SPACE
Kris’ Apartment - San Diego
14 June 2020
OFF-Camera
Had he gone too far? Probably. Kris was not going to let that stop him from trying to get things back on the right track though. Coby was still understandably angry about what had happened during the last Underground show. Kris had gone out with the intention of playing by his friend’s rules but lost track of it once the spotlight was on him. He had been out of line to disqualify Coby. That was a mark on his record that was not ever coming off. For that, Kris at least had to make an attempt to apologize.
Kris: Yo...
The door was already ajar, so Kris pounding the side of his closed fist on it scooted it further open until his friend was in plain sight. His back was to Kris, and he was packing up some of his things laying around the room. Kris’ tried his best to keep things light, but had a feeling he was about to get his head bitten off.
Kris: Going on vacation?
He attempted to inject some hopefulness into his voice, but Coby’s flat response crushes it instantly.
Coby: I’m going home.
Determined to not assume the worst, Kris tries his best to spin Coby’s departure in the most positive light. However, the cheeriness in his voice wavers.
Kris: Ah, no match this week so you are running back to the wife and child?
Kris attempts to force a fake laugh to cut some of the tension in the room, but Coby turns towards him and talks over it.
Coby: No match this week, so no reason to force myself to be around you. I can get away from you and go the only place that I know you won’t follow.
It was a low blow. Kris had been estranged from most of their extended families for months now. Neither his wife nor Kali had answered many of his calls. The others had given up trying to convince him to come back. Coby knew that Kris’ ego was too fragile for him to follow back to Seattle. He would have to address the possibility that everyone was fine without him. Better off even. Naturally, Kris tries his best to get his friend to walk his comment back.
Kris: That’s a bit harsh. I’m not so bad...
He trails off, but Coby does not take the bait. Instead, he doubles down on his previous hurtful claims and digs the knife in a little deeper.
Coby: You’re intolerable! It’s not even just during the shows. It’s all the time. I can see why nobody else wanted to come down here and babysit you. Everything is always about you. Why do you think everyone in SCW keeps saying the same thing to you? It’s just how you are, and you are too dense to get it.
Kris starts to shrink in front of Coby. His arms cross in front of his chest, and his shoulders dip. At this point Kris cannot even lift his eyes to meet Coby’s gaze.
Kris: I never asked for you to be here.
It was a classic Kris misdirection away from the point. Coby does not let him off the hook though.
Coby: Yeah, but you’ve proven time and time again that you need supervision or you spiral out of control. Unfortunately people care enough about you to try to save you from yourself, but you know what? I’m tapping out. I’m going home. I can’t do it anymore.
He turns back to his bag and continues packing up his things. Kris should have just left. There was nothing that he could say that was going to get past Coby’s defenses when he was this angry. This had been the worst case scenario that had been running through Kris’ mind his whole way up to Coby’s room. At this point, Kris was desperate not to let any of that show on his face.
Kris: What about Underground?
It was a last ditch effort to draw Coby into any topic other than how Kris had been a letdown. Coby doesn’t bother turning back to him to answer, and continues packing.
Coby: I’ll be back for the show, and whatever you have planned for ruining it. I’m not quitting. I am just not going to do this anymore. I thought if I went to SCU and stayed out of your way that you would let me do my own thing, but you’re incapable of coexisting with anyone.
He zips the top of the bag closed and takes one last look around the room as he finishes. His eyes meet Kris’ for just a moment and the SCW Grand Slam Champion flashes his a smile and tries to lighten the situation.
Kris: What can I say? The spotlight loves me?
Coby shoulder checks him on his way out of the room, not indulging Kris any longer. He calls back to him over his shoulder on his way down the stairs.
Coby: Does it? Or do you love swooping in and stealing it from others?
Kris quickly follows him down, no longer content just to accept the verbal beatdown that Coby was laying on him.
Kris: I ca--
Before he can even make his point Coby turns around at the bottom of the staircase and cuts him off. It was better not to even let Kris get going, and Coby knew it. He had the upper hand, and he was not going to give it up.
Coby: ...you did it to Kyle. You did it to Court when she was trying to win Blast from the Past. You were the reason Aaron bailed out of SCW. And why is that?
Kris shrugs.
Kris: I gu---
Again, Coby refuses to let him talk, answering the question for him.
