Post by Alex Kincaid on Dec 27, 2017 11:16:35 GMT -5
“In two and a half weeks, we start all over again.”
If you’re a wrestling fan worth your salt, the voice of The Bullet King Alex Kincaid is a now familiar staple of the international independent scene. This is different, of course, than his last few appearances in northeast independent companies or rising promotions in the United Kingdom. Union Battleground brings a higher class of fighter, a higher profile and there’s not a chance that Kincaid doesn’t know that. Indeed, when the camera finds him standing next to the beach on an unusually warm day even for his new home in the Platinum Coast it’s clear by his slightly hunched posture and his reflective tone that he’s more than a little nervous.
“Adrian. Noah. I’ve been here before. All three of us have. I’ve shared locker rooms with Noah Reigner – though we’ve never faced each other – and Bruiser’s had a hard enough life that wrestling in front of a new crowd is probably nothing to him. Maybe one of these days, I’ll finally be able to shake whatever this thing in my gut is. That thing that says ‘you’re a rookie who doesn’t know what he’s doing’ before that first show even when I’ve been wrestling long enough for almost everybody to know my name. Sounds cocky, doesn’t it?”
He grins. Maybe it’s real, maybe it’s a defense mechanism. Hard to say. He’s notoriously difficult to get a bead on, with his bushy brown beard and unkempt hair hiding some of his expression and a pair of gleaming aviators hiding his eyes. There are ways in which Alex Kincaid looks like he’d have every advantage in being a professional wrestler. He’s got size, first of all, standing well over six feet and into the two hundred fourty pound range. He looks comfortable in front of the camera, letting his thoughts hang in the air to give the people at home time to consider them and gesturing toward them like a natural showman.
And, of course, he’s got his manager.
“It isn’t. Alyssa knows the truth, I know the truth. Doing this, like this, for as long as I have brings with it a whole other set of challenges. It brings a target on your back. It makes you the guy that companies bring in to build people up at your expense. Because yeah, I’ve been around. I’ve had some gold here or there. One or two companies have decided to put my name in those main events…but those companies are gone. That gold has turned to dust, and maybe – just maybe – I’m not as good as I once was.
Maybe.
I’ve given this speech before. Anyone who has followed my career has heard this. All of this. Maybe the environment has been a little different. A year ago, I’d have been giving this speech back home in Alberta. Me and my wife, freezing to death on the side of the highway while I went on some rambling bullshit soliloquy about roads as a metaphor for life, and career and whatever.”
He snorts a dismissive snort and shakes his head. There’s little pageantry there, he’s letting out disgust at himself more than anything else. Alyssa Kincaid smiles warmly at her husband, and when the pair of them lock eyes for a moment he takes solace in the only constant in his life – her. He turns back toward the camera, shaking his head again.
“We needed a change. Because for the last year, I’ve been coming out here and saying it’s time to move past what I was. It’s time to stop feeling sorry for myself for things I did when I was at my worst and start preparing to finally, honestly become one of the best in this industry. So I packed up my bags, and I headed south. This Canadian boy with ice in his veins moved to where the sun is warm, and the sands are white. But I’m not some old man heading south to retire – I ain’t that old yet – I’m someone who decided to shock his system and rewire his entire brain.
When I started calling myself The Bullet King I didn’t do it because it sounded neat, or because it fit into current trends. I did it because it meant something. You ever hear a gun go off? Really hear it. For that second, everything stops. No matter what you’re doing when you hear that bang, you pay attention. Priorities shift. Attentions change. Everything that’s important to you comes into stark, honest focus because you have to measure it against a clear and sudden danger. That’s real to me. That’s honest. I’ve always prided myself on telling the truth, so let’s tell the truth again. That’s what they deserve right? The truth?”
That’s directed at his wife again. Alyssa seems a little puzzled by the direction her husband is going in. Alex stops and pulls off his sunglasses, hooking the temples of them on the neck of his shirt. He sniffs in a sharp breath and looks down to his feet. There’s nearly a minute where he collects himself – an eternity in television time.
“Union Battleground doesn’t need Adrian Bruiser. It doesn’t need Noah Reigner. It doesn’t need Alex Kincaid. Hurts to hear it, and it damn sure hurts to say it but it’s the truth. We’re about to go into season 2 and the buzz is out of this world. I’ve been around. I’ve seen them all, and I have never felt a buzz around a company the way I have this place. There are people I respect. The Emery Layton’s of the world are too busy defending their championships honorably to pay attention to two guys arguably past their prime, and a guy who doesn’t have the big win in a new company yet to make him a threat. There are people who need a smack in the mouth like the entirety of Salvation. This place has already built a name, and it didn’t need the three of us to do it.
