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Topics - Ben Jordan

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Climax Control Roleplays / A different side of me
« on: Today at 08:50:50 AM »
The camera cuts to a cold morning in East London, where Ben Jordan is seen walking at pace through a park, his eyes are oddly focused and his jaw set firmly.

"Alright people!" He says as the wind nips at his cheek. "I'm sure you expected me to be starting in a chair again, having a good old rabbit about me and what's been happening lately but honestly people, I got the right hump and I have done since last Sunday."

Ben continues to walk as he talks.

"All week I've been like a bear with a sore head." He tells people. "All week I've been proper wound up and I think you all know why I haven't been my usual self. It's pretty obvious why. Not happy with just coming at me in this whole thing, I certain plonker decided to really get under my skin, you go for the people around me."

Ben turns his head from the camera.

"Cheap as anything you can do Alexander." Ben says through gritted teeth. "It's a proper chopper move because you saw you wasn't overly bothering me at all, you were just there trying to get under my skin, but now it worked. You wanted this side of me, you got it."

Ben narrows his eyes as the sun hits his face.

"And because of that, I've been walking around all week fuming. I've been walking around not exactly my chipper self, but that's what you wanted Alexander." Ben says with a slight growl to his tone. "That's what you wanted out of me, you wanted to bring something out of me that you think puts me in an uncomfortable zone. Well here's something I lived by for a long time."

Ben stops walking for a second.

"When you fight enough monsters, because monsters come after you enough time, you start becoming a monster yourself." Ben says softly. "And that's what you've turned me in to. So give yourself a pat on the back for getting what you want. Pat yourself on the shoulders and take a bow mate. You've taken the pure side out of me and I take that very personally."

Ben narrows his eyes again as he looks down the camera.

"You've turned me in to a miserable, detached so and so." Ben admits. "And that's what I'm gonna show you all this week. Full spoiler alert for people who want to sit and judge me, I'm not the Ben Jordan you expect anymore, certainly not until I get this cretin out of my sights."

He breathes deep.

"So yeah, this is what sore head Ben has been up to all week." He says with a finger gun point to the camera.



Sunday - Climax Control.

"What the hell..." Ben said as he paced outside the medical room. "Why the hell..."

"Calm down Ben." Sam voice can be heard saying.

Outside the medical room, Ben Jordan and Sam Marlowe waited anxiously on any news on Jamie Dean after Alexander Raven's unprovoked attack on him.

"You know this is my fault, right?" Ben said as he stopped and looked Sam directly in the eye. "That numpty Raven attacked Jamie because of me, because of my friendship with him. There's no other reason. If it was anyone else who walked to that ring, Raven would have sat in the back with a bottle of cheap scotch and put his face in the catering and not done a bloody thing, but nah, cause it's a friend of mine, he's done it. It's the same with getting Luna on your case, because you're a friend of mine. He's using you all to get at me."

Sam looked at Ben, trying to offer some form of comfort, but Ben wasn't buying it.

"What's next?" Ben asked. "Fenris goes for a run and he smashes him with a bar? Or Amy wandering to playground with her little un and him sending Luna after her? Where does this pony stop?"

"In a few weeks time when we deal with them." Sam told Ben, but Ben wasn't having it.

"No." He said sharply. "It needs to be dealt with before then, or at least a message needs to be sent to him that he can't keep screwing with the people I give a monkeys about. It need to be dealt with now."

Ben attempted to walk past Sam but she put her hand in front of him, stopping him from moving past her.

"And where do you think you're going?" She asked Ben with a stern look on her face.

Ben gritted his teeth, a determined look on his usually cheery face.

"I'm gonna go find Alexander Raven..." Ben said through those gritted teeth. "And I'm gonna put my foot so far up his arse, he'll be tasting boot polish for a god damn month."

Ben attempted to move past Sam once more, but the determined redhead quickly blocked his path, forcing him to stop.

"I don't think that's a good idea." He told him straight. "Y'all go do that and y'all get yourself suspended and we won't get a chance to face them at the supercard. Need to think this through."

Ben shook his head as he looked at Sam.

"A message needs to be sent." Ben told her firmly. "And it ain't gonna get sent while I sit here and do nothing."

Ben turned away, his hands behind his head as he looked at the floor, at nothing in particular.

"This is what he wants." Sam said, trying to reason with Ben. "He wants you to lose your cool and do something stupid."

Ben turned on his heels, looking back at her.

"What he wants is a reaction." Ben told her. "What he wants is for me to react and he can have that but if he thinks for a second I'm gonna react calm, and all of that stuff, he's got another thing coming because I'm done with being cool, I'm done with being calm. He wants to pull something out of me that he never thought I had in me, well he can have it but I promise you this, the man is not gonna like it at all. He wants a reaction, I'm gonna give him a reaction he don't expect, so please let me get on past ya and go kick him square in the bollocks."

Sam put her hand over her face, slowly shaking her head at Ben.

"I wouldn't recommend that." Christian Underwood's voice can be heard saying off camera. "It won't lead you anywhere good."

Ben recognised the voice as his boss and turned around to look at Christian.

"This crap needs to stop and it needs to stop right now." Ben said. "So I think at this point, you should turn a blind eye, and let me go and deal with this knob head. I mean you're throwing me in a street fight anyway, so let me go and kick that one off nice and early."

Ben looked to walk past Christian but it's his boss this time that puts his hand up on Ben's chest, stopping him from moving past.

"Look." Ben said with a glare. "I'm a reasonable man, I always have been, always been on the company side, never once pulled off anything sneaky in here, but this geezer is taking the piss not only with me, but attacking innocent people just to get at me. You need to let me get at him."

"I can't let you do that." Christian told Ben. "Random backstage brawls gets you fired from here. Mark and I don't let that shit happen backstage ya know, unless, well, you know how it works. You go and do that out of anger and we have to draw the line."

"Mate, I'm drawing the line with him going after people I give a monkeys about." Ben said back to his boss. "I'm drawing it and that numpty is stepping over it constantly, so it's time for you to look away for a bit and let me do what I gotta."

Christian again shook his head, much to the disappointment of Ben.

"Ben, I don't want to have to let you go for backstage stuff." Christian said.

"But it's ok for him to go around doing whatever he wants cause it's in front of a camera?" Ben asked. "Tell ya want, send a camera, record me kicking the daylights out of him, when he asks why, tell him its to air next week or something, I don't give a damn."

"I've never seen you like this." Christian commented with a sign.

"I never had someone push me this far." Ben replied.

Christian looked at Sam, just standing watching this.

"Take him out for a drink." Christian told her. "First rounds on me, just stop him from doing something he'll regret."

"That's it?" Ben said through gritted teeth. "Take him out for a drink? Buy him a pint and all this goes away? That's not good enough mate, that alone will never be good enough mate. Not for all the crap that's going on right now."

Christian sighed as his eyes darted between Ben and Sam.

"Well, what would be good enough?" Christian asked Ben.

"Well, if you won't let me beat the crap out of him back here." Ben said. "Next week, I'm not asking, I'm demanding you put him in the ring with me and let me handle my business right there and then, nice and legal and no one needs to get fired."

Christian tapped his chin as he pondered the request but shook his head.

"You have him in a street fight soon." Christian said slowly. "Putting him in the ring with you so close to that match might water things down."

"You're having a giraffe mate." Ben said much to Christian's confusion.

"Giraffe?" He asked.

"Laugh." Sam said jumping in.

"She's getting good at this translating thing." Ben said looking towards her. "Look, I'm not asking for this match, I'm demanding it Christian. I don't ask for much around here and I am known as a team player but this needs to be done. If not, I will wait for him outside and take matters in to my own hand and you'll have people to bail out over firing."

Christian looked at Ben's determined look and sighed.

"If I can get your word that you will not go after him between now and then." Christian said with a slow shake of his head. "You can face him next week."

Ben rubbed his chin and looked at Christian.

"You have my word." Ben said.

The two men shared a nod in the silence but a female medical assistant left the medical room.

"You can see Mr. Dean now." She said as she looked between the three.

Ben pointed his thumb towards the door.

"I gotta go now, I got some apologies to make." Ben told Christian. "Feel free to let Mr. Raven know that next week, he gets to be the first to see a different side of me."

Ben didn't wait for Christian to answer as he turned around and quickly made for the door and in to the room as the camera faded to black.



"Geezer or lady who wrote that card up wasn't kidding around." Ben says with a shake of his head. "Because I did demand that match and I would have demanded it over and over till my face turned a funky shade of blue because this geezer has a lesson to learn and there's no one better out there to teach him said lesson then this guy right here."

We return to Ben just sitting at a bench in the park.

"But this was planned from day one, wasn't it Alexander?" Ben questions. "From the second we ended up fighting in that bonkers match, from the minute you saw I could do it, it got in that little nut of yours and you knew you had to find a way to break me. You knew you had to kill the purity in wrestling that I showed because I make this place a place where people like you don't fit in, so you had to drag me to your level, just so you can feel like you belonged in a place that you don't. You tried to drag me in to a version of wrestling that things evolved from a long time ago, because your one trick pony malarkey of needing weapons to hide the fact that you're a pretty lousy wrestler, no longer works in this day and age."

Ben puts his hands out in front of him.

"Because the fans are smart these days, they can see inside what we do, and they've seen you as the fraud of a wrestler that you are so yeah, you have to drag us all down to your level because you've run out of levels, you've hit your ceiling." Ben says as he points up. "You've not evolved and happy being a caveman in this game. Thing is, I remember those days of wrestling where you could get over swinging a chair and you want me to come down to that rubbish?"

Ben leans forward.

"You're gonna regret that one mate." Ben says seriously. "I'll put the fact aside that wrestling wise, could take you every day of the week and twice on Sunday, and look at what you've done to really get on my bristols. You went after my friends and that just don't sit well with me at all. You went after the people close to me, because you think that you need to strip everything away from me, and I mean everything. You think that is gonna rattle me?"

Ben slowly shakes his head.

"What's done is it's made me lose the feeling of guilt about picking up a weapon and using it." Ben replies honestly. "See that was always my problem, the fact I felt rotten having to go that route, pick up weapons and inflict life changing injuries on people, that wasn't part of the art form for me. You going after my friends, means I don't give a monkeys anymore and if I have to hurt you, sod it, I'll do it and I thought I had to wait for a couple more weeks to do that but you forced my hand, I couldn't wait to get my hands on you and if you're sitting there thinking that's a great thing, then your bonkers. I think you played this one to get me to react and I have done, but I ain't playing in your hands with this one mush, I'm coming to Arizona to kick the living daylights out of you and make you see that when it comes to that street fight, you'll be the one doubting yourself."

Ben puts his arms to his side.

"I'm from East London mate. I'm a Millwall fan mate, I've owned a boozer mate." Ben says strongly. "Do you really think I haven't been in my fair share of punch ups in the street long before I found wrestling? Do a history check up and see that East London used to be the arse end of London, that Millwall fans riot and ninety percent of punch ups start in boozers. I'm not scared of getting my hands dirty Alexander. You've stacked the deck in your mind, but I'm telling ya, you stacked it against the wrong guy and on Sunday, I wouldn't expect technical Ben."

Ben smiles as he shakes his head.

"You shouldn't know what to expect from this one." Ben says with a wave of his finger. "You've got your goal of changing me but trust me pal, you've not changed me that will make it easier for you because now I don't really give a monkeys about you, your safety or any of that rubbish. Get through the match safe was on my mind but screw that because it's like your attack on my friends, it's taken away the safety measure in my mind and now all I can see me doing is hurting you and it starts this week. I might not be able to pick up a chair and wrap it around your melon but I will hurt you in other ways."

Ben stands up and looks in front of him, his eyes focused on the River Thames.

"Going for my friends scream of jealousy because let's be bang on the nose here, you don't have many of those of your own, do ya?" Ben questions. "The lone wolf thing is overplayed and I think you're damn jealous of me for actually having people I can turn to. You're like that kid at school on his own in the corner of the playground, watching the groups of kids play, wanting to join in but won't and it burns you up, so you go around pulling hair and throwing stuff at them just to get their attention. I know this is a foreign concept on you because you don't have anyone that close in your life, but you mess with my friends, you get to see a side of me you are not ready for. I know you wouldn't have the opportunity to die for your friends, but for mine, I would, over and over again."

Ben turns and starts walking again.

"See, I'd fight for them over and over again Alexander and you targeting them, you've crossed the line." Ben says as he walks. "You've pushed a sane man in to doing what's right for the people he cares about. I'm willing to die for them but I'm more then willing to take you out to stop you from ever going near them again, are we clear on that one mate?"

Ben keeps walking, not even glancing at someone walking past him.

"This is not gonna be fun for you Alexander." Ben says firmly. "All this twoing and throwing and stuff, made me see what I have, what I have to do and it's to rid SCW of the likes of you. This week its my style and I'm gonna show you that you will never be able to keep up, couple weeks time, I'm stepping in to your world and I'm gonna show you that you're not even king of your own domain."

Ben points to himself.

"Maybe this is me." Ben says seriously. "Maybe this is the real me, maybe this whole Saint Ben thing was there to just make me look like the good guy and maybe this is the real me Alexander. Maybe people like you who dig and claw at what people's built just to make themselves look better then they actually are bring out the real me. Kedron Williams brought out a different side of me and he didn't fare well, the only thing Kedron got from me was respect at the end of it, but that's something you will not get. He never needed to go after others and it brought out the worst in me, but you've gone a level above and its not gonna end well for you after this one. You wanted a different me and you're gonna get a different me, but what you really need to ask yourself is if you can handle a different me, can you deal with the monster you've created?"

Ben shakes his head.

"No mate, you can't." Ben says firmly. "I should have said spoiler alert but you can't. You might be clever at the old sneak attacks, but face to face, nah mate, you don't have it in ya. That's where the 'aris starts to go. That's where the doubts creep in to your mind wondering if you can deal with what you've brought out of someone. See, I don't hold any fear in me anymore, I don't have those self doubts a few months ago that haunted me."

A police siren is heard in the background.

"Just another peaceful day on the Isle of Dogs." Ben mutters to himself. "But Easter Sunday in Arizona is gonna be as far from peaceful for you Alexander, as humanly possible. You got the rise out of me that you wanted but I'm telling ya, it's the worst thing you could have ever done. I'm not even messing around mate, trying to bring this side of me out is gonna be an absolute mess for ya. You've given me more of a reason to fight, you've given me more of a reason to win. A lot of the times, I roll with the punches, what will be will be and all of that, but you've given me a reason to get my teeth stuck in to something. This is when I fly Alexander, this is when I'm at my best, because I got more on the line and when I have stuff on the line, losing ain't an option to me. You need to know and pretty sharpish that I am more then you ever thought I was."

Ben strolls through the gate of the park and on to a side road.

"And you clearly didn't think very highly of me to begin with and probably even less of me since I refused to play your silly games." Ben says with a serious tone. "But now its time for you to know that I might be the happy go lucky guy, and that I might be pretty chilled and lot of the time, but I'm much, much more then that. I'm the guy who still feels the need to remind bellends like you who I am from time to time, because if it wasn't for people like me, there wouldn't be a place for you to call work. I'm still that Ben that led this place, I'm still that Ben who can win matches, face anything thrown at him and step on up. I was in my head a while ago on if I can be this guy again and well, now I know I can be this guy again."

Ben takes a left turn and continue to walk.

"This is what you're gonna see on Sunday." Ben says as he exhales. "Remember, you did this, you made a rod for your own back and now you're gonna have to live with the consequences of your actions. You're gonna have to reap what you sow because this is my chance to get my hands on you and show ya that ya messed with the wrong people, that you messed with things when you shoulda just sat there and said that'll you'll leave well and good alone. This is where it all bites you on the jacksy. I wouldn't have asked for this if I didn't think I could. It wasn't emotion driving me, but determination and it's gonna drive me on here too. Take this match as a warning Alexander and a future lesson on who you think you can screw with."

Ben looks at his watch.

"Well, I better get my skates on cause I got a flight to catch and an arse to kick." He says seriously. "Hope you lovely lot have a good Easter, except you Alexander, you can bugger right off. I'll see you Sunday but you will not be happy to see me."

Ben winks at the camera.

"Laters people." He says with a short, sharp nod.

And with that, the camera fades to black.

2
Climax Control Archives / Protesters? Alright mate...
« on: March 15, 2024, 04:11:05 PM »
We fade in to Ben Jordan standing on a stage in an empty room, just pacing with his head down before looking to his left, staring down the camera.

"Alright people!" Ben says with a cheeky wink. "It's that time again and yep, I know it's the same old, same old formula which I might switch up at some point because people might just get bored of it, but today, we're going for the classic intro, what I've been up to and little chat about the match if that's alright with you lot. I mean if it ain't broke, no point fixing it at the moment."

Ben smiles.

"So it's bloody amazing how I seem to be doing these more and more." He muses. "Last week, this week, Ben Jordan on the show all the time. What's all that stuff about? I go from filling cards when needed to being on every show. Nice change of pace. Bit mental considering I'm not exactly one hundred percent but might as well earn my keep."

Ben stops pacing.

"Speaking of which, earning my keep has been something I have been up to this week believe it or not." Ben tells the camera. "You guys remember Oasis, right? Charity myself and Jamie Dean set up to help homeless gay teens a while ago? It was bonkers getting it set up, lemme fill ya in on it, in case you don't remember. So Jamie wanted to do this for a while and I was and am a charitable fella, I had the money to last me a lifetime and ya know, recent sales of assets from a painless divorce had kept that to be true, so I was and am funding this out of my SCW paycheck. Well, we had a bit of grief from the landlord, who didn't like the fact that we were using the place for homeless gay teens and refused to sign it over to Jamie, ring any bells?"

Ben stops for a second.

"Well, I stepped in as a rival to Jamie to take the place over." Ben says with a smile as he thinks back. "When I say rival, it was all a ploy, because the fella signed over a ninety nine year lease to me and my business partner... He nearly dropped a brick when it turned out Jamie was my business partner, and we've been running this place for donkeys years, except I haven't exactly been around as much as I should have."

Ben frowns.

"What with cutting the gold off my finger, serious bouts of depression and other stuff going on, my support to the place has been mostly financial while Jamie carried the can." Ben admits. "But my time is a little more free now, so JD asked me if I could do some time here and I agreed. I feel like it might actually be good for me, relaxing even."

Ben breathes deeply.

"Little did I know what awaited me when I got back here. Peaceful wasn't exactly what the universe ordered." Ben says with the frown returning to his face. "Actually, it was the start of something I didn't expect and that's what I've been up to this week, being more hands on and wanting to be more foot up someone's you know what."

Ben half smiles.

"You're probably a little confused by that last comment, so let me show you what I've been up to next week and you can figure out where I wanted to plant my boot." He says with a wider grin. "So lets get that airing about now and I'll show ya what that's all about."

Ben rolls his hand around in a circle to get the recording rolling.



Sunday night was another tough night for Ben Jordan but it had been announced, mixed tag team street fight, another match he would not have seen himself in until the strange career trajectory that he somehow seemed to find himself on. He had opted to keep his word to Jamie Dean from last week and head to Oasis for a couple of days to mentor people but knew he would be arriving late. He wasn't wrong as the time was a little after two in the morning when the car pulled up outside and Ben stepped out, nodding his appreciation to the driver before looking up at the security entrance leading to the offices.

"Christ." He said to himself. "I hope I can remember the security number."

He walked towards the nondescript door with his bag over his shoulder and moved to the keypad, tapping in a number and pulling down the door handle. To his half surprise, the door pulled open.

"Ha!" He said to himself in victory. "And they said too many blows to the head will make me forget things."

He walked through the door with a confident strut and up the stairs leading to the offices that he shared with Jamie Dean, hitting a light switch as he passed it. He took the first door at the top of the steps to his right and went in, reaching around the corner to hit another light switch. The office lit up with two desks, one a mess with papers and the other virtually empty. Ben looked at the empty desk and smiled.

"Dunno why he insisted on me having a desk here when I'm rarely here, but hey ho." Ben said to himself as he moved to the empty desk and sat behind hit. He looked at it for a few seconds before moving his head down, resting his hand on his head, then...

Nothing....

Darkness...

Until....

"What the hell?!?!" Jamie Dean's voice could be heard saying.

Ben's eyes opened from a sleep as he looked up slowly, realising he was more tired then he thought when he entered the office and had fallen asleep at the desk.

"Where's the fire?" Ben asked as he let out a huge yawn.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Jamie said surprised as Ben put his head up to smile. "You nearly gave me a god damn heart attack."

Jamie moved to the other side of the office towards a coffee machine and started to pour two cups out. Seconds later, one was sitting in front of Ben.

"I got in early hours of this morning." Ben explained. "I was so taken back by an announcement on an SCW show that happened last night, I had to come here in person and see if it was true. I mean imagine sitting back there, icing me bits up and stuff and seeing this promo from a guy who used to wrestle in SCW about him coming back to SCW for Blast From The Past. I was stunned, I was amazed, I am...."

"Laying it on a bit thick." Jamie said cutting him off.

"Well, maybe a little." Ben admitted. "But come on, it was decent. So how did that happen?"

Jamie took a seat behind his own desk and looked across at Ben.

"I guess I just wanted a change like you did." Jamie said with a calm shrug. "I miss the ring sometimes, and it's a good way to show the kids I'm not just the guy here, that I can do something inspiring."

"Nothing wrong with inspiring the next generation." Ben said with an approving nod. "Doesn't matter if it's in life or in wrestling. Whole point of this place is to do that, keep them safe, inspire, let them go."

Jamie took a sip of his coffee and raised an eyebrow at Ben.

"So what are you really doing here?" He asked.

"Well you said I could be here more, I was in the state so thought I'd drop on by." Ben said with a smile. "Get the feeling that there was more to the invite then you let on the other day."

Jamie gritted his teeth a little and Ben looked across at him with a slight smirk.

"I love being right." He said to Jamie with his smile growing by the second. "So what is it?"

Jamie shifted in his chair, slightly uncomfortable with the line of question, which quickly changed Ben's look from smug to more concern.

"Well?" Ben pushed.

"It's nothing I can't deal with." Jamie said to him with a weak smile. "You don't need to go all Superman or anything."

Ben and Jamie both turned to look at the camera staring at it with smiles on their faces as the turned back to the scene.

"Look mate, if their's issues." Ben told him. "I can help out a little bit. I am gonna be here more often, over the weekends and stuff a bit more often, maybe like every other week and when SCW are in California, can show up every week, so if something is kicking off, let me know."

Again, Jamie shared an uneasy glance towards Ben.

"It's just..." He said before a noise in the background stopped him in his tracks.

Ben raised an eyebrow at Jamie.

"The bloody hell is that?" Ben asked.

Jamie sighed as he looked at Ben. He rubbed the side of his temple with two fingers before continuing.

"It's just your about to find out I guess." Jamie said as he rose from his desk.

Ben sprung to his feet and the two left the office and down the same stairs Ben had walked up the night before and Jamie got to the door before Ben. He opened the door for Ben and Ben quickly walked through. His eyes diverted back to Jamie.

"Explain?" Ben said quickly.

"Protesters." Jamie replied. "They started up last week, apparently this place is unnatural."

Ben sighed deeply.

"I thought we ended this bollocks when we got one over on the landlord." Ben said.

"Did you just use a curse word?" Jamie said surprised.

"Bollocks and arse ain't curse words." Ben said to Jamie. "They're lower scale, but anyway, lemme get rid of these muppets."

Ben confidently walked toward the group of five women.

"The old Ben charm incoming." Jamie muttered, causing Ben to stop and turn back in his tracks to look at him before continuing.

"Can I help ya people?" Ben asked to get their attention.

One women looked at a smiling Ben and decided to take the lead, standing in front of the others.

"Who are you?" Said in a demanding tone.

"Well that depends." Ben said. "I can be the nicest bloke in the world, or I can be an horrible bloke that might not respond well to that nasty tone of yours. The thing is, you don't know which I am at this point, so sweetheart, until you work that one out, I suggest you try and be civil being as you're on my property having a go at some brick walls."

The woman looked shocked, as did Jamie at Ben's tone as Jamie joined in. Ben put one hand on Jamie's shoulder and clicked his fingers, causing the scene to freeze, other then him and Jamie.

"Always wanted to be a part of that." Jamie said with a smile. "But what's that tone for?"

"It's the English accent, it rattles them." Ben said with a wink. "Every bad guy millionaire in those blockbuster movies is English, so they might think I'm one of them and bugger off."

Jamie nodded his head and Ben clicked his fingers again and looked at the woman.

"See, us English don't like to mince words at times." Ben told her. "So what's this all about?"

"I... I... I mean we..." The woman stumbled out. "We think this place is unnatural. We think that there's no place in this area for these people."

Ben nodded seriously, keeping eye contact with the woman.

"All five of ya think that?" Ben asked. "Because this lovely lady here hasn't stopped smiling since I got here so not sure she agrees with you anymore."

Ben smiled towards a blonde woman who blushed instantly.

"We have more on the way!" The woman snaps back

"Bus break down did it?" Ben said with a chuckle. "When you say these people, do you mean homeless people that are no longer homeless? Because you know the way this world is, you could be homeless soon, money's tight for some people, you're one missed payment away from being turfed out on your arse."

"That will never happen, my husband has a good job." She told Ben.

"You have a husband?" Ben said to her before turning to Jamie and lowering his voice. "Brave fella."

Jamie tried to hide a smile.

"If you have issues with the homeless, then I do not get your issue with people like me and JD here, giving them a place to stay." Ben told her calmly.

"It's not that, it's because they're..." The woman stopped talking, unable to say the last word.

"Gay?" Jamie added

"Yes!" The woman yelled out.

"Well that's pretty funny." Ben said. "You have an issue because people are gay and they're here."

"That's right." The woman said, feeling that Ben is now swaying to her side. "They don't belong here, they're disgusting."

"Where do gay people belong?" Ben asked with an innocent tone.

The woman looked at Ben with her mouth open, surprised by the question.

"Guessing you never thought about that one before." Ben said, trying to keep his best serious face. "I mean everyone's gotta be somewhere right? You've gotta be somewhere, they've gotta be somewhere, everyone needs to be somewhere, but I think you should count your blessings here."

"What do ya mean?" The woman said softly.

"Well at least you know where these guys are." Ben said with a casual shoulder shrug. "You call human beings disgusting because who they're born to want, but these guys are here, it's the one you don't know about sweetheart, they're the ones who should be in your thoughts, because you never know when you're living your daily life next to someone who you deem as disgusting."

Ben's words tied her up, and Ben knew he had her on the ropes.

"Did you go for coffee this morning?" Ben asked. "Wait, of course you did, cause I'm gonna judge you like you're judging people. Course you went and bought an expensive coffee cause you're a middle aged American with too much time on her hands. I'm assuming that because well, judging people without knowing them is cool, right?"

The woman still had no reply to Ben.

"Did you ask the guy who grinded the beans if he prefers the arms of gentlemen?" Ben asked. "Or the person who delivered the cups? How about the person who placed that cup in your hands, and I'm gonna presume latte because well, presuming is alright today, right? Did you check any of that?"

The woman looked stunned at Ben.

"Did you grab the mail this morning?" Ben asked "Did you ask the postie what he was holding in his hand last night? How about the fella who bagged your groceries? Just sticking with the presumption theme that you got going on and guessing you didn't. Do you know if they was straight? I'm gonna take a punt and say you didn't ask that, so they too might be disgusting. You've probably walked past more gay people on your way here then you realise, so if you wanna shut down a place for not being the same as you, you're gonna be a very busy lady."

Ben wagged a finger at her.

"But this is not a place you will be getting rid of." Ben told her a little more sternly. "Because well, I ain't letting that happen, unless you wanna buy the place, but that's in the millions and I'll only buy the place next door to you, knock it down and build a skyscraper so I can have more people there. Now this is where I think you should bugger off and come up with a better plan because this place ain't going anywhere."

Ben looked at the woman stomp her feet and storm off. The others quickly followed, leaving Jamie and Ben standing there. As soon as the women are out of sight, the two men burst out in to fits of laughter.

"Now that was something else." Jamie said through his laughs.

"I thought so." Ben said also laughing. "I hate people like that. Self righteous and all that because people see things differently."

"You know she'll be back." Jamie informed Ben.

"Oh I hope so." Ben said with a nod. "Cause I got all the time in the world to put people like that down, adds a bit of fun to life."

The two turned and walked back towards the building.

"You know." Jamie said with a wide smile. "With some of those lines you came out with, you'd make a great Bong villain."

Ben put his arm around Jamie's shoulder.

"Mate..." Ben said as he stopped. "I'd make a great Bond."

The two shared a laugh as they entered the building and the scene faded to black.



We fade back in to Ben in current times on the stage.

"Did you figure out where I wanted to stick me boot?" He says with a smile. "Bloody annoying woman."

Ben clears his throat.

"So yeah, that's been going on this week." Ben says slowly. "It distracted me from some poor attempt at getting under my skin on social media from Alexander Raven, nice try son but I'm not rattled by keyboard warriors, especially when it's not really funny. You're a grown arse man, you can do better the balls joke, what's wrong with you?"

Ben looks genuinely confused.

"It didn't however distract me from what's around the corner." Ben says. "It didn't distract me from you Rodrigo Afonso.... I nearly called you Afonso Rodrigo then for some odd reason, can't for the life of me think why."

Ben scratches his head.

"I still thought about going in to this match with you Rodrigo." Ben says seriously. "Because I actually think this is the perfect match for me to be in at this point. Last week was a bit of a disappointment that Alexander Raven ruined a perfectly good match against a guy I was looking forward to testing myself against. He ruined something that I wanted and I can't help but think this is the perfect chance to remind him just who he's messing with, who he's actually dealing with. It's not disrespect to you Roddy, not at all. It's not a slight on your skills or what you can do in the ring, but it's a chance to show up against an awkward opponent with a skill set that I don't often come across when it comes to getting in the ring. These are the tests I need."

Ben looks at the camera.

"I always feel like I'm on a roll when I'm in the ring all the time, not stop start, not slowing down and mate, I've been booked like a loon lately so very much on that roll." Ben says thoughtfully. "It's a bit of a test to push myself through and show I can handle all comers with different styles as I build towards a crazy freaking match in a few weeks time and there's a reason I see Roddy as a bigger thing then most might. Most might look at this one and go what's the point but in my head, there's a point because you need to put respect on his name mate. Ya need to sit there and think about how this geezer is not a slouch in the ring, you gotta think this geezer knows what he's doing and is pulling up trees, causing a few surprises, doing things understated but effective. Guy walks away with a title opportunity at his own pace, you don't get that by being lucky so Roddy, this is me putting respect on ya name, because you earned it."

Ben runs his hand under his chin.

"And realistically, I'm probably the perfect opponent for you to continue that decent run of taking big names and you probably got me at the right time." Ben wonders. "I mean I'm a bit banged up, I got some plonker breathing down my neck at every opportunity, a match coming up that isn't really my style, so you would think my head could be all over the place and it could very well be, but the thing is, it really isn't. I'm actually blocking out the plonker, I'm blocking out the future challenges because all that matters is getting past you Roddy and getting myself on winning ways as I go towards Blaze of Glory. I know that's there in the future and although I'm not overly thinking about that, I know that I need to build momentum and make people question their actions."

Ben walks a little closer to the camera.

"I think a win over Roddy would be the perfect start." Ben says in thought. "I didn't come up trumps in the last match and that's fine, but this is where I wanna bounce back to winning ways and although a lot refuse to see it, this guy is bloody good. Thing is I've dealt with a lot and know how to adapt and even as black and blue as I am, I think I could still do a number on him and walk out celebrating. It's what I need to do to kick on because I need that momentum, I need that push, I need to repay a lot of faith put in me to show up every week and do what they pay me to do. This is why I need to put on a good show against Roddy and mate, it's gonna happen. There's a lot of great stuff on this card, some proper blinding matches, but this is a show I wanna stand out in and I would think that's more then possible."

Ben breathes in sharply.

"Last few weeks, I've been about constantly and left people talking about me, this week, I want them talking about me winning instead of the geezer who got mucked around again by outside players and people who don't belong near the ring at that time." He says seriously. "I wanna be talked about this week for having a cracking match against a very good opponent and coming out winning, instead of another poxy no contest or draw, because I've had a few of those things lately. It's time for this guy to step up to where he should be and Roddy, you're a tough opponent, you got that golden briefcase with ya which is no joke but I gotta get out there and show you all what I'm all about. These no contests do sod all for me so it's time to step up."

Ben points upwards.

"Contrary to what some believe, I do still have it and I still do have another gear to kick in to at this point." He says with a slight smile. "And this is the week to do so, this is the week to play through the pain, this is the week to show that the heart of the Cockney King still beats hard. Many think I've on the downhill slide, that I'm over the hill, that I'm just too long in the tooth to be doing this anymore, that my best days are so far behind me, they're in another country but nah, I ain't done yet. I still got a lot to prove now that the first in me has been lit once more. A few months ago, I might have agreed, I might have said yeah, my better days are gone, but that fire is burning bright this time, that fire is hotter then it ever was before because I got something to prove to myself, not to others, but to myself. I'm the one who has to get up every morning and look in the mirror and see this big ol' mush."

Ben points to his face.

"I'm the one who has to justify everything to myself." He says with a serious look. "I need to get up in the morning, look in that mirror and tell myself I am someone, I am a top wrestler and this Sunday, I get to prove it against another of SCW's young guns. I couldn't get the job done last week against Reyno but I will do this week. I respect ya talent Roddy but mate, I'm coming in to this match with the intention of walking out a winner. There ain't no ifs, buts or ands about it. This is just what's gonna happen on Sunday."

Ben pauses for breath.

"And I hope Alexander Raven does get a closer look at what's happening on Sunday. Mate, you're welcome to a front row seat." Ben says with a serious tone. "Because this is straight up wrestling, this is what I can do without any problems at all, anyone can swing a chair, but what you're about to see is wrestling class and it's what's gonna mess you up proper."

Ben slowly nods.

"Right, I've probably taken up enough of your time." Ben says with a firm nod. "Roddy, I will see you on Sunday, looking forward to it mate. I wish ya all the best, but I know for a fact who's walking out winner of this one."

Ben points to himself.

"Until then, have a cracking weekend you lovely lot and I'll see you soon." He says with a cheery smile.

"Later's people!"

Ben winks down the camera as the scene comes to an end.

3
Climax Control Archives / Hmmmm....
« on: March 08, 2024, 10:06:23 AM »
Ben Jordan's face appears on the screen as he leans back in a reclining chair, his head still covering the scared skin from the battle at My Bloody Valentine. He smiles down the camera and gives a thumb up.

"Morning people." He says with a slight wince. "Or evening, afternoon or night, where ever you're watching this from. It is indeed intro time. We know how this works, it's tried, it's tested, it's familiar and you can skip past it if ya want to get to the meat of things."

Ben winks and smiles.

"I'm sorry for having to lay back like this but I ain't one hundred percent still not only from my Bloody Valentine, but from last week, so please forgive this old aching sod."

Ben points down.

"Getting a whack in the chaps is no fun, lemme tell ya." He says with a chuckle. "But getting whacked in the gentlemen parts has left me conflicted a little bit. I came out of My Bloody Valentine a bloody mess but feeling like I can do this again, that I could be a proper wrestler again and not be like past it, spot filling, all that stuff and then I heard Alexander Raven's words about the luck of the draw and well, geezer might be right there, I did get a decent draw and I came out of it."

Ben frowns slightly.

"Makes me wonder if I did get away with it a bit, but can not doubt I went through hell in something I wasn't comfortable with, just to win." He says softly. "But what it did do is put a little doubt I thought I got over, it made me wonder if I deserve this spot I'm in."

Ben can not help but sigh.

"Well I guess now I gotta prove it over and over again and I got a top match coming up with Aiden Reynolds." He says with a smile. "He's a top wrestler so I guess I will have to prove it again and again I'm where I belong and that you Alexander, you're a bitter old man."

Ben tries to lean forward but winces.

"Anyway. What do we have to show you from this week?" Ben says to the camera. "Well what we have in some behind the scenes footage of directly after getting hit in the wotsits, because ya know, gotta keep pushing that thing along and we got some stuff from yesterday where I had a conversation with an old familiar face."

