Post by Captain Howdy on Jan 5, 2013 22:44:33 GMT -6
I used to be such a sweet, sweet thing
'Til they got a hold of me.
I opened doors for little old ladies,
I helped the blind to see.
I got no friends 'cause they read the papers.
They can't be seen, with me and I'm gettin' real shot down
And I'm feeling mean.
No more Mister Nice Guy
No more Mister Clean
No more Mister Nice Guy
They say, he's sick he's obscene
--From "No More Mister Nice Guy" by Alice Cooper
The scene slowly fades in from black, as "Captain Howdy" by Twisted Sister begins to play. We find ourselves looking out at a beautiful winter landscape, snow on the ground and draping the evergreens. A road runs not far from our vantage point, black and wet from the traffic that has gone along that way. We move a bit down the road, and find that another branches off from it. This road is still covered in snow, literally the road less travelled. Where the two roads fork, we can see a figure standing, looking down both paths. As the camera gets closer, we recognise this figure as the man known as Captain Howdy. The music begins to fade, as he continues to look ahead, not into the camera, before he begins to speak.
CAPTAIN HOWDY: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
For those of you who failed high school literature, that was Robert Frost. That might seem like a strange way to start one of these interviews, but believe me, it has signifigance. You see, for most of my career, I have been faced with this sort of decision. Do I go the easy way, or do I take the road less travelled? Most recently, my choice was between retirement from the sport, or joining a new place such as NCW. I chose to come here, as I heard from some old friends that the competition was worth it. Thus far, I have to agree, although finding myself with a losing record is not what I expected to happen at this point.
Sure, one of my losses was due to a tag team partner not being able to get the job done. He failed, and cost us the match. To me though, it never should have gotten to that point. I should have finished that match before he had the chance to foul things up. I think I could have pinned either of our opponents that night, National Champion or no. But, it didn't happen that way.
Another loss could easily be blamed on the horrendous traffic issues I ran into, almost literally, on the way to the arena. It's not easy to be ready for a match when you arrive literally ten minutes before you're supposed to be in the ring. Still, I was prepared, as well as I possibly could be. I let my frustration and anger over being late get to me, and I made mistakes in the ring. I tried doing things which were not my normal methods, and it cost me.
And last week, I was defeated by a man who prepares for his matches by playing Halo. Seth Evans, I know I said I wasn't going to deride you for being a professional gamer, and I won't. Games teach how to form strategies, and often how to improvise on a moment's notice. I just can't believe I lost to a Halo player. Must be because I hate first person shooters. Seth, you've set me to thinking about the things I must be doing wrong, because I really thought I had you beaten. One small mistake, one small error on my part, and you took advantage. It was well done, to be sure, but it still galls me.
Every once in a while in my career, things like this have happened. I've found myself wondering if I've made the right choice, if I've taken the correct path. If you look back on my career, that path is littered with the blood and broken bodies of dozens of my opponents. It is studded with gold, from the Title belts I've won, some of which were never taken from me before the place I won them closed forever. My path always seemed clear, until about two years ago.
You see, I was going to be a father once again. I was going to have a son, and I knew that, in later years, my son would want to know what kind of person his father was. It was too late to go back and change what I had already done, but it wasn't too late to change who I was then. I started looking at things differently. I started trying to find the side of me that the crowd would cheer as loudly as they used to boo. I took a road that, for me anyway, was less travelled. That experiment met with mixed results. I got the reactions and respect from the crowd, and even some of my peers, that I wanted, but I won fewer matches.
Believe it or not, I am still struggling a bit with that issue. I've sort of toned things down since I got here, trying to see if I can fit in. I haven't really been the same Captain Howdy whose name was feared in arenas the world over. Why? I think, somewhere along the line, I grew a conscience. Strange to think but that might be exactly what it is. I've not wanted, at least recently, to be the one that ends someone's career, or at the very least, shortens it. Instead, I've been wrestling by the rules, and doing what any other would likely do in that ring.
That has to stop.
You see, I'm not at my best if I'm not looking to injure someone. I'm not the wrestler I should be, if I'm not smiling as my opponent is screaming. All this "nice guy" stuff has to end, and at Mind Games, I think that will be where it finally happens.
