Post by djurdjevic on Nov 1, 2019 10:43:00 GMT -5
We drink in the glories of the illustrious Madison Square Garden in the distance. Multitudes of wrestling zealots make the pilgrimage to its doors.
Meanwhile the footfalls of Katya Djurdjevic this evening were perhaps the heaviest yet… and all pomp, and glittering pageantry was far from her mind.
She was aware of the distant bombast of singing, horns and cheering in the distance,but it felt as though the volume had suddenly been turned down. The faraway sounds of the parade had become so muffled that Katya felt as though she was underwater.
Suddenly void of voices, the simple stirring of the air as she moves down the boulevard seems to cause an unusual amount of noise. Her footsteps as she makes her journey are like miniature thunderclaps.
Katya’s eyeballs prickled.She had felt the chill of uncertainty when Honor Bound neared, with the very same feeling uncurling in her guts now. Her mouth dried. A pulse began to tap in her temple. Her heart is beating like a beast.
7 Pillars 2. That was a host of fresh trouble just waiting to dawn. The event would mark the beginning of Katya’s heroic and brutal slugfest with Valor’s vaunted elite.
It was, however, not going to be easy. Katya hoped she had the skill, wit and determination to see it through. She would have to ascend to another level of ferocity, showing the speed and skill that allowed her to hold her own against Chris Callum and Brodie alone.
She wondered about the epic role she would play in the main event.
But that’s just it.
Would it even be an epic role? It’s the undermining disquiet of the unknown. She had to square off with six of Valor’s best. Beating them all off was a game of fighting back an ocean tide with cupped hands and harsh language.
She has wondered ‘Is this too reckless?’ If she lets her guard down, she'll be swallowed up. Anything was possible.
It will either be her phoenix from the ashes or an even bigger shipwreck than Honor Bound. The desperate struggle of a cornered rat, a prisoner of her own ambitions, burdened by a quest that has started to resemble the holy grail…
Or she will mastermind the most complete victory in Valor history. A fundamental achievement, a superlative ritual achievement, a crushing achievement. One of the greatest in Valor history, sitting proudly amongst the grandest displays. It could be the place she becomes one of Russia’s biggest sporting names.
It’d be a long, arduous affair if it was. It won’t be pretty stuff. She’ll have to let the enemy cut her flesh so she can break his bones.
And with that thought uppermost in her mind, her gaze falls on the camera. Honest eyes with no hesitation. Cold and focused. The spark of passion to push into the storm was lit.
“Helloooooo my friendly friends. Everything to this point has been a prelude... and the actual piece is now starting to play. This Sunday, 7 of Valor’s best go at it.
All for the one title that has been contested at every Valor supershow. The first title to be defended in a supershow main event. The UnYielding Crown.
A sensible man might regard this as prestigious enough, but of course, Valor goes much further. We compete for the prize at Madison Square Garden. The beating heart of wrestling.
There are so many stories, so many famous moments, so much history wherever you look. Young wrestlers everywhere would give a roomful of gold to main event there.”
Katya glances at MSG.
“We've had them all in here. Chancers, posers, brown-nosers. We’ve seen them all. You have to well and truly be ready to compete there.
There’s no short-cut to becoming strong. Even if you try to look strong on the outside, that thin layer will soon fall off.
This remains the place for the hardest fighting in all of wrestling. The weak will always be exposed.
As for me?”
Her grin warms the cold night.
“I’m running on a full tank with expectations, hope and emotions on my back! That’s… not half bad!!
Do you know what I did when I realised the position I was in? When I realised I would be matching my strength against Recoba, Kraven, Fukushima, Indi, Krahe & Moxie all in one night?
I grinned.
I grinned at the thought of matching my strength against such great talents.
To take down large figures such as Cross Recoba & Zachariah Krahe in one night is no mean feat. And on top of that, some of wrestling's brightest to round out the field? It’s a match packed with Valor royalty.
It’s beautiful.
I revel in the white heat of competition. I love competition. I NEED competition. I need competition like I need blood in my veins. I am always compelled to match myself against an opponent of worth. I yield to no one.
And what better way to declare that than to enter at #1. I chose the #1 spot because I will BE #1. How can I be UnYielding were I to do anything less? If I truly want to be UnYielding, then I must overcome everyone and everything.
With my strongest, I will beat your strongest. I’ll do what most people won’t so I can enjoy a reign like most people can’t. There is no point to doing anything half-hearted. Especially this.
I will be the First, and the first among equals. And I will use the resolve that being first will give me to its fullest. The slight difference between those who always aim for the top and those who don’t, it’ll come to matter in a big way once you lay it all on the line in a place like this.
