What a night Sunday was. Everything felt so right in the world again, with Sin City Wrestling returning to the airwaves again. The hype was there and it lived up to it. There was a good need for some to celebrate a successful night. One of those people who felt it was a celebration time was none other than the Cockney King, Ben Jordan.
Monday afternoon...
Ben Jordan, SCW's resident good guy, Saint Ben as some would say, had never really worried about money as such, never been a hoarder of material wealth, even before he got lucky and stumbled in to serious amounts of money, did have a few luxuries. It wasn't to brag about all his possessions, but were essential to his lifestyle. The house in Cuba, was just a house to him, a place to lay his head, the house now in Maine, although costing not far south of two million dollars, wasn't a chance to brag, but a worthwhile investment for what he felt like he needed at this point in his life, peace and solitude. He used to be popular Ben, always with his friends, always happy to be around them, now at times, he craved the peace and quiet and that's what Maine had to offer him, that's what he wanted for this week. He needed another little luxury to make this work, thankfully new found riches had gone to his head at first and he dreamed of seeing the world, he thought long term and now we join Ben on one of his few luxuries...
The private plane owned by Ben Jordan skims through the air, heading between the noise and insanity of Las Vegas to the peace and quiet of Maine, the two places a world apart in atmosphere. The camera drops on to Ben's face, his eyes covered in sunglasses as he looks in to the camera, a white T-shirt covering his upper body and day old stubble on his face.
"Afternoon people." Ben says with a croaky voice. "Here I am sitting here on a plane, heading for the new home and stuff but thought to meself, I could get this ol' promo stuff done a little bit early this week. JD has been bugging the bloody hell out of me about coming up and decorating the place. Don't tell him but it looks lovely as it is, but everything can be improved with a bit of Jamie flair and dazzle, so it makes sense to whack this promo out as soon as I can."
Ben continues to peer through the dark sunglasses, as he points towards them.
"I know ya wondering, well ya probably not if ya follow me on Twitter..." Ben starts "But these things are proper needed today, I mean seriously needed big time. Be no surprise to tell you that I was proper buzzing after the show last night. I was happy as a sand boy building a sandcastle. I was like the cat with a rocket tied to it's tail, I was over the moon."
Ben puts up a hand.
"Not condoning violence against animals. It's an old kids joke." Ben explains. "But yeah, I was happy. I sat there and watched Kristopher Ryans in the ring, I saw Crimson appear with a blade, and you don't see that every day. I got to see old friends I hadn't in a while, I even got to see Shorty smack O Malley in the gentlemen's sausage, which you really don't see every day...... Note to self, name this promo The One Where Ben Says Gentlemen's Sausage
He can't help but smile.
"I was on a proper hyper, so I took myself out and hung around the fans." he says composed. "Love the fans, they are what allows us to work."
He rubs his chin.
"By yourself Ben? I hear you say." He says with a smile "But yeah, by myself. I went out and spoke to people by myself. Roll the tape and while ya gone, I'm gonna have a little kip. Catch ya in a bit."
Ben leans back in his seat.
*******
Sam's Town on Sunday night.
It's been forty five minutes since Dmitri and Lucy Seraphina's arms were raised in the ring, signalling an end to the unexpected return of SCW, yet the crowd were just filtering out and back in to the casino after many SCW stars has stayed behind, signing autographs, posing for pictures with champions, the line to meet their favourite stars stretching beyond the eye. All in all, the SCW bosses must have seen the show as a success and to many SCW wrestler, something they've missed, to others like the debuting Nick Steen, still probably short less, and Brittany Williams, it was their first bite of the apple to experience what SCW brings. Ben had stayed around for half an hour, talking with the fans, posing for pictures, and signing his name, but soon found himself with them, walking casually across the casino floor and to a bar area, wearing a familiar white shirt he may be wearing right now as he sleeps on the plane.
Ben made his way to the bar and was instantly greeted with a beer, it wasn't his first time standing at the bar, and his name and face made it easy to remember a repeat order. Ben glances down the bar to see O' Malley had beaten him to it, sinking a pint of Guinness as if it was water. Ben had seen the look on O' Malley's face a million times from thousands of different people working in his father's - later to become his - bar in East London. He knew O' Malley was not a man who wanted to be disturbed for any reason. His hunched shoulders over the bar, his eyes staring directly in to the drink was a giveaway, and deterrent for any fan wanting to speak to him.
Ben picks up the glass from the bar and takes a long gulp, savouring the well earned pint after a night at work, I mean who doesn't like a nice cold beer after work? Ben casts a look across the casino floor, just wondering where the night may take him. A notorious gambler, a casino was his heaven and he knew it as he weighed up his options. His train of thought was stopped by a group of people moving towards him, talking amongst themselves as they looked towards Ben. He eyes looked up at once of the shirts, seeing it's a classic ACW shirt. A smile pops up on the Englishman's face as a host of memories flood back in to his mind.
