Post by The Ace on Mar 15, 2013 12:47:34 GMT -6
It is early morning in the luxurious Conway household in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jake Conway shifts in his bed, next to him, curled up in his arms, with her head on his chest was his wife, Kathleen Conway.
I couldn't sleep knowing the significance of today, March 15th. Five years ago, this day had changed my life forever as the most wonderful woman in my world had walked back into my life after two years apart, and we had reunited as if our hearts had not skipped a beat.
As testament to this, less than twenty-four hours after our emotional reconnect, Kathleen Jones had agreed once again to change my life forever and agreed to marry me. In the early hours of March 16th 2008, through a rambling, impulsive, last minute proposal that had proven to be my ultimate gamble, Kathleen Jones had agreed to spend the rest of her life with me, and what had made such a staggering lifetime commitment even more staggering was the fact that she had done so knowing full well my rather colourful history with women, hell she had been a part of it herself...
Jake chuckled to himself and as Kathy shifted slightly in her sleep, he held her a little tighter, a little closer.
January 29th, 2006. Who knew that day would end up holding so much meaning to me? That was the day I met this beautiful woman that I wholly did not deserve but now could not imagine living a day without. Looking back it still feels a little weird to admit to myself the rather bizarre circumstances under which we had met. Her younger sister Tiffany had brought me home to meet her parents, I was supposed to be her boyfriend so it came as a surprise to everybody, even me that less than 48 hours after I had laid eyes on her elder sister we would end up in bed together.
Our passion had been fueled by little more than unbridled lust and a few glasses of moderately priced red wine, and had ultimately lead to the conception of my little Ace of Diamonds, Solitaire. I'd like to be able to look upon that time in my life, the crazy, impulsive, whirlwind of our instantaneous lovemaking and say that the rest was history, but it wasn't. My life had never been that simple.
As much as I tend to omit the two years of bad decisions that passed between our paths crossing again when recapping the story of how we met at parties and social gatherings, so too do I choose to remember March 16th 2008 for the way it began, with Kathy continuing to believe that I could change, that I could become a better man, that I could become the kind of guy she deserved if given enough of her time, patience and love.
She gave me each of those things in spades. She believed in me when nobody else would, she believed in me so much that she pledged her heart to me. People ask me why I married her, what makes her so special, what made me change my whole lifestyle for her? There it was. Even five years on, the truth was no more complicated than that.
I choose to remember March 16th 2008 as the day Kathy went all in and bet her faith in me, and I hope the day would not dawn when she'd lose it all, I remember the day not as the NCW video library would, as the day I almost lost all over again. I almost lost her to this business again. Never again.
I would not walk that road again. A lot of things were worth losing in this line of work, respect, titles, mass adulation, all these things I had willingly sacrificed, but love, honest to God, true love, that was a step too far. I'd learned that the hard way. Ten years ago I'd have given her up in a heartbeat for a World Championship. Five years on and now I realise she is my World and without her, my heart just wouldn't beat anymore.
It is her belief in me, her belief that I can accomplish anything, that keeps me here in NCW, fighting against my harshest critics. People who said I'd never win the Road To The Gold, people who said I'd never be the World Heavyweight Champion, people who said I'd never get the National Champion back from Andrew Jacobsen and secure my third reign and people who said I'd never overcome the odds and beat both Mike Laszlo and Joe Everyman to finally get the monkey of a 35 day title reign off my back...
Those people had always given up on me.
My wife never had.
That's why I've earned her love.
That's why I've earned their hate...
The phone rings and Kathy stirs. With her eyes closed, she mumbles something in her sleep that brought a smile to Jake's face.
Kathy: If that's Emma again, tell her no she can't come over. She can deal with Jasmine on her own. This is our special day...
Jake leaned over and picked up the cordless handset from the bedside table.
Jake: Hello...
Jake recognised the male voice on the other end immediately.
Jake: Mr Fox? How the devil are you sir?
Kathy sat up at the notion of their former boss,Leonard Fox calling their home this early. Such an unexpected and personal call from such a respected man must be incredibly important. Sensing his wife's nervous apprehension, he tilted the receiver slightly so she could hear the other side of the conversation.