The camera switches to the side of Ben as he continues to the side of Ben's face.

"Why?" He asks himself. "Because I thought it might be fun to watch."

The camera switches back to the front of Ben.

"So enjoy this." He says with a smile.



He never expected Sunday to go the way it did, as Ben returned through the curtain after an unexpected attack. Reaching down to his... well, low blow target area for men, he winced as he leaned over the rail at the top of the staging area. He looked around at the eyes upon him, many with surprise and caution burning a hole in him as he turned to walk down a few steps and to the nearest chair he could find.

"Bloody hell." he muttered to himself as he closed his eyes and breathed deep. "Not the first time I've been hit in the crackers but that woman has a vicious streak on her."

Another deep breath filled his lungs.

"Seriously, right in the gooleys." He said with a shake of his head. "Not cool."

"Ben!" Sam Marlowe's voice is heard saying.

Ben opened his eyes to see the concerned redhead standing in front of him.

"I'm so sorry." She said as she rested her hand on his shoulder.

Ben looked up and shook his head at her.

"You didn't whack me in the onion bag." Ben said as he mustered up half a smile. "So you ain't gotta be sorry about anything."

Sam took a seat next to Ben, her eyes full of sympathy.

"But I should have expected it as soon as he appeared that she might be around somewhere." Sam said softly.

"I wouldn't worry." Ben reassured her. "When I went out there, I went out there to move on, to admit that I was offered a prize for that match and turned it down so it didn't look dodgy with Bella winning the same match and getting offered something. Then the plan was to move on a bit, step away a bit, fill my time with something that don't give me panic attacks and now I'm pulled back in."

He sighed.

"Guess all it took was a whack down low." Ben said sadly before looking at Sam. "But as me Nan used to say, worse things happen at sea."

He looked at Sam with a frown.

"I'll make sure she won't get away with it." Sam said fiercely.

Ben couldn't help but smile at Sam with more conviction then his previous attempts at smiling since he came back through the curtain.

"You're funny when you're angry." Ben said with a slight laugh. "Your face also turns a shade of ginge."

Sam narrowed her eyes at Ben as she looked at him, balling up her fist.

"Can I interest ya in another shot below the belt?" She asked in a joking manner.

Ben put his hand on his chin, a thoughtful look appearing on his face.

"Well, to be fair." He started. "I didn't really like the first one so an action replay of it all is not really on my mind right now, so as generous as the offer is, I think I'm gonna have to thank you and pass. Thoughtful offer though."

Sam smiled at Ben.

"Well, no little Ben Jordan's will be running around the world." She said, lightening the mood.

"World has enough trouble handling this one." Ben fired back quickly. "Hate to think what would happen if there was more of me running round saying alright people to everyone they see."

He tried to stand up, but pain shot through his body and he slouched back down to his seat. Sam's face turned back to a concerned look as she looked at her tag team partner.

"Are you ok?" She asked seriously.

"I'm alright." Ben said. "But my meat and two veg and feeling so chipper."

She looked at him with sadness in her eyes, but Ben smiled back, easing the tension with them both.

"I'm thinking we should bugger off out." Ben said as he successfully made it to his feet.

"Pub?" Sam asked him.

Ben surprisingly shook his head at Sam, taking her back slightly.

"I want a pint of something." He stated. "But not beer."

"Oh?" Sam quickly responded.

"Yeah, a pint of ice cream would be wicked." Ben told her.

Sam looked at him curiously, but smiled.

"Well after the night you've been through, I think you deserve any flavour you want." She said with a bright smile.

"Flavour don't matter love." Ben replied as he limped along with her.

"It doesn't?" She asked.

"No, it's not for me." Ben said looking at her. "It's for me nuts."

He pointed down as Sam suppressed a smile and the two wandered off as we cut to another scene



It was a brisk afternoon in the East End of London as Ben Jordan walked through Millwall Park on the Isle of Dogs. Spring was on it's way in London, even if the weather didn't completely match. Sunshine barely broke through the cloud line as he wandered through with Bear at his side.

"Bit nippy today boy." Ben said as he looked down at him. "Still, that fur coat must keep ya warm."

Ben shivered as he pulled his hood over his top, covering a leather baseball cap that sat on his crown, but slightly winced at the movement.

"I think I need a sit down mate." Ben said to his dog as he spied a bench in the distance. "Seems like a good a place as any. No matter where we sit out here, still gonna be cold enough to chill the nuts off a brass monkey."

Bear looked up at Ben, walking by his side in a nonchalant, casual manner, as relaxed as relaxed can be. It was only a few seconds before Ben had made it to the bench and turned slowly to sit, taking the weight off his aching feet. Bear sat down in front of him, looking around at the fairly empty park.

"Could be worse I suppose." He said to himself softly as he looked around at the scene.

Ben breathed deeply as he tried to find some peace in his own mind, but it wasn't to long before his peace was distracted by a ringing phone in his jeans pocket. He looked around himself for a second, deciding if he wanted to answer it but shrugged and reached in to his pocket and pulled it out, looking at the caller ID. A smile broke out on his face as he saw the name Jamie Dean. He wasted little time in answering a video call.

"JD." Ben said as the face of his friend and former tag team partner, Jamie Dean appeared on the screen. "You're up early over there, everything alright?"

Jamie smiled at Ben.

"Always been an early riser in more ways then one." Jamie said with a wink.

"King of innuendos." Ben replied with a nod. "What's up?"

"I'm just calling to check in on you." Jamie said with a serious face. "I've caught your stuff lately and I know when you're not completely happy. Plus I wanted to check on how you were after the nut shot."

Ben looked down towards his legs before looking up at the camera.

"Well, I didn't expect to ever use the line The Cockney King got hit in the crown jewels." Ben replied with a shrug. "But they're alright I guess."

"And you?" Jamie asked.

"I don't know if I'm honest." Ben said to him.

"Well, you know I trained in helping people after I stopped wrestling, so you can talk to me." Jamie offered sincerely.

"You know what, it's bloody hard to talk about." Ben admitted. "I guess what it boils down to is I wanted to step away and I couldn't, I'm dragged back in when I don't really want to be. The truth is what I should have done is did what Jonesy did all those years ago. Step out at my prime, go and get an nine to five office job like a normal fella."

Jamie scrunched up his face as he looked at Ben.

"You'd get so bored so quickly, you'd run back to the ring." Jamie said to him. "You're at your best when your busy and not in your own head. That could be your problem."

"What could be?" Ben asked.

"You're not busy enough so you're in your own head." Jamie told him. "This never used to be you. When you was married to the devil woman, you always had something to do because you got dragged all over the place. You was constantly on vacation doing something, now what do you do?"

Ben shrugged his shoulders.

"I get up around noon, maybe later, walk about with Bear for a bit, then we hunt down some bacon, head out for the occasional pint." Ben tells him. "Run in to the same drunk in the same pub, arguing with his missus about him being in the same pub every night, while she stands there with him most nights."

"Wait, is this the same freeloading bird that never pays for a round but always wants one bought for her because she's a lady?" Jamie offered in response.

"The one and same. Setting equality back a few years." Ben replied. "She questions where his money is coming from, while never turning down a drink. Bizarre couple."

Ben shrugged his left shoulder.

"Then we head home, pick a takeaway and stick the tele on." Ben told him. "I thought this was the life I wanted, but maybe you're right, maybe it is a bit of boredom. I never had this issue years ago when I run a boozer around here."

"You didn't?" Jamie questioned.

"Nah." Ben replied with a smile as he thought back through that time. "Days were proper long too. I was up at like six every morning. I was in the bar stocking the fridges, emptying the machines for the cash in there, waiting for deliveries. I'd clean the place completely and it wasn't a small boozer, but I did all that on my own. I was out the door picking up the morning newspapers, down the bakers for the fresh rolls, making the fresh rolls and opening the place at eleven and taking the first shift till three."

"At least you got a break then." Jamie said.

"Not exactly." Ben replied. "At that point, I'd be in the stock room, seeing what we were short off, then I'll be on the phone ordering what we needed. After that, I'll be in the office sorting out staff wages, doing a ton of paperwork and whatever was left, be off down the bank. Then I'd be back in the bar by seven to see the night out. I wasn't getting to bed until midnight most nights and up by six, but you know what the weird thing was?"

"What?" Jamie asked.

"I absolutely loved it mate." Ben admitted. "I loved every second of those long days, every day of the week. I never had time to reflect or worry about what was in my head. I did what us cockneys do. I got up and I did that, got on with it cause every day was different. Sure we got the people in that seemed to look like scruffs but had seemingly endless funds, but they'll always be something different going on. They'll always be a face I haven't seen before. I needed that."

Jamie tapped his chin as he looked down the camera at Ben.

"Well, you either need to buy another pub..." He started. "Or fill your time with something else."

Ben frowned at Jamie.

"I wouldn't mind another boozer." He admitted "But I couldn't do all that again properly till I hang up the boots."

"Well, I might have another idea." Jamie said with a smile.

"I'm all ears." Ben replied.

"Why don't you come over here to help out at Oasis for a couple of days a week? I could use the help and the kids would be happy to see you." Jamie told Ben. "It will help you feel busier."

Ben thought about it for a few seconds.

"I could do." He said. "Maybe fly in Friday morning, go to work on Sunday, back Sunday night, come back home on Monday."

"Even a day around them would be appreciated."Jamie told Ben.

Ben nodded slowly at the phone.

"Tell ya what." Ben said. "I got a match in Cali on Sunday, so how about I swing by and we'll sort something out?"

"That sounds great." Jamie replied with a wide smile. "But I gotta go, call me with details when you're getting here."

"Can do mate." Ben says with a salute."Have a good un!"

Ben turns off the phone and looks down at Bear.

"Is it me or did he seem very, very keen on getting me there?" He asked Bear. "I think something's going on."

Bear seemed to nod in agreement.

"Alright, lets get down the cafe, shall we?" Ben said to Bear.

Bear wasted no time getting back to his feet and moving away. Ben started to follow with the thought of Jamie's keenness weighing on his mind.



The camera fades back in to current day Ben as he sits in his recliner.

"Still don't have a clue what Jamie is going on about, but he is in California so think I'll do a little swing by." Ben says. "And speaking of California, I'll be wrestling there on Sunday."

Ben winks.

"See what I did there?" He says with a smile. "And not only can we get back to the wrestling basics that I love, it's against a fella who reminds me so much of me, it's not even funny. Seriously, I love it, because he seems a lot like me before the spark went out of my eyes and the spring out of my step. Absolute stud in the form of Aiden Reynolds."

Ben nods and smiles.

"Now I've only been in the ring with Reyno once and that was in that hell of a match neither of us was overly confident in." Ben says with a slight shrug. "But trust me people, you only need to be in a ring with this guy once to know he was once like me. Working hard, pushing himself, wanting him to be the proper version of himself where he can put himself ahead of the rest. Mate, I built a career on being like that, being something different and it didn't do me any harm, it got the people behind me and pushed me on to do more. Ladies and gents, this is Aiden Reynolds and I ain't pulling your plonker on that one. Charisma for days, stamina, energy, can put on a show, willing to have a laugh at his own expense, just generally a decent guy. A bloke who can put bums on seats, get the cheers and the love of the fans."

Ben pauses.

"That describes both of us." Ben says with a short nod. "And I have the ultimate, top notch respect for anyone who can be like that. People think this game is easy, get out there, wrestle, try and get a crowd reaction, that part yeah, no worries mate, but to really be something, you need to catch fire and that is what Reyno can do. He ain't been here long and he's already done that, he's already caught and about to burst in to flames and this match could be the one that does that for him. I had the same against an established SCW wrestler back in the day and here I am all those years later so I  know how important this match can be for him. This could be your break out match Aiden and it will be your breakout match."

Ben raises a finger.

"It doesn't mean you're gonna win it but it is without a doubt gonna be a breakout match for you one way or the other cause I'm gonna make it happen." Ben says seriously. "However it goes down in that ring, and I'm not a plonker enough to think my experience is gonna walk all over ya, you're gonna look amazing mate."

Ben tries to sit forward in the recliner but grits his teeth and lays back.

"It's obvious I ain't at my best but I ain't using that as an excuse." Ben says as he looks down the camera. "I'm gonna leave everything in the ring regardless because that's what I always do. I mean if we could survive that hell at My Bloody Valentine, then we can give the fans something decent here. I'm pretty sure that you're not feeling bloody fantastic after that one but I'm expecting the England Aussie rivalry to proper show up."

Ben holds his hands up.

"Let me make it clear people, it's just a sporting thing." Ben explains. "Always a rivalry with us Brits and the Aussies but its not really personal and neither will this be. It will be a couple of top stars from two top sporting nations putting on another thing to be remembered for donkeys years to come."

Ben nods seriously.

"Don't get me wrong at all people, this one is gonna be a cracker of a match." Ben says confidently. "I know what the fella is like in the ring and even through the blood running down my mush and in to my minces, I could see what a proper talent he is and I respect it massively. It is gonna be a proper cheeky fight this one and we're gonna give you it all, but I can't help but fancy me chances in this one. I dunno why but I think even though I ended up feeling as rough as a dogs tongue after that supercard match and getting hit in the crackers last week, I feel like there's been a bit of a turning point in my career. I can't help but feel like it was the oddest kick in the jacksy I needed to get myself going again and that is something that I just might do."

Ben glances down at his watch.

"I don't wanna bore you with much more, and I got a flight to go jump on, but mate, I am seriously looking forward to this match, I'm looking forward to getting in the ring with a fella I proper respect and kicking on." Ben says honestly. "So I will see you all in the Californian sun on Sunday and Aiden, respect mate, I'll catch ya soon."

Ben winks down the camera.

"Laters people!"

And with that the scene fades to black.

4
Climax Control Archives / Only Human
« on: February 02, 2024, 03:46:30 PM »
It's a Ben Jordan promo so as you'd expect, we fade in to Ben sitting somewhere in a brown leather chair, but his face isn't his normal cheery self, but more of a blank look crossing his usual smiling face.

"Alright people." He says in a softer tone. "Cheers for joining me on one of the biggest weeks I've had recently."

He pauses to look around uncomfortably.

"This week has been actually pretty nerve wracking if I'm honest." He admits. "And I think you lovely lot know exactly why. It's that time again where me and Sammi have a chance to go for the Mixed Tag Team championships and I know you might be sitting there thinking that it's not a massive championship, it's not exactly the top belt that puts your face on the posters and the big ol' trucks that carry everything around but to me, it's fairly important."

He clears his throat.

"It's been a bit like my white whale." Ben says with a soft sigh. "I've come close to it on a few occasions but I just can't seem to grab hold of it and take it. Honestly, it gives me stress good people and yeah, stress ain't fun. From the minute I was told about this, I've been playing with my poker face and trying not to crack but it's a bit hard."

He sighs once more.

"I know you might sit there and think this is weakness and wrestlers shouldn't show weakness cause we're all meant to be tough and what not." Ben says with a slight smile. "But we're human too and go through a whole host of emotions and yeah, that's exactly what happened with me. Not for the I'm scared kinda thing, but for something completely different. Luckily, the moment was caught and that my good lovely people is what I wanna show ya. It was right after the match last week. See, always working..."



Minutes after the final bell at Climax Control 384, Ben Jordan walked through the curtain, a look of indifference on his face as he walked down the steps in the backstage area, shortly followed by Sam Marlowe.

"I'm sorry." Ben mutters, unable to look toward Sam. "I shoulda finished it all off earlier. Bloody hate draws. Shoulda took out Carter sooner."

Sam raises an eyebrow at Ben as he shakes his head.

"It wasn't your fault." Sam say encouragingly.

Ben sighs in disappoint as he feels Sam's hand reach his shoulder and he glance an eye at it.

"I think I coulda finished that one early." Ben says with a slow shake of his head. "Coulda gone on and gone for those titles next week and had a fair crack at them too."

He sat himself down at a nearby bench, Sam sitting next to him, a look of concern of her face as she brushes her red hair away from her eyes.

"Y'all taking this one too hard." She says reassuringly. "We did take one of the better teams on the roster to a draw."

Ben looks at her, still struggling to shake the disappointment from his own performance.

"You're probably bang on." He finally admits. "But can't help think I could have done more to pick up the win and get us that shot."

He puts his hands behind his head, leaning backwards and closing his eyes. He sat for a few seconds before the voice of someone else brought him back around.

"Ben, Sam, just the two people I wanted to see." The voice of Mark Ward says as he steps closer.

Ben opens his eyes, looking around for the source of the English tone and see his boss to the right of him.

"Can we help you boss?" Sam says politely.

"More like I can help you two." He replies. "But I wouldn't say no to a cup of coffee."

A smile places itself on Hot Stuff's face.

"I just wanted to let you both know about next weeks plan." He says in an authority like manor. "Obviously a draw gave us a decision to make on who will be going up against Kayla and Finn next week, but it wasn't a hard decision. We've decided it will be you two up against them."

Ben looks up at Hot Stuff from his seated position, his eyes looking at his boss.

"Why?" He asks. "I wasn't exactly on top form out there."

Hot Stuff snorts towards Ben.

"Well, that's the first time anyone has questioned why they're getting a shot, but I'll play along." Hot Stuff says with a slight last. "Two reasons, one, if there was one more second in the time limit, you two would have already been getting the shot and secondly, I don't know if it's just me, but it feels like Ariana works her way in to like two title shots a cycle."

Hot Stuff frowns.

"Not even sure how but it feels like it happens a lot." He says with a sharp shrug of his wide shoulders. "So you two are up. Good luck."

"Thank you!" Sam says with a smile. "See, everything worked out."

Sam gripped Ben on his shoulder and he fires a weak smile towards her.

"I guess so." Ben says softly. "We should probably celebrate."

"You don't have a flight to catch?" Sam says with a tone of surprise.

Ben stands up and looks around.

"Nah. I should probably stay over here for a week, get myself proper ready for this match. It's not a small match and I've cocked it up so many times when it comes to these belts, I should probably knock the travel on the head and stay put." He says quickly. "Ya know, give me more time to focus on things, get mentally in the right place so this time, we walk away with them."

Sam frowns at Ben.

"I think you're too hard on yourself." Sam tells him. "But it's great you're staying over here."

"Yeah." Ben replies. "I'm sure I'll fine some place to put me head down. Find a place without snow or something, or head to where ever the show is next week early and mooch around there for a bit."

"Alright." Sam says with a slight nod. "I'll go get changed and we can go out and celebrate."

Ben nods towards her as they head in different directions, heading to different dressing rooms. Ben nods to people as he walks through the hall and in to one of the rooms. He looks around, seeing no one there and shuts the door behind him. Ben leans against the door, pressing his back in to the wood before sliding down and sitting on the floor, his knees pressed up against his chest and his fingers interlocked behind his head.

"I can't bloody do this." He says to himself.

An anxious look ran over his face  as he closes his eyes.

"Every single time I go for these titles, I mess it up and we walk away with nothing." He sighs. "Every single time I go for these titles, something happens and I end up looking at a disappointed crowd and a disappointed Sam and this is something I mentally can't handle! I can't exactly turn around and say nah, don't worry about the match and asked too get out of it. Relax Ben, Relax!"

Ben takes a long deep breath before opening his eyes.

"What if I screw it up again?" He asks himself. "We didn't exactly get past Ariana and Carter with ease, did we?"

He slowly shakes his head.

"What if I mess up again and we never get another shot at this?" He questions. "What if this is it for me? I know people get title shot after title shot but I know they're few and far in between for me. I can't fluff it up again."

Ben slowly pulls himself to his feet.

"I can not let that happen." He says in a strong tone. "I can not let Sam down. I need to turn this negative energy in to something stronger."

He moves over to the dressing mirror, looking in his eyes, taking his time as he slowly breathes in and out. He continues to lock eyes with himself.

"You have to do it." He tells himself. "There's no excuses this time, there's no way you can take it easy. You're gonna be facing one of the best wrestlers in SCW, sod it, one of the best wrestlers in the world, you need to step and make sure you walk away with those belts. Not just for you, but for Sammi. She deserves this more then anyone else in SCW. She deserves to call herself a champion again."

He grits his teeth.

"You might have earned this shot cause of a poxy draw, but it's yours now." He reassures himself. "It's yours so do not blow it. Come up with a game plan, stick to it, make it work, no last minute changes on the flip, flop, fly, give Finn the right amount of respect but not so much that you over think it. Give him the fight of his life and if he beats you, make sure that he knows he's earned it, but do everything you can to make sure that you come out with the win and not the other way around."

Ben narrows his eyes.

"You and Sammi are a bloody good team!" He says firmly. "You know you can do it, so stop over thinking this one Ben, stop feeling like you lost this one before the bell is even rung. Make sure you go out there and give it everything. You have one week to get this together, get it all in order and go out there and give it the performance of your life. No more doubts, you're Ben Jordan, you've won everything else and you can win this."

He shakes his head.

"No, no, no." He says in a strong tone. "You WILL win this. No more worrying, let's get ready, let's go out, let's drink random shots, with random people and be confident, because you're Ben Jordan and you can do this."



We go back to Ben in his chair.

"As you could see, it wasn't about nerves for the match." He states. "It was the simple fact that once again, I could let Sammi down and that does not fill me with joy good people."

He frowns before continuing.

"I might have stood there for a while talking about how I could do this all, but I wasn;t sure I actually believed it at that point but thought the week, I learned more and more that sometimes, you have to take that negative and turn it in to a big positive." Ben says as he looks in to the camera. "And that's what life should be about, taking the negative and pushing it to be positive. I've had to sit there through the week and try and switch my mind from negative and turn it in to something where I can be positive about thing and ya know what it got me? It got me to change my mindset to no fear at all."

He leans forward in his chair.

"Realistically, I should be cacking it a bit." Ben says with a half smile. "When you look at who's on the other side of the ring to us, it's a whole holy you know what kinda thing because fellow Brit there Kayla is probably one of the most overlooked people on the Bombshell roster. She's been absolutely killing it out there, she been putting on show after show with not as much appreciation as she deserves. It ain't a she's British, I'm British, let's build each other up kinda thing. I mean I can sit here and make a bunch of jokes about Norwich, but nah, let's look at the talent on display and Kayla goes under the radar a lot when she shouldn't. I know what she can do, Sammi knows what she can do but I know what Sammi can do and her focus is one hundred percent on stopping that force that is Kayla."

Ben presses his hands together.

"You'd think Sammi focusing on Kayla would ease a little pressure on me, but not bloody likely, you lot know who I gotta get in the ring with!" Ben says while widening his eyes. "Finn bloody Whelan."

Ben runs his hand down is forehead.

"Arguably the favourite to become the SCW World Heavyweight champions in a couple of weeks time, a double champion." Ben says raising two fingers. "No offence to Goth, but Finn has to be the fave in this one."

Ben holds up both hands, palms out flat in a defensive stance.

"I get why this match has to be done two weeks before My Bloody Valentine, but not sure it's the greatest idea in the world." Ben ponders. "I get the title defence but here's the thing, Finn will no doubt have his mind focused on the big prize and rightly so, that throws up a whole lot of things that can go wrong for him and I can benefit from that, I can call meself a champion again but I gotta sit there and ask myself is it me that's done it or is Finn just got his eyes on the other prize? If I do beat him, does that take away his momentum going in against Goth? Obviously, Goth is probably gonna play cheerleader for me and Sammi, hoping that I can stop him and take away his mindset. Thing is, I don't even think me beating him will stop him winning the World Championship."

Ben shrugs.

"If I was a gambling man, and I am." Ben admits. "I know where my money would go..."

Ben leans back in his chair.

"But the thing is I said about turning my negative thoughts in to positive ones." Ben says with a wave of his finger. "And that is exactly what I've done in my head. Does Finn Whelan need the Mixed Tag Team championship? No, does he want them and will defend them with all he has? Abso-bloody-lutely, so my negative mindset is what do I have to lose here?"

Ben shakes his head slowly.

"To quote that classic song War..." Ben continues. "Absolutely nothing, and I will sing that again and again."

He takes a deep breath.

"It's pretty freeing Finn when you can sit there and tell yourself you have nothing to lose so you  might as well go out swinging." Ben says with a smile returning to his face. "And I know how a mind works, I know you want to sit there and use me as an example, I know you want to sit there and use me and this match to show Goth that you're ready for him. I know you wanna wallop me in to the middle of next week, just to show Goth that you're up for the punch up. Been around here for so long, I know that's how people view the go home show and that's all good to me, so I'm ready for that. I'm ready for what you're gonna chuck in my direction and I'm gonna come back swinging cause I ain't letting anyone down anymore, I'm not being the geezer on a cusp of a title all the time, only to walk away with bugger all. I've been that guy for too long. Number one contender matches, win, get to the big match and flop like a fish on the beach and I'm tired of that."

He exhales sharply.

"I know who you are and I know you deserve all the accolades in the world Finn." Ben says seriously. "I know you've earned every single admirer of your work, but I'm feeling like I actually need this win more then anything else in the world, I'm feeling like I need to smack the ball in the back off the net and take the three points home more then I ever have in my life. I've gone on about writing my next chapter for a long time, and this is where I feel my next chapter needs to start, this is where I feel like it has to start, with me becoming a champion again. I feel like I need to do it for me, but also need to do it for so many people."

He pauses for a second.

"I need to do it for me, I need to do it for Sammi." He says passionately. "I need to do it for the fans, every single person that laid their eyes on me and believed I could be someone. I need to do it for my family, I need to do it for my friends, I need to do it for anyone who ever patted me on the back, smiled at me, had even the tiniest bit of hope and faith in me. I need to do it for them all because without them, I wouldn't be where I am. I wouldn't be Ben Jordan the wrestler, I'd be Ben, the guy in the corner of the pub, I'd be Ben, Mr nine to five. I'd be Ben, the bloke known for the football team he supports and the fact he lives in a crummy little place on the rough part of the island. They made me Ben Jordan the wrestler because they believed in me, because they wanted to see me succeed. They made me who I am and followed me through thick and thin, the good and the bad times, the ups and downs that is my life. This championship would mean more to me then the leather and gold, it's about what it represents."

Ben leans forward.

"What it represents is hard work, what it represents is a journey that so many people have been on with me and Sammi." He says in an unusually firm tone. "It represents everyone coming along for the ride and pushing me along. I can sit here and focus on the negatives but these people deserve better and they're gonna play their part, they're gonna play their role in me and Sammi becoming SCW Mixed Tag Team champions on Sunday."

Ben swallows hard.

"I know you're gonna bring it all Finn." Ben continues. "I know Kayla is gonna be top notch as usual, but I got something driving me right now that I haven't had in a long time. I feel like I've been kicked up the aris and will do everything I can to walk away as a champion again. It's been a bloody long time since I could look in the mirror and tell myself I am the top of a league. It's been forever since I could do that and actually feel like I'm proper again and not drifting through anything, that championship belt is gonna give me some serious self worth. Self worth is positive, right?"

Ben rolls his shoulders back.

"Nothing to lose, everything staying in that ring and I do mean everything, Finn." Ben says seriously. "There's not gonna be a me that shows up less then one hundred and ten percent ready for anything and everything you have. You might be on the path for bigger things and it's pretty clear you are but my focus isn't clouded by bigger prizes. My focus is on what you have, not what you're likely to get. It will be one of those magic moments where the crowd will not believe their eyes when I put on a show and take out the man who is gonna probably be headlining My Bloody Valentine."

Ben clears his throat.

"I've seen all you've done over the last few weeks Finn." Ben says respectfully. "And I know just how good you are, I've seen the amount of effort you've put in, it's never in doubt to me just what you can do and mate, it's amazing at times. I know you have most people beat before you even get in the ring cause there's an aura about you that most people can't match but I've been around for a long time and there's something in me telling me not only can I match it, but I can scrape past it. Don't think I'm taking you lightly because there's not a chance that's happening, in fact I'm more serious about this match then I think I've ever been about any match in a long time. Without being disrespectful, I know this isn't a Bill Barnhart turn out. I know the threat you have is far greater then him, but I've ballsed up this chance to have these belts for a long time and it needs to stop."

Ben grits his teeth.

"It has to stop." Ben says firmly. "It's the one belt here that's played hide and seek with me for a long time, I've found the others and like that game line, gotta collect them all. You're the only one standing in my way stopping me from doing that Finn and it's gotta stop mate, it's gotta stop before it drives me absolutely bonkers. It's the only one I've never had and on Sunday Finn, hoping to change that big time."

Ben brushes the hair from his face.

"You can expect nothing less then the best version of me on Sunday people." Ben says with a strong nod of his head. "The absolute best version of me, I can not be anything other then that because my eyes are set on what I want. The negative thoughts are gone and the determination is there to do this for everyone as well as myself."

He breathes out slowly.

"Nothing is gonna stop me." He mutters. "I wish you the absolute best for everything that happens after Sunday, but Sunday, it's my time to write that chapter that starts with the words we are the champions, my friend."

Ben smiles properly for the first time.

"So good people, you make sure you join us cause on Sunday, the magic happens." Ben says as he cocks his head to the right. "Gotta tune in to see it. I think I've taken up enough of your time. Cheers for watching, it's very much appreciated. Till next time..."

Ben winks down the camera.

"Laters people!"

And with that, the camera fades to black.

5
Climax Control Archives / Reintroduction.
« on: January 26, 2024, 09:53:45 AM »
The camera moves in to the face of Ben Jordan, sitting in a worn leather chair, wearing blue suit pants and a black buttoned down shirt. He smiles brightly as he gives a thumbs up.

"Alright people." He says with a cheery tone. "Hope you're all well on this nippy winters day."

He stops for just a second.

"So the news is out, I'm with SCW till the end of the year at least which is amazing. This will mark my eleventh year in SCW."

Ben exhales.

"Eleven years." He says as the words hit home after leaving his mouth. "Bloody long time to be wrestling, bloody long time to do any one job but yeah, I've decided sod it, lets do it. Me being around that long is gonna make the next thing I say sound a little bit odd, but it's true. Sometimes, I think most people don't know who I am. A lot of the time I feel like there's not many knocking around this ol' world that know who I am."

He half shrugs his shoulders.

"Mad innit?" He comments. "I think it passes people by about all the things I've done in that time, all the things I've won, all the things I've actually achieved being who I am and I'm not gonna lie good people, it bothers me at times. I've spent a lot of time doing this and sometimes it feels like I'm a bit of a shadow. Now don't worry, this is not the start of an I'm overlooked thing, far from it, because I do get respect from a lot and a lot reacted well to the news I've put me name down to another contract. That means a lot to me, but I feel like its time to let people know who I am again. So I did a little thing earlier in the week."

He can't help but smile.

"I did this web chat thing, I know, can be a little meh in terms of being creative and all that, but I did it, the fans signed on and they could ask me anything within moderation and I'd be honest, because it is time to reintroduce yourself to Ben Jordan. It is time to speak about who I am now, because we all know if you've been paying attention that I ain't the Ben Jordan I was from a couple of years back. I've had me problems like a lot of people, things have hit me like they would anyone else so I let the good people of the world ask what they wanted to ask, get inside the head of who I am."

Ben taps the side of his head.

"Coulda gone proper wonky but actually went alright." He says with a nod. "Shall we see what happened you lovely lot? I had an absolute blast, mate."

Ben spins his finger around, indicating for tape to be rolled as the old saying goes and the scene switches.



Tuesday evening on the Isle of Dogs in east London in the Jordan residence overlooking the river Thames. The wind rattles around the outside as a storm kicks in, hitting most of the country. Ben walks towards a computer desk, wearing blue jeans and an SCW shirt with the company logo on it. He places down a cup of hot tea and looks at the screen.

"Right." He says to himself. "Gone for a Jimmy, make meself look a little presentable, the dogs on silent."

Bear pops his head up from next to Ben, looking at him but Ben shakes his head.

"Not you ya wally." He says picking up his phone from the desk. "This dog."

He waves his phone towards Bear and Bear turns his head, putting it back on the floor. Ben places the phone back on to his desk.

"Don't want any weird calls while I'm doing this." He says to himself. "We'll just do this and we'll go stick on a film or something, ain't no way I'm heading down the boozer in this weather, even if it's a couple of minutes away, I don't fancy a pint that much."

Ben clears his throat and looks at the laptop in front of him, quickly hitting a couple of keys to bring up his stream. His eyes widen.

"Bloody hell." He mutters "Few thousand already waiting for me to go live. Alrighty, show face, forget any nerves, let's do this."

Ben clicks on a couple of buttons and his face appears on the screen.

"Alright people." He says cheerily. "Cheers for joining me over here, hope the weather is better where you guys are because it's a bit blowy here. I don't need to tell you lot who I am because ya logged on here to see me. Much appreciated. Now here's the plan people. You get to ask me what you want and I get to answer the questions I see and waffle on for a bit. Keep it clean though because this is completely being recorded for SCW right now. I'm saving them all an arm and a leg for not having to send a camera crew my way. You can ask me what you want but again, like Belinda says to Jason all the time, keep it clean."

Ben smiles and picks up his cup of tea.

"So let's crack on, shall we?" He says. "Ask away."

Ben sips on his tea as he looks for a question in the chat box.

"Congrats on your new contract." He reads from the screen. "What's 2024 got in store for you?"

Ben put the cup back down.

"Good start." Ben says with a nod. "Ya know, I have no idea just yet. There's been no major talks of what is going to happen with me, just that I'm signed there if I'm needed. It's one of those things with wrestling when plans can change so fast. It only takes one injury or one thing catching on and you're in the bosses minds to do other stuff. I mean personally I'd like to get those mixed tag team championships, that would be pretty cool."

Ben waits for another question to appear.

"What is your role in SCW?" He reads out loud. "I do a lot of things if I'm honest. I get on the cards when there's space or when SCW want to freshen things up, but I do a lot away from the ring for SCW. So a lot of us do it, it's like an ambassador role really, where we go and use the SCW name for charities and things and I go along to them. The charities are good causes and such, but having the SCW name attached, puts more eyes on them, so I promote a lot of charities under SCW's name. I do a lot of stuff over here that never makes the air. To me, I'm not just a wrestler, I'm a guy who goes and spreads the SCW name and try and help as many as I can. That's pretty much my role in SCW right now."

Ben waits and sips more tea.

"What advice would you give someone just getting in to the business?" He reads. "The same advice as I'd give people in it for five, ten, twenty years. Never stop learning, never stop watching stuff that's around you, especially if you get to the point where you're on television every week. That's where magic happens, that's where you can look around and people and watch them create genius. I saw it last week at Climax Control, and you can never stop learning from that stuff. Just soak everything in. I've been in SCW for eleven years, wrestling for about twelve or thirteen and even to this day, I just learn from all around me."

Ben waits for another question to appear.

"Do you have any retirement plans?" He reads out loud. "Yeah, just eat a lot of pizza, get fat and be the guy in the corner of the pub who talks about when he was a wrestler."

Ben laughs.

"Seriously though." He says lowering his voice. "I always said when I get to forty, or leading up to that, I will think about what I want to do. I'm thirty nine in a few months, so I'm sure the thoughts will creep in that this might be my last contract, and if I decide it is then so be it. I have nothing to regret from my career, I've made a lot of money, I've been relatively injury free and I think that's the way wrestlers should go out. No one deserves to end up crippled for doing a job they love and thankfully, I'm not at the point of being messed up. I still can get up, walk the dog, go for a run and live a decent life and that's what I want when I'm done."

Ben looks for the next question.

"Thank you for making people aware of mental health issue." Ben reads up with a smile on his face. "You're welcome, it is something that needs to be looked at closer at cause so many suffer in silence and it effects so many people around them. People if you are watching this and suffering, please reach out to someone, brighter days are ahead."

Ben nods his head seriously and waits for another question.

"What's the creative process for wrestlers when it comes to coming up with promos?" He reads out loud. "Bloody hell, deep question there."

Ben pauses for a few seconds to think.

"So we're all very different." He starts. "Everyone has their own way of doing it, but for me, I have a ton of ideas written down, it's just what fits the matches and opponents. For me if I'm at a show like last week and find out I have a match the next week, I am working on things on the flight home, I take Monday to decide, then I'm on the phone to Mark, Christian, or anyone else in the office to see if it's possible logistic wise, budget wise, all of that and then things get arranged and I get cracking."

