Post by defunctlies on Nov 1, 2008 20:22:30 GMT -6
The scene opens on Jack Hammond, sitting in what appears to be his home, reclined on a sofa. He's smiling as his daughters can be heard playing outside, their screeches and laughter a pleasant soundtrack to the peaceful setting. He looks at the camera.
"I like being home. I don't get to spend time with my family as much as I'd like, and being on the road for a long time does get a little harrowing. When I come back, I can feel at peace and truly relax to know my daughters and my Mindy are doing fine."
He frowns a little.
"I often wonder if I'm away too long sometimes, and I worry that my family would begin to dislike me. My daughters constantly ask my wife; 'when's daddy coming home?'. And yet instead of getting tired of me going out to mess about each Sunday, when I come back, I'm mobbed as soon as I step through the door. I really do have to thank them for letting me go out to play and never complaining when I'm late back for tea."
He grins and glances out through the window at his daughters.
"But it gets a little disheartening coming back after a really big match, something I vow to win and come back with nothing more than a few new bruises and bumps. They don't say it, but I can see the looks in my family's eyes when I fall short of the mark."
Jack grimaces for a moment.
"Since I came to nCw, I've had numerous chances to get some gold around my waist. There was my failure to capture the Xtreme Title, my first round losses in the X-Division and World Championship tournaments...and then at the last PPV, I failed to beat AJ Pheonix and failed to get the X-Division Title."
He sighs and pauses.
"It's not like I'm not trying hard. It's not that I'm someone who can't handle the pressure when there's gold on the line."
Jack blinks and waves his hands above his head.
"Okay, so maybe I am. And it's not nice to have something like that hanging over your head. Since Road To The Gold, I've tried to better myself, tried to become more than I have been. I joined Social Enemies, and I'll admit I haven't had the most successful time since then to be honest; the only high point I've had was managing to pin the mustache that is known as Mike Honcho."
He sighs.
"And now I've got to face two men who are at the top of their game and both of whom are looking to walk away with the gold this Sunday."
Jack leans forwards slightly, thinking for a while.
"It's a bit disconcerting really, to be in a match you're going to be the underdog...and not the underdog in which I may have an outside chance, I mean the underdog that you see tied to lampposts shivering in the rain outside a shopping mall."
Jack scratches his head.
"And this isn't just me trying to make a little depreciating rant, I am seriously worried about this. Poking fun, dressing up and the like may all be a great laugh, but they're not things that help in the end, they're just...words."
He sighs.
"But it does seem that words as well as actions make the man in this business; it would be all well and good if someone mutely stomped over the people, but without a personality, they'd be as effective and charismatic as a fence...with Steve Awesome's face painted on it."
Jack smirks and shrugs.
"Words, it seems, are things that have been bandied around in the run up to Mind Games...Whether they be those of an AJ Pheonix who seems to be coming around to what seems to be the more correct way of thinking, or those of the...less correct way of thinking via Fate."
Jack pauses for a second, his mouth still open but he seems to stop himself.
"Now I'm not going to try to gain any cheap laughs this time. Both of my opponents seem to be taking themselves quite seriously and a lack of levity in this sort of situation does seem to be a bit more correct."
He scratches a cheek.
"AJ. A man you could easily try to compare to me, and something we'd both probably strongly disagree with. Quite clearly, he's had far more fortune than me, and he's seemed to gone and come back from the brink of losing himself to his ego. And now he seems to have remembered what it means to have respect for another person. Despite what I may have said or done, I never disrespected AJ. All you need do is look at his record and see that he clearly a man who came to this company with high expectations on his shoulders and all eyes upon him."
Jack frowns.
"And then I beat him."
He holds his hands up.
"Now I'm not saying to rub that in. As much of a nice, warm feeling it gives me to remind myself about it..."
Jack pauses for a second.
"...it is a moment that people wouldn't want to have, just starting off in nCw. Of course, it goes without saying that since then, AJ has done a lot better for himself. Naturally, he's gotten the title that's on the line at Mind Games. He's become one of the most prominent members of the Corporate Empire, and one of the faces of nCw. And yet, he's got to face some short bloke who would stop short at killing to be in his shoes...again."
Jack shrugs.
"But, as we well know, envy is not that pleasant, and so I'll have to do one better and just try to beat him instead. A tall order, I'll grant you, and something that is even more worrying when you look at the other man in this picture."
