-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Because nobody wants to support a loser….
-WHIFF-
Was the only sound that could be heard after Ace Baldwin let those words utter from his lips as he held a hand over his eyes as he watched for something. It was the same position a captain would make looking ashore, or maybe someone looking off a distant mountain top for some type of answer to some unanswered and unasked question. He looked back down and shrugged his shoulders up and down and took a deep breath before he swung some unseen object again, the same sound could be heard.
-WHIFF-
A couple of steps away would reveal an Ace Baldwin in a pair of khaki shorts, a Callaway visor over his brown rifts of hair and a purple striped polo shirt which was tucked into his shorts, with a pair of golf shoes on his feet as he warmed up at the driving range, a golf cart parked behind him and the club house just a few steps away, he wrapped his white gloved hands around his golf club, a driver as he sat another ball onto the tee and talked to himself, under his breath as he looked to the 320 marker.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
A losing streak, the last thing I wanted in the SCW. I was 4-1 here in the SCW, the only loss coming from a cluster f#ck match where Carter lucked up and got a briefcase, I wasn’t even defeated, but then I lost my first singles match, then my first tag my disqualification because Carter decides to bring a chair into the ring, after we had a two on one advantage so he and his newly acquired buddy could double-team a helpless guy in the ring, but I didn’t take part in that, I don’t play that. I may be team Erik, I may have given my allegiance to the son of a bitch, but I won’t take any part in that…No sir.
He lifted the club back up from the ground and struck the ball as it curved but curved just enough to land a couple of feet in front of the 320 mark as Ace furrowed his brow as he straightened his visor to keep the sun out of his eyes and dropped another ball onto the colorful tee he had planted into the ground as he sighed again and lowered his shoulders, he lifted the club again, but in his back swing his phone began to ring as he connected with the ball but it sliced to the right.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Damn it, right in the middle of my backswing…Scott Oliver again, wanting an interview again, people calling my phone off the hook, Derek wanting to train and know where I’ve been, Oliver and every other who’s who of SCW media wanting answers, why I chose team Erik, why I aligned myself with such scum….The fact is I probably can’t answer that myself right now, Derek wants to know where my head is, why I’m such a flake…It’s because I can’t figure it out.
He took another healthy swing on the ball, this time it went well beyond the 320 mark, quite a drive as, by the looks of it, Ace had been working on his golf swing in the Nevada spring instead of indoors working on his wrestling, his pocket and his in-ring skills had suffered, as saw by his loss to Jordan Williams just two weeks ago. Regardless, being out of Nevada had hurt his golf game, but didn’t stop him from finding one in Buenos Aires, Olivos Golf Club to be exact.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
And Derek is right, I can’t continue to push myself into this hole every time I fool around a lose a match, but I took Jordan lightly—and I shouldn’t have. He’s a carbon copy of every single wrestler I’ve ever faced, no originality, no charisma, nothing special. Yet I dropped a match to him, but that should have lit a fire under me, not dug me down into a state of depression where all I do is want to golf, but maybe it’s more than that, maybe it’s something else that’s bothering me, but I don’t want to become some depressed asshole, this is a cutthroat business, and regardless of wins or loses I still have a championship around my waste…But I want more.
Ace actually glanced back to his golf cart, where his tag title was haphazardly hanging out of his golf bag. He carried it everywhere, even though he had tasted success, it had been few and far between, so this wasn’t something he took lightly. He looked back down at his phone as it buzzed, once again Derek Daniels, his mentor, his trainer and his manager. He had been calling for a week straight after he had left Ace for a week to take care of some of his own business and make a few appearances. He knew to get the “more” he wanted, which was the Roulette championship and then the SCW belt, he would need Derek and his expertise, but he was just too stubborn to listen to Derek at the moment.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Maybe it’s Carter who has continued to beat me down and berate me at every opportunity, while I troll him on Twitter and call us best friends, he can’t handle the fact in his own little perfect world that his ego cannot accept the fact I bettered him one time, but maybe it’s getting to me, regardless, we work well as a team and I’m willing to put my neck on the line for that asshole, even if he isn’t willing to do it for me to keep these belts around my waist…But I do want more, and I have a chance to prove that when I step into the ring against Spike Staggs and Thatcher Rex…The Roulette Champion, and alongside me Kevin Carter the man who stole that briefcase and will benefit from him by having new gold around his waist, because he’s too good not to. It’s my turn to show these guys I can hang, and it’s my turn to show these guys that I am better than every, single, one of them.