Coby: It’s because we were your friends. We were the people you helped train and get their foot into the right doors. So when you kept popping up, we let you. Anyone else would have put you in your place. That’s why you always do it to us. But you always take it too far. It always has to be about you. You never know when you overstay your welcome. That’s why you’re going to end up alone.
Coby turns again, making his way through the main floor of the apartment. Kris follows him through the hallways, not wanting to give up on the argument.
Kris: I have always just been trying to help.
Coby laughs, and fires back immediately.
Coby: Who? Us or yourself?
Kris does not overthink his answer, not wanting to get cut off by Coby before getting to answer for himself.
Kris: Both.
They were closing in on the front door now, and Coby was not making any signs of stopping or reconsidering heading back home. As he pulls the door open, he turns back to look at Kris for just a moment.
Coby: Well it never looked that way to us...
It stops Kris in his tracks, and he does not have anything to say for himself. Coby does not wait for him to find the answer, stepping through the door and leaving his friend alone in the apartment.
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The scene opens looking down on Kris Ryans as he hangs from a pegboard on the wall of the Jet City Sports Lab. He works his way across the board, supporting all of his weight with one hand as he pulls a peg out of the wall and moves it further down the line. Once he is sure of his grip, he shifts his weight right, and moves the second peg closer to the first one that he moved. As he continues moving across the wall, he starts to speak without looking up at the camera.
Crystal isn’t so bad.
I know it’s not going to be the popular opinion this week, but it is the truth. It seems like I am the only person that is not too good to admit it though. There are so many of us that get the chance to control our own destiny this week. If this was a regular card, would we have all gotten this chance?
Of course not.
Mark and Christian can be generous, but not this generous. We probably would have seen one of the Roulette Championships up for grabs no matter what in a main event. A couple of matches would have led to possible contendership opportunities, but nothing like this. Two bombshells and myself get the opportunity to name a match of our choosing from now until the end of the year. It’s a hell of a handout.
He gets to the end of the wall and starts to swing back and forth to gather some momentum. On his third swing he lets go of the pegs and launches himself through the air, landing on a raised platform. The camera bounces from the impact, but stays attached to him. Kris sits down on top of the obstacle, attempting to catch his breath.
People are going to complain about how things aren’t fair, but nobody ever said that Crystal had to be fair. Remember when Christian went to war with Griffin Hawkins? Was that fair?
Others are going to complain that the top two champions of the company are in the show opener. I remember a time where I was the SCW World Heavyweight Champion, and Ben Jordan was happy to participate in the opener against me. I guess time really has changed Saint Ben while I was away.
He shrugs, and moves on, not wanting to waste any time on the SCW World Heavyweight Champion at the moment. If he were to walk away from this match a master of his own destiny, he could spend some time talking about Ben. Until then, he needed to stay focused.
For me it is not just about the opportunity to take a shot at any championship that I desire in the next few months. For me this match is a lot more than that, and that is why I had to give credit to Crystal for doing something intelligent. I would be stupid to say that I didn’t care about the prize awarded to the winner of the match, but that isn’t the only thing that interests me.
He shakes his head, and a smile spreads across his face. He had known Crystal a long time, and there was no way that she hadn’t thought things through before putting him in this match. It made it hard to say anything bad about her when she knew him so well.
Since I first started here, I haven’t been very good at losing. Unsurprisingly, I don’t take it very well. It eats at me.
He uses his hand to claw at the skin of his left arm like something was actually crawling around beneath the surface.
It gets under my skin and there’s really only one thing that I can do to make the feeling go away.
He stops, the smile coming back.
That’s why I’ve made a habit of going back and beating the people that have gotten one over on me in the past. I talked about it leading up to my match at Into the Void, and Crystal must have been listening, because she dropped Bill Barnhart directly into my lap this Sunday.
Despite his loss last time he was in the ring with Bill, Kris seemed confident, possibly bolstered by his recent victory over Griffin Hawkins.
At this point, everyone knows that Bill’s win over me was a fluke. It was my first match back after an extended period of time away, and he got the luckiest win he is ever going to get in his career. Even Mark and Christian were surprised by it, and they handed him a chance to win the Internet Championship based on his win over me. Of course, he isn’t carrying that championship into this match, so obviously giving him a chance was a waste.
It was harsh, but it was the truth. Bill Barnhart had beaten Kris and gotten the opportunity of a lifetime, but pissed it away. Kris took some personal satisfaction in the fact that he hadn’t been a sudden launchpad for Bill’s career.
