Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2012 18:34:10 GMT -6
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A camera chases two figures down a corridor, the roar of a fired up crowd can be heard resonating through the concrete foundations which hold their enormous weight. Soon we realise that it is the CEO of NCW Kelly Fox and Roberto Verona hastily storming down the gap, dodging around obstacles and surprised crew who do their best to avoid their superiors and their inevitable wraths if they stood in their way. Kelly looks straight ahead, determined, as Verona hover by her side, trying to talk to her but to not avail.
What the **** was that, Kelly!?
Verona marches alongside the CEO who is still visibly irritated from Mike’s interference moments earlier.
Somebody needed to show him who was in charge, I didn’t see any of you doing it.
By giving him leave to bend the rules to fluke his way to a title victory?
I thought you said you could beat him?
Verona suddenly steps in front of Kelly and forces her to stop.
What are you suggesting?
That if you’re so confident you can beat him, why does this even matter?
Of course I can beat him, I’ve beaten him before.
Kelly rolls her eyes and places her hands on her hips.
Then what is the problem?
We’re meant to be a team, you should run these sort of things by me before just acting in the heat of the moment and letting that jackass start pulling out all manner of weapons to make up the talent deficit.
I am still the CEO Roberto.
You don’t need to pull rank, Kelly. I know you’re in charge, I’m not a simpleton, but you asked me to help you build a solid foundation for this company to thrive from and I can’t do that if you just buckle and undermine me.
What do you want, an apology?
No, I couldn’t care less about that, all I want is for us to not let people get between us and start ruining our plans. Laszlo is just throwing his weight around to try an intimidate me, we’ve already done the guy enough favours.
You need to have a little more faith in me, Verona. I knew what I was doing.
You could’ve fooled me.
Kelly shakes her head and looks away for a moment, before turning back to face Verona.
Look, I get it, we’re a team and you’re putting your neck on the line to help me turn this company around, and I appreciate it, but we don’t need to run everything by one another. You can beat Laszlo, it just so happens you can beat him a little worse than you could before now.
So this is all just about adding to the spectacle?
Kelly smiles.
You could say that, yes. Look Laszlo has said a lot and he needs to be put in his place in a resounding fashion, a plain old match which is decided purely by in ring ability isn’t something he has earned. I want to see his blood splattered across my ring before you toss him back into the rank and file, this is about setting an example like I did with Sydney.
I appreciate that, Kelly, but we need to be on the same wavelength.
Fine, I’ll tell you next time, can we please just drop this now? I’ve got a lot to deal with and so do you, bickering like this is just causing the division you were talking about.
Verona lets out a sigh as he rubs the brim of his nose with two fingers, his eyes screwed up in frustration.
I appreciate that you’re just trying to ensure Laszlo gets what is coming to him, and I aint afraid to get my hands dirty, but I have given up a lot to build this partnership. I’m not naïve Kelly, I realise you are your own woman and Lord knows I aren’t going to ask your permission for everything, but we’ve gotta work together or these parasites will smell blood.
OK, look, I need to deal with my own match next weekend, we can talk about making sure we don’t pull any surprises on one another again, just try to forget about it and go and beat Laszlo, I don’t want him parading around the most important belt in this company.
Trust me, he won’t.
Kelly looks Roberto straight in the eyes.
I do trust you Roberto, but sometimes I get the impression you don’t completely trust me.
Don’t trust anybody, you taught me that.
Kelly smiles and nods.
True. Look, just remember, everything I do is for your benefit, I won’t do anything that would place you at risk.
I believe you.
Good, now, if we’re done here can you excuse me, I need to arrange a pre-match gift for Nathan and pick out what I want to wear when I end Crystal’s career, permanently this time.
Something you don’t mind washing the blood out of.
Verona grins as Kelly sblack persons, the tensions seemingly dissipating again.
I guess I can afford the dry cleaning bill. Good luck against Webb tonight.
I don’t need luck to put Peter Parker in his place.