His phone buzzed again, it was Derek. Funny to think that Derek was probably blundering around in Argentina, trying to find Ace, but Ace made him pretty hard to find. He knew when Derek came back; he wouldn’t have to see him until the show, because Derek couldn’t find him.
Ace hopped in his golf cart and drove along the cart paths before he hopped off at the first hole and aimed it up, this was his first time playing the course, but he was good enough to where he was up for the challenge. He put his ball down, aimed it up…
-WHIFF-
The ball went up into the clear blue sky with a silky smooth rotation as it landed beautifully on the green as Ace smiled as he glanced down at his phone he had silenced, Derek was calling once again.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Give it up man…
He said as he turned around, he hadn’t heard the golf cart that had pulled up behind him, nor did he hear the footsteps behind him, nor did he hear the dialing of his number on the cell phone, as he ignored Derek’s call as he turned, he glanced to the person waiting, not really looking at them. He looked to his phone and walked toward his golf cart.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
You can go ahead and play through if you like, or I’ll only—
He stopped dead as he looked up to see a grinning Derek Daniels, it wasn’t a HEY nice to see you grin, but more of a strained anger. He walked over and patted Ace roughly on the shoulder as Ace looked to him.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Ohhh…Hey Derek, coming to play some gold today? I mean, that’s totally what I’ve been doing, besides training for my match this week of course.
Derek didn’t look happy, nor did he look angry as he walked over and leaned against the golf cart as he pulled one of Ace’s clubs from the bag, the nine iron to be exact as he looked at it. He looked at Ace with a smirk.
-“Dynamic” Derek Daniels:-
As much as I’d like to take this club and wrap it around your head, I’m not going to, because I don’t blame you for getting out on the course, maybe that’s what you need. Maybe you need to get out and get away from all this, but that doesn’t deny the fact that you have…A lot of questions that need to be answered. Hell, the people are still cheering you even though you are with Team Erik. It’s been a busy couple of weeks for you, but you can’t lose your focus now.
Ace, while Derek talked was fiddling around with a golf ball at his feet with the club in his hand as he knocked it back and forth. He nodded and looked up to Derek.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
I know..I just don’t want to fail. I’m not a big fan of losing streaks, you know I fall back into a funk when I start losing, and when I start getting beat like I did against Jordan Williams, just odd circumstances, it seems luck is never on my side, it seems I can’t get into a groove, and that sucks. Meanwhile Kevin Carter is at the top and getting all the fame, all the glory and—
Derek raised a finger.
-“Dynamic” Derek Daniels:-
And getting booed out of the building because how annoying he is and how his vocabulary is that of a middle schooler, look you have a chance to step into the ring with three main players this week and show you belong. Spike Staggs is the best thing going right now in the SCW and one of the better champions I have seen on this independent scene in some time. Then you have Rex, who is the Roulette champion and has been nothing short of impressive, and your partner, Kevin Carter as much as you may not want to admit it, can go and has sealed the deal for him to be on top in this federation for years to come if he wants to. Do you belong?
Ace looked at Derek and nodded as he glanced over at his tag team belt, he pulled it out and looked down at it and then back to Derek.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Oh hell yeah, I belong. There isn’t anything in me that says I don’t belong in this match, there is a great quote that says, if you think you can or you can’t..You’re right. I honestly believe I belong, I believe I belong with the greats and when it’s all said and done, I want my name up in lights as the headliner in this federation. I tasted success too young, I want longevity, I don’t want to be a flash in the pan. Everyone who has laid eyes on me says I have the potential to rock the very foundation of this wrestling company and I want to prove them right. I don’t want to fade out in a couple of months because I don’t want to do it anymore, but it’s the decisions that’s weighing on me…Why did I choose Team Erik, where is it going to take me? I’m not like the rest of them…
Derek nodded as he toyed with the club in his hand and he looked over to Ace as they hopped in his golf cart after putting the belt back in the bag as they drove down the cart path toward the green as Ace got out and walked toward his ball as he still held conversation with Derek.
