Post by Kyle Travis on Jan 23, 2015 15:41:45 GMT -6
::Many wrestling companies release program books, very similar to magazines, with photos and names of their wrestlers and personnel that would appear on television, like announcers or interviewers, at their events like television or pay-per-views. The wrestlers are always in their ring attire while non-wrestlers are dressed nice in what they would usually wear. More often than not, these are months out of date as released wrestlers often appear in the pages weeks after their release. However, no one the championship belts appear in the book. Each photo seems taken without a title even if the wrestler held one at the time of the picture’s taking.::
::One such program sits on a table in front of “the Canadian Legend” Kyle Travis. He flips through the pages of the UWA’s program, looking at the various wrestlers. Major singles stars and tag teams get a full page, with multiple wrestlers’ photos appear four per page. This hold true for the non-wrestling talent as well as someone like the owner would have a full page, but the announce team, interviewers and referees would be four per page, or even two per page for an announce team.::
::He does not seem to really be looking at the pictures, just flipping through, though he does pause a bit on those people the fans tend to cheer louder for.::
“There are no heroes in the UWA.”
“And I am speaking from experience Tedman. I have wrestled so many so-called heroes in this business that I actually think I know what I ma talking about. I have wrestled religious crusaders on missions of God, and I ended their careers. I will be honest, in my entire career, which started in 1999, I have only seen two people I consider heroes; the American Eagle and Amy Zing.”
::Flipping through the pages of the program, Travis finds the photo of “the Hong Kong Sensation” Amy Zing. Her photo shows her in her wrestling attire in her same pose as she appears on the company’s website.::
“I stand by my absolute belief that the only person in this company I consider to be a hero, someone who people should actually look up to is Amy Zing. And I say that not only because she defines the classic underdog image of never giving up and fighting against the odds, not only because she never seems let her defeats get her down or because she never seems to wallow in self-pity after a major lose, but rather she picks herself up and tries again, but I say it because of her attitude. I have watched Amy Zing for years and never once has she walked out and told the fans she was a hero. Never once has tried to convince people she was a hero, because she herself does not try to be a hero. And that makes her a hero, because all the people in the crowd made her one. She never told them she was one; she just walked out, did what she did and the fans made her their hero.”
::He looks away from the book, like he’s staring at something else entirely.::
“American Eagle did the whole patriotic thing, which I personally consider a cheap way to get a crowd reaction, but that’s not why he did it. No, Eagle didn’t wear the stars and the stripes just so people would cheer him. American Eagle wore the red, white and blue, because he actually believed in the ideals America stood for. He never told the fans that he should be cheered. He never told them he was a hero or that they should be cheering him because if they do not, then they were anti-American or something like that.”
“He was a hero because he acted the part. He was an idealist. He believed in honor and integrity and every ideal that made America the land of the free and the home of the brave like freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and all that. And much of an idealist as he was, which honestly was sickening at times, and as much as it annoyed me he often walked around the locker room naked, because he was a nudist, I actually respected him for his sense of honor and integrity.”
::He seems to suddenly shake himself out of his nostalgic trip down memory lane and look down at the program on the table in front of him.::
“In a sixteen year career, dozens of heroes, those are the only two people I have ever met that I honestly and truly consider to be the heroes every so-called hero in this business claims that they are. And I believe they are because they never tried to be or told anyone that they were heroes.”
“I will admit it is a weird belief for someone like me to have, but I hold to the belief that the fans decide who they want to cheer and who they want to boo.”
“I have never walked out there and demanded they cheer me, and there have been rare occasions, a total of maybe like nine months out of my entire career where they have cheered me. I have never gone out to the ring and demand they hate me. I have earned that hatred and their jeers by being ruthless and ambitious and doing whatever I had to in order to succeed. I have never once stood in the middle of the ring with a Canadian flag and go on and on about how Canada is better than America or how America is so terrible compared to the rest of the world, and I pride myself on the fact that I have never played the “evil foreigner” to get the fans to hate me. They hate me because if I could drive a valet into stairs to win a match, I would do so without a second thought.”
