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The following is an essay written by Jamie Krenshaw. A collection of thoughts, musings and revelations leading into Showdown's Tag Team Title match. It is dedicated to the reckless self-delusion of Chris Freytag and the blind arrogance of Shabree Reddington. May these traits bring them lasting comfort beyond their inevitable defeat.
What is the Freytag Effect? Has it been properly described yet? Properly labeled? Can it even be? Perhaps this Effect is intangible. It exists by virtuoe of Chris Freytag and Shabree Reddington's presence and permeates the locker room in myriad ways. No, that's not it. Realistically, the Freytag Effect is easily defined and, in the case of Krunch and Jamie Krenshaw, easily negated. Over the following essay I will discuss this so-called Freytag Effect. What it is to Chris and Shabree. What it is to Krunch and myself. Most importantly, what it is in reality. Chris and Shabree love their pop psychology. Well kids, here's a sweet dose of it back in yo face. So without further adieu...
Until a few months ago I'd never heard of "the Assassin" Chris Freytag. That's not meant as a cruel barb or a stinging jab. It's simply fact. I'm sure he could honestly say the same of me. See, whilst we both have tenures in this industry stretching back nearly a decade, we've up until now worked in companies far distant to one another. His glories have gone unnoticed by me and mine by him. And that's fine. Our relative ignorance of one another's achievements detract nothing from them. The first time I heard Chris Freytag's name uttered was in a meeting with The Moderators. I'd been informed of the Tag Team Turmoil match and was asked to find a partner. The Moderators, it would seem, had been courting Freytag's services and mentioned that he may be a suitable fix to stand by my side. Chris himself has referenced this in past promos. From his perspective, he declined the offer. His perspective is fundamentally wrong, however, as there never was an offer. Not from me, certainly. See, I'm no stranger to Tag Team wrestling and I know what it takes to win. Accepting a partner simply on the strength of others' recommendations is not a path to success, in my opinion. So I said "I'll find my own guy." Hindsight shows I made the right choice. So, without ever having met each other, Chris Freytag and I had suddenly become aware of one another. I'm not going to lie: based on the hard-sell The Moderators gave this guy, I was intrigued. So just imagine my disappointment when I saw first-hand the man of whom they spoke. "Bursting" onto the scene to sneak attack midcarders who were, at the time, anchoring the Tag Division, Chris Freytag did his very best to make an impact upon debut. On the next show, he likened himself to that guy who rocks up to a party uninvited and steals everyone's beer. You know, that guy who thinks he's really cool but in reality is seen as a complete tool. That guy who thinks his obstreporous behaviour earns him some kind of punk cred when in actuality, all it does is earn him the disdain of all those unfortunate enough to come into contact with him. But hey, that's his deal, yeah? So sayeth Chris Freytag: He's up on his pedestal pissing down on everyone else. It's funny. Even in his own clumsily structured metaphors he admits to be pissing into the wind. So, given my relative ignorance of Chris Freytag's existence for the greater part of a decade, how can I claim to understand him already? I can't. Unlike Chris Freytag, I'm not going to claim knowledge of my opponent's every motive and goal. Doing so would deny the complexities that make us human. Sure, in this industry one may need to dumb things down to that level to ensure the understanding of the viewing audience. But I don't cowtow to the boundaries of this putrid business. However, in saying I can't fully appreciate the wide variety of motivations, goals and issues that make Chris Freytag who he is, I can analyze the things he's done and the words he's spoken since he got here. And in doing so, I can get a pretty good picture of just who I'll be dealing with this coming Sunday. So who is Chris Freytag? He's a man who, like myself, has returned to this industry with nothing left to prove. He's a man with a long list of achievements and title reigns. He's even got his own DVD! He's a man who claims to have returned simply because of the passion he has for this business. He's a man who claims to take great pride in beating the best, yet in the same breath claims not to be too bothered by submitting to the best. Me. He's a man whose sharp tongue and lofty ambitions confuse goals with achievements. See, you'll hear it over and over again when you listen to Chris Freytag: "I've taken this federation by storm!" But have you, Chris? Really? Let's go over what you've done here. You came in and attacked a pair of mediocre midcarders who lucked into a title reign on the back of Dragzilla and Shaka X being unable to work cohesively. You removed Tommy O'Malley, Professional Threat To No-One, from the company and got yourself a spot in the Tag Team Turmoil match. You put yourself all over the shows, conducting "hilarious" promos and generally acting the cool heel. "Hey kids, boo me because I'm saying bad things but buy my merchandise because I'm funny too!" And since then, what? You've played second fiddle to Shabree Reddington in a feud with Brent Kersh. You've lost matches you guaranteed you'd win and you've made increasingly desperate and piss-poor excuses to distract from the fact that you're still not a Tag Team Champion. You've seemingly embarked on a quest to win the World Record of Losing To Jamie Krenshaw. You've become an embodiment of the old saying "Your mouth's writing cheques that your arse can't cash". Do these achievements constitute a taking-by-storm scenario, Chris? Or do they, in fact, paint a portrait of a man who claims to be doing something whilst actually achieving nothing? That's a rhetorical question but feel free to answer anyway. Let me guess: "The