Post by defunctlies on Jan 7, 2009 15:31:07 GMT -6
The scene opens on a very chilly morning at hat appears to be on the outskirts of Calgary, a similarly chilly Jack Hammond shivering slightly, despite the thick jacket he's wearing, apparently grumbling to himself.
"Global warming my arse. I swear, if I get any colder then Xavier's going to be fighting a piece of ice this Sunday..."
He blows into his cupped hands before sneezing and shaking, swearing softly. He glares at the camera.
"Now this week, the director said he wanted me to be outside and be all 'manly and hardy' in this cold weather. But quite frankly, it's quite hard to be all manly when your teeth are chattering like a typewriter and your nose is running as fierce as Niagara. Add that all together and all you're going to get is about five minutes of incoherent nonsense before I expire or pass out thanks to exposure."
He pauses.
"That said, it wouldn't be to different from any of my 'drunk' promos."
He coughs and shakes his head.
"Anyway. I think that it's best I get on with this. But first..."
There's a couple of extremely quick cuts showing Jack shedding his heavy coat, a car door opening, the same car door closing, a key being turned in the ignition, the radiator knob being twisted on and finally a shot of the vents. It finally settles on Hammond looking a bit more comfortable in the driver's seat, a smile on his face as the heater whirrs quietly away.
"That's more like it."
He pauses.
"I'd like to apologise first and foremost. Last week, after my match, I was a little hot-headed and I may have made a bad call. My body moved before I could stop it and even now I still regret it, and it has brought into question my character and whether I damaged my personal image, a few people demanding an apology."
He looks at the camera with a rather somber look.
"So, I'm sorry. Yes, I'm sorry for choosing to drive home in my 911 last week. I realise many of you out there are ecomentalists and don't appreciate people driving around in cars that are harmful to the environment. But in my defense, I don't really think I've done that much, as we can see outside, that's it positively baltic. People natter on about global warming and look at that out there!"
He motions past the window at the freezing conditions outside. He gins and sighs.
"And then I want to say sorry for giving Xavier that bump on the head."
Jack pauses.
"Okay, it was probably a lot more than just a bump I'll admit. And it was undeserved. It seems that our old friends, Angel and Falcon don't want to let us just leave the clubhouse without a few goodbye bumps, despite the fact they threw us out in the first place."
Jack sighs.
"Thankfully, I doubt we're going to have that much to worry about at Meta this Sunday. It's a one-on-one, just like any other, and I'd like to think we won't have to worry about people jumping in."
Jack nods and grins.
"But of course, it being a World Championship Match, there is the chance they may want to come and play in order to influence which one of us becomes the new flag bearer of nCw."
Jack pauses.
"But as far as I can see, aside from some obvious physical differences, as well as our drinking habits, we're not too different. I believe we both like to uphold a fairly similar moral standard, we like to give respect where it's due, and we don't like people underestimating us. Obviously, there is the rather glaring difference between us in the fact that you've done far more than I could have hoped to achieve; that World Championship Belt around your waist is proof of that alone."
He smirks.
"I've had chances to win the Xtreme and X-Division Titles respectively. And I failed to capitalize on those chances. Each time I walked away, disappointed and downtrodden, with everyone saying 'I told you so'. Each time I got another chance, they'd simply point out what had happened before and assume that history would simply repeat itself."
Jack pauses.
"Now look at you Xavier. You've had similar situations, people saying that you couldn't do it. Saying that you couldn't win the X-Division Title; and you went and won it twice. Saying that you couldn't beat someone like Steve Awesome; and you did and you're here today as the nCw World Champ. Our nCw World Champ."
He grins before blinking and raising his hands.
"Don't worry, I'm not trying to flirt with you; my wife gives me enough trouble about my old Sexy Jason promos back in the day as it is. I simply respect you for who you are and what you've achieved. Perhaps it would be wrong of me to come in and upset the balance as it were. Perhaps I'm punching way above my weight. I came into this business less than a year ago, a complete rookie, and now I've got a chance to become the biggest of the big."
Jack pauses again, scratching his head.
"It's difficult when I think about it. If I let myself try to imagine what it would be like...it's not something that's all flowery and relaxing. Having a big target on your back...or around your waist as it were. Would it truly be worth it to be the World Champion? To handle the pressure, the stress...the burden?"
He pauses once more, his sober expression still intact. But only before he breaks out into a smile.
"Well, yeah."
He chuckles to himself.
"Well, you take the bad with the good I guess. The be all and end all of all the wrestlers in this business is to be known at one point, as being the best. Ever since I joined nCw, having that glittering gold around my waist has been in the forefront of my mind...a dream that I've had ever since I thought I could take up wrestling as a career."
Jack sighs.
"Now, before I start ranting on about dreams, destiny or the like and half of my audience lose their lunches, I think it's best I just stick to some good old fashioned Hamster spunk."
He grins.
"Maybe it's not my time. Maybe it's not supposed to happen just yet. I don't care. What it will ultimately come down to is two men in the ring who want nothing more than to find out which one of them is better; no need for stables or teams, allegiances or feuds, alcoholic or not, all left at the door."
Jack nods to himself.
"Xavier, we may have a bit of history in working together. Perhaps we haven't always seen eye-to-eye on certain things. Perhaps I have to answer for what I did last week and I'll take it on the chin and accept what you think needs to be done. I just want to be able to have a fair match and find out if I really have what it takes to call myself the best."
Jack grins.
"Who knows, perhaps we can even have some fun in the process?"
Jack reaches for his keys and twists them in the ignition again, the engine of his Porche growling to life.