“But, apparently, times change and they change rather quickly. I took a year off and I comeback to find that no one wants to let the fans decide who their heroes are. I find instead that every so-called hero has to now go out and tell the people that they are a hero, and that is apparently all there is to it, because every so-called hero I have seen do that has then demonstrated that they are not heroes in their actions, and I truly believe a hero is made by their actions.”
“I do not see that with any of the other so-called heroes in the UWA today.”
::Travis flips through the pages until he finds the photo of current world champion Jeszika Gautier. The photo shows Jeszika in her wrestling attire, but the UWA World Championship is absent form the picture, clearly taken before she hat the title.::
“I do not deny the popularity of Jeszika Gautier. The people love her and they cheer her because she fought against the evil of the overrated, overhyped and complete waste we all call the Children of Nephilim, who, despite Georgio Oliver’s insistence are huge ratings booters, never wrestle and she sought payback against Aerynn Donnelly who wronged her by turning on her. And she’s getting help for being a crazy psycho bitch who stole someone else’s name and tried to convince everyone that it was just a coincidence that two people from New Orleans, Louisiana, just happen to have the same name, and both went into wrestlers and use the exact same moves.”
“What I absolutely love though is that no one, absolutely no one talks about the fact that this so-called hero completely and totally emasculated and humiliated Broderick Montgomery III. I mean she told the entire world she manipulated Broderick and married him just to keep him from having meaningless sex with random women whoi throw themselves at a man who literally just needs to walk into a bar or a club and tell the first hot girl he meets that he’s worth millions or that he drives a Jaguar or a Ferrari and he’s going to get laid, or she just worried he’d go a fatal version of Fifty Shades of Grey on some woman. I really do not know, because, as we have established, she’s a crazy bitch with anger issues. All I know is that she humiliated and emasculated him, but we felt bad for her after Joshua McBride and his multi-ethnic rape cult abducted Broderick and Jeszika suddenly felt sad about it. Because, of course as we all know, nothing defines a hero like their sudden and unpredictable mood swings.”
::Travis tears the photo out of the program and crumples it in his hand.::
“Speaking as a parent with a young daughter, I think I would rather my child grow up with Amy Zing as a hero than Jeszika Gautier, because I do not want my daughter growing up manipulating men for some insane reason that makes sense only to her. That’s not a hero. If anyone else did that or if Jeszika did not suddenly show remorse, I guarantee you that the crowd would be jeering and booing the hell out of her while Broderick gets their sympathy. And I was supposed to feel sorry for Jeszika? Sorry, I did not. I do not consider her a hero.”
::He tosses the crumbled photo of the current UWA World Champion away. He then flips through the pages until he finds the Sin City Knights. As a faction, they rate a full page, showing Fraser Freeman, Craven, Skylar and Silver Baron. Noticeably absent from the photo is the newest member, Quentin “Razor” Sharpe, meaning this was taken before his joining at the UWA has not yet updated the program. Nevertheless, Travis does not seem to pay this any attention to this.::
“I have watched Fraser Freeman and Silver Baron walk out and claim to be the defender of the helpless, defenders of the weak, and protectors of the innocent and I have watched them completely fail to do that.”
“Freeman told everyone he was a hero and he would take down the evil of me and Vince Jones. He failed the first time. He sought redemption and he failed. He was broken, and slinked off with his tail between his legs. I only wish I could take credit for it myself.”
“Silver Baron did the same thing, trying to convince us all that the Sin City Knights were men of honor and integrity, the type of men that would sit at Arthur’s table.”