Roberto smiles before turning and walking away from the CEO who grins after him before suddenly reaching for her phone once she can see the World Champion is out of sight, tapping in a few words before sending another text message.
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A camera chases two figures down a corridor, the roar of a fired up crowd can be heard resonating through the concrete foundations which hold their enormous weight. Soon we realise that it is the CEO of NCW Kelly Fox and Roberto Verona hastily storming down the gap, dodging around obstacles and surprised crew who do their best to avoid their superiors and their inevitable wraths if they stood in their way. Kelly looks straight ahead, determined, as Verona hover by her side, trying to talk to her but to not avail.
What the **** was that, Kelly!?
Verona marches alongside the CEO who is still visibly irritated from Mike’s interference moments earlier.
Somebody needed to show him who was in charge, I didn’t see any of you doing it.
By giving him leave to bend the rules to fluke his way to a title victory?
I thought you said you could beat him?
Verona suddenly steps in front of Kelly and forces her to stop.
What are you suggesting?
That if you’re so confident you can beat him, why does this even matter?
Of course I can beat him, I’ve beaten him before.
Kelly rolls her eyes and places her hands on her hips.
Then what is the problem?
We’re meant to be a team, you should run these sort of things by me before just acting in the heat of the moment and letting that jackass start pulling out all manner of weapons to make up the talent deficit.
I am still the CEO Roberto.
You don’t need to pull rank, Kelly. I know you’re in charge, I’m not a simpleton, but you asked me to help you build a solid foundation for this company to thrive from and I can’t do that if you just buckle and undermine me.
What do you want, an apology?
No, I couldn’t care less about that, all I want is for us to not let people get between us and start ruining our plans. Laszlo is just throwing his weight around to try an intimidate me, we’ve already done the guy enough favours.
You need to have a little more faith in me, Verona. I knew what I was doing.
You could’ve fooled me.
Kelly shakes her head and looks away for a moment, before turning back to face Verona.
Look, I get it, we’re a team and you’re putting your neck on the line to help me turn this company around, and I appreciate it, but we don’t need to run everything by one another. You can beat Laszlo, it just so happens you can beat him a little worse than you could before now.
So this is all just about adding to the spectacle?
Kelly smiles.
You could say that, yes. Look Laszlo has said a lot and he needs to be put in his place in a resounding fashion, a plain old match which is decided purely by in ring ability isn’t something he has earned. I want to see his blood splattered across my ring before you toss him back into the rank and file, this is about setting an example like I did with Sydney.
I appreciate that, Kelly, but we need to be on the same wavelength.
Fine, I’ll tell you next time, can we please just drop this now? I’ve got a lot to deal with and so do you, bickering like this is just causing the division you were talking about.
Verona lets out a sigh as he rubs the brim of his nose with two fingers, his eyes screwed up in frustration.
I appreciate that you’re just trying to ensure Laszlo gets what is coming to him, and I aint afraid to get my hands dirty, but I have given up a lot to build this partnership. I’m not naïve Kelly, I realise you are your own woman and Lord knows I aren’t going to ask your permission for everything, but we’ve gotta work together or these parasites will smell blood.
OK, look, I need to deal with my own match next weekend, we can talk about making sure we don’t pull any surprises on one another again, just try to forget about it and go and beat Laszlo, I don’t want him parading around the most important belt in this company.
Trust me, he won’t.
Kelly looks Roberto straight in the eyes.
I do trust you Roberto, but sometimes I get the impression you don’t completely trust me.
Don’t trust anybody, you taught me that.
Kelly smiles and nods.
True. Look, just remember, everything I do is for your benefit, I won’t do anything that would place you at risk.
I believe you.
Good, now, if we’re done here can you excuse me, I need to arrange a pre-match gift for Nathan and pick out what I want to wear when I end Crystal’s career, permanently this time.
Something you don’t mind washing the blood out of.
Verona grins as Kelly sblack persons, the tensions seemingly dissipating again.
I guess I can afford the dry cleaning bill. Good luck against Webb tonight.
