Threaded Mode | Linear Mode

Thaddeus Duke · (10-11-2019)

Thaddeus Duke gives a Stanley Kubrick stare into the bathroom mirror, what appears to be a sall trickle of blood runs from his right nostril. His head tilted downward, but his eyes stare dead ahead, at the reflection of himself. His normally somewhat wavy hair lays flat and forward. The normally happy-go-lucky Thaddeus is anything but these days. The young man has a difficult time biting his tongue and stopping himself from saying what he means. He’s always challenged authority. He is the authority in the Illuminatus Nation but not so much in the XWF.

Perhaps that’s where the struggle lies? Perhaps his problem with the XWF and its management team is that, he’s not the one in control? It’s fair for him to point out his dislike for the process in which some people are receiving shots at XWF titles but at the end of the day, he’s champion. It’s his job to pull on his trunks and lace his boots and defend that championship like the champion we all know him to be.

”As I live and breathe,” says an older raspy voice off screen. The voice startles Thaddeus and he looks to his right.

”I didn’t know you were here,” Thaddeus replies as he wipes the blood from his nose.

”And I was not aware that my grandson wears dresses,” the aged voice states.

The camera pans outward, revealing the dress Thaddeus Duke is wearing beneath his blue denim jacket. Sitting in a chair, resting both hands on his cane is Asmodeus, Thaddeus’ grandfather and the founder of the modern day Illuminatus.

”Halloween party,” Thaddeus informs his grandfather regarding his chosen attire.

Asmodeus nods understanding.

”I’m going as Eleven from Stranger Things.”

”I am not aware of what that is, my child. I’ve been gone now four years just about,” Asmodeus reminds him. ”Besides that, even if I haven’t been, it’s unlikely I’d know anything about pop culture.”

”I’ve missed you, ya know?” Thaddeus says as he takes a seat Indian style in front of his grandfather.

”Enlighten me, Thaddeus. Update me on the current going on of my Illuminatus.”

”There’s not a whole lot to tell, Grandfather,” he stammers. ”We’ve begun the slow process of finding permanent land, to form a government and a legitimate nation.

“We’ve recently allowed the inclusion of women into our ranks...”

”A government?” Asmodeus asks as he leans forward. ”What style of government?”

”Well… we haven’t… it’s just...” Thaddeus stammers again, not wanting to drop the truth bomb onto his favorite person ever to exist.

”Son, there’s nothing you couldn’t tell me.”

”Democracy,” Thaddeus replies quickly. ”True democracy. No royalty, no dictators.”

”Unacceptable!” the old man shouts, spiking his cane into the floor. ”There must always be a Duke at the head of the Illuminatus. They followed me, then your father and now you. It must always be a Duke or the entire thing faces collapse!”

”I don’t want...”

”Do you think it mattered what I wanted?” Asmodeus interrupts. ”Do you think I’d have not rather been in love with your fathers mother? Do you not think I’d have much rather allowed your father to be in love with your mother?

“Sometimes, something comes along child, that is bigger than we can ever truly grasp and the Illuminatus is that. It is bigger than you or me or your father and all the women we’ve loved. It is bigger than the sum of its parts and it must be protected for this time and for all time.

“Democracy is out of the question. You’ll find yourself a decent woman, you’ll wed and you’ll have an heir. I don’t much care whether the heir is a male or a female so long as they always carry the name Duke.”

”I will not...” Thaddeus chimes in quietly.

”I beg your pardon?”

”I’m not marrying just to have kids, Grandfather,” Thaddeus reiterates. He stands up and confronts Asmodeus as he remains seated. ”I don’t believe in marriage and for what it’s worth, marriage has never worked out in this family. My grandmother died young and my mom...”

”Your mother was a whore that couldn’t keep her mouth shut!”

Thaddeus kicks the cane from his grandfathers grip, causing the old man to stumble. The cane rattles against the wall before coming to as rest.

”I’m terribly sorry,” Asmodeus says, shamefaced. ”I… I’m not sure what came over me.”

Thaddeus picks the cane from the floor and slaps it in his palm a couple of times.

”I do, actually,” he says as he runs his fingers along the intricate carvings in the ancient cane. ”I know what it is to struggle between being what’s right and doing what’s right and sometimes… those aren’t the same thing.

“Sometimes, you have to do what seems like the wrong thing in order to make it right.” Thaddeus turns to his Asmodeus. ”Tell me the truth of my mother,” he instructs.

”Thaddeus, I just don’t think...”

”You’re dead, Grandfather. You’re not even really here! I’m either half nuts or I took some drugs or something because you’re dead yet you’re sitting here talking. You may as well tell me the truth about my mothers death.”

”Your father loved your mother very much,” he begins. ”She was supposed to die the day I snatched you from her belly but that was not to be. Women are a distraction, you’ll find that out soon enough.”