"Whoa!" A man in his twenties says, as he looks towards Ben. "You're Ben Jordan."
Ben smiles politely.
"That's what my passport says." Ben says cheerfully. "Been at the show tonight?"
The group of four, a man and a woman in their twenties, along with a teenage looking male and female gather around Ben.
"Yeah!" The teenage girl says. "You were awesome."
"She's got the biggest crush on you." The teenage boy jibes, causing the teenage girl to blush.
"Shut up." She says with a jab to the boys arm.
"Did you guys enjoy yourselves?" Ben asks, making polite conversation.
"It was great." The older woman tells Ben. "We used to come to the shows all the time before SCW closed. We missed it."
Ben lifts the beer to his lips and takes a sip before looking back around the group.
"I'll let you in on a secret." Ben says as he leans forward towards them. "I missed it too."
He lifts the beer back to his smiling lips and listens.
"What did you do without SCW?" The older man asks, waiting with baited breath to hear Ben's reply.
"Not too much if I'm honest." He admits. "I went back to England, did a few things here and there, nothing special. Came back to sort some stuff with Jamie, and relaxed a bit. When I heard SCW was reopening, I started hitting the gym more."
"You didn't wanna wrestle anywhere else?" The teenage girl asks.
Ben scratches the side of his head with his free hand, looking at her as she shy's away a little.
"I did, but nothing took me fancy." Ben tells her. "I spoke to a few places but it was only when SCW came calling I took it more seriously."
Ben takes another gulp of his beer and looks at them.
"Are we stopping you from being somewhere?" The older woman asks. "Cause we can leave you to your night if you want."
Ben waves a dismissive hand.
"Nah, it's all good." He tells her "I got time, I'm out on me own at the moment."
"Where's everyone else?" The teenage boy asks Ben.
Ben puts his hand on his chin, thinking for a second.
"Well Sammi doesn't live too far from here." Ben starts "So she's a bit knackered...."
Ben looks around at four confused faces as he using the term knackered. Quickly remembering himself and where he is, he switches back to a more American English.
"She's a bit tired." Ben says "She like a proper homebody now. Jamie didn't make it here tonight, cause he had some stuff to take care of back in Los Angeles. Amy's not really about cause she's still in honeymoon mode after all this time, bless her."
Ben smiles as he thinks of his friends happiness.
"Konrad has other places to be at the moment." Ben continues. "He wrestles for a few more places than most and likes to focus on his next match as soon as he, that's why he's a double champion."
"So he's not pissed at you?" The older man asks.
Ben can't help but smile as he looks at the man, and shakes his head.
"Absolutely not." Ben reassures him. "I spoke to Konrad after the match we had and he actually inspired me. He told me he wants me to go on and win this tournament, because ever since he met me, he's wanted to see me with single gold. He told me the only person I'll be letting down is myself if I don't give it my all, is myself. Believe me when I say before every match I'm in, Konrad will be getting a phone call to kick me up the arse."
"What about Evie?" The teenage boy ask. "Where's she?"
It was gonna happen eventually, didn't matter if it was an interviewer, fan or even friend. Most had avoiding her name reaching Ben's ears, but he knew it was a matter of time. He wasn't mad at Evie, in a way, she kicked him in the new phase of his life, he didn't hate her disappearance, he knew she did that. She was a woman of mystery, he did feel sad at the way things happened, but most had the good sense not to ask him about it. There was no feud or hate there, he felt no reason to bury her for anything. He didn't know at this point she was gonna follow him on Twitter a little later!
Ben rubs his chin as he looks at the boy, trying not to let the silence become awkward.
"She could be anywhere at this point." Ben says with half a smile. "She's a bit of a ninja, never know where she is."
The group laugh at Ben, as Ben looks around.
"Nah, I'm telling ya people, it's true." Ben continues. "She could be anywhere. When I used to live with her, I'd be walking around, thinking she wasn't there because it was as quiet as a grave and bam, she'd jump out on me outta nowhere. She could be anywhere."
Ben looks to his right, across the casino to his right to see the just mentioned Evie Baang walking away from in the opposite direction, along with her Blast From The Past partner, Devin Tyler by her side.
"Or she could be right over there." He says with a point of his finger in the direction Evie and Devin just walked.
The group turn to look in that direction to see her.
"He's got a crush on her" The teenage girl says, pointing at the boy.
"Do not!" He fires back.
"You kiss her poster every night on the wall!" The girl returns, now forcing the boy to blush.
Ben watches on in amusement, his eyes smiling as he watches the boy blush after his secret becomes exposed. Ben waves a finger in Evie's direction.
"You can probably get an autograph off her." Ben says calmly "She may act all scary and stuff but she will give an autograph if ya ask her."