The Captain turns and looks at the camera, as a grin creeps across his face. That grin doesn't quite reach his eyes though, and they remain cold and dead, like those of a shark before the kill. The effect, to say the least, is disconcerting.
Mind Games...If I hadn't been here such a short time, I'd swear that this Pay Per View was named for me. Mind games are something I've been very, very good at over my career. They can be so much fun, because really, they can go so very many different ways. The things I've made opponents do over the years, just because they thought I had done something, or was about to do something. But those aren't my favorite ones. No, but I'll get to that in a minute.
So let me see, at Mind Games this week, I am once more in the free show before the event. I understand why this is. I haven't proven myself yet. I still have to show those in charge that I belong here and can be a viable piece of the puzzle before I graduate to the big card. Not a problem honestly. I've been around a long time, and I know how this works. At least I'm on the card someplace, as opposed to being left off of it. My opponent is once again someone whom I have not yet faced at any time, which suits me well. I had to do a bit of digging to find out much about you, Josh Stevens. You're nearly as new here as I am.
So let me see, you call yourself the "Evolution", you have one very high opinion of yourself, and you have just enough talent to back it up. Interesting. It's been a long time since I studied science in school, but wasn't the Neanderthal a dead branch of the human evolutionary tree? Why would the sport want to go the way of the muscleheads once again? I know I'm not the answer, but please tell me there will still be actual athletes around and not just those who get by lifting heavy things over their heads for a living.
Josh, I really don't know all that much about you personally, but I know your type. You're a big kid, strong, and you think that gives you some sort of advantage. In the right environment, sure, I'll agree with you. Here, inside that ring, it isn't always the case. You see Josh, I'm not the biggest or strongest guy out there, but I'm considered dangerous because I have one thing that most of you glorified bodybuilders lack. I have brainpower. I have knowledge of human anatomy, and how to break it. I have a love of watching opponents bleed, and the sound of their bones snapping. There's nothing better than being in the middle of a match, and watching someone like you rolling around the mat in pain, wondering what happened and how you got there.
Let me introduce both you and the NCW to my favorite type of mindgame, Josh. See, this is where I tell you what I am going to do to you, and dare you to stop me. When the bell rings is when you fail miserably to do so. I know I haven't really showcased things just yet, but I have this habit of targeting specific parts of my opponent's body. Sometimes it's their legs, other times it's there arm. Most often though, it's the neck, shoulders, and upper spine. See, a man can still win a match with a gimp leg, or a banged up arm, but if you hit the neck and head hard enough and often enough, you can really scramble the messages the brain sends to the body. You can stop limbs from working properly without ever actually touching them, if you're good at it.
I just happen to be very good at that.
See, Josh, when we meet at Mind Games, I have to prove a point to myself, the fans, the management, and the locker room. I have to show that, without a doubt, I am a man to be feared. That means that I have to disassemble you in the bloodiest, nastiest way possible. I have to hurt you, Josh, badly enough that people will either sit up and take notice, or bend over and puke. I'm ok with that. For me, that's fun. I pretty much need to beat on you until I fall down, exhausted. I can do that too. In fact, that's what I plan to do. I am going to put on a clinic, so that everyone watching knows exactly what I am all about. I'm sure even you will be impressed, when they tell you while you lie in the local ICU.
This weekend, at Mind Games, Josh Stevens I am done taking the high road. I am going the way of the nice guy. Finally, I am going to get back to the monster I've always been called. No more Mister Nice Guy for this Captain. And as we're at a Pay Per View called Mind Games, we might as well play. Your problem? I only play the game by my rules, and you don't know what those are ahead of time. I'll give you a hint though...heads I win, tails you lose. And when I decide that you've suffered enough, when I figure that the game has gone on long enough, that's when you'll find out what happens when I decide that, for you,
PLAYTIME'S OVER!!!!
HAHAHAHAAHHAAAHAAHAAHHAA!!!!
AAAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAHAA!!!
The Captain continues to laugh maniacally, as "Captain Howdy" begins to play once more. The camera pulls back, watching as he turns, and begins to walk down the road that is still covered in snow. As he gets to a bend in that road, he turns and waves, and then the scene slowly fades to black.
