[Mac]

Reflection - RP against Augustino

“I often stood in front of the mirror alone, wondering how ugly a person could get.”
― Charles Bukowski, Ham on Rye

Soft Opening

A lot has changed over the past two years, me, my family, and the environment in which we work. My wife has decided to retire due to injuries, as did my baby sister. I haven’t spoken about Kat yet but will do so very soon.  Things have changed significantly in my life and my philosophy regarding this business. I had one person tell me that I have evolved. Well, I hope so, you can’t spend all your time being a fucking caveman. I mean, you can but it becomes counterproductive after a while.  You may have seen a change in me when I went against Ben Jordan. It’s part of what I hope to accomplish as I continue to transform into what I hope is a better version of myself. I won’t make any promises that I can’t keep but I’ll do my best to carry myself and this world title with pride.

[The Bane Home - Las Vegas NV - “Moments”]

By now, everyone knows how I feel about my wife retiring from wrestling. We inside these four walls have agreed to disagree. I stood firmly by my stance that there was no way in hell that Masque will ever agree to stop until she’s destroyed everything that she believes Amber holds dear. I sat quietly on the back patio, it was early enough that the heat wasn’t overwhelming to the senses. My coffee was warmer than the air around me for some reason, and it felt good. What didn’t feel good was that feeling of impending doom. There was a storm of sorts that was brewing, I could feel it in my blood and bones.

“You look troubled,” Amber said after a quick glance at me. She had her coffee cup in her hand and came and sat next to me. That of course broke my focus momentarily. “Yeah, something is not right,” I began as she took a sip of her coffee. “There is something brewing and unfortunately it’s not coffee,” I quipped after she swallowed her drink. Our dog Kuyon interrupted her retort as he came lumbering out right behind her. He was definitely a momma’s boy that’s for sure. He came and greeted me in his way, setting his head in my lap. “You’re the best dog who ever lived, my friend.” I scratched him behind the ears and he went to his normal place between Amber and I. “Has he been acting okay?” She looked down at him and smiled. “Hasn’t left my side since I’ve been home from the hospital.” I nodded, “He knows.” She considered that “I’ve heard it said that they can pick up on your emotions.” I took a long drink from my cup, then I dug the pack of cigarettes out of my breast pocket. He looked up at me and then at her, satisfied everything was okay, he laid his head back down.

These moments had become precious to me. She didn’t talk much, especially about what happened. I couldn’t blame her for that, no human or animal should ever have to go through what she had. If I was honest, that was one of two times in my life that I wanted to kill someone. Literally, I had wanted to choke that bitch until she was dead. The thing that bothered me was that I couldn’t. I could not simply take the life of another person. My own father, well that was different, he had left me no choice in the matter. Taking the life of that old bastard was justified, it never bothered me once. This though was different for some reason. It could just be that I felt like it would be wrong for me to take that action. It really felt like it should be Amber that had the right to do that. Now she was retiring and would not be able to take that action. My wife had given up. She was scared, rightly so, what Masque had done to her was one of the cruelest things I’d ever seen in my twenty years in the Wrestling business.
“I think that the most troubling thing to me is the fact that the last two times I picked my opponent, I failed.” I was trying to steer clear of the Masque topic because that always ended badly. “You’re the only one that can control that. Augustino is a good competitor but you’re the best in this company today. You’ve got the hardware to prove it.” I nod, I did two other times as well and we remember how that turned out.” She didn’t say anything in response as we sat there for a bit. I lit a cigarette, exhaling forcefully. I allowed my hand with the cigarette to hang loosely on my right side in an effort to keep the smoke out of her face. Mother nature decided to help a fella out as a light breeze picked up and redirected to smoke.

“You’ve been having the nightmares again,” it wasn’t really a question but a statement. I took another drag from my cigarette and exhaled slowly as I leaned forward. “Yeah,” I said slowly and then looked at her. “Another reminder of a time in my life that I’d rather forget.”

Falshback to 2 a.m. that morning

Dreams can be beautiful or they can just be ugly. Sadly, these dreams were a construct of my past. My past was ugly, it always came back to haunt me in the wee hours of the morning. It was always the same dream, a then Leutinnuet Junior Grade Frank Spatharos laughing at me, for not wanting to do what he had ordered me to do. A man of zero morals and even less character. He had ordered me to waterboard women in the presence of their husbands. Until the men cracked and confessed. It had come to the point that I was now a harbinger of death in Cuba. When the men saw me they would confess to whatever Saptharos wanted. I hated him and I hated myself even more. What most people failed to understand is that when you join the military your rights no longer exist.

“Bane!” came the command from Spatharos, “Again!” I began the process again, looking at the man who had tears in his eyes and hatred in his heart. I had a similar look on my face, my tears were as real as his. The amount of self-loathing I experienced in my six months there could not be matched, no how hard you tried. The man tried not to watch me and every time he tried to look away, one of the SpecOps guys would force him to watch until his spirit was shattered. He agreed to confess after he could no longer stand it. I stopped the process at that point, which I would pay for later. Frank didn’t like it when people didn’t wait for his order, I was at the end of my tour in Cuba and had developed what we call “Short Timer’s Syndrome.” That’s what happens when you no longer give a fuck. I didn’t wait and exited the room, I leaned against the wall to catch my breath and to try not to throw up.

