Moving On || RP #2 vs Myers vs Albright

[Bear Reynolds]

Bear stands on the balcony of his hotel room, leaning against the railing as he watches the citizens of San Francisco go about their day. After a second he turns to the camera, looking more melancholy than usual.

“I apologise for my silence over the past few days, but some issues arose. Nothing to do with RSW – they were more personal issues. Time heals everything, as they say, and now I've managed to move on and can redirect my attention to where it should be: Vendetta.”

Bear musters up a smile, though anyone could see it was hardly genuine.

“You're right, Sammi. No one owns us. Just because we've been placed in a hardcore match doesn't mean we have to give up our morals. Your doubts about me are understandable, but allow me to reassert my claim that I won't be using any weapons other than my own wrestling abilities. I don't mean to brag, but I have no need to use weapons, not with my level of composure. For some, weapons are there to help when they're losing. For all we know, Bryce could pick up a bat to compensate for his lack of striking power. But all I need to do is assess the situation. I know that you and I have openly said that we won't use weapons. We have values, and whilst you may not entirely trust me to stand by my own morals, I trust that you won't go against yours. Maybe that's weakness on my part, or perhaps I'm analysing you to prepare for the match, but even still I'm not afraid to admit that I have faith in you.”

“What I don't have faith in though is that your agility will help you. At first, it may well do. I've faced high-flyers before and I'll confess that they have given me a challenge. You're right when you say that the more agile someone is, the harder they are to catch. But agility and speed can only go so far. As the match goes on and as you work harder to not get caught, you start to slip up. It's not just you, it's an issue I've seen many agile athletes deal with. You have a lot of stamina, which means you can keep evading me for a long time, but eventually that stamina will drain and you won't be able to elude me any more. What some people have said about me is that I'm an opportunist in the ring. Now, I don't like that word – to be quite frank it paints me as some kind of vile criminal – but I can see why people use it. I'm a man who looks out for mistakes. When your opponent makes a mistake, you have to take advantage of it – in a sporting way, of course. And whilst you have the advantage over me in terms of agility, that can only take you so far against someone who sits and waits, someone who can pinpoint even a hint of weakness and use it for leverage. When the match starts, there will be a 50/50 chance of me getting you in a hold, but as the match goes on, those chances will gradually fall out of your favour.”

“Now to Bryce. It seems he's mirroring ZERO's tactics by staying silent. I don't like to make assumptions, but perhaps he's been left speechless by the resilience that myself and Sammi have shown in the face of this stipulation. Or maybe he's so confident that he doesn't feel the need to speak. Either way, I hope that his absence now isn't foreshadowing a lack of presence in the ring, because that would be very disappointing. Excluding the hardcore stipulation, this match has the potential to be a great display of wrestling ability, and it would be a shame if one of the most accomplished grapplers in the company was to be 'mentally missing', so to speak.”

A pause. Bear's eyes are filled with an indescribable look, as if the distance his mind has gone is visible within them.

“I hate to cut this short, but that's all I have to say. Allow me to reassure you that I'm prepared – I'm prepared for your agility, Sammi, and I'm prepared for whatever it is you plan to throw at us, Bryce. This stipulation won't get to me, nor will my...issues. I'm moving on, moving forward. And at Vendetta, I hope that will translate into moving onto success.”