I don’t need luck to put Peter Parker in his place.
Roberto smiles before turning and walking away from the CEO who grins after him before suddenly reaching for her phone once she can see the World Champion is out of sight, tapping in a few words before sending another text message.
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You’re all talk, Laszlo.
Incoherent talk at that.
My victory over “Unnamed Former World Champion” means nothing because it was a one off fluke, but your two victories over me are 100% legitimate heavyweight results because it got you noticed? You truly are delusional, my victory, and here is the key word, earned me a World Title shot, your two victories earned you jack ****.
You’re damn right your victories over me mean absolutely nothing, Mike. So what, you beat me, big deal. You didn’t earn a title shot, you didn’t solidify momentum into the Road to the Gold, you didn’t inflict some sort of voodoo curse over me.
You gained absolutely nothing, beyond a numerical superiority in a head to head record.
No mental edge.
No respect.
No title shot.
You’re not here this weekend by virtue of those two matches, you’re here purely because you need to be shut the hell up, nothing more, nothing less. You have this grand idea that you have gotten under my skin and I’ve some burning desire to prove I am better than you, when I have already done that by knocking you out of a meaningful tournament and becoming NCW World Champion. If you were truly my superior you’d be the one with this belt.
You’d be the one who beat another of you inferiors, Andrew Jacobsen, last month instead of curtain jerking for the real stars.
The simple fact is that I perform when it counts, I always have, bar one blip against Ricky at Reborn. When I tricked Todd into giving me a shot at the X-Championship, I beat him. When I demanded a shot at Alex Jones for the National Championship a mere month after losing the X-Championship I beat him as well, then I beat him again a month later to retain it. When I said I’d be the man to take Xander’s cherry, I didn’t just stand in front of a camera and tell people I’d do it, I went out there and pinned him.
You?
All you’ve ever done is run your mouth about how fantastic you are, but you’ve come up woefully short. Your much acclaimed dual title run comprised of matches against perennial nobodies in Nathan Webb and Jackhammer, when somebody with a modicum of ability entered your radar you jobbed like an insecure girl with daddy issues on prom night.
You told the world that you’d show them how inadequate Andrew Jacobsen was, yet when push came to shove you couldn’t even beat me, than man you are allegedly vastly superior to, to earn the opportunity to prove you’re not just full of **** and talking out of your ass 99% of the time.
Now? Now you’re going to run your mouth all weekend only to be humbled on pay per view against the best wrestler in this company because I have decided that simply embarrassing you on national television just isn’t enough.
You can try to turn this all around on my alleged insecurities based on you having beaten me in previous encounters, but let me make this very clear to you Mike, because it rarely goes in otherwise. If all I wanted to do was level some record book, I’d just have the match booked on Collision, without my belt on the line, and knock you on your ass and have done with it, there’s no need for me to put my title at risk on pay per view when somebody worthy of the chance could be having their moment in the sun if all I wanted to do was avenge this imagined slight.
Inside my head?
You’re not even inside my league. This is about showing the world how empty all of your claims to grandeur truly are; you joined the rank and file to lambast Jacobsen for a month in some sort of machismo exercise but unlike the rest of the bitter career failures you decided to continue talking yourself up, demanding a title shot.
This weekend, you’re demand has been granted, not because you impressed Kelly Fox, she couldn’t care any less about you than I do, this is purely and simply about proving to the rest of the roster that running your mouth off has consequences.
In your case, I am going to crush your dreams on the biggest stage you’ve ever occupied and put a dent in your ego that you won’t be able to just talk away. When I beat you, not if, it will leave a permanent black mark on your psyche that you won’t be able to wash away and no matter how much your put on a brave face for the world and tell everyone it doesn’t matter, deep down it will eat away at you.
This weekend I will shatter the illusions you live your life by, the world you occupy where nobody is your equal and you are owed everything for nothing.
And if by some chance you actually do manage to beat me?
I’ll get over it.