Leonard Fox: Jake, my boy! I'm fine. How are you? How's Kathleen? And the the kids?
Jake smiles.
Jake: We're fine sir. May I ask to what we owe this most unexpected call?
Leonard Fox: My daughter was going to make the call, but I told her no. I told her you deserved a much more personal touch from me being one of only a handful of originals still on the NCW roster. I told her I would handle this personally, just like I did six years ago when I first hired you...and since then you haven't disappointed. You served me well and you continue to serve my daughter, and my only regret is that it has taken this long to honour your years of service to New Championship Wrestling. Jake Conway. The Ace. I'd like to take the time to personally offer you a place in the NCW Hall of Fame Class of 2013...both as a singles competitor and as part of one of the most popular tag team combinations in history...The Smokin' Aces...what'd ya say to that my boy?
Kathy almost squeals and struggles to contain herself, and the grin which spreads across Jake Conway's face speaks volumes of his personal feelings.
Jake: Thank you sir. Thank you so much.
Leonard Fox: No problem. You've earned it...
Jake: I would love to accept. All I ask is that Adam Knite handle my singles induction if possible. He and I put on great matches throughout our careers and to this day I consider him to be my greatest rival. I can think of no one more appropriate.
Leonard Fox: Well when you put it like that, neither can I. Consider it done.
Jake: Thank you sir.
Leonard Fox: One more thing. Owing to the size of our 2013 class, Kelly has decided to split up the induction ceremonies over the next several weeks in the lead up to this year's A Night To Remember this year so that each inductee gets his own time without being overshadowed. Your first induction ceremony will be on March 31st, and your second induction as part of The Smokin' Aces with be on May 5th...I hope this gives you enough time to work on your speeches. Have a good day, my boy...
Jake: Thanks again sir. Goodbye.
Jake puts the phone down and Kathy finally releases her emotion as she squeals and screams in delight at her husband finally getting some long overdue recognition from the company he worked for by bestowing its highest honour upon him, not once but twice.
Jake and Kathy embrace as they share a laugh and she kisses him passionately. After several moments, she breaks.
Kathy: I always believed, deep down in my heart, that this day would come for you honey. Congratulations. You deserve every minute of it.
Jake: That's the great thing about you, Kat...you've never given up on me...
Kathy: And I never will. Mr Hall of Famer...
Jake: I'm pretty sure that phrase hasn't sounded any sexier than it does right now...
Kathy: Believe me, from where I am right now, it hasn't looked any sexier either...
The couple kiss again.
A bright white light dazzles us as it slowly dawns on us what exactly we are looking at. The back of a black T-shirt with lime green text across it and the A's being lime green Spade symbols in the following phrase as The Ace stands with his back to the camera and his arms outstretched:
The Ace spins around on his heel and we see the front of the T-Shirt in the same lime green text is written:
Underneath this, wrapped securely around the waist of the three time current reigning NCW National Champion is his Championship belt. The Ace gestures to it with both open palms to frame it as he smirks.
You know it's amazing. It really is. It really is amazing what some of us in this business will do to get a little attention around here. It really is amazing the lies we will spin, the lies we will tell anyone who will listen to convince them whilst we struggle to convince even ourselves to buy our own shameless hype. Some of us will do the most remarkable things in some vain effort to seize back the spotlight which we feel has been unfairly taken from us. Some of us will do the most stupid things to try and regain the control we've lost as our lives and careers spiral desperately out of control.
Some of us will scream at the top of our lungs to be heard, yell the same words over and over again and hope that our message still means something even after we've quite clearly failed on no less than four separate occasions now, others will take the more direct route to send a message by flipping a table, stomping around like an impetulant child and ultimately wrapping a steel chair around the skull of the better man to make ourselves feel better about not having enough ability to wrap the National Championship around our waist for an unprecedented fourth time, even after two hundred and fifty matches.
Some of us will never learn the limits of our abilities, the grandeur of our ambitions or the shortness of our reach as we continue to try and leave some meaningful mark on the world of professional wrestling. Some of us will continue to break promise after promise and stage revolution after revolution after revolution until the very world we were trying to save goes dizzy.
