a lot of small, subtle movements, scuffing his trainers against the pavement below his feet, unable to sit completely still.
"So, with the rebirth of the company's former branding and an opportunity to reassert myself, you'd best believe I'm gonna take that ball and run with it. I came into Redemption Wrestling with my eyes on the top prize, the Heavyweight Championship. And while I still wanna work my way up to that, I realised I gotta take a step back in order to cement my place before I can even think about the Heavyweight division. Pretty fundamental, I know, but the truth is I let my ambitions get the better of me. I was so focused on moving forwards I didn't give a moment's thought to where I was standin'. So I fell flat on my face straight outta the gate. I was tryin' to run a goddamn marathon before I could even walk."
"So now, a five-way match in the opener of Dissension is my next shot at finding myself some solid ground. You got names like Alechs Aurelio, half of our Tag Team Champions, a fierce competitor in his own right. Scotty Latimer, a West Coast Genesis call-up who took his shot at Coda and proved what he could do, and Sapphire, who flourished in the All-Female Invitational. And Jonathan Drake, a rookie wrestler I barely managed to scrape a win against at Convergence. I mean, goddamn. Comparin' all those achievements to my body of work here, I'm easily dismissed in this race, I know it. But I've carried divisions and entire companies on my back before, and I'm still doin' it now. I'm the top champion of another company, I'm being inducted into a hall of fame this year, and I'm only 25. So, ask yourself, why would I have all that to my name if I wasn't capable of bein' a threat? I'mma let the rest of y'all do the math on that one..."
Josh casts his eyes skyward for a moment, allowing his words to linger in the tranquility. A few birds chirp softly from the nearby trees.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Truth is, wrestling is my life. I've dedicated everythin' I have to this business, and that investment's paid off in dividends, the cost is tattooed across my whole body in these scars. I earned half of these toilin' in the indies, to get the slightest ounce of success. So I could afford to feed my family. I started wrestling straight outta high-school and I've never stopped unless I've had to. I've been almost murdered in that ring more times than I can count, but I'm still here. If that doesn't speak to my resilience, nothin' will. I'm gonna find my place in NGW, make no mistake about that. No matter what it costs me. My problem is I've always drifted when I don't have a concrete set of goals, and that's something I've never really had here. But when I do, be it a Championship, revenge, or absolution, I become a dangerous man. So maybe takin' down the most prestigious, and longest-reigning Young Lions Champion in company history is just the way to start things out. Certainly couldn't hurt to try." He says, smirking.
"I'm not comin' into Dissension a reborn man, absolved of his past failure. The way I started out here will forever stain my career, and I'd be a fuckin' idiot to think otherwise. If there's one thing my life's taught me, it's that you can never erase your mistakes. My whole career, all I've ever done is put myself out there. Not some idealised version of myself, either, but the real one. Josh Kennedy, the weak, the broken, the mentally ill. Every scar, every blemish, every flaw on full, unflinching display. And in the same breath, I've been a standout champion, a man who's collected more accolades than you could count on two hands. A young gun who's already earned a legacy after a seven-year career. Josh Kennedy, the resilient, the workhorse, the fighter. A man who's considered one of the weakest competitors in NGW, and yet one of the greatest in the industry outside of it. I know one of those statements is objectively true, even though I'm workin' my ass off to make sure it's the other one, that's the reality. No matter how hard I try, I can never erase my failures here. But I can ascend, and make sure that it never really mattered."
"I don't have some new, earth-shatterin' revelation to share, but I'm refocused. If I gotta switch my attention to find the success I want, so be it. I'm here in NGW for a reason, and no matter how long it takes, I'll keep fightin' with everything I got until I get there, and no amount of doubt cast on me is gonna make me stop."
"I've been floundering, I'll be the first to admit it."
Josh confesses. His eyes bear directly into the camera with an intense, unflinching focus as he grapples with the truth of this fact. It clearly pains him to say it. The truth doesn't always have less of a sting in it. His thick, Southern drawl attempts to conceal this.
"I won't excuse it either, but it doesn't negate what I've done. Nor the other way around. I could rattle off the list of UWF legends I've beaten, all the Championships I've won, I could do all of that and it won't change the fact that I've done almost nothin' but fail in Redemption. I'm the last guy here who's gonna cut myself any kinda slack for that, I'm better than that, and I'm gonna prove it. Luckily for me, this rebrandin' back to NGW's given me the chance to reassess everything. If there's one pattern that's clear over my whole career, for those of you that cared enough to watch me for any length of time, it's that I'll always break through eventually. The pieces are gonna fall into place at some point, and I'll work myself into the ground in the pursuit of makin' sure that happens. Runnin' into walls in this business is inevitable, it's how you deal with it that comes to define you sooner or later."
