Finding me a tag team partner
Part one
Corfu Airport, Corfu, Greece
The camera’s show up as Vinnie walks out from the airplane along with his friend Pete the cactus, they are both dressed in a very colourful and typical tourism clothing. Vinnie is wearing sunglasses, he has put on a rather Hawaiian shirt and white knee high pants. The outfit is completed with rather plain loafers as he drags his suitcase behind him. On top of the suitcase we can see Pete his friend sitting as wires is keeping him from falling off the suitcase as Vinnie stops and inhales the Greek air into his lungs.
“Ahhh.., I just love Hawaii Pete.”
He takes a few steps forward as Pete starts to shake around on the suitcase due to uneven ground underneath it.
“……… (translation:”Vinnie, this is Greece.”
“Hawaii, Greece…, whatever. At least I am back in competition and ready to find me a mixed tag team partner amigo.”
Vinnie’s smile widens even larger, pushing his chest ahead and inhales the Greece air before exhaling as he puts on his sunglasses and looks around.
“Hmm, this airport seems smaller than I had imagined. No ceremonial reception for the greatest wrestling company that there is today, but I guess it’s because I haven’t been active in ages… But that is going to change!!”
Vinnie walks towards a car with a driver standing in front of it that is holding a sign that reads Senor Vinnie, Vinnie takes down his sunglasses and looks puzzled.
“Where’s my limo??”
The driver gives a cheesy smile and extends his hand towards his car that is a cheap ass taxi that smells and the old seats.
“Excuse me sir, but a certain Pete ordered us to take you to your hotel.”
Vinnie turns his attention towards his cactus, who doesn’t react to the sudden attention that he has been given by his friend. Vinnie sighs and turns his attention towards the driver that stands in front of him.
“Fine, where can I put my luggage???”
He points at his suitcase as the driver nods his head and walks towards the car door in the back of the taxi and opens the door after several attempts. The door screaches open and it nearly falls off the hinges before the man pushes a small chair aside to make room for his suitcase. This causes Vinnie to turn his attention back to the cactus with a disappointed look on his face.
“Let me guess, you had spent the rest of your money for Iris??”
Pete turns towards Vinnie and shakes its head
“……. (translation: I didn’t expected that dog collar with diamonds to be that expensive.”
Vinnie face palms himself after hearing the response from his cactus friend, he turns his attention back towards the driver after a few seconds of trying to recollect his composure. The driver keeps smiling while showing the inside of the car, where we see an old couch shoved into the back along with a classic tape recorder that plays some Demis Roussos. We see duck tape holding the door on the other side together that makes Vinnie swallows even more.
“Are you sure that this car is safe???”
“Oh yes sir, it is very safe, it recently passed its check-up.”
He scratches his head and decides to take the risk, he hands the suitcase to the driver who places it next to the couch as Vinnie sits down on the couch, that immediately drops a few inches as the air escapes from a small hole in the back. Vinnie looks startled for a few moments before reaching for a seatbelt, but cannot find any.
“I just forgot to tell you sir, the seatbelts have been ordered. I expect them to be shipped in next week.”
Vinnie swallows harder, he stares towards Pete and has a look of anger upon his face.
“Hand me over that credit card!! This is the last time I allow you to handle my finances and booking!!!!”
The engine starts as we hear an explosion coming from the exhaust pipe, causing smoke to emerge from the back as this causes Vinnie to jump upwards in fear. His head hits the roof of the car, causing his sunglasses to fall off of his head onto the floor. Vinnie leans down in an attempt to reach for it, but nearly falls off the couch as the driver makes a turn.
“Good Grief!!!”
“No worries sir, all you need to do is to hold on to the door next to you.”
Instinctively Vinnie reaches over for the door and digs his fingers into the fabric of the car, causing him to suddenly hold the door in his own hands as it broke down from its hinges.
“I am sorry sir, I meant holdin on to the door on the other side of the car.”
Vinnie’s eyes widen to the size of plates as he realizes that he is holding a car door in his own hands.
“Uhm senor, I think it is best that you stop the car here. Me and Pete will walk the rest to the hotel.”
“No can do sir”
“Why not??”
“The brakes are in the repairs also”
The look of shock is now visible on the face of Vinnie, realizing that he is inside a car that is very dangerous.