Thaddeus smirks, but says nothing.

”Your father had a very keen sense of protection.. or rather, knowing when she needed protected. So I hatched a plan with Matthew, you know, the man you had executed, to turn your father against your mother. I turned her into a spy planted by the Catholic Church and your father took the bait hook, line and sinker.

“His natural instinct to protect the Illuminatus took over his instinct to protect her and he hung her from the obelisk in St. Peter’s Square.”

”So those rumors were true?”

”I’m in your head, Thaddeus. You said yourself I’m not really here.

“If I’m not really here could I tell you the truth? A lie?

“Or am I simply a device of your subconscious and I’m telling you the story you’ve heard from others over the years?”

”I kissed a boy a couple weeks ago,” Thaddeus blurts out, testing his grandfathers theory.

”And you liked it. Further, you’re interested in doing it again.”

”Subconscious.

“Definitely subconscious.”

Asmodeus smirks.

”You bitching at me about an heir, that was me too.”

Thaddeus returns to his Stanley Kubrick stare into the mirror. Blood once again trickles from his right nostril. He stares. His chest heaves. His jaw clenches. Quickly and without any warning, Thaddeus thrusts the cane into the mirror, shattering it into pieces.

It does not surprise me in the least, the reaction my twitter “tirade” received from those in XWF- management and talent alike. I started a firestorm of sorts in order to prove a point. Whether or not my point was proven is up for debate, but in my view, it clearly illustrates the fascist dictatorial regime of XWF owner Vincent Lane- all dissent must be stopped. It must be met with fury and fervor. It must be met with XWF management attacking repeatedly, those who take issue with them and their decisions. That’s what came out of all of this. I pitch a fit about facing an undeserving Big D for my Television Not Championship and it starts innocent enough. This isn’t about Big D, though. It never was. It was about a pattern of lazy management and the reaction to anyone who criticizes the XWF’s fuhrer and his field marshalls.

Vincent Lane and his condescending “well who did you want to face?” As if I actually had a choice in the matter. That’s what started it all. He treats those beneath him as if they were children without legitimate thoughts or gripes or feelings of any kind. Don’t get me wrong, the XWF belongs to Vincent Lane and he can run his company however he chooses to do so, he can surround himself with as many sychophantic yes-men as humanly possible. Theo Pryce and James Raven go along for the ride, and unfortunately, they can’t see through their own bullshit.

With everything that went down and all the things that were said to me, about me, and all the conclusions that were drawn, not a single person, not Lane, Raven, not my uncle, not Lux or Big D or Vita or Kenzi, not a single one that chimed in elected to approach me and ask “what’s your problem?” Even Fuzz, who was ‘on my side’ during the debacle neglected to ask. Granted, my fellow competitors didn’t parttake in the insults and the social media dragging so much as just voicing their opinion. That’s fine, they’re entitled to their opinions. XWF management immediately resorted to name calling, insulting and dragging me on social media like the gutless pathetic coward keyboard warriors they are rather than be like “Holy shit one of our champions isn’t happy, what can we do to fix this? Is it something we did? Is it something we said?”

No.

They assume they’re right. 100% of the time they assume they’re right and that’s why there was no outreach. They have a self preserving pack mentality and there are no problems. If there is a problem, its your problem and not theirs. You’re an idiot for thinking or feeling the way you do because they all agree with each other and that’s exactly how and why that leadership team was formed. Who needs opinions and fresh ideas when you can all just think alike and to hell with everyone else or what they think?

To be clear, I do not dislike any of them. On a personal level, I have respect for Vincent Lane for turning around the XWF the way he has. I still have love for my uncle despite he and I never really being that close. James Raven? I confess that I still look at the man like a hero and mentor. Neither my uncle or someone I consider a friend in Raven saw what was going on and thought “is there a real issue here?” Nope. Just the self preservation pack mentality chomping at raw meat.

That’s it.

End of story.

There will be no dissent. There can be no issues. There can be no opinions. In a nutshell, the fascist regime of Vinnie Lane’s tenure as XWF owner.

Now, I know how it looks. It was a gamble and one that I hope people will see for what it is as we move forward here. The narrative, and I allowed them to form it, was that I was just whining. I didn’t perceive it that way. I know it certainly looks that way to the naked eye. But when you take a step back and really look at things from an objective unbiased, key words mind you, position, the truth of it all becomes a lot more clear. I know I’m beating a dead horse but, all we do around here is play championship Plinko. Lose a contender match, challenge for a different title. Lose a title match, lose another title match, lose a title, get another title match at a different title.

Lane himself confirmed what I’ve been bitching about: “he lost a higher title. He's been a higher up champion than the TV. He was just as well ranked as you were before then.” Don’t mind his 6th grade education word salad.