Bill, I started you on a path towards greatness last time around, and you proved that you weren’t up for it. I gave you all of the momentum in the world, and you couldn’t rise past the upper middle. You were barely able to come away with a victory over me when I was unfocused and rusty. What are you going to do now that I am better conditioned? You aren’t going to outlast me this time, and I have already absorbed your best shots. I am sure that Griffin wishes that he had fought me that first match back instead of at Into the Void. I’m sure that O’Malley wishes he was in any match other than this one. Nobody wants to step into the ring with me when I am on top of my game.
Kris flashes a smile to the camera one more time and moves around the platform that he is sitting on. He looks down at the floor beneath him, before looking back up into the camera with one last message for Bill.
Last time was a fluke. There will not be a second.
With that, he drops off of the obstacle into a pit of foam blocks. As he makes impact, the camera cuts to a black screen.
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Jet City Split
Jet City South - San Diego
16 June 2020
OFF-Camera
It did not make any sense. Coby had gone back to Seattle days ago. Kris had locked the gym up hours ago. Yet, as he was finally relaxing for the night one of the motion sensors had sent an alert to his phone. He had checked the cameras without seeing anything out of sorts, and thought it had to be a mistake. Twenty minutes later it happened again. Again Kris checked the cameras, only to be disappointed. When it happened a third time, he had already made his decision to investigate. However, this time when he checked the camera a single light was on in the middle of the gym. From the view Kris had, he could not see who it was, only that they were standing in the center of his six-sided ring, and looking out at the rest of the gym. It had to be Coby. He was the only other person with a key. Kris grabbed his phone and made his way down to the bottom floor of the building. The front door was still locked, another sign that it was not Coby. Kris was starting to worry that he was dealing with a legitimate break-in as he unlocked the door and made his way inside.
Kris: Can I help you?
Whoever was standing in the middle of the ring was leaning on the ropes with his back to Kris. He laughs, and Kris’ relaxed immediately. He did not have to see his face to know that the man standing in front of him was his brother and former tag team partner.
Jason: Probably not...
Jason didn’t sound like he was in a mood to play games, and Kris quickly put together why. They had been partners in Jet City, but that had gone way past the two of them being a team in Sin City Wrestling. They had built a successful gym together. Kris knew it was just a matter of time before Jason found out that he had basically stolen half of their gym and taken off to San Diego.
Kris: I should have known that Coby was going to run and tattle on me. Is he still in the middle of his tantrum?
Jason turns towards his younger brother, his expression blank. He shrugs his shoulders, and shakes his head slowly.
Jason: I don’t know. I haven’t talked to him. I’m sure whatever he is mad about is your fault though. You have a knack for being a jackass.
Jason’s condescending smirk started to corner out of the corner of his mouth, but Kris was not going to stand by and let his brother waste his time.
Kris: So if Coby didn’t tell you what was up, how did you find out?
Kris climbs up the stairs in one of the corners of the ring and walks up along the apron. Jason takes a step closer to him, but stays in the center of the ring. He was almost insulted that his younger brother thought this little of him. Jason was by-far the more responsible of the two of them. If anyone was going to notice something wrong with the gym, it was going to be him.
Jason: Well there’s the fact that storage got cleaned out a couple of months ago, but I knew it wasn’t me.
Kris shrugs and rolls his eyes.
Kris: I didn’t think you checked it.
Jason’s voice raises, not happy with Kris treating him like he was an idiot.
Jason: Oh, and the fact that you keep filming all of your promos for SCW from here.
Kris had not even thought of that possibility. It was nice to know that even though the people at home were mad at him, they were still fans of his. They might have been the only ones that he had left these days. Maybe they would set Coby straight.
Kris: You people are still watching the shows?
The look on Jason’s did not make Kris hopeful that he was going to have a pleasant answer.
Jason: We started watching them all together. That didn’t last long.
The fact that all of their friends and family had watched Kris fall on his face in his debut felt like getting caught with his pants down. Although, he had literally gotten caught with his pants down in his last run with the company, so this couldn’t be as bad for him as that was. Kris timidly tries to shake off the embarrassment.
Kris: I didn’t exactly have the best debut...
Jason helps him along, but not the way that Kris would have gone if he was given the option.
