Post by Andrew Jacobsen on Oct 28, 2012 0:58:30 GMT -6
”I’ve always wanted respect. In everything I do, it’s been something I’ve strived for. Every single time I step between those ropes, I’m ready to accept whatever happens as long as I feel like I did everything I could and I earned the respect of my opponent and those watching. And I guess I’ve been deluding myself for a long time. I kept thinking that there’d eventually come that one day, that win that would make them realize that I was the real deal and I deserved their respect. But the more time drags on, the more I’m forced to come to the same conclusion you have, Roberto: there will always be people that hate me.”
“Now, they say hate’s a strong word. But that’s the only thing that sums up how they feel about me. That pure, unbridled vitriol I hear from Alex Jones every time he speaks about how pathetic he thinks I am or how unworthy I am to be World Champion. The sneering comments from men like Adam Knite and Mike Laszlo, the backbiting reversals from people I thought I’d earned the respect of like Gib…if you trip one of their switches, they’ll fall upon you like a pack of hungry animals, tearing at you, desperate to take away all that you have.”
“Not to say that everyone’s like that. You’re different, Roberto. But men like you and I…we’re of a dying breed. The idea of sportsmanship in wrestling seems to be dying a slow, agonized death. Whereas loudmouths who never back up their assertions are few and far between in other athletic fields, in professional wrestling they seem to spring up like weeds. Maybe it’s because so much of what we do is about engaging the fans. It’s about drawing a reaction from them with our words and deeds. And there are people whose talent lies in riling up those fans. They can make them love them or hate them, but it’s so much easier to make them hate them. They just walk out there and blither on like they’re the king of the world. If they vindicate themselves, the fans hate it because they’re arrogant. If they get their asses kicked, the fans hate them because they spring right up and shrug off everything.”
“Some people have accused me of putting on an act. They can’t imagine how anyone could be like me 24/7. The fact of the matter is…this is who I am. The insults, the mockery, the nicknames…I am who I always have been. That won’t change with their words, and it won’t change with their deeds. It’s why I don’t get the motivation behind the seemingly neverending armada of people trying to get me to break and embrace the hate, so to speak. Everyone from Steve Awesome to Will Washington to Sense to Xander…they’ve all tried to make me “see” that my ways are outdated or foolish. They try to push me to be…them, really. Well, maybe not Sense, but he certainly wasn’t mincing his words. I’m a relic, they say. I’m not what’s needed, I’m not supposed to be here…I should stop trying.”
“But you’re something else, Roberto. You’re a hybrid. We share our faith in this business and our belief in honest competition, but where I know the rules and follow them by heart you’re willing to take that extra step. You’ll do what I won’t, you’ll go into those shadows and you’ll get your hands dirty if it means a better end result. Maybe that’s a flaw of mine. Maybe the fact that I hold so fast to those beliefs is a hindrance overall. But that’s part of who I am, and I can’t change it, even if I wanted to. Fact of the matter is, you got it right. I guess, in a sense, I’m NCW’s white knight. But that’s just who I am, and that’s just what I do. But enough about me, Roberto…let’s talk about you.”
“You’re a man of principle, that I can admire. Kelly tried to buy you, and you shot her down. I know what she can do, man. I know what she does to those who cross her. And I promise you, if she tries to do anything to you or Hannah, no matter who comes out on top this Sunday…I’ll be there fighting with you. You’re a brother in arms, you’re someone I respect, and I won’t let her try to do to you what she did to me and Falcon. If she thinks she can shove us about, she’s sorely mistaken. She hasn’t revitalized this company, we have. They have. They don’t want to see Xander triumphant, they don’t want her to be a tired retread of what her father did. They want new blood, and like it or not we’re that new blood.”