How does a guy stay “just as well ranked” when I am winning titles and successfully defending while Big D is doing neither of those things? Same with Mastermind. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t actually care who I face despite how things might look. I have no problem, generally speaking, beating Mastermind. I have no problem having an excellent second match with Big D. The first was fantastic and I believe, truly, that this match at Savage will be the highlight of the month of October.

The problem I have is not with the XWF competitors. The problem I have is with the lazy fucking shit that the ownership and management is doing with the title picture. There’s literally a couple dozen men and women on the XWF roster and we end up with Robert Main and Chris Page battling for the Universal title for fucking months. Thank God for Unknown Soldier putting an end to that sham of a title reign. We have a competitor like Mastermind, who apparently has very callous knees as he bounces around from title loss to contender match loss to title loss. Why even have contender matches if the loser has a title match anyway? What do these titles mean to anyone if we’ll just throw any old competitor into a title match whether they deserve it or not?

Lane asked me on Twitter if I’d rather him pull just anyone off the street and to be perfectly honest, any Average Joe off of Main Street has about as much credibility getting a Television title match as Big D.

Titles should be prestigious and coveted.

Challengers should be well deserving.

People covet titles, no doubt, but most challengers I have seen haven’t deserved it. Certainly not those gunning for the title I possess.

So, my intent, as we move forward here, is to make my Television Not Championship worth something. Lux may have sat idly by and just did whatever she was told because that’s what champions do, but as I stated, I’m not a champion. I have a belt. It says champion on it, but in order to get a shot at it, you have to lose other matches, apparently. That by definition is not a championship but a participation trophy.

If a competitor can BUY a title match, then why do we even do this? Why have matches and why hold winning in high regard in places like the Hall of Legends and the all time list if winning actually doesn’t mean anything and you can just buy yourself a title match?

Big D, you can buy all the title matches you want, but it won’t make you a champion. It won’t make you anything more than what you’ve been and that is an absolute choke artist. Time and time again management, for whatever fucking reason, has saw to it to place you in title matches, contender matches and in big spots in the biggest shows only for the world to watch you piss it all away time and time again.

I did a little homework all the way back to June at Warfare and Daniel’s big Universal title match against Robert Main. There’s no shame in losing to Robert Main, the man happens to be one of the best Universal champions in the history of the XWF… or, one of the longest reigning, more appropriately. Appropriate asterisk.

So what has Big Daniel actually done to warrant his title shots? To warrant his good standing in the eyes of management and for Vincent Lane to say he’s on equal footing with your Television Not Champion? He has won exactly 2 matches in four months. Against some jagoff I never heard of. And won a contenders match that turned into an Xtreme title match against Mastermind and Peter Gilmour.

Mastermind.

And Peter.

Gilmour.

Three men cut from the same cloth. Three men that spend more time losing and defending their losing than doing anything of actual note.

Is that sinking in? Is it evident now?

What is exactly going on? How does Big Danny keep getting title matches despite losing all the fucking time? Why is it such an epidemic that people that continually lose are continuously put in position to continue losing?

Universal title match? Lost.

Leap of Faith match? Lost.

Won the Xtreme title on Warfare and good for him. It is a big deal.

But he followed that up with:

Television title match against me? Lost.

Defended his Xtreme title against Fuzz? Lost.

100 grand later because bribery is a thing in the XWF and the habitual loser gets another title match. This same guy that somehow thought since Mastermind of all people interefered in our match that means he was destined to be champion. Despite his loss he acts as if he should have won and that pisses me off to no end. In that regard, I’m happy to have the opportunity to deny his claims and prove that he’ll always be a second class citizen. The same guy that lost to the walking talking live action Hot Topic store (RIP Zane) on Anarchy thinks he has a legitimate shot at beating a second generation thoroughbred.

I won’t deny his abilities. I couldn’t deny his amazing, almost super human strength. I will deny his ability to defeat me. As good as he is, I’m just better, plain and simple.

100 grand was not a wise investment, Daniel. You’ll get nothing in return except yet another L. You’re becoming famous for it, aren’t you?

For the record, in light of my comments over the course of my last few promos, anyone paying attention could see exactly what I was doing with that twitter “tirade.” Spinmaster T though, thinks he’s intellectually superior to, pretty much everyone but I’m sure even he missed the clues.

Much Intellect.

Such Superior.

Wow.

Speaking of Spinmaster T, y’all noticed no doubt, that Theo Pryce’s friends are going into the Hall of Legends? John Madison. John Samuels. Doc D’ville will be next. Then Theo will suck his own dick on pay per view as he inducts himself.

”That’s not a prediction...”

Yeah Paul, we get it. It’s a spoiler.

At least Madison and Doc deserved to be there.

When something is going on that you don't like, you don't roll over and take it. You put an end to it. If you don't have the power to stop it, you resist that power and that's what I'm doing.

Join the Resistance.

Threaded Mode \| Linear Mode Stranger Things: RP #1
Author	Message