King of Kings

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“The great King and Queen of our company are gracing me yet again with another match. Well, this isn’t new.”

Adrien Cochrane tilts his head to the left then right as he shrugs his shoulders. Nothing very significant about the setting of this one. The Dropkick King is just standing in what appears to be an empty room with white walls. Nothing more than a black #Believe t-shirt and a pair of black jeans are being worn by the three-time World Heavyweight Champion.

“Kayla Richards herself took to Twitter to point this little fun fact. She said she and Matthew are sick of seeing me in the ring after facing me in five out of the last six matches. First of all, what’s wrong, Kayla? Whenever you are constantly getting involved in someone’s matches with interference and other sort of things like that, it’s fine, but when you have to deal with someone constantly yourself, you don’t like it? Apparently, you don’t like it so much, you get the numbers a bit jumbled. This will make three in a row, yes. But prior to this little three-show run, I faced Travis Blake, then I faced Coda. Sure, there was a fatal four-way match that involved Matthew before that one, but then there was that big fatal four-way tag match. My opponents there was Avery, Alex, Blade, Hixx, and the 7th Circle. You might have gotten confused because you invited yourself to that match. Don’t worry, my next match after this one doesn’t involve the Destroyers.

“Personally, I don’t mind these matches. I want the best competition I can possibly get. Sure, I say a lot of things about how I disagree with literally everything you two do, but I’d be a damned liar if I didn’t say you two are as tough as a competition as I can get around here. Never will I dispute the talent those two have. Never. As much as I dislike that the Destroyers have all those championships, they have the ability to get those championships, even if nefarious means were used to get them in most cases.

“We’re about to have the End of the Year awards, right? Can I make a suggestion on a new category? Most predictable trash talker...and the winner is a grand slam. This is almost a carbon copy of what happened after the cage match at Convergence. He complained about how the match put him at a disadvantage against me then attempted to slander me to the best of his abilities, to the point where most of what comes out of his mouth about me is making less and less sense as time goes on. I think my favorite bit was how he opened with how he wasn’t going to moan about the Warfare match...then proceeded to talk more about it than any other topic. He practically spent about ten of the fifteen minutes complaining about the match. And like I said, this is EXACTLY what he did after Convergence.

“He can’t ever admit that he is a man, not a god, and can’t be bested on any given night. There’s no ‘Oh, you got me. But I’m going to be better the next time, and next time, you won’t win!’ with him. Admitting that you lost shows a much stronger person than someone who always makes excuses all the time. Did you see me making excuses for Resurgence? No. I got up, I learned from the loss, and focused on the next match. See, that’s your blind spot, Shields. You are too focused on the last match and not enough on the next one. You spend more time complaining that this happened at this show, and this happened at that show. Pay attention more to what I do. I don’t bring up the past a whole lot. I do what I can to focus on the present. None of us can do anything about the past. We can do something about the present. But if you want to keep looking backward and not see what is in front of you, that’s on you, Matthew.”

Adrien’s watch pings for a moment as he takes a quick glance.

“See, even now, he literally had the words ‘we’re the best’ in his last tweet, arguing with my little sister. The best...bar none...no exceptions. That’s not how wrestling works. Anyone can lose to anyone in any given match. Even you, Matthew. Even me. No one is unbeatable. The more you try to deny that, the more you call me arrogant becomes more and more laughable. You call yourself the King of the Heavyweights, the Monarch on the Mat, and the Ruler of all Redemption...but you are a mortal being just like the rest of us. It’s become clear to me that no matter how many matches you lose, the story will be the same. You will spin everything from now until the end of time the same, as an excuse for your own shortcoming.”

Cochrane has one last thing he wants to address before stepping closer to the camera.

“And allow me to say one more thing to you, Matthew. Jessica Elisa Sears Nitoh...until she officially changes her name back anyway...is not just some replacement for Stacy or Alechs or anyone. I’ve been friends with Jessica longer than anyone on this roster. She knew me back when my wrestling manager wasn’t Eddie Walker, but Adrianna Rivers. She knew me when I had only one World title to my name, not three. She’s been a friend of mine for many years, and the moment she was on this roster, her approaching me to be a part of this group was pretty much inevitable.

“So before you spend eighty percent of your videos talking about me and only twenty percent on her, I want you to remember that she is a heavyweight champion in the lineage of this company just as much as you are. She deserves to be acknowledged when she’s in a match with you. She deserves to be given the same treatment you give me. When it’s all said and done, Jessica is as important a Guardian as I am. She shouldn’t be shrugged off or discounted. She shouldn’t be underestimated by any means. She’s one of my dearest friends and has been for a long time. So when I was a man down, she immediately came to me. Literally showed up at my house, telling me she was in. Same goes for Goldstein. I didn’t try to replace anyone; all four of my stablemates volunteered. You’ve just created such a toxic atmosphere that many want to step up and not be silenced by you. So yes, Jessica is now a Guardian, and she’s prepared to battle you and the other Destroyers. And with her prepared to do so, you should probably realize who the hell Jessica Sears is. Because she is NOT someone you should ignore. She WILL make you pay if you do. And that goes for ALL of my teammates...Jazmyn, Honey, and Joshua as well. The other three have held a belt at some point this calendar year. All four of them deserve to be taken seriously, whether you think so or not. Focus on me only, and you might just find yourself regretting that mistake again.”

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