-“Dynamic” Derek Daniels:-
It was a…Interesting choice to say the least, but I understand why. Kevin is your partner, and even though you guys hate one another’s guts, you guys actually make tags to one another and have some chemistry in the ring, because you both have that desire to win, that competitive fire that you can’t teach anywhere. Do I think you’re ready to step in the ring, in a singles match with Spike Staggs? No. You’re not ready for that, do I think you’re ready to step into the ring and beat Rex? Absolutely, do I think in this tag match right now you have the chance to shine, and even get one over on the champion? I think so. It doesn’t matter in the end what team you are on, it matters how you perform in that ring that the fans will remember and in the end, when this is all said and done, you will remember.
Ace nodded and lined up his ball and swung on the par four as it spun through the air and landed on the green, taking a few gentle bounces that sat him pretty for a putt shot for birdie. He looked to Derek and put his club over his shoulder.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
I just don’t want to be brought down by the scum I’m working with. I don’t want to be remembered, if this all comes out that Team Erik loses and are put down at the bottom, I don’t want to be remembered as a loser, as the ones who pick up the scraps. I want to be remembered as the guy who stood firm after all this, and didn’t go with the side people thought he would, and still did the right thing, and won the right way. I want to be the guy at the end of the day with my hand raised, and whether it is with Team Erik or Team SCW…I don’t care. That is as irrelevant to me as to what Carter thinks of me. I just want to win, does that sound simple?
Derek laughed as he walked with Ace up a small slope and between two sand traps as he lined up the putter that Derek had grabbed and brought over to him as Ace lined up the putt and aimed as Derek spoke.
-“Dynamic” Derek Daniels:-
Easier said than done, my friend. The SCW is so jammed packed full of talent, you’re never going to have it easy, so you should be thankful for the wins you’ve picked up thus far. All I know is this: you are in a spot this weekend to do something special, you are in a spot to move yourself higher on that totem pole, regardless of what happens, regardless honestly of who wins, you need to go in there and show that you want this more than Kevin Carter, that you want this more than Rex, and Spike. You want this more than anyone, and I haven’t seen that fire from you in the last two weeks, I haven’t seen you bring it, I haven’t seen you want it. Do you want it?
Ace lined up the putt and it gently rolled across the smooth green and he sank the putt as he smirked as he raised up with the ball in his hand and nodded.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
About as bad as I wanted a birdie on this first hole. I’m just tired of hanging with the big dogs. I’m ready to compete with the big dogs. I’m ready to knock off someone like Spike, but do you think Carter is going to give me that opportunity? Do you think he’ll stand aside and let me in the ring to get a pin fall over Spike or hell, probably even Rex? He stole the pin to win the tag titles after I dominated the match, and I’m never going to hear the end of how he carried the team.
Derek shrugged as they walked back slowly to the golf cart as Ace tossed his club and putter back into his bag and got into the driver’s seat.
-“Dynamic” Derek Daniels:-
Then don’t worry about what Carter wants you to do and take it. Show him you mean business, you’ve been nothing but a successful and great partner thus far, he lost that match for you guys last week, he snuck in and grabbed the pin when you guys won the belts. It’s really easy to do the wrong thing and be the bad guy like Kevin Carter, it’s super easy to act like a badass, and like you’re the coolest guy in the room, what it’s not easy to do is do the right thing, and win while doing the right thing, like you’re doing, but this week….I don’t care if you have to club Kevin Carter in the face to win the match by yourself…Do it, show him you don’t need him, shut him up, shut his mouth and hopefully he’ll keep it shut for good. You feel me?
Ace nodded as he drove onto the next hole and walked up to tee off as he swung his club a couple of times for a practice swing or two.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Sounds good, as bad as I hate to say it, I kind of want him in the ring again, but at the same time, I want to prove him wrong and prove everyone else wrong by sticking together, and working together and holding onto the tag titles, because I don’t want to let them go, I want to be a double-champion. I want to win that Roulette title too, and I want the management, or whoever to know that I’m ready for that challenge, and if Carter wins the SCW title, then awesome, we are the best thing going in SCW, and we hate each other, what would that say about how good I am? Or how good we both are. Look, if the people want to know why I chose Team Erik, sign me up for a promo with Oliver Wood, or Scott Oliver, or whatever his name is…I’ll let people know what’s going on…
Derek nodded and checked his watch, his golf cart just a jog away as he looked to Ace and pulled out his phone and began working on a text message.
-“Dynamic” Derek Daniels:-
Alright, give me an hour to work on this and I should have you in front of a camera, or maybe have Oliver give you a couple of questions, although I could probably do it better because I’m not stoned out of my mind.