Ben takes a sip of his tea.

"How much of your stuff is completely scripted?" He reads. "None of it really. I bullet point things usually but that's about it. Some people go word for word but that's a bit robotic for me. I mean last week with Despy, everything was natural cause sod all was scripted. Despy don't do scripts, he'll just go off the anyway, so everything was natural and that's the way I like to work. I have in my head how I want things to go, a couple of points to work towards and I do it that way. It goes much better that way then it does if ya sitting there with a huge script. I mean that's why I love SCW so much, because you're not told what to talk about, you're trusted to be creative and that's more relaxing."

Ben brushes the hair from his forehead and waits for something else to take his interest.

"Is it true you nearly signed with another company years ago?" He reads out loud. "It is. I had talks with another place but I got a lot of warnings from people that the place was bad, the guy who ran it would constantly kiss up to people and then bury them, so I opted to not sign there. Money was good but money can't buy ya happiness."

Ben scratches his face and waits.

"Was you disappointed that you wasn't picked in the top eight to challenge for the world championship?" He reads slowly. "Not really. I think the eight that was picked was the right ones. I mean you can have all the history in the world, but you need to look at what's good now, who's active more now and go from there and these eight are the top eight in SCW. I haven't done enough over the last year or so to be considered in that conversation so there was no disappointment from me at all about it. It's been something that has got my attention and made me take notice of what's going on there. I think that's what it was designed to do and get people interested and it's worked. I mean there's been a good spin off for J2H, who is big time involved in things without needing the belt, and gives others a chance to stake their claim, but as for disappointed, nah, not really. Looking forward to seeing who leads the company forward after My Bloody Valentine."

Ben smiles and waits.

"If you could create a group with anyone ever in SCW, who would it be?" Ben reads out loud. "For me, it's gotta be Drake Green, Simon Jones, Max Burke and Sammi. I think that would be an ultimate good guy group that would pretty sweet."

Ben runs his fingers through his hair.

"Do you have an career regrets?" He reads from the screen. "None at all. I think that I could wake away tomorrow and not regret a thing. I think I'm happy with all I've done and could sneak off in to that sunset and not worry about anything. I think I've done enough there."

Ben glances at the clock and back to the screen.

"When will you go in the Hall of Fame?" He reads out loud with a smile. "I don't know, there has been whispers but I'm one of these guys that would take that when my in ring career is done and not before. I think it's one of those things I will only accept when I know that I won't wrestle again. For me, that will be putting the lid on top of that bottle that is my wrestling career so look out for that after retirement, which like I said earlier, could come in the next year or so, might happen a fair bit later. Everyone wants that Hall of Fame spot, people beg for it all the time, seen with my own eyes people who haven't done too much, just beg for it, but I'm pretty chilled about it. If I go in, great, will be when my career is done, if I don't, it's all good. No regrets on that at all."

Ben sips at his tea again.

"What's in the cup?" He says with a chuckle. "It's tea, it's my English side showing."

Ben waits for the next question.

"Why did you move back to England?" He reads out loud. "I thought it was time to come home. I've lived in a lot of places, Canada, Cuba, America, Jersey, etc, but I think things come full circle. I lost a family member a little while ago and I never really spoke about it, but it destroyed me mentally, but things destroyed can be rebuilt, things that break can be fixed and when I was rebuilding my mind, I saw that maybe it was time to be closer with my family and come on home. I could have moved anywhere in the world, when ya have a bit of fame and a bit of wonga in ya pocket, you tend to get accepted anywhere in the world and I coulda gone for the Playboy lifestyle, coulda gone to a small town, coulda moved to suburbia and just been Ben at number ten, but home called, being around my family called and that's what I thought would be the easiest thing to do, it's where I felt comfortable. Even nomads came from somewhere and we all get that call to go back at some point. I guess I just got that call and wanted to be where it all started."

Ben nods seriously.

"Are you still involved with Oasis?" Ben reads out. "Absolutely. I speak to Jamie Dean a couple of times a week and we go over a few things all the time. Couldn't leave them hanging. Work very hard for them, a lot of my SCW cash goes towards that so yeah, very much involved, very much helping JD with that."

Ben waits again as questions fly through the chat box.

"What's going on with you and Sam Marlowe?" Ben reads, with his head jolting backwards. "Get the feeling there's a bit of a romantic meaning behind that question but we're besties, nothing more then that, regardless of what the dragon lady sister of hers implies constantly. Moving on, eh?"

Ben grins widely and looks for another question.

"Can we see Bear on TV more?" He reads out loud with a laugh. "We could try but he's not very good with the mic to be fair, has trouble holding it ya see."

Ben laughs out loud and looks for something else to talk about.

"Is there any strange behaviour in the SCW dressing room?" Ben reads, trying not to laugh. "Lots of it mate. Everyone has their own quirks and ways back there and it's very unique with how things come together and happen so yeah, I'd say there's a little bit more then strange behaviour back there. Thinking it's the same in any job really, always a fella in the office who does odd things, like eating biscuits from a bowl rather then a plate, or things like that. Keeps the days interesting at least."

Ben waits for another question.

"Who do you think will be a breakout star in 2024?" Ben says to himself. "I would think it's actually my opponents on Sunday, Carter and Ariana. I think this is going to be their breakout year. Carter pretty much has everything it takes to be a star. I think that this is the year he shows it to everyone and actually breaks out a little bit."

Ben looks at the screen.

"Can you cut a promo right here for your match on Sunday?" Ben reads out. "Is that something you good people wanna see? I mean I could give it a go if you want."

Ben looks at the screen and looks at the many yes answers coming through.

"Alright." Ben says. "You know how things work. We'll cut to me introducing it, we'll come back and use the same graphic on screen Ariana and a few others do. Thing is, you lot won't see this bit till Friday..."



The camera cuts back to Ben Jordan sitting in his chair from earlier, playing with his phone. He looks up at the camera.

"Oh, erm hello." Ben says with plain look on his face. "Reason he cut back here is to break it down for anyone who might be watching, taking notes or judging..."

Ben winks at the camera.

"Just so people can tell the difference." He says with a grin. "Stick that graphic up there, would ya?"



***Promo time, on camera***

We return to Ben in front of the laptop.

"So someone would have spliced in the promo time, on camera thing graphic by now." Ben says with a wink. "So I guess I should probably start chatting away about the match."

Ben clears his throat.

"What a way to start off 2024." He begins. "I know we're near the end of the first month and blimey does it feel like this month has gone on forever and a day, but this is worth waiting for. I mean what a match for me and Sammi to kick off this year because we're up against one of the best young teams around. Seriously, I said earlier these two were gonna be breakout starts this year and I mean that one hundred percent, so this is a good way for us to start the year as we mean to go on as a team and pick up the win against a couple of good, confident people."

Ben nods seriously.

"And I use the word confident for an absolutely good reason." He says with a serious nod. "And that's because Ariana ran to Twitter or X, whatever you want to identify it as these days and her tweet felt like she was very confident that she was gonna win. Now I hate denting someone's confidence, I really do but you know the old saying that pride comes before a fall? Well so can confidence Ariana. Over confident against a couple of people can be a downfall, talking about Sammi and stuff, thinking you've got her number. This ain't a singles match, her back is covered by me here and I made things clear when I took on the bulldog. I made it more then clear that I get to write my next chapter, I got the pen in my hand and I get to write it and writing it in this instance means I get to put out my story and the story doesn't include losses love."

Ben pauses for a second or two.

"See, those mixed tag titles could be the end goal for us." Ben admits. "Should be the end goal for any team and there's no doubt in my mind the winner of this one gets a huge boost to the top of the line and we've fluffed up chances for those belts before and I told myself never again, so we have no choice but to get through ya. I do like your confidence Ari, truly do, but it's misplaced this time. It's like we know that we need to be better as a team, we know we've messed up our lines on a few occasions, it stops now. Big win against Team GO Ariana, it's the one that sets the tone for me and Sammi so all good being confident and all but sorry, but ya won't be backing it up."

Ben turns his head away from the camera for a few seconds to get his thoughts.

"I know Sammi will have a lot more to say about you." Ben says seriously. "But we know the rules, I am not laying a hand on ya, and time is becoming of the essence here, so I need to speak about Carter."

Ben puts his hands together.

"It's always tough to talk about Carter because we have some slightly unpleasant history, but that aside." Ben pauses slightly. "I know what it's like to be in a major tournament and come up a little short. Personally, thought you had things won in your match against Finn, pretty surprised it didn't work out the way you wanted, and I know that makes it slightly awkward coming in to this match because I know that you feel you need that bounce back win. That means there's gonna be a little more spring in your step, a little bit more determination. I'm sorry mate, but I too have that spring in my step, that determination to make this the best year of my career because it might just be my last. It might just be my swan song and it needs to go with nothing but the strongest performances I can muster up. I know there's a little doubt in your mind after your last match and I know the whole thing in this game is you're only as good as ya last match, but you was proper unlucky."

Ben nods seriously.

"I really thought you had it and know you're a very dangerous because of that." Ben says honestly. "I know the loss makes you want to put things right but I can't let that happen. I respect everything you bring to the ring, I respect everything you do in wrestling and trust me, I know I'm talking to a future world champion, I know I'm talking to a bloke that's gonna get that belt long before I ever get near it again but in the tag ranks, I need to step up. I know you're probably sitting there feeling let down by a lot of things but I share that Carter cause I feel like I've let down Sammi, I feel like I've let her down and I need to change that, I need to be better and getting a win over you and Ariana, two people respected here in SCW, it's a big boost, it does go a long way to getting back my reputation, it goes a long way to making it up to Sammi for being a rubbish partner at times."

Ben looks down in disappointment.

"Because I know I haven't been at my best Carter." Ben admits. "Yeah, I've picked up wins here and there and tried to entertain people along the way, but I ain't exactly happy with myself, I'm not exactly happy with how things have been turning out for me and this is my chance to beat someone with a good record, that's highly thought of here, that's no doubt in my mind, a champion in the making. This is where people's eyes open about me again. It's what needs to be done, it's what I need to do and honestly mate, I'm a little gutted I gotta put a dent in your ambitions to realise my own. It's not something I like doing to good people but needs must when the devil drives."

Ben inhales deeply.

"You'll bounce back mate, trust me." Ben says with a shrug. "You've got singles appeal written all over ya, this will not effect ya in those ranks, but I need this Carter, I need to prove that I ain't a washed up old hack. I put my name on that contract to do big things in SCW again, I put my name down because I need to do those big things again. Beating you and Ari mate, it's a sure fire rocket to the top again. It's the boost I need, it's the boost Sammi needs. Don't get me wrong, I feel rotten about it, absolutely rotten but I gotta look at the places I can do with this win. I gotta look at how high this win will put us and it will send us to the moon."

Ben points up.

"I know this is gonna be one of the toughest matches we could be bouncing in to." Ben says seriously. "But it's gonna be one hell of a reward attached to this. It's almost a championship match without the belts on the line, a match worthy of any show but I know I'm coming in to this with the fire in my heart and willing to do whatever it takes to walk out victorious. I'm doing it for me, I'm doing it for Sammi, I'm doing it for anyone who's ever supported us, for everyone who ever screamed out our names, for everyone that wants us to realise that goal and become SCW mixed tag team champions. This is for them Carter, this is for each and every one of them and I refuse to let them down at all."

Ben looks over at the clock.

"And that people is all we have time for today." He says with a sad look. "Carter, Ariana, we'll see you on Sunday."

Ben nods firmly.

"Thank you all for joining me. Enjoy the show." Ben says with a cheery smile.

He winks at the camera.

"Laters people!"

And with that, the scene fades to black.

6
Climax Control Archives / Everything changes eventually.
« on: November 17, 2023, 01:38:18 AM »
Ben Jordan looks out of the window of his home in East London, England in the early hours of Friday morning, darkness still filling the sky as rain drops down his window. Ben smiles to himself as he look at what most would consider a bleak scene.

"London weather." He says with a smile on his face. "Can't beat it."

Ben turns around towards the camera, a bottle of beer in his hand as he smiles and moves towards a sofa.

"Be with you lovely people in a second." He says as he rearranges the furniture slightly, moving pillows around. "Just a sec."

Ben gets the pillows arranged how he wants them and lays back on the sofa with a small smile on his face.

"I was gonna do this tomorrow morning people, but it's a little after one in the morning here in London and once again, this bloke might have fell asleep on the sofa yesterday afternoon and woke up a little bit ago." He says as he looks at the beer in his hand. "I know most would go for a cup of coffee to get the ol' heart racing but at this time, rather go for something that might make me get back to sleep."

Ben clears his throat.

"So had to get the poor cameraman up from his slumber to help me out, so I can do this for you all." Ben says as he tilts the bottle of beer.

He takes a deep breath.

"Alright people." He says with his thick east end tone filling the room. "Cheers for joining me right now, we're hoping all this airs just before you lot go to bed over there in the states so I can pack up me things and get on a plane in a few hours and head over to you lovely lot."

He clears his throat.

"So you lot know how this works and this is where I give you some rabbit that leads in to what I did, that hopefully ties together at the end." Ben says as he looks down the camera. "And this is no different."

Ben takes a sip of the cold beer from the bottle.

"This is actually something that's been running through my nut for a long time because I see it more every single day of my life." Ben says softly. "You look back on me from a year ago and you'll know what I mean, because there's a couple of things in this world that is an unbreakable promise, and you know with the usual death and taxes malarkey, but there's something else that is inevitable and that my good people, is change."

Ben stops for a second.

"Now it doesn't make a blind bit of difference if we as people spark this change." He says as he slightly shakes his head. "Because it's gonna happen in every single aspects of our lives, regardless of if we want it to or not. It's life. None of us are born with the people we end up with later in our lives, we're all the same and we meet people who change our lives. We turn left on the road instead of right and we have a completely different day. We could meet someone on that left road we wouldn't meet on our right road and your life has changed."

Ben wags a finger at the camera.

"It's not just personal change, but look around you, everything around you from what you save twenty years ago is different." Ben explains. "Some geezer with money who wanted more money decided to rip down your favourite haunts and whack up something that is gonna give him the more wonga and the rest of us live with it."

He shrugs his shoulders.

"But what if you believe that no matter how much things change around you, no matter how different things look in front of your eyes, you can still change them for you?" He asks. "See that's what this is all about because the world can change around us, but we still hold the power to change things ourselves when we need to."

Ben leans forward on the sofa.

"So where is this going?" Ben says in a questioning tone. "Well yesterday, me and Bear, who is snoring his head off in his room, took a walk around a murky Isle of Dogs, the place that I grew up, the place I owned a pub in before the land was bought for stupid amounts that allowed me to become carefree. Selling that boozer changed the Isle of Dogs, it changed me, so I wanted to take Bear around and tell him some stories."

Ben takes a sip from his beer bottle.

"So give this a butchers good people and I will then try and tie it up and explain what all this change talk is about and how it links back to Sunday night for Climax Control. Over to me and Bear from yesterday please."



A cold November morning in the east of London sees Ben Jordan walking down a street. The grey sky threatens to rain, at any second, but Ben walks along the concrete street, holding Bear on a harness lead as the traffic flies by him.

"People are gonna think I'm bonkers walking along talking to you mate." Ben says as he looks down at his dog walking by his side. "I know this is not the green and pleasant lands you're used to running around in, but maybe we could get a weekend place a little further out in the summer for when I'm not working. Maybe a cottage or something near some woods where you can be mates with some happy little fellas."

Bear looks up at Ben as the walk past a couple of people walking towards them, their heads down and moving fast in typical London fashion.

"I have not missed that with everyone being double busy with somewhere to be." Ben chuckles to himself. "But I thought I should show you a little bit of where I am from before you was even a twinkle in your old man's eye."

Ben and Bear walk past a hotel, Ben looking up at it.

"That's been there for donkeys to be fair." Ben says as he looks at Bear. "But me and the boys had some times in the bar in there. Happy hour, a quid a bottle, could load up and just booze. There was a time there was about six of us, emptied all their fridges for a score each."

A down beat look crosses Ben's face.

"I guess that's something that's changed." Ben says in a sombre tone. "No more happy hours anymore, no more cheap beers. Couldn't empty a fridge on that kinda money these days, couldn't empty a shelf for that these day. Something to accept."

Ben walks a little further along with Bear at his side, looking to his right where a big body of water covers most of his view.

"This was a dock going back in the day." Ben tells Bear. "When I was a kid, this place was full of boats, and further down there, by that blue bridge, so many things would dock there. There was naval ships from all over the world that would dock there for a week, the Island was rocking at that point, businesses were booming, boozers were full, everyone made a few quid out of it. I remember being a kid and every other week they'll be something new down there and they'll be open to people to look around. I remember my Nan and gramps, God rest their souls, took me on this hospital ship once that had sailed all over the world helping people and there I was, all snot nosed and short trousered and I was walking around a place where many lives in under privileged countries, places where people couldn't afford the pot to whizz in, were saved. Now look at it."

Ben's eyes look down the water, his mind rushing back to how vibrant things used to be, to how they are now, his eyes looking at the empty spaces.

"Before that, those houses was never there, that was before my time though." Ben says as he pats Bear on the head. "They used to be warehouses, with things coming in from all over the world by boat, not dropped off on a plane and flown over, planes didn't do much cargo work then so everything came in by boat. One of my granddads was a docker all those years ago. Imagine the things he saw that no one is gonna get to see again."

Ben softly sighs.

"I know everything changes and all and you need to embrace it but still." He says to himself. "I mean there used to be people fishing here all day on a Sunday, I used to be here myself in the summer. Good times but things move on. Speaking of which, come on."

Ben ruffles the fur on Bear's head and the two walk down the road a little more and Ben smiles as he looks at a building in front.

"Now that used to be a gaff called Drummonds." Ben says to Bear. "Christ that place used to be bonkers on a Saturday night. Everyone on the Island would go there cause it was after the pubs kicked out because it was open till silly O clock in the morning. The old bill might as well have just stuck a van outside there because they knew it was gonna go off like a Roman candle in there every weekend. Coppers knew the bar staff by name, but we're not walking down that far, I brought you here to show you this."

Ben stops and turns his attention to the road as cars continue to go past on this cold, murky London morning. Ben looks up at what looks like a big office block before looking at Bear. Bear looks at Ben with his head slightly tilted.

"Now I know what you're thinking." Ben says as he looks Bear in the eye. "Why has this geezer walked me around to the other side of the Island, just to show me an office block where the office bods are flying in and out all day."

Ben looks back at the building.

"Because my old mate, that never always was an office block." Ben tells Bear. "That was the site of the pub that was in the family for years before I sold it for stupid amounts of money, that gave the entire family a while new life."

Ben looks proud of that thought.

"Everyone became debt free overnight." Ben says to his dog. "Everyone got a little extra and a new start, even me. It led me on to great things. It led me on to become a wrestler, because I could afford it, I wasn't living with unsteady pay or anything like that. I won't lie though, that change hurt, not only me but a lot of people who spent their time in there. A lot didn't have family and would go there for the company, to stop them sitting at home alone all the time. I feel bad I forced change on them but I knew a lot of them landed on their feet."

Ben swaps glances with Bear.

"I guess getting that cash allowed me to help a lot more people in the long run." Ben says with half a shrug. "I mean without it, I wouldn't have been able to help those charities, or set up Oasis with Jamie and save a lot of people through that. I wouldn't have been able to travel and meet new people and hopefully add something to their lives, but you know, it still hurts looking at that generic building knowing that's where the City Pride was."

Ben lets out a long sigh.

"I guess the change helped out a lot more people over all." He says trying to justify it. "I helped people, a lot more people are working in that building then I could have ever afforded to hire. I mean times were tough sometimes. I never knew at the end of the week if I would have had a fiver or owed a tenner. I guess it's nice not to sit and worry about that now."

Ben crouches down next to Bear.

"I didn't know it at the time, I just saw the pound signs in my eyes, but I guess in the long run, change ain't completely a bad thing if we embrace it. We've changed a lot in the last couple of years, it's time to take it on the chin and move on with it all. Agree?"

Ben looks down at Bear who seemingly gives him a nod.

"Right then." Ben says with a smile. "Shall we hit the cafe for a dirty great greasy fry up?"

Instantly, a smile seems to appear on Bear's face and Ben nods at him.

"I guess you and a greasy spoon will never change, eh?" Ben says with a grin. "I think we needed this change though and although it's not like I remember, I think we got this."

Ben strokes Bear's head.

"Come on, let's get down the cafe before the health inspector beats us to it." Ben says with a serious look.

The two walk away as the camera cuts back to Ben as he is right now.



The camera comes back to Ben sitting on the sofa still.

"Amazing how things can simply change and fairly quickly too." Ben says seriously. "I mean I know I haven't been around this gaff consistently for years but I did used to get home a fair amount to see the place but it's been a bit and place is hardly recognisable."

He slowly shakes his head.

"So where is this linked to me?" He asks himself. "Where is this linked to wrestling? Where is this linked to Sunday?"

He sighs.

"Because I have felt like I'm not the same and I need a bit of a change, especially against our upcoming opponents, Limitless." Ben says softly. "One on one, I've beat Oliver and I ain't taking anything away from that man, because he is the mutts nuts in terms of just how good he is in the ring. He is a special talent, but in tag team matches, him and Eiley have had mine and Sammi's number. They've somehow managed to crack the code of me and Sammi and that is not an easy thing to do."

He looks away from the camera for a second.

"And this is why I need to invoke a little bit of change." Ben says as he turns back towards the camera. "Everything else in this world changes, literally everything, so why can't this change where we can finally crack the cheat code that is Limitless?"

Ben ponders that thought for a few seconds.

"I'm not gonna lie to you people." Ben starts. "When these two were champions, they surprised the hell out of me, proper shocked me because they were two young uns, from a good background that seemed to just have that magic about them, but I thought I'd been around long enough and seen it all and that I would somehow come up with a way to be able to get through that, to be able to find a chink in their armour, to find some way of being able to force my way through and walk out as a champion... And then I got in the ring with them."

Ben's eyes go wide as he exhales.

"They blew me away honestly." Ben admits. "I tried everything that I possibly could and fell right on me mush in a puddle. It wasn't arrogance or anything like that, that made me think I could just get in the ring and just steam through them like a dose of salts, I had confidence in me, I had confidence in Sammi and they were better, but I have been going through that journey of change since we last met and I won't lie, I took the confidence booster match against Bill Barnhart and won and I said something very important when I was leading up to that match."

Ben pauses as he waves the beer bottle towards the camera.

"I said that facing Bill was my reset, it was the start of a blank page to start writing on, it was something where I could renew myself and this all ties in to the change in me." Ben says before exhaling. "This is where the change in me kicks in, this is where I feel that my future, for the first time in a long time, is in my own hands. My life has changed so much over the last couple of years, people have come and gone, my daily routine changed, my mental health changed, the path I was walking on and thought I'd always be walking on, had changed. My career, that too has changed and that spark of beating Bill Barnhart made me see that when I'm on it, when I'm on form, it's hard to stop and this Sunday, I'm gonna be on that form."

His confidence translates to a wide smile on his face.

"With change, you either shrug at it or you embrace it and I am embracing it, I can feel it running through me to the point that I'm confident about Sunday." He says with a grin. "I feel that deep down in my heart, this is where it changes against Eiley and Oz. This is where the tag team losing streak ends against them and I know they're on a dodgy run right now and people could say they've lost it a little since losing the belts, but these two are legit one of the best tag teams in the world bar none. It doesn't mean that we have to work less cause they're on an iffy run, means we need to work harder, much, much harder because they're gonna come in and try and break their iffy streak, so they are gonna be a dangerous team to face but there's something in my head, there's something about the change in me that makes me think we're gonna do bloody well in this one."

He smiles confidently.

"Not taking away from Eiley or Oliver at all." Ben says waving his finger. "These two are top notch but there's something inside my head telling me that we are gonna change our streak, that we are gonna change the tide against these two and have a fair crack at actually getting a win against them. They've been our white whale as a team and make no bones about it, they are the white whale for a lot of teams but they've had our number for a bit and it's time to take it back a little."

He nods his head convincingly slowly.

"I ain't been smiling in the tag division for a while." He admits. "Me and Sammi know the fans expected more from us, and we know we expected more from us. It's hard to say but we've let ourselves down when it came to this. We thought like a lot of you sitting at home that we were gonna be earmarked as champions and we've not got that yet so this is why Sunday means a bloody lot to us both, because it's a fresh start in a tough division and a win over the former champions would mean a hell of a lot to us, it will mean a hell of a lot to every single one of you out there that have supported us, that cheer for us, that want us to be those champions."

Ben looks down the camera with a sincere look on his face.

"We know we're gonna do this for you." He says with his tone matching his sincere face. "We know that we owe you for being behind us, we know that for your support in this harsh division, we need to give you as much as you've given us and it starts on Sunday. There's a bit of determination about me as you can tell, the urge to change our record against Limitless is strong as an ox at this point. It's a challenge every time you put on the boots, it's a challenge every time you step through those ropes, it's a challenge to give it our all and we know they're up for this challenge but so are we. In fact this is the most determined I've been to win a match in a long time, to get that monkey off my back so to speak. This is where I am more determined then I've been in forever to change my career path because I know my time as a wrestler is running out, people know my contract runs out at the end of the year as always, I know that if I want to put my name on another one, I gotta give myself a good base to make 2024 the year I get my hands on those Mixed Tag Team titles and beating the former champions is one hell of a base to put down. This match to me, is the foundation on where my career goes after Sunday."

He takes a second to reflect on his words.

"I either start heading up to where I can have the word champion after my name." He starts "Or just sit down there, getting in the ring with some of the younger guys and helping them out to get their name over. I know neither seem like a bad thing but it's been a while since I've carried around a belt with me. It's been a while since I've met the fans and lifted up gold to show them off proudly and this is a huge step to getting that back. You have to beat the best to be considered the best and Eiley and Oliver as a team, they really are just that, they are what it says on the tin. We have to beat them and I think we will."

Ben nods his head.

"See change is inevitable, nothing stays the same forever and it's something we must live with." Ben says with a straight face. "On Sunday, we change the way things usually go when we face Limitless."

Ben looks at his watch.

"Bloody hell, looks like I've talked your ear off for longer then I thought." He says with a surprised look on his face. "So I'm gonna let you be. You lot have a good night or a good day depending on where you are and I'll see ya on Sunday!"

Ben winks.

"Laters people!"

And with that, the camera fades to black.

7
Climax Control Archives / Who says you can't go home?
« on: September 15, 2023, 02:26:32 PM »
The camera fades in to Ben Jordan in his usual setting, just sitting on a chair in front of the camera, dressed in a light blue suit and black buttoned up shirt. The camera out to see his dog Bear, next to his chair.

"Alright people." Ben starts with a smile on his face. "Bet there was a huge pop seeing this fella back on your screens."

Ben leans down and ruffles the fur on Bear's head but Bear just continues to lay unfazed by the stroking.

"We all know how this goes." He says with a nod. "This is the part where I pretty much introduce you to what's been going on in my life this past week or so, or at least a tale from it to set things up for you lovely people but today, it's not just a straight set up and jump in to it."

He shakes his head slightly.

"See, context is everything people." Ben says with a lowered eyebrows and a slight nod of his head. "If not, you'll just think I'm doing this for the sake of doing it."

Ben sighs as he looks down at Bear then up to the camera.

"So this is the first time I publicly sat and spoke to you people directly about what's really gone on in my life since I disappeared for a while." Ben says with a tone of honesty. "Well as you know I struggle a little bit with depression, anxiety, all the good stuff, but I had a bit of a rough time in my personal life that brought on some big changes."

Ben holds up his left hand and points to his wedding finger, a ring no longer there.

"I know you've heard it through the rumour mill but I haven't faced it directly." He says. "Until now where I'm saying yes, it's all true, I became one of those guys I never wanted to be and I am no longer married."

He looks off camera for a few seconds before staring back down it.

"I'm not gonna be all bitter and all that malarkey." He says with a half smile. "These things happened and we all get to move on. The thing is people, things like that can change a bloke, not only personal levels but situations around them, and it really did for me. Everything changed in the blink of an eye."

He pauses to reflect.

"I basically had choices to make." He says thoughtfully. "I spent most of my adult life not needing to worry about money or a roof over my head cause it was always there and well, money still is but the roof over my head thing, that was an issue. Every time I've gone through something like this, I've gone for a completely clean break, clean start of it all and everything that was once ours, well, I can't make it mine again. Remember Emma Rose? Yeah, when she went, the underground house got sold and this was no different. Without Evie, things got sold on. The house in the Channel Islands, sold, the house on the lake in Maine, sold that too, that one gutted me, not gonna lie. The New York place was never mine to speak off so I dunno what she did with that, but the other houses, and property we owned together, sold on and the money split. Any business I was involved in with Evie, she bought me out. I even sold every car I had that was mine."

Ben forces a smile on his face.

"It was an everything most go sale and everything went." Ben says with a nod. "So I'm good for money, I could go anywhere I wanted, I could be anywhere I wanted. Just me, Bear, a couple of bags and a wander around. We met a lot of good people on our little travels."

Ben looks down at Bear.

"But sometimes, you need to put down some roots somewhere." Ben says seriously. "And the world was my oyster. Couple of single lads with money to burn, could be anywhere in the world, because trust me, they smell a pound note, they'll give ya a visa to any country, but I believe in full circle. Everyone knows when it's their time to go home."

Ben smiles.

"Enjoy this one." He says with a salute. "Roll it for the good people please."



"So as you've seen, it's got four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, big living area space, cosy kitchen and great views of the river." A man's voice is heard saying.

The camera opens to show Ben Jordan standing next to Bear in a strange unseen place before, an apartment looking space with big windows, from high up overlooking a river flowing past. Another man in a dark suit stands near Ben, point out other amenities.

"The building has a private car park and a gym too." The man says. "It's a great place for you and your family."

Ben turns to look at the man and weakly smiles.

"This is my family that's looking for a place." Ben says as he turns his head to him. "Me and man's best friend here."

The man looks at Ben through confused eyes, his forehead wrinkling.

"Oh, a place this size, I thought it was a family home." The man replies.

Ben smiles a little stronger towards the man.

"I thought estate agents never presumed anything." Ben says with a nod, causing the man to uncomfortably smile back.

"We don't usually." The estate agent admitted. "But when you came in to the office looking for a local place of this size, we thought it was going to be a family home."

Ben frowns and shakes his head at the man.

"Nah, recently divorced." Ben told him. "I lived all over the place, Canada, America, Cuba, Jersey and all that, travelled the world for work, but it's time to come on home."

"Oh, you was a local?" The estate agent says with a hint of surprise.

Ben couldn't help but smile at the man.

"I was." Ben says trying not to brag. "But I hit it big, and trained to be a wrestler and that got me all over the world. Got married, travelled some more, did a lot of cool stuff for charities, got divorced, came home."

"Nice." The estate agent says with a touch of doubt in his voice. "So if you hit it big, why this area?"

Ben waves his finger at the man,

"Now, now, no need for up sells and all that." Ben says with a smile. "I was born around here, I still have some family around here. I still have a few mates around here, I even went to the school down the road there. I know I've been on TV a lot over the years, but I still feel like this is the place I can be just one of the guys."

"I see." The estate agent replies.

"I just want a quiet life with the occasional wild night when the occasion calls for it." Ben says sincerely. "The travelling is all good, but sometimes, it's nice to have a place to call home, especially when it really is home."

The estate agent looks at Ben as he seems to drift away in to his own thoughts for a few seconds.

"A lot of good memories growing up around here." He comments to himself. "Coming back here feels right."

"So would you like to look at a few other places?" The estate agent asks?

Ben shakes his head.

"Nah." Ben says to the man. "Being round here, place I was brought up, place I learned everything, place I had a lot of firsts. This feels right and the area has changed a lot but the roads are exactly the way I remember them so I couldn't possibly get too lost so I think we'll be alright here. What ya reckon boy?"

Ben looks down at Bear who raises his head and sharply back down in a nod like movement. Ben looks at the estate agent.

"Looks like we have his approval." Ben says putting his hand out to the estate agent.

The two men shake hands firmly and Ben looks the man in the eye.

"Great news. Looks like I have a new neighbour." The estate agent says. "I live just down the road."

"So you know The Ferry House then?" Ben asks.

Ben clicks his fingers for a second to freeze the scene and turns to the camera with a tilted head.

"Alright people, forth wall break down a bit so you know what I'm prattling on about." He says. "The Ferry House is a local pub, right outside where I will soon be living, the oldest pub on the Island, very rich history behind it and most likely where I will spend many evenings."

Ben clicks his fingers again and the man begins to talk again.

"I drink in there myself." The man said strangely proudly.

"What's their deal with out four legged friends?" Ben asks with just a nod towards Bear.

Bear looks towards the estate agent as if he too is waiting for an answer.

"Oh, they're fine in there." The man says. "They welcome them in there. More dogs then customers in there at times and they have this weird kid who works in there who forgets they have customers when a dog walks in."

Ben looks down at Bear as he reaches for a tablet from a nearby table.

"It looks like you're about to make more friends then I am." Ben says with a smile.

"So if you'd just swing by the office tomorrow morning, we can sort out details and we can push this through as fast as we can." The estate agent tells Ben.

"Excellent." Ben says with a wide smile on his face as he looks down at Bear. "Come on then, let's go make some new friends."

Ben looks towards the estate agent.

"I'll buy ya a pint if you're about in a bit." Ben says firmly to the nodding man.

A few minutes later, Ben stands outside the freshly decorated by the looks of things, public house. Big gold letters above the door read The Ferry House. He holds in his right hand the tablet he picked up a little earlier. Ben looks down at Bear who looks back at him.

"What are we thinking here?" Ben asks Bear. "It's been years since I've popped in this place, probably a good sixteen years."

Bear tilts his head, slightly moving towards the door before stopping and looking back at Ben. Ben sighs and nods his head.

"Yeah, ya right, never know unless you try." Ben say in a firm tone. "Let's go see the lay of the land and see what happens. Never know unless ya dip ya toe in."

Ben pushes the door open and Bear trots in and Ben follows in. He looks around to try and get a second first impression of the pub.

"Christ, this hasn't changed much." He says to himself quietly.

He looks around at the place, barely changed from his youth, just freshened up with a new paint job. The bar still seems familiar to him and the lay out of the pub was exactly the same as he remembered. His eyes move along the wooden, worn down varnished bar, looking at the now common long plastic based beer mats covering them and smiles to himself. He looks around the customers, fairly limited in number, a chubbier man at the end of the bar spoke to a much thinner man with a thin moustache and accent sounding like he was not a local. A young lady sat at the end of the bar, sipping a dark drink through a straw. At the other end of the bar, was a man slightly swaying on his bar stool, salt and pepper short hair and a stomach that hung over his belt.

"Bloody woman!" He gruffly says to no one in particular, as he looks at his phone.

"We've all been there." Ben thought as he moves closer to the bar.

Through his nostalgia trip, Ben fails to notice the attention Bear was getting from a younger person with long hair.

"This has to be the kid the estate agent was talking about." Ben thought to himself.

"Hello doggy!" The clearly teenage person says out loud before looking towards Ben. "What's his name?"

Ben snaps out of his nostalgia trip fully enough to answer.

"His name is Bear." Ben says with a warm smile.

"Hello Bear." The kid says. "Does Bear like treats?"

"Not those plastic dog ones." Ben says with a chuckle. "He has different tastes, his kind of treat is bacon."

The kid was clearly taken back as Ben says that.

"Let me get you some water." The kid says.

"Sparkling, twist of lemon, he's a posh lad." Ben says trying not to laugh.

The teen wasn't sure how to handle his request and Ben could see it on his face. Ben chuckles to himself.

"I'm kidding, he only likes that stuff before bed." Ben jokes. "He probably could do with a drink."

He watches the teen move around the bar.

"As could I." Ben mutters under his breath.

He quickly looks up to see the woman at the end of the bar standing in front of him on the other side of the bar.

"What can I get ya?" She asks smile less and bluntly.

Ben looks around the bar and the beers on offer and quickly catches a glance of the glance at the man next to him who was not happy with his woman and but doesn't catch the name on it.

