Post by Falcon on Jul 30, 2011 6:47:13 GMT -6
I've never had a problem with Ricky Johnson. In fact, far from it..
I've told the man a dozen times that I admired the fight in him. That I thought he should be standing at my shoulder, at the shoulders of men like Angel and Adam. That he deserved more than he let himself get. Ricky Johnson is a man who can get it done, and yet when the time comes to pay dividends, he seems to just fade back into the background.
Sorry Rick, I wish it was any other way.
You have a point, how could one of the most decorated wrestlers in the company have never been given a chance at the company's top prize? I wish I had a logical answer to that, but the truth is the only thing I could even attempt to offer you is one of their half hearted excuses.
It would hurt me just as much to speak it, as it would annoy you to hear it.
So, what's to do? Well, you could keep doing what you're doing. Winning matches and making these little quibby speeches about the man holding you down. But it's not working, is it? No, it's not, because all they see when they look at you is..
Ricky Johnson, devoted employee.
The man who doesn't complain, does what he's told, and when the time comes you can rely on him to do his job above and beyond the quality of excellence this company represents.
You're just like me. Except I have to have at least a decade more history.
So, speaking from experience, I know what you must do. You must find a way to make an impactful statement. Easy. Without selling out your principles. Not so much.
But if anyone can find a way. It'll be you.
I could go to bat for you right now. I could start throwing my weight around, "requesting" that you be given more than you're getting. I could call Leonard himself and make veiled threats until you got what you deserved. And I'd do that if I wasn't two hundred percent sure that wasn't the way you wanted it. So, instead, all I can offer you is advice. Man to man, from someone who's been there before.
Find something that makes you unique, and run with it.
Show them that you are exactly as good as you know you are, which is even better than they say you are.
And Make a statement.
Not for me. Not because I think it's a good idea.
Because it's what you deserve.
(Angel wiped his face with a towel. He'd finished working out and was on his way out the door. Suddenly his sixth sense told him he wasn't alone.)
Angel: Figured you'd show up eventually...
(The camera panned to look over Angels shoulder. Falcon was leaning against the wall a few feet to the left of the door Angel had just exited. Falcon's smile matched Angels own. The two friends had developed a certain way of sensing each others presence.)
Falcon: Yea well, you know I can't stay away..
Angel: Are you going to lecture me too?
Falcon: I wouldn't dream of it.
Angel: Good.. for a second there I was worried you were going to try and stop me from doing this.
Falcon: Now, now..
(Falcon stepped off the wall, walking towards Angel as the man turned to face him.)
Falcon: You and I both know we're going to wrestle ourselves into a casket one day.
Angel: Quite right.
Falcon: So where would be the fun in stopping you before it happened?
Angel: You know I'd just kick your ass if you tried.
(Falcon shrugged.)
Falcon: Never stopped me before. But, for what it's worth, I think you're right.
Angel: I know you do.
Falcon: Just promise me one thing..
Angel: What's that?
(Falcon held his fist out.)
Falcon: Walk out alive..
(Angel grinned and hit Falcons fist with his own.)
Angel: I always do.
Falcon: Good. It may be my hometown.. but it's always been our backyard.
Angel: We rock the city?
Falcon: Of course.
(The two men, legends in their own right, walked toward the door.)
Angel: So.. what's the deal with you and Ayla?
Falcon: Man, I can't even begin to explain it....
Since the Locke's have been pretty much mum all week, I can't launch into my standard here's your life and how to improve it critique. However, what I can and will do.. is give you basic solid advice.
Fire up the DVRs in case you miss something, you're going to want to hear this.
There's three ways you can approach this match gentlemen. One is the awestruck deer in the headlights look, where you let the fact that the two men standing across from you, while not a real tag team, have proved time and time again when the time comes they deliver everything they can and more. It's easy to let that happen, easy to let it throw you off your game and thus, make a difficult obstacle to overcome nigh impossible.
Case in point, Joe Everyman.
Just watch him for a few weeks. He seems confident, almost cocky even, but behind that veil is someone more concerned with what his status will be if he wins than actually working to get there. He's blinded by the glitz and glamor of the industry, and is given chance after chance due to his never say die attitude. But he doesn't have the courage to face the light and overcome it.