“I thought you said that the car passed its check-up??”
The driver turns his head and has a smile that needs to be reassuring to Vinnie.
“Yes, but only because I paid my cousin fifty bucks. I will just use the bumper in front of the car to stop against a wall so that it will automatically stop. Don’t worry, just as long as I do not drive too fast it will not explode…. Or I could just drive around until the gasoline runs out.”
Vinnie’s face turns completely white as he notices the driver isn’t paying attention in front of him.
“Keep your attention on the road!!!!!”
“Don’t worry sir, I am the safest limo driver on the island.”
Says the driver while having his head turned towards Vinnie while keeping the steering wheel straight ahead, where he nearly hits a stop sign as well as luckily missing two cars that came from different sides upon a crossroads. The colour on Vinnie’s face slowly turns into pale white as he nearly passes out from being nervous. With sweat pouring from his face he points towards ahead of him as we see a truck driver emerge from the opposite side of the road as the Greek driver is heading towards it, causing the truck driver to hit the claxon as that causes the driver to turn around and moves out of the way at the final moment. This causes Vinnie to sigh of relief
“So you never had any accidents???”
The driver shakes his head in a negative fashion as that causes Vinnie’s eyebrow to raise in doubt.
“Oh no sir, I’m just the one that has the least accidents of the entire island. But then again, You are my first customer sir.”
“WHAT??!!!”
Vinnie’s eyes bulge out in utter shock, causing him to drop the door on the road next to him as he had completely forgotten that he was still holding on to the body part of the car. Instinctively he reaches over towards Pete, wanting to hug him in utter fear to find some relief. Only to feel the spines stab him in the arms and the other body parts that come in contact with Pete as if they were thumbtacks. The sudden reaction causes Vinnie to scream out in agonizing pain, losing balance on the coach as he falls outside the car as the driver turns a corner at the same moment. Vinnie falls on his back, rolls through instinctively and comes to an abrupt end against a stopsign while the car continues to drive on towards the hotel.
“I guess that’s what people mean when they get car sick huh???”
Vinnie scratches his head as he slowly gets up as he starts to look for the direction towards the hotel that Pete had booked for the two of them
“This wouldn’t have happened if we went to Hawaii.”
Later that day in the hotel
It’s later that day, Vinnie had showered and dressed up in new clothing before heading into the lobby of the hotel with a happy look on his face.
“It’s time for me to find me a mixed tag team partner, I just don’t know where to begin.”
Vinnie looks around the lobby, hoping to walk into any of the SCW Bombshells that this company has as they are the best female competitors known to this world. He turns his gaze to the left as he spots a woman in the corner wearing a black and white outfit, he smiles as he shakes his head and talks to himself to find the courage to approach the woman.
“I’m sorry, but I must have missed your name. My name is Vinnie, Senor Vinnie.”
The woman turns around and turns out to be an employee of the hotel, she stares at him with a puzzled look on her face as she clearly didn’t get Vinnie’s pickup line in an attempt to start a conversation.
“(translated from Greek)Who in the hell are you??”
Vinnie slowly backs off, lifting his hands upwards in an apologetic way as he realizes that this isn’t any of the Bombshells that SCW possesses. He apologizes to her and wants to turn around quickly to find someone else, but the hotel employee taps him on the shoulder as this causes him to turn around to face her again.
“I am very sorry, I thought you were one of the female wrestlers of Sin City Wrestling. I…”
But the woman cuts him off as she is now starting to get upset with him.
“(translated from Greek)What kind of excuse of a man are you?? First you start talking to me and then you use your hands to tell me that I am ugly???”
The look on her face starts to get meaner and meaner as she is starting to talk faster and faster, poor Vinnie is obviously incapable of understanding the Greek language as he tries to calm her down by talking real slow.
“Forgive….. me…. Senorita…., I…. was….. looking….. for……. Someone….. to….. tag….. with….. in…. the…. Future…..”
Vinnie uses his hands to explain every word that he is using, this causes the Greek woman to be silent for a few moments. Vinnie lets out a sigh of relief, believing that she finally understood what he was saying.
“(translated from Greek)Why do you want me to jump into a barrel of fish??”
“Do you know where I can find some Bombshells???”