Some of us are hamsters, always running, others of us are the wheels to put the hamsters through their paces, and like the perpetual roulette wheel, no matter how hard we try to reach a destination well beyond our means, we just keep spinning on the spot, fixed, not moving, going nowhere fast. Steadily some of us grow lethargic in our efforts until we perhaps all too inevitably have no other choice but to give up and admit defeat.
Some of us embrace life with a quick hop, skip and a jump, whilst others of us treat life as the leisurely stroll it should be. In a world of hares, the tortoises still have the advantage, being the marvels of evolution that they are, they endure, they live longer and ultimately survive long after so many other species have since faded away.
There is perhaps no sadder sight than to see a spider become entangled in the very web of conceit it weaves. For far too long Nathan I've watched you run along the wheel. For far too long I've seen you Nathan try to box your way out of a superior male buck's intentions to make you his doe like the feisty hare that you are. For far too long I've heard you break promises, fail revolutions and become lost in the tangled web you continue to weave.
I've plucked you from obscurity more than once Nathan, I've tried to make you mean something in this company, I've waged my wars with you, I've left your name on the lips of the fans and slowly over time you've allowed it to fade to whispers and now I barely hear it at all. I did all of this for you, and I did it without thanks. I tried to perpetuate your next evolution and I thought when I watched you battle Will Washington for the chance to face Roberto two weeks ago that maybe some of my lessons had begun to sink in.
Then you disappointed me. No matter which way you want to spin it this week Nathan, your web is full of holes and all the flies you have always sought to catch are buzzing passed you and they're laughing at you. Even Rose - and she was carried to victory against my wife on the backs of two far superior in ring talents this past Sunday at Crossroads.
I know what you want me to do Nathan, I know what you expect me to do, you expect me to make your name mean something again, you expect me to salvage something from your broken reputation, you want me to keep your limp-wristed revolution spinning...
No longer.
No more.
This far.
No further.
If you still want recognition Nathan, you're on your own this time. You will no longer leech some of the shine from my name, you will no longer piggy back on the shell of this tortoise. Anything you want, you will no longer get it from me, sorry. I don't care what you think you have to do, for all I care, after this week you can continue to pin your hopes on getting into the Coliseum next month with the rest of the losers like Mike Laszlo and Joe Everyman. Maybe your readjusted ambition will be the winning combination, or else you might just roll snake eyes again.
A pocket full of Aces and a handful of truths will always trump a head full of dreams and a fist full of lies. You'd do well to remember this Nathan. For far too long, I've heard you spin your lies, but that's the wonderful thing about the truth. Lies always change. The truth remains constant. No matter which way you spin it.
All this time I've wanted you to evolve Nathan. Maybe it's time I just let you die. Maybe it's time I took your last hopes and reduced them all to ashes in the fire of this old dragon's breath. Maybe if I did that, you'd finally learn all you need to learn...
But I doubt it.
Tiffany and Caleb stand in the door way of the Conway master bedroom. Caleb rubbing his eyes. Solitaire is sat on the bed in her father's lap on top of the duvet, and Kathy is cuddling Domino as the couple beam first at each other then at Tiffany and Caleb.
Tiffany: Alright, what's the big deal getting me up this early?
Kathy: Family meeting.
Caleb: Oh good, does this mean I can go back to bed?
Caleb turns away but Jake's voice stops him.
Jake: Lockweed!
Caleb hated that and he knew Jake knew this. It was a deliberate butchering of his name for no other reason than to get his attention and irritate him.
Caleb: Sorry Mister C...
Caleb wearily turns back, as Jake grins.
Jake: We're going shopping. I need a new suit and so do you Lockwood. Likewise the ladies and my baby girls need new dresses.
Caleb: But why? You know I hate looking like a penguin...
Jake: Nonsense! If you're going to attend my two Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, you're going to look like a penguin, an ostrich or any other bird I deem necessary. Got it?
Caleb: Yes Mister C...wait, what?
Solitaire: Daddy's going in the Hall of Fame two times! Once on his own, the other with Uncle Steve! Isn't it amazing?
Caleb grins at seeing Solitaire's face light up.
Caleb: Well, it's about time! Long overdue in my opinion. Congratulations Mr C...
Jake: Thanks.
Kathy: Come on then, I intend to make good use of Roberto's money today...