“And yet, in spite of his claims of being a hero, I have watched him dodge fights, be arrogant as hell, and fail to protect people, even knowing that they would suffer for his arrogance, and on top of it, rather than own up to doing what he had to do, he creates this so-called demon, this so-called unstoppable monstrous killing machine that has lurked inside him for years and only his strength of will, which apparently Lacey Roberts can break by just saying something like “I emplore you to reconsider” after he says “no” or with a simply please, that keeps the beast at bay. And the big reason I call bull on this is because if Oblivion is so dangerous, why in the hell is Silver Baron not in a padded room so that the rest of us are kept safe? I mean even Bruce Banner tried to vanish and kill himself to keep the Hulk at bay, but Silver Baron can’t be bothered to keep us all safe from the demonic, monstrous killing machine of evil that is Oblivion. That is not a hero.”
“I practically had to remind Quentin Sharpe to be mad at me that I attacked and innocent, when in all honesty, he should have gone after me from the start. But he was too busy doing whatever it was he was doing at the time to avenge an innocent the Sin City Knights are supposed to protect.”
“I actually did not know Craven was even mad at me or upset at me until two weeks before Cataclysm. If he was so upset at what I did to one of his master’s whores, why did he not walk out to the ring and demand a match? Why did he not fight to keep me in the lumberjack match to get his hands on me? Why did he not try and kick my ass backstage when he had the chance? Why was I, the object of his distain, the person he wanted to end and make pay for his crimes, the last person to know Craven was upset at me? I mean really, you would think I would be the first to know, wouldn’t you? And yet, I had no idea he was mad.”
::Travis allows himself a cold, cruel smirk. He is amused by all this, the praise and adulation thrown upon Craven, which he feels in undeserved. The smirk fades after a moment as he glares down at the photo.::
“And yes, Tedman, I will mock him for his failure to beat me in a submission match. Everyone talks about how he threw me through a table like it was an amazing and awe-inspiring act that allowed him to win. It was not. It was a desperate move by a desperate man trying to prevent me from ripping his arm out of his socket because he walked into a match completely outclassed and unarmed. Craven does not know a submission hold that would have won him the match. He had two options in that match; find a way to end it, or I rip his arm off. He swore he would beat me and he did not get the job done, and in desperation, put me through a table, so yes, I think I am allowed some small satisfaction knowing a hero failed and only did what he did because he had no other choice.”
::He tears the photo of the Sin City Knights out, crumbles it and tosses it away.::
“I stand by my claim that the Sin City Knights are knights only in name, with no actual idea what the word means or any defining noble and honorable characteristics or traits one expects of a man or woman who hold the title of knights.”
::Travis flips through the book.::
“Sentinel could easily turn if he so chose. Broderick Montgomery is still everything people hated about him when he first arrived, but is dealing with his being abducted by some whacko to be that rich, arrogant ass he was when he started. They will cheer him as they all want to see him and Jeszika get back together and to see him kill McBride, but he seems to have moved on. The fans only cheer them because the fans dislike the people they wrestle, but that does not make them heroes, just popular.”
::He begins to flip through the book again. There is no photo of Tedman. The young man is too new to have been put in the program and it has not yet updated to include him.::
“I knew a man named Tommy Zeller, a different man named Tommy Zeller, in a different company, a fool, as self-righteous as the rest of the heroes in that company, but a better wrestler than you.”
::For a moment, Travis pauses and a look of inquisitiveness appears on his face.::
“What is it with this company and hiring people who somehow share the names of other wrestlers? What are we, a tribute band? Is anyone actually screening these people or do they just see then name and assume they got the real guy?”
::Travis shrugs.::
“Anyway, in this company, every so-called hero they had on the roster had to tell everyone they were heroes. And it was amazing. They had a German guy trying to be the moral authority of the company, when in all honesty Germans are the absolute last people who should be allowed to judge anyone. But what amazed me even more is how quickly these heroes sold out. That German guy clearly had no idea how money works, and ended up taking a bribe to take out this hugely popular wrestler who the crowd loved because she was defying the authority running the company, and she herself later completely sold out to that same authority. There was not a single hero in that entire company.”