He reclines in his chair.
"Fate. The man in the loony mask. He's spouted enough material and acted in such a manner to help a hollywood producer make the next Saw movie. But cheap laughs aside, he's quite serious about coming to that ring on Sunday and making a nice little AJ and Hamster pate and using the title as a dinnerplate."
Jack cocks an eyebrow.
"Questioning his sanity has been done to death, but his record speaks for himself. He seems to be more determined to simply beat the living crap out of anyone who stands in his way rather than win the title. His viciousness in the ring and the small dose of insanity he's able to use to go that little bit further have made him a definite competitor."
Jack smiles.
"You ever had a time where you're so nervous, all you can do is grin? I can't help myself. It's a match I'm both dreading and has me shivering with excitement. I'm in a match that has me facing off against two of the most exciting and possibly the best wrestlers in this business. It's hard not to get excited quite frankly, to be able to test myself, to really play the underdog card to the full extent it can really go."
He grins.
"I'm not going to use any cliched comments like 'quietly confident' as I'm not. Sunday will be no walk in the park; I wouldn't even call it a walk through a minefield. It's going to be a slog that will only end when one of us can take no more, and the best man has his arm raised. I can feel no malice or disrespect from either man, and I can tell it will not just be a match, it could also be a spectacle."
Jack pauses and then lets out a long sigh.
"I just hope that somehow I can end up being the 'better man'."
He looks out the window, smiling thinly, the sounds of his two daughters rising again.
"And if I don't come away the winner, I'll know I'll have given all I could. I'll have put all I have on the line and while I may feel a temporary disappointment, just by being in a match like this, I'll be a winner."
He pauses.
"...okay even I want to smack myself for saying something like that...makes me sound like I'm in a yogurt commercial or something, so let me try to reiterate."
He clears his throat.
"AJ and Fate, we're all going into this match with more than one thing to prove to ourselves. And perhaps not just ourselves, but to other people, whether they be friends, family, stable members, whoever they may be. I've got plenty that I want to achieve in nCw, and plenty of people it seems I've still got to prove myself to, and winning on Sunday would certainly help...in the same way a car would help a person get from their house a lot quicker to work than just walking."
Jack grins confidently.
"But I'll admit, it's not going to be easy. But I wouldn't have it any other way quite frankly."
He holds his gaze towards the camera as the scene fades out to black.
"I like being home. I don't get to spend time with my family as much as I'd like, and being on the road for a long time does get a little harrowing. When I come back, I can feel at peace and truly relax to know my daughters and my Mindy are doing fine."
He frowns a little.
"I often wonder if I'm away too long sometimes, and I worry that my family would begin to dislike me. My daughters constantly ask my wife; 'when's daddy coming home?'. And yet instead of getting tired of me going out to mess about each Sunday, when I come back, I'm mobbed as soon as I step through the door. I really do have to thank them for letting me go out to play and never complaining when I'm late back for tea."
He grins and glances out through the window at his daughters.
"But it gets a little disheartening coming back after a really big match, something I vow to win and come back with nothing more than a few new bruises and bumps. They don't say it, but I can see the looks in my family's eyes when I fall short of the mark."
Jack grimaces for a moment.
"Since I came to nCw, I've had numerous chances to get some gold around my waist. There was my failure to capture the Xtreme Title, my first round losses in the X-Division and World Championship tournaments...and then at the last PPV, I failed to beat AJ Pheonix and failed to get the X-Division Title."
He sighs and pauses.
"It's not like I'm not trying hard. It's not that I'm someone who can't handle the pressure when there's gold on the line."
Jack blinks and waves his hands above his head.
"Okay, so maybe I am. And it's not nice to have something like that hanging over your head. Since Road To The Gold, I've tried to better myself, tried to become more than I have been. I joined Social Enemies, and I'll admit I haven't had the most successful time since then to be honest; the only high point I've had was managing to pin the mustache that is known as Mike Honcho."
He sighs.
"And now I've got to face two men who are at the top of their game and both of whom are looking to walk away with the gold this Sunday."
Jack leans forwards slightly, thinking for a while.
"It's a bit disconcerting really, to be in a match you're going to be the underdog...and not the underdog in which I may have an outside chance, I mean the underdog that you see tied to lampposts shivering in the rain outside a shopping mall."
Jack scratches his head.