"And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try and make the planet just a few degrees warmer. Ecomentalists, letters to the usual address."
He grins and roars off, leaving a cloud of ice and tyre smoke as the scene fades out.
"Global warming my arse. I swear, if I get any colder then Xavier's going to be fighting a piece of ice this Sunday..."
He blows into his cupped hands before sneezing and shaking, swearing softly. He glares at the camera.
"Now this week, the director said he wanted me to be outside and be all 'manly and hardy' in this cold weather. But quite frankly, it's quite hard to be all manly when your teeth are chattering like a typewriter and your nose is running as fierce as Niagara. Add that all together and all you're going to get is about five minutes of incoherent nonsense before I expire or pass out thanks to exposure."
He pauses.
"That said, it wouldn't be to different from any of my 'drunk' promos."
He coughs and shakes his head.
"Anyway. I think that it's best I get on with this. But first..."
There's a couple of extremely quick cuts showing Jack shedding his heavy coat, a car door opening, the same car door closing, a key being turned in the ignition, the radiator knob being twisted on and finally a shot of the vents. It finally settles on Hammond looking a bit more comfortable in the driver's seat, a smile on his face as the heater whirrs quietly away.
"That's more like it."
He pauses.
"I'd like to apologise first and foremost. Last week, after my match, I was a little hot-headed and I may have made a bad call. My body moved before I could stop it and even now I still regret it, and it has brought into question my character and whether I damaged my personal image, a few people demanding an apology."
He looks at the camera with a rather somber look.
"So, I'm sorry. Yes, I'm sorry for choosing to drive home in my 911 last week. I realise many of you out there are ecomentalists and don't appreciate people driving around in cars that are harmful to the environment. But in my defense, I don't really think I've done that much, as we can see outside, that's it positively baltic. People natter on about global warming and look at that out there!"
He motions past the window at the freezing conditions outside. He gins and sighs.
"And then I want to say sorry for giving Xavier that bump on the head."
Jack pauses.
"Okay, it was probably a lot more than just a bump I'll admit. And it was undeserved. It seems that our old friends, Angel and Falcon don't want to let us just leave the clubhouse without a few goodbye bumps, despite the fact they threw us out in the first place."
Jack sighs.
"Thankfully, I doubt we're going to have that much to worry about at Meta this Sunday. It's a one-on-one, just like any other, and I'd like to think we won't have to worry about people jumping in."
Jack nods and grins.
"But of course, it being a World Championship Match, there is the chance they may want to come and play in order to influence which one of us becomes the new flag bearer of nCw."
Jack pauses.
"But as far as I can see, aside from some obvious physical differences, as well as our drinking habits, we're not too different. I believe we both like to uphold a fairly similar moral standard, we like to give respect where it's due, and we don't like people underestimating us. Obviously, there is the rather glaring difference between us in the fact that you've done far more than I could have hoped to achieve; that World Championship Belt around your waist is proof of that alone."
He smirks.
"I've had chances to win the Xtreme and X-Division Titles respectively. And I failed to capitalize on those chances. Each time I walked away, disappointed and downtrodden, with everyone saying 'I told you so'. Each time I got another chance, they'd simply point out what had happened before and assume that history would simply repeat itself."
Jack pauses.
"Now look at you Xavier. You've had similar situations, people saying that you couldn't do it. Saying that you couldn't win the X-Division Title; and you went and won it twice. Saying that you couldn't beat someone like Steve Awesome; and you did and you're here today as the nCw World Champ. Our nCw World Champ."
He grins before blinking and raising his hands.
"Don't worry, I'm not trying to flirt with you; my wife gives me enough trouble about my old Sexy Jason promos back in the day as it is. I simply respect you for who you are and what you've achieved. Perhaps it would be wrong of me to come in and upset the balance as it were. Perhaps I'm punching way above my weight. I came into this business less than a year ago, a complete rookie, and now I've got a chance to become the biggest of the big."
Jack pauses again, scratching his head.
"It's difficult when I think about it. If I let myself try to imagine what it would be like...it's not something that's all flowery and relaxing. Having a big target on your back...or around your waist as it were. Would it truly be worth it to be the World Champion? To handle the pressure, the stress...the burden?"
He pauses once more, his sober expression still intact. But only before he breaks out into a smile.
"Well, yeah."
He chuckles to himself.
"Well, you take the bad with the good I guess. The be all and end all of all the wrestlers in this business is to be known at one point, as being the best. Ever since I joined nCw, having that glittering gold around my waist has been in the forefront of my mind...a dream that I've had ever since I thought I could take up wrestling as a career."
Jack sighs.
"Now, before I start ranting on about dreams, destiny or the like and half of my audience lose their lunches, I think it's best I just stick to some good old fashioned Hamster spunk."
He grins.
"Maybe it's not my time. Maybe it's not supposed to happen just yet. I don't care. What it will ultimately come down to is two men in the ring who want nothing more than to find out which one of them is better; no need for stables or teams, allegiances or feuds, alcoholic or not, all left at the door."
Jack nods to himself.
"Xavier, we may have a bit of history in working together. Perhaps we haven't always seen eye-to-eye on certain things. Perhaps I have to answer for what I did last week and I'll take it on the chin and accept what you think needs to be done. I just want to be able to have a fair match and find out if I really have what it takes to call myself the best."
Jack grins.
"Who knows, perhaps we can even have some fun in the process?"
Jack reaches for his keys and twists them in the ignition again, the engine of his Porche growling to life.
"And now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try and make the planet just a few degrees warmer. Ecomentalists, letters to the usual address."
He grins and roars off, leaving a cloud of ice and tyre smoke as the scene fades out.