“I have seen so-called heroes, people children are supposed to look up to, want to emulate, swearing far worse then the most gristled, barnacle encrusted, hardcore sailor on the planet. I have seen people call themselves heroes and then completely sell out. I have looked at the UWA and I see no heroes here except for Amy, but she is not my concern, you are Tedman.”
::Once again “the Once and Future King” flips through the program book. This time, he does it slower, almost as if to show off that Tedman is not in the book.::
“And while an insignificant waitress at a lousy restaurant that needs a gimmick to be anything other than a truck stop in a town in Colorado that no one has ever heard of may beg to differ, you Tedman, are not a hero. You are an idiot in a cape and a ridiculous costume. You are literally Captain Capeman from Inspector Gadget, only a thousand times more pathetic and somehow managing to come off far more retarded than an idiot in a costume who believed he could fly and really, it makes complete sense, because your brain is probably so fried from doing drugs, because as we all know, all true heroes find themselves strung out on crack or overdosing on heroin. That’s true heroics.”
::He flips through the program magazine and closes it again, forcefully sliding it across the table. The program slides across the table towards the edge, but does not fall off. There is an undertone of disgust and annoyance in his voice.::
“You know what would have been even more heroic? Not doing drugs in the first place. Nineteen years in this business Tedman, a career half the people in the UWA will never have, which you will certainly have, and I managed to do everything I have ever done in my entire life clean and sober. I have never done drugs and I have never touched a drop of alcohol in my life. But clearly, your taking all kinds of drugs and not being dead in a ditch somewhere having overdosed makes you a hero. Way to inspire the kids.”
“Did I see you skulking through alleyways wearing that ridiculous costume trying to be a ninja or something? And personally, I love how you justify your heroics by go to a restaurant to order chicken wings and you are blatantly staring at the waitresses’ chests, because as we have all learned, thanks to the Sin City Knights, heroes objectify women. And honestly, I almost want to hear you defend that by saying something like “look how they were dressed” or some other line you would expect to hear from a rapist, and then I would love to hear you justify that as somehow heroic.”
::From under the table, Travis slowly draws his signature weapon, his crowbar. He holds it up, slowly twisting it in his hands. The look in his cold, cruel eyes is like a predator, but with a hint a malice.::
“You won two matches and act like it means something, yet question my accomplishments? That’s great. My first two months in the UWA I won a title. People like to point out that I had a world title shot and lost, but I am fairly confident that I am not the only person to lose a title match here, yet, I and I alone am singled out for one loss. I am so God damned sick and tired of people telling me nothing I did in my past before walking into someplace does not matter, because whether you like it or not, it does matter Tedman. Everything I have ever accomplished matters. It is why I am the legend I am today. You act like I have no accomplished anything here, or that somehow my brief reign as North American Championship was insignificant, but it was not. It was the first, and that makes it mean something.”
“This will not be some epic clash where you manage to take out the monster, but only after putting everything on the line to do so. You will try to climb Olympus, and you will fall. You will reach the end of your quest and you will fail Tedman, because you are not a hero.”
“You’re not some hero from a comic, or myth and legend. You are not a brave knight, some legendary hero or some defender of truth, justice and the American way protecting the common man. You are not a hero Tedman. You are a sad, pathetic strung out little ex-junkie in a cape and a stupid costume and you are going to fall.”
::Travis gets to his feet and walks around the table until he comes to the program. He slowly drives the crowbar into it, knocking it off the table and on to the floor where it lands with a soft thud and the flutter of pages. He raises the crowbar up, looking at it and fully intending to use it.::
“Come on Superman, meet your Doomsday and know that Monday Night Mayhem will be the day another hero dies.”
“Step up to your Doomsday and die knowing that you will not inspire anyone to don cape and cowl to continue your legacy, or that anyone will mourn your passing. There will be no grand funeral, no months of mourning with everyone wondering how we will go on without you, and there will be no shock and cheering as you return, because you are just another self-righteous, so-called hero, and no one cares about you Tedman.”