“This is our moment. No Adam, no Xander, none of the old guard. We’re two of NCW’s stars. We are now, and we will be when they can’t be. This is our moment to shine on our own. This match solidifies our legacies…and it’ll have to be at your expense. Because while you won’t be wallowing in defeat—far from it, I know you’ll be picking yourself up and soldiering on—you will be staring at the lights. This match means to me more than any match before. Because it’s the most important match of my career. I know that’s a title that gets trotted out a lot nowadays, but it really is. This is the distinction between another 35-day stretch on top that might be overlooked and truly carving out my place in history. It’s a critical distinction I intend to make. Do what you must, do everything you can, but I promise you I will not yield. This is our moment…but this is my time, and I’m going to make the most of it.”[/i]
Fade in on Andrew’s hotel room. Emma and Andrew are sitting on the bed, Andrew’s arm around Emma. The laptop rests on Emma’s legs, and she’s grinning ear to ear as the DVD plays. From the speakers, a nasal, irritated voice comes.
”Push the button, Frank.”
A clicking sound follows, and Emma chuckles, turning to Andrew as she closes the laptop’s lid. She’s about to speak, but he’s asleep, head lolling to the side and leaning against her. Emma carefully extricates herself from the situation, setting her laptop aside and gently maneuvering Andrew down so that he’s in a more comfortable position. She grabs her laptop, slipping it into the messenger bag, and slings the bag over her shoulder, slipping out of the hotel room. Emma glances one way down the hall, but when she swings her head back the other direction, Danielle Chase is walking down the hall, checking her nails. Upon looking up, their eyes meet, and Chase slows to a stop. There’s a brief moment of silence as the two women regard each other. Finally, Danielle speaks icily.
”Hello, Emma. Getting out so soon? I’d have thought he would be more…active.”
Emma chuckles, turning to face her fully as she adjusts the bag’s strap on her shoulder.
”Nah, Andy was pretty tired. You know how he can get sometimes.”
Danielle’s barely restrained disdain seethes from every word as she takes a step closer.
”I had perfectly good travel arrangements already in place, and I figured I wouldn’t waste this opportunity. Not every day you get to see a former client defend the World Championship. Did you give him a last-minute bit of…encouragement?”
Emma shakes her head, glaring at Danielle as she moves closer, hands unconsciously balling into fists.
”Dani, I don’t think I like where you’re going with that. Andrew’s my friend. He’s my best friend. But that’s it. There’s nothing more. I don’t get why you had this weird psycho-bitch freakout over things, but—“
Chase cuts her off, hissing as she steps forward, now in Emma’s face.
”But nothing! I was sick of being inadequate. I saw how he looked at you, I heard how he talked about you, and I knew that I wasn’t ever going to be what he wanted. Because he wants a wrestler girl. Whether it’s Sydney or you, he’s just inseparably attracted to your kind. I’m a business major. I go to the gym because I have to, not because I want to. And I’m certainly not built like you. Besides, you said it yourself. You’re his best friend. It’s only the next logical step. Why should I be in your way?”
Emma blinks, shaking her head, and rubs the bridge of her nose, holding a hand up and stepping back from Chase, who admittedly (and ironically) has a few inches in height on her.
”Whoa, back up. Back up. You think…you think that’s how Andrew sees me? Look, if that’s how he thought of me, I’m sure he would have done something a long time ago. Face it, Dani: you got paranoid. Big time. You want to know what he is? To me? He’s my friend. He’s the guy that got me into wrestling as much as I am, and he’s someone that I care about deeply. He’s family. So for you to come in and start throwing those sort of accusations around, it’s—“
Again Chase cuts her off, clearly pissed off and not willing to listen to reason.
”It’s what, Emma? It’s insulting? Irritating? Degrading? Frustrating? All those and more? Oh, I know. Believe me, I know what it’s like to be insulted. The man has no regard for the feelings of those around him. I know him better than you think you do. I’ve seen under that mask, and he’s as heartless as they come. I bet he didn’t even care when I left. Clearly he moved onto you without much trouble. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like it if you got out of my way. My room’s down this hall, and I’d like to get some sleep.”
Chase tries to sidestep Danielson, but Emma’s right there, glaring up at the taller woman. She takes a step forward again, jabbing her finger in Danielle’s face as she practically snarls back at her.
