That's Amore

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Collision, December 30th 2012…

NCW staff rush to and fro as they prepare to close the show following the conclusion of the main event leading into Mind Games, doing their best to quickly clearl up the clutter as Kelly Fox marches towards the back of the stage, a gleefully skip in her step as she sports a delighted smile. Suddenly the curtain is tossed wide open as the imposing figure of the dominant Lex Sense emerges, the sound of boo’s slithering their way through the fabric as he wipes the sweat from his brow before he is followed by Jake Conway and finally the NCW World Champion, Roberto Verona, who grins as he sees the CEO standing in front of the group, leading a solo round of applause.

My brave soldiers! You did brilliantly tonight, everything is falling into place.

My plea-

Verona suddenly steps in front of Lex, shooting daggers at him with his eyes to which Lex merely responds with a gruff laugh.

Our pleasure, Kelly.

Now, now, boys there is no need to fight over little old me, I need to be in one piece for my match with Sydney, I don’t want her thinking she really stands a chance.

Don’t worry Kelly, she doesn’t stand a chance against you.

Lex suddenly looks down at Roberto and shoots him a sly grin.

Aren’t you sweet, somebody is stepping on your charm patch Roberto.

Verona crosses his arms and looks down, muttering to himself.

Stepping on my toes more like…

Kelly cockers he head to one side and looks at Roberto.

Did you say something?

Verona looks up and shakes his head.

Nothing important.

Kelly shrugs.

Fine, have it your way. How’s the knee holding up?

Suddenly Verona’s previous malaise lifts as he smiles and pretends to be unable to put any weight on his leg before clutching it and laughing.

It should be good to go, Laszlo’s face is pretty hard though, I hope I didn’t injure him, I wouldn’t want him having a readymade excuse or anything….

Of course, are you sure it was wise letting him pick the stipulation?

It’s of no consequence, whatever he picks he will still lose, Ray Gross or no Ray Gross.

Kelly suddenly steps forward, placing a warming hand on the champ’s shoulder much to Lex’s chagrin who simply glares down at Verona who looks up and winks.

I am relying on you, champ. Just remember, I have total faith in you to keep representing this company as our figurehead.

Laszlo’s dreams will end this Sunday, Kelly. I guarantee it.

Kelly suddenly retracts her hand and almost jumps for joy as she cups them behind the small of her back.

That’s the spirit!

Yeah, keep the chin up champ.

As for you…

Kelly jabs a playful finger into the chest of Lex.

We have a dinner with Adam to get to!

I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Kelly. I’ve been looking forward to this all week.

Will you excuse us, Roberto?

Don’t let me get in the middle of you plans.

Don’t worry, you won’t.

Roberto stares up at Lex before looking back at Kelly and smiling.

Have fun.

Kelly smiles and turns away, walking down the corridor with Lex who turns and returns a sarcastic wink at Roberto who smiles sardonically and waves, his expression suddenly turning to fury as he stares holes in the giants back before the pair are long out of sight. Jake Conway suddenly takes a few steps forward.

That was awkward.

We have ourselves a problem, Jake.

Jake ponders for a moment, placing a hand around his jaw.

What are you going to do?

Create an insurance policy. Like we discussed. I’ve worked far too hard to have that giant pain in the ass tear it apart for his own amusement.

You know where to find me.

Roberto smiles.

When I need you, I’ll send for you.

I look forward to working with you.

Likewise.

Verona turns, patting Jake on the shoulder before nodding and taking his leave as the pair exit in separate directions towards their respective partners.

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When my knee hits your face and I laugh with The Ace, that's Amoreeeeee!

Rarely do I feel the need to break in the song but please forgive me, I am in a disturbingly good mood this week.

Maybe it was the fact that yet again it was my name that littered the yearly awards proving just how much better I am than the rest of the roster…

As if it needed to be confirmed anyway.

But I also finally got to drive your words back down your throat Mike, quite literally. I’ve gotta tell you, it is quite the rush sneaking into the ring on an unsuspecting little gob****e like you and putting my kneecap through your face, leaving you dazed and confused….again.

It was like balance was being restored, because quite honestly, when I was laying on my back up on that stage after your muscle manhandled me from behind like a coward it suddenly hit me. I’ve been playing far too nicely with you lately. I missed the days where I cracked your head open with chairs, when I held my title high up in the air whilst you lay there asking why it wasn’t your time yet.

So I figured, what the hell, if it aint broke, why fix it?

I don’t attack you from out of nowhere because I am afraid of you, far from it, I do it because I simply enjoy toying with you. Watching you stamp your feet like a petulant little child week after week because the big bad Roberto spoiled your plans for, and I’ll try to say this without laughing, “world domination” provide me endless amusement.

If I feared you, then I wouldn’t be so stupid as to break a no contact clause I specifically put in place. Ultimately, I had nothing to lose, I just wanted to see how far you were willing to go to prevent losing the last opportunity you will ever have to face me for the NCW World Championship and congratulations.

You passed.

But you won’t be passing the next test, no matter how many times you keep yelling it at the top of the lungs.