::Travis looks away from the crowbar, his cold, predatory eyes glaring into the camera as if staring at his opponent.::
“Come step up to your Doomsday. Come Tedman, and challenge and learn.”
::As Travis looks back up towards the crowbar, the scene fades to black.::
::One such program sits on a table in front of “the Canadian Legend” Kyle Travis. He flips through the pages of the UWA’s program, looking at the various wrestlers. Major singles stars and tag teams get a full page, with multiple wrestlers’ photos appear four per page. This hold true for the non-wrestling talent as well as someone like the owner would have a full page, but the announce team, interviewers and referees would be four per page, or even two per page for an announce team.::
::He does not seem to really be looking at the pictures, just flipping through, though he does pause a bit on those people the fans tend to cheer louder for.::
“There are no heroes in the UWA.”
“And I am speaking from experience Tedman. I have wrestled so many so-called heroes in this business that I actually think I know what I ma talking about. I have wrestled religious crusaders on missions of God, and I ended their careers. I will be honest, in my entire career, which started in 1999, I have only seen two people I consider heroes; the American Eagle and Amy Zing.”
::Flipping through the pages of the program, Travis finds the photo of “the Hong Kong Sensation” Amy Zing. Her photo shows her in her wrestling attire in her same pose as she appears on the company’s website.::
“I stand by my absolute belief that the only person in this company I consider to be a hero, someone who people should actually look up to is Amy Zing. And I say that not only because she defines the classic underdog image of never giving up and fighting against the odds, not only because she never seems let her defeats get her down or because she never seems to wallow in self-pity after a major lose, but rather she picks herself up and tries again, but I say it because of her attitude. I have watched Amy Zing for years and never once has she walked out and told the fans she was a hero. Never once has tried to convince people she was a hero, because she herself does not try to be a hero. And that makes her a hero, because all the people in the crowd made her one. She never told them she was one; she just walked out, did what she did and the fans made her their hero.”
::He looks away from the book, like he’s staring at something else entirely.::
“American Eagle did the whole patriotic thing, which I personally consider a cheap way to get a crowd reaction, but that’s not why he did it. No, Eagle didn’t wear the stars and the stripes just so people would cheer him. American Eagle wore the red, white and blue, because he actually believed in the ideals America stood for. He never told the fans that he should be cheered. He never told them he was a hero or that they should be cheering him because if they do not, then they were anti-American or something like that.”
“He was a hero because he acted the part. He was an idealist. He believed in honor and integrity and every ideal that made America the land of the free and the home of the brave like freedom of speech, freedom of expression, freedom of religion and the inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and all that. And much of an idealist as he was, which honestly was sickening at times, and as much as it annoyed me he often walked around the locker room naked, because he was a nudist, I actually respected him for his sense of honor and integrity.”
::He seems to suddenly shake himself out of his nostalgic trip down memory lane and look down at the program on the table in front of him.::
“In a sixteen year career, dozens of heroes, those are the only two people I have ever met that I honestly and truly consider to be the heroes every so-called hero in this business claims that they are. And I believe they are because they never tried to be or told anyone that they were heroes.”
“I will admit it is a weird belief for someone like me to have, but I hold to the belief that the fans decide who they want to cheer and who they want to boo.”
“I have never walked out there and demanded they cheer me, and there have been rare occasions, a total of maybe like nine months out of my entire career where they have cheered me. I have never gone out to the ring and demand they hate me. I have earned that hatred and their jeers by being ruthless and ambitious and doing whatever I had to in order to succeed. I have never once stood in the middle of the ring with a Canadian flag and go on and on about how Canada is better than America or how America is so terrible compared to the rest of the world, and I pride myself on the fact that I have never played the “evil foreigner” to get the fans to hate me. They hate me because if I could drive a valet into stairs to win a match, I would do so without a second thought.”