Derek and Ace chuckled as Derek walked off back toward his cart as Ace teed off at the next hole; the ball flew high into the air with perfect rotation…
A few hours later, it was a different Ace Baldwin we see, dressed in a shirt which read “Who’s in the Danger Zone” with a silhouette of Macho Man Randy Savage, and a pair of jeans. He sat in a chair in front of Scott Oliver who’s eyes were a little red, hair in a tussle, but he looked prepared enough as a camera was sat up between them, it seemed to be already rolling.
-Scott Oliver:-
Hellooo from Scott Oliver, here on SCW.COM and I’m sitting here live with “Amazing” Ace Baldwin, who…Has won a few matches in the SCW already, am I right?
Ace looked a bit annoyed as he leaned forward with his fists in his lap, clasped together, intertwined with his fingers as he looked forward.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Yeah, I’ve been in the SCW for a few months now, Scott, but this is our first meeting, so it’s really good to sit down with you. I had very HIGH expectations that we would be doing this interview a lot sooner than later.
Scott picked up on the pun and laughed and pointed at Ace as then went back to a semi-serious face, he didn’t have any notes prepared in front of him, just a pair of slacks and a messy dress shirt. He looked over to Ace.
-Scott Oliver:-
Well, regardless you have been the talk of the SCW message boards as of late, wondering why you would join Team Erik. You don’t seem like the guy to join a side, you don’t seem like the guy to want to go against the flow of things, but you did. Can you tell us why you made this choice?
Ace lowered his head for the moment and took a deep breath before he looked up and then nodded toward the camera.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
I thought Team Erik was the best choice for me because my tag partner, Kevin Carter was in cahoots with Team Erik, and I thought for the moment, that maybe if I joined, I wouldn’t have to be looking over my shoulder 24/7, and I wouldn’t have to worry about getting jumped from behind, and so far, so good. They’ve not had their eyes on me, instead they’ve had their eyes on whoever we step into the ring with, and double teaming and beating them up. While I’m not a super hero, I’m not going to jump in there and try to save whoever Carter and whoever else is going to beat up, I’m not going to help them either. It comes down to this, this is a cut throat business, if you don’t jump on something right away, if you wait around forever, then you’re going to get left behind very, very quickly. I’m not going to let this team thing quell my momentum, I’m going to keep it going, and I’m going to keep it going by pinning the SCW champion, Spike Staggs…
Scott looked a little bit taken a back at the strong words from Ace, but Ace looked determined as ever as he curled one hand into a fist, he didn’t even let Scott speak, as Scott stayed silent.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Because let me tell you something, all of this taking a crap on Ace Baldwin, it stops now. That means you, Kevin Carter, even though you are my partner, I’ve sit back and taken the high road with you time and time again, I troll you on Twitter, I let you have your fun because in the end I know I’m a better wrestler than you. In the end I know I’m better liked than you and in the end I know that it’ll be me, not you standing atop that mountain, but at the time being, we’ve got to be partners, and I’m okay with that, I’m okay with tagging with you, but it ends now. If we lose, it’s going to be because you got pinned, if we win? It’s going to be because I won the match for us. So step aside, junior, and let the real wrestler go to work, and not the ultra-God-awesome guy of wrestling, Kevin Carter.
He shrugged.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
I don’t have anything against Spike Staggs, I think he’s a great champion, Scott, but I’ve got to make a name for myself somehow, and beating Goth and Lucien whoever and Kevin Carter isn’t going to do it, making a name off of those guys aren’t going to get me anywhere in this business and I get that, because in the end Ric Flair had it right all along, to be the man, you’ve got to beat the man, and I plan on beating the man this Sunday at Climax Control, I plan on pinning our champion here in the SCW one…Two…Three, and not for team Erik, or not because I want to get one over on Team SCW, no, you see, this is for something I’m calling…Team Ace.
Scott looked a bit dumbfounded as he looked over at Ace and scratched his head a couple of times before he spoke, but Ace was fired up, so he was a bit scared to speak at the moment.
-Scott Oliver:-
Um, Team Ace? I didn’t know that was a thing, or a real team?