But there was something that matters deeply… something that was holding me back.”
Katya looks at her hand, and then back to the camera.
“Moxie, let me tell you something. I want to thank you for not shaking my hand last month after our match. It was a timely reminder. If you come to Valor looking for respect, you've come to the wrong place.
Nevermind respect, I’m laughed at by some of the others in this match. Laughed at. Despite being the only person going into this having won all my matches since Honor Bound. Or having double figure wins in record time.
In fact, for some of you… the very idea of me winning the gauntlet makes you want to piss acid. Even Indi Rhyder who I thought was a friend has deemed me a big fat failure. And she has done so not just once or twice. These are not the actions of a friend.”
Katya gazes long into the camera.
“I have failed, but I am no failure. It’s not just you of course, Indi. There’s Kraven Drell. Who has the idea that if I beat all six of you on Sunday, I’m being force fed to the world.”
Katya rolls her eyes.
“Just listening to you is rotting my ears off. Stop talking bullshit. I don't care about your old, stale ideas of who I am. None of that will cause even the tiniest wavering in the strength of the woman known as Katya Djurdjevic. I will go to the Garden on Sunday evening with an 'over my dead body' approach to occupying that ring. Because I will not go quietly. ”
Her gaze softens.
“Though they sound like offended courtesans, Indi and Kraven have a point… after Honor Bound, shame bled from me the way warm skin steams in cold air. I’ve done what I can to make up for my failings. And beating half this field in recent months, including the #1 contender makes me feel like I'm on the right track
But Moxie, after our match, you helped me realise something deeper than that. You made me truly realise that I’ve been too nice.
The results of my being too nice to people are well documented. I got brained with a steel chair at Rite of Kings. Brodie damn near ripped out my arm because I had the gall to be concerned about her wellbeing. And Rex Rumble attacked me from behind on Flipping The Script.
I was too nice.
Do you know nice means?”
She looks at us With quiet amusement.
“The word nice, iIf you google it, is a 13th, 14th century derivative of an english word that meant retarded, senseless, half-wit. In 500 years, the word nice has gone all the way from half-wit retard to, “well, he's a nice guy”.
It's quite amusing to me that you cannot say something nicer, using their language, than “he's a nice guy or she's a nice girl”. When 500 years ago it mean just the opposite. Because it’s true. People will treat you like dirt if you don’t balance kindness with firmness. And deep down I know this because when I cycled, my opponents feared me. I treated them with great respect, but I wasn’t “nice”. I was firm. Strong. UnYielding.
Moxie, you helped me realise that perhaps that is the quality I’ve been too generous with. So make no mistake, I will not be nice to any of you in the ring.
As for those who doubt my quality… Oh? Then who, may I ask, shall be the one to beat me? Will it be Recoba? Drell? Indi? Or perhaps even Krahe?”
Djurdjevic turned cold. Katya turned her head slowly and stared into the camera. Her eyes were unblinking.
“Don't make me laugh. You can talk until you're blue in the face, but unlike the rest of you, I've only lost to one person in Valor and he ain't in this match. Only one person has more wins in Valor than me. And beating Cross will remedy that very quickly.
You wanna talk about unyielding? Most of you do only what you 'HAVE' to do. What is expected of you. What your 'role' is. Nothing more. Rather than spread Valor’s name elsewhere, you have known only a rectangular world, one where you’ve proven your talent but stay cut off from the rest of the world.
I want the Valor name to mean something to millions and millions of people. And that’s why I have exposed myself to the grander wrestling landscape. Half of you appear and disappear. Lacking consistency. Or waited MONTHS before finally debuting here.. I debuted the show after I signed and have fought every fortnight since.”
Katya Djurdjevic stood taller, somehow fuller. Energised. Vital. As though some secret part of herr had unlocked and could never now be closed off.
“As I thought, none of you understand a single thing. The UnYielding division is my territory. Where else would I fight if I run away from there? I have no room… for any hesitation.
Nothing will change the fact that in the end I will crush you with maximum prejudice. Even If I have to do it while coughing up blood! I
crawled back up from the ground for this very moment! But if I’m inferior against the overwhelming wave that will crash down upon me, then I must gather what I can!
If that’s not enough, then I’ll squeeze everything out! Sharpen my soul! Run through this extreme moment until all other pretenders to this fight are dead, and all that remains is the crown.
All of you who will stand before me at 7 Pillars... not a single one of you truly grasps the calibre of I, Katya Djurdjevic. Well, I suppose it is only natural. After all, there does not exist in this world a scale capable of measuring me. On Sunday, at last – and long, long past time – you will know who I am.
