Post by Magnus Von Schwartz on Dec 27, 2010 11:19:55 GMT -5
Disclaimer: The following is to be taken in character. The handler doesn't share the thoughts of the character (not entirely), so don't be dumb and think of it as such.
The XWA's current Pure Champion, Magnus Von Schwartz, is the most experienced man in the industry today, boasting over 30 years of work around the globe. Recently he conducted an interview video with an independent wrestling magazine from his home in Berlin, speaking very candidly on the recent dealings of the XWA and of the industry as whole.
I am not an ignorant man. I know well enough that wrestling is a business as much as it is a sport, but I know that it is a sport before it is a business. We have lost sight of that fact this year. I've sat idly and seen all that's transpired this winter, and it disgusts me.
To see one such as Rodolphe Gallas, a man who I once considered to be a respectable businessman, sell out his stock in the XWA was disheartening. In the end, it only shows that he was merely in this for the money. So too does it speak for the apparent "buyer", to have taken that owning interest and taken a part of the XWA to create his own company? This only shows that he is interested in not only money...but something far worse than that. Himself.
And the same too can be said for all of those who followed him there. All those who supposedly "built" this company, the XWA. To move so quickly to supposedly "greener pastures" is sickening. It shows the world that their commitment has always only been to themselves, not this company, not this sport. The XWA was built by those who stand for it, and stand by it. All else is nothing, and means nothing. They call themselves "Evolved" when in fact they are no better than those that came before them, claiming to be something different from any other company, talking much about how it is they're so better than what's come before. How different is this from all the companies who have come before I ask you?
In truth, they can try to distance themselves as much as they like. They can speak as they wish to make themselves sound "new". We all know, those of us who are intelligent enough to look past the smoke and mirrors, that they are nothing special. They are not an "evolution" of anything, because wrestling does not evolve. It remains as it has when the Greeks and the Romans created the art millions of years ago.
The rules may change. Athletes may become stronger, smarter, faster, but wrestling does not. Wrestling does not change, no matter how many ridiculous stipulations you add to a match. It is still wrestling. That, they do not stand to evolve. They only stand to make "profit" off of it.
Greed. Selfishness. Arrogance. Do not take my pride to be blind, for it is not just "them" I speak of when I say those words. XWA itself has become such to an extent. I have held this title for months on end without so much of a single challenger to stand against me. Have you grown that fearful that I will defeat you? Do you hold your pride so high so as not to have it jeopardized by humbling defeat?
There are few who truly embody this sport. I will not say their names for they know who they are. I will say that I have had the pleasure of facing these men, and these all are men who stand inside of the XWA ring. But they are...as I said...few. There are many more who know not of what their ambitions are, or who's ambitions are jaded and self-serving. This is what wrestling has become. A media circus. A cavalcade of boastfulness and claims of greatness with no proof of such. Where one can put a title on himself and think it to be something the world must believe.
The title I hold, the "nickname" if you will, is one I earned in the ring. It's one the world has seen me exemplify. PURE wrestling. No silly stipulations. No barbaric gimmicks. Merely one man versus another. One man's skill versus another, nothing more, nothing less. In my view, that is the nature of wrestling. It's roots. It's very nucleus, and in that, I am yet to be surpassed. In many ways, that would make me better than half of the "upper" half of any company in this industry. This is the level of skill I judge an opponent by. There may be those who can entertain or be clever on the microphone, but when that becomes the criteria of what makes a "superstar", I will walk away from this business.
I have proven to the world that a man's skill is all he needs, and I've done so in an XWA ring, against the finest competition this company has to offer. Any two men can put on a match and entertain the fans, I say this to reiterate the fact that just because a place bills themselves as "the next big thing" doesn't mean they are. They are the same as two up and comers wrestling in a gymnasium or a bingo hall or an independent show. What matters is why they do what they do.
I do this to compete on the highest level. To prove to the generation that's preceded me that you cannot lose sight of where this sport has been, for if you do not respect it's past you will have no future. I think there are a handful of men who share this sentiment with me, and once again, they all are still in the XWA. That is the thing that separates us from the others. Integrity. This is the reason I remain with the company.
But with that said, the house must be put back into order. Fear must be shed and doubt must be silenced. If your reputation is all that matters to you, then go to where the only motivation is reputation, for this, the XWA, is not where you should be. Not while men like me stand inside of it's ring. I will make an example of those who fear. I will give them reason to fear, and they will do one of two things.