”You think you know him? If all you see in him is some heartless, manipulative monster, you don’t know a damn thing about him. He’s been a wreck. Distraught. He didn’t call you because you never answered the LAST time you up and took off on him. Remember that? A Night to Remember? You left because you got concerned about who he was becoming? You don’t have any ***damn faith in him. I was here because you got too skittish to be there for him. I wasn’t there because I wanted to pounce and claim him as my man or anything stupid like that. I was here because he’s my friend, and I saw that you’d broken his heart. You want to go to your room? Fine. Go. But don’t you try to lecture me on how my best friend behaves. If you want to talk to him, you can try in the morning. He’s sleeping, which he deserves. You? If we weren’t in a public place, I would have already leveled you for what you just said, you smug bitch.”
Emma roughly elbows past Danielle, shooting her a venomous glare as she walks away. Chase is left in the middle of the hall, shaking her head and trying to come up with a pithy comeback. The words fail her, and she looks to Andrew’s room, taking a half step towards the door. Chase reconsiders, however, and she just turns and walks back down the hall, head hung as we fade to black.
”What if this was it, Roberto? What if this one match determined how we were viewed, in the eyes of the fans and history? For better or for worse, it effectively will. And while I’m ready to go out there and give you the fight of a lifetime…I am NOT ready to go down as a failure. If I lose, it’ll be because you were the better man, but it will NOT be because I faltered once. It won’t be because I wasn’t all there. I don’t care if I have to haul myself through the flames of Hell itself, this title and this match mean enough to me that I will NOT let myself fall short after all I’ve gone through.”
“I’m not wrestling for the Alex Joneses of the world anymore. I don’t have to. Because you’re right. It’s not about the people in that locker room. It’s about the people that come to see us wrestle, that buy our shirts and make signs for us and chant our names. It’s always been about them. Because if it weren’t for them, there would be no subjects for Adam Knite to delude himself into believing he reigns over. There wouldn’t be people for Mike Laszlo to imagine are staring at him and worshipping his every footfall. And there’d be no North Star. There’d be no Revolutions, there’d be no NCW without all of those people. So I’m doing this for them.”
“I’m doing this because they deserve better than a corporate puppet on top of the ladder. They deserve someone who’s fighting for them, not for himself. Just because you became disillusioned, just because you see missed opportunities, that doesn’t mean that we have to write things off. This belt still means something. This title still holds with it the legacies of every man to ever carry it. Hall of Famers, true legends of our sport, the pillars of this company…this is what everyone strives for! This is what we want to be, this title is how we want to get there, and everyone, from Nighthawk to Joe Everyman to Alex Jones to you and me, we all want to be able to call ourselves NCW World Champion! The fact remains and always has been, this is the World Title of the greatest company on Earth, and it’s contested by the best athletes on Earth. We can add to its shine, but its value is never going to go away.”
“We’re not here to be the next Adam Knite or Lance Ryan. I’m not trying to be the next Steve Awesome or Spike Kane. I’m the first Andrew Jacobsen, and you’re the first Roberto Verona. We’re a new generation of wrestler, but that doesn’t mean that the old generation had it all wrong. I’m man enough to say that if you manage to beat me, I’ll stand in the middle of that ring and shake your hand. I’ll admit that you were better. And you will have my respect. Because unlike some people, I don’t believe respect is a word you say to sugarcoat things and that gets forgotten every month. Respect is earned, and to lose it you have to be a right bastard. You’ve earned my respect, Roberto, and if you beat me then it’ll just be reinforced in my mind. But I can’t let you beat me. Not with so much at stake…I want to be the best World Champion this company’s ever seen, and to do that I can’t let you stop me here.”