So in other words boys and girls, in layman’s terms, I’m going to fuck you up.”
Meanwhile the footfalls of Katya Djurdjevic this evening were perhaps the heaviest yet… and all pomp, and glittering pageantry was far from her mind.
She was aware of the distant bombast of singing, horns and cheering in the distance,but it felt as though the volume had suddenly been turned down. The faraway sounds of the parade had become so muffled that Katya felt as though she was underwater.
Suddenly void of voices, the simple stirring of the air as she moves down the boulevard seems to cause an unusual amount of noise. Her footsteps as she makes her journey are like miniature thunderclaps.
Katya’s eyeballs prickled.She had felt the chill of uncertainty when Honor Bound neared, with the very same feeling uncurling in her guts now. Her mouth dried. A pulse began to tap in her temple. Her heart is beating like a beast.
7 Pillars 2. That was a host of fresh trouble just waiting to dawn. The event would mark the beginning of Katya’s heroic and brutal slugfest with Valor’s vaunted elite.
It was, however, not going to be easy. Katya hoped she had the skill, wit and determination to see it through. She would have to ascend to another level of ferocity, showing the speed and skill that allowed her to hold her own against Chris Callum and Brodie alone.
She wondered about the epic role she would play in the main event.
But that’s just it.
Would it even be an epic role? It’s the undermining disquiet of the unknown. She had to square off with six of Valor’s best. Beating them all off was a game of fighting back an ocean tide with cupped hands and harsh language.
She has wondered ‘Is this too reckless?’ If she lets her guard down, she'll be swallowed up. Anything was possible.
It will either be her phoenix from the ashes or an even bigger shipwreck than Honor Bound. The desperate struggle of a cornered rat, a prisoner of her own ambitions, burdened by a quest that has started to resemble the holy grail…
Or she will mastermind the most complete victory in Valor history. A fundamental achievement, a superlative ritual achievement, a crushing achievement. One of the greatest in Valor history, sitting proudly amongst the grandest displays. It could be the place she becomes one of Russia’s biggest sporting names.
It’d be a long, arduous affair if it was. It won’t be pretty stuff. She’ll have to let the enemy cut her flesh so she can break his bones.
And with that thought uppermost in her mind, her gaze falls on the camera. Honest eyes with no hesitation. Cold and focused. The spark of passion to push into the storm was lit.
“Helloooooo my friendly friends. Everything to this point has been a prelude... and the actual piece is now starting to play. This Sunday, 7 of Valor’s best go at it.
All for the one title that has been contested at every Valor supershow. The first title to be defended in a supershow main event. The UnYielding Crown.
A sensible man might regard this as prestigious enough, but of course, Valor goes much further. We compete for the prize at Madison Square Garden. The beating heart of wrestling.
There are so many stories, so many famous moments, so much history wherever you look. Young wrestlers everywhere would give a roomful of gold to main event there.”
Katya glances at MSG.
“We've had them all in here. Chancers, posers, brown-nosers. We’ve seen them all. You have to well and truly be ready to compete there.
There’s no short-cut to becoming strong. Even if you try to look strong on the outside, that thin layer will soon fall off.
This remains the place for the hardest fighting in all of wrestling. The weak will always be exposed.
As for me?”
Her grin warms the cold night.
“I’m running on a full tank with expectations, hope and emotions on my back! That’s… not half bad!!
Do you know what I did when I realised the position I was in? When I realised I would be matching my strength against Recoba, Kraven, Fukushima, Indi, Krahe & Moxie all in one night?
I grinned.
I grinned at the thought of matching my strength against such great talents.
To take down large figures such as Cross Recoba & Zachariah Krahe in one night is no mean feat. And on top of that, some of wrestling's brightest to round out the field? It’s a match packed with Valor royalty.
It’s beautiful.
I revel in the white heat of competition. I love competition. I NEED competition. I need competition like I need blood in my veins. I am always compelled to match myself against an opponent of worth. I yield to no one.
And what better way to declare that than to enter at #1. I chose the #1 spot because I will BE #1. How can I be UnYielding were I to do anything less? If I truly want to be UnYielding, then I must overcome everyone and everything.
With my strongest, I will beat your strongest. I’ll do what most people won’t so I can enjoy a reign like most people can’t. There is no point to doing anything half-hearted. Especially this.
I will be the First, and the first among equals. And I will use the resolve that being first will give me to its fullest. The slight difference between those who always aim for the top and those who don’t, it’ll come to matter in a big way once you lay it all on the line in a place like this.
But there was something that matters deeply… something that was holding me back.”