“But, apparently, times change and they change rather quickly. I took a year off and I comeback to find that no one wants to let the fans decide who their heroes are. I find instead that every so-called hero has to now go out and tell the people that they are a hero, and that is apparently all there is to it, because every so-called hero I have seen do that has then demonstrated that they are not heroes in their actions, and I truly believe a hero is made by their actions.”
“I do not see that with any of the other so-called heroes in the UWA today.”
::Travis flips through the pages until he finds the photo of current world champion Jeszika Gautier. The photo shows Jeszika in her wrestling attire, but the UWA World Championship is absent form the picture, clearly taken before she hat the title.::
“I do not deny the popularity of Jeszika Gautier. The people love her and they cheer her because she fought against the evil of the overrated, overhyped and complete waste we all call the Children of Nephilim, who, despite Georgio Oliver’s insistence are huge ratings booters, never wrestle and she sought payback against Aerynn Donnelly who wronged her by turning on her. And she’s getting help for being a crazy psycho bitch who stole someone else’s name and tried to convince everyone that it was just a coincidence that two people from New Orleans, Louisiana, just happen to have the same name, and both went into wrestlers and use the exact same moves.”
“What I absolutely love though is that no one, absolutely no one talks about the fact that this so-called hero completely and totally emasculated and humiliated Broderick Montgomery III. I mean she told the entire world she manipulated Broderick and married him just to keep him from having meaningless sex with random women whoi throw themselves at a man who literally just needs to walk into a bar or a club and tell the first hot girl he meets that he’s worth millions or that he drives a Jaguar or a Ferrari and he’s going to get laid, or she just worried he’d go a fatal version of Fifty Shades of Grey on some woman. I really do not know, because, as we have established, she’s a crazy bitch with anger issues. All I know is that she humiliated and emasculated him, but we felt bad for her after Joshua McBride and his multi-ethnic rape cult abducted Broderick and Jeszika suddenly felt sad about it. Because, of course as we all know, nothing defines a hero like their sudden and unpredictable mood swings.”
::Travis tears the photo out of the program and crumples it in his hand.::
“Speaking as a parent with a young daughter, I think I would rather my child grow up with Amy Zing as a hero than Jeszika Gautier, because I do not want my daughter growing up manipulating men for some insane reason that makes sense only to her. That’s not a hero. If anyone else did that or if Jeszika did not suddenly show remorse, I guarantee you that the crowd would be jeering and booing the hell out of her while Broderick gets their sympathy. And I was supposed to feel sorry for Jeszika? Sorry, I did not. I do not consider her a hero.”
::He tosses the crumbled photo of the current UWA World Champion away. He then flips through the pages until he finds the Sin City Knights. As a faction, they rate a full page, showing Fraser Freeman, Craven, Skylar and Silver Baron. Noticeably absent from the photo is the newest member, Quentin “Razor” Sharpe, meaning this was taken before his joining at the UWA has not yet updated the program. Nevertheless, Travis does not seem to pay this any attention to this.::
“I have watched Fraser Freeman and Silver Baron walk out and claim to be the defender of the helpless, defenders of the weak, and protectors of the innocent and I have watched them completely fail to do that.”
“Freeman told everyone he was a hero and he would take down the evil of me and Vince Jones. He failed the first time. He sought redemption and he failed. He was broken, and slinked off with his tail between his legs. I only wish I could take credit for it myself.”
“Silver Baron did the same thing, trying to convince us all that the Sin City Knights were men of honor and integrity, the type of men that would sit at Arthur’s table.”
“And yet, in spite of his claims of being a hero, I have watched him dodge fights, be arrogant as hell, and fail to protect people, even knowing that they would suffer for his arrogance, and on top of it, rather than own up to doing what he had to do, he creates this so-called demon, this so-called unstoppable monstrous killing machine that has lurked inside him for years and only his strength of will, which apparently Lacey Roberts can break by just saying something like “I emplore you to reconsider” after he says “no” or with a simply please, that keeps the beast at bay. And the big reason I call bull on this is because if Oblivion is so dangerous, why in the hell is Silver Baron not in a padded room so that the rest of us are kept safe? I mean even Bruce Banner tried to vanish and kill himself to keep the Hulk at bay, but Silver Baron can’t be bothered to keep us all safe from the demonic, monstrous killing machine of evil that is Oblivion. That is not a hero.”