Ace smirked and nodded.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Oh, it’s a real thing now, because I plan on winning this weekend, and it’s going to be for my enjoyment only, not the enjoyment of our team, not the enjoyment for Kevin Carter, but I’ll lead us to victory, because I’m sick and tired of playing the understudy role to Kevin Carter just because he has a briefcase in his hand, the fans want to see one man, and one man only. That is Ace Baldwin. They cheer me if I’m on team Erik, they cheer me if I’m on team SCW, but I’m on Team Ace, and I’m on Team Ace with each and every one of those SCW fans behind me, because with them, I don’t need Erik Staggs, I don’t need Kevin Carter, I only need me, myself and I. What a stable that could be.
Scott still looked a bit confused as he looked over at Ace and tried to put two and two together to no avail at the moment.
-Scott Oliver:-
So does that mean you are still on Team Erik? Or does this mean you have defected into your own team, I’m not quite following you.
Ace leaned forward and held a hand out slowly to Scott Oliver.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
I’m going to speak nice and slow so you can understand me Scott. I’m still on Team Erik, but what I’m saying is it doesn’t matter, because when these two teams self-destruct and none remain, there will be one remaining, and that will be me. I’m not being brought down because one team wins or loses, I’m going to stay right here, and stay the same. Because you see, both of these teams are short term, it’ll all get sorted out at the end, and while people may move on, or up and down. One thing is going to remain, that I will still be standing, that I will be ready to take on all challengers whether it be on Team Erik or Team SCW, in a couple of months that isn’t going to matter, what is going to matter is a win, a win over the champion, which is what I’m going to get, not try to get, what I’m going to do.
Scott Oliver nodded as he shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat as he looked to Ace as Ace had a cool smirk in his chair.
-Scott Oliver:-
Well, there is another one you haven’t mentioned in this match and that is Thatcher Rex, the current Roulette Champion, there’s going to be a lot of gold in this match, that is for sure, but are you worried about him as a threat?
Ace casually shook his head as he simply smirked again after he got done listening to the question of Scott and rolled his neck, he was ready to get into the ring right now, he didn’t want to wait until Sunday.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
No, and I left him last for a reason, Scott. You see. I don’t want to be worried about Rex, because Rex…Should be worried…About me. I have the tag titles right now, but I’m not happy with them. I want to add to my collection, I want to rise to the top here in the SCW and how can I do that? How can I achieve greatness? By winning more gold, you see I’m set up perfectly on my rise to the top to capture every belt SCW has to offer, my first win was the tag title belts, now I have a chance to throw Rex around the ring some, show he isn’t the champion the SCW thinks he is. Let me tell something to Rex if he is watching, you better shine and polish that belt up really nice, and take good care of it, because I’m going to be the one, eventually, to beat you for it. And I don’t want to beat anyone else, Rex. I want to beat you. You see, you want to base all of this around your name being T-Rex, well you and a T-Rex have something in common, your arms aren’t long enough to reach where I’m going, your arms aren’t long enough to climb to the very top, because that’s where Ace Baldwin is going to be, and the tag titles is just the beginning, I’m coming for them all.
He shrugged.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
Spike, you can wait a little longer, because I know when Kevin Carter gets up to you, he’s going to fail, and fail miserably, because he doesn’t have what it takes, I know you see it in me, Spike, more than you see it in him. I know deep down you know eventually it’ll be ME standing across that ring from you and it’ll be ME standing over you holding that belt to the cheers of the people….It’ll be ME, and it’ll be…Simply…Amazing…
He breathed in the air as he closed his eyes as Scott Oliver watched on as Ace looked forward to the camera, as if he was speaking directly to anyone who was watching, he had even forgotten Scott Oliver was even in the room at the moment.
-“Amazing” Ace Baldwin:-
This match isn’t about good guys or bad guys, it isn’t about teams, it isn’t about the gold belt each of us will carry to the ring, this match will end on one note and one note only, it’ll be the coming out party for Ace Baldwin, it’ll be the moment that each of you realize what I am capable of doing when I want to do it, and that should scare you, it should scare you that I can turn it on and off in the blink of an eye, it should scare you that I have another level that I haven’t even touched it, and it should scare you…Scare you because things will never…EVER…Be the same, it’s just starting…And you’re all about to be a part of it.
He didn’t say goodbye to Scott Oliver, he merely got up, grabbed the tag title that sat at his feet and put it over his shoulder and walked out of the room Scott sat in, now alone with a camera, not really knowing what to do next as the screen faded to black.