Katya looks at her hand, and then back to the camera.
“Moxie, let me tell you something. I want to thank you for not shaking my hand last month after our match. It was a timely reminder. If you come to Valor looking for respect, you've come to the wrong place.
Nevermind respect, I’m laughed at by some of the others in this match. Laughed at. Despite being the only person going into this having won all my matches since Honor Bound. Or having double figure wins in record time.
In fact, for some of you… the very idea of me winning the gauntlet makes you want to piss acid. Even Indi Rhyder who I thought was a friend has deemed me a big fat failure. And she has done so not just once or twice. These are not the actions of a friend.”
Katya gazes long into the camera.
“I have failed, but I am no failure. It’s not just you of course, Indi. There’s Kraven Drell. Who has the idea that if I beat all six of you on Sunday, I’m being force fed to the world.”
Katya rolls her eyes.
“Just listening to you is rotting my ears off. Stop talking bullshit. I don't care about your old, stale ideas of who I am. None of that will cause even the tiniest wavering in the strength of the woman known as Katya Djurdjevic. I will go to the Garden on Sunday evening with an 'over my dead body' approach to occupying that ring. Because I will not go quietly. ”
Her gaze softens.
“Though they sound like offended courtesans, Indi and Kraven have a point… after Honor Bound, shame bled from me the way warm skin steams in cold air. I’ve done what I can to make up for my failings. And beating half this field in recent months, including the #1 contender makes me feel like I'm on the right track
But Moxie, after our match, you helped me realise something deeper than that. You made me truly realise that I’ve been too nice.
The results of my being too nice to people are well documented. I got brained with a steel chair at Rite of Kings. Brodie damn near ripped out my arm because I had the gall to be concerned about her wellbeing. And Rex Rumble attacked me from behind on Flipping The Script.
I was too nice.
Do you know nice means?”
She looks at us With quiet amusement.
“The word nice, iIf you google it, is a 13th, 14th century derivative of an english word that meant retarded, senseless, half-wit. In 500 years, the word nice has gone all the way from half-wit retard to, “well, he's a nice guy”.
It's quite amusing to me that you cannot say something nicer, using their language, than “he's a nice guy or she's a nice girl”. When 500 years ago it mean just the opposite. Because it’s true. People will treat you like dirt if you don’t balance kindness with firmness. And deep down I know this because when I cycled, my opponents feared me. I treated them with great respect, but I wasn’t “nice”. I was firm. Strong. UnYielding.
Moxie, you helped me realise that perhaps that is the quality I’ve been too generous with. So make no mistake, I will not be nice to any of you in the ring.
As for those who doubt my quality… Oh? Then who, may I ask, shall be the one to beat me? Will it be Recoba? Drell? Indi? Or perhaps even Krahe?”
Djurdjevic turned cold. Katya turned her head slowly and stared into the camera. Her eyes were unblinking.
“Don't make me laugh. You can talk until you're blue in the face, but unlike the rest of you, I've only lost to one person in Valor and he ain't in this match. Only one person has more wins in Valor than me. And beating Cross will remedy that very quickly.
You wanna talk about unyielding? Most of you do only what you 'HAVE' to do. What is expected of you. What your 'role' is. Nothing more. Rather than spread Valor’s name elsewhere, you have known only a rectangular world, one where you’ve proven your talent but stay cut off from the rest of the world.
I want the Valor name to mean something to millions and millions of people. And that’s why I have exposed myself to the grander wrestling landscape. Half of you appear and disappear. Lacking consistency. Or waited MONTHS before finally debuting here.. I debuted the show after I signed and have fought every fortnight since.”
Katya Djurdjevic stood taller, somehow fuller. Energised. Vital. As though some secret part of herr had unlocked and could never now be closed off.
“As I thought, none of you understand a single thing. The UnYielding division is my territory. Where else would I fight if I run away from there? I have no room… for any hesitation.
Nothing will change the fact that in the end I will crush you with maximum prejudice. Even If I have to do it while coughing up blood! I
crawled back up from the ground for this very moment! But if I’m inferior against the overwhelming wave that will crash down upon me, then I must gather what I can!
If that’s not enough, then I’ll squeeze everything out! Sharpen my soul! Run through this extreme moment until all other pretenders to this fight are dead, and all that remains is the crown.
All of you who will stand before me at 7 Pillars... not a single one of you truly grasps the calibre of I, Katya Djurdjevic. Well, I suppose it is only natural. After all, there does not exist in this world a scale capable of measuring me. On Sunday, at last – and long, long past time – you will know who I am.
So in other words boys and girls, in layman’s terms, I’m going to fuck you up.”