“I practically had to remind Quentin Sharpe to be mad at me that I attacked and innocent, when in all honesty, he should have gone after me from the start. But he was too busy doing whatever it was he was doing at the time to avenge an innocent the Sin City Knights are supposed to protect.”
“I actually did not know Craven was even mad at me or upset at me until two weeks before Cataclysm. If he was so upset at what I did to one of his master’s whores, why did he not walk out to the ring and demand a match? Why did he not fight to keep me in the lumberjack match to get his hands on me? Why did he not try and kick my ass backstage when he had the chance? Why was I, the object of his distain, the person he wanted to end and make pay for his crimes, the last person to know Craven was upset at me? I mean really, you would think I would be the first to know, wouldn’t you? And yet, I had no idea he was mad.”
::Travis allows himself a cold, cruel smirk. He is amused by all this, the praise and adulation thrown upon Craven, which he feels in undeserved. The smirk fades after a moment as he glares down at the photo.::
“And yes, Tedman, I will mock him for his failure to beat me in a submission match. Everyone talks about how he threw me through a table like it was an amazing and awe-inspiring act that allowed him to win. It was not. It was a desperate move by a desperate man trying to prevent me from ripping his arm out of his socket because he walked into a match completely outclassed and unarmed. Craven does not know a submission hold that would have won him the match. He had two options in that match; find a way to end it, or I rip his arm off. He swore he would beat me and he did not get the job done, and in desperation, put me through a table, so yes, I think I am allowed some small satisfaction knowing a hero failed and only did what he did because he had no other choice.”
::He tears the photo of the Sin City Knights out, crumbles it and tosses it away.::
“I stand by my claim that the Sin City Knights are knights only in name, with no actual idea what the word means or any defining noble and honorable characteristics or traits one expects of a man or woman who hold the title of knights.”
::Travis flips through the book.::
“Sentinel could easily turn if he so chose. Broderick Montgomery is still everything people hated about him when he first arrived, but is dealing with his being abducted by some whacko to be that rich, arrogant ass he was when he started. They will cheer him as they all want to see him and Jeszika get back together and to see him kill McBride, but he seems to have moved on. The fans only cheer them because the fans dislike the people they wrestle, but that does not make them heroes, just popular.”
::He begins to flip through the book again. There is no photo of Tedman. The young man is too new to have been put in the program and it has not yet updated to include him.::
“I knew a man named Tommy Zeller, a different man named Tommy Zeller, in a different company, a fool, as self-righteous as the rest of the heroes in that company, but a better wrestler than you.”
::For a moment, Travis pauses and a look of inquisitiveness appears on his face.::
“What is it with this company and hiring people who somehow share the names of other wrestlers? What are we, a tribute band? Is anyone actually screening these people or do they just see then name and assume they got the real guy?”
::Travis shrugs.::
“Anyway, in this company, every so-called hero they had on the roster had to tell everyone they were heroes. And it was amazing. They had a German guy trying to be the moral authority of the company, when in all honesty Germans are the absolute last people who should be allowed to judge anyone. But what amazed me even more is how quickly these heroes sold out. That German guy clearly had no idea how money works, and ended up taking a bribe to take out this hugely popular wrestler who the crowd loved because she was defying the authority running the company, and she herself later completely sold out to that same authority. There was not a single hero in that entire company.”
“I have seen so-called heroes, people children are supposed to look up to, want to emulate, swearing far worse then the most gristled, barnacle encrusted, hardcore sailor on the planet. I have seen people call themselves heroes and then completely sell out. I have looked at the UWA and I see no heroes here except for Amy, but she is not my concern, you are Tedman.”