Tiffany: You and me both, sis...
I couldn't sleep knowing the significance of today, March 15th. Five years ago, this day had changed my life forever as the most wonderful woman in my world had walked back into my life after two years apart, and we had reunited as if our hearts had not skipped a beat.
As testament to this, less than twenty-four hours after our emotional reconnect, Kathleen Jones had agreed once again to change my life forever and agreed to marry me. In the early hours of March 16th 2008, through a rambling, impulsive, last minute proposal that had proven to be my ultimate gamble, Kathleen Jones had agreed to spend the rest of her life with me, and what had made such a staggering lifetime commitment even more staggering was the fact that she had done so knowing full well my rather colourful history with women, hell she had been a part of it herself...
Jake chuckled to himself and as Kathy shifted slightly in her sleep, he held her a little tighter, a little closer.
January 29th, 2006. Who knew that day would end up holding so much meaning to me? That was the day I met this beautiful woman that I wholly did not deserve but now could not imagine living a day without. Looking back it still feels a little weird to admit to myself the rather bizarre circumstances under which we had met. Her younger sister Tiffany had brought me home to meet her parents, I was supposed to be her boyfriend so it came as a surprise to everybody, even me that less than 48 hours after I had laid eyes on her elder sister we would end up in bed together.
Our passion had been fueled by little more than unbridled lust and a few glasses of moderately priced red wine, and had ultimately lead to the conception of my little Ace of Diamonds, Solitaire. I'd like to be able to look upon that time in my life, the crazy, impulsive, whirlwind of our instantaneous lovemaking and say that the rest was history, but it wasn't. My life had never been that simple.
As much as I tend to omit the two years of bad decisions that passed between our paths crossing again when recapping the story of how we met at parties and social gatherings, so too do I choose to remember March 16th 2008 for the way it began, with Kathy continuing to believe that I could change, that I could become a better man, that I could become the kind of guy she deserved if given enough of her time, patience and love.
She gave me each of those things in spades. She believed in me when nobody else would, she believed in me so much that she pledged her heart to me. People ask me why I married her, what makes her so special, what made me change my whole lifestyle for her? There it was. Even five years on, the truth was no more complicated than that.
I choose to remember March 16th 2008 as the day Kathy went all in and bet her faith in me, and I hope the day would not dawn when she'd lose it all, I remember the day not as the NCW video library would, as the day I almost lost all over again. I almost lost her to this business again. Never again.
I would not walk that road again. A lot of things were worth losing in this line of work, respect, titles, mass adulation, all these things I had willingly sacrificed, but love, honest to God, true love, that was a step too far. I'd learned that the hard way. Ten years ago I'd have given her up in a heartbeat for a World Championship. Five years on and now I realise she is my World and without her, my heart just wouldn't beat anymore.
It is her belief in me, her belief that I can accomplish anything, that keeps me here in NCW, fighting against my harshest critics. People who said I'd never win the Road To The Gold, people who said I'd never be the World Heavyweight Champion, people who said I'd never get the National Champion back from Andrew Jacobsen and secure my third reign and people who said I'd never overcome the odds and beat both Mike Laszlo and Joe Everyman to finally get the monkey of a 35 day title reign off my back...
Those people had always given up on me.
My wife never had.
That's why I've earned her love.
That's why I've earned their hate...
The phone rings and Kathy stirs. With her eyes closed, she mumbles something in her sleep that brought a smile to Jake's face.
Kathy: If that's Emma again, tell her no she can't come over. She can deal with Jasmine on her own. This is our special day...
Jake leaned over and picked up the cordless handset from the bedside table.
Jake: Hello...
Jake recognised the male voice on the other end immediately.
Jake: Mr Fox? How the devil are you sir?
Kathy sat up at the notion of their former boss,Leonard Fox calling their home this early. Such an unexpected and personal call from such a respected man must be incredibly important. Sensing his wife's nervous apprehension, he tilted the receiver slightly so she could hear the other side of the conversation.
Leonard Fox: Jake, my boy! I'm fine. How are you? How's Kathleen? And the the kids?
Jake smiles.
Jake: We're fine sir. May I ask to what we owe this most unexpected call?