“This is my battle cry. This is my rallying call. I’m walking into the fires of war, and it’ll take everything I can muster to emerge victorious. But I will. I have to. For each and every person that wants something more in life. For those who’re tired of mediocrity, who’re bored with the status quo. This is our revolution, this is our coup d’etat. Our manifesto is greatness, and our uprising will be borne out in that ring. You might not be a revolutionary anymore, but I still believe in what you were fighting for. So let’s keep on fighting. Let’s make our stand. Let’s never let them forget this night. This is the moment when we seize our spotlight. I want to have a match that’ll echo throughout the ages. I want to leave the fans in awe…and I want to leave them asking each other one simple question: Where were you the night everything changed?”[/i]
“Now, they say hate’s a strong word. But that’s the only thing that sums up how they feel about me. That pure, unbridled vitriol I hear from Alex Jones every time he speaks about how pathetic he thinks I am or how unworthy I am to be World Champion. The sneering comments from men like Adam Knite and Mike Laszlo, the backbiting reversals from people I thought I’d earned the respect of like Gib…if you trip one of their switches, they’ll fall upon you like a pack of hungry animals, tearing at you, desperate to take away all that you have.”
“Not to say that everyone’s like that. You’re different, Roberto. But men like you and I…we’re of a dying breed. The idea of sportsmanship in wrestling seems to be dying a slow, agonized death. Whereas loudmouths who never back up their assertions are few and far between in other athletic fields, in professional wrestling they seem to spring up like weeds. Maybe it’s because so much of what we do is about engaging the fans. It’s about drawing a reaction from them with our words and deeds. And there are people whose talent lies in riling up those fans. They can make them love them or hate them, but it’s so much easier to make them hate them. They just walk out there and blither on like they’re the king of the world. If they vindicate themselves, the fans hate it because they’re arrogant. If they get their asses kicked, the fans hate them because they spring right up and shrug off everything.”
“Some people have accused me of putting on an act. They can’t imagine how anyone could be like me 24/7. The fact of the matter is…this is who I am. The insults, the mockery, the nicknames…I am who I always have been. That won’t change with their words, and it won’t change with their deeds. It’s why I don’t get the motivation behind the seemingly neverending armada of people trying to get me to break and embrace the hate, so to speak. Everyone from Steve Awesome to Will Washington to Sense to Xander…they’ve all tried to make me “see” that my ways are outdated or foolish. They try to push me to be…them, really. Well, maybe not Sense, but he certainly wasn’t mincing his words. I’m a relic, they say. I’m not what’s needed, I’m not supposed to be here…I should stop trying.”
“But you’re something else, Roberto. You’re a hybrid. We share our faith in this business and our belief in honest competition, but where I know the rules and follow them by heart you’re willing to take that extra step. You’ll do what I won’t, you’ll go into those shadows and you’ll get your hands dirty if it means a better end result. Maybe that’s a flaw of mine. Maybe the fact that I hold so fast to those beliefs is a hindrance overall. But that’s part of who I am, and I can’t change it, even if I wanted to. Fact of the matter is, you got it right. I guess, in a sense, I’m NCW’s white knight. But that’s just who I am, and that’s just what I do. But enough about me, Roberto…let’s talk about you.”
“You’re a man of principle, that I can admire. Kelly tried to buy you, and you shot her down. I know what she can do, man. I know what she does to those who cross her. And I promise you, if she tries to do anything to you or Hannah, no matter who comes out on top this Sunday…I’ll be there fighting with you. You’re a brother in arms, you’re someone I respect, and I won’t let her try to do to you what she did to me and Falcon. If she thinks she can shove us about, she’s sorely mistaken. She hasn’t revitalized this company, we have. They have. They don’t want to see Xander triumphant, they don’t want her to be a tired retread of what her father did. They want new blood, and like it or not we’re that new blood.”
“This is our moment. No Adam, no Xander, none of the old guard. We’re two of NCW’s stars. We are now, and we will be when they can’t be. This is our moment to shine on our own. This match solidifies our legacies…and it’ll have to be at your expense. Because while you won’t be wallowing in defeat—far from it, I know you’ll be picking yourself up and soldiering on—you will be staring at the lights. This match means to me more than any match before. Because it’s the most important match of my career. I know that’s a title that gets trotted out a lot nowadays, but it really is. This is the distinction between another 35-day stretch on top that might be overlooked and truly carving out my place in history. It’s a critical distinction I intend to make. Do what you must, do everything you can, but I promise you I will not yield. This is our moment…but this is my time, and I’m going to make the most of it.”[/i]
Fade in on Andrew’s hotel room. Emma and Andrew are sitting on the bed, Andrew’s arm around Emma. The laptop rests on Emma’s legs, and she’s grinning ear to ear as the DVD plays. From the speakers, a nasal, irritated voice comes.