::Once again “the Once and Future King” flips through the program book. This time, he does it slower, almost as if to show off that Tedman is not in the book.::
“And while an insignificant waitress at a lousy restaurant that needs a gimmick to be anything other than a truck stop in a town in Colorado that no one has ever heard of may beg to differ, you Tedman, are not a hero. You are an idiot in a cape and a ridiculous costume. You are literally Captain Capeman from Inspector Gadget, only a thousand times more pathetic and somehow managing to come off far more retarded than an idiot in a costume who believed he could fly and really, it makes complete sense, because your brain is probably so fried from doing drugs, because as we all know, all true heroes find themselves strung out on crack or overdosing on heroin. That’s true heroics.”
::He flips through the program magazine and closes it again, forcefully sliding it across the table. The program slides across the table towards the edge, but does not fall off. There is an undertone of disgust and annoyance in his voice.::
“You know what would have been even more heroic? Not doing drugs in the first place. Nineteen years in this business Tedman, a career half the people in the UWA will never have, which you will certainly have, and I managed to do everything I have ever done in my entire life clean and sober. I have never done drugs and I have never touched a drop of alcohol in my life. But clearly, your taking all kinds of drugs and not being dead in a ditch somewhere having overdosed makes you a hero. Way to inspire the kids.”
“Did I see you skulking through alleyways wearing that ridiculous costume trying to be a ninja or something? And personally, I love how you justify your heroics by go to a restaurant to order chicken wings and you are blatantly staring at the waitresses’ chests, because as we have all learned, thanks to the Sin City Knights, heroes objectify women. And honestly, I almost want to hear you defend that by saying something like “look how they were dressed” or some other line you would expect to hear from a rapist, and then I would love to hear you justify that as somehow heroic.”
::From under the table, Travis slowly draws his signature weapon, his crowbar. He holds it up, slowly twisting it in his hands. The look in his cold, cruel eyes is like a predator, but with a hint a malice.::
“You won two matches and act like it means something, yet question my accomplishments? That’s great. My first two months in the UWA I won a title. People like to point out that I had a world title shot and lost, but I am fairly confident that I am not the only person to lose a title match here, yet, I and I alone am singled out for one loss. I am so God damned sick and tired of people telling me nothing I did in my past before walking into someplace does not matter, because whether you like it or not, it does matter Tedman. Everything I have ever accomplished matters. It is why I am the legend I am today. You act like I have no accomplished anything here, or that somehow my brief reign as North American Championship was insignificant, but it was not. It was the first, and that makes it mean something.”
“This will not be some epic clash where you manage to take out the monster, but only after putting everything on the line to do so. You will try to climb Olympus, and you will fall. You will reach the end of your quest and you will fail Tedman, because you are not a hero.”
“You’re not some hero from a comic, or myth and legend. You are not a brave knight, some legendary hero or some defender of truth, justice and the American way protecting the common man. You are not a hero Tedman. You are a sad, pathetic strung out little ex-junkie in a cape and a stupid costume and you are going to fall.”
::Travis gets to his feet and walks around the table until he comes to the program. He slowly drives the crowbar into it, knocking it off the table and on to the floor where it lands with a soft thud and the flutter of pages. He raises the crowbar up, looking at it and fully intending to use it.::
“Come on Superman, meet your Doomsday and know that Monday Night Mayhem will be the day another hero dies.”
“Step up to your Doomsday and die knowing that you will not inspire anyone to don cape and cowl to continue your legacy, or that anyone will mourn your passing. There will be no grand funeral, no months of mourning with everyone wondering how we will go on without you, and there will be no shock and cheering as you return, because you are just another self-righteous, so-called hero, and no one cares about you Tedman.”
::Travis looks away from the crowbar, his cold, predatory eyes glaring into the camera as if staring at his opponent.::
“Come step up to your Doomsday. Come Tedman, and challenge and learn.”
::As Travis looks back up towards the crowbar, the scene fades to black.::