'Til they got a hold of me.
I opened doors for little old ladies,
I helped the blind to see.
I got no friends 'cause they read the papers.
They can't be seen, with me and I'm gettin' real shot down
And I'm feeling mean.
No more Mister Nice Guy
No more Mister Clean
No more Mister Nice Guy
They say, he's sick he's obscene
--From "No More Mister Nice Guy" by Alice Cooper
The scene slowly fades in from black, as "Captain Howdy" by Twisted Sister begins to play. We find ourselves looking out at a beautiful winter landscape, snow on the ground and draping the evergreens. A road runs not far from our vantage point, black and wet from the traffic that has gone along that way. We move a bit down the road, and find that another branches off from it. This road is still covered in snow, literally the road less travelled. Where the two roads fork, we can see a figure standing, looking down both paths. As the camera gets closer, we recognise this figure as the man known as Captain Howdy. The music begins to fade, as he continues to look ahead, not into the camera, before he begins to speak.
CAPTAIN HOWDY: Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
For those of you who failed high school literature, that was Robert Frost. That might seem like a strange way to start one of these interviews, but believe me, it has signifigance. You see, for most of my career, I have been faced with this sort of decision. Do I go the easy way, or do I take the road less travelled? Most recently, my choice was between retirement from the sport, or joining a new place such as NCW. I chose to come here, as I heard from some old friends that the competition was worth it. Thus far, I have to agree, although finding myself with a losing record is not what I expected to happen at this point.
Sure, one of my losses was due to a tag team partner not being able to get the job done. He failed, and cost us the match. To me though, it never should have gotten to that point. I should have finished that match before he had the chance to foul things up. I think I could have pinned either of our opponents that night, National Champion or no. But, it didn't happen that way.
Another loss could easily be blamed on the horrendous traffic issues I ran into, almost literally, on the way to the arena. It's not easy to be ready for a match when you arrive literally ten minutes before you're supposed to be in the ring. Still, I was prepared, as well as I possibly could be. I let my frustration and anger over being late get to me, and I made mistakes in the ring. I tried doing things which were not my normal methods, and it cost me.
And last week, I was defeated by a man who prepares for his matches by playing Halo. Seth Evans, I know I said I wasn't going to deride you for being a professional gamer, and I won't. Games teach how to form strategies, and often how to improvise on a moment's notice. I just can't believe I lost to a Halo player. Must be because I hate first person shooters. Seth, you've set me to thinking about the things I must be doing wrong, because I really thought I had you beaten. One small mistake, one small error on my part, and you took advantage. It was well done, to be sure, but it still galls me.
Every once in a while in my career, things like this have happened. I've found myself wondering if I've made the right choice, if I've taken the correct path. If you look back on my career, that path is littered with the blood and broken bodies of dozens of my opponents. It is studded with gold, from the Title belts I've won, some of which were never taken from me before the place I won them closed forever. My path always seemed clear, until about two years ago.
You see, I was going to be a father once again. I was going to have a son, and I knew that, in later years, my son would want to know what kind of person his father was. It was too late to go back and change what I had already done, but it wasn't too late to change who I was then. I started looking at things differently. I started trying to find the side of me that the crowd would cheer as loudly as they used to boo. I took a road that, for me anyway, was less travelled. That experiment met with mixed results. I got the reactions and respect from the crowd, and even some of my peers, that I wanted, but I won fewer matches.
Believe it or not, I am still struggling a bit with that issue. I've sort of toned things down since I got here, trying to see if I can fit in. I haven't really been the same Captain Howdy whose name was feared in arenas the world over. Why? I think, somewhere along the line, I grew a conscience. Strange to think but that might be exactly what it is. I've not wanted, at least recently, to be the one that ends someone's career, or at the very least, shortens it. Instead, I've been wrestling by the rules, and doing what any other would likely do in that ring.
That has to stop.
You see, I'm not at my best if I'm not looking to injure someone. I'm not the wrestler I should be, if I'm not smiling as my opponent is screaming. All this "nice guy" stuff has to end, and at Mind Games, I think that will be where it finally happens.
