Post by Jules on Jun 15, 2012 13:43:02 GMT -4
Phil’s APW Blog
In the shuffle for T4TB places it’s easy for those not involved to get lost. Not so for Anthony Bailey and Julius Farquhar this week as they headline the final Asylum before APW’s summer blockbuster with “The Promise”’s Tap Out Title on the line.
For Bailey, as he freely admits, this stands as probably the biggest test of his reign so far; for Farquhar this is a chance to prove that for all the pomp and circumstance that comes with him, he remains relevant to the APW consciousness.
Some may wonder how this match-up hasn’t come to be part of the T4TB tournament itself, but with Farquhar suspended for his increasingly insubordinate attitude towards Reginald Schmidt, and Bailey rumoured to be earmarked for another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship held by Jason Kash, the explanation is not so difficult to find. So it comes to pass that Bailey defends the title he defeated Chaz Dillinger for at Rasslemania, and Farquhar gets a shot that he, and those few who follow him, believe is long overdue.
I won’t debate this issue here, but irrespective of whether Farquhar deserves this shot, it presents a critical moment in his career. The man who so brazenly calls himself the best wrestler in the world, and holds himself above all others as some kind of demi-god, in virtue of his self-proclaimed “Quintessentially English” status, needs a defining wrestling moment. Sure, throwing Phil Atken into a bath tub of tea and worryingly personal wrangle with an ex-employee make for good entertainment moments, but this reputations in this business are built on the championships you hold and the opponents you defeat.
For all his self-hype, Julius Farquhar comes up worryingly short in this department.
For Bailey this is equally an important moment, although for very different reasons. While the likes of Farquhar, Michael Callahan, and Chaz Dillinger shout from the roof-tops how much they are entitled to in this business, Bailey goes about his business is a much quieter, humble way, earning props for what he does in the ring, not from barracking the management.
Nevertheless, after a great run of results there is pressure on Bailey to prove that the hype is not just that. He has produced some big time wins against some of Asylum’s premier stars, and seems to have the fully fledged support of none other than the living APW legend Sally Talfourd, but can he keep the momentum going and prove to any doubters out there that his main event credibility is sound?
To many observers, part of the answer to that question will be delivered this Sunday.
*
JF: Phil, why are you bashing away at that keyboard.
Phil flipped down the lid of his laptop and turned to face Julius Farquhar who had disturbed his blog-writing.
P: Just some APW work-related stuff.
JF: Forget about that, the only thing in APW you need to be concerned with is me. I thought I heard the kettle boil.
Phil sighed and set about the task. When he was done he sat down and tried to converse with the “Quintessentially English” one.
P: So Julius, the truth about your match this week.
Julius looked at Phil with a look of confusion, with a smidge of irritation.
P: I mean, this is a big match for you Julius. You’re struggling to stay relevant on Asylum-
JF: Excuse me?
Phil tried to backtrack.
P: I’m just saying. You’ve been in APW for nine months now, and what have you really achieved?
JF: My merits are high and without question. As the first “Quintessentially English” wrestler in APW I have transformed the landscape of wrestling forever.
P: I’m not here to debate your so-called merits, I’m doubting that you have achieved anything at all in APW. Now you have an opportunity, you must be pretty nervous about it?
JF: Was The Duke of Wellington nervous before he annihilated Napoleon’s forces at Waterloo? Do you think Churchill gave a second thought to defeat when he fought off Hitler’s band of sauerkraut munching barbarians? The Quintessentially English spirit is driven solely by success. I haven’t been without anywhere I’ve been in my life, and I am not about to go without it here in APW.
P: I’m sure you want to win, Julius, but I’m asking if you are at all worried about this match and its consequences. Let’s just say you do lose – what then? In nine months your record says you haven’t beaten a single top-line talent, and the only thing you seem to have to speak of is a few gimmick matches and a dispute over a cup of tea.
Julius frowned.
JF: Speaking of cups of tea, you make a lousy one. How did you prepare this?
P: I’ve put the milk in fir-
Phil paused as he saw Julius’ eyes widen.
P: I mean, I added the milk after the water.
JF: And after removing the tea leaves.
P: I think so. Yeah I’m certain I did.
JF: And did you allow the leaves to infuse the water for precisely 3 minutes and 41 seconds at precisely 81.7 degrees Celsius.
P: Yeah of course.
Phil lied, but Julius was having none of it.
JF: Then why does the taste of this tea suggest you allowed the mixture to cool too quickly, and by the colourisation I would suggest you not only did not remove the tea leaves before adding milk, but in fact added milk to the cup before anything else.
Phil sighed heavily.
P: Okay, I don’t know how to make tea. Is that really such an offense?