”Push the button, Frank.”
A clicking sound follows, and Emma chuckles, turning to Andrew as she closes the laptop’s lid. She’s about to speak, but he’s asleep, head lolling to the side and leaning against her. Emma carefully extricates herself from the situation, setting her laptop aside and gently maneuvering Andrew down so that he’s in a more comfortable position. She grabs her laptop, slipping it into the messenger bag, and slings the bag over her shoulder, slipping out of the hotel room. Emma glances one way down the hall, but when she swings her head back the other direction, Danielle Chase is walking down the hall, checking her nails. Upon looking up, their eyes meet, and Chase slows to a stop. There’s a brief moment of silence as the two women regard each other. Finally, Danielle speaks icily.
”Hello, Emma. Getting out so soon? I’d have thought he would be more…active.”
Emma chuckles, turning to face her fully as she adjusts the bag’s strap on her shoulder.
”Nah, Andy was pretty tired. You know how he can get sometimes.”
Danielle’s barely restrained disdain seethes from every word as she takes a step closer.
”I had perfectly good travel arrangements already in place, and I figured I wouldn’t waste this opportunity. Not every day you get to see a former client defend the World Championship. Did you give him a last-minute bit of…encouragement?”
Emma shakes her head, glaring at Danielle as she moves closer, hands unconsciously balling into fists.
”Dani, I don’t think I like where you’re going with that. Andrew’s my friend. He’s my best friend. But that’s it. There’s nothing more. I don’t get why you had this weird psycho-bitch freakout over things, but—“
Chase cuts her off, hissing as she steps forward, now in Emma’s face.
”But nothing! I was sick of being inadequate. I saw how he looked at you, I heard how he talked about you, and I knew that I wasn’t ever going to be what he wanted. Because he wants a wrestler girl. Whether it’s Sydney or you, he’s just inseparably attracted to your kind. I’m a business major. I go to the gym because I have to, not because I want to. And I’m certainly not built like you. Besides, you said it yourself. You’re his best friend. It’s only the next logical step. Why should I be in your way?”
Emma blinks, shaking her head, and rubs the bridge of her nose, holding a hand up and stepping back from Chase, who admittedly (and ironically) has a few inches in height on her.
”Whoa, back up. Back up. You think…you think that’s how Andrew sees me? Look, if that’s how he thought of me, I’m sure he would have done something a long time ago. Face it, Dani: you got paranoid. Big time. You want to know what he is? To me? He’s my friend. He’s the guy that got me into wrestling as much as I am, and he’s someone that I care about deeply. He’s family. So for you to come in and start throwing those sort of accusations around, it’s—“
Again Chase cuts her off, clearly pissed off and not willing to listen to reason.
”It’s what, Emma? It’s insulting? Irritating? Degrading? Frustrating? All those and more? Oh, I know. Believe me, I know what it’s like to be insulted. The man has no regard for the feelings of those around him. I know him better than you think you do. I’ve seen under that mask, and he’s as heartless as they come. I bet he didn’t even care when I left. Clearly he moved onto you without much trouble. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like it if you got out of my way. My room’s down this hall, and I’d like to get some sleep.”
Chase tries to sidestep Danielson, but Emma’s right there, glaring up at the taller woman. She takes a step forward again, jabbing her finger in Danielle’s face as she practically snarls back at her.