The Captain turns and looks at the camera, as a grin creeps across his face. That grin doesn't quite reach his eyes though, and they remain cold and dead, like those of a shark before the kill. The effect, to say the least, is disconcerting.
Mind Games...If I hadn't been here such a short time, I'd swear that this Pay Per View was named for me. Mind games are something I've been very, very good at over my career. They can be so much fun, because really, they can go so very many different ways. The things I've made opponents do over the years, just because they thought I had done something, or was about to do something. But those aren't my favorite ones. No, but I'll get to that in a minute.
So let me see, at Mind Games this week, I am once more in the free show before the event. I understand why this is. I haven't proven myself yet. I still have to show those in charge that I belong here and can be a viable piece of the puzzle before I graduate to the big card. Not a problem honestly. I've been around a long time, and I know how this works. At least I'm on the card someplace, as opposed to being left off of it. My opponent is once again someone whom I have not yet faced at any time, which suits me well. I had to do a bit of digging to find out much about you, Josh Stevens. You're nearly as new here as I am.
So let me see, you call yourself the "Evolution", you have one very high opinion of yourself, and you have just enough talent to back it up. Interesting. It's been a long time since I studied science in school, but wasn't the Neanderthal a dead branch of the human evolutionary tree? Why would the sport want to go the way of the muscleheads once again? I know I'm not the answer, but please tell me there will still be actual athletes around and not just those who get by lifting heavy things over their heads for a living.
Josh, I really don't know all that much about you personally, but I know your type. You're a big kid, strong, and you think that gives you some sort of advantage. In the right environment, sure, I'll agree with you. Here, inside that ring, it isn't always the case. You see Josh, I'm not the biggest or strongest guy out there, but I'm considered dangerous because I have one thing that most of you glorified bodybuilders lack. I have brainpower. I have knowledge of human anatomy, and how to break it. I have a love of watching opponents bleed, and the sound of their bones snapping. There's nothing better than being in the middle of a match, and watching someone like you rolling around the mat in pain, wondering what happened and how you got there.
Let me introduce both you and the NCW to my favorite type of mindgame, Josh. See, this is where I tell you what I am going to do to you, and dare you to stop me. When the bell rings is when you fail miserably to do so. I know I haven't really showcased things just yet, but I have this habit of targeting specific parts of my opponent's body. Sometimes it's their legs, other times it's there arm. Most often though, it's the neck, shoulders, and upper spine. See, a man can still win a match with a gimp leg, or a banged up arm, but if you hit the neck and head hard enough and often enough, you can really scramble the messages the brain sends to the body. You can stop limbs from working properly without ever actually touching them, if you're good at it.
I just happen to be very good at that.
See, Josh, when we meet at Mind Games, I have to prove a point to myself, the fans, the management, and the locker room. I have to show that, without a doubt, I am a man to be feared. That means that I have to disassemble you in the bloodiest, nastiest way possible. I have to hurt you, Josh, badly enough that people will either sit up and take notice, or bend over and puke. I'm ok with that. For me, that's fun. I pretty much need to beat on you until I fall down, exhausted. I can do that too. In fact, that's what I plan to do. I am going to put on a clinic, so that everyone watching knows exactly what I am all about. I'm sure even you will be impressed, when they tell you while you lie in the local ICU.
This weekend, at Mind Games, Josh Stevens I am done taking the high road. I am going the way of the nice guy. Finally, I am going to get back to the monster I've always been called. No more Mister Nice Guy for this Captain. And as we're at a Pay Per View called Mind Games, we might as well play. Your problem? I only play the game by my rules, and you don't know what those are ahead of time. I'll give you a hint though...heads I win, tails you lose. And when I decide that you've suffered enough, when I figure that the game has gone on long enough, that's when you'll find out what happens when I decide that, for you,
PLAYTIME'S OVER!!!!
HAHAHAHAAHHAAAHAAHAAHHAA!!!!
AAAAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAAHAA!!!
The Captain continues to laugh maniacally, as "Captain Howdy" begins to play once more. The camera pulls back, watching as he turns, and begins to walk down the road that is still covered in snow. As he gets to a bend in that road, he turns and waves, and then the scene slowly fades to black.