I don’t base my entire existence on my ability to beat you, Michael. My career isn’t built on a couple of wins and my status as the vengeful sword of Kelly Fox isn’t tied to the golden trinket I carry around my waist, if you deprive me of this championship all you will do is wound my ego, nothing more.
My world will not crumble around me, everything I worked so hard to achieve will not be undone and I will still continue in my role as the Saviour of New Championship Wrestling, albeit a few pounds lighter.
Keep on reflecting your insecurities onto me if it makes you feel better, but when push comes to shove after Breaking Away concludes this weekend you will have to learn to cope with the crushing realisation that you aren’t good enough to be the face of this company.
No matter how much you say you are.
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A cold winter wind whistles around the deserted road leading to the home of Roberto Verona, the ground glistening with frost as two beams of light gradually make their way slowly up the muddy track surrounded by a variety of trees which tower up into the sky, reaching towards the moon. As the car crawls nearer we can see the figures of Roberto Verona and Hannah Reed, the latter sat in the passenger’s seat with a hoodie wrapped around her upper torso, visibly chilled by the cold air which whips through the trees whilst Roberto grips the steering wheel with a pair of leather driving gloves, warmed partially by the cars central heating which lap delicately across his knuckles. Suddenly, Hannah turns to face Roberto, who keeps his eyes firmly on the road.
Are you sure about this?
Verona nods his head.
You know, you don’t have to this just to please me?
Yes, I am aware of that.
And you’re sure about that?
Verona rolls his eyes.
Yes, I am quite capable of making my own decisions, Hannah.
I know, it’s just you already have me under your feet twenty four hours a day.
And it has been a pleasure…..mostly anyway.
Verona grins playfully.
Look, she practically lives here anyway and it’s not like I’m asking her to co-sign the mortgage or anything, if she steps out of line I can throw her back out as quick as she came.
I realise that, it’s just not many people have had a lot of faith in her and I didn’t want you to let her stay permanently only to kick her out in a week’s time.
Verona shrugs.
That depends on her, if she can drop her insecure bull**** and realise that we’re trying to help her and not everyone is out to screw her then there won’t be a problem. If she wants to invest in her career she needs a stable home life.
Well….I guess that makes sense.
Of course it does, this business takes a big toll on our bodies, having somewhere to call home to come and recover can be a big way to keep going when you think you should pack it all in. Besides, it’d piss your Dad off, we’ve been far too friendly of late.
Hannah raises her eyebrows incredulously.
Friendly? He told me that if you give him a Christmas gift you were wasting your time because he’d rather be in another car crash than have to spend money on your happiness.
It beats the year he sent me a one way plane ticket to Timbuktu.
Hannah snigers as she recalls the memory.
Point accepted.
Hannah continues to smile as Roberto pulls into the familiar spot in front of his home, placing the handbrake on before turning back to face Hannah.
Besides, she may say no.
We have been overly affectionate lately….
I hate to break it to you Hannah but in the eyes of the law we are responsible adults.
Really? No wonder growing up sucks so much.
Verona chuckles whilst shaking his head.
Look, jokes aside, as much as she is a pain in the ass I can see that she needs to be around you, the bond you have is what keeps her together, it isn’t a surprise she fell apart when you moved away.
I guess….I just don’t want to inconvenience you.
I’m a big boy, I’ll survive.
Hannah leans in and gently kisses Roberto on the cheek.
You’re too good to me.
It’s always a pleasure Hannah, I just want you to be happy.
You’re nothing like that baddie on the television…
Hannah smiles, running her hand through Roberto’s hair.
Oh I don’t know, I can’t promise that I won’t crack her over the skull with a chair every once in a while.
It might knock some sense in, you never know.
Stranger things have happened.