The truth is, that our match at Relapse is about proving we deserve to be here. That we deserve to be part of a legacy that’s building itself faster than any company I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if I’m that guy, but I’m willing to find out. I might run my mouth a little too much, I might have some of the famous ‘personal demons’ to deal with and I might be the last person who should be in front of this camera giving you speeches about how much this place could mean to the business I love. But I care. I care for a thousand reasons, both personal and professional and I NEED-“
His voice raises for a second, and he catches himself almost yelling into the camera. Alyssa rests a hand on his shoulder and he takes another moment to compose himself. He takes a breath and turns to the camera again, gesticulating towards the ground with jabs of his finger to emphasize his next points.
“I don’t know what this is. I just know I need to be part of it. I need to be part of that buzz, part of that energy, part of that fresh shot of life that wrestling needs. I’ve spent too long apologizing. I’ve spent too long thinking about the road behind me instead of paving fresh roads ahead of me. I deserve better. My FAMILY deserves better. Surely, that’s something a guy like Adrian can understand right? You know what it’s like to fight for you and yours.
I know the kind of people I’ll be getting in there with. I know we’re going to scratch, and claw, and damn near kill each other to kick that goddamn door in and show EVERYONE that we deserve to be on that grand stage. If you’ve never seen Union Battleground, hell if you’ve never seen Professional Wrestling you make sure that you’re watching Relapse. There’s a lot of talent on that show but I’d wager there isn’t a match on the card where people are as hungry to give people a show as the three men in that triple threat. Get yourself ready for something special, something you’ve never seen before. Because this year Relapse falls on my birthday. Relapse is on January 14th, and that’s an appropriate date, because on that day The Bullet King is reborn.”
With that, he moves away from the camera. He gives Alyssa a quick peck on the forward and nods somewhere offscreen, indicating something off in the distance. The two of them move down the beach together as the camera follows behind. It pans up into the brilliant, gleaming sun and then slowly fades…to…black….
Last Edit: Jan 6, 2018 19:04:55 GMT -5 by Alex Kincaid
Noah Reigner celebrated New Year’s in San Diego with Tenleigh Frost, Andrew and Tyler Wolfe and a handful of other So Cal Ultraviolent personalities. Another way to help keep his mind off of the shitshow that has become his personal life and relationship, or what remains, with Brooklyn Kanojvic. The gathering and subsequent party happened at the Plant facility, and that’s where we find Noah. He drank, a lot, and ended up blacking out and sleeping on the bleachers. Waking up, Noah found himself surrounded by empty and half-filled bottles of various alcohol. He slowly sat up, instantly hanging his head. “Holy hell.” he mumbled under his breath, running his hand through his hair. Noah only lifted his head when he heard shuffling coming from the ring. His eyes narrowed when he saw the ring apron move, and out popped Tyler Wolfe. She rolled out from underneath the ring. Her hair a chaotic mess, and she looked in about as good of shape as Noah did. He smirked, “You look like shit.” he said to her, which only caused her to shoot a glare at him, and if it could, it would have killed him on the spot. “You’re one to talk, Reigner.” she said, grumpily.
Noah laughed it off, cautiously moving himself off of the bleachers, navigating through the bottles and such that surrounded him. He moved to the ring where his jacket lay on the apron. “What a way to start the new year. Hungover as all hell, and have to board a flight to Australia.” Tyler remained silent, leaning against the ring apron and fighting off a killer headache herself.
“How about you start it by buying me brunch first? I need greasy carbs.” her voice cut to Noah, who stopped mid-action of putting his jacket on. A smirk touched his lips when replying, “I didn’t know you until a couple days ago, and you’re already telling me to buy you food?” She turned to him and stared at him blankly, “Yeah, I am. You’re Andrew’s “number one student”, the one who made it out of this little gym and into the big world of wrestling, right? Well, then you should have money. .. Let’s go.” Turning, she began to walk toward the exit. Noah shrugged his shoulders and followed her.
-------------
“I’m not going to stand here and recite the same old, tired cliche bull that everyone else will. New year, new me. Nah’. In Twenty-Seventeen, Union Battleground saw exactly what myself and Rumble could do in the tag team division. We ran through the entire Battalion tournament easily, and it all ended when a blind referee counted a three that shouldn’t have happened. How did we rebound? Dispatching the Osaka Rebels as only we can. Twenty-Eighteen will be much of the same. When Rumble shows up, we’re going to continue where we left off and I promise you that we’re going to take the Battalion championships that should be around our waists currently.”