Josh leans back, pulling away from the camera slightly as the shot zooms out. He's sitting on a bench outside of an old courthouse, the famed Gateway Arch of St. Louis looming behind him. The setting is fairly tranquil, and Josh - despite looking perpetually under-slept as he almost always does - actually seems somewhat put together, save for the grisly, uneven burn scar that runs down the right side of his neck. Swollen and bright red, a recent and brutal souvenir from a deathmatch he'd wrestled earlier in the week. His long hair's pinned back, his face clearly visible, all of the small nicks and cuts that litter it on full display. He still practically hums with a perpetual energy, making a lot of small, subtle movements, scuffing his trainers against the pavement below his feet, unable to sit completely still.
"So, with the rebirth of the company's former branding and an opportunity to reassert myself, you'd best believe I'm gonna take that ball and run with it. I came into Redemption Wrestling with my eyes on the top prize, the Heavyweight Championship. And while I still wanna work my way up to that, I realised I gotta take a step back in order to cement my place before I can even think about the Heavyweight division. Pretty fundamental, I know, but the truth is I let my ambitions get the better of me. I was so focused on moving forwards I didn't give a moment's thought to where I was standin'. So I fell flat on my face straight outta the gate. I was tryin' to run a goddamn marathon before I could even walk."
"So now, a five-way match in the opener of Dissension is my next shot at finding myself some solid ground. You got names like Alechs Aurelio, half of our Tag Team Champions, a fierce competitor in his own right. Scotty Latimer, a West Coast Genesis call-up who took his shot at Coda and proved what he could do, and Sapphire, who flourished in the All-Female Invitational. And Jonathan Drake, a rookie wrestler I barely managed to scrape a win against at Convergence. I mean, goddamn. Comparin' all those achievements to my body of work here, I'm easily dismissed in this race, I know it. But I've carried divisions and entire companies on my back before, and I'm still doin' it now. I'm the top champion of another company, I'm being inducted into a hall of fame this year, and I'm only 25. So, ask yourself, why would I have all that to my name if I wasn't capable of bein' a threat? I'mma let the rest of y'all do the math on that one..."
Josh casts his eyes skyward for a moment, allowing his words to linger in the tranquility. A few birds chirp softly from the nearby trees.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. Truth is, wrestling is my life. I've dedicated everythin' I have to this business, and that investment's paid off in dividends, the cost is tattooed across my whole body in these scars. I earned half of these toilin' in the indies, to get the slightest ounce of success. So I could afford to feed my family. I started wrestling straight outta high-school and I've never stopped unless I've had to. I've been almost murdered in that ring more times than I can count, but I'm still here. If that doesn't speak to my resilience, nothin' will. I'm gonna find my place in NGW, make no mistake about that. No matter what it costs me. My problem is I've always drifted when I don't have a concrete set of goals, and that's something I've never really had here. But when I do, be it a Championship, revenge, or absolution, I become a dangerous man. So maybe takin' down the most prestigious, and longest-reigning Young Lions Champion in company history is just the way to start things out. Certainly couldn't hurt to try." He says, smirking.
"I'm not comin' into Dissension a reborn man, absolved of his past failure. The way I started out here will forever stain my career, and I'd be a fuckin' idiot to think otherwise. If there's one thing my life's taught me, it's that you can never erase your mistakes. My whole career, all I've ever done is put myself out there. Not some idealised version of myself, either, but the real one. Josh Kennedy, the weak, the broken, the mentally ill. Every scar, every blemish, every flaw on full, unflinching display. And in the same breath, I've been a standout champion, a man who's collected more accolades than you could count on two hands. A young gun who's already earned a legacy after a seven-year career. Josh Kennedy, the resilient, the workhorse, the fighter. A man who's considered one of the weakest competitors in NGW, and yet one of the greatest in the industry outside of it. I know one of those statements is objectively true, even though I'm workin' my ass off to make sure it's the other one, that's the reality. No matter how hard I try, I can never erase my failures here. But I can ascend, and make sure that it never really mattered."
"I don't have some new, earth-shatterin' revelation to share, but I'm refocused. If I gotta switch my attention to find the success I want, so be it. I'm here in NGW for a reason, and no matter how long it takes, I'll keep fightin' with everything I got until I get there, and no amount of doubt cast on me is gonna make me stop."