The woman suddenly becomes very annoyed, she starts to yell at him in her native Greek language as this causes everyone else in the lobbey to turn their heads and stare at the commotion between Vinnie and the woman. Vinnie notices the attention that he and the woman are gathering as he starts to smile weakly and tries to find an excuse for them to turn their gazes away from them.
“I accidently confused her with someone from Sweden, common mistake you know.”
Some of their “audience” roll their eyes and avert their attention away from them. Vinnie turns his attention towards the woman and signals to the woman to be quiet by putting his finger upon his lips. The woman raises an eyebrow but becomes silent as Vinnie grabs his cell phone and smiles as he had an intelligent idea.
“Luckily we have something as Google Translate”
Vinnie types in English the question of where he can find any of the Bombshells, he sees the translation in Greek as he coughs a few times before attempting to speak it in fluently Greek.
“(Vinnie’s attempt to speak in Greek)Your teeth are very crooked”
Vinnie wipes some of the sweat from his forehead, hoping that he pronounced the difficult words properly in Greek, but sadly for Vinnie it almost seems like there’s steam coming out of the ears of the woman of anger. She starts to scream out in anger, calling for anyone from the hotel security to throw the man out of the hotel for being so insulting to her.
“I think I have to try this again.”
He gestures to the woman that she needs to calm down as he stares at his cell phone one more time and gives it another go to actually give her a proper question in her own language.
“(Vinnie’s attempt to say something in Greek)Would you like to eat my boots??”
Vinnie smiles, confidently that he has nailed it correctly this time. He gives some people the thumbs up as he had noticed that the woman had stopped her tyrade. But the silence is only for a few moments before she grabs a vase with flowers and pours the water inside the vase all over his head before starting to scream at him once more. Vinnie grabs some of the flowers that got stuck in his hair and stares at it, realizing that he has made a mistake.
“Did she think I was asking her to marry me???”
Vinnie grabs his phone once more, wanting to type a new text to be translated when suddenly.
“Do you perhaps need help??”
Vinnie looks up, he stares at a former Bombshell champion Candy. She is smiling sweetly at him before turning her attention to the woman as she nods her head in her direction.
“Oh yeah, I was having some difficulties having a conversation with this lady. I tried to ask her if she could point me into the direction of some of the SCW Bombshells, I was hoping I could find one to become my tag team partner in the future. But I believe that my phone needs an update, because everything I say seems to anger her.”
Candy giggles as she turns her attention to the Greek lady and says something that Vinnie cannot understand, the look on the angry woman suddenly brightens before turning her attention back to Vinnie and starts to giggle with her hand before her mouth in embarrassment. She says something back to Candy before walking off.
“Uhm, what did just happen?? What did you say??”
Candy smiles sweetly to Vinnie.
“I told her that you are special as you talk to plants and stuff, she told me she had a little nephew like that.”
Vinnie looks puzzled as he wipes some more flowers out of his hair and tries to push his hair backwards to make him look presentable somehow.
“You speak Hawaiian??”
Candy looks puzzled at the question of Vinnie
“No…, should I???”
Now it is Vinnie that is puzzled
“But she understood what you were saying”
This causes Candy to giggle and nod her head
“We are in Greece silly, the people from Greece speak Greek, not the Hawaiian ones.”
Vinnie slaps his head as he realizes that he once again made the mistake of confusing the two countries, he nods his head and sighs of relief as he realizes that Candy has helped him out big time
“I guess I have to thank you for helping me out in this predicament, but maybe you can help me out some more??”
Candy shrugs her shoulders in reaction of his question
“Sure, what do you want to ask??”
“I am searching for a Bombshell to become my mixed tag team partner, do you know any???”
Candy raises her eyebrow, clearly Vinnie had not recognized her as one of the many Bombshells that compete in Sin City Wrestling. But ultimately she smiles at him and points at herself.
“I am a Bombshell”
Her smile startles Vinnie, realizing that he had not recognized the woman. He looks her up and down and scratches her head.
“Did you recently sing with he company???”
This causes Candy to shake her head and giggle
“No silly Vinnie, I am Candy. I have competed in this years Blast From The Past along with Goth. We were the team Dark Sparklez and made it all the way to the semi-finals. Even though we did not win it all, we at least kicked some ass.”