"And this isn't just me trying to make a little depreciating rant, I am seriously worried about this. Poking fun, dressing up and the like may all be a great laugh, but they're not things that help in the end, they're just...words."
He sighs.
"But it does seem that words as well as actions make the man in this business; it would be all well and good if someone mutely stomped over the people, but without a personality, they'd be as effective and charismatic as a fence...with Steve Awesome's face painted on it."
Jack smirks and shrugs.
"Words, it seems, are things that have been bandied around in the run up to Mind Games...Whether they be those of an AJ Pheonix who seems to be coming around to what seems to be the more correct way of thinking, or those of the...less correct way of thinking via Fate."
Jack pauses for a second, his mouth still open but he seems to stop himself.
"Now I'm not going to try to gain any cheap laughs this time. Both of my opponents seem to be taking themselves quite seriously and a lack of levity in this sort of situation does seem to be a bit more correct."
He scratches a cheek.
"AJ. A man you could easily try to compare to me, and something we'd both probably strongly disagree with. Quite clearly, he's had far more fortune than me, and he's seemed to gone and come back from the brink of losing himself to his ego. And now he seems to have remembered what it means to have respect for another person. Despite what I may have said or done, I never disrespected AJ. All you need do is look at his record and see that he clearly a man who came to this company with high expectations on his shoulders and all eyes upon him."
Jack frowns.
"And then I beat him."
He holds his hands up.
"Now I'm not saying to rub that in. As much of a nice, warm feeling it gives me to remind myself about it..."
Jack pauses for a second.
"...it is a moment that people wouldn't want to have, just starting off in nCw. Of course, it goes without saying that since then, AJ has done a lot better for himself. Naturally, he's gotten the title that's on the line at Mind Games. He's become one of the most prominent members of the Corporate Empire, and one of the faces of nCw. And yet, he's got to face some short bloke who would stop short at killing to be in his shoes...again."
Jack shrugs.
"But, as we well know, envy is not that pleasant, and so I'll have to do one better and just try to beat him instead. A tall order, I'll grant you, and something that is even more worrying when you look at the other man in this picture."
He reclines in his chair.
"Fate. The man in the loony mask. He's spouted enough material and acted in such a manner to help a hollywood producer make the next Saw movie. But cheap laughs aside, he's quite serious about coming to that ring on Sunday and making a nice little AJ and Hamster pate and using the title as a dinnerplate."
Jack cocks an eyebrow.
"Questioning his sanity has been done to death, but his record speaks for himself. He seems to be more determined to simply beat the living crap out of anyone who stands in his way rather than win the title. His viciousness in the ring and the small dose of insanity he's able to use to go that little bit further have made him a definite competitor."
Jack smiles.
"You ever had a time where you're so nervous, all you can do is grin? I can't help myself. It's a match I'm both dreading and has me shivering with excitement. I'm in a match that has me facing off against two of the most exciting and possibly the best wrestlers in this business. It's hard not to get excited quite frankly, to be able to test myself, to really play the underdog card to the full extent it can really go."
He grins.
"I'm not going to use any cliched comments like 'quietly confident' as I'm not. Sunday will be no walk in the park; I wouldn't even call it a walk through a minefield. It's going to be a slog that will only end when one of us can take no more, and the best man has his arm raised. I can feel no malice or disrespect from either man, and I can tell it will not just be a match, it could also be a spectacle."
Jack pauses and then lets out a long sigh.
"I just hope that somehow I can end up being the 'better man'."
He looks out the window, smiling thinly, the sounds of his two daughters rising again.
"And if I don't come away the winner, I'll know I'll have given all I could. I'll have put all I have on the line and while I may feel a temporary disappointment, just by being in a match like this, I'll be a winner."
He pauses.
"...okay even I want to smack myself for saying something like that...makes me sound like I'm in a yogurt commercial or something, so let me try to reiterate."
He clears his throat.
"AJ and Fate, we're all going into this match with more than one thing to prove to ourselves. And perhaps not just ourselves, but to other people, whether they be friends, family, stable members, whoever they may be. I've got plenty that I want to achieve in nCw, and plenty of people it seems I've still got to prove myself to, and winning on Sunday would certainly help...in the same way a car would help a person get from their house a lot quicker to work than just walking."
Jack grins confidently.
"But I'll admit, it's not going to be easy. But I wouldn't have it any other way quite frankly."
He holds his gaze towards the camera as the scene fades out to black.