Jason: No, and since then you have been running around making an asshole out of yourself. You brought up me and Parker fighting Griffin in order to get into his head? What is wrong with you. You two are friends. How do you think Heather feels about all that? Or do you not think about that?
Kris had done what he had to do going into that match, and he had not allowed himself to feel bad about it. He shrugs his shoulders again, a little of his confidence returning.
Kris: I won.
Jason still doesn’t seem impressed. If anything, Kris was just digging himself a bigger hole. He could see the disappointment building in his older brother’s eyes.
Jason: ...but what does all of that cost? What does all of this cost you?
Jason gestures to the gym that Kris had built. This visit was not just about the way that Kris was acting, or bringing him back home. It was about all of it, the gym included. Kris had made a choice and run away from everything, screwing over everyone in Jet City in the process. Kris wasn’t ready to have that conversation though. He tries his best to deflect away from it.
Kris: I mean we already owned the building so it’s really just about keepin---
Jason refuses to participate in the circus act and yells over Kris.
Jason: You know what I mean!
Kris had been moving like he was going to step between the ropes and enter the ring to face his brother, but the sudden outburst stopped him in his tracks. Jason pressed on before Kris even realized what was happening.
Jason: Every time you come back you end up leaving more injured and with less people that give a shit about your well-being. You get in front of a camera and decide to be your worst self just to get attention. You piss people off and then someone finally breaks you for it. What’s going to break this time?
Kris finds the willpower to step into the ring now, and does his best to keep calm. He was not going to let Jason get to him the same way that Coby had.
Kris: I guess we’ll burn that bridge when we get to it.
Jason reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulls out a stack of papers. He extends it out to Kris.
Jason: No, we can do that now. I was hoping to talk some kind of sense into you but there’s no point.
Kris reaches out to take it, but could not decipher what he was looking at right off the bat.
Kris: What’s all this?
Jason moves around his brother, happy to explain that he was finally cutting him loose after all of the years that he spent taking care of him.
Jason: This is me giving you all of this shit. It’s yours. The rest is mine.
Kris stops flipping through pages and turns back to his brother with a smile. He goes to the last page in the stack and signs his name in a few places before tossing it back to his brother.
Kris: Done.
Jason catches it, but it was not the outcome that he had been hoping for. Despite all of the negatives that came with him, Kris was family. He didn’t like the idea of casting him out, even though he had left everyone no alternative.
Jason: It didn’t have to be like this.
Kris was not going to give him the satisfaction of begging him to stay. If Jason was trying to call Kris’ bluff, he was going to continue to be disappointed by Kris’ stubbornness.
Kris: I think we both knew that it was always going to end like this.
Jason nods, and tucks the papers back into his jacket pocket. He takes one last look around the gym that Kris had built for himself before stepping out of the ring and dropping down to the floor. The slaps the mat twice before making his exit.
Jason: Good luck.
==========================================================
The cameras catch up to Kris looking a little breathless. The top half of his sleeveless red shirt is much darker than the bottom, and visibly damp. The former champion’s usually perfect hair is beyond frazzled. He unscrews the lid off of a bottle of water and finishes the last half of it before throwing it into a bin next to the front entrance of Jet City South. The cameras follow him as he makes his way inside.
Into the Void IX is going to end up being my most favorite match of my SCW career.
It did not come out like a joke, or that he was gloating. The smile on his face looked to be genuine, like Kris was thinking about turning over a new leaf.
I know. Even I didn’t believe that it would be at first. Believe me, I have worked it all out though. My matches with Despy were great, but he was just better than me back then. My brother and I tore the house down when we fought on Climax Control, but I feel like he was already past his prime. I even thought back to all of my battles with Crimson, or possibly even the match with Ben, but none of them measure up. As of today, I feel like it has to be the match with Griffin.
Kris stops once the camera crew was inside and locks the door behind them before making his way across the gym. The space was huge, but quiet. He had not opened it up to the public and now that his partners were not around, it was really just Kris using the space.
Let’s put aside all of the things that we said to each other building towards the match.
It was easier said than done. The things that Kris had dragged out into the public eye for the sake of their match had done more harm than he had intended.
While we are at it we can put aside the fact that Griffin’s dreams of a shot at the SCW World Heavyweight Championship died when he lost to me. That’s not going to be helpful for this either.
He had hooked everyone in until now. Suddenly the smile on his face did not feel so genuine anymore. If he wanted to bait people in by being positive before dropping the hammer on them, he had been successful. He wasn’t quite done reeling everyone in though.