"I'll have one of those." Ben says "And a couple of bags of pork scratches."

He waits patiently but can feel the eyes of everyone on him, as few as they were in numbers. He looks around, just deciding to nod and smile at people.

"You look familiar." The young barmaid says as she places Ben's order in front of him.

Ben averts his eyes to a television screen above a set of double doors to see a replay of SCW Climax Control from he week before, watching Mikah and Kris' kids cause havoc with Scott Oliver. He smiles thinking back to it, but quickly straightens his face as he turns back to the barmaid.

"I've just got one of those faces." Ben says. "People often mistake me for some fella off the box or something."

Ben pulls his card from his pocket and takes another cheeky glance at the TV He taps his card and picks up his order.

"Cheers love." Ben says with a little nod.

Ben looks at Bear and the two walk to a back room. Ben sits down on a chair as he places his pint down in front of him and the two bags of snacks. He opens one up by ripping the bag and places it down on the floor for Bear as the teen with the water comes back and puts the bowl in front of Bear.

"Cheers." Ben says to him as he walks away.

Ben takes the tablet and quickly switches it on and hits the button on the front and starts tapping away. A few seconds later, the face of Sam Marlowe appears.

"Ben!" She yells out. "Where are ya?"

"All in good time love." Ben says with a smile "Let me add Jamie to this call, got something to tell you both at once."

Sam raises an eyebrow and Ben taps away on the buttons. A few seconds later, a strange sight appears.

"Oh for God's sake Jamie!" Ben says out loud. "Could you get your cats arse off the screen."

Ben sighs as Jamie picks up Anubis, his Siamese cat and flips it around to the face the camera instead of mooning Ben and Sam.

"Every bloody time!" Ben says shaking his head.

"Well, he knew you was calling and got excited." Jamie says with a snort. "Hi Sammi!"

"Hey Jamie." Sam replies with a sweet smile. "Alright prat, what's this about?"

"Well my Ginger Ninja friend." Ben starts with a smile. "I've finally got off my aris and stopped being one of those homeless people that crash on couches. I finally picked a place and well, I know have a place to call my own, well mine and Bear's place to call our own."

"That's great news!" Sam says with a wide smile.

"Congratulations." Jamie adds. "Where did you decide in the end?"

Ben looks around the pub and back at the camera.

"I decided it was time for me to come on home." Ben says with pride on his face. "I decided that it was time to move back to London, to actually move back to where I was born."

Both Sam and Jamie look surprised.

"The Isle of Dogs?" Jamie says with a surprised tone matching his face.

"I thought you was looking more exotic." Sam adds.

"I was but..." Ben starts seriously. "Sometimes, something just calls you home. Sometimes when you've seen enough of the world, you take a look at yourself and you reflect a bit and that's what I've done for a year. I'm a couple of years shy of forty, I've seen some incredible things in my life, done things people can only dream of, but right now, I don't need a beach, I don't need a lake, what I need to do is get up out of bed, take Bear for a walk around Island Gardens park, pop across the road to the bookies and throw on a couple of bets, get on down to Chrisp Street and grab some pie and mash, jump back down to go for a few pints. I even wanna get back over the football when I can."

Sam and Jamie listen intently.

"While I was off running all over the world and doing mad things, I left behind something I loved." He says honestly. "I left behind family, I left behind friends, I left behind a bunch of unattractive brick buildings, but those buildings were there when I was growing up. I left behind a different life. Those old buildings may be gone, but I want to reconnect with family, friends and my old life. It's my full circle."

Sam and Jamie nod but Ben puts a finger up to them and turns to the camera.

"This convo went on a lot longer, but we don't have time to show it all." He says with a frown. "So back to me about to cut a promo."

Ben raises his glass.

"Good health!"



The camera fades back in to Ben sitting in the chair and smiling.

"That's right, The Cockney King and his loyal steed down here are back in Cockneyland." He says with a wide grin. "Back where it all began, back where Ben Jordan was born."

He winks and gives a thumbs up to the camera.

"I never thought I'd end up back home after all these years but after living in all those lovely places, I thought it was time to get myself home." He says with a warm smile. "But what does that mean for my SCW career? Well, you lot know when my contract ends, you know how I do it, January first to January first, so that's a bridge we'll cross at some point, but people, didn't matter where I lived, I'd always be able to get to the shows, and this is no different. I used to fly in from Cuba, or Jersey, or Maine, it didn't matter it's the life of a wrestler, and I will be there on Sunday in San Diego!"

Ben nods his head up and down firmly.

"Beautiful place, beautiful people and the home of Jet City, and I get to face one of the best to come out of Jet City in Jaycee MacDonald." He says. "Top talent but first off, cheers to Kris Ryans for shutting the place down for the weekend to allow the SCW people to party. You're a good geezer Kris, know how to bring people together."

Ben fires a thumbs up towards the camera.

"I gotta admit, I feel like I'm a team playing away at this point." He says using a sporting term. "I feel like I'm walking in to a place where the majority is home supporters waiting to dig out the away fans and make it seriously intimidating, but this is where away teams step up and push themselves a little more and that is the plan."

Ben scratches his cheek.

"So Jaycee." He starts. "I gotta admit, for me, this young lad has it all to be the top guy in SCW. You look at these younger guys and you can see that their destiny is in their own hands, but that comes with pitfalls. Wrestlers of Jaycee's age can either reach for the stars or get caught up in their own hype and become brought in to the seedy side of wrestling and believe me people, there is a very seedy underbelly to this sport, people handle their fame and failures in very different ways. Some get crushed by their own egos, others push on and use that to their advantage and people like me take it in their stride and get on with it. I get the feeling that Jaycee is the latter and will take everything thrown at him in his stride."

Ben pauses for a second.

"And that is a brilliant attitude." Ben says with an approving nod. "Thing is with things like this, you have to take the knock backs to be able to come back stronger and this is what I've had lately. Not just outside the ring, but inside the ring too, because I had the chance to become a champion again and I put in everything I could in to that match, I put in every ounce of strength I had and I fell short. I have no one to blame but myself, I have no one to put at fault but myself and I hold my hands up to it, better team won."

Ben puts his hands up, palms out for a few seconds.

"It's not unfamiliar for me." He says candidly. "I've lost a few matches in my career, never been one to sweat on winning or losing, but that one stung a bit. That one stung to the point where I let doubts creep in to my head about if I'm made for this anymore or if I'm just a tad past where I want to be. These doubts will always creep in to my head after a loss but I'm not one for retiring after a loss, if I'm going out, I'm gonna tell you its my last match in advance, so I don't look like a wuss when it comes to things like that, but this one rocked me a bit more then I expected it too. Thing is when you start doubting, when you start thinking you're not good enough, you have that choice to make. You have the choice to say to hell with it and tell people you're on your way out, or you pull yourself off ya jacksy, stand up and go again. You can accept that you're not who you once were and ya role in the place has changed and you get on with it and try and give back to wrestling in another way, or you refuse to accept it and bounce back stronger."

He stops for a second.

"I'm choosing to bounce back stronger and this match with you Jaycee, is the perfect chance for that to happen." Ben says with a smile.

He leans back in the chair just giving the audience a chance to let that sink in.

"I'm coming up against one of the freshest, young top talents in SCW." Ben says honestly. "A guy who's future is seriously bright in SCW if he stays on the right path, so this is the perfect chance to show I can still hang with the up and comers. This is a great chance to show I still have it, that I'm not the old bloke in the corner of the boozer with stories that the young uns don't believe because they see you as nothing but a boozed up old fella with more tall tales then real stories. This is a chance to show that I can at least keep up with the quality that Jet City keep putting out. Yeah, I fell and landed in the mud in my last outing against someone from Jet City. Yes, I didn't do what I really wanted to do and walk out with the gold, but this is not me going full pelt vendetta against Jet City. This is me wanting to show you all that there's life in this old dog yet."

Bear looks up at Ben, and Ben stares back at him.

"Not you." Ben says with another ruffle of Bear's head.

Ben turns back to the camera.

"Let's just take a moment to be honest." Ben says with a serious look. "I don't need to be doing this. I am good for life with cash, I really don't have to work again. I could just blend in with the crowd and just be Ben Jordan, the geezer in the pub, the bloke who goes to the football, that pops up to see his old mate Simon Jones at the weekend. I could be that guy if I really wanted to. I don't need to get up and hit the gym as much as I do, I don't need to get dragged up at stupid O clock in the morning when I train with Fenris, just to go for a run, I don't need to stick to a diet, I could scoff my mush with kebabs and end up with chilli sauce all over my face, I don't need to leave the country or go on tours everywhere, I could pop down to a weekend in Clacton rather then flying to America. This is stuff I don't need to be doing just to wrestle. It's also the stuff I do because I want to wrestle, because I still want to be that guy I was in the past."

Ben rubs his hand down his chin.

"I do it for the love of what I do and I need to prove that I can do it with the top talents." He says "And Jaycee is that, he's the perfect opponent. He's a guy that's gonna push me to my limits and give me the answers I need, he's gonna force me to be better then I was in my last outing. It's a perfect storm when you think about it. Another guy with the training ethic of Jet City, a man who can wrestle all day, a man who has a point to prove and a very determined to bounce back Ben Jordan who has the heart of a lion and no urge to lay down."

Ben rests his finger on his chin.

"And if I can beat this kind of talent, and I know I can." He says with half a smile. "Then there's not a lot to stop me from creeping my way back up those rankings a bit and putting myself in mind for other things. I know you think me winning could derail this young guys career but you couldn't be further from the truth. This is what the theme of this whole thing has been about today, it's been about bouncing back. Yes, I tied everything in and hoped you'd understand."

Ben winks

"Showing you the house thing, talking about my low points, this promo of me trying to show you how determined I am. It's all been about one thing." He says raising a finger. "Bouncing back."

Ben smiles down the camera.

"This week I bounce back." Ben starts. "And a loss for Jaycee will put him on the path to do the exact same thing and bounce back. It will teach him more lessons in losing to me then most opponents. Losing to me, a former done it all champion and I guess you can say crafty old git with experience will teach him about how to approach things and I have no doubt he will bounce back with a huge jump and become the person I truly expect him to become in the future. This is good for us both, because I will be winning, I get myself back on track and you Jaycee, you learn a big time lesson."

Ben looks at his watch.

"I better wrap it up, there's been a memo around about shorter promos and such and only one guy moaned about it, but still, better just tie this one up." Ben says with a cheeky smile. "So Jaycee, I will catch ya on Sunday, looking forward to it mate, should be a proper good un!"

Ben fires a quick thumbs up.

"And to you lovely lot out there." Ben says staring directly down the camera. "Hope you enjoyed this whole thing, appreciate you all. Tune in on Sunday and join us all."

Ben winks down the camera.

"Laters people!" he says with a smile.

And with that, the camera fades to black.

8
Climax Control Archives / Walk this way....
« on: July 28, 2023, 12:13:17 PM »
The camera fades in to Ben Jordan standing with his phone to his ear. He can be seen somewhere outside, the sun shining down on him and the noise of a background crowd can be heard talking around him.

"I'm telling ya ginge." He said down the phone with a laugh. "I'm almost there. I said I would get to the half way point before you did and of course I mean it cause I don't lie."

Ben paused for a second as he listened to the reply presumably from Sam Marlowe.

"Oh that wasn't a lie." Ben said with a smile. "that was a half truth."

He listened again to what Sam had to say.

"Well the other half was...." he stopped and tapped his chin. "Well, it doesn't matter, it was a long time ago. you just stop your rabbiting or I'm gonna be at the half way point long before you."

He waited for Sam's reply.

"Uh uh." He responded. "See you soon ginge!"

Ben pressed a button on the phone and slid it back in to his pocket as he looked at the camera.

"Alright people." He said with a smile. "Ben Jordan here and today, we're on The Great Wall of China!"

The camera zoomed out to show The Great Wall of China before zooming back in on Ben as he smiled and looked around the tourists moving around him.

"So here I am, on The Great Wall itself, and you're probably wondering what that call was about." He said "Well, that was Sammi, and we had a bet, if I started at one end and she started at the other, I'd get to the halfway point before she did, so that is exactly what we're gonna do and as it's a lovely day here, I thought we could walk and talk being as I ain't too far away from the halfway point, so we can have a little chat about my upcoming match on Sunday, so let's do that shall we?"

Ben pointed his arm towards the direction he was set to walk and started to move.

"First off, I need to say sorry to all you lovely people in Jordan that expected me and Oliver Zahn to be in the ring last week, but I came down with a weird bug, high temp, all of that and no one wanted to catch my lurgies so I ended up not being able to show up, a big sorry to you too Oliver, but good things come to those who wait and a week later, we are good to go are we not?"

Ben nodded as he kept walking.

"Well I'm now lurgy free and ready to get at it." Ben said with a smile. "And with a little extra motivation to boot too. Motivation in the form of a little balancing out thing, because last week, Sammi took the hit against Eiley and me losing this one would mean psychologically, I would but bollocksed if I lost against you Oliver. Two single wins over us would mean no one would give us a chance, no one would think we could stand up to facing you. We'd have lost before Violent Conduct had even rolled around and I don't like that thought at all."

A group of tourists looked towards Ben, talking amongst themselves and pointing at him. Ben gave them a friendly nod before walking on.

"It's really difficult to talk about you Oliver, because although you've been here a bit, it's hard to really pin you down, work out who you are." Ben admitted. "I mean the obvious comparisons you're getting to Kris Ryans should be a compliment. I've been on the opposite side of the ring to Kris on a couple of occasions and the man is absolutely mint, so big, big compliments there, but I don't look at you that way, no offence or anything but I see you as your own man, I just can't work out what kinda man that is at the moment and that is more then annoying for me, so I gotta take away the personal side and look at the you in the ring side."

Ben stopped for a second to look at the scenery around him.

"You've proved you're one hell of a wrestler already." Ben said seriously. "You've shown more in your short time here then most have in years here and that's a hard thing to derail, it's a tough thing to overcome because you're very unpredictable, you're overly confident but can seem to back it up and you got that gold around your waist to prove it. You beat some great teams for that gold when me and Sammi didn't get through the first qualifier, we had to go and win a secondary one to even get to Violent Conduct, so you're ahead of us there too but this is where great comebacks are made, this is where fires get lit in me and I have to push myself a little harder then I have done in the past. It's no secret at all that I won't be doing this whole wrestling thing too much longer, it's no secret that I only have one goal left here in SCW and that's to hold a championship I have never held before. That would be that championship you hold with you Oliver."

Ben turned and continued to walk.

"They say motivation is hard to find when you've seen it all, done it all, been up the top and not had to worry." He said with a shrug. "They say it's difficult to find a reason to fight on when you're a bit aimless, but I'm not aimless right now. I'm looking at your titles and thinking this is my end goal, my push to the end, my end game and that is giving me all the motivation I need and I need to be sending out that message to you loud and clear that I'm coming with every intention to take those belts and it starts with me getting in your dome, by beating you. It starts with me showing you that I am capable of beating you."

Ben smiled as he moved past a small crowd and looked up at disbelief.

"I knew I shouldn't have let her pick what end to start at." Ben said with a sad shake of his head. "I bet I got the side with all the hills on purpose."

Ben continued to walk, starting to climb one of the hills in front of him.

"Anyway, back to the rabbit I was having." He said. "Battles are won before people even raise a sword and me winning this one will do just that, it will strike a blow before the big match even starts and that's what I'm aiming for, that is what I'm after. I'm after making you think about what's going on, I'm after making you think there's life in this old dog yet, because there really is life in this old dog. Me winding down is a personal decision, not because I'm past it, because I'm over the hill and heading to the geriatric home, nah mate, it's me picking my time to do things on my terms and my terms include those lovely belts, my terms include putting on a show for these good people who have paid to see us on Sunday, these terms are about going out with a smile so everything I do from now on, it's gonna be with a big grin on my boat."

Ben pointed to his face, showing that boat was Cockney rhyming slang for face.

"And I am gonna have the biggest smile on my boat after our match on Sunday, because my hand will be raised and in terms of how we go in to Violent Conduct, it would be me scoring the equalizer, no longer one nil to you, I will pull it back to one all with everything to play for in a few weeks time. Thing is, this one is lesson for you, I'm gonna learn all I can from this match, but in a few weeks, I won't be coming to play."

Ben made it to the top of the hill, taking a few minutes to catch his breath, but a young boy ran towards him.

"Ben Jordan!" the young boy yelled out.

Ben instantly picked up on the boys American accent as his parents quickly moved towards him.

"I'm so sorry." His mother said as she looked at Ben.

"It's no worries at all love." Ben replied with a cheery accent.

"You're his favorite wrestler." His dad told Ben. "We came on vacation here, and he saw the show advertised and now we're going to be in the crowd."

Ben smiled at the boy and nodded towards his parent.

"That's great mate." Ben replied with a smile on his face. "I dunno if you've seen us live before but we put on a hell of a show."

"We've never seen a show live before." The mother admitted. "But he's excited."

"I made a sign with your name on." The boy said to Ben with a huge smile on his face.

Ben tussled the kids hair and smiled back at him.

"I'm gonna make sure I look out for it." Ben said with a nod.

"Would you mind if we took a picture?" The father asked Ben. "I know some wrestlers have been pissy at that lately."

Ben smiled at the man and nodded his head.

"I've always got time for pictures." Ben said as he crouched down next to the kid.

Both the kids parents pulled out phones and start snapping away at Ben and their son, their son smiling widely at Ben and then the camera. Ben stood up.

"Thank you." The mother said warmly.

"Not a problem." Ben said with an appreciative nod. "Enjoy the show on Sunday."

Ben nodded and turned around to walk on, looking back down the camera.

"This is why I do what I do Oliver." Ben said firmly. "This is why I got the motivation and the good guy persona, because I do it for them. I do it for the fans who put money in our pockets and I hate to disappoint them, so I won't be disappointing them. I will be giving it my all to make sure that I walk out as a winner, I will be doing that for that kid, and for every kid that wants to see me beat you, I'll be doing it for every kid who wants to see me win that championship from you at Violent Conduct."

Ben walked down the hill to the halfway point, only to see Sam Marlowe waiting for him and tapping her watch.

"What the bloody hell?" Ben mutters as he approaches her.

"What took you so long?" She asked with a cheeky smile.

"I erm..." Ben stuttered out. "You had a skateboard or something to get here before I did, right? Or a scooter?"

Sam shook her head.

"You're just getting slower." She told him.

"I am not..." He said with a firm shake of his head. "But just a sec."

Ben turned his head towards the camera.

"I'll see you on Sunday Oliver. I'll be the guy they announce as the winner." Ben said with a wave of his finger. "Have a good un you lovely lot and I'll catch ya soon."

Ben winked down the camera.

"Laters people!" He said before turning back to Sam. "Now seriously, how did you get here before me?"

And with that, the camera faded out.

9
Climax Control Archives / As one door closes...
« on: June 09, 2023, 07:36:47 AM »
A few months ago

Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Golden Ring Casino is alive with patrons trying to win their fortune, and set themselves in to an early retirement, which in turn, only helped it's owners, London Underground become a step closer to retirement. The camera focuses on Jamie Dean, sitting at the bar, looking at his watch and waiting. His wait quickly finishes as Samantha Marlowe approaches him.

"Hi darling!" She says with her soft southern tone.

Jamie spins around, seeing Sam and quickly standing, reaches his arms out wide and wrapping them around the little redhead.

"It's great to see you!" Jamie says with excitement in his voice.

The two hug at the bar for a few seconds to let me moment sink in that it is the first time they've been around each other in a long time.

"I was so excited when I got your messages to meet me." Jamie says with a grin, but Sam's reaction changes.

Sam brushes the hair from her eyes as she steps back from hug, looking at Jamie with a confused look on her face.

"My messages?" She says with a tone of surprise in her voice. "I got a message from you and a plane ticket sent to me."

Jamie looks equally confused as he rests his hand on Samantha's shoulder.

"No..." He says as he trails off. "I got a message from you, and a plane ticket asking to meet you here at this time."

"Looks like you two have been played for mugs." Daniel J Morgan says as he approaches them from behind.

The two turn around with a jump, but the owner of the Casino smiles at them, raising both his hands.

"It seems that Mr. Bear wanted you both here at the same time." Daniel informs them.

"Mr. Bear, huh?" Jamie says with a grin. "I know a few bears I've called mister before...."

"And now I'm gonna have nightmares." Daniel comments. "But if you'll follow me, Mr. Bear is waiting for you in a private gambling room."

Daniel points across the casino and beckons the two to follow him before turning on his heels and walking away. Cautiously, Sam and Jamie follow Daniel across the crowded floor to a room to the side and lifts a key card, holding it to a reader. A bleep and a lock opening follows and Daniel opens the door, leading them in to a room with a blackjack table set up and a serve yourself bar.

"I'll leave you to it." Daniel says as he slips past them and out of the room.

The two's eyes are instantly drawn to a chair with it's back towards them, not showing who is in the seat.

"Mr.... Ahem, Bear?" Jamie says slowly.

A few seconds pass and the chair spins around to show.... Bear! Ben Jordan's lovable Akita dog just sitting in the chair looking at them. Jamie and Sam look at each other.

"Bear...?" Sam says slowly "You sent us those messages?"

"Don't be silly ginge." Ben Jordan's voice can be heard saying. "He's just a dog, he's got no fingers."

Jamie and Sam's head turn towards the bar and Ben stands behind it looking at them with a wide smile on his face.

"I mean it would be pretty impressive if he could, but using a phone to send a message is a bit out of his range, but his poker game is getting better by the day."

Ben walks from behind the bar, prompting Sam and Jamie to rush towards him, wrapping their arms around him in a three way hug.

"Where the hell have you been?" Jamie says loudly. "No calls, no messages, disappeared from Social Media, so where the hell have you been?"

"What he said but twice over" Sam adds. "And how did you do the message thing?"

"Well if you two will let me go, I'll let you know." Ben says with a grin. "Take a seat or something."

The two release their grip on Ben and move towards the table, sitting down and Ben moves to the head of the table.

"Well, to answer the message thing." Ben starts. "Live with a spy for all those years, you tend to pick up a trick or two, wasn't difficult getting you both here at the same time."

"You could have just called." Jamie says bluntly.

"Yeah, but where's the fun and drama in that?" Ben says with a cheeky smile. "I mean what is life without a little mystery?"

Ben walks around the table and sits at the other end, next to Bear.

"Where have I been is a difficult one to answer." He says tapping his chin. "Things haven't been good, or bad, but they have been slightly on the one extreme to the other side of thing. Mentally, I wasn't in the best place and I had to get to the bottom of them and the truth was, I wasn't happy where I was. My passion had gone with pretty much everything, things I used to love, I stopped caring about, things I liked doing, didn't have it in me to do anymore."

"We could have helped." Sam says with a touch of concern in her voice.

"I was beyond help." Ben says as he looks at her. "For years I've been able to do what I want, when I wanted and even with all the money in the world to the point I could do anything I wanted, I wasn't happy. I went travelling again to give myself that spark back in to life, saw some great things. I gave money away, I went back to London just to smell the smoke and sit on my fave park bench. I watched some football, tried to get back to the old me."

"So for months, you were just reliving your youth." Jamie comments.

"Well, not only that." Ben says with a shrug. "I was also going through a divorce...."

Stunned silence filled the room as Jamie and Sam look at each other with open mouths, stuttering for words as they look back towards the calm Ben.

"Way to bury the lead..." Jamie finally managed to get past his lips.

"Look, if you never saw that coming, then you need a trip to Specsavers mate." Ben says with a smile.

"What happened?" Sam mustered up the courage to ask.

Ben rubbed his chin as he looked at Sam.

"We were closer then close, she felt like my best friend, like the person I could rely on for everything I wanted in life." Ben says with a sigh. "But we became two different people in two different places in life. I guess I was slowing down while she was speeding up. She was making something of herself making more money, while I was happy being that guy who knew I had enough money for life and didn't have to worry about working for anything anymore."

"Do you still talk?" Sam asked.

"Not really." Ben says. "She's off doing her thing taking over the world, and me and Bear here, we're just a couple of bums knocking around the world."

"So everything you own together?" Jamie questions.

"All gone." Ben tells them. "House in Maine, house in Jersey in the Channel Islands, both gone. I guess she kept the New York one, that was always hers. Businesses sold directly to her, I got a lot of cash out of it, more so then I started with."

"Are you ok?" Sam asks Ben, the concern in her eyes shining through.

"I'm sad about it." Ben says with a false smile. "It's one of those things where ya meet someone and thought they'll always be there. Who would have thought a bloke from the East End and a girl from Australia would have clicked the way we did and yeah, it was sad when she went, and I know she'll surface again and I hope she's happy, really do, but it was time for us to move on. I mean who knows what the future holds, but I am ok in general."

Sympathy fills the room from both Jamie and Sam as they look across.

"Wait..." Jamie says picking up on something. "You sold your houses?"

"I did." Ben says with a smile. "Made a pretty penny off them too."

"So where have you been living?" He asks

Ben ruffles the fur on Bear's head and looks across at Jamie.

"Where ever we want." Ben says with a grin. "We've got up in the morning, and said to ourselves what do we want to see? Where do we want to go? What place does the best whatever and off we go. Hell, me and the fella here would be watching restaurant shows and think something looks good and we'll pack up and fly across the country."

"Just like that?" Sam says with a raised eyebrow.

"Just like that." Ben repeated. "I don't actually own anything other then the plane, the expensive cars, sold them, my possessions that wasn't sentimental, gone. I mean I got some stuff that means something to me being looked after by a family member in London, but that stuff barely fills a room. The expensive clothes, gave them to a charity shop, gave most things to charity shops. Even sent a few things this way."

"Wait a second..." Jamie says slowly. "That huge donation of stuff to make a games room at Oasis..."

"Yep, sent direct from the Channel Islands." Ben says with a grin, "You're welcome."

Jamie stares at Ben with a look of surprise on his face.

"My point is, I have a suitcase, a bag I can throw over my shoulder and that's it." Ben tells them. "No matter where I go in the world, that's all I need."

"You can't really do that forever Ben." Jamie tells him. "Everyone needs a place to call home."

"Maybe your right JD." Ben tells him "but this world mate, it's a stunner. there's places around that can blow your mind, seriously. For me to pick a place to call home proper, I need to make sure it feels right and I'm open to anywhere in the world."

"Anywhere in the world?" Jamie questions.

"Well, not Australia cause everything tries to kill ya there, or New York, ex wife might try to kill me there." Ben says with a chuckle. "Don't fancy a mud hut somewhere. Maybe I'll buy a private island or something."

"You could buy a ranch in Texas?" Sam adds. "There's some great one's there, Bear can run for miles."

"Only time this guy runs is to the kitchen when there's some bacon on the go." Ben says with a smile.

He looks at Bear who seems to tilt his head with an agreeing nod.

"See, he agrees with me." Ben says with a smile. "But I might need a place in Vegas for a bit, or nearby."

"Oh?" Sam says with a questioning tone.

"Well rumour has it that a certain little wrestling company is bringing back a couple of tag titles that I haven't won yet." He says with a smile. "And I love being a completionist with certain things so I wouldn't mind getting my hands on those things and I have the perfect partner in mind."

"I don't think SCW will let me do that, even if I did lie and say I identify as a woman." Jamie says with a wink towards Ben.

"Not you, ya plum." Ben says holding back a laugh. "I was talking about ginge there."

Ben points his finger towards Sam who looks surprised by Ben's train of thoughts.

"I don't know..." She says slowly.

"We've teamed before and been bloody good." Ben reminded her "So close to Blast From The Past winners, so I think we stand a real shot at this, not half a shot, not a little shot, but a real shot at winning those championships."

"I'm still not sure." Sam says scratching her head.

"I think we should discuss this over bacon." Ben says with a grin. "Lots of bacon, all the bacon in the world I'm thinking."

Bear didn't need to hear anymore as he jumped off the chair and made his way to the door. Ben stood up and prompted Jamie and Sam to stand up too.

"I think it's a good idea." Jamie says with a nod. "I got the perfect team name too."

"Yeah?" Ben says as he walks past him.

"Well, we were Team BJ." Jamie says with a wicked grin. "You two could be Team BS!"

Ben rubs his hand on his forehead, trying to hide a smile.

"Never change JD..." He says as he heads towards the door.

Well, discussions were had, bacon was eaten, fans took selfies.... With Bear, and all was agreed, Ben Jordan and Sam Marlowe were well and truly in!



Earlier today.

A park in Phoenix, Arizona is alive with people enjoying the now summer sun, beating down on the bright green grass. A fountain can be seen in the fore shot, the sun shining down on the rippling waves as drops of water hit the pool below. The camera spins around to see Ben Jordan sitting on a bench, his bacon loving, loveable pet, Bear sitting at his side. The camera moves closer to Ben who clicks his fingers, causing the scene to freeze, the gentle breeze through the grass stops, the camera shows the fountain to be frozen in time and not a muscle is moved from anyone walking past. The camera switches back to Ben who smiles down the camera.

"Alright people." Ben says with a smile.

He lets out a long sharp breath.

"Been a while since I've had to say that and have a little rabbit with you all about a match, been a bloody long time since I've had a rabbit." He says with a serious look on his face. "I seriously hope I'm not too rusty at this thing, I mean a lot of things have changed since we last spoke people, a lot in my personal life has changed but what hasn't changed is my love for you lot, so cheers for all the good messages sent and all of that."

Ben holds his hands together in the shape of a heart.

"It's literally bonkers on how many times I've nearly stepped back in the ring, but you lot know my history, you lot know that I am human enough to get depressed and suffer from stress and anxiety." He admits. "You lot know just how it goes, and I nearly ended up in the Blast From The Past tournament, straight up people, I nearly did that but I wasn't all there yet, I wasn't in my own head yet, and thankfully, SCW got some very late sign ups to get that thing going without me, which was probably for the absolute best, I didn't wanna make myself look like a plonker, but I'm sure you're now all wandering what state of mind am I finding myself in these days."

Ben taps his chin and lowers his eyebrow, waiting just for a few seconds for his thoughts to formulate.

"I feel pretty damn spiffy at the moment." He says with a smile on his face. "As one chapter ends, another one starts and when I heard about those Mixed Tag Team titles coming back, I said to myself Ben, you've done a lot in wrestling, you've done a lot in this world, but you've never held those Mixed Tag Team championships. You've won everything else but those Mixed Tag belts, you've never had the chance to hold them. You should have had a crack at it a long time ago but you never got the chance to be that guy, but now you do. You've won everything else, so why not go and win these things?"

He tilts his head as he looks down the camera.

"Why not indeed." He says with a slight grin. "I won't lie, I ain't always been the most reliable guy about over the last couple of years, I've come back and hit the wall pretty quickly cause my head wasn't screwed on and I'm sure some of you people might be thinking this is just another one of those moments where I come back, not a lot happens, I bugger off again. I'm sure people see my name on the card and thought of not this guy again. A few months back, you might have been right and I might have buggered off again, but not this time. Not a chance, cause there's a new lease of life in me at this point, there's something in me that I haven't felt in a long time, the passion is there, the passion is back and those Mixed Tag Titles are going to make me drive faster, drive further, push harder and what a way to prove to the world that I am capable of doing it, then going against two world class opponents."

Ben stopped for a second to catch his breath before continuing.

"Tempest is seriously phenomenal." Ben says seriously. "Honest to God, this woman should be going after the top people in the division because she really is that bloody good. Probably the most underrated star on the roster. Thing I like about Tempest is she knows her role in this place and she gets on with it. Go against whoever wants to go, accept fights with smaller people because they want to test themselves against someone bigger and plays the part lovely. I can honestly respect that and that could get people to believe these championships are no less then what you deserve again. I know you've tasted that gold before and I know that you want to taste it again. You know what it's like to be that champion and I know what it's like to want to regain what you lost, I've been there, so I almost feel bad for being the guy that is gonna stop you from qualifying for that bug supercard match, but the urge in me to show the world I still got it is too strong. It will be an honour to share the ring with ya Tempest, but I gotta do what I gotta do."

Ben looks down at Bear, who turns his head to look back at Ben. Ben strokes him on the head before looking back down the camera.

"And the person in the ring going up against me is an absolute SCW legend. Well, lets be honest, he's a legend everywhere he goes..." He starts "Austin James Mercer."

Ben pauses to let it sink in a little.

"This ain't gonna be the first time I've shared a ring with Austin and I hope it's not my last." He says genuinely. "Because every time I'm in the ring with that man, it is absolutely magic. I mean I pride myself on being good, I pride myself on giving it all and I do, but when I'm in the ring with Austin, things flow proper, things are something else. It seriously is what was put on the card for me, it's a dream match and if I did it fifty times, it would still be a dream match every single time because of the respect I have for that fella. I know I sound like I'm fangirling but I am telling ya straight, there's not a wrestler on the planet who has worked with him that would say anything differently."

Ben waves his finger.

"But it doesn't mean I respect him too much and that's gonna cost me." Ben says with a slight shake of his head. "It doesn't mean that I'm getting in that ring and becoming all star struck and all that stuff at all. I mean of course it's a pleasure to share the ring with him but it will be more of a pleasure to beat him and move on and join the other teams in the big match. Beating someone like Austin James Mercer isn't just bragging rights, it's momentum, it's like a slingshot to the stars, it's a high that you live on, that motivates you to feel invincible, that makes you feel like you're walking amongst angels, it's what you need to do if you want to give confidence. I know many would baulk at taking on someone like Austin, might even have a little accident in your undies, but I'd rather push myself against Austin James Mercer then say Bill Barnhart, because the win means more. No disrespect to Bill but the absolute buzz of winning differs between opponent, the thrill of winning changes depending on who you're up against and Austin is an absolute shark. You wanna get the wins over the sharks. I mean imagine it, you're out there fishing, you feel a bit of a tug, do you wanna land that shark or that minnow?"

He tilts his head as if he's waiting for an answer.

"You're going for Jaws mate, all day long." Ben says with a wink. "And that's who Austin is, he is the shark in this and that's what you aim for and the confidence I'm gonna get in myself after defeating a man like Austin is gonna be unreal, it's gonna be absolutely madness. Add that thrill to my experience, drive and the fact that I got a Hall of Famer as a partner and there's gotta be teams sitting there wondering how to stop us, because I'm pretty sure whoever wins this match on Sunday with us and Tempest and Austin, are going to go through favourites to win the whole thing, surrounded by the hype, the buzz, the feeling that they can't be stopped and believe me people, I want that to be me and me ginge, I want it to be us going through and I am gonna stop at nothing not to let the ginge down, not to let myself down, and not to let the fans down. I've done that once too often and it's time for me to not let them down, it's time for me to show the that this return is not gonna be the ultimate let down like so many others have been."

A look of determination crosses his face.

"The Ben Jordan over the last year, eighteen months has been a let down to you all and a let down to me personally." He admits. "It's been hellish at times and I've let a lot of people down. I disappeared from friends, I disappeared from family, I disappeared from fans, but that stops now. I will no longer be a let down, I will no longer put myself through that, I will no longer let anyone down. That is why it starts on Sunday where I start making up to everyone for who I became, I will show you that you are never wrong to back me. The stage is set perfectly for this big comeback, not a random match with random people who you've never heard of, a match with consequence, against two respectful opponents, a match I get to team with one of my closest friends, a match that has importance. What better way to show you all that Ben Jordan is back in a big way and he is not in the mood to disappoint one single person. The Cockney King is back to eventually rule over the mixed tag team division. The Cockney King is back to show you all that things are going back to normal around here, where you're not getting a version of the best Ben Jordan there can be, you're getting the absolute best of who Ben Jordan was, and who Ben Jordan is right now and believe me good people sitting and watching this, that is the best Ben Jordan you've ever seen. World champ Ben was pretty damn decent but trust me when I say this is gonna be a whole new level of Ben."

Ben rests his hand on Bear's head and gives it a slight tussle.

"The past is the past." Ben says with a smile. "And I wouldn't change it, but the future, it's gonna be bright as the sun. Everything starts with one little step and this is my little step towards being a champion again and frankly, I can't wait."

He grins widely.

"Well, I think you've heard me prattle on for a bit now, so it's time for me to disappear..." Ben says with a firm nod.