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A cold winter wind whistles around the deserted road leading to the home of Roberto Verona, the ground glistening with frost as two beams of light gradually make their way slowly up the muddy track surrounded by a variety of trees which tower up into the sky, reaching towards the moon. As the car crawls nearer we can see the figures of Roberto Verona and Hannah Reed, the latter sat in the passenger’s seat with a hoodie wrapped around her upper torso, visibly chilled by the cold air which whips through the trees whilst Roberto grips the steering wheel with a pair of leather driving gloves, warmed partially by the cars central heating which lap delicately across his knuckles. Suddenly, Hannah turns to face Roberto, who keeps his eyes firmly on the road.
Are you sure about this?
Verona nods his head.
You know, you don’t have to this just to please me?
Yes, I am aware of that.
And you’re sure about that?
Verona rolls his eyes.
Yes, I am quite capable of making my own decisions, Hannah.
I know, it’s just you already have me under your feet twenty four hours a day.
And it has been a pleasure…..mostly anyway.
Verona grins playfully.
Look, she practically lives here anyway and it’s not like I’m asking her to co-sign the mortgage or anything, if she steps out of line I can throw her back out as quick as she came.
I realise that, it’s just not many people have had a lot of faith in her and I didn’t want you to let her stay permanently only to kick her out in a week’s time.
Verona shrugs.
That depends on her, if she can drop her insecure bull**** and realise that we’re trying to help her and not everyone is out to screw her then there won’t be a problem. If she wants to invest in her career she needs a stable home life.
Well….I guess that makes sense.
Of course it does, this business takes a big toll on our bodies, having somewhere to call home to come and recover can be a big way to keep going when you think you should pack it all in. Besides, it’d piss your Dad off, we’ve been far too friendly of late.
Hannah raises her eyebrows incredulously.
Friendly? He told me that if you give him a Christmas gift you were wasting your time because he’d rather be in another car crash than have to spend money on your happiness.
It beats the year he sent me a one way plane ticket to Timbuktu.
Hannah snigers as she recalls the memory.
Point accepted.
Hannah continues to smile as Roberto pulls into the familiar spot in front of his home, placing the handbrake on before turning back to face Hannah.
Besides, she may say no.
We have been overly affectionate lately….
I hate to break it to you Hannah but in the eyes of the law we are responsible adults.
Really? No wonder growing up sucks so much.
Verona chuckles whilst shaking his head.
Look, jokes aside, as much as she is a pain in the ass I can see that she needs to be around you, the bond you have is what keeps her together, it isn’t a surprise she fell apart when you moved away.
I guess….I just don’t want to inconvenience you.
I’m a big boy, I’ll survive.
Hannah leans in and gently kisses Roberto on the cheek.
You’re too good to me.
It’s always a pleasure Hannah, I just want you to be happy.
You’re nothing like that baddie on the television…
Hannah smiles, running her hand through Roberto’s hair.
Oh I don’t know, I can’t promise that I won’t crack her over the skull with a chair every once in a while.
It might knock some sense in, you never know.
Stranger things have happened.
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As per usual, you’ve had a lot to say.
Granted a great deal of it was presumptuous, self-aggrandising, hypocritical nonsense but still. Well, perhaps it is my turn to play verbal tennis and volley off a few shots in your direction, Mike, instead of focusing on the asinine tom foolery you have to contribute to the pot this week, I guess it is my duty as NCW World Champion to actually entertain our fans across the globe instead of ramble on with half-truths and misquotes.
A month ago I became the latest in a long line of NCW World Champions by defeating Andrew Jacobsen and despite doing what everybody wanted by taking the belt away from him and giving it to somebody who is viewed as being a credible champion in the eyes of the majority I haven’t received any thanks.
Everybody has focused so heavily on the fact that I have decided to what is best for this business, not mine, and align myself with Kelly Fox that they have forgotten their previous pleas to move onto a new plethora of complaints.
Not that I aren’t used to the constant obsession with never being satisfied that our collective roster enjoy partaking in on a weekly basis. Nothing is ever good enough, once you get something you want it is always never in quite the way your wanted it and even if it is, some flaw you never fathomed previously magically pops up.
You were all bored of the same old people winning World Championships all the time, telling the world that it’s unfair. Cue a year with five new World Champions who previously occupied the same strata as the rest of you.