”You think you know him? If all you see in him is some heartless, manipulative monster, you don’t know a damn thing about him. He’s been a wreck. Distraught. He didn’t call you because you never answered the LAST time you up and took off on him. Remember that? A Night to Remember? You left because you got concerned about who he was becoming? You don’t have any ***damn faith in him. I was here because you got too skittish to be there for him. I wasn’t there because I wanted to pounce and claim him as my man or anything stupid like that. I was here because he’s my friend, and I saw that you’d broken his heart. You want to go to your room? Fine. Go. But don’t you try to lecture me on how my best friend behaves. If you want to talk to him, you can try in the morning. He’s sleeping, which he deserves. You? If we weren’t in a public place, I would have already leveled you for what you just said, you smug bitch.”
Emma roughly elbows past Danielle, shooting her a venomous glare as she walks away. Chase is left in the middle of the hall, shaking her head and trying to come up with a pithy comeback. The words fail her, and she looks to Andrew’s room, taking a half step towards the door. Chase reconsiders, however, and she just turns and walks back down the hall, head hung as we fade to black.
”What if this was it, Roberto? What if this one match determined how we were viewed, in the eyes of the fans and history? For better or for worse, it effectively will. And while I’m ready to go out there and give you the fight of a lifetime…I am NOT ready to go down as a failure. If I lose, it’ll be because you were the better man, but it will NOT be because I faltered once. It won’t be because I wasn’t all there. I don’t care if I have to haul myself through the flames of Hell itself, this title and this match mean enough to me that I will NOT let myself fall short after all I’ve gone through.”
“I’m not wrestling for the Alex Joneses of the world anymore. I don’t have to. Because you’re right. It’s not about the people in that locker room. It’s about the people that come to see us wrestle, that buy our shirts and make signs for us and chant our names. It’s always been about them. Because if it weren’t for them, there would be no subjects for Adam Knite to delude himself into believing he reigns over. There wouldn’t be people for Mike Laszlo to imagine are staring at him and worshipping his every footfall. And there’d be no North Star. There’d be no Revolutions, there’d be no NCW without all of those people. So I’m doing this for them.”
“I’m doing this because they deserve better than a corporate puppet on top of the ladder. They deserve someone who’s fighting for them, not for himself. Just because you became disillusioned, just because you see missed opportunities, that doesn’t mean that we have to write things off. This belt still means something. This title still holds with it the legacies of every man to ever carry it. Hall of Famers, true legends of our sport, the pillars of this company…this is what everyone strives for! This is what we want to be, this title is how we want to get there, and everyone, from Nighthawk to Joe Everyman to Alex Jones to you and me, we all want to be able to call ourselves NCW World Champion! The fact remains and always has been, this is the World Title of the greatest company on Earth, and it’s contested by the best athletes on Earth. We can add to its shine, but its value is never going to go away.”
“We’re not here to be the next Adam Knite or Lance Ryan. I’m not trying to be the next Steve Awesome or Spike Kane. I’m the first Andrew Jacobsen, and you’re the first Roberto Verona. We’re a new generation of wrestler, but that doesn’t mean that the old generation had it all wrong. I’m man enough to say that if you manage to beat me, I’ll stand in the middle of that ring and shake your hand. I’ll admit that you were better. And you will have my respect. Because unlike some people, I don’t believe respect is a word you say to sugarcoat things and that gets forgotten every month. Respect is earned, and to lose it you have to be a right bastard. You’ve earned my respect, Roberto, and if you beat me then it’ll just be reinforced in my mind. But I can’t let you beat me. Not with so much at stake…I want to be the best World Champion this company’s ever seen, and to do that I can’t let you stop me here.”
“This is my battle cry. This is my rallying call. I’m walking into the fires of war, and it’ll take everything I can muster to emerge victorious. But I will. I have to. For each and every person that wants something more in life. For those who’re tired of mediocrity, who’re bored with the status quo. This is our revolution, this is our coup d’etat. Our manifesto is greatness, and our uprising will be borne out in that ring. You might not be a revolutionary anymore, but I still believe in what you were fighting for. So let’s keep on fighting. Let’s make our stand. Let’s never let them forget this night. This is the moment when we seize our spotlight. I want to have a match that’ll echo throughout the ages. I want to leave the fans in awe…and I want to leave them asking each other one simple question: Where were you the night everything changed?”[/i]