“But until that happens, something else is going to happen. Twenty-Eighteen will be the emergence of Noah Reigner, the singles competitor, in Union Battleground. January Fourteenth in Australia, I step into the ring against Alex Kincade and Adrian Bruiser and I have the pleasure of welcoming these boys to Union. Kincade I’m familiar with, and I find it amusing how you step in front of a camera as soon as Relapse was announced, and go on some long-winded speech about how Union doesn’t need any of us. I’m not sure if you’re clueless, or hit your head too hard over in Lion’s Road - but let me fill you in on something. I’m one half of the Firing Squad, one of the two teams that built the Battalion division in this company. I understand the point you were making, that we all have to prove ourselves out there on the Fourteenth; but I already have. I’ve earned my place in Union Battleground - unlike the two of you.”
“And tell me, what’s so special about you? Your technical wrestling that, I’ll admit, has gotten you noticed? I saw it shaping up in the U.K. and had things worked out a little differently there, I’m sure you and I would have met sooner. But that technique doesn’t separate you from me at all. I can comfortably say that you and I seem to be evenly matched when it comes to trading holds, suplexes and maneuvers. What else ya’got? I’ll tell you what you don’t have. You don’t have a solid base. I know all about you and your infamous knee injuries. How’s that knee going to hold up when I target and lock in my cloverleaf submission? Believe me say I say, Alex, that I don’t mind tearing that ACL for you again. I really don’t, and if it comes down to having to do that in Australia, then guess what’s going to happen?”
Smirk.
“Now.. I know I’m the runt of this match. I don’t even tip the Two-Hundred pound needle on the scale, and I can already tell you that both Alex and Adrian here are going to try to exploit that; using their power and size against me. It would be a good strategy… if you were fighting someone other than me. I don’t need to match power with either of you, because I’m smarter than you both in the ring. Smarter than you especially, Adrian Bruiser. You’re a big powerful brute, and you don’t stray too far away from that. That’ll be your downfall. At least Alex can change things up on the fly a little, you? You’re just a big, bumbling brute who knows nothing else. So when you come at me, all ‘fee fi fo fum’, and I kick out your leg - how will you react? You’ll get angry and charge at me, make another mistake and - one way or another - end up flat on your face. Trust me, it happens all of the time.”
“That rotator cuff is a bullseye, you know that right? If I don’t exploit it, I’m sure Kincade will - and just like that you’re out of the game. With a bum shoulder, you won’t be able to dish out much offense will you? You won’t be able to rely on that power and we’re right back at square one. Kincade told us that Union doesn’t need any of us. And while he was wrong when it came to me, he’s certainly not wrong when it comes to you. I may be the runt of the group, but you’re the weak link of the match. And I know you want to come in, put on an impressive show of power, dominate the match and begin your come back story. Reformed ex-con changes his ways to become a big time professional wrestler. But you’ve been put against myself, and me? I’m not so keen on feel-good stories right now. So, I’m going to take great pride in hitting you with a wicked knee to the jaw. I’m going to take great pride in stopping you before you even get started here, Bruiser.”
“Twenty-Seventeen could have been better for Noah Reigner, specifically here in Union. I could be standing in front of you with the Battalion championships around my waist. But despite the loss, The Firing Squad ended the year on a high note - and believe me when I say that it’s not going to stop. Twenty-Eighteen will belong to the Firing Squad. Twenty-Eighteen will belong to Noah Reigner, and there’s nothing that these two buffoons are going to do to stop me. At Relapse, I may be without Rumble and in my first singles match in Union, but I can handle myself, and I will do exactly that. In Twenty-Seventeen, Union Battleground saw exactly what I could do in a tag team environment, and in the beginning of Twenty-Eighteen Union will find out what I’m all about all on my own.”
“So boys, when we flip the calendar to January Fourteenth and we all arrive in Sydney, Australia - the grace period of your Union Battleground contracts will be up. You have a few days yet to decide it’s not for you and maybe save yourself the embarrassment you’ll receive if you step into the ring with me. After all your big talk, after all your promises - you’ll be humiliated the first time either of you step foot in a Union Battleground ring.”
He turned, but stopped and smirked.
“Oh and Kincade, I’m sorry I’m going to ruin your birthday by kicking you in the face.”
