I get so close to opportunity only to have it slip through my fingers. I’m not going to pretend the loss to Harris wasn’t disheartening because it was. I’m better than that, I know it. I can care less if he does. He can boast and brag until his heart is content but in the bigger picture, I am still a much greater commodity than he will ever be. I could have still taken part in the World Title match at the High Stakes, I opted out where most people would have jumped at the chance. Why? Because I don’t believe in handouts. Regardless if I like it or not Michael Harris defeated me, and in my eyes that puts him above me in the pecking order. Michael, I hope you’re listening because our business isn’t through. The loss I suffered at your hands was the first of 2023 for me and has directly interfered with my course for destiny.
That deed will not go unpunished.
There will come a time and a place when you and I are going to meet again. When we do, trust me when I tell you that I don’t make the same mistake twice. With that being said I want you to enjoy this moment when you think your hot shit, I want you to salivate in the mere thought that you’ve burst back onto the scene making some lasting statement when the truth revolving around you is that you’re nothing more than Mac Bane’s flavor of the month. I hate to break it to you but the Saviors and CCPE are laughing our asses off at what is coming your way because that slice of humble pie is going to be force-fed down your fucking throat. You will crash and burn before disappearing back into the shadows where you belong.
What I don’t want any of you to do is think for one second that just because I haven’t been in the ring here doesn’t mean I haven’t been in the ring elsewhere. I questioned myself, I questioned if I still had what it took to even get back to the top of the mountain at the ripe age of fifty-three. In my tenure away over the last several weeks I managed to win my 19th World Heavyweight Championship. Yes, I understand that means dick here in Sin City, but this isn’t about Sin City because my world is larger than one sandbox. I do want to apologize for my in-ring absence as of late. When you’re juggling Super Shows, running your own promotion, married to Candice Page, and working Main Event angles elsewhere that time becomes of the essence but I knew I couldn’t miss High Stakes. So much is on the line as all eyes are looking for what’s to come next… The Blast from the Past Tournament. Unlike most, I like to challenge myself to get title opportunities versus being a charity case. What better way to cement me as the rightful Number One Contender for the SCW World Heavyweight Championship than by not only entering the tournament but being paired with CCPE’s own Miss Melissa and winning it?
Yes, it’s going to be a task, but it’s a task that I’m primed and ready for.
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Tuesday
March 2, 2023
Page Estate Las Vegas
Featuring: Candice Wolf
Off Camera:
Chris woke up early on Tuesday morning. The sun hasn’t broken over the ranges of the mountains. His body is a physical mess just two days removed from the Denzel Porter Invitational and a Dog Coller match with a Sin City Hall of Fame talent known simply as Griffin Hawkins. Chris crept into the bathroom off the master suite ensuring that Candice wasn’t woken. He closes the door before flipping the light switch on. Looking into the mirror he sees the fourteen stitches on the right side of his forehead, his face has a purplish tint coming from the top of his forehead down into his cheeks.
It was a war.
And not the way to try and earn another shot at any World Title. Chris takes a deep breath before turning off the light and quietly exiting the bathroom and then out of the master suite where he softly closes the door behind him. Chris starts making his way down the hallway on the ground floor of the two-story estate and into the living area with his open kitchen. Before anything else, Chris is at the Kureg and making himself a cup of coffee. While the coffee is making Chris takes his cell phone off the marble top of the kitchen island. Chris unlocks and checks up on text messages. He lets out a deep sigh before sliding his phone back on the kitchen island. The card for High Stakes hasn’t been the highest priority. Chris just scoped his booking and let things marinate as he returns to the kitchen counter and pulls his coffee cup from the Kureg as he starts to bring it toward his lips we see Candice swoop in taking the cup from his hands like a Ninja in the night taking Chris by surprise.
CHRIS PAGE: What the fuck?!?!
Chris spins around seeing Candice in her silk red robe leaning back on the kitchen island sipping what was Chris’s coffee.
CHRIS PAGE: You were legitimately asleep.
CANDICE PAGE: Never let your guard down.
She states with a wink.
CHRIS PAGE: Well played.
Chris turns his back on Candice and back to the counter. He opens one of the upper white cabinets grabs a second cup and goes through the process again before turning his attention back around to Candice.
CHRIS PAGE: And good morning to you.
CANDICE PAGE: What’s on your mind?
CHRIS PAGE: A little bit of this and a little bit of that. I can’t shake the fact that I haven’t been living up to my fullest potential inside the ring. We are on the cusp of High Stakes in Sin City Wrestling, and who should be standing in the ring challenging for the World Title? Me. But am I, no?
Candice takes another sip from Chris’s coffee mug as she listens to Chris continue.
CHRIS PAGE: Why? Because my dumb ass couldn’t beat a dude that’s been gone from the industry for over a decade BUT I can walk into Madison Square Garden and snatch the Entity World Title?
Chris questions.
CHRIS PAGE: I’m missing something because Michael whatever the fuck isn’t Tony Savage, he isn’t even in the same conversation as Tony.
