Somewhere in Japan on a train. Possible Japan's famous bullet train.
The train whips along but you can't really see that, you only get the sense of movement. The train is nearly packed to the brink, but there seems to be one open seat on the train, a seat next to a man you'd recognize as Blade Alexander.
Blade: This shouldn't really surprise you, Not if you've been here before. If you had you'd know the real reason people on this train would rather sand packed together than sit by me. It's not because they're shy around a camera, it's not even because they're intimidated by who I am. Look at them.
The camera pans down the majority of the car. The Japanese people are looking around at each other, the floor, the ceiling even, some even look at the camera but all of them are avoiding looking at Blade.
Blade: They want to act like the love America now and embrace the culture, but look at them... Deep down they'll always be scared. They want to act warm and welcoming, but when it comes down to it they really don't want you to be a part of their every day lives. No matter how hard they try to mask it in the end their xenophobia shines through.
He looks around and smirks.
Blade: Wrestling in many ways isn't that different. It used to be if you couldn't wrestle, if you didn't love the business then we'd send you out in a cast. But lately it seems things have shifted the other way. Lately I feel like SCW has treated people like me like we're the outsiders, like we're the ones that don't belong.
Blade: Then you get someone like this Gene Baton Jr coming along and it's red carpet all the way. You might think this is sour grapes, but I think it's funny as hell. I know something they don't know... That carpet is only red because I lit it on fire.
Blade: You can roll out the red carpet all you like but it will only get you so far. Just because a guy comes from wrestling greatness doesn't always mean that's where he's headed. The world is full of people with limitless potential who never reach it. Question is, which one is Geno? Potential can get you far, but also hold you back, not unlike xenophobia.
He gestures towards the people on the train.
Blade: These people can tell you I'm the kind of guy who surpasses potential, they've seen it time and time again. I know what it's like to be under the bright lights Gene. I know what it takes to be successful in this business when the pressure is on. Unlike you I'm not untested. This might be my first match back but it's a long way from my first match. Violent Conduct, Gene, there will be blood. Your blood. You get your first test in SCW to see if you've really got all the potential they say you do, but what I've seen so far is nothing. No potential. No success. No future. Only failure.
Blade: When these people look at me what do you figure it is they see? Blonde hair? Big muscles? They just see the color of my skin Gene. They see the white skin and they don't see the maple leaf I was born under, they just see stars and stripes and they remember. They remember pain and hurt and loss. They remember thinks that were taken from them and when I get in the ring they're going to boo me. I'm going to let them boo me. I'm going to make them boo me and they're going to thank me for it. Can you say the same Gene? Huh? Can you say the first time you step into the ring that your daddy taught you everything he knows? Did he teach you how to get a crowd to treat you the way you want them to? Has he taught you how to make people like these, people who will do everything they can to avoid you on the train across town pay money to actually see you? These people are going to do that Gene. These people are going to pay to go to Violent Conduct and see me and boo me, not so they can see you... Someone they don't know at all... Beat me up. They know it wont happen. They're coming to see me. They're coming to hate me because look at them, they'll know it's OK for them to hate me. I'm the bad guy Gene. They'll hate me and feel better about themselves for it. They'll boo me and put their thumbs down at me and after it's all over and they've had their little cathartic moment of hate they're see me outside and bow and thank me and show me respect, and what for? So at the end of the night they don't have to feel guilty when they do the exact same thing on the train ride home.
Blade: You're like them Gene. You're frightened. You wait till the moment you absolutely have to face reality and then you get through it and feel better for your own shortcomings by telling yourself it's OK. It's not like you lost to just anyone Gene. You lost to Blade Alexander. You lost to one of the best. You were beaten by a second generation wrestler with more experience than you. You'll tell yourself that so when you get back to your hotel room you can sleep soundly and catch a plane in the morning so you can do it all over again next week. It's our catharsis Gene, but it's like your potential. It'll never get you anywhere but forgotten by all but the most lonely of wrestling historians who'll use you as a trivia question to impress your friends. Then next time SCW or the NWA comes back to Japan I'll find myself on a train like this with plenty of elbow room even though the train is packed and I'll have something else to say to someone else so these people and I will do this dance all over again.
Blade: You're never going to amount to anything in this business Gene unless you want it. You have to go out there and take it all because no one's about to give you anything. Someone needed to tell you that Gene. Your father obviously never did, maybe he knew you were just going to fail him anyway. Why bother if you're going to lose right? Great attitude Gene, now I know where you got it from. Your dad's like Homer Simpson. Never bothered to teach you anything because he knew you would never get anywhere. Just like a train in Japan if you think about it, Gene. You ride around and around but no matter how far you go you always end up just where you started again. How's that for poetic justice?
Fade.