That had been the last straw for me, I would try to go to the old man again and put a stop to this. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” The expected and harsh words roared out of Frank’s mouth on time. You could almost set a watch to his outbursts, especially if I was around. I responded in my flippant way, “My job in that room is done, so I’m taking a break.” He sneered at me, “I could shoot you now and declare it as treason on your part, we are still at war with terrorist.” I smirked because no war had been officially declared against any nation. “Ya know Francis, you could try.” He was in my face within a heartbeat, his sidearm in his hand. He held the gun up and pointed it at my temple. “This is important work I’m doing here and I won’t allow the likes of you to destroy everything I’ve done.” I pulled out a small metal tin, opening it I placed an altoid in my mouth. I offered him one and he smacked the tin out of my hand. “Well, that was rather unpleasant, you could have just politely declined.” I saw a figure out of my peripheral and knew the man well.

“Leutinnent Junior Grade Spatharos, is there a particular reason you have a firearm in this area? I’d also love to know why you have said firearm pointed at a man under my command.” I watched as the color drained from his face. He lowered the pistol, reholstering it. “Captain…,” he began but Captain Jeff Castello was a man who didn’t tolerate fools. “Stowe it Spatharos, in my office, now!” I had never heard the old man bellow like that before, he was genuinely pissed. After Spatharos had walked away, he looked at me. “Petty Officer Bane, I know this is the last twenty-four hours of your time here. I’m placing you on leave. Make no contact with that officer, do you understand me?” I snapped to attention and saluted him, then, “Yes sir.” He returned the salute and sent me on my way.

Present day

Amber, “I had no idea.” I gave her a sad smile, “It’s not something I enjoy sharing about my past, but I felt like you deserved to know. To understand that when you don’t believe what a good person you are, I know otherwise.” I smile a sad smile in her direction, “but that is an argument for another day.”

Fade.


[On the Air - local radio station in Las Vegas NV - “clearing the air”]

These radio studios all smelled the same, they smelled of booze and other poor life choices. Here I was though, to hype my title defense over in India and the fight of the decade with my brother later on.

“Friends, welcome back to Kay Eff Emm Ell where we are live with the Sin City World Champion, Mac Bane. I am your host for the next hour, Kayfabe Kerry. Welcome Mac, It’s always a pleasure to talk to you.” I nodded, smiling, “Thanks Kerry, glad to be here,” I said almost through gritted teeth. I despised these guys' show and him personally. “Thanks so much, Champ, it’s always a great time here in the studio. If you have been sleeping under a rock or haven’t been paying attention for the last couple of years. Mac is one of those once-in-a-lifetime athletes. He burst onto the scene a couple of years ago and has been on a roll ever since. He has been of the most dominant forces that Sin City has had in years.”  I smile along at his candy coated bullshit that he always puts out there to try and butter up his guests. He liked to blindside them with questions or sometimes accusations depending on who it was. “That’s very kind, Kerry, thank you.” I said in my soft baritone voice. “You’ve earned it big man, the way you have dismantled people has been amazing to watch.” I nodded along, smiling in the appropriate places.

“I know you have a flight to catch, so…let’s get right to it. Is it true that you requested Augustino be the first contender for the world title? If so, why?” I smiled a gentle smile, “Actually Ken Davison is the contender. I asked for Augustino out of respect. He’s a guy that never asks for title shots, so why not put a spotlight on him?” He smirks at my response and I shoot him a look that tells him to not do anything stupid. “How has Augustino impressed you to the point that you think he deserves a shot?” I studied him for a moment, he’s sweating bullets right now and knows my reputation with dealing with dirt sheet writers. “Everyone deserves a chance to shine, Kerry.” It was all he could do not to laugh as I said it. “Don’t take this personally but that sounds like a crock to me. Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say that you needed a week off after getting your ass kicked by Ben Jordan?”

He was far from the first to say something like that, or think it, I’m sure. “Have you ever even been in a wrestling ring,” I asked him with no hint of malice. The question hung there in the air and Kerry started to speak a couple of times but no words came out. “I’ll take that as a no then. There are no easy weeks in this business, I thought someone like you would know that. To even consider that was the case is absolute crap.” I studied his reaction and he was embarrassed and maybe a little shocked at what I had to say. “Now then, I’ve got a title defense against Augustino in India in a few days and then again when I face Ken Davison if Auggy doesn’t kick my ass. If you wanna talk about that, cool, otherwise this interview is over.” He signaled to the booth to go to the commercial and they obliged him. We sat there and looked at each other for a moment, the commercial was coming to an end. “Well,” I asked him and he ignored it.