Leonard Fox: My daughter was going to make the call, but I told her no. I told her you deserved a much more personal touch from me being one of only a handful of originals still on the NCW roster. I told her I would handle this personally, just like I did six years ago when I first hired you...and since then you haven't disappointed. You served me well and you continue to serve my daughter, and my only regret is that it has taken this long to honour your years of service to New Championship Wrestling. Jake Conway. The Ace. I'd like to take the time to personally offer you a place in the NCW Hall of Fame Class of 2013...both as a singles competitor and as part of one of the most popular tag team combinations in history...The Smokin' Aces...what'd ya say to that my boy?
Kathy almost squeals and struggles to contain herself, and the grin which spreads across Jake Conway's face speaks volumes of his personal feelings.
Jake: Thank you sir. Thank you so much.
Leonard Fox: No problem. You've earned it...
Jake: I would love to accept. All I ask is that Adam Knite handle my singles induction if possible. He and I put on great matches throughout our careers and to this day I consider him to be my greatest rival. I can think of no one more appropriate.
Leonard Fox: Well when you put it like that, neither can I. Consider it done.
Jake: Thank you sir.
Leonard Fox: One more thing. Owing to the size of our 2013 class, Kelly has decided to split up the induction ceremonies over the next several weeks in the lead up to this year's A Night To Remember this year so that each inductee gets his own time without being overshadowed. Your first induction ceremony will be on March 31st, and your second induction as part of The Smokin' Aces with be on May 5th...I hope this gives you enough time to work on your speeches. Have a good day, my boy...
Jake: Thanks again sir. Goodbye.
Jake puts the phone down and Kathy finally releases her emotion as she squeals and screams in delight at her husband finally getting some long overdue recognition from the company he worked for by bestowing its highest honour upon him, not once but twice.
Jake and Kathy embrace as they share a laugh and she kisses him passionately. After several moments, she breaks.
Kathy: I always believed, deep down in my heart, that this day would come for you honey. Congratulations. You deserve every minute of it.
Jake: That's the great thing about you, Kat...you've never given up on me...
Kathy: And I never will. Mr Hall of Famer...
Jake: I'm pretty sure that phrase hasn't sounded any sexier than it does right now...
Kathy: Believe me, from where I am right now, it hasn't looked any sexier either...
The couple kiss again.
A bright white light dazzles us as it slowly dawns on us what exactly we are looking at. The back of a black T-shirt with lime green text across it and the A's being lime green Spade symbols in the following phrase as The Ace stands with his back to the camera and his arms outstretched:
TRUTH
ALWAYS
TRUMPS
LIES
ALWAYS
TRUMPS
LIES
The Ace spins around on his heel and we see the front of the T-Shirt in the same lime green text is written:
WANT.
NEED.
FAIL.
NEED.
FAIL.
Underneath this, wrapped securely around the waist of the three time current reigning NCW National Champion is his Championship belt. The Ace gestures to it with both open palms to frame it as he smirks.
You know it's amazing. It really is. It really is amazing what some of us in this business will do to get a little attention around here. It really is amazing the lies we will spin, the lies we will tell anyone who will listen to convince them whilst we struggle to convince even ourselves to buy our own shameless hype. Some of us will do the most remarkable things in some vain effort to seize back the spotlight which we feel has been unfairly taken from us. Some of us will do the most stupid things to try and regain the control we've lost as our lives and careers spiral desperately out of control.
Some of us will scream at the top of our lungs to be heard, yell the same words over and over again and hope that our message still means something even after we've quite clearly failed on no less than four separate occasions now, others will take the more direct route to send a message by flipping a table, stomping around like an impetulant child and ultimately wrapping a steel chair around the skull of the better man to make ourselves feel better about not having enough ability to wrap the National Championship around our waist for an unprecedented fourth time, even after two hundred and fifty matches.
Some of us will never learn the limits of our abilities, the grandeur of our ambitions or the shortness of our reach as we continue to try and leave some meaningful mark on the world of professional wrestling. Some of us will continue to break promise after promise and stage revolution after revolution after revolution until the very world we were trying to save goes dizzy.