"Hey prat." Sam Marlowe's voice can be heard saying as she walks on to the shot, taking a seat next to Ben.

Ben raises an eyebrow at Sam and points around to all the people frozen in their spot.

"How did you....?" He asks "I mean everyone else stopped but you just have a wander around?"

Sam smiles and shrugs her shoulders at Ben.

"I guess you're just still a bit rusty at this whole thing." She says with a warm smile.

Ben sighs as he looks down the camera, rolling his shoulders back with a shrug.

"Tempest, Austin, I'll see you both Sunday." He says with a quick glance towards Sam.

Ben winks as he looks down the camera for the last time.

"Laters people!"

Ben clicks his fingers and the scene around him starts to move again, Ben smirks at Sam.

"Rusty my arse." He says with a chuckle.

Sam smiles and rolls her eyes at Ben as the scene fades to black.

10
Climax Control Archives / Am I the bad guy?
« on: September 23, 2022, 08:44:34 AM »
Was I the bad guy? It's been those words running through my head constantly since my slight falling out with HB Carter.

I tried to help, my intentions were good, my heart was pure in this situation, I had nothing to really gain from stepping in, other then trying to keep another human being safe. It's something any decent person would do. It's something anyone with a heart would try to do and that's what I tried but it's been rattling around this dome of mine that I was a bad guy for trying.

I have never questioned the Saint Ben nickname given to me years ago, at times I thought it fit pretty well because I did go above and beyond what most would do to help people, bloody hell, I still do go above and beyond to help people, but I've never felt less of a Saint then I have done over the past couple of weeks. I've tortured myself something chronic over this.

Maybe it wasn't my place to say anything but Carter is a good kid, a bit naive at times and not seeing the world through experienced eyes, but at times, and especially days like this, you have to ask yourself if you did the right thing. At the time, I thought I was doing the right thing at least. There was a young man who was clearly hurting, clearly needed someone to open up to, someone to help fix whatever was going on in his life and I thought I was the one to help.

Maybe it's just me, maybe it's my nature to be good, or maybe it's my nature to put my nose in where it clearly isn't wanted. It's made me more conflicted now then I've ever been in my life. I don't know if I was right or wrong, I don't know if I should have just said to hell with it and kept walking but I guess that's something that's not in my nature.

Either way, the mess that was in front of me was started by me and only me. I tried to help and got dug out for it, and boy did he dig me out with that comment about my wife and I don't know if I deserved it because I overstepped, or if he was just lashing out because of my interference, but it stung hard and cut deep. You can't take back what ya said, but I don't even know if I can be mad at it. Without knowing it, Carter had cut down my relationship to bare bones, but it felt more personal then me being a guy that just wanted to help him.

And here I am now finding myself in a match with him. I don't know if I'm gonna go get in that ring and go full pelt for that comment, or if I should just remain calm. I do know one thing though, I need to get that thought out of my head about being a bad guy, cause if I don't, it's gonna set my mental health back a long, long way by over thinking. I need to speak to someone I've known a while to try and get my mind back on the level, someone who can reassure me. I needed to call an old friend.



The sounds of a video call can be heard as I sit in a hotel room, my phone in my hand as I lay on a not so comfortable sofa. I felt nervous for some odd reason, especially as I was calling a friend of many years. It felt like forever before Jamie Dean answered his phone, but eventually he did.

"Hello my British friend..." He said before noticing the sombre look on my face. "What's wrong?"

It was hard for me to talk, I felt like the words wouldn't come out.

"I..." I mumbled out.

"I've never said this to any man." Jamie started. "But spit it out."

The worst thing is, I would guess Jamie was serious about that comment but a smile crept on to his face, when I couldn't even muster a smile.

"I think I screwed up." I said softly. "Like proper screwed up."

Jamie's face turned to a frown as he looked down the camera at me.

"I'm gonna take a shot in the dark with this." He said. "The whole thing with that Carter kid?"

I'd known Jamie for many years, he knew me back to front. We travelled the roads together in SCW, picking up tag gold, we were one hell of a team to be honest with ya. He knew what was inside my head before I did most of the time.

"Yeah." I admitted. "It's been on my mind for a couple of weeks."

"Well, tell uncle Jamie all about it." He said in a jovial tone.

I took a deep breath, mostly a stall tactic to see if I could actually find the right words to come up with what needed to be said.

"Earth to Ben." He said to snap me out of my trance.

"Sorry." I said before clearing my throat. "It's just I tried to do something good there. I saw something wasn't right and I tried to be the guy to sort it out. It wasn't like I wanted to play hero, or be a hero or be thought of as one. I genuinely wanted to help the kid. There's something going on there, something that's pretty messed up and I wanted to help him because of he needed it."

"You're a good human being." Jamie said with a nod.

"But am I though?" I questioned. "This is what's bothering me JD. Am I a good human being or am I just a guy that has to help people. Like it's something I can not stop. Maybe I need to see myself for who I am, not a great person but a guy who just can't help himself but to get involved in people's lives, with or without them wanting me to."

Jamie frowns again as he looks at me.

"It's a bit early to be drinking, don't you think?" He said with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh?" I replied.

"If you think you're not a good person, you must have been on the hooch." Jamie said seriously.

"Not today I haven't been." I said with a half smile.

"Think back Ben." Jamie said seriously. "Do you remember when we started Oasis? And the landlord wouldn't give me the time of day because of my sexuality?"

I did remember that, the close minded git.

"I do remember that." I told him.

"Remember what you did?" He asked.

"I went and made the deal, got the building and basically flipped him off." I said with a grin. "Gave him a few choice words."

"And why did you do that?" Jamie asked.

"Because he was a bigot who deserved it." I replied. "And we needed the building to get things off the ground."

"Exactly." Jamie said "Get things off the ground. Who was here checking to make sure everyone was ok when we took them in and helping them find some direction."

"That would have been me." I replied.

"And who featured them in a Christmas promo for SCW, getting them all involved, when they could have done a promo far away and not cared about these kids." He asked me.

Ah, one of my favourite promos, a Christmas Carol parody.

"I did that." I replied.

"You made their Christmas." Jamie replied. "Just by being here when you could have done something else that stopped you flying across the country to do it."

"I didn't think like that." I said with a shrug.

"And who sends money every year to keep the lights on in this place?" Jamie asked.

"I do." I replied softly.

"And you do it to keep these kids off the street and safe without them worrying about being hurt or abused." Jamie said firmly. "You do it because you're a good guy. You're not sitting on your money and giving nothing back, but you're doing it because deep down, if you could, you'd do something to make the whole world happy."

He had a way with words that I couldn't argue with at all.

"But you are overlooking one very, very important thing Ben." Jamie said seriously.

"I am?" I replied confused.

"This Carter kid, you saw something about him that you haven't realized just yet." Jamie said. "In fact something you've done so many times."

I didn't have a clue what Jamie was going on about, and all I could do was tilt my head towards the camera, to get Jamie to continue.

"You did all that stuff to help these kids here." Jamie started. "And the truth is, we've seen a lot of Carter's walk through this door. We've seen a lot of kids that could have been him, the only difference between the kids we're helping here and Carter, is Carter has a roof over his head."

It was a light bulb moment, I instantly saw what Jamie was getting at.

"So I wasn't just butting in." I said. "I was doing it because there's some strange thing where I see Carter in the kids that walked through the doors of Oasis."

"Exactly." Jamie said with a smile. "You wanted to help him, like you help everyone here because you see part of him in all the kids that we help. It's not being a bad guy at all, it's the opposite, you want to help because it's what you're good at. My guess is seeing him in bad shape, your real instincts kicked in and you just wanted to protect him like everyone here."

"So I'm not a bad person?" I said softly.

"Far from it." Jamie replied. "You're a good guy, you want to help people, that's why you wanted to be a mayor a while ago. You naturally want to help people have more, be better."

Oh yeah, mayor, wonder what ever happened to that angle?

"Thank you JD." I said sincerely. "I've been doubting myself for a while."

"Well, you should have called me sooner." Jamie said with a smile. "I don't know what it will take to get through to that kid, but someone will get through to him at some point."

Jamie was right, and he will dine out on that forever, but he set my mind at ease. I had to accept I did what I did because I do actually care about people, no matter who they are, no matter where they come from, no matter of anything.

We spent the next hour or two catching up, chatting away and talking some business. I won't bore you with the details of all of that, so let's move on, shall we.



I decided to go for a walk, clear the mind and talk to the people. I've been in Reno many times and often get lost in casinos but today was different, I decided the Truckee River Walk was the perfect place to walk, find a spot and sit down to speak to the fans. It wasn't long before I found a nice, quiet spot to sit down and talk to the camera crew I'd pulled along for the ride. I was sitting looking at the river with the camera crew just to my left. Taking a deep breath, I turn my head to the left to look at the camera.

"Alright people." I start as usual.

A few seconds of silence passes as I gather a thought or two.

"How did we get to here, eh Carter?" I started. "I mean one minute, me and Miles are trying to help you, the next thing, we're in a match to sort out differences. It's bonkers that we went from that to looking at Sunday and wondering just what is gonna happen. Now this is tough for me to talk, I ain't gonna lie, very tough for me to talk because I don't hate you. Yeah, I was upset and the temptation to spark you clean out at the point was there when you threw that insult at me. I had to fight every urge in my body not to take a proper swing. Maybe if I did, I wouldn't have been in my own head all week. I wouldn't have been wondering if I'd done the right thing for even trying to help you."

I pause for a second or two.

"That's all I was trying to do Carter." I state firmly. "Help you. I know something is off with you and I know something just ain't right, and all I wanted to do was help you. All I wanted to do was make sure you was cushdy and if you wasn't, then I coulda done something to fix that, but you like to throw a dig at me, that's fine. The problem is, is how I get to respond to that, and I gotta be honest with ya, I don't know how I will respond to that. Right now, I'm as calm as can be but when that music hits and I walk through the curtain, am I still gonna be calm? Am I gonna feel the electricity running through the crowd and let that change me? Am I gonna remember that comment of yours and have a switch inside me turn?"

I shrug

"I really don't know." I say with a serious tone. "I really don't know if something is gonna turn me in to the way I was when I had to face Kedron, I really don't know if there is a little bit of a bad guy in me that's gonna rear it's ugly head when I hear that music. I really don't know if I'm gonna have a serious amount of tunnel vision and become someone I'm not used to being. Words cut deep and people have a strange reaction to that at times, some unexpected actions come from those strange reactions and I don't know, I really don't know if there's still something dark in me, that might cause me to have some kind of PTSD flashback when I look in to your eyes. I genuinely hope I don't, but sometimes people do what you don't expect, you know what I mean?"

That wasn't a rhetorical question,

"You do know what I mean, because I reckon you played things over and over in your head constantly since that night." I say knowingly. "I reckon you calmed down and wondered what the bloody hell you've done. The way you reacted was something no one expected and I think you know that. I don't know if you really meant it, or if it was heat of the moment stuff or what, but it shows something that I never thought I'd see out of you Carter, it shows a distinct lack of respect."

I knew respect is taught properly at the gym Carter came from, The GO Gym. I know this because of my wife training there.

"There's a certain couple who trained you, that I know fairly well." I say as I look down the camera. "And I know what they're like when it comes to respect. I know what they're like when it comes to teaching even the most uncontrollable, like my good lady wife and my good mate Fenris, that respect is a given to people who have earned it. So tell me Carter, haven't I earned your respect?"

It was a valid question I thought.

"If I haven't, after Sunday, I certainly will have." I say with a firm nod. "Because I tried to help, I showed concern, you offered disrespect. Win or lose on Sunday, you will respect me afterwards."

I stand up.

"I'm gonna leave that where it is for now and knock this on the head." I say before inhaling deeply. "I will see you on Sunday Carter and you will leave that match with a whole new level of respect. So until then."

I wink at the camera.

"Laters people!"

And with that, the screen fades to black.

11
Climax Control Archives / Bird trouble
« on: August 19, 2022, 09:18:45 AM »
Ben, you're bonkers, Ben, what are you playing at? Ben, what's wrong with you? I've heard that a lot since Sunday just gone when it comes to my little appearance at Climax Control. I mean if you're watching this, you musta seen that too, right? I mean if not, why the bloody hell are you watching this? Well, listening to my voice at least for the time being.

For those living under a rock, to the shock of the wrestling world, the legend that is Chris Page appeared on the screens of millions of homes around the world, not unusual for a bloke who works like Chris Page does, or bounces around as much as Chris Page does, but he did it on an SCW show, a show that is fast becoming a place you can see legends such as Chris. It wasn't so much he's appearance that go me star struck in a way, it was what he said. He put out an open challenge to everyone on the roster.

That could be a dangerous thing as so many have found out in the past and walked away with their tail between their legs and not holding gold anymore.

But this wasn't about gold, it was about facing the best, trying to show no matter who stepped up to him, he could handle it. Now I'm no Superman.... What? I'm not, even though there's pictures of me out there dressed like Superman, I'm really not, but I did have some momentum going for me. T'was not long ago I defeated this years dominant male champion, Mac Bane, so there was something about me. I couldn't be called the best out there, because let's face it, I work a lot less then most people in front of the camera, but I did have some name value. I've been knocking around these halls for donkeys years, I've sat at the top and looked down as the people scrambling up the mountain. I felt I was the perfect name to be in the ring with Chris Page.

I mean could you imagine what it would have been like if someone like The Troll had stepped up and took the open challenge? Chris Page deserved better then that, much better then someone like The Troll stepping in to something like that.

As soon as I heard that open challenge, I knew I had to step up and take it, take it with both hands or open arms, it just felt right, it just felt like this was it, this was the dream match, this is what people will be talking about in years to come. This was a match Chris deserved and I felt that I had earned.

There I was minutes before my segment was to go live on the show, squeezed in thanks to me asking Christian what the plans were for Chris Page and he told me to accept the challenge, and the nerves kicked in a little bit. This is Chris Page I'm responding to, this is why I've been told I was bonkers. I was set to accept a challenge from this guy and the nerves hit me. I don't know how I got through it, but I did.

Also, before you lovely lot remind me I've faced him and beat him in a tag match, completely different. I had someone with me to make sure I never screwed it all up, nerves were a bit easier. This is different, on my own, no safety net. That's cool, I think, I can do that... I hope.

So the challenge was accepted, the people in the truck quickly chucked together a graphic to throw up there on the screen to make it official. My mind instantly started to think about this one on one match. I knew it was three weeks away, but that was my focus.

I never expected that one week away, I'd be teaming with Chris Page! This is the stuff dreams are made of! Not only can I tick off the list that I will be going one on one with Chris Page, but I get to team with him! I didn't accept his challenge out of spite, anger, revenge or a million other good old reasons, I did it because I rate the man so highly. I didn't dream I'd ever get to team with him. That's two things off the bucket list.

Seeing that card go up people, I was blown away. Couldn't knocked me down with a feather and I ain't meaning that in the figurative way, I mean proper coulda popped me with a feather and I'd have had a bruise on me jacksy. Trust me, no one likes a bruise on their jacksy.

Either way, the next three weeks of my life was gonna be the best in my wrestling career, the absolute best. If you remember years ago when I was going on with the hashtag #BenDeservesBetter when it came to matches? I'm sure someone out there remembers, well it's matches like this that I was talking about, big, big matches with some of the best opponents in the world. This is it for me, this is my wrestling dream, big matches, big opponents, big crowds. Now all I need is some big performances to go alongside those big matches.

This week, I know it's gonna be a big performance, because I don't like letting people down and I ain't gonna be letting my partner down in any way, shape or form, that's just not cricket. It's time to proper work and get things kicked off just right, but first, I had to get to the destination of that good old match, which I knew would be another amazing place to be in. I knew that this was gonna be a spot on week and I couldn't wait to be there. I didn't was any time. By Monday after, I was in Chandigarh!



For some reason, I'd woken up with a bit of a spring in my step at about four in the morning. Not planned of course but at times, India was a hot old place. Singing in the shower might have woken me up a little more, or at least woke up my hotel neighbours, but I knew what was coming when the clock struck five, I knew there would be a knock on the door from an Icelander who has no concept of sleeping in. For the most part when we're wrestling state side, I could avoid these 5am runs. Show ends and I go home, but I decided to embrace the whole tour ethic and actually stay in the country, which means avoiding those runs was seriously difficult - even getting him wasted the night before didn't seem to work. Today I was ready for him as I had my hand on the door handle, ready to go.

"Three, two... one!" I said to myself as I pulled the handle down on the hotel room door.

Fenris stood the other side with Aron, his hand up high about to knock. Opening the door before he could knock seemed to have thrown him a little as he stood there with his mouth open.

"I know, I know." I said with a grin. "Get your cockney arse out of bed, we need to go running, yada yada ya."

He looked at me with surprise in his eyes.

"I..." was all Fenris could get out of his mouth, much to the delight of his brother watching the scene unfold.

"You're burning up daylight there with ya gob open." I said with a grin. "Keeping that mouth open that long, it's like you're trying to trap a fly. Come on, let's go do the running thing, cause this afternoon, I got plans for us."

"Not another elephant outing..." Fenris managed to say.

"Nah." I replied. "Think smaller. Anyway, shall we?"

My arm pointed past him as I stepped out of the room and in to the hallway, shutting the door behind me and pointing down the hallway.

It wasn't long before we were in a nearby park, my trainers hitting the floor as I tried to keep up with the long legged Icelander as he made running look easy, leaving both Aron and I further back.

"Someone woke up in cyborg mode today." I said to Aron as he and I shared the same pace.

"He's been going a mile a minute since he got up. I think someone made his coffee with Red Bull today." Aron said to me with a nod.

"Oi!" I shouted out. "Slow down, you're gonna wear ya shoes out."

Fenris turned his head just long enough to smirk in our direction, probably proud of being ahead of us both. Eventually, he starts to slow down as he comes to a bench, lifting his leg up on a bench to stretch it out as we catch up.

"Someone give you new batteries today or something?" I asked as I breathed heavy and plonked myself down on the bench.

"I'm going slower then usual just so you can keep up." Fenris replied with a smirk.

"I got big matches coming up." I explained. "I don't wanna knacker myself before those. Boxers don't spar on fight week, Ben don't try and kill himself on fight week."

"Yeah, yeah." Fenris replied as he stretched out some more.

My eyes quickly turned towards a group of curious peacocks moving towards us. It wasn't uncommon for these wonderful birds to be freely roaming around the parks of India, but these seemed to take a slight fancy to us as we sat on the bench. I felt my phone shake in my pocket and I quickly reached in to see a message from an anonymous number which simply read "The keyword is goat". Just seeing that made me roll my eyes.

"Coulda picked an easier to fit in the conversation kinda keyword." I said under my breath.

"What was that?" Aron enquired

"Oh nothing." I lied, but smiled at the same time.

"Are we gonna sit around here all day talking like old women?" Fenris asked.

"You got the hair of an old woman." I quickly fired back "But no."

As I stand up, I felt Aron's arm on my shoulder.

"Ben..." He said nodding in the direction of the gathering peacocks. "I got a bad feeling..."

I pointed past Fenris and Aron nods and the two of us take off running much to the surprise of Fenris.

"Hey!" He shouted out before looking at the birds moving towards him faster. "Ah fuck!"

Fenris started to back away from the birds as they gathered before turning and running in the same direction Aron and I had taken off in, quickly followed by the peacocks running in the same direction as us.

Needless to say, Fenris wasn't very happy when we got out of that park, but it was early yet, I still had afternoon plans for us, so let's jump forward to the afternoon, shall we?

Sometime that afternoon.

"The Parrot Bird Sanctuary!" Fenris said in a loud, bold tone. "You've brought us to The Parrot Bird Sanctuary!"

That I did, I brought them to see flying things.

"Yeah, because you can't fall off these things and nearly land in a pile of elephant you know what." I said with a smile.

We stood inside a caged area, surrounded by trees and parrots of many colours and sizes flying around freely. Other people looked at these beautiful creatures, taking pictures and smiling, unfortunately, Fenris wasn't smiling.

"Why?" Fenris asked. "Just why?"

"Because they bring joy to the world." I said. "Why Aron, just why is he such a misery guts?"

Aron smiled as he looked towards me.

"Gypsy curse." Aron said with a grin, causing Fenris to turn his head and growl.

"Oh stop being a moany old goat." I said as I looked around.

As if on cue or by magic, an African Grey parrot swoops from a tree, landing next to Fenris on a branch nearby.

"Ben Jordan is king!" The parrot squawks. "Future world champion!"

Fenris snapped his head towards the parrot.

"The fuck?" He said surprised. "Two things, one, how does he know who you are? And secondly, we're in India, why is he speaking English."

A thought bubble appeared above my head with Despayre and I in it.

"Hey Despy." Thought bubble Ben said. "Wanna do a little job for me?"

"I dunno." Thought bubble Despy replied. "I'm pretty busy."

"It involves parrots and pranking Fenris." Thought bubble Ben said with a grin.

"I'm in!" Despayre replied.

The bubble dispersed and I looked at Fenris with a feigned innocence.

"Probably saw me on TV." I said with a casual shrug.

"And where did a parrot get a TV from?" Fenris questioned.

"Probably online like the rest of us." Aron replied, trying to not smile.

I could tell just by looking at Aron that he knew I'd somehow set this up, but I don't think he really knew how I managed to do it.

"Fenris sucks!" The parrot said with another squawk.

I watched an angry look cross the face of Fenris as Aron turned his back on his brother, trying not to laugh.

"Aron's a better a wrestler." The bird said as Fenris took a step towards him.

It was hard not to burst out laughing as I say the vein in Fenris' forehead start to pulsate as he glared angrily at the bird.

"Who the fuck do you think you are?" Fenris said to the parrot in a dangerous tone as he spoke through his teeth.

"A better wrestler then you!" The parrot said back, mocking Fenris' tone.

Fenris looked towards Aron and I with a flash of anger on his face.

"Where do these little fellas pick these things up from?" I said innocently. "I mean one minute we're walking through here having a lovely time and the next, you're getting verbally abused by a Ben Jordan fan."

"Selfie!" The parrot screeched out.

"For a lovely bird like you, of course." I said with a grin.

Before I knew it, the parrot was on my shoulder and my phone was in my hand and I reached out to take a picture on myself with the bird on my shoulder. Just seconds after the picture was taken, the bird was back on the branch as close to Fenris as it could get.

"I've seen a lot of things, but never a parrot ask for a selfie." Aron said with a laugh.

"This country is fucking bat shit crazy." Fenris muttered to himself.

"You're jealous." The parrot informed him.

"Am not!" Fenris barked back.

"Am too" The parrot replied.

"Am not!" Fenris quickly snapped back.

"This is a battle of wits." I whispered to Aron.

"Yeah, and I think I know who's gonna win this one." Aron replied with a chuckle.

"One more word from you and I'll turn you in to chicken wings." Fenris said as he waved a finger at the bird.

"I'm a parrot you idiot!" The parrot fired back.

That was it, I couldn't hold in the laughter anymore and neither could Aron, but Fenris didn't notice, he was involved in a war of word with this parrot.

"I hate parrots!" Fenris said through gritted teeth.

"I don't like you much either fish lips." The parrot retorted.

That too got the tears of laughter flowing down my face as the parrot took off flying with Fenris in hot pursuit of the bird. Felt like I was laughing for hours.

"How did you do that?" Aron asked eventually after the laughing stopped.

"Despy." I said with a wide grin.

"I should have guessed." Aron replied. "But say no more. He does like getting under K's skin."

Aron and I started to look towards the direction Fenris had run off towards, but Fenris was being marched back towards us, surrounded by three burly looking security guards.

"I didn't wanna be here in the first place!" He stated as the guards marched him past Aron and I towards the exit.

I shook my head.

"Must be the only bloke ever to get kicked out of a bird sanctuary for trying to beat up a bird." I said with a chuckle.

Aron and I turned to follow him, as the scene faded to black.



It was like the week had flown by for me, every day passing, the more I loved this country. The people, the scenery, the culture, the respect. We were treated like royalty from the minute we stepped in to this country and it grew on me quicker. At times it was hard to remember I was actually here to work and not be a tourist, which was an absolute shame to be honest with you good people, because India was an absolute treasure. I'd tried to be as calm as I could while being in Chandigarh, even using the five in the morning runs with Fenris became more and more relaxing rather then hard work and I felt my mind was as focused as it possibly could be leading in to what was gonna happen on Sunday. I knew this match was a match that sold itself and got everyone involved actually excited for it. I have heard from some corners of the locker room that Goth himself was seriously excited for this one and if you've seen Goth on the screens, yeah, he's that serious too off the camera. For him to be excited about something meant we were on to something, we just needed to push things over the edge.

That's what I was about to do as I sat on a patch of grass in the Garden of Springs, looking around at the amazingly beautiful scenery around me. Tall trees and bright flowers entered my line of vision as the afternoon moved closer to evening time. The cameras were focused on me, but I kept staring in to the distance.

"Alright people." I say with a smile.

Look, you all knew I was gonna open that way, I erm, do it all the time.

"There's something about this place that's calming, peaceful, really gets your mind, body and soul acting as one." I say with a nod. "And it's a perfect analogy in a way for how everything right now is proper coming together for me when it comes to wrestling. All the stars are lining up a little bit and it's more then clear when you think about it and you think about Sunday."

I couldn't stop myself from smiling at the thought of Sunday.

"It's a day that will be remembered for a long time." I say with complete sincerity. "It's a match that if it wasn't for a title match being on the show, this would main event all over the world, in any company, it's gonna be that good. It's a bit of a weird one though, ain't it? Crazy booking of a couple of fellas who have been on screen together for a while, up against a pair of guys that have only been in the ring with each other on opposite teams and are facing each other in a couple of weeks. Whoever came up with that idea is either a mad man or a genius, but they went one step further by adding Mac Bane in to the mix as a referee..."

That's some good supercard build people!

"There's a lot of stories in that ring right there." I say with a tap on my chin. "So many questions, will Goth and Godly Ken Davison actually work out as a team or will they see they've been all talk and no chemistry? Will Chris Page try and get in my head and turn on me to get an advantage over me? Will I shock the world and turn on him to get the advantage?"

Of course not people, but you know, drama and all.

"And where does Mac Bane stand in all of this?" I ask "Chris Page on one side, Ken Davison on the other, where does he actually stand? Does he hold a grudge against me for beating him a little while ago?"

So many questions

"I can't answer most of them." I admit. "But I would think that Mac is gonna do whatever the hell Mac Bane wants to do, but do I think he'll call it down the line? Of course he will. My focus ain't on Mac Bane in the slightest, my focus is on the two across the ring from me and that's Godly Ken Davison and Goth. Those two are in my mind."

I take a calming breath as I work out who to talk about first.

"Let's have a rabbit about you Goth." I say having decided who to talk about as I got halfway through that sentence. "I hear you're a little bit excited to be in the ring with me. I actually get it. We've been in this company for years and rarely crossed paths. We've been pulling the company in the same direction from the moment I got here and yet me and you, there is not a lot of history. For two guys that have been here that long, we do not have much of a history, well Sunday mate, that changes."

I look in the camera and nod slowly.

"Oh yes my old mucker, it changes and it changes fast." I say firmly as I smile. "What a way to start adding pages to the history books of us two around each other. This is no doubt gonna be something overly special too. I know you've been watching me from the subs bench since I've been here and you've seen me do some cracking things, things that I never thought I'd do being here. You've seen me win everything, you've seen me beat so many people and now it's time to come and see it up close and personal with me in the ring. Believe me when I say this mate, looking at me from the outside is nothing compared to being in the ring with me. Being in the ring with me is a different level when my heart is in it and my mind is focused and right now, it couldn't be more focused. Everything is falling in to place Goth and this is the perfect match at the perfect time for me so believe me, it's gonna be one of the best Ben Jordan performances of all time."

I was feeling confident the more I spoke.

"I will not be the guy who takes away anything from you." I say in a softer tone. "I mean, you've been here a long time, you've worked as hard as a lot of people have, you've won more then most people have in their careers, you've done pretty much all there is to do and more, so there's no way I'll be taking you lightly. Anyone who takes you lightly need their brains tested because the people that have, you've beaten because they didn't see what I see. The fact is, I can see you're dangerous, I can see you can beat anyone on your day, I can see that you are one of the most dangerous people to ever have the crazy idea of putting ya body through hell to become a wrestler. It doesn't matter who I'm facing, I make sure to take everyone as serious as I can and I do mean everyone, but I'll be taking you a little more seriously then everyone else because I know what you can do. I know you've got a point to prove in that ring, I know you'll be coming at me with all you have but I and gonna back away because as much as you see me as a big name scalp, I see you the exact same way."

Believe me, anyone who can say they've defeated Goth, can feel proud.

"You're a champion for a reason." I say with respect. "You are the fighting pride of Holland right now, so it would be barmy of me to think I'm gonna show up and just walk right through you because I got the dogs goolies of a partner, but I beat champions in non title matches a lot. I don't wanna keep harping on about it, but I beat Mac, I beat your partner and I know I can do the same to you without that belt being on the line. It's becoming a bit of a trend of mine to do just that. Beat the champs without walking away with the belts."

It was becoming standard for me.

"At some point though Goth, I will stop turning down those title shots, I will feel like I've earned the right to be a champion and you could help tip me over in to that mindset." I say wagging my finger at the camera. "Beating you, a third champion without a belt on the line just might make me think I actually deserve to be a champion again. Collecting big names is getting me over that mental health battle hill where I feel that I ain't good enough to be a champion, so beating you just might make me believe again, beating you just might be good for my mental well being, beating you just might be the eye opener that I need where I can sit there and say bloody hell, I've actually earned this. I've not sat on reputation to get the good spots, I've earned it and after Sunday, that's where my mind is gonna be. There's respect on your name Goth, but it's not gonna stop me from doing all I can to win."

I took a deep breath to switch my thoughts up.

"And to you Godly Ken Davison." I say thoughtfully. "We've walked this road before, haven't we? We've been down that road and I stood up straight after it with my arms in the air after a tough battle, so I ain't expecting anything but a vengeful God coming at me on Sunday. I know you don't want to be two down to me, I know you're gonna push the boundaries to stop this from happening. To coin the old phrase lighting doesn't strike the same place twice, well like everything there is an exception to the rule and that would be my shiny headed mate."

I run my fingers through my hair, unintentionally, just a habit when making a bald joke.

"Sorry, didn't mean to take the Mickey there." I say seriously. "But let's get back to talking about Sunday. I'm not expecting anything less from you then a proper punch up, like I said, I've already got one over on you in the past and expect you to come out swinging, like any good man would, but I am planning on doing the same. I'm planning on coming out and doing the exact same thing. I plan on coming out and going all guns blazing and showing everyone just what I can do. You're familiar with redemption, there's a story or two about it in your good book, passages like  I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you."

Yes, I know some bible verses.

"I'm on a redeeming mission of my own Ken." I say turning away from the camera. "See, I was sinning when it came to my SCW career, I was phoning it in, I was letting demons sneak in my head, I was not the Ben Jordan the fans wanted to see. I was selling myself short on my career and I was selling the fans short on who they were actually paying to see but this is my redemption, I've been saying it for a while, putting in the effort and giving the people the Ben Jordan they want to see is my redemption, giving them the best matches I possibly can is my redemption, beating the people who would their rears off, just like you Ken, that is my redemption for these good people who pay good money in a global cost of living crisis, being the best I can be is my redemption."

I could feel the passion grow in me.

"I'm not saying this because it's tailored to you Ken, I'm saying it because I mean every single word coming out of my mouth." I say passionately. "It's driving me Ken, it's driving me to push myself because only through being the best I can be, will the path to redemption be clearer and you need to ask yourself one question. Are you good enough to beat the best Ben Jordan there can be? Can you do what many others in the past have tried and failed to do?"

I tap my chin.

"I guess we will find out on Sunday." I say with a smile. "But deep down, I think you know as well as I do, when I'm on the top of my game, I'm bloody hard to stop."

I tilt my head towards the camera and smile.

"Right." I say as I put my palms out flat in front of me. "It's time to end it there, time constraints and all that, but I'll see you there on Sunday when me and my legendary partner Chris Page will be victorious"

I wink at the camera.

"Laters people!"

And with that, the camera fades to black.

12
Climax Control Archives / Elephants!
« on: July 29, 2022, 10:45:27 AM »
I do love an SCW tour! I mean who doesn't? The places they take us are unreal, the sights we get to see are just amazing, the things we get to do could turn the most easy going bloke, in to a jealous mess. We're kinda blessed in a way to be doing this and we pay a high physical price for it but man is it worth it. Ever since I've worked for SCW, I've seen some truly amazing places, I've been to countries years ago back home pulling pints, I would never have even dreamed about and here I am years later travelling the world. Taking away where I've been on my time off, so far SCW has taken us on a tour of the Greek Islands, where I got to meet some amazing people, we've been on the yearly cruise which was as always brilliant, because being around those fans make it that way. Now, I'm still here having a rabbit with you from another amazing place. I'm talking to you from a place people call The Pink City, no, it's not a strip club, it's a place rich in culture, with three forts from olden times, lots of palaces and the worlds biggest cannon on wheels!

I'm in Jaipur, India! How amazing is that?!?!

Most people can only dream of going to places like this, a place of pure history and culture in one of the most populated countries in the world and here I am!

You wouldn't believe that so many of these people have such a passion for wrestling, it's unreal. I've been in the country for a couple of weeks, doing the public relations stuff I do for SCW now, last week and this week focusing on the biggest match I've had since I came back at the start of the years, and every person I've spoke to have this huge passion for what we do. It's a bit humbling if I'm honest with you, well, more then a bit humbling. Every person I've spoke to on the street, in the hotel, anywhere actually knows who I am and what SCW is. The Sawai Mansingh Indoor Stadium holds over thirty thousand people, thirty thousand! I know a lot of top seats will be taped off and floor seats added but thirty thousand people mate! The place is gonna be absolutely heaving, there's gonna be so many people, it's gonna be louder then most places because these guys are passionate about us, and I'm telling ya, it's gonna run close to the Madison Square Garden show SCW did.

I am getting a little excited just thinking about this whole thing, it's gonna be bonkers. These guys know us all, these guys respect what we do. India is gonna turn the level up to a bazillion come Sunday with this card.

I know it's easy to get caught up with thoughts like that and it brings on the butterflies a bit but they say it takes two to tango, and well, it's more then a tango when you hear who you're facing in front of that crowd.... Mac Bane! Yes, SCW World Heavyweight Champion, Mac Bane. The guy who dipped his hands in glue and then in glass to beat the hell out of someone, yes, that Mac Bane. I'm stepping in the ring with a man who put his career and really, his life on the line not so long ago, just to get back that big prize and score a little revenge. I'm getting in the ring with a man who has fought so many and came out on top. Bloody hell.....

Did I mention it could be in front of thirty thousand plus people? I did? Again, bloody hell!

People have wanted this match for a long time, I think I have too. What started out with a few digs at each other over the last seven or eight months, there's been a little respect between Mac and me over the last couple of months. We have shared a kind word and a beer or two, we both shared concerns over wrestling, we've spoke sports, although he's bloody rubbish at giving me gambling tips on American sports though, but this match gets the old juices flowing and gets everyone a little excited and we both know stepping in the ring on Sunday, the roar of the crowd, and buzzing in the air, all of that malarkey, we know respect gets paused, but enough about that just for the time being, obviously later, I'll have a little more of a chat about things and try and get some points across.

We, as wrestlers, are always at work to a certain extent, a lot of the time, we can only be ourselves when we're at home. In public, you wave the Sin City Wrestling flag all the time, you try and make yourself open to fans. I'm sure our concert loving wrestlers get spoke to at gigs all the time, our bar people have many conversations with other bar patrons and still have the whole wrestler vibe going on. This is enough at times to put people off from going out as much but not me. I love soaking in everything a country has to offer. I mean back home, I'm just Ben who lives over there, but on tour, people get excited but it never puts me off on having a little nosey around a country or being a complete and utter tourist, I love to do it. I love seeing things with my own eyes that I've only read about and now I'm in Jaipur, a city that has so many things to see that will blow your mind, that will make you lose your breath at any given moment.

