>>12926285This is honestly kino, the fucking dipshit money mark being clueless and clumsy, displaying both a lack of spatial awareness and an unfamiliarity with something as simple as walking backwards. The mere presence of this profligate in the ring that Inoki held most sacred is enough to make his image lay down, as if in protest. The image of Inoki represents the hallowed and storied past of the sport while the mark represents the perverse and decadent present, a present that pays hollow tribute to the past while at every turn making a mockery of that which men like Inoki stood for.
The audience watches on, unmoving and unfeeling. A sense of placidity and disinterest permeates the arena, accentuated by the empty seats. They could not care less about this Japanese man that they think they maybe heard of, but they understand that polite reverence and applause is expected of them, so they dutifully and robotically oblige. The fall of Inoki elicits nothing, save for one audience member, who briefly pauses before dutifully resuming his role.
Rocky, Shibata and Inoki's oldest grandson watch on in horror at the scene unfolding before them, the mark scrambling to rectify the inevitable result of his clumsiness and lack of awareness. It is an allegory for the state of AEW and even modern wrestling as a whole. Rocky and Shibata are but observers. They make no move to repair the situation, to protect the legacy with which they were entrusted. Is it a sense of powerlessness? Or have they been corrupted by the almighty dollar, and are thus willing to stomach the legacy they were meant to preserve be tarnished? Inoki's oldest grandson can only stare dumbfounded as he clutches to the vainglorious and empty gesture that the mark has bequeathed unto him. He was meant to inherit the world. Instead he will inherit a circus.