JF: If you knew better you wouldn’t even have to ask that question.
P: I apologise. Can we get back to the interview?
JF: Yes, yes, but at least get around to making some relevant point.
P: I was saying that you need to up the ante this week if you are going to beat Anthony Bailey; your record suggests you don’t have what it takes.
JF: That is an utterly absurd proposition. On what grounds do you assert it?
P: On the grounds that you haven’t beaten anyone of Bailey’s calibre. You faced Sally Talfourd once and you lost; other than that you’ve mostly been involved in countless tag team matches, or beaten in singles matches people who are either no longer employed by APW, or have done even less than you have.
Julius looked at Phil with astonishment.
JF: Are you suggesting I don’t have what it takes to defeat the so-called best Asylum has to offer.
P: The evidence is overwhelmingly in favour.
JF: I will accept that losing to Sally Talfourd was a missed opportunity, and I will even go as far as to accept that I was culpable for that loss. I underestimated that maggot, but if I ever come across her again I will ensure I do not make the same mistake again.
P: I’ve heard rumours this may be your last opportunity.
JF: What the Devil does that mean?
P: I’m just saying, there’s a lot of office gossip that Reginald Schmidt is using this match as a way of evaluating your future employment opportunities.
JF: How dare he?
P: Well look at it from his perspective. You were signed to a lucrative contract and you haven’t delivered. People like Anthony Bailey and Michael Callahan, who have been here half the time as you, are doing more to make Asylum noticed.
Julius stopped to think it over.
JF: This is absolutely scandalous. If anyone should be evaluated it is Reginald Schmidt, for his complete and utter misappropriation of my talents.
P: I’m just saying, Julius, you need to make this one count this week. You may not have the luxury of patience on your side.
*
Jules: So Mr. Bailey, the time is almost upon us. I want you to enjoy these next few days, cherish them, spend every waking second in the presence of the TAP OUT TITLE, admire it, make sure all your family and friends get to see you with it; please, I implore you, take as many photographs as your memory needs because on Sunday night when you take a flight from Arizona those photographs will be all you have left.
Mr. Bailey, I will not make the mistake of not knowing who you are. I know exactly who you are. You are the kind of bottom dredging individual that has kept me down in my time in APW. I know the way you look at me; I know exactly how all of you look up to me. You wish all wish you could embody the sophistication that I was born with. You see a man of high culture and you want to bring him down to your level.
This is always the way of pigs – they envy the freedom of eagles, and instead of trying to learn to fly themselves, they instead want to clip the eagle’s wings by making the eagle believe he is wrong, that everything about being an eagle is wrong, and that pigness, in a word ‘weakness’, is the right way.
Well it ends this Sunday when finally my empire, The Quintessentially English Empire, rises and takes you all for prisoners. You, Sally Talfourd, Jason Kash, anyone who wants to try and oppose my will quickly learn that it is only a matter of time before you become shackled under my jurisdiction.
This is what we are fighting for, Mr. Bailey – the TAP OUT TITLE. A title that is all about making another person submit to your will; forcing them to buckle under the weight of your physical dominance, technical excellence, and strategic superiority. It is a title I was born to wear because I am “Quintessentially English” and if there is anything we “Quintessentially English” beings know about it is conquering others: making them submit, make them admit defeat, make they quit under the pressure of our force. That is the “Quintessentially English” way: to rule over others; we lead and everyone follows.
You reign is a lie to these principles, Mr. Bailey, because you do not have the capacity to make another wrestler relinquish everything that he strives to be and to have – pride, valour, courage, determination. The true TAP OUT warrior drives these out of his opponent until he is forced to accept the inevitability of his fate – to quit, to submit.
You cannot do this, Mr. Bailey, because you are weak. I know you have beaten others to possess that title, but only because you have been afforded opportunities I haven’t. But most importantly, along your journey you have never faced someone like me, someone whose DNA demands that he rule over others.
You are a religious man, Mr. Bailey, and I have no doubt you will pray night between now and Sunday. But it doesn’t matter how many times you ask God to give you the strength and the skill to defeat me; it will be futile because God has already chosen me. In my mother’s womb he made me, and he made me “Quintessentially English” – one of the best.
This is the end of your streak in APW. You’ve had your day, Mr. Bailey, and a new dawn is coming. A “Quintessentially English” dawn.
I promise you that.
I promise that I will make you suffer. I promise that I will bend you to my will. I promise that you will be made to submit and to PAY HOMAGE. I promise you that by the end of Sunday’s show you will know my name because you will see it on the title you presently borrow; there as an eternal symbol of your demise, one that will have no resurrection.