My mindset is that I might only ever be here once, tomorrow is never promised, so I couldn't help myself but pick up the camera and explore this amazing city. I had to get out there at the risk of being mobbed, I had to put the thought of thousands of fans watching me face the SCW World Heavyweight champion out of my mind for just a little while.

It was time to see some of what this wonderful city had to offer.



"Where the fuck are we going?" Fenris' voice demanded to know as Aron and I walked either side of the never happy Icelander.

I could feel his eyes looking at me through his dark sunglasses. He wasn't a happy bunny when I told him to pick up his stuff that he needed for the day because we were going to explore. You people know what he's like, a gym rat that tries to get poor sleeping things like me, up at 5am for a run.

"Told ya happy." I said with a wink towards Aron. "We're off to see some of this city, and going to a place where you couldn't go back home."

He grumbled under his breath and Aron smiled towards me, knowing his brother was not the biggest fans of surprises.

"I set it up earlier." I told him. "These guys were happy to give us a bit of a tour when it closed to other tourists."

"How did you manage that?" Aron asked.

"I basically said my name and the reply was about me being a wrestler and I said yes and well, rest is history." I said with a casual shrug. "Apparently we've been the talk of the town since SCW announced a show here and here we are. Surely you two have had people come up to you since you've been here."

"No more than usual." Aron replied. "It's not like Mr Warmth here has an approachable personality."

"Just the way I like it." Fenris replied as we kept a steady pace walking. "Now where are we going?"

I wanted to tell him, but I knew he would probably kick me in the nuts or something and turn around.

"Dunno why ya worried." I started. "You would have only spent your time at the hotel in a gym or something, but you've been walking for a while, you'll get the same amount of cardio doing this and you get to see this lovely city."

"At least you can see it more clearly." Fenris replied.

"Oh your vision is coming back." I told him "You can still see some stuff. I mean come on, this place is stunning.... Just a sec."

I quickly reach in to my pocket after seeing an interesting looking building and pull out a camera. An aim, point and shoot later, I had a snap shot of the building.

"Such a fucking tourist." Fenris muttered under his breath.

"Such a happy chappy." I replied a little louder.

We continued to walk but I could feel eyes on us from the people around us this evening. People pointed and looked towards us, and I knew it was wrestling related, I knew we'd been recognised. Well, lets be fair, we are hard to miss and do stand out a bit, but no one really approached us until we got closer to our destination. Two teenage children, a boy and a girl along with what we presumed was their mother, came closer to us, bowing her head in respect.

"I'm sorry." She said with a heavy Indian accent. "You are Ben Jordan, yes?"

I smiled at the woman.

"I am and this is Fenris and Aron." I said pointing at the brothers.

"My children are big wrestling fans, we are coming to see you on Sunday." She told me with a shy tone, not making direct eye contact with me.

"That's great love!" I said with a warm smile. "We can't wait for you to see it."

"Can my children have a picture taken with you?" She asked me.

I could almost hear Fenris roll his eyes from behind the dark sunglasses he was wearing. He wasn't a photo with the public kinda guy but he already knew what I was gonna say.

"Of course." I said with a wave of my hand.

The two teens moved in front of Fenris, Aron and I, Fenris opting to go for the moody look as usual, while Aron and I offered a smiling face. The mother held up her phone and snapped a picture of the five of us.

"Thank you so much." She said with another bow. "A thousand blessings to you all."

I instinctively returned the bow, and instantly wondered if I did the right thing. I was still very rusty on Indian culture.

"Beat Mac Bane." The teenage girl said to me.

Once again, I could hear the roll of Fenris eyes.

"I will do everything I can to do that sweetheart." I said with a quick, sharp nod. "Now you guys have a wonderful day."

The three moved away from us at that point and we continued our walk to where I had planned on taking us.

"Do you ever have a day off?" Fenris asked me. "Everywhere we go, you have selfies taken with everyone or pictures taken. You must have had your picture taken with everyone in the world by now."

"Cockney King, Selfie King." Aron added with a nod.

"I like that." I said with a grin. "And to answer your question happy, no, I don't take a day off, I'm just a nice bloke like that who will take pictures with anyone, even you. These people are our bread and butter. They put their hands in their pockets to come and see us, in the worst economical times I've ever seen, in times people can't afford it, so it's only nice that we be nice and justify their costs."

"Saint Ben speaks again." Fenris said referencing one of my other nicknames.

"Yep." I replied. "It's who I am."

I noticed more eyes on us as we walked through and the approaches got more and more often the closer we got to our destination. Fenris wasn't pleased that every few steps, we were approached by someone else for another picture or a quick chat. It never bothered me, I was used to it, but Fenris wasn't happy at all until we moved to a more remote area where the faces became few and far in between and the buildings had thinned out to a more countryside feeling.

"How do you do that?" Fenris asked. "Fuck, how do you get anything done whenever you leave the house with reaction like that?"

"It's different at home." I told him. "Or in the places we wrestle regular, people are used to seeing my mug on the street and a lot of the time it's just a quick hello and on with their lives where they can tell the family they've seen me. Here, these people are seeing us for the first time that's not on the box, they're bound to get a little excited. At home, I can pop in to the local for a pint and watch the football and nobody bats an eyelid. It's just how it is with things."

Fenris shook his head at me.

"And here we are." I said pointing at a sign.

I watched Fenris move his head closer to focus in on the sign before looking in my direction.

"Elephant Joy?" He said in a questioning tone. "What the fuck is Elephant Joy?"

"It's a place where elephants sit and smile at ya." I replied.

"The fuck?" Came back from Fenris, causing Aron to laugh at his reaction.

"You get to go learn a little about elephants." I started "Well, usually, but the fella said that we can feed 'em, have photos taken with them and ride them. Mate, I've done a lot of things in my life but ride an elephant is not one of them."

"There's a lot of things I don't want to do in life and ride an elephant is one of them." Fenris snapped back.

"We're here now." Aron said, trying to hide a smile. "We can't sit and ride elephants around Vegas, we might as well go and ride them."

I looked around quickly, causing Aron to look at me curiously.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"When you said you can't ride an elephant around Vegas, I expected Despayre to pop up and say challenge accepted or something." I said with a laugh.

A small Indian man approaches the gate we have reached.

"Mr. Jordan!" He said with an excited tone. "Welcome to Elephant Joy! Please come this way."

He opened the gate for us and the three of us moved in through it. I caught him out of the corner of my eye, lock the gate behind us. I looked around the big open green habituate, and true to his word from an earlier phone call, the place was closed for tourists as it was after hours. The only people that could be seen was the people who took care of these amazing animals. I even caught a look of surprise on Fenris face as we walked through the grassy area towards a herd of elephants.

"Wow..." Fenris muttered under his breath as he looked around.

"Couldn't have put that better...." I replied as we stopped in front of two elephants.

"Now this is Shanti and Rangoli." the man told us.

"Can I get a picture with these guys?" I asked like a kid in a candy store.

"Of course." The man replied before muttering something in Indian.

The two elephants moved closer as I handed my camera to Fenris. Fenris nodded as I moved in front of them. One of them started to move it's trunk up and down the front of my shirt, causing Fenris to snicker and look towards Aron.

"That one must be a female." He said with a laugh.

"The ladies love me." I said to Fenris "But most of them know my missus would kick their arses, and probably mine so ya know...."

"Probably his too." Aron said as he jetted a thumb towards his brother.

Fenris snapped his head towards Aron before looking back at the camera and raising it up and snapping a picture of me with these two lovely elephants. I moved towards the two brothers to have a look at the picture and nod with approval.

"Nice one." I replied. "Go on then you two, your turn, go strike a pose."

Aron immediately moved towards the elephants, but Fenris took a little encouragement before conceding and moving towards them. The other elephant started to rub his trunk over Fenris chest.

"And that one must be a fella." I said to Fenris.

Fenris raised his finger, but I quickly cut him off.

"Say cheese!" I said loudly and Fenris reverted back to his usual moody pose as I snapped the picture. "Perfect."

Fenris grumbled something under his breath as he moved back towards me, looking at the picture on my camera.

"Gentlemen." The Indian man says to us, getting our attention. "Would you like to ride these elephants?"

"No." Fenris said bluntly.

"He means yes we would." I replied, firing Fenris a look. "When we're in Egypt, you can make me ride a camel, pretty sure I've seen a picture of you riding a camel before."

I look in to the camera and wink.

"Fiiiiiiiiiiine" Fenris replied.

The man turned to the herd and made a strange clicking noise, two other elephants breaking from the pack to move towards him.

"If you would..." he said, pointing his hands towards the elephants.

"How are we supposed to get on them?" Fenris whispered.

"Well you get a running start and you jump really high." I said with a grin.

"Smart ass!" Fenris quickly fired back.

The man made another clicking noise and the four elephants laid down on the floor, allowing us the chance to mount them.

"Would have preferred to see you try and jump on one of those bad boys to be honest." I said to Fenris with a grin, only to be met with his middle finger. "Charming."

Well, I'm pretty sure you don't wanna see us ride around on these elephants for a while, although there was a moment where Fenris nearly fell off, and then I nearly fell off laughing at him. That's all I would have needed, calling the boss and telling him I'm injured cause I fell off an elephant, would never have been able to show my face in SCW again. Other then that, the evening went swimmingly and the masala tea at the end of it capped off a decent day in the wonderful city of Jaipur.

I say capped off but I had one more thing to take care of.  I had a promo to cut on my opponent for Sunday. It was great having a chilled day with fans and elephants, but for now, it was time to be a wrestler once more...



Selling matches has always been an important part of wrestling and it was time to do that part again, I think it actually comes a little more naturally to me than others cause I could talk the ears off the deaf but anyone can stand in front of a backdrop and just chat away, anyone could sit down with our lovely, lovely interviewers and have a chin wag, we see it all the time on the shows, but I liked to do things a little differently. I like to pick a memorable setting, I like to go to a place where something stands out in peoples minds and I'm in a country that has some amazing sights, so I decided to sit myself across the Man Sagar Lake, just so while you listen to me, the wonderful Jal Mahal is there in the picture. Considering the sun has gone to bed for the night, and the lights over there are lit up like Christmas, it's a quality backdrop. Backdrop aside, I still have a job to do and that's to talk about someone and that would be Mac Bane.

"Alright people." I start with, as usual.

A quick warm smile from me greets the camera.

"First off, what a beautiful country and what amazing people here." I say with a soft, honest tone. "Everywhere I've been, I've been mobbed, I've had fans come to me and talk to me in the most respectful way, I've smiled so much, me boat race hurts but it's been so worth it to be around you lovely lot, thank you."

The Indian fans have been an absolute blast. Such welcoming people.

"And they seem as excited as I am for Sunday to come." I say with a smile. "Everywhere I've gone, it's people talking about me against you Mac Bane. I'm sure you've had the same thing, everywhere is buzzing that after seven months, it's finally happening. You were calling me out last year, I signed a contract to come back for a year to be in the ring with you Mac and all we got was a tag team match, it felt anti climatic, it felt like there was no point to coming back, so for seven months, this match has been on my mind and the fans mind because mate, they have not stopped talking about it to me since I got here. It's finally happening. Everyone expected after Blast From The Past was done, you'd be yelling my name, it had been a common thing for so much of your work leading to that final, my name had constantly fell out of ya gob until you won it and then what?"

I quickly do a zipping motion across my lips.

"Silence." I said softly. "Not a sausage, not a dicky bird and Matthew Knox became in your line of fire. I mean I get it to some extent, the things he was a part of, the things he did to you personally, I get it a million percent. I get that after you lost, there was some revenge to be had, I understand that and you two beat seven bags of manure out of each other at Summer XXXTreme and got that shiny belt back, but it did kill a lot of expectation from the fans. Think back, think hard about what I said when I came back to SCW, I talked about you, I talked about being mentioned, you mentioned me more, the fans got excited, they thought damn, we're gonna see two guys who are a wrestling match made in heaven go out it. The guy with more SCW history against the guy who spends every bloody day of his life making new history. That got the fans excited, that got me excited and nothing happened."

I couldn't help but shrug.

"And it reeled me in to nothingness." I admit. "It made me sit and wonder why I came back, why I busted my knackers in the gym to lose the pizza belly, but this week Mac, I remember that feeling on why I came back when you mentioned my name, I remembered that buzz because these people here in India have reminded me just what a big deal this is. The fire long burned out of me when it came to facing you, part of me went through the stages of grief till I found myself face to face with acceptance, till I found myself looking at myself in the mirror and needing a new plan of attack. I went and took on everyone put in front of me and had a bit of success give or take a King for the Day match. The thought of this match faded but this week, everyone I've run in to have made me feel excited again, they've made me feel alive again, to some extent, so have you."

Mac did it with one tweet.

"You tweeted at me that I have honour for not wanting a championship match." I say with a nod. "And you're right Mac, bang on right, I had to talk Christian and Mark out of it. When they said to me about it and told me I was going against you for the belt on Sunday, I had to raise my hand and tell them I wasn't worthy of that shot, I wasn't at that level. It's weird because I've seen people who would sell their own grandmother for a championship shot. I remember back in the day, long before you got here, but the old school SCW people will remember and the fans will remember the days when Jessie Salco would call out a different champion every week, goad them in to accepting a match with her and beat her, yet the next week, she'd call out another champion. I reckon the bosses are watching this and shuddering at the memory of that, but she was constantly trying Mac, she was calling out the lowest champ, losing then calling out the next level champ and rinse and repeat. I think she must have been the only person in SCW history to face every champion in one cycle and still end it without a belt, so I've seen people who would give up their lives just for a shot at gold, but that's not me Mac. I believe in earning it, I believe that nothing should be handed to you, nothing should be given to you on a gold platter, I believe in doing something big to earn it and when I heard about this match and spoke to the bosses, I told them I need to earn it, I told them I can not potentially be a champion again just like that, I need to earn it. I got the strange look on their faces coming back at me, but it was the right thing to do, and I told them there was one thing I could do to earn it."

I put up one finger to emphasize that point.

"And that was to beat you without the belt on the line." I said honestly.

I knew that in my heart, that was a risk, this might have been my last shot at a major title but I also knew I had to do the right thing.

"This was the right thing to do." I say seriously. "I knew in my heart Mac that the right thing to do was to prove I could hang in the ring with you, I knew that there was no other choice but to beat you to earn that championship match. I don't wanna be one of those fellas who got the shot based on the past, I don't wanna be one of those guys who got the shot without a big win under my belt, I don't wanna be the guy who could possibly start off a championship run with people yacking behind my back that I didn't deserve to be in the match in the first place. You are a good champion Mac, three time, right? Not many people can have that claim to fame, and not many people can carry the company like you did. If me or anyone else is gonna get that belt off ya, they need to hit the ground running and I ain't running just yet, but a win over you me old mucker and I ain't just running, I'm sprinting like a bloody lunatic. I'm breaking world records. It took some talk but Christian and Mark saw it my way and that in your eyes, gives me a little bit of honour, adds to the saint Ben thing, but it also gives me that little bit of motivation."

I look to the side at the Jal Mahal before looking back at the camera.

"It gives me the mood, the urge to do better because I've been around this place a fair old time, lot of my wrestling career was here in SCW." I comment. "And I've seen the roster stacked beyond belief where it was tough to get at the top because the talent was immense, but I ain't blind these days, we're working with a thinner roster and I see that spot at the top next to you, I see there's a gap on that mountain you sit on. I can see all it takes is a little bit of a run being put together to get up there. I am putting together that run and I see the chance to get up there by beating you Mac. I see the space just below where you are, is empty cause you're so far ahead of everyone else on this roster, you're in a different league but I win on Sunday, just get that win and I'm right there behind ya, I'm right there near ya and people are gonna be looking at me seeing that I am legitimate, I'm not living on past achievements, I'm still a threat, and I can still be champion. People will be looking at me saying now a shot is earned."

I nod slowly.

"There will be people who will go against me of course." I say with a shrug "But there will be a lot of people sitting there thinking the next supercard, Mac Bane defending the championship against yours truly would be the icing on the cake to say hello to the fall. This is my motivation a bit Mac, the fact you lit a little fire under me again with a tweet, me knowing that this could be all or nothing for me if I wanna show the world I still have what it takes."

I really did.

"People are not silly, they know we had a beer or two on the cruise." I say with a smile. "Well, five or six, but they also know that when I'm on form, when I'm on fire, I can change the who path of my career in one match. I've done it so many times and this is one of those matches that regardless of what happens in that ring, my path changes. If I win, people are gonna see me as the biggest threat to your title that you can possibly have, if I lose, I know I'm going to go back down the bottom and look at it in a different way, work with people I want without the pressure of being a champion, and yeah, I know the pressure, I get to work with the lower card, I gotta build myself up again. Either way, after Sunday, my career path will change once more. I know what direction I want it to go in."

I point upwards.

"And only I can get it to go that way Mac, only I can push myself in that direction." I say as I lower my finger. "No one else can do this but me. I know I said when I faced Agostino, it was a chance to turn the tide and start to get back to who I was and I did just that, I flipped the tide around and I started moving upwards and I need to continue that Mac and come Sunday, if I can get past you, get myself back in that main event scene, that tide continues to flow the way I want it to. That's the goal mate, and you're gonna be facing one hell of a motivated Ben Jordan, and that fella, just like this thing beside me."

I point to the Jal Mahal.

"Is an absolute thing of beauty." I say with a wide smile.

I take a deep breath and look deep in to the camera.

"I think I've chatted your ear off long enough so it's probably time for me to knock this one on the head." I say as I push my lower lip out. "But I'm gonna leave you all with this thought. Come Sunday, magic could happen, come Sunday, you good people who have called for this match all year could see something very special. If I was you lot, I wouldn't miss it for the world, because it's gonna be bloody good."

A wide smile crosses my face.

"Anyway you lovely lot, time for me to go. I'll see you all on Sunday." I say with a nod.

I quickly wink at the camera.

"Laters people!"

And with that, the scene fades to black.

13
Climax Control Archives / The glue that sticks us together - Part two!
« on: April 29, 2022, 02:55:31 PM »
Sunday 24th April.

I couldn't actually believe it, the energy from the crowd was insane. They say you feel a proper buzz from the crowd when there's a lot of people in the same place for the same reason but this wasn't just a buzz, this was electric, pure electric, nothing but electric zapping through the air, there was something different about it. The crowd were drooling at the mouth to see Mac Bane Vs Fenris, they were excited the second the card was announced, hell I was excited because I got to be this close to ringside. There's front row and there's beyond the barrier and I got to be beyond and I gotta level with ya, it wasn't just about watching one of my closest friends in the ring against a man who has constantly sung my name like an X Factor contestant, Mac Bane, a fella who came and scouted me against Godly Ken Davison, and then went quiet when he got to pick his poison. There was another man there at ringside, another man with interest in this match.

Chris Page.

Yes, THE Chris Page.

I like to keep my fingers on the pulse of wrestling, not because I wanna be the boss some day, that stuff seems seriously stressful stuff what with the people moaning, trying to get in people's ear, all of that malarkey, it's all very political at times and if I wanna get in to politics, which is possible, I'd rather do it for the greater good, not a wrestling company, plus the finance side, geez, that must be an absolute mare. I am a guy who liked to look at other people and learn from them, a lot of the time, indirectly. When you look for people you know you can learn something from, then Chris Page is near the top of the list of legends.

I ain't blowing smoke, let's just face facts, the man is that good, he's had a career that has been one so many wanna live up to and there he was across the ring from me, watching on just like I was.

I couldn't help but look across at him constantly during the match because I wanted to see how his mind worked and I could see him watching the match closer than most do, I could see him write down mental notes after every move. If you could see a thought bubble over his head, that would have took the crowds attention to him without a doubt. There he was on the other side of the ring to me with a look of concentration on his face, the crowd drown out, just there to look at what was going on in the ring.

I guess I was a little envious of his mind as my eyes flicked back and forth between the match and Chris Page, but I don't think he even noticed I was knocking around there. His focus was one what was happening in the ring and I was in awe of him.

I thought that was the closest I'd get to Chris Page, and yeah, it was nice being in the same general area as him. Nice being involved in a match with him by standing at ringside. I didn't know what was just around the corner for me.

Anyway, you saw how the match ended, and it was a bit disappointing, two warriors went in and no one came out with their hands raised. As a fan, I woulda felt slighted in a way. Two men going to war for that result and I felt the disappointment as I walked through the curtain with Fenris. Max stood waiting for us with a couple of water bottles.

"Great match." He said as he handed a water bottle to Fenris and then to me.

"Shit ending." Fenris barked.

It was clear the Icelandic MMA fighter was not in the best of moods and when he's in those kinda moods, you tend to steer clear.

"Dunno what ya moaning for mush." I said to Fenris with a grin. "Was a good match, people were in to it, you got to smack Mac Bane in the gob a few time."

"Not enough times." Quickly came the reply from Fenris

Aron appeared, draping a towel over his brother's shoulder, which trust me, was a good thing, sweating all over the place.

"You still looked good out there." Max told Fenris. "Shame about the result but there's always next time."

"And next time isn't far away." The voice of Christian Underwood could be heard saying as he approached us from behind.

I snapped my head around, seeing the boss smile as he walked with a confident stride towards us, clear that he was a plan with a plan as usual.

"A little while ago." Christian started. "Chris Page and I made a deal that would allow him for an SCW match and I think that time is next week."

I arched an eyebrow in curiosity. Christian had instantly walked over and grabbed out attention just like that.

"So I'm thinking Mac Bane and Chris Page Vs Fenris and Ben Jordan, next week." Christian said full of confidence and swagger.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing from the boss himself, in an instant, I was standing at ringside with Chris Page to be across the ring from Chris Page, me, wrestling Chris Page. I did hear that right? By the way Max was looking at me and Fenris and nodding with approval, I guess I did hear that. I am gonna be in the ring with Chris Page!

"Earth to Ben?" Max's voice dragged me out of my slight drift in to the realms of fantasy.

"Yeah, sorry, drifted for a second there." I admitted. "What's going on?"

"Fenris is heading for a shower, and we'll hit the town?" Max questioned.

"Yeah." I quickly replied. "We should get a few others involved. Maybe hunt for Myra, and that young lad who you beat earlier, Miles. He seems like he'll be entertaining on a night out."

"I'll find Myra, you find Miles." Max says with a nod.

"And you." I said as I turned my head towards Fenris. "You go for a shower, you're stinking up the place. Smells like Billingsgate Fish Market around here."

"Where?" Fenris asked seriously.

I pointed away towards the locker room by my mind was on one. I get to be in the same ring as Chris Page AND Mac Bane. One gets my respect, the other gets a slap.

Anyway, so the rest of the night turned in to a little bit of a party, you don't wanna hear about that, right? Nah, didn't think so. I do have another funny story though....



RECOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORD SCRATCHY SOUND!

You're probably just jumping in to this and wondering why I'm sitting here holding a glue stick. Well, there's an explanation for that and it all starts in Fenris' promo. Yes, we did inter linky promos like smarty people, so go, skip on over there and have a butchers on not only why I have a glue stick in my hand but why Fenris has his fish lips glued together...

Never thought I'd ever say that.

Good old Fenris had managed to glue his lips together, I know we've all wanted to do it at one point or another but he'd done it himself. What a lovely day!

I looked at the glue stick and looked towards Fenris as Max took a seat in front of Fenris.

"Well, there's good news and there's bad news, which one do you want first?" I asked as I glanced towards Fenris.

Muffled sounds came from the Icelandic wrestler.

"Well come on, speak up." Max added, only to get a frown in his direction.

As Max smiled towards Fenris, I looked at the glue stick, pretending to read the label.

"The good news is that it's not like gorilla glue, it probably won't last forever." I told him. "Maybe two or three years, five if we're lucky. The bad news is you're gonna have to learn to eat with your nose and ears."

"Maybe we can blend down a pizza in to a smoothie just for you." Max suggested.

"There's a bird on the roster who's a bit of a wannabe chef." I said looking at Max. "I think it's Ariana Angelos, could be one of the other people that hang with her, can't remember at the moment but maybe she can come up with some ideas of smoothies we can give him."

Fenris eyes widen as he shakes his head, he had been subjected to one of her weird concoctions in the past and now had a healthy fear of anything the woman could make.

"I think she can come up with a ton of good things, like steak flavoured cookies." I offered.

"Ahmm mmmmm mme-gan" Was the sound coming out of Fenris' mouth, just a sound no ones.

"Did you say mmmmm sounds good?" I said with a wink "Cause I think they would be."

"I think he said he's a vegan." Aron explained. "He doesn't eat meat."

"You two read each others minds these days?" I asked with a grin.

"I don't think it counts as eating meat if we're shoving it up his nose." Max said with nod of his head.

This was actually a rare opportunity for us to actually pick on Fenris for a change, the man has a sharp tongue but when he can't actually use it, a lot of that power is gone. We can poke the bear a little here without the fear of being called a tosser or worse.

"We need to find a way to get that glue off." Aron said, showing more concern for his brother than Max and I.

"But do we?" Max asks, his eyes darted towards Aron.

"Yeah." I added "Do we? This is the quietest he's been in years, he's actually listening to people cause he can't speak and the more he opens his mouth to try and break the glue, the more he looks like something out of a horror story and that's funny stuff mate."

Aron glances towards Fenris but Fenris looks back at his brother with stern eyes.

"We should probably do something." Aron softly said, not a statement, not a question, perhaps feeling the wrath of his brother later.

"Well Max." I said looking at him. "I think we're gonna have to come up with something."

Max and I mockingly tap our chins as we look towards Fenris.

"I'm thinking crowbar." I said to Max. "We get it right in those rubbery fish lips of his, angle it way up high. Then get a ladder, about fifteen feet up or so. Climb up and jump down with a double foot stomp on the end of the crowbar, popping those things wide open. Sorted."

"Might pop his head off." Aron offers.

"That's a risk we're willing to take." I said with a quick wink to Aron

"How about fire?" Max suggested. "We just burn some of his lips off where the glue is and he'll be able to talk again."

"He does have a lot of lips to spare if we're honest." I pondered. "But the real question is do we really want him to talk again? I mean he's probably thinking in his head about all the nasty words he's gonna say to us when we free him from his captivity."

We all looked towards Fenris who was nodding his head up and down, with a smile on his glued lips.

I knew of a simple solution to fix the issue but I found this way too more entertaining to watch him squirm for a while. An opportunity like this doesn't come along every day, hell, it doesn't come along any day to have Fenris in this position.

"Should probably call David though." I said in general. "It's the one chance Fenris can't say no to him."

I could instantly feel the heat coming from the direction of Fenris but I couldn't stop myself making the comment anyway. I could see the frustration in Fenris starting to rise. I mean this is the longest he's gone without speaking while he's been awake since he was a baby I would think. It must have been driving him potty just sitting there unable to speak, but for us, it was actually heaven. It was the most peaceful things had been for a while

"Could take you to a hospital or something." I suggested.

We all watched on as Fenris shook his head fast, instantly reaching to his lips and trying to pull his lips apart. It was a gruesome sight to see him try but it wasn't budging at all.

"Do we take that as a no?" Max asked.

Fenris stopped for a second, just to look at Max and nod before trying again.

"I guess there's one thing we can do." I said quietly.

"What's that?" Max asked

"Take a selfie!" I said with a wide smile on my face. "Everyone get in!"

I quickly moved towards Fenris, standing next to him as Aron moved to the other side and Max jumped in behind him. I quickly pulled out my phone and hit the camera, moving it around to get us all in the picture before quickly taking a shot of us all. A few seconds and a couple of taps later, the picture was sent elsewhere.

"I think Eves would get a kick out of that snap." I said, confirming that the picture was already being sent to my wife.

Fenris rolled his eyes at us he leaned forward, shaking his head from side to side as he looked forlorn.

"Well I dunno about you lot, but I could murder a pint." I said with a grin. "Fancy one Fenris?"

It was a cheeky question but I couldn't resist. Fenris tried to speak but nothing but muffled sounds came from him.

"What's that?" I asked. "You wanna be the designated driver today? Sure you can buddy! No taxi for us, we got us a driver lads!"

I pointed to the door and Fenris and Aron got to their feet, Fenris defeated as he walked slowly towards the exit. Max stops me as I attempt to walk past, putting his hand on my shoulder.

"You know you can dissolve most glue with something like nail polish remover, right?" He said in a hushed tone.

"Of course." I replied with a wink. "I'm just not gonna tell him that, I'm enjoying the peace."

Max and I shared a smile before heading towards the door behind them.

So you probably wanna know how this ended, right? Well, we went for a drink, well, three of us did, Fenris sat there with the right hump. We tried to get him to drink through his nose but the bubbles really didn't agree with him. We think he said something about them burning, but we couldn't understand a bloody word he was saying. Eventually the glue wore off, took a while but it got there in the end. The rest of the night...? He made up with shots and turning the air blue with his language and yep, we ended up getting a taxi home, don't drink and drive kids. Well, there ya go, that's an experience in Lesbos you don't get every day!



I dunno what draws me to the sea but something always does, something always makes me look for hotels on the seafront. I guess it's because part of me misses Cuba, misses walking out the front door and looking at the sea right there. Maybe it was London living on the river, Jersey, the original Jersey, not the new one in America, or even the lake in Maine. Something about me and water fits so on an Island tour, this bloke is at home and I made sure to get a hotel where I can look out the window and see water. That's what I did and now I found myself on my balcony late at night with a camera, and the sea in the backdrop, Lesbos lit up with lights from houses around the island. I was fairly high up but it added to the beauty of the night.

"Alright people." Ah, my classic opener.

I smiled down the camera.

"What a beautiful night in Lesbos to sit and have a natter with you all about something coming up on Sunday." I started. "Something bigger than I thought I'd be doing on Sunday to be honest with ya, I mean who woulda thought I'd get to sit here and talk to you about facing Chris Page."

I was still stunned to be honest with you all, absolutely stunned.

"A legend in our sport." I said honestly. "And he's getting in the ring with me, now that is something for the bucket list, something we can tick off the list. When I came back to SCW at the start of the year, I did wonder what was in store for me, if I was gonna be able to keep up, if I was gonna get the big matches against the top guys around and so far, I've beaten the guy who was the Internet champion at the time and I've beaten a former SCU Underground champion, and now the matches just keep getting bigger and bigger because no offence Mac, but Chris Page has made this match the biggest since I came back."

I was smiling through disbelief.

"Your SCW debut Chris and I hope it leads to more matches in SCW." I said seriously. "I hope this is the first of you resurrecting your in ring career and having a hell of a run here. I'm just sad that this didn't happen before, that this didn't happen years ago. I'm just sad this is the first time me and you would have crossed paths because I woulda given up so much to defend the SCW World Championship against you when I had it. Defeated the best out there is the way to build a legacy and I would have loved to have had a crack at defending my belt against you. I know you're a busy fella with all you're doing across so many places but I hope this match against me and Fenris gives you the urge to get back in to this and come on and face me more often."

I really was hoping that.

"But my guess is I know more about you than you know about me." I said with a wag of the finger. "Because I tend to do a lot under the radar, so I'm gonna tell ya as much as there's clearly a bit of respect from me, it doesn't stop me being confident that I can actually beat you come Sunday. I mean I go in to every match with a little bit of healthy respect, I go in to every match with the mindset that I am gonna walk out winning and if I don't, it don't wind me up, I just get up, dust myself off and get on with it again. I don't have people calling foul for me, I just get on with it, but it doesn't stop that confidence flowing out of me, it doesn't stop me feeling that I could beat anyone when I get in the ring. You may be a legend, you may be a man who people will line up for hours to see, you may be a guy I would queue up for hours to see, but I step in that ring, I look at those people and my heart goes in to everything I do in that ring and a lot of the time, it overwhelms man and legend alike."

I could start to feel that confidence flow through me.

"I look back on all I've done Chris." I said sincerely. "Everything, the long runs I've had without losing, the championship belts and although so many people out there doubt me and have done for a long time, I ain't done yet and I won't be done for a while. If I can beat someone like you, then they'll all sit up and take notice again, they'll all be keeping their peepers on me. They'll all be looking at me and my stock rises, but I ain't in this match for that Chris. I wanted to wrestle a true wrestling legend and that's what I get to do. I get to take on someone who has made a mark in this business and although the eyes might be on me if I beat ya, it's not about that for me. It's about the experience and I'm looking forward to being in that ring with ya."

I actually meant that.

"But you Mac." My tone changed to more serious. "I'm getting in the ring with you for a whole different reason, a very different reason, because it's about time you saw what you had a hand in bringing back. I heard you mention my name and make some dodgy comments and you've said to me whenever I was ready to step up, you'd be waiting for me. Mate, I was ready to step up a long time ago but you hid behind Blast From The Past, you hid behind Matthew Knox, it was like you called out the big kid, then changed ya mind and beat up the little guy instead. You spoke about me time and time again and well, in big Mac Bane style, nothing happened. You absolutely dodged me. You came and watched me against your heavenly buddy, or former buddy, I don't know anymore, you lot confuse me, and you still dodged me."

I kinda wanted to get under Mac's skin, I saw something in his match with Fenris and how he reacted to Fenris getting under his skin.

"You've been that big mean dog barking behind a tree, yapping away, while the gates been open right next to ya and ya haven't run around to bite." I said firmly. "You've been all mouth and no trousers as we say in England, all bark and sod all bite. I mean you could go and have a punch up with a guy in a parking lot after a show ended but you sit there yapping away about me and you couldn't throw a single punch my way? How does that even make you look at this point? I mean you call on me, I come back, and you hide away, you throw punches after shows, you hand pick a guy to suit you, not for the challenge and I've been standing here all along, waiting for you to punch me and nothing, not even a little dig."

I intentionally made myself sound disappointed there. Maybe there was something in me that was disappointed in the situation.

"You coulda come for me any time and you decided to sit there and tell me to come step up to you." I said firmly. "I've been trying, you've just been too busy elsewhere but now there is nowhere to run Mac, we will be in the same ring at some point, we will be face to face, now you gotta ask yourself are you gonna put that big old frying pan hand in my face or are you gonna hide behind Chris Page and tell the world everyone wants to see him fight?"

I must be mad begging Mac to hit me, but ya know.

"You got your chance to really send a message Mac." I said with slight authority. "And my inbox is empty just waiting for it. There's nowhere left to run, nowhere left to hide, nowhere at all, at some point, we will be face to face. You've gone quiet chatting about me, but now you have no choice to put my name back in your mouth and I ain't gonna lie, I can not wait to get the chance to punch it right out of it."

Now that I did kinda wanna do.

"It's food for thought Mac." I said with a firm nod. "It's the first time you've really come up against me since my name got stuck in your mouth, and it's my chance to punch another world champion in the mush and I ain't letting this chance go."

And I wasn't gonna.

"So I'm gonna leave you with that Mac, I'm looking forward to seeing ya." I said with a smile. "and I'm looking to seeing Chris Page for a whole different reason. Till Sunday...."

You know what's coming.

"Laters people."

And with that, the camera moves past me to show the beautiful island of Lesbos before fading to black.

14
Climax Control Archives / The Company Man
« on: April 15, 2022, 11:21:50 AM »
Good day you lovely bunch. Time for another promo thingy where I chat bout what's going on, what's happened lately, yada, yada, ya. Interesting time to be an SCW fan, don't ya think? So much madness going on, I gotta be honest with ya, I can't keep up. The Saviors have turned in to The Jerry Springer Show, Mac Bane is staking his reputation on picking someone with no proven SCW record to help him sell a supercard, Bobbie Dahl flew thousands of miles just to eat cake, Fenris is grumpier than usual and then there's me, becoming silent more and more when it comes to on screen stuff.

There's a reason for me being less on screen and more not. Despayre got me a wicked contract, less fighty, more talky. More public relations work, less smashy on my head with a chair. That is why you never saw me in Corfu. I mean you can say what you want about the bosses in SCW, you can moan all you like about certain things, and trust me, backstage people moan A LOT about things, but their sharpness for business is something that can not be questioned. Someone worked out quickly that Zante is a party place, full of Brits having a good time and it would be smart to chuck in an Englishman or woman with a little bit of the gift of gab and push those tourists in to seats. They coulda got Mark Cross to do it, but Mark's a loved up fella these days, good for him. They coulda sent Diamond Steele to Zante early to engage with the media and fans, but lets be honest, Diamond is very Americanised these days, throwing in a bloody here and there don't help, feels bloody forced, ya know what I mean?