I know, I know, everybody is practically bursting with excitement to see what juicy little stipulation you manage to pull out of your hat but it is all a mission in futility. You can put a referee’s jersey on that freak you have following you around, you can add all the brutal little accoutrements you want, hell you can even start stacking the deck to a point where it is literally all but a foregone conclusion that you will win, but none of it truly matters.

Because you’re going to lose.

Why?

Not because of statistics, not because of my ego and not because I am going to find a way to “screw you”, which by the way I didn’t as I played well within the rules of the match. No, I am going to win because I am simply, categorically, out of your league.

Now you can try to dispute that claim all you like, you’d be stupid to just accept it but ultimately, it is what it is. If you were good enough to beat me at the top of my game, you’d be the NCW World Champion right now. You can blame Lex if you want, you can go into some strange homoerotic diatribe about me going limp in your arms too but the fact is, if you’re as good as you claim, you’d have found a way to win.

No matter what.

I mean sure, Lex put you away with a nicely placed boot to the face, but as I said there is nothing in the rule book in a Falls Count Anywhere match that prevents another person interfering in the match, hell I know exactly what Kelly pays you and you could have hired anybody on this roster to do the same for you considering how I am enemy number one right now. You could have literally beaten me into a coma, or kicked out when I pinned you.

Anything.

Yet, you didn’t. All this talk about how you’re going to be the next champion is hollow. You’ve done nothing whatsoever to prove that you have what it takes to beat me, getting your buddy to come and help out in a delicious display of irony after complaining about Lex is not going to push you over the finishing line.

No, you need a complete attitude transplant to ever stand a chance of beating me.

You need to drop this pompous belief that you are somehow owed something and it is only by some grand nefarious scheme of mine or some other higher power that you won’t achieve that goal. You’re a decent wrestler, you could easily make a reasonable career here, but as long as you behave like you’re somehow entitled to this belt and I am nothing but some coward with powerful friends who you will sweep away, then you’ll never be champion.

Naturally, I don’t expect you to listen to me.

How could you even hear me over the sound of your own voice?

But rest assured, Mike, that contrary to popular opinion I do actually know a thing or two about wrestling and even if I am this “treacherous cad” I still deserve to be World Champion. You are just the flavour of the month right now, when I beat you, and I will, then you will fall back down the ladder and get lost in the pack until the next opportunity rolls along.

The difference between you and me is that I broke away and made it count.

I didn’t just talk about it, I didn’t sit around trying to find excuses for my failures, I simply got off my ass and went out and won. I didn’t look down my nose at Andrew just because all of you did, I went into that match respecting my opponent and I proved myself inside the ring.

Maybe when you stop viewing me as your inferior you may stand a chance of beating me.

I won’t hold my breath.

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Roberto Verona’s Home, Chicago
Two Weeks Ago

The wind whistles outside, whipping around the wooden walls of the home of Roberto Verona, the sound of various animals intertwining with nature. Hannah and Kathy Conway both sit in two large leather chairs, a glass in both their hands as they share a giggle between one another. Both are dressed in their finest garbs, but Kathy’s neck is adorned by a large diamond necklace. The light catches the necklace perfectly, each diamond glistening majestically in the candle light as it almost sparkles, causing Hannah’s eyes to widen and her jaw to drop.

What a beautiful necklace, Kathy.

Thank you, Hannah.

Hannah looks around awkwardly before leaning forward and whispering.

So, what did you have to do to get that?

Kathy looks at Hannah a little confused.

Do…?

Yeah, you know guys don’t buy girls necklaces like that for free…

The pair share an akward silence until suddenly Kathy cottons on to Hannah’s insinuations.

Nothing!

Hannah raises an eyebrow.

Really?

Yes, honestly. Jake just walked up behind me, asked me to close my eyes, whispered he loved me and when I opened them I had this gorgeous things draped around my neck.

Seriously? Last time I wanted something from Roberto I had to get on my knees and….

Just as Hannah tries to finishes her sentence her and Kathy are thrust into silence as they bob their heads up like meerkat to spot the approaching Jake Conway and Roberto Verona, each grasping a glass of red wine in their hands as they approach to the two ladies.

I trust you two ladies are behaving.

I am just telling Kathy about the time I asked you for that beautiful ring I spotted.

You mean when you got on your knees, wrapped your arms around my ankles and begged me to buy it?

Hannah sits up in her chair, turning to Verona.

Aren’t you forgetting something?

Roberto raises a finger to his lip, pretending to think for a moment.

Forgive me. You cried as well. Honestly, Jake, it would have been adorable if I could forget she is a grown woman.

Hannah punches Verona in the arm who chuckles as he rubs it in pain.

What have you boys been up to?

Just discussing business, your husband has quite the mind for it.

That’s my Jake.

Kathy smiles at her husband, who looks flattered by the compliment, but not wishing to outwardly display his emotion, looking down momentarily.

Of course, I’ve come to realise maybe he isn’t as bad as he is on television. That mean nasty Ace is some piece of work.