Yet it is still not good enough.
You all bitched and whined that Kelly Fox was strangling this company into its death throes by hand picking her champions, yet here we are with a World Champion who won the belt without her, a National Champion who deprived her husband of the belt, a X-Champion who has managed to succeed despite having nothing to do with the administration, two tag team champions who have retained their belts regardless of Kelly’s feelings and Starlet’s champion who doesn’t let her relationship influence her title reign.
Yet it is still not good enough.
Everyone constantly moaned about being held down and not getting the opportunities they felt their talent’s deserved or that when they were screwed by the officials they never got their just desserts, now we have Jake Conway getting his rematch because the referee missed his foot on the ropes, I am facing off against a man who has never been given a main event opportunity and all of the old faces which dominated the card have rode off into the sunset.
Yet it is still not good enough.
Everybody is quick to demand change, but when they get it they are keen to point out how they would be doing things differently.
The moral of this story?
You can’t please everybody.
I’ve proven myself time and time again, but it will never be good enough for guys like you Laszlo. You’re not taking pot shots at me from any sound base of facts, you’re throwing wildcards from left field to make a name for yourselves. You show me absolutely no respect because it doesn’t fit your agenda to treat me like a legitimate threat because it allows you to escape unscathed or to pass of your victory as entirely inevitable.
Men like you are a dime a dozen, Laszlo.
You walk around full of bravado, projecting this image of a supremely confident individual who can take any slight and come back smelling of roses because you’re simply that damn good, but scratch away at the veneer and you soon see something that betrays the mask you wear.
You have balls Mike, I’ll give you that and yeah, you can run your mouth and talk the talk but you’ve proven your whole career here that when it comes to walking the walk all you’re really capable of is masking a severe limp. You were a dual champion who built a legacy on nobodies and now you’re in a main event, not because you’ve earned it, but because you just won’t stop making demands.
Now it’s time for you to step up and prove that you’re more than just another Alex Jones or Joe Everyman, that you can actually cash all these cheques your mouth has written and that you’re capable of making that final step up to create meaningful achievements with the best this company has to offer, not just collecting the occasional scalp in matches that ultimately earn you nothing.
I used to be just like you, but the difference is I’ve gone out there and consistently proven myself to be just as good as I claim to be and even when I failed, I eventually proved that it was a blip and not a true reflection on my ability. I’m a triple champion, a Road to the Gold Winner and Riot record holder and I’ve done it all in 18 months, achieving more in that time frame than men who have been here since the company was founded five years ago.
Every time somebody has demanded I step up my game, I’ve done it, now you need to do the same.
You’ve been afforded an opportunity at the most important belt in professional wrestling against one of the best wrestlers in the business, there is simply no bigger stage for you than this to cement a legacy in this company. You can keep droning on about the same old **** if you like, but if you want people to start taking you seriously you need to prove that all of this bravado isn’t just mindless chatter.
It’s a genuine promise that you can fulfil your potential.
Now I know you’re going to respond by telling me you’ll beat me 100%, you’ve proven you can twice before and you’re going be the World Champion but there’s more to it than simply trotting out predictable clichés, it is the same every week and it’s not exclusive to you.
So many men have said they will put me away and leave me in the gutter to rot, yet here I am, standing strong and on a platform I always knew I could ascend to. You think you wrote my obituary when you picked up your wins over me, but I still rose from the grave to win the premier tournament of NCW. Everyone keeps predicting my demise, expecting the meteoric rise to come to a stuttering stand still and finally stop and level out but every time I prove them wrong, even after tasting my only real defeat.
This weekend, I will do it once again by avoiding the beat down everybody craves so badly to emerge the NCW World Champion who will close the year on top on the way to the Riot before prolonging my reign to be the longest of all time, defying the record books once again.
I will prove that everything I have said about you is true.
Get used to this face, because it will be the one that represents this company for many more months to come, no matter how much you all dislike it