The match itself was amazing. I don’t think that there is another person that I have been more evenly matched with in all of my years stepping into the ring. Since the moment that Griffin accepted my challenge he pushed me to be at the top of my game. I couldn’t walk into the match with Griffin with the same attitude that I approached Bill Barnhart with weeks before. I had to be sharp. I had to regain the instincts that made me the face of this company two years ago.
The former champion had crossed the line between confidence and cockiness.
I walked into that match with something to prove, and walked out with my hand held high in the air. But like I said going in, that outcome was not preordained by any means. I am not unbeatable, nor am I unstoppable. I have proven that I can lose a match after a single misstep time and time again. I wasn’t fighting Griffin to prove that I was perfect though. I was fighting Griffin to prove that I am one of the best to ever step into the six-sided SCW ring.
Any thought that Kris was going to grow up was out the window now. He was just as full of himself after his victory as he had been beforehand. If anything, the win had reinforced the worst parts of his personality.
Griffin attempted to sell me on the idea that there were so many up and coming guys that were ready to take my place if I wasn’t able to deliver like I used to. He reminded me that there are always people looking up from the bottom and wanting what the people at the top have. He reminded me that I was one of the few that was able to break through that glass ceiling and take over a company. Nobody believed that I could do it back then, and not many believed I had enough left in the tank to keep doing it now.
The thrill he got out of proving people wrong was the whole reason that he still wanted to compete despite how much it had cost him. He had spent the last two weeks doubting himself but was starting to remember what he loved so much about the industry.
Thanks to Griffin Hawkins I was able to prove all of the doubters wrong at Into the Void. It didn’t matter what was said. It didn’t matter what anyone thought of me. I came down to that ring, turned out Griffin’s lights with a well-aimed boot to the side of the face, and walked out a winner. Any thought that my career had stalled after losing to Bill was brushed away. Any talk of Griffin Hawkins passing me up and becoming a top contender was squashed in a split-second.
He snaps his fingers and then pauses for just a moment. He tries to force himself to ratchet down the confidence and sound more serious.
Griffin has been kind of quiet about things since the loss, so I assume it got in his head a little bit. It is hard when you talk a big game and then fail to come through in the end. I get it. I have been there my fair share of times.
Kris raises his index finger to tap his bottom lip and then rests his hand on his chin. Something he had said earlier in the week about Bill Barnhart started to come to mind.
The good thing is, Crystal seems to be giving Griffin the same second chance that she is giving me. While I am aiming to avenge a fluke loss against Bill Barnhart, Griffin can try to do the same thing. This time he doesn’t even have to actually pin me to make it happen either. All he has to do is take out Bill or O’Malley, neither of which pose the same threat that I do.
He knew that it would sting for both men to hear, but that didn’t make it any less true. Kris wasn’t going to feel bad about telling the truth. At least there was at least some path to success for Griffin, even if O’Malley and Bill were screwed.
If Griffin can pull it off, then his loss at Into the Void becomes an unfortunate speed bump. He gets his opportunity to challenge for whatever title he chooses, whenever he chooses to do so. At the same time, he manages to finally get around the only obstacle that he hasn’t been able to overcome: Kristopher Ryans. You have to admit, it makes for an exciting story.
Kris’ eyes wander away from the camera as he thinks over the possibility that his friend could actually rise to the occasion. It doesn’t last long, as Kris would not willingly give up the spotlight to let something like that happen.
Unfortunately for Griffin, we have already seen the ending. He is going to be on the brink of victory, only to have it snatched away at the last moment by someone just slightly more talented than he is. It’s a problem that has plagued him for most of his career, but one that I have already shrugged off.
Sorry about costing you another opportunity Griffin, but I’m going to need to take this one for myself as well. Better luck next time.
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FTW
Kris’ Apartment - San Diego
19 June 2020
OFF-Camera
The two weeks following Into the Void had not gone Kris’ way. Everyone had ignored his birthday. Coby had left. Jason had cut him off. His family had abandoned him. Worst of all, Kris was starting to believe that it was entirely his own doing. Had he really been pushing everyone away all this time? The distractions had made preparing for his match difficult. Having nobody around to bounce ideas off of had added another level of torture of it as well. Kris had been making his way through his routine and was halfway through his set on an inverted leg press machine when a pair of hands covered his eyes. His headphones had canceled out the sound of her approach, but Kris easily identified her by the scent of the lotion she had covered herself in.
