Post by Matt Pulver on Oct 11, 2018 19:05:20 GMT -5
Squinting as the bright lights in the conference hall hits him in the eyes Matt, wearing a Lion’s Road t-shirt and a pair of track pants, sits down behind the table in front of the MAX-Japan backdrop. Looking out at the crowd of Japanese reporters in front of him, politely but eagerly waiting for their chance to ask their questions, he gives off a slight smile and takes a sip of water.
Even if press conferences aren’t his favorite thing in the world, he usually doesn’t mind them too much. This time though he can’t wait to have it over with. This is eating up time he could’ve used to train, and he knows that he needs all the extra hours in the gym that he can get for the last stretch of this tour.
He does his best to practice his breathing and find his calm, as he watches the translator open for questions, take a question from a reporter and then translate it.
“With the first part of the tour finished, how do you feel about your performance so far?”
He hadn’t actually thought about that; how does he feel? Teaming with David Troy went better than expected and his match against Frank Dylan James proved that his training with Kusumoto has been paying off. He’s becoming better at taking punishment, which opens up many new strategic possibilities, like absorbing a powerbomb to get into position for a cross armbreaker.
But unfortunately that wasn’t enough to beat Shinjiro Nakama, and that eats away at him. Not only did he want to get revenge for Nakama attacking him after the Pyramid Grappling League finals, but he also wanted to beat him decisively and prove that he indeed is the rightful winner of the Pyramid Grappling League. But that didn’t happen. He let that bully stand as tall and as arrogant as ever, at the cost of Lion’s Road nonetheless. He failed, just like he failed to even get one successful defence of the KOL World title.
“I feel like I fought well, but not well enough. For these last couple of shows, I will train harder, train smarter and I will fight better.”
He leans back and drinks from his bottle, waiting for what feels like an eternity for the translator to get through all the procedures and get to the next question.
“On the 14th, you will be teaming up with Lynx to take on Daichi Kusumoto and METAL HERO. What are your thoughts going into that match?”
Thoughts. Thoughts are usually his modus operandi. He’s always been the type to analyse and theorise to understand the world around him, but right now all of the thoughts he have doesn’t feel very real. Only his emotions feel real.
Feelings. The feeling of lying on the sparring mats and staring up at Kusumoto’s stern face looking down on him like he’s some fresh faced kid who can’t hang. Like he’s nothing. The feeling of being dropped on his head by METAL HERO, taking his Junior Heavyweight title like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Like he’s nothing. The feeling of seeing a new talent like Lynx burst onto the scene and compete like he’s a seasoned veteran, pull off athletic feats like he’s not even human and beat some of the best wrestlers in the world like it’s nothing. Nothing.
“They’re all very talented competitors and I think that I will grow a lot from sharing a ring with them.”
The feeling of not being enough. The feeling of standing on top of the world, King of Lions World’s Champion, and fall all the way back down. The climb to the top will always be tough and filled with doubt, but it’s even harder when you have to recover from falling from the same peak you’re trying to reach.
Another sip of water. Another lazy glance to the crowd of reporters. Another question. But before the translator has even begun to translate it, he recognises enough to gets his attention.
He swallows the water. He closes his eyes. He sets down the water bottle. He takes a deep breath. He listens to the question as it’s translated into english.
“How do you feel about your upcoming match against AJ Knight?”
Even if press conferences aren’t his favorite thing in the world, he usually doesn’t mind them too much. This time though he can’t wait to have it over with. This is eating up time he could’ve used to train, and he knows that he needs all the extra hours in the gym that he can get for the last stretch of this tour.
He does his best to practice his breathing and find his calm, as he watches the translator open for questions, take a question from a reporter and then translate it.
“With the first part of the tour finished, how do you feel about your performance so far?”
He hadn’t actually thought about that; how does he feel? Teaming with David Troy went better than expected and his match against Frank Dylan James proved that his training with Kusumoto has been paying off. He’s becoming better at taking punishment, which opens up many new strategic possibilities, like absorbing a powerbomb to get into position for a cross armbreaker.
But unfortunately that wasn’t enough to beat Shinjiro Nakama, and that eats away at him. Not only did he want to get revenge for Nakama attacking him after the Pyramid Grappling League finals, but he also wanted to beat him decisively and prove that he indeed is the rightful winner of the Pyramid Grappling League. But that didn’t happen. He let that bully stand as tall and as arrogant as ever, at the cost of Lion’s Road nonetheless. He failed, just like he failed to even get one successful defence of the KOL World title.
“I feel like I fought well, but not well enough. For these last couple of shows, I will train harder, train smarter and I will fight better.”
He leans back and drinks from his bottle, waiting for what feels like an eternity for the translator to get through all the procedures and get to the next question.
“On the 14th, you will be teaming up with Lynx to take on Daichi Kusumoto and METAL HERO. What are your thoughts going into that match?”
Thoughts. Thoughts are usually his modus operandi. He’s always been the type to analyse and theorise to understand the world around him, but right now all of the thoughts he have doesn’t feel very real. Only his emotions feel real.
Feelings. The feeling of lying on the sparring mats and staring up at Kusumoto’s stern face looking down on him like he’s some fresh faced kid who can’t hang. Like he’s nothing. The feeling of being dropped on his head by METAL HERO, taking his Junior Heavyweight title like it’s the easiest thing in the world. Like he’s nothing. The feeling of seeing a new talent like Lynx burst onto the scene and compete like he’s a seasoned veteran, pull off athletic feats like he’s not even human and beat some of the best wrestlers in the world like it’s nothing. Nothing.
“They’re all very talented competitors and I think that I will grow a lot from sharing a ring with them.”
The feeling of not being enough. The feeling of standing on top of the world, King of Lions World’s Champion, and fall all the way back down. The climb to the top will always be tough and filled with doubt, but it’s even harder when you have to recover from falling from the same peak you’re trying to reach.
Another sip of water. Another lazy glance to the crowd of reporters. Another question. But before the translator has even begun to translate it, he recognises enough to gets his attention.
He swallows the water. He closes his eyes. He sets down the water bottle. He takes a deep breath. He listens to the question as it’s translated into english.
“How do you feel about your upcoming match against AJ Knight?”