Nobody is kicking their ass more than I am with this High Stakes debacle. It seems at times that I am my own worst enemy. I made the cardinal mistake of underestimating my opponent and thus I have taken it upon myself to step out of that scene until I’ve earned it. What better way to start than by taking on the guy that just took an “L” to Mac? Was it my first choice? Not hardly, but as I like to say I’m the king of making chicken salad out of chicken shit.
Three Doors Down isn’t going to help you, Bill.
I’m the guy that NEEDS this way more than you do. Sin City Wrestling has an awful lot of faith in me and what I bring to the table. I’ve grown tired of getting so close only to slip away from my goal. The questioning of my confidence seems to be a deeper-rooted issue, but perhaps it shouldn’t be because I’ve just established that I can get back to the top of the mountain; which is fitting since apparently I’ve got Big Foot as my next opponent.
CANDICE PAGE: You’re going to have to stop questioning yourself, babe. You’ve done everything to establish that you are still the man. I personally think you’re overthinking things. I mean you’re involved with the Saviors of Sin City, CCPE is still thriving, and the world is in the palm of your hands.
Chris spins around as his cup of coffee has finished brewing, or should we say the second cup since we have a java thief in our midst.
CANDICE PAGE: Nobody wins them all, but in the same vein nobody takes things as seriously as you do.
It’s a blessing and a curse.
CANDICE PAGE: You need to relax and remember why you’re still doing this. You don’t have to lace your boots, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. Chris, you are one of the few that can walk away today and still be remembered in a decade. Not a lot of guys in the business can say that.
Chris takes his cup of coffee and sips while spinning back around toward Candice who pulls a blunt from behind her ear. She sparks it up taking a toke or two before inhaling.
CHRIS PAGE: I guess I just have higher expectations, pun intended. When your name is Chris Page, and when you’ve accomplished everything that I’ve accomplished I seem to forget that even I can make mistakes because nobody is perfect. In times like these I feel like I can be viewed as all bark and no bite. I mean, I’ve been chasing a shot at SCW’s World TItle for what seems like months upon months… and yet every time I get within a fingertip of the opportunity I seem to fuck it up.
Candice passes Chris the blunt as she is seen exhaling a cloud of smoke.
CHRIS PAGE: It’s just so aggravating to know that when given the opportunity I tend to deliver when the straps are on the line. I recently challenged for my first World Title in over two years and took it without batting an eyelash. So if I can do that elsewhere there isn’t a reason in the world why I can’t do it in the confines of Sin City Wrestling.
Chris takes a toke off the blunt while Candice takes the moment to respond.
CANDICE PAGE: It sounds like to me you know what you have to do. Hit the rest button one more time and focus on your opposition for High Stakes. It’s clear that you need to leave a lasting impression on them as well as the front office. Sometimes going to a darker place is exactly what everyone in this equation needs.
Chris blows out smoke as he takes in what Candice just said.
CHRIS PAGE: Are you suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?
CANDICE PAGE: I think I am suggesting what you think I think I am suggesting.
CHRIS PAGE: Are you sure? I haven’t woken him up in so long… and when we open pandora’s box there isn’t any closing it.
Chris inquires as he hits the blunt a second time while Candice takes another drink from Chris’s coffee cup.
CANDICE PAGE: Sometimes the beast has to be awakened.
Chris blows out a smoke cloud as we fade.
____________________
Billy, Billy, Billy… well, this just got awkward, didn’t it? I know you’re expecting me to make the same mistake, or as I call it, the Michael Effect by looking past you, by ignoring you, by taking you lightly because I am who I am and you are who you are. Unfortunately for you, that isn’t in the cards. Only one embarrassing defeat like that is allotted and thankfully for me, my eyes are wide the fuck open with tunnel vision squarely on you. I’ll start things off by saying I can give a fuck all about your credentials, I can give two shits about what you’ve done in the past or where you think you’re going in the future because ultimately your fate was sealed the moment you put pen to paper and thought it would be a cool idea to stand in the ring with a guy that has nothing to lose and everything to gain. It’s pretty evident that you’re far from the sharpest tool in the shed or you wouldn’t have labeled Ken as a joke in professional wrestling when he’s outperformed you in EVER organization he’s competed at! You ate paint chips as a child growing up in Georgia because just sitting back and forcing myself to watch your promo was enough to make me shake my head while questioning if you think about anything you say or do you just pop off at the mouth because it sounds clever or witty in your head regardless of how juvenile the statements are?
No wonder it’s been a year since you’ve done anything tangible.
It’s concerning to me that you have been in the business for as long as you have and yet you haven’t mastered how to lay a proper insult. How the fuck does this guy draw any money? How does he sell any tickets? Oh yeah, he doesn’t. Billy, you’ve been a background player your entire career for a reason… because that is what you’re good at. You tried your hand with Mac Bane, and while on the way to your title match, you hit him verbally with material that sounded like a four-year-old put it together for you.
I’m not going to pretend that I’m coming to play nice.