Kris: I’m really not in the mood for any games right now.
Mikah takes her hands away from his eyes and sits down on the machine next to him with a frown on her face. The tank top she has on is soaked, indicating she had been going through a workout of her own. Kris tries not to let her distract him from what he is doing. He exhales, and starts his set over, trying to ignore her.
Mikah: What? Are you upset that Coby finally got sick of your shit? You should have seen that coming.
Kris stops. He had already reached his threshold of shit he was going to allow people to shovel his direction.
Kris: I did.
Mikah does not let the hostility in Kris’ voice get her off of her game. She was used to dealing with him, regardless of how combative he was feeling. The two of them used to do the Kris and Mikah Show in front of cameras while livid with one another. She was not afraid of him in any way.
Mikah: So you are pouting about something else?
It came out as more of a taunt than an actual question, but Kris was too knotted up not to take the bait. He sighs, and starts to unload some of his baggage.
Kris: Jason showed up and signed all of this over to me.
He gestures to the gym around them. Of course, that did not seem like a bad thing to Mikah. Kris and Coby had spent months working on getting the gym ready to open. Kris had been stressed about what Jason would do once he found out it was open. The fact that he knew, and seemingly didn’t care, felt like it should be a good thing. The way Kris was acting made it feel like the opposite.
Mikah: That seems like something to be happy about. That is what you wanted, right?
Kris laughed, not sure how she could miss why Jason would do something like that. It was not a favor. It was an insult.
Kris: It means that they are all giving up on me. They don’t want me back.
Mikah stretches out across the machine next to Kris, trying to sit more comfortably. She still couldn’t what had made Kris so upset. He sounded a lot like how she was talking when she first showed up after her fight with Drake. Kris had told her to stop hanging onto something that was only letting her down. Maybe it was her turn to do him the same courtesy.
Mikah: All you ever do is complain that they are always trying to control you and tell you what to do. This sounds like a good thing.
She was right, but something about it still was not sitting well with Kris. It felt like he was letting everyone else down by chasing what he felt was right for himself. He loved being in the ring, but nobody seemed to understand that. He didn’t care about the injuries or the risk. It was better than sitting at home wasting away. The fact that his brother was willing to write him off over that felt unfair.
Kris: It’s just a weird feeling. We took a tag team, built a training center around it, and kind of all became really close-knit because of it. It feels like being kicked out of the family once and for all.
Mikah was well aware of what that felt like, and gives Kris the same advice that he had given her time and time again.
Mikah: Well, you never needed them anyways.
It was not something that Kris was used to hearing. Everyone was always telling him that he needed their help, or that he required supervision so that he would not get into trouble.
Kris: What?
Mikah smiled, she knew that she had him on the hook now. After two weeks of being chopped down to size, Kris was dying to hear anyone say something positive.
Mikah: You’re Kristopher Ryans, SCW Grand Slam Champion. None of those people were around for any of that. You did that all on your own. You overcame every obstacle thrown at you. You’re adaptable.
Kris wasn’t sure that everyone would agree with her. The Nobodies had helped him along as Internet Champion. His brother had co-captained Jet City during their tag team run. Her heart was in the right place though, and Kris could kind of her see point.
Kris: That depends on who you ask...
Mikah had the perfect answer waiting for any kind of resistance from him.
Mikah: Me! Because I am the only one with an opinion that matters. Look at me!
Reluctantly, Kris looks up from the machine to meet her gaze.
Kris: What?
Mikah: Every time you have run into a problem you have picked yourself up, and found a way to get past it. So what if Jet City hates you now. They weren’t around when you were a nobody anyways. They only came around once you were already The Miracle.
She had a point. Jason hadn’t even come up with the idea of them opening a gym until after they were holding the SCW Tag Team Championships. By that point Kris was already an established star on the roster. He clawed his way up the ranks on his own before then. It did not change the fact that his current situation was deflating though.
Kris: Well I’m not exact feeling very miraculous...
Mikah shrugs, refusing to allow Kris to continue sulking.
Mikah: Then maybe it is time to adapt.
Kris laughs and shakes his head. It was one of those things that was easy to blurt out as an idea, but difficult to do.
Kris: What does that even mean?