Rise to the challenge, or fall...and be broken.
The XWA's current Pure Champion, Magnus Von Schwartz, is the most experienced man in the industry today, boasting over 30 years of work around the globe. Recently he conducted an interview video with an independent wrestling magazine from his home in Berlin, speaking very candidly on the recent dealings of the XWA and of the industry as whole.
I am not an ignorant man. I know well enough that wrestling is a business as much as it is a sport, but I know that it is a sport before it is a business. We have lost sight of that fact this year. I've sat idly and seen all that's transpired this winter, and it disgusts me.
To see one such as Rodolphe Gallas, a man who I once considered to be a respectable businessman, sell out his stock in the XWA was disheartening. In the end, it only shows that he was merely in this for the money. So too does it speak for the apparent "buyer", to have taken that owning interest and taken a part of the XWA to create his own company? This only shows that he is interested in not only money...but something far worse than that. Himself.
And the same too can be said for all of those who followed him there. All those who supposedly "built" this company, the XWA. To move so quickly to supposedly "greener pastures" is sickening. It shows the world that their commitment has always only been to themselves, not this company, not this sport. The XWA was built by those who stand for it, and stand by it. All else is nothing, and means nothing. They call themselves "Evolved" when in fact they are no better than those that came before them, claiming to be something different from any other company, talking much about how it is they're so better than what's come before. How different is this from all the companies who have come before I ask you?
In truth, they can try to distance themselves as much as they like. They can speak as they wish to make themselves sound "new". We all know, those of us who are intelligent enough to look past the smoke and mirrors, that they are nothing special. They are not an "evolution" of anything, because wrestling does not evolve. It remains as it has when the Greeks and the Romans created the art millions of years ago.
The rules may change. Athletes may become stronger, smarter, faster, but wrestling does not. Wrestling does not change, no matter how many ridiculous stipulations you add to a match. It is still wrestling. That, they do not stand to evolve. They only stand to make "profit" off of it.
Greed. Selfishness. Arrogance. Do not take my pride to be blind, for it is not just "them" I speak of when I say those words. XWA itself has become such to an extent. I have held this title for months on end without so much of a single challenger to stand against me. Have you grown that fearful that I will defeat you? Do you hold your pride so high so as not to have it jeopardized by humbling defeat?
There are few who truly embody this sport. I will not say their names for they know who they are. I will say that I have had the pleasure of facing these men, and these all are men who stand inside of the XWA ring. But they are...as I said...few. There are many more who know not of what their ambitions are, or who's ambitions are jaded and self-serving. This is what wrestling has become. A media circus. A cavalcade of boastfulness and claims of greatness with no proof of such. Where one can put a title on himself and think it to be something the world must believe.
The title I hold, the "nickname" if you will, is one I earned in the ring. It's one the world has seen me exemplify. PURE wrestling. No silly stipulations. No barbaric gimmicks. Merely one man versus another. One man's skill versus another, nothing more, nothing less. In my view, that is the nature of wrestling. It's roots. It's very nucleus, and in that, I am yet to be surpassed. In many ways, that would make me better than half of the "upper" half of any company in this industry. This is the level of skill I judge an opponent by. There may be those who can entertain or be clever on the microphone, but when that becomes the criteria of what makes a "superstar", I will walk away from this business.
I have proven to the world that a man's skill is all he needs, and I've done so in an XWA ring, against the finest competition this company has to offer. Any two men can put on a match and entertain the fans, I say this to reiterate the fact that just because a place bills themselves as "the next big thing" doesn't mean they are. They are the same as two up and comers wrestling in a gymnasium or a bingo hall or an independent show. What matters is why they do what they do.
I do this to compete on the highest level. To prove to the generation that's preceded me that you cannot lose sight of where this sport has been, for if you do not respect it's past you will have no future. I think there are a handful of men who share this sentiment with me, and once again, they all are still in the XWA. That is the thing that separates us from the others. Integrity. This is the reason I remain with the company.
But with that said, the house must be put back into order. Fear must be shed and doubt must be silenced. If your reputation is all that matters to you, then go to where the only motivation is reputation, for this, the XWA, is not where you should be. Not while men like me stand inside of it's ring. I will make an example of those who fear. I will give them reason to fear, and they will do one of two things.
Rise to the challenge, or fall...and be broken.