only thing that matters is that we win the Tag Team Titles at Showdown." The end-game. The prize you feel your very presence entitles you to. Problem is, Chris, that your blinkered focus on the finish line has caused you to trip over every hurdle along the way. You want to win the war but you've failed to acknowledge that a war is fought in many battles. So far, those battles have been painfully one-sided. You say something, I refute it, we fight, you lose, and on and on it goes, all the while with you maintaining all that matters is you're eventual, "inevitable" win of the Tag Titles. So what is it that you're counting on to earn you this victory, Chris? This upcoming match, the first standard tag team match between The Freytag Effect and Krunch & Krenshaw, your end-game. Are you counting on some kind of Pearl Harbour or Hiroshima-style surprise that we're not prepared for? Have you been goading us along this whole time, allowing us to win and become overly confident leading into a match where you show just how good you really are? Of course not. You're too proud, too "passionate", at least, according to you, to gift victories to men like myself. Men who will lord those victories over you for as long as they can. So with that in mind, where will this victory you're so certain is coming actually come from? What's becoming more obvious to me as the weeks roll by is that even you don't know. You came in, all pomp and swagger, clearly believing that winning these titles would be a cake-walk and it just hasn't worked out that way, has it? And you're lost. Usually your unmitigated bragging is accompanied by accomplishment. Things aren't usually this hard are they, Chris? But that brings us back to the beginning of this little diatribe. My point, so to speak. I don't know you, Chris Freytag but by the same token, you don't know me. And now, as you come to learn more about me, you're slowly realizing that you've never quite faced anyone like me before. Someone who can wrestle as proficiently as yourself. Someone who can match your jibes and zingers and retort with comments just as pointed. Simply put, Chris, up until now you've never faced someone that you can't beat. Well, here I am, Chris. And after all this time, it's just lovely to make your acquaintance. Next... Shabree Reddington I'm going to do something really predictable. I'm going to discuss Shabree's gender. Groan, you say, and quite fairly too. However, to dismiss the issue would be lax on my part because it is vital to understanding Shabree as a competitor. And that's what's important. All the pop psychology and questioning of morals means nothing at the end of the day because when you're in the ring with me, you're not standing opposite Jamie Krenshaw the man, you're opposed to Jamie Krenshaw the competitor. And as has been displayed thus far, neither Shabree nor Chris know sweet FA about Jamie Krenshaw the competitor. But I digress... Shabree is a woman. An obvious declaration I know but a pertinent one nonetheless. Because it is this facet of Shabree the competitor that has become the focal point of her career. Perhaps unfairly so. Despite her in-ring prowess and her ability to articulate herself somewhat coherently (at least, for a wrestler) she is seen by the wrestling world as "that chick who fights dudes." Now, I'm not going to resort to the gutter. I'm not going to go lowest common-denominator and label her a "slut", "whore" or "ugly". She may be all of those things but it has no bearing on her as a wrestler. And on Sunday I'm not going to be fighting Shabree the Slut, I'll be fighting Shabree the Wrestler. So let's focus on that. Why do I bring up Shabree's gender? Simple. Because she does. All the time. She wears this "Woman in a man's world" thing like a badge of honour. She takes pride in it. She thrives off of it. But should she? See, I'm much more open-minded and enlightened than anybody else in the wrestling industry so when I look at Shabree I don't see a woman. I just see another fetid stool taking residence in this toilet bowl of a business. I have no Brent Kersh-like qualms over hitting Shabree. There's not a man or woman in this business I wouldn't relish punching in the face. Evidence of this was on proud display a month ago when I brained her with a steel chair. But my enlightenment is in stark contrast to the popular opinion of the wrestling fraternity and in that opinion, Shabree, you're a joke. And I know, I know, you "don't care" and nor should you but honestly, it demeans your entire reason for doing what you do. See, like Chris Freytag, you relish pissing people off. Rubbing their faces in it. You want to humiliate everyone else in this business and prove that you are the very best, regardless of what sits between your legs. But sister, ain't nobody buying what you're selling. No matter how much you achieve in this industry, to everyone of import, you'll still just be "that chick." You're a novelty. A circus act. Putting you in the ring opposite me is no different to me wrestling Tabby The Vagrant all those months ago. You may well be a success but you'll never be respected. Not in this business. You're surrounded by misogynists and dinosaurs who are stuck in a time when women were meant for cookin' and fuckin' and nothing more. I am woman hear me roar? I am wrestler, watch me ignore. So why are you here? You say you don't care about respect and none will be forthcoming to you anyway. So what fuels Shabree the Competitor? I think you're driven to succeed in this business because you love it. Sure, you like to rile up the crowd and the dinosaurs behind the curtain but I think you're a truthful example of what Chris Freytag claims to be: A competitor driven by the need to beat the best. But here's the issue: For nearly two months you've tried to fight the best and you've come up short. On one count due to your gender and on the other due to your limited ability. See, Brent Kersh is considered by many to be the best singles wrestler in this company. I know this to be false but I don't dictate popular