He wasn't lying, he knew Evie would give anyone an autograph if she was spotted, she may not have liked it, but she would play the part and sign most things. This was this teenage boys crush, her name on paper would mean the world to him and probably make him the envy of all his friends.
"Really?" He asks with excitement in his voice, no longer trying to hide the fact that his crush is about twenty feet away from him.
"Yeah" Ben says with a nod "Might wanna be quick though. Knowing Evie, she'll walk a bit faster just so Shorty can't keep up."
"Nice meeting you Ben." the older woman says politely.
"Pleasures all mine." Ben says with a respectful nod of his head.
The group of four move away from him as he looks back around at the casino floor.
"Right, poker it is I think..." Ben says with a confirming nod. "I'm feeling lucky."
*******
The scene returns to the plane, Ben's head tilted back on the headrest and his mouth open. The cameraman coughs and Ben jumps forward.
"I don't wanna buy your rabbit!" He yells out, still half asleep.
Ben looks around the plane, confused by his own outburst.
"Sorry, was still half a kip then, and clearly I didn't wanna buy a rabbit." He says with a yawn as he covers his mouth. "That ended quickly, thought I recorded more."
He wipes his lips and straightens the sunglasses on his eyes.
"Couple of thing to add here before you ask." He says holding up his right hand. "First off, I really wasn't lucky at poker and had to go before I lost me shirt. Secondly, the picture of me and that bird I posted on Twitter, I just wanna say she was really short. And third, I have no idea if that kid ever got his autograph from Evie or not, might wanna be something you'll find out if you wait for a bit and watch the right things."
Ben clears his throat.
"As you can imagine, or figure out by the sunglasses, it wasn't an easy going couple of pints and home kinda thing, far from it." Ben admits. "It was a bit of party, the fans were immense, they were buying and pretty thankful we was back in business, which is brilliant. I woke up on this plane, smelling like a bacon double cheeseburger and regret.... Not that I did anything I regret, it's just a drinkers thing, ya know, ya put back more than a few, wake up a bit patchy in the memory, and wonder if ya done anything ya regret. Then ya think ya was just in Vegas and have to check the wedding ring finger just in case ya met a nice cocktail waitress slash actress."
Ben holds up his left hand showing no wedding band.
"See, ain't no one put a ring on it." He says with a smile. "So no regrets for this guy."
Ben wipes imaginary sweat off his forehead with the back of his hand.
"But that was last night, and a lot of this morning and now is Monday afternoon and we got a couple of hours before this bird gets out the sky so it might be good to speak about the next round of the Blast From The Past." He says with a nod.
He puts both hands up in front of him.
"Don't worry you love people." He tells the crowd watching on their various devices. "I'm not gonna rabbit on for a couple of hours, I promise."
He clears his throat.
"I mean last night, I overcame two very tough opponents in Amanda Cortez and Konrad Raab." Ben starts "And the hits just keep on coming, because it ain't exactly eased off for the next round at all, because Keira Fisher and Equinox stand in our way."
Ben slowly bows and shakes his head.
"Bloody hell." Ben says softly.
Ben looks up at the camera.
"Brittany Williams is going to have to be at the top of her game to get any change outta Keira." Ben states "Because Keira is brilliant, let's not pick any bones about it, Keira was one of the top people to ever step in SCW and last week, wow! Time travel! Who doesn't wish they could time travel. Your boy is a lucky fella and I seriously hope you listen to him because there ain't anyone in this world that wants to see you kick the bucket, even if it is in an attempt to save the world. Listen to him love, cause the world will be a less brighter place without ya."
A serious look passes over his face.
"I know Brittany has that covered and a lot to say about Keira, and I know I need to focus on Equinox, and rightly so." Ben says firmly. "I know people say these two shouldn't have got past the first round, but they showed they ain't gonna be a pushover in this competition and I won't lie, when they popped out the hat, couldn't help but think they were dark horses to get a result here."
Ben waves a finger towards the camera.
"I stand by that." He says with a nod."It wasn't luck Equinox was a long standing champion here in SCW, it wasn't lucky that he was tough to beat and I don't think it's out of the realms of fantasy here to sit here and say hand on heart, that the man has improved no end over the years. It's no shock he's in demand for every good wrestling federation out there. It's no surprise he will always be in demand and it's certainly no shock that he has found himself in an SCW ring again."
Ben shakes his head.
"None at all." Ben says to put an extra point on it. "He is one of the greatest high flyers of our generation, teaming with another of the greatest high flyers of our generation, they will cause teams trouble and I have no doubt the pair of them will cause us trouble. It's a challenge to me, and a challenge I must rise to. Equinox, there's no doubting you're good but I learned a lot from watching wrestling as a kid, from watching wrestling from backstage and I happened to stumble across a way most people take out high flyers and that's to not try and bully 'em around the ring, cause you gotta catch the little bleeders first, but you gotta take away their speed. Now it's Monday today, I got six days to work out how to keep you grounded, trust me, I'm gonna use that time wisely."