Luckily, from the moment that Kris’ name had been announced as a participant in the Control You Destiny match, Mikah had been plotting the change Kris needed to get things turned around in the right direction.
Mikah: I have an idea.
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The cameras do not find Kris in the middle of his strange workout routines this time. Instead, he is sitting in the center of the ring on a stool. He is dressed in street clothes, and has his attention focused on the camera in front of him.
O’Mally is, by far, my least favorite type of person in the world.
There is no smile, and no game being played. It must have been Honesty Hour at Jet City South.
This is a man whose opinion of me is something like ‘a little flaky, and nothing respectable’. In his lead up to losing at Into the Void, he said that I should have been easily beaten by Finn Whelan. Let’s not forget that O’Malley went on to prove he can’t do something as simple as climb a ladder and remove a briefcase while I was busy putting on another SCW Classic against Griffin Hawkins.
This time Kris doesn’t let his last win get him off track. He was not here to talk about Griffin. He was here to talk about a guy that was too cowardly to even speak for himself, unless it was to complain on Twitter.
I guess it is a little unfair to call Darcy’s words against O’Malley, but since the guy is incapable of talking for himself I guess I don’t have much of a choice. It is kind of strange though. O’Malley pretends to be an intimidating presence, but needs his significant other to come and be his mouthpiece. He is supposedly a talented alumni of the GO Gym, but it looks like everyone else from there is ashamed to know him. The guy wants to be considered a decent competitor and champion but stole the Underground title and says he would rather have the week off than have a chance to compete on Climax Control.
It is clear that nothing about O’Malley impresses Kris. The former champion had at least had a little fun during his addresses to his other opponents. However, there was nothing joyous about his demeanor now.
This is a guy that made it a point to complain that nobody else had anything to say about his match at Into the Void, but never actually speaks for himself. He says that others put in half-assed effort while sitting on his ass and letting Darcy speak for him. He wonders why he is still struggling to legitimize his grip on his B-show championship when it is clear to all of us. He can’t speak for himself. He can’t win without her help. He can’t win a title unless he is stealing it from the rightful champion.
Kris shrugs, with a sorry-not-sorry smirk coming back onto his face.
...and for all of Darcy’s complaining in his promos, he hasn’t been going out to the ring and getting anything done. Is he planning his next big move as King of a Day? No, Jack Washington is. The same Jack Washington that threatened to break me before I put him in his place just a few weeks ago. A guy that I laid out in the middle of the ring after he told me that I was too feeble to be a real threat. That was the guy that rose to the occasion and bested O’Malley, and yet I am supposed to fear him for some reason?
The laugh that Kris lets out is almost as offensive as any of his words.
Mark Cross may have been a shitty Underground Champion but at least the guy speaks for himself and actually has the talent to get it done in the ring on his own. O’Malley needs someone to do the talking for him, and someone to bend the rules for him just to gain any traction. When it comes to the championship he carries around, he took advantage of two real champions having just beaten the hell out of each other. There is nobody in this company that is scraping by doing the bare minimum quite like O’Malley is. Yet, he has the audacity to try and call out anyone like he is better than they are.
When I pressed him about this match, he said that he would show up and win the whole thing if he wanted to, but he wasn’t sold on it. This is a guy that just took the shortcut of all shortcuts to steal the Underground Championship, but suddenly has no interest in winning this one? Days ago, he made the ludicrous statement that if he lost it would just be because he wasn’t interested in the opportunity.
Maybe he is not interested because there is no way to cheat his way around putting in the work this time. Maybe he knows that his days of letting Darcy fight his battles for him isn’t going to get him the kind of respect that he is demanding out of people. Or maybe he just realizes that he is not good enough to do any of these things on his own. We have all heard Darcy talk about how she was the one to see his potential and draw it out of him. We have heard her say that he was on the wrong path before she got involved. It seems like she thinks that he is a failure without her.
Kris knew that he was not going to be able to cause any friction between the two with his opinion, but he couldn’t help but point out the facts.
I’m here to make sure that he knows that everyone still thinks of him as a failure, even with her. Possibly even because of her.
The predictability of it all made Kris start to appear bored even wasting time on the not-so-dynamic duo.
...but still. I bet she ends up at ringside for this match and does her best to help him steal another victory that he couldn’t possibly earn on his own. It will be entertaining to get to see the heartbreak on her face up close when he loses yet again.
It’s going to be hard to wait two more days before I get to see it.
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