She turns around as she is wearing her Dark Sparklez shirt before turning back to Vinnie with a happy smile on her face.
“You were?? I mean, of course you were. I am sorry, I have not been active since the first show of January. For some reason I had not been booked and I have been keeping an eye on my cactus Pete and his girlfriend Iris the Bulldog.”
Candy giggles before jumping up and down.
”L O V E…. did you know I helped Gotha nd his girlfriend Melissa get engaged in the most romantic way?? I can help those two out also… ”
This causes Vinnie’s eyes to grow wide in utter shock.
“NO!!! err…, I mean no thanks, that’s very sweet of you but no. Pete and Iris are just two hormonical teenagers. They will get over it eventually, but thanks again…”
Candy nods her head as she shrugs her shoulders
“Okay, well good luck.”
She skips passed Vinnie happily while whistling as Vinnie looks at her with a puzzled look on his face.
“She is very…. Weird to say the least.”
Vinnie turns his attention the other way in search for any of the Bombshells as the shot slowly fades.
Back on Track
Vinnie can be seen walking the beach of the island Corfu, staring at the waves as he enjoys the moment of silence and relaxation. Something that he knows will change when he steps foot inside the ring once more since January of this year where he was one of the losing participants in the world title Fatal Fourway Match. Ever since Vinnie has made some appearances, but mostly kept a low profile. He had been keeping an eye on his friend Cactus Pete, or at least he had attempted to as the love life between Pete and Iris has taken to un-imaginary heights. But Vinnie had agreed with the Barnharts that at any given moment of the day, one of them would be keeping an eye on the two love birds. But Vinnie had noticed after stepping foot on Greek soil, it will be an even more difficult task than he had imagined.
“So I am back to compete once more, it’s about time.”
He sees a surfer hit the waves with the utmost of ease, he has always wanted to be a good surfer but knows that his talents are elsewhere. Music and wrestling and even though he likes to convince himself to be a great wrestler, he has to admit that he has not worn a championship belt in quite some time.
“Back in a different country, back in the same ring…. back against a guy that I have faced before…. Only difference between then and now is…. He is holding a belt and I’m not.”
Vinnie is silent for a few moments, thinking back of how frustrated he had been for quite some time over all the missteps he has had, both in his professional career but mostly in his private life. Something that has been documented throughout the last year, the rage that kept coming back to him. Being incapable to accept his own failures, merely blaming it upon everyone else that he could think off. He sighs as he thinks back to his wife, who has divorced him and flown to the other side of the world to start her life as a nurse in Japan. He had missed her dearly, he caught himself from time to time to just dial her number in the hope of just hearing her sweet voice one more time.
But he didn’t, unable to confront the pain once more. He has been trying to search help with his friends the Barnharts, but also in professional areas like psychiatrists and even yoga. And now, a few months after his final match in Sin City Wrestling he has finally returned to compete.
“Jack Washington, Internet Champion…”
It all flows from his lips as if he is reading his groceries list out loud, the man that he had watched take home the Internet Championship in a triple threat match. A title that he himself has held, although the reign wasn’t a success he still prided himself from having his name attached to that belt like many before and after him.
“I want to congratulate you in your victory Jack, winning a title in a triple threat is an accomplishment that I can only applaud you for. Especially by beating one of those Saviors, men that have been on my case ever since they all debuted. Something that I had wanted to do against Mac Bane what you did to that Godly Ken character… beating him for the title in one of the big time shows of the year. But I guess we cannot all have fortune on our sides huh??”
He shakes his head, even though his mindset is much better in comparison to a year ag he realizes that it is still eating away at him deep down inside. He starts to rub the back of his neck with his right hand as he is making movements with his head as if all muscles have been glued together, wincing in pain until he hears a pop and lets out a sigh.
“I have always wanted a one on one confrontation with you Jack, to see whether I can compete with the likes of you. Because I remembrer our first time that we competed, it was a multi man ladder match… I was so close, I had my hands sealed around the price… until…”
His face grimaces, shaking off the memories as he curses inwardly, he knows that only a few months of being in therapy doesn’t clear your head the way you want it to be. But he just hates moments like these, it ruins his entire anticipated return as he was looking forward to this very day. He had been preparing for an in ring debut, promised himself that he would not allow himself to be caught in his own misery…. And now??