Some of us are hamsters, always running, others of us are the wheels to put the hamsters through their paces, and like the perpetual roulette wheel, no matter how hard we try to reach a destination well beyond our means, we just keep spinning on the spot, fixed, not moving, going nowhere fast. Steadily some of us grow lethargic in our efforts until we perhaps all too inevitably have no other choice but to give up and admit defeat.
Some of us embrace life with a quick hop, skip and a jump, whilst others of us treat life as the leisurely stroll it should be. In a world of hares, the tortoises still have the advantage, being the marvels of evolution that they are, they endure, they live longer and ultimately survive long after so many other species have since faded away.
There is perhaps no sadder sight than to see a spider become entangled in the very web of conceit it weaves. For far too long Nathan I've watched you run along the wheel. For far too long I've seen you Nathan try to box your way out of a superior male buck's intentions to make you his doe like the feisty hare that you are. For far too long I've heard you break promises, fail revolutions and become lost in the tangled web you continue to weave.
I've plucked you from obscurity more than once Nathan, I've tried to make you mean something in this company, I've waged my wars with you, I've left your name on the lips of the fans and slowly over time you've allowed it to fade to whispers and now I barely hear it at all. I did all of this for you, and I did it without thanks. I tried to perpetuate your next evolution and I thought when I watched you battle Will Washington for the chance to face Roberto two weeks ago that maybe some of my lessons had begun to sink in.
Then you disappointed me. No matter which way you want to spin it this week Nathan, your web is full of holes and all the flies you have always sought to catch are buzzing passed you and they're laughing at you. Even Rose - and she was carried to victory against my wife on the backs of two far superior in ring talents this past Sunday at Crossroads.
I know what you want me to do Nathan, I know what you expect me to do, you expect me to make your name mean something again, you expect me to salvage something from your broken reputation, you want me to keep your limp-wristed revolution spinning...
No longer.
No more.
This far.
No further.
If you still want recognition Nathan, you're on your own this time. You will no longer leech some of the shine from my name, you will no longer piggy back on the shell of this tortoise. Anything you want, you will no longer get it from me, sorry. I don't care what you think you have to do, for all I care, after this week you can continue to pin your hopes on getting into the Coliseum next month with the rest of the losers like Mike Laszlo and Joe Everyman. Maybe your readjusted ambition will be the winning combination, or else you might just roll snake eyes again.
A pocket full of Aces and a handful of truths will always trump a head full of dreams and a fist full of lies. You'd do well to remember this Nathan. For far too long, I've heard you spin your lies, but that's the wonderful thing about the truth. Lies always change. The truth remains constant. No matter which way you spin it.
All this time I've wanted you to evolve Nathan. Maybe it's time I just let you die. Maybe it's time I took your last hopes and reduced them all to ashes in the fire of this old dragon's breath. Maybe if I did that, you'd finally learn all you need to learn...
But I doubt it.
Tiffany and Caleb stand in the door way of the Conway master bedroom. Caleb rubbing his eyes. Solitaire is sat on the bed in her father's lap on top of the duvet, and Kathy is cuddling Domino as the couple beam first at each other then at Tiffany and Caleb.
Tiffany: Alright, what's the big deal getting me up this early?
Kathy: Family meeting.
Caleb: Oh good, does this mean I can go back to bed?
Caleb turns away but Jake's voice stops him.
Jake: Lockweed!
Caleb hated that and he knew Jake knew this. It was a deliberate butchering of his name for no other reason than to get his attention and irritate him.
Caleb: Sorry Mister C...
Caleb wearily turns back, as Jake grins.
Jake: We're going shopping. I need a new suit and so do you Lockwood. Likewise the ladies and my baby girls need new dresses.
Caleb: But why? You know I hate looking like a penguin...
Jake: Nonsense! If you're going to attend my two Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, you're going to look like a penguin, an ostrich or any other bird I deem necessary. Got it?
Caleb: Yes Mister C...wait, what?
Solitaire: Daddy's going in the Hall of Fame two times! Once on his own, the other with Uncle Steve! Isn't it amazing?
Caleb grins at seeing Solitaire's face light up.
Caleb: Well, it's about time! Long overdue in my opinion. Congratulations Mr C...
Jake: Thanks.
Kathy: Come on then, I intend to make good use of Roberto's money today...
Tiffany: You and me both, sis...