I promise you all of that, Mr. Bailey. Promises that will not be broken.
In the shuffle for T4TB places it’s easy for those not involved to get lost. Not so for Anthony Bailey and Julius Farquhar this week as they headline the final Asylum before APW’s summer blockbuster with “The Promise”’s Tap Out Title on the line.
For Bailey, as he freely admits, this stands as probably the biggest test of his reign so far; for Farquhar this is a chance to prove that for all the pomp and circumstance that comes with him, he remains relevant to the APW consciousness.
Some may wonder how this match-up hasn’t come to be part of the T4TB tournament itself, but with Farquhar suspended for his increasingly insubordinate attitude towards Reginald Schmidt, and Bailey rumoured to be earmarked for another shot at the World Heavyweight Championship held by Jason Kash, the explanation is not so difficult to find. So it comes to pass that Bailey defends the title he defeated Chaz Dillinger for at Rasslemania, and Farquhar gets a shot that he, and those few who follow him, believe is long overdue.
I won’t debate this issue here, but irrespective of whether Farquhar deserves this shot, it presents a critical moment in his career. The man who so brazenly calls himself the best wrestler in the world, and holds himself above all others as some kind of demi-god, in virtue of his self-proclaimed “Quintessentially English” status, needs a defining wrestling moment. Sure, throwing Phil Atken into a bath tub of tea and worryingly personal wrangle with an ex-employee make for good entertainment moments, but this reputations in this business are built on the championships you hold and the opponents you defeat.
For all his self-hype, Julius Farquhar comes up worryingly short in this department.
For Bailey this is equally an important moment, although for very different reasons. While the likes of Farquhar, Michael Callahan, and Chaz Dillinger shout from the roof-tops how much they are entitled to in this business, Bailey goes about his business is a much quieter, humble way, earning props for what he does in the ring, not from barracking the management.
Nevertheless, after a great run of results there is pressure on Bailey to prove that the hype is not just that. He has produced some big time wins against some of Asylum’s premier stars, and seems to have the fully fledged support of none other than the living APW legend Sally Talfourd, but can he keep the momentum going and prove to any doubters out there that his main event credibility is sound?
To many observers, part of the answer to that question will be delivered this Sunday.
*
JF: Phil, why are you bashing away at that keyboard.
Phil flipped down the lid of his laptop and turned to face Julius Farquhar who had disturbed his blog-writing.
P: Just some APW work-related stuff.
JF: Forget about that, the only thing in APW you need to be concerned with is me. I thought I heard the kettle boil.
Phil sighed and set about the task. When he was done he sat down and tried to converse with the “Quintessentially English” one.
P: So Julius, the truth about your match this week.
Julius looked at Phil with a look of confusion, with a smidge of irritation.
P: I mean, this is a big match for you Julius. You’re struggling to stay relevant on Asylum-
JF: Excuse me?
Phil tried to backtrack.
P: I’m just saying. You’ve been in APW for nine months now, and what have you really achieved?
JF: My merits are high and without question. As the first “Quintessentially English” wrestler in APW I have transformed the landscape of wrestling forever.
P: I’m not here to debate your so-called merits, I’m doubting that you have achieved anything at all in APW. Now you have an opportunity, you must be pretty nervous about it?
JF: Was The Duke of Wellington nervous before he annihilated Napoleon’s forces at Waterloo? Do you think Churchill gave a second thought to defeat when he fought off Hitler’s band of sauerkraut munching barbarians? The Quintessentially English spirit is driven solely by success. I haven’t been without anywhere I’ve been in my life, and I am not about to go without it here in APW.
P: I’m sure you want to win, Julius, but I’m asking if you are at all worried about this match and its consequences. Let’s just say you do lose – what then? In nine months your record says you haven’t beaten a single top-line talent, and the only thing you seem to have to speak of is a few gimmick matches and a dispute over a cup of tea.
Julius frowned.
JF: Speaking of cups of tea, you make a lousy one. How did you prepare this?
P: I’ve put the milk in fir-
Phil paused as he saw Julius’ eyes widen.
P: I mean, I added the milk after the water.
JF: And after removing the tea leaves.
P: I think so. Yeah I’m certain I did.
JF: And did you allow the leaves to infuse the water for precisely 3 minutes and 41 seconds at precisely 81.7 degrees Celsius.
P: Yeah of course.
Phil lied, but Julius was having none of it.
JF: Then why does the taste of this tea suggest you allowed the mixture to cool too quickly, and by the colourisation I would suggest you not only did not remove the tea leaves before adding milk, but in fact added milk to the cup before anything else.
Phil sighed heavily.
P: Okay, I don’t know how to make tea. Is that really such an offense?