There was a chat, it was a party place, there was only one man for the job and that would be me. I do have a bad reputation for a real good time, ya know?

But it wasn't always partying, although in a party town, yes, that was a big part of it, but you know what Brits love on holidays? Newspapers. Seriously, back home, we use the Internet like most people around the world, but for some reason, we go on holiday and we must hunt down newspapers, to go along with a fry up every day. It's really what us Brits do.

Someone in the office thought earlier in my trip, to speak to a local newspaper reporter about SCW, about what it can bring to a place like Zante. SCW goes to odd places but a wrestling company in Greece was ground breaking stuff, especially one that had a reputation such as SCW.

So there I was, sitting on a bench at the port of Zante, juggling two oranges while I waited for someone to show up, a reporter set up from the offices to come and talk about SCW, the business side of SCW. Mate, I sat there juggling those things for ten minutes before I heard a woman's voice.

"Ben Jordan?" She said in a soft English accent.

I knew a lot of reporters through out Europe came from The United Kingdom, it was a lot of people's dream jobs to be the foreign correspondent in a country where the sun shines a hell of a lot. It's what I would have been aiming at in that field.

"That would be me." I said as I dropped one of the oranges, watching it roll away towards the water.

I looked at her, a blonde woman in her early thirties, clearly a sun lover from the way her tan looked to be perfectly even.

"I think you was expecting me." She said with a little doubt in her voice. "Jenny Stevens, I'm a reporter, your office set up an interview."

"That they did." I said as I pointed to the bench space next to me. "Take a seat."

She did as I said, quickly taking a seat next to me.

"Thanks for meeting me." She said. "I'm a big wrestling fan, so it's good to speak to you."

"Could have been worse." I said with a smile. "Could have ended up with Kate Steele."

I knew it was a joke, us Brits lead the world in banter and well, that's all it was, little bit of bants as the kids would say.

"So SCW in Greece." She commented.

"Yeah." I said. "I've been here before, long story involving a heart, not really interesting though. Always loved the place, was like a cat with a rocket up it's jacksy when I heard we was coming here - over the moon."

I couldn't help but smile at my own cheesy joke, but Jenny was a professional it seemed.

"This is an untapped market." She said with an air of confidence. "What was behind SCW's thinking coming here?"

Little side note, whilst opinions might be mine people, facts come from the SCW office. I'd spent days talking to Christian and Mark about the corporate side of this, just so that there was no speculation, just facts. I knew to sell things though, I had to be me and talk like a lot was opinion. If not, might as well just sent a letter - who writes letters these days?

"As you said, it's untapped." I replied quickly. "SCW has the name, the reputation and means to tap any market. I mean you look at some of the stuff that's been done over the years, like beach shows, cruise ships, Caribbean resorts, a world tour in places some wouldn't think had a market for wrestling, but SCW created one."

"I could understand maybe Athens, but an island like Zante..." She said with a trail off.

I could see where she was going with this, this part of Greece and others on the tour is for tourists rather then anything else.

"All you need for a great wrestling show is people in the back willing to work, and people looking for a bloody good time." I said with a smile. "This island is teeming with people who want a good time. I mean how often will you be able to say you went to Zante to have a jolly up with the boys, and got to meet and see the people from the box? Our guys will be over here next week or at least the ones who actually embrace the tour rather then bounce back home every show, which for me is too much hassle. These guys will stand and talk to anyone within reason."

"Within reason?" She quickly picked up on.

"Yeah, I mean end of the day, we are on the screen all the time, but we are people too." I said diplomatically. "If ya out with ya partner having dinner, you don't want people running over to you all the time. Wait until people are done and they'll be more than happy to talk to ya. I mean you could pop down to the beach and run in to Senor Vinnie and his cactus, who will probably have a chat with ya. You might run in to Roxi Johnson in a bakery, who will be fan friendly, you never know, you might get to see Mac Bane and Amber Ryan having a stroll down the street who will take snaps with ya. All that adds to a good time, so to me, there's no better place then Zante to find people who wanna have a blinding time and that's what we are here to give."

I was oddly proud of that answer and couldn't help but smile just a little at it.

"So you feel there will be no problems drawing a crowd?" She asked looking me dead in the eye.

"None at all." I said confidently. "I think this will be one hell of a show, I think it will get the locals and the tourists. I mean we have a Greek roster member who is real popular, young, talented, fans love her so I think she'll be a draw. We have some amazing matches, things are heating up on camera, lots to get done. We've done shows all over and never had an issue."

"SCW has evolved a lot over the years." She commented.

"It has, that's why I don't think it will be a problem here." I replied quickly. "SCW started off with a few hundred fans and it grew in to huge shows, stadium shows. Everywhere SCW goes, they tend to get huge crowds and it's good stuff. The people here are lovely, I've met a lot of people who have gone and bought tickets and showed me. There's already a buzz around here, think what it's gonna be like in the next few days when the rest of the crew get here. Plus the islands are not too far apart, short trip over to come see us."

"You sound fairly confident." She said with a side glance.

I was confident that a show in Zante with tourists and locals alike would be amazing, and would completely rock the island. There was not a doubt in my mind about this at all. I truly thought SCW would create something special in Greece.

"Very confident." I said with an affirmative nod. "I feel SCW can create something special here in Greece. I feel that SCW can show that there's a call for this here and that we get to come back to this place a lot more. Since I've been here, this has been amazing."

"You think this would lead to more shows in Greece?" She asked with an arched eyebrow.

"I don't see why not." I said with a shrug. "Seems like people are loving this tour and not to sound boring, but the numbers are great and everyone seems to be having a good time so yeah, think it could lead to a lot of other things here, including a bit more scouting here for newer talent."

"What do you think of the current storylines?" She slipped in.

I did have a feeling something like this was gonna happen. There was a bit of a controversial thing going on when Mac Bane picked Matthew Knox to defend the championship against and yeah, it did kick up a bit of a backstage stink really, but it is what it is.

"I tend to focus a lot more on what's going on with me." I said partly avoiding the question. "But I can't complain. Supercard gave us a couple of new champions, so will be interesting to see where that goes. There's a lot of people lulling around at the moment with a little effort, could really break through, so it's a good time to be a fan."

I think she quickly worked out I was talking absolutely the diplomatic answer, journalistic instincts you might call it. It got half a smile at least.

"Are we gonna see you back in the ring any time soon?" She asked me.

"Very soon." I said with a smile. "I spoke to the booking people and looks like I'm gonna be back in Crete. I'm not sure who I'm facing but yeah, should be back getting swung at then."

"Do you miss wrestling as regular as you used to?" She said, trying to hide a smirk.

I knew at this point she was looking for some juicy story about why I haven't done as much as I used to but I'm transitioning in a way. I actually really like going out and meeting people, and talking away.

"Not really." I said smoothly. "I'm enjoying the way things are right now. I get to do a lot of public relations stuff that keeps me busy. I get to hang around a lot of good people in the media, I get to go and meet the fans, I get to sell the show while others don't. I'm really liking that at the moment, I'm really liking being able to be free enough to go help sell tickets without being beat up from the night before. It's a challenge, and I like a challenge."

"But surely a match with Mac Bane should be in the future?" She questioned.

"You'd have thought so." I replied with a grin. "He's rocked his jaw enough talking about it, but you can see it as a nice slow build. Something is there bubbling under the surface, everyone knows it's there bubbling under the surface, so when it happens, timings gotta be bang on right for that explosion that's gonna make people sit there and scream for it, rather than roll their eyes. When it happens, believe me, it's gonna be good to the point we won't need to sell it. I won't have to go on Twitter and call out people because they're doubting what I can do."

That drew a smile from the young woman's lips and we continued to talk for another hour covering a lot of subjects wrestling wise. It was an alright way to spend an afternoon. By the way, if you were wondering about what happened to that orange that rolled away, and of course you was.... Seagull stole it.



Let's bring things up to today, Crete, Greece - Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium. The ring crew was hard at work as I sat in the stands looking down at the work going on. I was just waiting for the cameraman to give me the thumbs up to start talking.... Wait, looks like he'd been trying to get my attention for a bit, but my eyes were busy looking around at the work being done. It's ok, we can edit that out.

"Alright people." I start, with my voice just about going above the noise of the work.

Pipe down people, trying to sell a match here!

"Feels like I say this all the time but it feels like forever since I've had the chance to have a chat about an opponent." I say with a grin. "There ain't no messing around this week on the jump in to the ring is there because I'm facing a fella who opted out of his Sin City Underground contract pretty sharpish when he heard the news, and quickly scribbled his name to an Sin City Wrestling contract, a longer term one. I mean the man was in Blast From The Past, but he secured his future quickly. Some would call that a rat jumping from a sinking ship, but me, I ain't that guy, it's securing your future. He comes to SCW with a pretty decent record, a former underground champion."

And yeah, he held that belt longer than me.

"Hitamashii." I say with a firm nod. "I can't use your other name cause honestly mate, I can't pronounce it at all, but let me be the first to welcome you to SCW in your first big run with the big boys. You see the way this one was billed? Battle of the former Underground champions. It's a bit of an oversell, I was Underground champion for about five minutes, but you mate, you was an impressive little bugger down there, you showed that you was tough, strong, really picked up that title and ran with it till you couldn't run no more, but telling ya, SCW is a straight up different story, it's a whole new thing. Wrestling ain't as universal as people think, there's many different styles to it and this is Sin City Wrestling mate, this ain't Sin City Underground, here, it's different, here it's tougher to get going. You may well have been a big lad down there, but here, tougher. People quit all the time because they can't handle SCW, people lose a match and cry off. I mean there's names we haven't seen on the card in a while cause of it. It's all good coming up when you got Amber Ryan as a partner, all good but when ya standing on your Jack Jones, are you gonna be one of those people who sink or swim? I mean talk is one thing, we all do that, we chat like it's going out of fashion but can you actually lose to me this week and still think you have what it takes?"

We have seen it, people lose, people show who they truly are and leave.

"I know it took you a while to get hold of that belt, I know it took guts to keep bouncing back when Max Burke was slaughtering everyone and keeping your hands from grabbing it. You kept at him like a little pitbull gnarring at an ankle. It shows there's something there Hitamashii, but this is different, the spotlight shines a little brighter here, the star can grow beyond anything you can imagine. This isn't just something you can shrug off, you're losing in front of bigger and better peers, more fans. Are you gonna be able to handle it?"

I mean he could, right?

"I mean I'm used to it mate." I say confidently "I ain't one of these people hell bent on maintaining the perfect record, if I lose, I come back stronger. If it gets to me, I come up with ways to work harder, be better than I was before but it takes a special kinda person to be like that Hitamashii, a very special type of person to take the knocks and just keep rolling. I dunno if you're gonna be that person, I dunno if you're gonna be able to deal with it, because I don't think you're getting the Ben Jordan you're expecting. I need to stand out again mate, I really and truly need to step up and stand out because I'm spinning my wheels, I'm treading water at this point. I'm like so many others right now that are sitting there without putting in too much to get what I want and what I want is to be the old me again, the proper me, Ben Jordan Original. That's what I need to be and it will be a big feather in my dear stalker cap to grab a win over a bloke who was Underground champion not so long ago. That is a big old gold star on the resume."

All about the quality of opponent people.

"That is something that would stand out in my mind, and it will stand out in others minds too Hitamashii." The confident tone flows from my lips. "Long standing SCU champion, coming to SCW, picking up a win against him, that would be quiet the result and that is what is gonna happen mate. I need to be consistent, I need to be active to put myself in the right people's minds, the people who are gonna sit there and look at me and think yeah, he'll be a challenge, lets go against him. I need to be that guy who people wanna be in the ring with and I've beating the now former Internet champion in a non title match, and now I'm after the former Underground champion to add to that collection."

If things like that don't put me in people's minds, nothing will.

"This is the way I'm thinking right now." I admit. "I'm thinking about adding names to the list so if people can be bothered, they can look back at my record and think bloody hell, he's beaten some top guys, some big champions, some big former champions, he's the challenge, he's the one I need to step up to. Having a long term champion like yourself Hitamashii, perfect name to add to the next part of the list."

He would be a good name to be honest.

"So Hitamashii...." I start. "Are you gonna flop like a jellyfish after I beat you or not? Have no fear at all, I will beat ya, I'm in the mood mate, I'm in the mood to do some damage, I'm in the mood to have a little fun out there and give some people's head a wobble to remember what I can do. I think a lot of people have forgotten just what I can do, I think a lot of people need a bit of a refresher course in who Ben Jordan is, what Ben Jordan can do. I'm in the mood to show a little bit of ambition and stop looking at me shoe laces and start looking upwards. I've spent a lot of time looking down lately Hitamashii, spent a lot of time looking at my feet and not upwards, but it's time for me to look at that top of the mountain again, it's time for me to look at the sky, it's time for me to look at the heavens above and start moving my way towards them cause I'm done with looking at the ground. Take that one as a warning to ya mate."

Looking up is something I haven't done in a long time, it's something I needed to do if I ever wanted to go anywhere again in my life and career.

"Anyway, I've flapped my gums long enough." I say seriously. "Hitamashii, welcome properly to SCW, it's gonna be a rough ol' ride."

Time for the wink....

"Laters people!" I say with the wink.

And there you have it good people, see ya all on Sunday!

15
Climax Control Archives / Return of the (Cockney) King
« on: February 11, 2022, 10:21:47 AM »
Now this is bloody weird, it's been a long time since I've done the speaky thing where you can hear my lovely accent with confusing terms and slang without seeing my mush. It's all good, good people, this is how a lot of me work starts.

So Inception V was fun, right? It was announced I was coming back to SCW, but people, let me tell ya, it's a bit weird coming back to SCW. I mean me name is connected with SCW, but it dawned on me at Inception V and even last week at Climax Control 321, that I, Ben Jordan, was coming back to a much changed place. There's so many new names on the roster I haven't had the pleasure of jumping in the ring with. The likes of Matt Knox, Alexander Raven, Supreme Machine, JC, Jaycee Macdonald, Shane Hawthorne and of course my upcoming opponent, Godly Ken Davison don't really know much about me and as much as the rest of the roster do, I feel like I need to introduce meself again, just so ya know who I am, so here's a little back story for ya new fellas and the new fans that these lads have brought with them.

Alright people, my name is Ben Jordan, don't mean a lot to you lot, but to a lot on the roster, it does. I once sat on top of that mountain everyone aims for, ya know the golden throne of SCW, the World Heavyweight Championship throne, yep, my bum was parked firmly on the seat overlooking everyone, but let's go back further. I'm a humble bloke, I don't need to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm a very blessed bloke. I was taught by me family growing up to be humble in victory and defeat, work hard and count those blessings no matter how small they are, be thankful for everything life has given me and take on what life has to offer. I was like that running a boozer and when I fell in to money, it didn't change me at all, it just allowed me not to worry and to be able to fill my time with things I haven't had the chance to do because I was too busy pulling pints and listening to people.

One of those things that little bit of financial freedom gave me was the chance to do something I always wanted to do and become a wrestler. I didn't need to earn a living anymore, I fall in to that pot of money thanks to having a boozer on the outside of London's financial area that wanted to expand. I had all the money I needed in life. I mean when someone buys ya boozer and land for over thirty mil, and you think you might have about forty or so good years in ya, I think you can make that money last.

So yeah, wrestling. I went and trained under Hangman Chett Hawkins, a taskmaster of a guy who probably thought why the bloody hell has this geezer from East London come all the way over here to train. Well, he might have thought it less Cockney and more Hangman-ish but the catch my drift. So I trained hard, I ended up in ACW where I won everything, held belts for a year, had like two losses before SCW won ACW in a poker game.... No seriously, a poker game, and I was an SCW wrestler.

SCW gave me everything, I met life long friends and my wife and I did it all working for free - Yes, you saw that right, for years, I didn't get paid because I didn't want to get paid. I had money, I'm not greedy. It took years for Christian and Mark to make me take money for work and when they did, most of it I gave away to charities, hence the nickname St. Ben. Money or not, I gave it my everything and it took years to get to the top. I was never hear for the fame, money or the titles, I learned quickly that the ego of this business is the most intense thing I've ever seen. I mean these new people who have come in on both rosters, how many have had great success in a weaker company? My guess is most of them, which is great, but how do they handle a loss? Do they run to Twitter and complain? Bang on the bosses door? Straight up quit? Maybe even leak private convos on social media? To me, a loss has always driven me to be better, life is too short for the sulks.

So I was the World Champion and let me tell ya, it's hard work being up there but it's where I worked towards for so many years in SCW. I'd had health problems that lead to some time away, but always came back. I came back because I love SCW, because I love wrestling. My outside interests keep me adding more money that I don't need, but wrestling, I don't need to get paid for it because it's something I love. Money is always offered and law apparently means I need to take it, something to do with insurance, I dunno, maybe Christian is selling me a dummy there. You know what is worth more than money? Appreciation, feeling wanted, and that's how Christian and Mark made me feel.

This is why I'm back, and right here is the story of how it all came about.... Also, out of that ramble stuff, I hope you new people got to learn a little about me.



November 7th 2021 - High Stake XI

My heart was pounding through my chest as I watched Jake Sullivan hold the New York crowd in Madison Square Garden in the parm of his hand as he wrapped up his Hall of Fame speech. I hadn't been in front of a live crowd in so long, knowing I was up next brought on the biggest case of anxiety I've ever felt. I knew I had to step out in front of thousands of people and talk about one of my closest friends heading in to the Hall of Fame, Sam not so Marlowe, married lady now people, but anyway she was worthy of that spot in the Hall of Fame and it was me to induct her, I was tanking it. Absolutely nervous as all hell, but I got through it just about. I was part of the opening segment, had to set the tone for a show that was the biggest in Sin City Wrestling history, thankfully I played my part and got backstage.

My heart was still racing when I walked through those curtains and looked at the smiling faces around me. At times, I feel like an acquired taste, some like me, some don't, but there was a huge buzz in the air that night and people seemed to want to see me, especially Christian Underwood as I walked down the steps behind the stage.

"Very nice speech Ben." Christian said with a firm nod of his head. "You haven't missed a step."

A sigh of relief exited my lungs sharply as I looked at Christian, all business in a suit and buttoned up shirt.

"I was tanking it out there." I said quickly and honestly. "Been a long time mate and that crowd out there is proper heated. Electric in the air."

Christian nodded in agreement, he'd seen a lot of crowds in his time as an active wrestler and now owner but this was something special and everyone knew it.

"Makes ya miss being out there, doesn't it?" He asked in a casual way.

"I wouldn't know at this point, it was a big tough to take in, in one go." I admitted. "I mean the people were something else out there, I guess if I coulda took it in more, woulda been amazing. I'll watch it back later and I bet the goose bumps kick in then."

Christian smiled at me, and I couldn't help but feel that he had taken time out from this busy show to speak to me about something.

"Actually Ben." He started. "I wanted to speak to you about something."

There it was I thought as I smiled back at the SCW boss.

"Mark's gone mad signing lots of new people lately and has a lot lined up over the coming months, keep the roster on their toes." Christian explained. "He's pulling them out of nowhere at this point and the problem with bringing in so many new..."

"Is you don't have the older guard to explain how things work around here." I said slightly cutting him off as he searched for diplomatic words.

"That's a better way of putting it then I was about to." Christian said with a laugh. "But bottom line, yeah. We've got people in the locker room who have been here years but lets just say, they're not very popular, not very creative, always seem to just phone it in instead of expanding themselves a bit. There's a lot of carbon copies on the roster that need to mix things up, need to be around new people, but they're not people persons, where as you are."

I knew who he meant, which brought a smile to my lips, but didn't say.

"I admit, a lot of people around here seem the same these days, but I'm not sure I'm much of a people person." I said with a shrug "Well, not anymore."

Christian raised an eyebrow as he looked at me.

"How so?" He asked with genuine curiosity in his voice.

"Well..." I started. "I've spent the best part of two years on an Island between England and France on a big old private estate. Me and Eves never went out too much regardless of it being a small place with not many cases of the dreaded Covid, I sorta faded from the spotlight. I wasn't Ben Jordan the wrestler, the bloke on TV, I was just Ben, the geezer who lived on the big estate overlooking the sea. I became just another face in the crowd. We barely left the place, we didn't travel, all those rules put a stop to that, I popped down to the shop occasionally, or to the local for a quick pint, but that was it. The suits and ties were replaced with jeans and T-shirts. I wasn't very people friendly as such."

This seemed to take Christian back slightly as he looked at me with an arched eyebrow.

"But you're very much well respected here." Christian reassured me.

"I'm marmite, some like me, some don't. With a new bunch of people, I dunno." I said cautiously. "I doubt they'll listen to me."

"Well, cards on the table." Christian said firmly. "I think it's time we got you back in an SCW ring. The crowds loved the things you sent in from home to wish people happy holidays, they were loud for you tonight, and you add a different dimension to the card. A genuine nice guy, that is not like anyone else on the roster. Someone who can parody anything. It sure beats gym and hotel promos. You can bring something different back to the roster."

I was sceptical at the offer, I had been keeping up with the company since I haven't been part of it. I've watched the same old stuff over and over. I saw music, sexuality, and religion come to the forefront of everything in SCW, three things I don't need to bring in to who I am, so maybe that's what Christian meant when he said I can be different.

"I'm willing to give you what you want contract wise..." Christian said, snapping my train of thought. "Even the crazy shit Despayre gets put in your contracts."

I couldn't stop myself at smiling at that comment, not at the fact that I could get what I want from this, just the thoughts of Despayre and his crazy ideas to go in to the contract.

"Multi year." Christian said. "Ten percent pay rise on your last contract."

"You know me, Christian." I said with a raised palm. "I do one year deals and money don't mean a lot to me, so if I do this, one year, January the first, eighty percent of the money you pay me set up to automatically go to set charities and the other twenty, I'll give to different charities each month."

Christian looked at me with serious eyes, not saying a word.

"It will give me some time to think about it all, talk it over with the missus." I said with a shrug. "As much as she misses the big American cities, and the lake house in Maine, I think she's got used to the quiet island life. I'm not gonna do this if it means dragging her around, or putting her where she don't wanna be."

Christian broke his serious look and smiled.

"Proof that you're still a good guy." He said with a slow, intentional nod. "But I will be offering Evie a way back in to SCW too."

It was a tough choice for me, I'd spent so long time away from the ring, but the roar of the crowd could bring anyone back to the ring. Feeling wanted was another thing we all needed as wrestlers. We put our bodies, our well being on the line so we need to feel that we're doing it for the right reasons and the right company who will treat us right.

"I'll tell ya what." I said with a slight smile. "I'll go take a medical at the end of the year, and you send me a contract on January the first, if everything is in order, I'll sign it there and then for a year and figure out a way back in. Not sure I just wanna randomly appear and say I'm back, wanna have a good reason."

"Great." Christian replied with a pat to my shoulder. "You never did get that World Championship rematch."

I instantly put up my hands.

"Not really interested in that." I said quickly. "There's a lot of people in this company that would sell their grannies for a championship belt, there's people here who would intentionally bury someone else or try and handpick their feuds with a lesser opponent to keep titles here. I'm not one of those people. I'm happier to just go with the flow."

"I think most of our champs would do that at this point." Christian says matter of factly. "But I'll start working on details."

"I'll let Despayre know to come and see you." I said with a smile.

"You called!?" Despayre's voice said as he popped up from seemingly nowhere.

"The hell you come from?" Christian asked as he holds his chest and glares at Despayre.

"Canada originally." Despayre replied with a toothy grin. "Now what can I do for you?"

I put my left hand on Despayre's shoulder and points at Christian.

"New contract negotiations." I said with a wink.

Despayre looked at me and attempted to give me his best serious look before pressing his hands together and cracking his knuckles, looking Christian square in the eye.
 
"Let's get started shall we?" Despayre said as Christian rolled his eyes.

"Gotta go lads." I said putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "You have fun now."

A business looking face had replaced Despayre's smiling face as he led Christian away from the scene. The rest of the night was fantastic. The more I watched SCW put on a show that was nothing short of spectacular, the more the urge was back, the more I wanted the first to come to put my name on that contract and be a part of the roster again...



January 1st 2022 - New York City, New York.

Me and Eves decided to stick around in New York after High Stakes XI, at least for a couple of months while the world slowly started getting back to normal and we decided if New York was gonna be where we're at going forward, or if it was back to Maine, Jersey - Not New Jersey, Jersey, look it up. The New Year had passed pretty uneventfully, just the two Jordan's and their loveable dog, Bear and a few drinks.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!

At least I thought it was just a few drinks, but man was I beat.

THUMP!

Yep, that was me rolling over and falling off the sofa with a crash. I could barely see the ceiling as I looked up through half open eyes. I could hear the sound round me. I could hear my wife walk to the door of the apartment to open it, I could hear the conversation she had with the person there as I closed my eyes for just a few seconds. I heard the door shut and I opened my eyes, only to see Bear looking down over me his nose a few inches away from mine.

"Bloody hell mate." I said with a croaking voice. "I think you need a breath mint."

"I bet you could do with one too."

"Blimey! You can talk!" I said with a grin. "Who said you can't teach an old dog, new tricks."

"Idiot." I could hear Evie say with a slight laugh to her tone.

"I knew it was you all along." I said as I tried to open my eyes a little more. "If Bear could talk, he'd ask for bacon."

"Like father, like son." Evie said as I could hear her footsteps getting closer. "Are you gonna lay down there all day?"

"I did consider it." I replied. "It's not as uncomfortable as you think."

I felt something land on my stomach with a thump, causing my eyes to open wide as I looked down towards my midsection, seeing bundled together papers on me, held together by a folder. Bear had moved away but Evie stood next to me looking down.

"These came for you." She told me. "SCW logo on the front."

I had a medical a couple of days before and passed with flying colours, but hadn't given much thought to my contract, I never did, I just gave it a quick once over and wrote me ol' name down on it in a few places and job's a good un. I hadn't even spoken to Despayre about what he could have got in there, what I wanted in there, I just let the little loon annoy Christian for a while, I very rarely take up anything in there that's too crazy.

"I wonder what randomness Despy has put in this one." I said as I sat up.

The light hit me, causing my eyes to narrow as I pulled myself on to the sofa and motioned for Eve's to join me, which after a few seconds, she did, sitting as close to me as possible. My eyes looked at the top of the folder before I flipped open the first page, my eyes glancing over the typed words.

"All pretty standard so far." I said out loud as my eyes continued to read.

I quickly flipped the page and stopped, my eyes widening as I looked at the words. I had to blink a few time to see if I was really seeing what was written.

"What is it?" Evie asked.

"Ben Jordan can have a bouncy castle at the show, as an when he wants." I read out loud in a disbelieving tone.

"Why would you want that?" Evie asked confused.

"I have no idea." I said with a chuckle "But that's one hell of a clause to put in there."

I continued to read down, smiling at what I'm seeing.

"Ben's dressing room must be stocked with Cherry Coke." I said with a slow shake of my head. "I get the feeling Despy has put a lot of these in for himself."

"Ya think?" Evie said with a laugh.

I looked at Evie seriously for a second, causing her to sit upright.

"So what do you think about me going back to SCW?" I asked seriously.

I wasn't too sure on it myself and I valued her word above everyone else.

"I think you owe it to yourself to do it." Evie said seriously. "All these arses in SCW right now, people are becoming cocky, they think they run the place, they don't have respect for the people who came before them. Austin James Mercer and Alex Jones are getting looked down on from these new people, Fenris is getting shafted because of these new people. It's time that the old school SCW guys got a leader."

"I don't think I'm much of a leader." I said seriously.

"Everyone respects you and the fact you've busted your arse for years trying to lift SCW to the top and when you was champion, it was the feel good story of the century." She said with a hand on my shoulder. "Everyone wanted to work with you, everyone wanted to be around you. I get the feeling this is what SCW needs the most right now with all these cocky shits in there."

Evie was right, the landscape of SCW has changed dramatically over the past six months, people have come in and got way too comfortable, championships have changed people, the humbleness of SCW had disappeared.

"I still gotta be able to keep up with these new people." I mused. "Has been a while."

"You got this." She said reassuringly. "The fans will love it too."

I looked at her for a few seconds, looking deep in to her eyes. She didn't need me to ask what I was going to next as she raised a pen in front of me. I nodded as she handed it to me. A few seconds later, names were signed and I was back, I was an under contract SCW wrestler again. My last thought was what the hell have I got myself in to.... I guess we wait and see.



11th February 2022 - Paradise, Nevada

"Alright people." I say as the camera fades in as I stand on a balcony, overlooking Paradise. "I know you lot usually hear from me a little sooner in the week, but life has been a bit hectic."

I roll my left shoulder back.

"And I'm probably a bit rusty at doing this but we're gonna give it a go." I comment with a smile. "First off, a congratulations is in order for my opponent."

I clear my throat.

"Godly Ken Davison" I say firmly. "Congrats on becoming a champion in a short space of time, I know it ain't an easy thing to do but well done. I don't really know you from Adam, unintentional bible name mentioned there, so I've had to look you up, see what you're about and yeah mate, not gonna lie, I'm fairly impressed with what I see. Taken SCW by storm with your Savour buddies and what not. Clever booking, eh? Mac mentions me, I get to take on one of his closest friends. It's a banging chance to send a message to Mac through you. I get that you're all about delivering messages, delivering the word so yeah, smart booking for me, but really, I'm in a no lose situation."

I take a deep breath.

"I come back and lose to a champion, no skin off my nose." I say with a soft tone. "You, a champion, a man who's done pretty bloody well in my absence I must admit, a man who could take on the world, now that man loses to a rusty old geezer like me and people will start to look at you differently, people will look at you and wonder if your championship run is gonna be worth keeping their peepers on. People are gonna sit there and wonder if you're gonna be worth it. I'm really in a no lose thing. I mean you could think I could lose my reputation, former World champion and all. People could sit there and look at me and say I don't have it anymore, hell, you might be sitting there ready to say the same thing, but it's not a worry to me. I'm not like most who come back and want their old spot back, nah, that's just not me. I've come back to work, to push myself a little, to face new challenges. I've fell on me face God knows how many times, and I've got back up, so I've got a lot less to lose in this thing than most people think, then most people understand."

I glance away from the camera.

"But the thing is." I start "The thing is Ken, I ain't coming back to lose to you. I didn't put my name on that contract so people can brag about beating a former world champion, I ain't coming back for that, no way Pedro, I'm coming back because I still got that fire in me, I still have that passion for this. This ain't an ego trip or a nostalgia run or anything like that, this is me showing I still have that fire I had when I first stepped in to an SCW ring, this is me showing I still have more passion for what I do then most of the roster put together. Winning matches won't change me, winning titles won't give me an ego the size of the moon, I don't really care about those titles, I care about doing something I'm passionate about. I won't be coming for your title when I beat you Ken, I'm not Diamond Steele jumping on the I beat the champ so I'm owed something, that is not me at all. The thing is, when I bring this level of passion, when I bring this level of fire, I'm pretty tough to beat, it doesn't matter if you have your mates in your corner, it doesn't matter if you have God on your side, it doesn't matter if you think you are indeed the big man upstairs himself. When I'm on my game, there's nothing that can stop me from being the best I can be and it's gonna be unfortunate for ya Ken, cause I will be on my game this week."

I turn to look back at the camera.

"You don't know me well enough to know if I'm serious or full of hot air." I remark. "But it won't take ya too long to work out that I'm a man of my word and my word is Ken, that I am gonna give it all, give it everything I got to be able to walk out to that ring, head held high and walk back in the same situation. I'm gonna do whatever it takes to remind everyone in the back of the man I once was and show all you new people who I am now. There is no difference, it's one hundred and ten percent effort and a huge chance of victory. No point doing things by halves Ken mate, gotta give it your all and that's exactly what I plan on doing. You've done blinding so far in SCW, very impressive but you've never taken on anyone like me. Agostino is alright when he can be arsed to show up and put some effort in and yeah, he was a champion, but I don't need a belt to show the world who I am and what I can do, I don't need to have around in crowds to show how tough I am. For the record mate, hanging around in a gang makes ya a mug, not tough. I don't need all that. All I need is what I can do and what I will do and show ya that you might have just beaten a champion, but he wasn't on my level at any time of his career."

I pause for a few seconds.

"He wasn't on my level, so you're in for one hell of a challenge." I mention firmly, with just a touch of confidence. "I'm coming back with something about me at the moment, ready to show the world ring rust ain't a thing, ready to show the world that I'm still the same old fella I was. Ready to prove that being out of the ring has not had any effect on me at all. I'm ready for this and I want you to make sure you get Mac to watch real closely, get him down at ringside, get him doing some talking on commentary, just make sure he listens close."

I stare deeper in to the camera.

"I guess this is a case similar to the sins of the father." I say with a slight smile. "He mentioned me a hell of a lot lately, I still don't have a clue why, looks like he's got enough on his plate, but me going against one of his sons in The Saviors, this is where I can do something to show him that he might wanna keep my name out of his mouth. It's a common thing I guess, talk down to old champions, try and give yourself a little bit of clout, but I'm pretty sure he didn't think I'll be running against his rag tag bunch of people so soon, so this is a chance for him to see what I can do, while taking on his buddy. The random attacks, the out numbering people doesn't show strength as much as you think Ken, doesn't show power, shows a bunch of fellas not good enough on their own to make a difference, to make themselves stand out. You'd think I'd be worried about your little crew attacking me, but nah mate, I'm expecting it and trust me, I got friends in back, a lot of people you've actually peeved off that wouldn't take a lot of persuasion to keep an eye on things. I mean you're actually welcome to bring the whole lot of them down to the ring and watch, but they're gonna watch me beat you before they can get there digs in on me. The only way you can win is if they step in and help you out."

I can't help but smile at that comment.

"Anyway." I start. "It's been fun rabbiting for a while to you all, I think we all know who's side you lot are gonna be on come Sunday, until then, it's been real, and Max is gonna buy me a pint in about forty mins. Amazing how motivated you get to do something when there's a pint on the go."

I wink down the camera.

"Laters people."

And with that, the camera fades.

16
Climax Control Archives / Facing Bill Barnhart again.
« on: January 12, 2021, 01:54:18 PM »
Cor blimey, been a while since I had to do this. So much has happened since I last stepped my foot inside an SCW, let alone have to talk about it. Christmas and New Year had passed us by and we were already approaching the middle of January. Doesn't time fly when ya having fun? Well, the most fun we can have at this point.

So let me see what has been going on. My wife turned full pelt Mrs. Claus over Christmas, more wrapped presents than Santa had in Lapland, you wouldn't know it after she kicked the living bejesus out of Jessie Salco the other day, but she's a bit of a romantic when the cameras are off, just don't tell her I told ya that! New year was just a quiet one, there was me and Eves, and that was pretty much it. It was bit nippy out there, so the fire pit was glowing, and champagne was flowing and just for a few hours, the whole pandemic was like a distant memory, or an alternative universe. We wished each other a happy new year, knowing full well 2021 would not be better right away, but it will get better and like the rest of the world, we looked for the brighter days.

And of course, me contract with Sin City Wrestling expired on the stroke of midnight and I was a free agent. It wasn't like I was gonna run away from it all, things just take longer to deal with in a pandemic than they usually would. Like most years, I just let Despayre annoy Christian Underwood and sort out a new deal, partly because he is the son of Synn, a man who got amazing contracts for his Seven Deadly Sins over the years, and the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, but also because I know full well Despayre annoys Christian so bloody much, he could ask for whatever he wants and he'll get it, just so he'd leave the office.

But a strange ol' thing happened with that.

I left Despayre and Angel to it on Sunday to sort that out and negotiations wasn't finished by the time my wife had destroyed Jessie Salco, I had to get her out of there, not for fear of being arrested, cause you know, wrestling an' all, but because she was legitimately fuming, so to heck with the contract and signing, I had to get her away and that I did, getting her out of the arena slash casino and to the Las Vegas Strip. I shoulda brought fishlips with us after what he did too and keep him out of place giving him the hump, but I had to just focus on the missus, not sure I coulda handled two angry, angry people on my own.