Ben presses his hands together.
"You've got better from our last battle, our only battle, but so have I. I remember it well." Ben says with a fond smile on his face. "Climax Control Eighty Three, African tour, last leg of it before Chaos In Cape Town. Ben Jordan against Michael Hardy in Madagascar. What a night that was and a bit of a battle too, but I remember you tapping out that night. It was a long time ago though, May 2014 was our one and only dance when we were two younger guys looking to impress, looking to show everyone what we could do."
Another fond smile crosses the Cockney King's face.
"We looked so much younger back then, we look like we had the world at our feet and I might have come off that match with my arm raised, but you went on to do a lot more than I did to be fair." Ben admits "You went on to capture solo gold all over the place, I stuck my flag in the SCW ground and won bugger all solo. I won the battle that night but right now, looking back from then to now, you certainly won the war mate. You more than won the war, so sitting there saying you have something to prove, to avenge your loss to me almost four years ago, need to look at the bigger picture cause you ain't gotta prove anything to anyone."
Ben taps himself on the chest.
"I am." Ben say looking down towards his knees. "Yep, it's me."
Ben looks up and at the camera once more.
"You proved who your are mate by going out there and blazing your own trail." Ben says confidently "You went out there and did your thing and I'd put money on the fact that you haven't been kept awake at night thinking about the time little ol' me beat ya in Madagascar all those years ago. I know I haven't been on ya mind, but it's all good. While you blazed trails and I didn't, I ain't the big name scalp people come after, they come after people like you who have a long list of achievements. It's all flipped around cause now me beating you like I did back then, means a ton more than you beating me. Just think about it..."
Ben taps his chin.
"Where's the pressure gonna be?" Ben asks. "On the guy with the short list of things he's done in wrestling, or the guy that has had so many accolades, losing to a bloke who ain't had many shouldn't be on the cards. You being a hero to all these people and I ain't gonna knock that because it is justified, but it adds that little bit extra on top, the expectation to pick up a win, the expectation to please the fans, that's all on you."
Ben presses his hands together.
"You can argue I'm popular and all that malarkey and I might just be but the fans don't always expect me to win." Ben says honestly. "They expect a decent match out of me and showing them the respect they show me and trust me pal, they get that every single time. There's no weight of expectation on me, if I win, we party, if I lose, we party, and when ya look at things with ya eyes opened wide, you'd see, you're actually the favourites here."
Ben sits back in his seat a little.
"Two multi time champions, an L.A.W Hall of Famer in Keira Fisher, oh yes, I do my homework, two incredibly respected people right there." Ben says respectfully. "And on our side of the ring, you got a bloke who hasn't help a singles championship in about five years, and someone who turned seventeen today who is just really starting out in the wrestling business. It's a bit of a mismatch, right?"
Ben shakes his head.
"Wrong." He says firmly. "We're the underdog story, and the underdog stories are the best stories. Eddie The Eagle was an underdog story.... Thanks for making me watch that film, you know who you are, great film and inspiring. Eddie The Eagle inspired people to chase their dreams, go for it no matter how much the odds are against you, no matter how much you're an underdog, no matter if no one favours you to win. My dream is to be like you Equinox, to win a ton of things, to be that hero, to be the one who has a list as long as my arm in achievements."
Ben pauses for a second.
"That started last night when two underdogs with different backgrounds, with different styles, with whole different outlooks on life stood together." Ben says, passion starting to drip through his voice. "It started when I looked around the crowd last night and thought about who we just beat, two decorated champions for years, but Brittany Williams and I took them out and made it to the next round. That's when I think it hit me, if I wanna be like you guys and everyone else I look up to, I need to start making my list of achievements. If I wanna stop being the underdog, then I gotta start winning against people bigger than me. You look at the list of names who are out of this competition, and the ones that are still there, and it makes you see that if you want to be noticed, this is the competition to do it in. That's what I plan on doing."
Ben leans a little forward in his plane seat.
"As much respect as I have for the pair of you guys, it's time for these underdogs to rise." Ben says confidently. "Me and Brittany are gonna be the surprise package this year, Keira, Equinox, I look forward to the match that is gonna steal the show, hope there's no hard feelings afterwards."
Ben breathes deeply and takes off sunglasses, wincing at the new found light in the plane cabin.
"Anyway you lovely lot, it's time to love you and leave you once more." Ben starts. "As always, it's been a pleasure to have a chin wag with you guys, always a pleasure, never a chore. I hope you give us a watch next Sunday, cause this ain't gonna be one you wanna miss. But until then."
Ben winks down the camera.
"Laters people."
Ben puts the sunglasses on his face as the camera fades away.