“And we’re back from the break,” he said as we continued the interview. “You mentioned “Godly” Ken Davison. It’s known that you guys are friends, and where one goes the other is not too far behind.” I nodded, “That’s true, we’ve been friends for most of my career.” “So, why does he want this title shot so badly?” I smiled in response, “It’s a natural progression honestly, every man and woman in this sport wants to be on top of the mountain. None of us are satisfied with a secondary title. We all want to be known as the best that a company has on their roster and dare anyone to prove them wrong.” He seemed to accept that, “Before we continue, I wanted to apologize to you, Mac. My previous questions and behavior were not acceptable.” I studied him for a moment and he appeared to be earnest in his apology. “Apology accepted.” He looked relieved and I looked over towards the booth where the program manager sat with a smile on his face and a self-satisfied look on his face. I didn’t say anything I let him continue to ramble on.

“Mac, if you don’t mind, I was hoping I could ask you about your wife, Amber, and how her recovery is going?” I nodded, and since he asked with no hint of malicious intent, “She’s doing better.” He seemed to accept that, “Do you guys have any kind of time table planned for her return to the ring?” I hesitated briefly, “Not yet, the healing process with these kinds of injuries is very time-consuming, so we really have no idea.” He nodded his head, seemingly satisfied with the answers, and smiled as he spoke, “Ladies and gentlemen, that’s all we have time for with the champ at this time. Mac, thank you so much for taking some time for us today.” I all but laughed at the relieved look on his face, “It’s been my pleasure Kerry, keep up the great work.”

Fade

[In-Studio - “The Crux of the Issue”]

I stood in front of the camera for what seemed like the millionth time, it was becoming more and more difficult to cut these promos. Had I lost my love for this game? Hell, maybe Amber was on the right track, maybe it was time for me to hang up the wrestling boots for good. It was an issue that I was struggling with inside of myself but never spoken aloud. That being said, it was time to speak to the fans and my opponent, whether I was ready to do so or not.

Augustino. Do you know what I see when I look at you?

I remain silent for a moment allowing the sun coming in through the window to bathe my face in its light.

I see myself, from many years ago.

I smile a wistful smile at the camera.

There was a time in my career when people said, oh yeah, he’s a great mid card guy but he’ll never be a world champion. The real crux of the issue with that is that I had begun to believe them.

I shake my head in disgust, another pause before I continue.

They were wrong about me, just as the people who say the same about you are. All you have to do is to look at your title reigns here in Sin City. If I’m not mistaken you hold the record for title reigns as the internet champion. You’ve only had one world title match though and I have to wonder why. Was it because you didn’t want to pursue it? Were they holding you back? Was it because they don’t consider you to be a world champion caliber athlete? 

I furrow my brow in annoyance.

I don’t know the answers to those questions, and you may not either. What I do know is that you’ve been a motorsports champion and held every title here with the exception of the one I’m carrying. You are a fun guy to be around and your promos are incredibly amusing. All in all, you are a good human being.

I smile gently at the camera.

Look, I know all this sounds weird coming from me, especially considering the unkind words I’ve spoken about many people around here. I’m not trying to give you any sense of false hope or be a life coach or any silly shit like that. 

The smile remains, amusing myself with such candor about a guy I have never lost to.

I don’t want the same old Augustino that no one takes seriously. I want the guy who has won the Internet Title on many occasions. I want the guy who was a champion outside of the ring. I want the man, who without a doubt is a top level competitor and has proven it countless times. I want you to come to try and take my title away. Show me that you have some fucking balls Auggy. Show me the fire!

I continued to smile as I finish that part of it up.

What you’ll get in return is the same man who has held this world title on three separate occasions.

My smile turns more predatory, the smile of a hunter about to pounce on his prey.

I hope you’re okay with me calling you Auggy? I think it has a nice ring to it, so I’m going to call you Auggy. This is your opportunity to shine, you are getting something that a lot of people I’ve stood across from don’t get.

My respect.

It doesn’t come easy and it ain’t cheap my friend. It costs more than you may be willing to pay. One thing that hasn’t changed about me is that I play for blood and I play for keeps. If you can withstand the storm, you’ve got a chance. I don’t give a shit what anyone says about you. Bring everything you’ve got Auggy, I damn sure will. If you can beat me, it’ll make you a fucking legend in that locker room. If you can beat me, I’ll put this belt on you myself and hoist you into the air to help you celebrate. In this business, anyone can beat anyone on any given day. This may be your day.

Still smiling, and then abruptly the smile is gone.

Or it could just be another ass whooping handed out by yours truly. Only you can determine the outcome. Only you can prove them wrong, Auggy. It’s simply my job to make sure you cant, and I’m very, very good at my job. This will take every ounce of perseverance you have in your body, when you dig deeper for that extra, then discover it isn’t enough. Can you dig deeper still to pry this title out of my hands? You’ll have to kill me to do so, Auggy. This is my home, and I’m proud to represent it.