Jake laughs before taking a sip of his drink.

Shhhh, Roberto, remember kayfabe.

Roberto opens his mouth and nods before placing a finger of his lips.

Ooops, forgive me, must be the wine talking. You know it took a lot of effort to have your husband agree to share a glass with me.

Jake pauses for a moment.

I’m just not a big drinker…

So, are you two boys friends now?

Let’s just say, me and Roberto agree on a few things.

We just needed to iron out a few details.

Care to share your scheming?

Don’t you worry about that, we didn’t invite Jake and Kathy over to just talk business all night, I think we’ve earned a break by now don’t you?

Oh I don’t know, we’re the bad guys, do we really deserve anything?

Roberto laughs.

Maybe we should turn our belts in out of respect for justice.

Perhaps….but they do look damn good on us. Maybe we should look after them for now….for safekeeping and all that.

I like your style, Jake.

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What would I do if you beat me?

It is a question people keep asking me in light of my complete faith in my ability to walk out of Mind Games the World Champion.

Truthfully?

I was thinking of hitching a ride on the back of a giant eagle with Thorin and Gimli and working on my tan in the lava fields of Mount Doom or maybe hanging out with Alice in Wonderland, hell perhaps I’ll drop by and see how Moby Dick’s doing these days and have a glass of rum with Jake Sparrow.

Get it?

I’m mocking you by suggesting the chance of me losing is as realistic as me partaking in those highly implausible scenarios for the means of belittling you and making you look like an idiot.

Because frankly, I see no reason to show you a shred of respect considering the way you’ve spoken about me for the past two months. Hell, I don’t see why I should respect anybody on this god forsaken roster these days, a man I respect in Xander Famularo decided he’d make thinly veiled threats because I picked on his daddy, Nathan Webb continues to moan and bitch and whine despite having no proof I’m the devil incarnate and you just continue to act like your **** smells of roses and I am just keeping this belt warm for you despite having achieved nothing at the top of this company.

Maybe you’ll prove me wrong but barring some miraculous change of heart or a deliberate attempt to basically contradict everything I say today, I doubt it.

Was my little “injury” a bit of a game? Sure, I felt like putting you on guard for something this week and I struck a little early because you’re too obsessed with me requiring excuses. I don’t need excuses Mike because unlike you I am a man who can admit his mistakes.

I ****ed up against Ricky Johnson, I went in full of gusto just like you and despite being inches away I lost. When I was only minutes away from winning the Riot I got blindsided by Lex and despite eliminating more people than anyone else I lost because I lost attention.

The thing is, I can accept these failures and hold my head up high and say that it “builds character” or whatever other self-help nonsense I’m meant to spout. Should you beat me this weekend Mike, I won’t have to try and make something up to explain it all away, I’ll just accept it and move on because at the end of the day, as much as I enjoy being the symbol of this federation thanks to the belt around my waist.

I don’t need it.

Not like you.

I’ve cemented myself at the table where the decisions are made and I won’t be removed from that just because you might be able to pull off a victory out of nowhere over me at Mind Games. My power isn’t tied to this belt, it was enabled by it yes, but my fate will not go in a downward spiral just because I don’t happen to have it.

Is that an excuse? A method of softening the inevitable blow you will deal to me?

Far from it.

I am just dealing in realities. A victory for you here changes nothing, you might have another accolade to add to your list, but I will still hold sway over what goes on around here and when the time comes, and I have earned it, I will reclaim what is mine.

Yet I’ve no intention of stopping now, even if it is a matter of mere collateral damage to me. I want to be the longest reigning NCW World Champion in history, to set my own records and blaze trails that no other has been able to despite their better efforts and leave a mark on the world title that will never be surpassed.

The only desire in my heart on Sunday will be to leave with this belt and retain the symbol of my rise to power and I will do everything I need to do to make sure that eventuality comes to pass.

Even if part of me only wants to prevent you being able to waltz around like an all-conquering hero, pandering to the masses who you still care little about despite their newfound love for you.

There will come a day where I relinquish this belt, every champion who isn’t a paranoid delusionary knows this, even if they won’t admit it, but I have no intention of that day being any time soon and unless we’re here in a year from now and you’ve drastically changed your attitude I have no desire to drop it to you.

When I fall from this pedestal, it will be for somebody who truly deserves to profit from my demise. Somebody who will cherish the opportunity, be thankful for everything I have to raise the profile of this belt back from the cesspit it dwell in after a plethora of pointless title reigns since Xander dropped it the first time.

Not some arrogant little upstart like you who thinks the world owes him everything.

At Mind Games I will walk in the NCW World Champion and I will step out just the same, and you’ll have your excuses, you’ll have your grievances and maybe you’ll even have a point for once.

But you won’t have this belt.

You will not be the man that everyone looks up to, pining with jealousy. That spot is reserved for true greats from now on and perhaps one day, when you’ve found humility, you will be that man. But this day is not now.

Not this Sunday.

Puff out your chest and perform your routine, I will see you in that ring on Sunday and I will show you what a real champion is made of.