JF: If you knew better you wouldn’t even have to ask that question.
P: I apologise. Can we get back to the interview?
JF: Yes, yes, but at least get around to making some relevant point.
P: I was saying that you need to up the ante this week if you are going to beat Anthony Bailey; your record suggests you don’t have what it takes.
JF: That is an utterly absurd proposition. On what grounds do you assert it?
P: On the grounds that you haven’t beaten anyone of Bailey’s calibre. You faced Sally Talfourd once and you lost; other than that you’ve mostly been involved in countless tag team matches, or beaten in singles matches people who are either no longer employed by APW, or have done even less than you have.
Julius looked at Phil with astonishment.
JF: Are you suggesting I don’t have what it takes to defeat the so-called best Asylum has to offer.
P: The evidence is overwhelmingly in favour.
JF: I will accept that losing to Sally Talfourd was a missed opportunity, and I will even go as far as to accept that I was culpable for that loss. I underestimated that maggot, but if I ever come across her again I will ensure I do not make the same mistake again.
P: I’ve heard rumours this may be your last opportunity.
JF: What the Devil does that mean?
P: I’m just saying, there’s a lot of office gossip that Reginald Schmidt is using this match as a way of evaluating your future employment opportunities.
JF: How dare he?
P: Well look at it from his perspective. You were signed to a lucrative contract and you haven’t delivered. People like Anthony Bailey and Michael Callahan, who have been here half the time as you, are doing more to make Asylum noticed.
Julius stopped to think it over.
JF: This is absolutely scandalous. If anyone should be evaluated it is Reginald Schmidt, for his complete and utter misappropriation of my talents.
P: I’m just saying, Julius, you need to make this one count this week. You may not have the luxury of patience on your side.
*
Jules: So Mr. Bailey, the time is almost upon us. I want you to enjoy these next few days, cherish them, spend every waking second in the presence of the TAP OUT TITLE, admire it, make sure all your family and friends get to see you with it; please, I implore you, take as many photographs as your memory needs because on Sunday night when you take a flight from Arizona those photographs will be all you have left.
Mr. Bailey, I will not make the mistake of not knowing who you are. I know exactly who you are. You are the kind of bottom dredging individual that has kept me down in my time in APW. I know the way you look at me; I know exactly how all of you look up to me. You wish all wish you could embody the sophistication that I was born with. You see a man of high culture and you want to bring him down to your level.
This is always the way of pigs – they envy the freedom of eagles, and instead of trying to learn to fly themselves, they instead want to clip the eagle’s wings by making the eagle believe he is wrong, that everything about being an eagle is wrong, and that pigness, in a word ‘weakness’, is the right way.
Well it ends this Sunday when finally my empire, The Quintessentially English Empire, rises and takes you all for prisoners. You, Sally Talfourd, Jason Kash, anyone who wants to try and oppose my will quickly learn that it is only a matter of time before you become shackled under my jurisdiction.
This is what we are fighting for, Mr. Bailey – the TAP OUT TITLE. A title that is all about making another person submit to your will; forcing them to buckle under the weight of your physical dominance, technical excellence, and strategic superiority. It is a title I was born to wear because I am “Quintessentially English” and if there is anything we “Quintessentially English” beings know about it is conquering others: making them submit, make them admit defeat, make they quit under the pressure of our force. That is the “Quintessentially English” way: to rule over others; we lead and everyone follows.
You reign is a lie to these principles, Mr. Bailey, because you do not have the capacity to make another wrestler relinquish everything that he strives to be and to have – pride, valour, courage, determination. The true TAP OUT warrior drives these out of his opponent until he is forced to accept the inevitability of his fate – to quit, to submit.
You cannot do this, Mr. Bailey, because you are weak. I know you have beaten others to possess that title, but only because you have been afforded opportunities I haven’t. But most importantly, along your journey you have never faced someone like me, someone whose DNA demands that he rule over others.
You are a religious man, Mr. Bailey, and I have no doubt you will pray night between now and Sunday. But it doesn’t matter how many times you ask God to give you the strength and the skill to defeat me; it will be futile because God has already chosen me. In my mother’s womb he made me, and he made me “Quintessentially English” – one of the best.
This is the end of your streak in APW. You’ve had your day, Mr. Bailey, and a new dawn is coming. A “Quintessentially English” dawn.
I promise you that.
I promise that I will make you suffer. I promise that I will bend you to my will. I promise that you will be made to submit and to PAY HOMAGE. I promise you that by the end of Sunday’s show you will know my name because you will see it on the title you presently borrow; there as an eternal symbol of your demise, one that will have no resurrection.
I promise you all of that, Mr. Bailey. Promises that will not be broken.