“I cannot allow you to torment me like many others have done before Jack, but not because I am blindly believing all the lies that I had convinced myself to believe. Oh no, it goes deeper than that amigo, But the mere fact that I have come to the conclusion that ever since my final title reign, I have stagnated to the point that others who I had believed were beneath me have surpassed me.”
“Do I believe that you were beneath me?? It may have crossed my mind once or perhaps a few more times. Hell, at one point or another in our careers we all do that don’t we??”
A smuck smile emerges upon his face, shaking his head from left to right for a few moments.
“But that was then, this is now. A match where there is something at stake for the both of us, on one side we have the man that has won the title. The man that has got momentum, the man that already knows who his numbrer one contender will be for the big show in May… And then there’s me.”
There’s a moment of silence
“The man that has already sunk to the depths of whatever statistical degradation that YOU or anyone else could think off. A man that is struggling to find his own past accomplihsments and exceed them while his best friend is the current Roulette champion. And if you were wondering whether that may eat me alive??”
“It may have in the past, hell I could not stand to see the face of Ben Jordan with the championship belt that I had worn over 100 days.. but it was the reality that I had to accept and deal with. Just like I am dealing with the mere notion that I have come to the realization that I am only one victory away from a rebirth of some sorts..”
“And I know it is always so easy to use the words rebirth as a statement idea, to be cool and to have an initiative in mind to start a new year with a purpose. Because my purpose in life is still the same, but the mentality is different. For the first time I am enjoying life, for the first time I am free from guilt and blaming the world for all the misery I have suffered…. And I know that is the same thing I have been saying last year and this January. But there’s a difference this time”
Vinnie closes his eyes, inhaling deeply and lets out all the oxygen after a few seconds, causing all the frustration go.
“Changes…, nothing more than changes…. Oh I know that is a lyric from a song, but it fits so perfectly what I am trying to make myself believe every single time. Because I can explain it all that I want it will never convince you to believe me is it?? But luckily for whomever who cares, I am going to explain it anyways. There’s no purpose in life for me to prove others wrong or even myself… because it’s a lie. A lie where you just wake up one day, asking yourself why? WHY??!!!!!”
“I have been trying to find that fire once again that made me a world champion Jack, it’s that fire I had when I won that title that you are wearing from Austin James Mercer. I was so convinced that I had lost my fire so badly that I was nearly driving myself to grab a can of gasoline and just spray it all ove the wordl as if it was the frustration building inside of me…. But I realize now that everything happens for a reason. Everything either comes or it doesn’t… But I also know that nothing comes flying towards you, so that all you have to do is grab it and make sure that it will not leave you again. It’s stupid ideology isn’t it?? I have a dream, That isn’t me, that was what I tried to portray for myself to believe in an inspiration somehow that would take me to something that never was mine to begin with….Just imagine if an ideology would have worked for me, I would have held that world title for over three years now… No, I don’t need no John Lennon sing Imagine to me in a hope or a motivation to do better things in life. To create a hope and a world where I could exceed in the way I used to do when I came to this federation. Because it would be nothing more than a lie…., because I’m nothing more than a jealous guy “
“Jealous of how you have succeeded where I have failed??”
He scratches his head as he lets out a soft sigh
“NO!! I just want to wake up, knowing that I have improved from where I know that ultimately I will be better. And realizign that there’s no title shot on the line would make people believe that it would only make things easier for me. But it doesn’t, because deep within I know that Senor Vinnie deserves a title shot!!! But there are no words that I can find to convince myself for why I deserve it… let alone anyone else… All I need is a win…., all I need is to look up into those spotlights and smile. All I need is to beat you and make me believe once more that I belong. Because I know you will tell the world that I don’t, that I am a freak or whatever the catchy remarks will be.. because I know you have a tons of them Jack… But I know I belong, I know that I am better than I have been allowing myself to be, because I no longer feel pressured for all that I have been telling myself to believe in all the lies I have uttered. This is the true Vinnie, this is the true ME!!!!”
He turns viciously his face towards the camera and a smile emerges
“Pain is okay, because I know deep inside that I can dish out even more than I am willing to accept. And it is time for me to see how far you are willing to go to accept YOUR pain….”
With that the shot fades as the only thing we can see and hear is a laughing vinnie.