Ruling, don't be that guy.
Second is the ugly guy in the fight mentality. The whole, I've got nothing to lose attitude. While it seems comforting at first, like the first part it causes complacency. If you shrug off each loss with a "meh", you won't strive to get better, because nothing will push you anymore.
Case in point, Jack Hammond.
When you stop caring about the reality of defeat, obstacles don't seem important. When they're not important, you won't work to overcome them. When you don't work to overcome them, you don't get better. It's really that simple.
Ruling, try not to be that guy.
Third is the condescending, I'm so awesome I don't need to work look. Where you write every loss off as a fluke, or luck. And every win becomes complete and utter domination. Neither is completely true. I've never lost to the Ace, but that doesn't mean he could beat me tomorrow. When you start assuming that someone is not good enough to beat you, that's when they do.
Case in point, Roberto Verona.
Roberto would have you believe that anyone he's beaten is just a no never mind walk in the park. Sure, it looks good doesn't it. But it never lasts. Eventually you start squandering opportunities, because you failed to remember what work is. And then, they eventually fade away.
Ruling, really don't try to be that guy.
So, now that I've told you who not to be. You're probably waiting for me to tell you who to be. In fact, you might have already nudged the other in the ribs and said "Here's where he tells us to be like him". On some level it may be true, but think about it like this.. If someone made a submarine out of metal that worked, and everyone copied them because it worked, would you go and make one out of bread just to say you were original, even if it didn't work?
I thought not.
You want to succeed in wrestling without doing work. Go find another promotion. But here, you're always going to have to improve your game to get where you want. Otherwise you'll end up like the previously three examples. One just goes through the motions, the other gave it all up to escape the pressure, and the third is headed for sheer disaster and doesn't know it.
Promise me one thing..
You don't have to be like me..
Just don't be like them.
Consider this friendly advice.
First one's a freebie.
I've told the man a dozen times that I admired the fight in him. That I thought he should be standing at my shoulder, at the shoulders of men like Angel and Adam. That he deserved more than he let himself get. Ricky Johnson is a man who can get it done, and yet when the time comes to pay dividends, he seems to just fade back into the background.
Sorry Rick, I wish it was any other way.
You have a point, how could one of the most decorated wrestlers in the company have never been given a chance at the company's top prize? I wish I had a logical answer to that, but the truth is the only thing I could even attempt to offer you is one of their half hearted excuses.
It would hurt me just as much to speak it, as it would annoy you to hear it.
So, what's to do? Well, you could keep doing what you're doing. Winning matches and making these little quibby speeches about the man holding you down. But it's not working, is it? No, it's not, because all they see when they look at you is..
Ricky Johnson, devoted employee.
The man who doesn't complain, does what he's told, and when the time comes you can rely on him to do his job above and beyond the quality of excellence this company represents.
You're just like me. Except I have to have at least a decade more history.
So, speaking from experience, I know what you must do. You must find a way to make an impactful statement. Easy. Without selling out your principles. Not so much.
But if anyone can find a way. It'll be you.
I could go to bat for you right now. I could start throwing my weight around, "requesting" that you be given more than you're getting. I could call Leonard himself and make veiled threats until you got what you deserved. And I'd do that if I wasn't two hundred percent sure that wasn't the way you wanted it. So, instead, all I can offer you is advice. Man to man, from someone who's been there before.
Find something that makes you unique, and run with it.
Show them that you are exactly as good as you know you are, which is even better than they say you are.
And Make a statement.
Not for me. Not because I think it's a good idea.
Because it's what you deserve.
One final heart-break
And blinding lights will guide our way
Free us our blind state
They will call us by our name
[/center][/i]And blinding lights will guide our way
Free us our blind state
They will call us by our name
(Angel wiped his face with a towel. He'd finished working out and was on his way out the door. Suddenly his sixth sense told him he wasn't alone.)
Angel: Figured you'd show up eventually...
(The camera panned to look over Angels shoulder. Falcon was leaning against the wall a few feet to the left of the door Angel had just exited. Falcon's smile matched Angels own. The two friends had developed a certain way of sensing each others presence.)
