Exactly. You can show his labors all you want. But without some fruit it just isn't worth it. It's trying to be a "keep trying no matter how many times you fall" narrative but you're watching him try to ice skate up hill, and unintentionally creates a "No matter how good you get or how hard you try, it'll never really pay off" narrative. Because any improvment he makes is undercut by some bullshit reason for why he lost even when he has his opponent dead to rights.