I’m coming to High Stakes to make an example before stepping into the Blast from the Past Tournament. It’s safe to say that you are my reset button.
… but where you are very much incorrect is when it comes to who is stepping into the ring with you. Inside every man, there lives a beast. All it takes is just the right amount of bullshit that will cause it to be released. Sin City Wrestling hasn’t been privy to my beast, and for your sake, I can only hope that I can keep him at bay. Your safety doesn’t concern him, being able to hold your wife at night doesn’t concern him, and being able to provide a living for your family doesn’t concern him. Shedding your blood, leaving you begging for one last breath tickles his fancy. You see if any of you knew me… REALLY knew me… You’d know what I’m talking about versus pondering your thoughts to draw up your conclusions.
____________________
Off Camera
March 3, 2023
CCPE Arena @ The Velvet Rabbit Las Vegas
Featuring: Kat Jones
It’s great to run your own promotion out of Las Vegas with your own sporting arena because you can train at all hours of the day, and when you’re an old fuck like Chris Page all hours are the operative words. It’s the wee hours of the morning as we fade inside the 15,000-seat CCPE Arena to find Chris Page in the ring with a WGWF enhancement talent that goes by the name of Milk Mason. Milk is a scrawny little fella, calling him a toothpick would be an insult to toothpicks. Page and Mason lock up with Chris immediately forcing him back into the ropes. Page quickly snaps him over with an arm-drag takeover. Page pops back up to his feet followed by Mason where he catches Mason with a Japanese Armdrag sending the sounds of their bodies bouncing off the plywood of the ring echoing throughout the empty arena. Page beats Mason to his feet where he snatches a side headlock before snapping him over to the canvass. Mason quickly counters with a head scissors, Page works his way to both knees before slipping out of the head scissors before slapping the taste out of Mason’s mouth. Page steps back up to his feet where the sound of some applause is heard. Chris turns his head looking up the ramp to see Kat Jones standing and observing. Milk Mason gets up off the mat holding the right side of his face.
CHRIS PAGE: Go put some ice on it.
Milk Mason exits the ring and passes by Kat on his way up the ramp while she is on her way down the ramp. Chris leans against the ropes as he addresses his C.E.O. of CCPE.
CHRIS PAGE: To what do I owe the honor?
Kat reaches ringside.
KAT JONES: You know I have to check up on you after winning the Entity’s World Title to make sure that you’re not resting on your laurels with Bill waiting in the wings.
CHRIS PAGE: When have I ever rested on the past to dictate my present?
I might have come up short against Harris but I bounced back pretty well if I do say so myself. Winning one World Title, and a shot at another is right around the corner. My ego was crushed, but it’s been restored. Billy, you’ve walked right into the crosshairs of my scope. I’ve brushed up on you over the last week or so, and while you’re decent in the ring you seem to struggle with talking a big game or knowing the first fucking thing about your opponents. I think I’ve heard smarter cutdowns from dumber people… and that says a lot.
CHRIS PAGE: I’m looking forward to High Stakes and getting back on track to tangle with Mac for the World Title. This time around I’m not going to be pulled off task and forced to restart.
KAT JONES: We’ve got a great thing going in Sin City Wrestling with the Saviors and CCPE. Are you sure rocking the boat with a match with Mac is the right move to make?
Chris steps through the ropes and out to the ring apron before hopping down to the arena floor where he snatches a white towel from one of the corners. Chris wipes the sweat from his face before slinging the towel over his left shoulder.
CHRIS PAGE: Rocking the boat? Probably not the choice of words I’d be looking for. Mac and myself both like to test ourselves, and part of what makes CCPE different than everyone else is that is trying to mimic our success throughout the wrestling world. We don’t look for ways out when we know that the time is upon us to test ourselves. It’s the Alphas in us.
Chris then states.
CHRIS PAGE: Take the ass-kicking Mac gave Billy Boy last week. Now, I can’t change anything about that… but what I can do is humble that prick faster than Mac did. What I can do is slaughter this fuckboy with a quickness.
I bet this kid will do the SAME thing everyone else does and fails with. Spare me the “it doesn’t matter if it’s not here” routine because only a simple-minded fuck that doesn’t see a bolder picture will paint that kind of remedial nonsense with a broken goddamn brush. If I wanted to prop myself on a reputation you might as well call me Finn Wheelan, better yet I wouldn’t be wrestling you I’d be in the Main Event like I was asked to be.
Oh, I’m going to enjoy this.
CHRIS PAGE: I’ll be taking my rightful spot as the enforcer of The Saviors effective immediately.
Kat and Chris start walking back up the ramp.
KAT JONES: I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this.
CHRIS PAGE: Like what?
KAT JONES: Your vibe is different.
CHRIS PAGE: In a good way? Or a bad way?
KAT JONES: To be determined.
CHRIS PAGE: Hmmm.
They reach the top of the ramp.
CHRIS PAGE: This is going to be a lot of fun.
_________________
TO BE CONTINUED.