Falcon: Yea well, you know I can't stay away..
Angel: Are you going to lecture me too?
Falcon: I wouldn't dream of it.
Angel: Good.. for a second there I was worried you were going to try and stop me from doing this.
Falcon: Now, now..
(Falcon stepped off the wall, walking towards Angel as the man turned to face him.)
Falcon: You and I both know we're going to wrestle ourselves into a casket one day.
Angel: Quite right.
Falcon: So where would be the fun in stopping you before it happened?
Angel: You know I'd just kick your ass if you tried.
(Falcon shrugged.)
Falcon: Never stopped me before. But, for what it's worth, I think you're right.
Angel: I know you do.
Falcon: Just promise me one thing..
Angel: What's that?
(Falcon held his fist out.)
Falcon: Walk out alive..
(Angel grinned and hit Falcons fist with his own.)
Angel: I always do.
Falcon: Good. It may be my hometown.. but it's always been our backyard.
Angel: We rock the city?
Falcon: Of course.
(The two men, legends in their own right, walked toward the door.)
Angel: So.. what's the deal with you and Ayla?
Falcon: Man, I can't even begin to explain it....
One final heart-break
And blinding lights will guide our way
Free us our blind state
They will call us by our name
[/center][/i]And blinding lights will guide our way
Free us our blind state
They will call us by our name
Since the Locke's have been pretty much mum all week, I can't launch into my standard here's your life and how to improve it critique. However, what I can and will do.. is give you basic solid advice.
Fire up the DVRs in case you miss something, you're going to want to hear this.
There's three ways you can approach this match gentlemen. One is the awestruck deer in the headlights look, where you let the fact that the two men standing across from you, while not a real tag team, have proved time and time again when the time comes they deliver everything they can and more. It's easy to let that happen, easy to let it throw you off your game and thus, make a difficult obstacle to overcome nigh impossible.
Case in point, Joe Everyman.
Just watch him for a few weeks. He seems confident, almost cocky even, but behind that veil is someone more concerned with what his status will be if he wins than actually working to get there. He's blinded by the glitz and glamor of the industry, and is given chance after chance due to his never say die attitude. But he doesn't have the courage to face the light and overcome it.
Ruling, don't be that guy.
Second is the ugly guy in the fight mentality. The whole, I've got nothing to lose attitude. While it seems comforting at first, like the first part it causes complacency. If you shrug off each loss with a "meh", you won't strive to get better, because nothing will push you anymore.
Case in point, Jack Hammond.
When you stop caring about the reality of defeat, obstacles don't seem important. When they're not important, you won't work to overcome them. When you don't work to overcome them, you don't get better. It's really that simple.
Ruling, try not to be that guy.
Third is the condescending, I'm so awesome I don't need to work look. Where you write every loss off as a fluke, or luck. And every win becomes complete and utter domination. Neither is completely true. I've never lost to the Ace, but that doesn't mean he could beat me tomorrow. When you start assuming that someone is not good enough to beat you, that's when they do.
Case in point, Roberto Verona.
Roberto would have you believe that anyone he's beaten is just a no never mind walk in the park. Sure, it looks good doesn't it. But it never lasts. Eventually you start squandering opportunities, because you failed to remember what work is. And then, they eventually fade away.
Ruling, really don't try to be that guy.
So, now that I've told you who not to be. You're probably waiting for me to tell you who to be. In fact, you might have already nudged the other in the ribs and said "Here's where he tells us to be like him". On some level it may be true, but think about it like this.. If someone made a submarine out of metal that worked, and everyone copied them because it worked, would you go and make one out of bread just to say you were original, even if it didn't work?
I thought not.
You want to succeed in wrestling without doing work. Go find another promotion. But here, you're always going to have to improve your game to get where you want. Otherwise you'll end up like the previously three examples. One just goes through the motions, the other gave it all up to escape the pressure, and the third is headed for sheer disaster and doesn't know it.
Promise me one thing..
You don't have to be like me..
Just don't be like them.
Consider this friendly advice.
First one's a freebie.
Undying.
[/center][/i]