opinion (sadly). And he won't fight you because you're a woman. He doesn't respect you. But me? I am the best and I've allowed you to fight me whenever you've wanted to and when you have, you've come up short. You came up short when I left you unconscious thanks to a steel chair shot and you came up short at Tag Team Turmoil. WAIT! I can almost hear that record starting up again, what is it again? That match didn't matter? It was pure chaos left to random chance? How about I quote you verbatim? Your words, stated in a facetious, mocking tone: "Obviously if it was a monthly occurrence, the roster being thrown into some big clusterf*ck, you two would come out victorious each and every time. There's no risk or chance involved. Not at all." Well actually, Shabree, it kinda is a monthly occurence in TWD and if you look back at the videos you'll see that in the two "big clusterfucks" I've been involved with, I have won. Comprehensively. And what's more, at the coming Pay-Per-View, I'll be involved in yet another multi-man match and guess what? I'll win again. So no, there is no risk or chance involved. Not when I'm in the ring. Regardless of how many people I'm opposed to, I always come out victorious. Because I'm a winner. You, you're a blowhard. You want to reduce me down to bullet points, Shabree? Fine with me. If you want to overlook what I have to say and dismiss what I have achieved, more power to you. Well, realistically, less power to you as you'll continue to do battle with an enemy you don't fully comprehend. But hey, mocking me rather than beating me has worked so well in the past for you, right? Why not continue... You want to NEWSFLASH me and say I'm just a glorified midcarder because of some ridiculous rankings sheet? Well how about I return the favour as I have a NEWSFLASH for you, Shabree. I'm in the Main Event at Devil's Dance wrestling for the TWD World Championship. You're jerking the curtain in a meaningless Tag Team match. Who's the midcarder? But that's all beside the point, isn't it. Because just like your tag team partner, you claim the only thing that matters is winning the Tag Team Titles at Showdown. Everything up until now has just been leading to this point. But that doesn't mean it can be so easily dismissed. Our victories over you and your partner, whether they be in singles competition or Tag Team Turmoil, they do mean something and you'd be very ill-advised not to learn from those matches. Why am I giving you advice? Because I know you won't listen to it. Shabree, you think you know it all. You think you're sweeping in and taking the world by storm but in reality you're just retreading the footsteps of Chyna. And how well did that work for her? Her career is a footnote and her lasting legacy is a sex-tape with Sean Waltman. You're going to be no different, Shabree. Years from now, you'll be remembered as one half of a Tag Team that the greatest TWD Champions of all time defeated on an episode of Showdown. If you're remembered at all, that is.
And what do you get when you put these two together? You get a mash-up of arrogance, verbal masturbation and ineffectivity. You get a man and a woman who believe their own hype in spite of all the evidence to the contrary. You get a team that takes up precious minutes of TV time putting themselves over because they can't get it done in the ring. You get a pair who believe that just because they say something will happen, it actually will. You get Shabree Reddington and Chris Freytag. Cocky and self-assured. You get two people who are used to getting what they want. And you get to witness the look on their faces as they approach imminent disappointment. Basically, you get the antithesis to Krunch and Jamie Krenshaw.
But that's just my opinion. So let me finish this thing by giving you guys some facts. FACT: I am no stranger to tag team wrestling. I've held Tag Team gold in literally every company I've worked for. I held the BTW Tag Titles with Heartbreak Meyers. I held the TWF Tag Titles with Jade Diamond. I've had many different partners and despite them all being of varying temperaments, sizes and skill-levels, I have achieved success with every one of them. I unseated a team who held the TWF Titles for 179 days before they came up against me. As far as tag team wrestling goes, my expertise is unmatched. So while you question just whether Krunch and I are truly a team all I can do is answer very honestly: we're the best team you're ever going to be beaten by. Krunch and Krenshaw will defeat The Freytag Effect. Which brings me back to my original point. What is The Freytag Effect? Going on the evidence provided, it's a shameless form of arrogance that replaces logic in the brain of those "effected" by it. It's an heir of entitlement to championships that you will never hold. It's a belief that he who talks loudest somehow wins the argument. But most importantly, it's a tag team who don't have the skill or ability to unseat Krunch and I from our thrones. And what happens then? What happens when you reach your end-game and don't get the result you were hoping for? There'll be no more lame excuses. No more distractions or deflections strong enough to conceal the fact that when it really mattered, you couldn't get the job done. You've said it yourself: All that matters is this match. This match that, for all intents and purposes, makes sense for you to win. You've kicked down the doors of TWD and made people take notice. You've been all over the shows. You've "paid your dues", you've worked the crowd. You're ready to be Tag Team Champions. Problem is, neither Krunch or I are ready to give up our titles. And we won't be for a long time to come. So then what? Will you do a Marcus T and vamos when things get tough? Will you split up and focus on singles careers? Will you petition for rematch after rematch until you finally get lucky and win? Quite frankly, I don't care. I'll be too busy as TWD's first ever Double-Champion to take notice.
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 You won't beat me so just stop trying. |