Anyway, that was done and Eves was away from the agro, the working day was done and a quick party invite got us to The Golden Ring Casino, where a few SCW people were knocking around. I heard the party went on for a while, early hours kinda while, but Eves and me stuck around for just a while before getting on that plane and making our way back to Maine.

Not a lot was said on the way back... Well, we pretty much passed out and got back early morning, and this is where today's story starts.

MONDAY 11th JANUARY 2021

Like most days when it came to flying home, a whole lot of sleep in bed was cut down to just a few hours, usually to rest the muscles from a night in the ring, or the longer plane flight home, well this was just like most days. The difference was I saw my name on the next card, the one for next Sunday, which considering I haven't signed a new contract, I found that weird, but maybe they were confident enough that I was gonna sign. If not, as always stated and often used, card subject to change. It got in my head that maybe, after being out of the ring for so long, that I needed to get off me aris and work on some cardio.

I rolled out of bed before Evie, which on it's own was unusual for me, and decided it wasn't worth hitting the whirlpool tub, or the shower, I was gonna be a sweaty mess in half an hour anyway, so I got ready, wandered out the house and looked at the lake before starting a morning run around it.

It was weird feeling the leafs and twigs breaking under my feet as by body weight pounded down on the dirt as I started to try and pick up the pace. Usually, non wrestling weeks, I work on specifics in the gym but wrestling weeks, I work five days a week starting with this run. I felt like I was off my pace as I ate up the feet around the outside of the lake, before turning and looking at the house we owned in the distance, looking at how far I'd already made it.

"Not bad." I commented to myself as my eyes darted across the water.

The morning sun had started to catch the lake, it's glowing light bouncing off the slow moving waves, it was a thing of natural beauty but I turned to keep going, moving at a steady pace till I got the edge of the lake, the furthest I could possibly be from home and I stopped. It was my usual stopping point and the fallen tree I often use as a seat, had not yet fallen to the elements, so I sat, stopped for just a while, planting me bum on the wood - Jamie, if you're listening, it doesn't mean what you think it does!

I didn't wear one of those heart monitor watches, I'm proper old school mate, we didn't have those years ago, but I did need to check the time, so I did what the kids do these days and out came my phone.

"Yep." I said with a slight shrug. "Slow as an elephant in a hundred metre dash"

I moved to put my phone back in my pocket, but something else caught my eye. It was a tweet from Alex Jones.



Here's the thing, I don't watch an opponents promo until mine airs. I feel it's more fair that way. I mean if you watch your opponents work, you might be tempted to play one up against 'em and that ain't me, I like to set the pace rather than chase, so seeing that quote, apparently from Bill's body of work, I had to ask if he really said that, it took a quick reply to Alex, and a few comments from people to confirm he did.

"Bloody hell." I said to myself with a slow shake of my head. "It's like the bloke had never watched me in the ring or something. It's like the bloke had forgot I was the World champion for nearly a freaking year!"

I dunno why that irked me so much but it did, it got right on my Bristol's to be fair, so I had to fire back with a little cheeky ramble of my own.



I couldn't help by smile as I hit send on that. It didn't take long for Fenris or Krystal Wolfe to add their extra little things I should do to be more like Bill... Hmmm, maybe a new mocking hashtag #DontBeLikeBill. I admit, that tickled my fancy, as did seeing notifications from Mark Cross and Lachlan Kane also questioning the world Bill lives in, thank you all, and you too Mikah for your mention, right before I recorded this!

Anyway, back on point. Just seeing this quote lit something extra in me. I mean I get wrestlers are meant to be big and tough and what not, to get you in front of the screens but that was just stupid. Zero respect, and even less research, I mean for God's sake Bill! What the hell was you watching last year when I was champion?

Still, the determination removed my jacksy from that fallen tree and I pounded that dirt with my feet as I run around the other side of the lake, every time I thought of that quote, it pushed me a little further, brought my pace up. It wasn't long before I was back around and outside the house. I had to check the time again, but I saw a text on my phone from Alex Jones.

"I really wanna see you destroy him." I read out loud.

I had a lot of respect for Alex Jones, and seeing that spurred me on even more. Alex and his stable mate, Austin James Mercer had spurred me on a lot. Alex with things like that, and Austin cause I knew he was always looking over my shoulder as champion. If I dropped the ball, he'd be there to kick me up the rear when I bent over to pick it up, and take the ball home.

I quickly replied to Alex before walking in the front door of the house.

"Babe." I called out. "You'd never guess what that numpty Barnhart said about me."

I walked in to the house a little further to see my wife sitting on the living room floor, Bear next to her side, popcorn in front, with four televisions around her.

"Bloody hell, she wasn't kidding when she said she needed all of the TVs." I said to myself.

I looked over to see each television in sync with the other, surrounded by sound coming out of all of then. I admit, I thought she'd lost the plot, but still.

"I'll just..." I said

"Shuuuuuuuuush." Evie replied, her finger to her lips but her eyes never leaving a television.

You lot hearing that might think she's gone a bit doolally, but nah, stranger things have happened in this house. I mean you should hear about the time I built a sofa fort, and really didn't wanna leave it. I mean if you can't have fun in your own home, what's the point?

I knew I wasn't getting anything out of her till the film had ended... And she watched it again, so it was time for that shower.... Or at least I thought it was. I had just stepped in to the bedroom when my phone started to buzz, a video call from Christian Underwood. This was it, either Despayre had got a deal that he thought acceptable to me, or it was Christian about to tell me a deal could not be reached and the card would be changed and I'd be free to work elsewhere.

"Christian." I said as I swiped the answer button, but looking back at me was a very different Christian.

He looked tired, like he hadn't slept too much, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders.

"Are you ok?" I enquired.

He didn't answer straight away, he just stared at the phone.

"I am tired and I need a long vacation." He started. "We left negotiations last night for a while, and at four this morning, Despayre was knocking on my door to continue them."

I held off from smiling, I knew Despayre could be a pitbull when it came to these things, more determined than most people in these situations.

"I'm sorry to hear that." I said. "But did things get sorted so he don't have to bug ya for a while again?"

Christian sighed as he looked at me on the video.

"Oh, things got sorted as you put it." he said softly. "After he pointed out that you had already got four offers more than what you were paid before, and that you were good for the company with your charity work, and shining a light on certain things, he got you a thirty percent pay rise for the whole year."

That cheeky little D... Despy. The truth is, I never got a single offer from anyone else and I played it that way. I could have very easily told the world my contract was about to expire and I was free to talk soon and spent last night debuting elsewhere, but fair play to Despy.

"More than generous." I said with a smile.

"That's what I thought." Christian grumbled. "One minute it was ten percent, the next it was thirty and I don't even know how he did that."

"For the standard year?" I asked.

"I tried to make it a three year thing, but in his words." Christian said as he thought back. "It's not a real reunion unless we do this every year."

I had to hold back another smile as I looked at Christian's tired face on the screen.

"It gives him something to look forward to I guess." I said with a shrug. "I guess I'll sign it when we fly in this weekend coming."

"You don't wanna hear about the other perks he got you?" Christian asked, clearly holding back a yawn.

"Other perks?" I questioned.

"He got you more weekends off." Christian started. "A shiny globe keychain, a five pound tub of jelly beans, ten bottles of cherry coke to be delivered to you every month, plane tickets to Alaska, matching Mr and Mrs wool hats, dolls for some guy called Chris, I'm not sure why that's even in your contract, a hairbrush, a gold toothbrush, five wine corks...."

"Five wine corks?" I said surprised. "What do I need wine corks for?"

"I don't know, Ben." Christian said with a meh like look on his face. "But after negotiating with him, I get the feeling I'll be drinking more than five bottles tonight."

Christian didn't even break a smile as he continued.

"He also got you a pen, an iron for your clothes, a Christmas stocking, a plate and a dustpan and brush." Christian said before putting his hands up. "Again, I don't know why but there's a lot of other stuff he got in there. I've also gotta go find someone called Marge, wrap her in bubble wrap and throw her down a hill."

Ok, that one got me laughing out loud, but Christian never batted an eyelid. It took a few seconds to compose myself, but eventually, I got there.

"All sound great." I said with a nod and a smile. "You should get some sleep."

"I will, right after I find a vacation home for a damn teddy bear." Christian said with a sigh. "Have a good un."

And with that Christian hung up. I could have easily gone back to Evie and told her, but I could save that for another day. The whirlpool tub was calling my name, and nope, you can't come and join me there!



Usually, I'd be sitting outside on my own little beach thingy or something but not gonna lie, it's a bit chilly out there and I know, I should be used to the chilly thing being a Brit and all but nope, so here I am sitting in the living room. My eyes glance quickly towards Evie, placing a television back on the wall, before turning towards the camera.

"Alright people!" I say with a smile. "Been too long since I've said that!"

It really has been.

"Well, back in the ring I go it seems, but lemme make something pretty clear before I start." I say with a hand up. "I have not watched Bill Barnhart's promo, I might switch it on after I'm done here. I know those things are a bit messy at times, but I have seen enough to see how they're structured and they're one big ball of mess with the missus talking more than Bill, nothing actually making sense and people, questioning how sane this man is, am I close?"

I didn't know if I was close but to me, Bill seemed stuck in his ways and nothing was gonna change him at all.

"Although Bill, I've not heard any words you've said, I was sent a quote from you." I continue. "One that was actually pretty insulting to be fair. Not only insulted me but seemingly insulted all the roster, about how quickly you was gonna be beating me. That's one of the biggest, yet overused insults, in the world of wrestling when you're someone like me. I ain't saying someone like me to be all ego and that rubbish, I mean what I've done over the last year. Mate, I was SCW World Heavyweight champion for a lot of last year, I was the bloke the bloke who won Man of the Year, Wrestler of the Year, Couple of the Year, Most Popular of the Year, what was you doing last year? Did you sleep through all of that or something Bill? Did the wrestling world end at the end of your nose or something."

I was serious.

"Think about it for a second." I say with a wag of the finger. "I did all that and you have the Jacobs to sit there and say you're gonna make easy work of me? Mate, people can't remember half a dozen things you've done in your whole SCW career let alone dismiss me like I'm nothing. That mate, is bloody insulting. I've sat through my career being the good guy, good ol' Ben, he'll do anything for anyone. You've sat there and in one go, dismissed everything about me. You sat there and you've used a generic line and hoping it will stick. Thing is, it won't stick and now I'm starting to fall in line with everyone else and question your mental well being, I'm starting to wonder if the bosses shouldn't get you evaluated because clearly, you live in a fantasy world where no one else exists. You dismiss everyone in the same way, they give you a walloping and you do it again, say the same old stuff the next week. The definition of crazy is doing something over and over again and expecting a different result."

I do watch pretty much everything and to me, Barnhart promos, Bill or Bea's, just seem to be the same when it comes to selling a match.

"You used to actually amuse me Bill, to the point if you needed it, I would stand by your side." I admitted. "But mate, even I'm starting to find you a little bit sad. You're like the boxer who has took one too many hits to the head but you keep fighting, you keep slurring that speech to sell fights, no one wants to watch but they can't turn away because they know you're gonna take one hell of a battering. It worries me that they still allow you to wrestle when.... And this is an old generic phrase you might remember, the lights are on but there's no body home."

I tap the side of my head as if to prove a point.

"It's like you run on auto pilot with the things you say and do and people should be worried for your mental well being." I say firmly.

People probably should be, he has the tendency to ramble like an old timer.

"But based on that quote I was told, that's out there in the public domain." I start. "No Bill, you will not steamroll through me, or walk all over me, or beat me with ease. In fact, you ain't gonna beat me at all Billy boy, you're not gonna even come close to beating me because that quote has lit a fire under me and now you've given me a little extra motivation. You've given me a little extra meaning to knock you back in to reality because whatever world you're prancing around in, it's not the same as the rest of us. You've genuinely made a nice guy more determined to win and let's be fair about it, on paper, I'm the fave here, you're not, your blatant disrespect to me, and the fact you annoyed a lot of good people with that silly quote means I will be doing this for them, I'm saint Ben after all, I like to make people happy, and there's gonna be a lot of happy people knocking around when the bell rings at the end of the match."

I was deadly serious. Being told that one quote had shaken off the ring rust without being in the ring, it had taken away any thought of being sluggish.

"Maybe next time Bill, you'll look beyond your nose and look at what other people do in your place of work." I say with a serious tone. "Maybe then you can customise things and won't be so generic or use lines that only rattle around the head of seventy year olds. Telling a bloke who had all the success I have over the last year, the same thing you would tell someone who's never been in a ring before is not really a smart thing to do, makes you look like you're stuck in your own little world there, but don't worry, you couldn't be arsed to take notice of me so you spout that rubbish little quote, I'll just come out there and show you who I am, who I've been for years."

I quickly look off camera, my eyes narrowed.

"Bear! Bear!" I yell out. "Get away from that cactus!"

I turn back and smile at the camera, giving my best innocent look.

"Eves babe." I call out. "Wanna finish off my promo for me?"

"Nope." Evie's Australian accent can be heard off camera. "You're a grown arse man, you can do your own promos."

Again, I can't help but smile at the camera and try to be innocent.

"I'm only twenty one!" I lie, as the innocent look stays on my face. "I even forgot to take the drugs that Bill takes before his promos."

I shrug my shoulders as I smile.

"There's that world of difference between us Bill." I say directly down the camera. "Not only those things I mocked, if you picked up on them, but the fact I'm leagues ahead of you mate in the ring. The only thing that will be beaten with ease, is you Bill."

I could feel the confidence.

"Right, I'm off to grow a stupid ginger beard and order a few pizzas." I say with a grin. "Word of advice Bill, think before you speak, it's better to be thought of a fool, than open ya yap and remove all doubt."

I wink at the camera.

"Laters people."

And with that, the camera fades to black.

17
Climax Control Archives / Life's a beach.... Well, a sandbox.
« on: October 16, 2020, 07:45:37 AM »
The world we now live in has changed everything, hasn't it? I just heard from back home that further restrictions are hitting my lovely London, lots of quarantine and hospitality about to suffer a blow that will end more businesses, but I've always had an optimistic attitude. I wasn't always the rich guy, I know what it's like to struggle. I don't blow my own trumpet that often, but I feel a little more gratitude towards a lot more things these day, such as the fact I'm employed in something that has helped open doors that woulda been shut in the face of most people, give me the chance to live in a world I never thought possible while I was slinging pints as a teen. This new world we live in has made me ok with the fact that I did enough leading to this point I could lock the doors and never leave the house.

I was adapting to the new way of life with ease, roll with the punches, what will be, will be as me dear old Nan reminds me every time we talk. I know people struggle, and believe me, the struggle is real for a lot of people, my wife being one of those people.

She's got a bit of gypsy in her, likes to move around, see the world, be in exotic places, but me? They were just some things I enjoyed as a getaway, sometimes, travelling is a bit much but I do it for the smile on her face. COVID 19 had stopped that and it got to her, so I had a plan. If you can't be where you want to be, bring it to where you are.

I was hoping it would make a difference to not only her, but to me too. I was sick of a lot of things going on away from the deadly virus trying to get us all.

Frankly, I was tired of Evie's whole "retirement" pony that she hadn't stopped going on about for a while, someone needed a kick in the jacksy, i.e the missus, or someone needed to get away for a bit on their own, i.e me. Of course, kicking her in the jacksy coulda resulted in me getting kicked to the curb for a while, but I was tired of it.

It all came to a head on Wednesday....



Wednesday 14th October 2020.

I sat in front of a computer screen, chatting to a reporter via Zoom, an app that the pandemic had thrust a new light on - Ah man, I miss the days of MSN messenger with video calls - but it was the only way we could continue to do what we do and what we're supposed to do and get rumps in seats, especially now that we were back in front of a small crowd again. We know that money is tight with some people now, we know that the smart people don't wanna leave their houses anymore, we knew we still had to get our faces out there.

"So Ben." The young reporter for an online wrestling site said as we came to the end of our half an hour talking. "High Stakes X is coming up, the biggest show in SCW history so some people are saying, do you see yourself on that card?"

I took a second to just smile at the young man, it's not very often these Internet reporters get the chance to actually speak to a wrestler, a lot of stuff they pick up from other online sources.

"I would hope so." I said with a firm nod as I caught Evie out of the corner of my eye, just watching. "It's a huge show everyone wants to be a part of, and will do what they can to steal a spot on the card. This is one of those shows where people don't really care about taking spots from others, they just wanna be a part of it. I'm not one of those people, if I'm wrestling, lovely, if I'm not, I'll be there anyway doing something. It's the biggest show of our year, so I'll be there one way or the other?"

"Hall of fame?" His questioning tone asked, sneaking in a backhanded question.

"For me?" I said with a tone of surprise. "Not likely mate. I think I'm a little bit off from there at the moment. Need to do a little more before I can be considered for something like that. I'm happy plodding along for a bit."

I felt the need to end things there. I had other plans for the day, I was expecting something to show up in a little while, and needed to get some things ready.

"Anyway mate, cheers for the chat." I said with a quick nod. "Hope you got what you needed from that."

The young reporter nodded, a warn smile on his face as he looked down the camera at me.

"I did." He confirmed. "Thank you for your time."

I tilt my head with a nod as I hit the off button on the camera and lean back in my chair, shutting the laptop lid down and breathing deep.

"I'm really glad I don't have to do that anymore." Evie said as she walked towards me.

"Do what?" I questioned with lowered eyebrows.

"Interviews." She said. "What with being retired."

I think at that time right there, I watched the straw be placed on the camel and I listened to his back crack. It was the straw that broke the camels back for me right there as I gritted my teeth. I'd say here for weeks listening to the retirement jibes, I saw it on social media but not once did she sit down and talk to me about it. Hearing about retirement on social media had pushed me but I never fell off that cliff. She has mentioned it every chance she's got, but she has not sat down and spoke to me about it. I'd had enough.

"For the love of God Eves, would you pack that crap in?" I said as I felt my heart race.

I looked at her, and saw that initial half a step back, a touch of surprise on her face. My breathing felt slower and heavier.

"I'm sick to death of it." I said firmly as I stood up and turned to walk away.

"Sick to death of what?" She snapped back, shaking off the initial shock.

I stopped in my tracks, knowing if I turned around, I was gonna make her listen, there would be no turning back. I couldn't stop myself, so I turned.

"I'm sick of this retirement rubbish!" I said with a raised tone. "You're not bloody retired! You're sitting there messing around on social media claiming that you are. You're just as bad as Griffin Hawkins sitting there all day long tweeting for the attention."

Her mouth fell open, but I felt I had to continue, even though you might as well have given me a shovel because I was digging here.

"You know, I woulda took that bollocks a lot more seriously if you would have even spoken to me about it first, but no." I said with a hard stare. "Lose a match and run to social media, a not so cryptic tweet about retirement. It's beyond bloody stupid! Do you know how much of a plonker that makes you look? The big scary Evie Jordan, who people look at and fear crying about retiring after losing a title."

"You considered retirement after you lost." was all she could reply with.

"No, I considered easing off after I lost to Griffin, but did I though? No, I went and had a bloody battle with O'Malley." I reminded her. "I went on social media to congratulate Griffin. I spoke to you about my future first and foremost, I didn't instantly run to Twitter to announce something I hadn't even spoke to my wife about."

I think she was shocked at my outburst but I'd put up with this for too long. The last year, it had been a not so plain sailing time for us, but it didn't help with the I don't wanna do Blast From The Past, oh I've won, I don't really want that title, oh, I won that title, oh, I lost it, retirement it is. I had to drill the point home.

"I could have walked away." I told her. "I never because the instant a champion loses and retires, or walks away, it takes a huge leak on their legacy. It shows that it was all about the belt. You know the amount of respect I and everyone else lost for Griffin Hawkins when he walked away, just to be in like one hundred different companies where they give him whatever he wants? He ruined his SCW legacy right there."

"I'm not him!" She snapped back at me as she tried to process all I was saying.

"Only difference is you won't show up elsewhere." I told her. "But teasing this retirement crap is running thin with me, because you haven't sat down and taken it seriously or spoke to me about it. Just social media crap and segments. I don't wanna be sitting here moaning about this, but I'm sick to me eyeballs of it. You wanna retire, sit there and talk to me about it and do it. Stop the hinting, because I'm tired of it. I'm ya biggest fan, but I can't deal with you mentioning this crap everywhere anymore."

I felt bad but she needed to see she was feared and now ruining herself with these things. People will pick up on it, they will tell her about this and use it against her. I knew that would bring on a whole new set of problems, it needed to be stopped now.

"Make up your bloody mind love." I said with a step closer, taking the chance to put my hand on her shoulder. "Either knock wrestling on the head, or knock the retirement talk on the head. I'll support you either way, but it's driving me around the bend."

I really didn't know what the reaction was gonna be, but I knew I was growing tired of this, of a lot of things over the last year. I guess I'm tired of seeing Evie not being the old Evie, the bad butt Evie. I'd never seen her doubt herself so much in the last year and it frustrated the hell out of me. This wasn't the woman I married, the woman I married picked a path and went for it.

"I need to think." was all she said as she walked past me.

It coulda been worse but I think what I said might have worked. I didn't want to force her in to a choice, but she wasn't taking her own career seriously at this point. I didn't want her to damage her career by having one foot in and one foot out, flip flopping about. Christina Rose gets the hell ripped out of her by flip flopping all the time, I didn't want Evie to suffer the same.

I knew what she'd do. She'd go get in the car, drive to the main street, spend money on a few things, avoid coming home for a few hours, maybe park up in a bar for a drink, maybe some lunch. It didn't take long before I heard that car engine rev up and the gravel beneath the tires as she left. I knew I had a few hours so I had to work fast.



Erm... Half an hour after the first scene.

Evie and the beach, she loved the beach but travel restrictions basically meant work and home. It sure does limit what you can do in these promos, eh? I knew we couldn't just jet off anywhere like we used to, it would mean a lot of quarantine. I can't even go home to be honest and God knows, I wouldn't mind going and being around my family.

I had to bring the beach here. It's not something I've taken lightly, as I mentioned, Evie is a bit of a gypsy, she likes to travel, I guess I do too. I mean I've lived in London a lot of my life, just outside London in a house underground, via a stop in Canada. Then I went to Cuba, then New York, before living here in Maine. I kinda like this place so thought it might be worth it and bring the beach to us.

In the last half hour, I'd done nothing but drag carts of sandbags towards the edge of the lake, but what I was waiting for had just arrived. I could see the delivery truck, a big delivery truck backing it's way towards me before stopping and three men stepping out the cab of the big vehicle.

"Mr Jordan." A man in his forties said. "I have your delivery."

"Brilliant." I said with a smile as the others opened up the back of the truck and a forth man stepped out.

"Your kids are gonna love this sandpit." The man said.

I couldn't help but smile.

"I don't have kids, it's for the missus." I said with a slight smile.

I saw the look on the four faces turn to confused as the cast side looks towards each other.

Yes people, I had bought a ten foot by ten foot, two foot deep sandpit to put by the lake. Not conventional, but filled with sand, a couple of sun loungers and one of those massive umbrella's and we're sorted, it's beach like and Evie can feel the sand between her toes whenever she wanted.

I watched two of the men roll it on to an automatic tailgate and lower it slightly, before each man took a side and lifted it towards where I pointed and placed it down in front of me. I reached in to my pocket and pulled out four notes and handed it to the nearest man at a distance.

"Split that between yourselves fellas." I told them.

"That's more than generous." The man in his forties said. "Are you sure? This is a lot of money."

"It's a tough time." I said honestly. "I hope this helps you guys out."

I had money, if I could help others out, of course I would. This is why I've given away more than generous tips no matter where we've gone.

"It's appreciated." The man said as he nods to the other men. "I hope your wife enjoys her new present."

I nodded back as they went to return to the truck before slowly moving across the ground. I turned to look at the sandbags next to me and got to work.

I don't know if you've ever done this kinda thing but it's hard work. I cut open back after bag, pouring beach quality sand in to the pit. After five bags, I could feel myself tiring. Those bags were not exactly light. It felt like forever till that pit was full, in realistic terms, probably about an hour and half but I was knackered and no need to go for a jog at all. I just made the next best thing I could to a beach without digging a hole next to the lake. I did what I felt I earned.

I laid right on down and fell asleep on the sand. I don't know how long I was out for, but I was woken up by Evie's voice.

"Ben?" She questioned. "What is this?"

I opened my eyes and looked up at Evie.

"Well, you couldn't get to the beach so I brought it here." I said with a yawn. "Once you stick some sun loungers on here, one of those big umbrellas, you got your own little beach."

I watched Evie sit down next to me and look towards me.

"You did this for me?" She said softly.

"I did, and now I'm knackered." I replied.

I closed my eyes but felt her hand gently touch my shoulder.

"Thank you." She said quietly. "Now let's talk about that retirement thing, shall we?"

I gotta leave it here people. I've prattled on longer than I expected if I'm honest. Who knows, this one might be an off camera little chat, it might be one you get to see. Guess you'll have to wait and see.



Thursday 15th October 2020

Everything was sorted nicely from the day before and I sat there on our own private "beach". I mean why not, sit and speak about things to come up on Sunday. So here I am, sitting there in shorts and a bright shirt, of course, the flip flops are on.

"Alright people." I said.

It was my standard start and got attention.

"Back in the ring again and I'll level with ya, it's a bloody interesting match up." I commented. "The Barnharts. Interesting duo, but I'll obviously let Eves talk about Bea, but you Bill, I get to have a little rabbit about you. I gotta admit, people look down on you a fair whack but I ain't like those people to be honest, I'm more of a look at what you've done and take it all at face value and you've pulled off a surprise or two, more than a couple of times you've looked down and out and all of a sudden, a big win out of nowhere and bang, you're back in people's minds. I actually like that Bill and the attitude you throw towards wrestling, a lot could learn from you. Not once have you taken to social media to complain about a match, a ref call, nothing but you can pretty much say everyone else has. I mean hell, some people are up there with their phone in their hand the second they walk through the curtain to complain about something, but you me ol' mucker, different breed, higher class, get how this thing works."

I respected Bill for that, even if some of his promos were a bit kooky.

"So looking at those wins you manage to pull out from nowhere when people have written you off, those are what I'm looking at." I said seriously. "I'll be an utter plum to sit here and think that I couldn't be next."

Never take people lightly, that's where it leaves teeth marks in ya aris.

"I dunno if you watched a lot of what I said when I had that World Championship." I started. "But I said I take every opponent seriously, I take people for what they could do and I pull out all the stops. Yeah, I get I ain't got that big shiny belt anymore, Griffin had a guardian angel on his shoulder that night but I got to the point where I now make plans for those angels too. I now sit there and think even more outside the box. I guess Griffin beating me made me sit there and look even closer at people. I didn't have to do that too much against Travis Nathaniel Andrews, because I knew that man so damn well, but we haven't crossed paths as much as me and Travis did way back when so I have taken the time to look a little closer at you Bill."

Again, never take people lightly.

"There's talent there Bill, and a whole lot of experience." I said appreciatively of the man's talents. "There's a lot about you, but there's a few years under my belt where I've come across people like you and fought through them and you know, I am confident that I can get through facing you. I'm confident that Evie will get a pick me up from this match against you. I know what you can do, proper aware of what you can pull off out of nowhere so I know I'll have to be on my game. Thing is Bill mate, I'm never off my game. Since I lost that World title, I've pushed myself at every chance I got. I didn't have a spar with O'Malley, I went full out, I didn't have to take those risks but as God, and everyone else watching was my witness, I went and bloody did it. Jumped in head first. I then took on Travis with a bit of doubt in my head, but I pushed it through and beat him and Bill, I ain't slowing down now."

I meant every word of that.

"I gotta get myself back to the top at some point and I ain't slowing myself down till I get to that top once again." I said with a firm tone. "It doesn't matter if it's tag matches, multiple people  matches, it's me against the world whenever I step in that ring, that's how it feels and I gotta beat that world, I gotta come out of it with my arm held up."

Can't stop, won't stop is my new wrestling attitude, like it?

"Where we haven't crossed paths too often Bill, I am looking forward to this match." I admit. "I'm up for the challenge of facing new people, up for the challenge to test myself against an experienced wrestling head, but have no fear Bill, more than up for the challenge."

And indeed I was.

"So I'm gonna wrap this one up right here Bill." I said with a quick thumbs up. "But after it's all said and done, I will be celebrating with my missus, but I'll be good mate. I'll happily buy you and your missus a pint after. Till Sunday mate."

I wink down the camera.

"Laters people!"

And with that, next time ya see me, will be Sunday. Stay safe you lovely lot.

18
Climax Control Archives / The Maldives
« on: July 17, 2020, 08:56:09 AM »
 It's been a trying few weeks, I don't think lock down is getting to me as much as I thought it would, the party days are mostly long behind me. I still enjoy a good time, but I'm a little more subtle these days. I went from party animal to a fella who likes the chilled out days, I like the days of being able to kick back and enjoy the peace. It's not as easy to do when ya lumbered with the entire roster in a hotel, but there are times you can find some quiet contemplation. All you really need to do is lock the door of that hotel room and just forget where you are.

It's worked wonders for me in the past when we've been on tour with Sin City Wrestling, been travelling around places far from the place you choose to call home. This was meant to be the ultimate SCW tour, I expected hotels, and rarely getting back to Maine, but instead, the same hotel for months was not part of the plan.

Now the SCW, SCU and GRIME bunch of lads and ladies were party people, they loved a good booze up and knew how to arrange one. We all have that one friend that couldn't arrange a booze up in a brewery, I have one of those back home in England, his idea of arranging a night out was I wanna go here, here, and here by this time, without thinking about how far apart these places were, but the SCW, SCU and GRIME people were the opposite, they knew how to arrange one and how to make the most of it. I guess that's one good thing about being around your work friends more often, people have grown in to proper friendships, but me? I just wanted a little peace and quiet, to be able to quietly think about better times when I could go where I want, when I wanted. Not because I wanted to be able to hide from things, because I wanted to try new things.

This was my quiet contemplation time and digging in to the memory banks of a different time.

I sat in the bath of the hotel room in The Saxon Hotel that I shared with my wife Evie and of course, that ever popular pooch of ours, Bear. We were lucky to have a room with a whirlpool tub thingy that wrinkled ya bits quicker than you would like. I felt the bubbles bounce off my back, sending me in to a world of thought in my own mind, images forming behind my closed eyes, but I could feel eyes burning in to me. It could only be one of two, it was Evie, or it was Bear.... Unless Jamie Dean had Spiderman'ed himself up a wall, and ninja'ed his way in to the hotel. Never can tell with Jamie.

"I would say take a picture, it'll last longer." I said without opening my eyes. "But depending on who's standing there looking at me, I'd be worried that you actually would."

"Oh darling, I've already got the videos." Evie's voice said.

My eyes opened to see Evie standing to my left hand side, a smile on her face as she looked down at me.

I know the bubbles were keeping me covered up but I knew what was running through her mind. She'd seen beneath the bubbles many, many times. I knew that imagine was in her mind, until she drifted her eyes to the side of the bath.

"What the hell is that?" She asked.

I reached to the side, on my right hand side, to pull a cold glass in front of me, consisting of thick yellow with brown running through the see through glass.

"That is a banana and chocolate milkshake." I said with a proud smile. "Lovely jubbley."

The look on Evie's face was a mix of confusion and disgust.

"I get a beer in this thing." She said shaking her head. "We've put away a lot of champagne in this tub but hot water and milk?"

I shrugged at her and put on my best cheesiest smile that I had, if only to get that confused look off her pretty face.

"Cold milk goes in hot water when you make a proper cuppa." I explained. "Thankfully, I don't plan on dropping this in here. Might chill me bits if I do."

I took a big gulp of that ice cold milkshake, instantly backfiring on me to give me brain freeze. I tried to keep a straight face but I could see Evie had already figured it out, the smirk on her face showed that.

"You overstepped that, huh?" She said with that smirk getting wider on her face.

I couldn't answer for a few seconds, my brain was not my own for just a little there and putting my head under the water to get some heat through my thick skull didn't really do anything justice at all. I knew once my head came back up through that water, the smile would still be on her face. I'd overplayed my hand and we both knew it.

My head emerged through the bubbling water and I let the water run down my face before opening my eyes and looking towards Evie - I was right, the smile was all over her face.

"I might have just over cooked that a little bit." I admitted.

"And who's fault was that?" She asked.

"Totally mine." Again, I admitted. "So, just gonna stand there and watch me?"

The smirk turned in to a smile and a nod from Evie who looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"I can move some things around to sit and look at you." She said in a soft tone. "I've had worse days."

She probably has to be fair, not that I'm bragging that I'm decent to look at in the bath or anything like that. I just know she's had some mad days.

I looked at her with a smile.

"I dunno what ya gonna get outta sitting here looking at my aris go wrinkly while bubbles fire in awkward places, while I sit and reminisce about certain times." I replied.

"Oh?" Evie said curiously "What's on your mind?"

"Just thinking of times when we could get out there and bugger off on holiday whenever we wanted." I said. "My mind keeps dropping back to The Maldives...."

Ohhhhhhhhh, this was a set up thing! How clever! Time to speak about what happened in The Maldives.




There was a little bit of a traveller in me and Eves to be fair, always loved seeing new places, always loved being around new people, seeing new cultures and of course, trying new things. I wouldn't say I'm an adrenaline junkie by any stretch of the imagination, in fact it'll probably give you a headache if you did think of me doing something that got the heart racing. I nearly past out a few years back in Italy when Eves was driving a Ferrari down thin winding roads at faster speed then God intended. I was convinced I'd meet God that day cause I never thought we'd make it to the bottom of the hill, but thankfully we did.

A few years back, we went to The Maldives, it's stunning there and I try to make a point of whenever I go to a new country, gotta try something I haven't before. It could mean trying the local dish, doing a local dance - which is not impressive with my two left feet - but The Maldives was different, there was a lot of things to do, mostly involving water and that I was ok with.

Summer 2017

"How hard can it really be?" I asked.

I stood on a beach, looking at my wife, her face was frowning at me as she slowly shook her head at me.

"Very." She replied.

"It's standing up on like something in the water." I debated back. "It can't be too difficult."

I was of course talking about surfing, yes, there I was in a full wetsuit, talking to an Aussie, debating with an Aussie that surfing wasn't too difficult. The woman I married come from a country where your first present is a surfboard.... If you believe in Home and Away... I don't, I don't watch that stuff... What? innocent look on my face but you can't see it! Yes, I'm debating with an Aussie over surfing. The Maldives had some beautiful beaches and high waves, surfers from all over the world would come here not only for fun, but to compete. Watch out professionals, here comes Ben!

"Maybe you should practice with a boogie board or something first." Evie suggested.

"Nonsense." I protested with a wave of my hand. "Can't be that tough."

Famous last words you could say but I was confident. Out of the stuff I've done in the past, I thought I could do this. This was balancing on a floatation device. I've done way crazier things, did way crazier things on this holiday, you might get to see that later. To me, this was easy.

"Trust me." I said to Evie. "I got this."

Ok, those was famous last words as I made my way to the water, looking back at Evie, who waved me back. I walked back towards her, standing their with her hands on her hips.

"Forgetting something?" She asked.

"A good luck kiss?" I replied.

Evie pointed to her left, where a surfboard was pressed in to the sand, standing up straight. I couldn't help but sigh as she frowned at me, the frown turning in to a smile.

"Yeah, gonna probably need that." I said in a slow tone.

Yes Ben, well clever, brag about being able to surf when you one, forget the board, and two, never surfed in your life. Yes, this was pure bravado and the fact I've seen it loads of time on Home and... Ummm, hardcore surfing films, all manly, nothing like those soaps!

"Remember to attach the chord to your ankle." Evie said, trying to hide her smile.

"I know, I know." I said confidently.

I waved her off as I reached down towards the chord and picked it up, but Evie put her hand on my shoulder.

"Probably best you put that on when you get near the water." She instructed. "You'll look a right tit if you fall over."

Pish! I could do it... Wait, she was probably right, I could fall over air while sober and done it on more than one occasion.

I nodded towards her and pulled the board under my arm and held it and nodded my head to the water, eye contact with Evie all the way to ask her to come to the waterfront without the use of words. She understood as we both walked to the water and I put the chord around my ankle.

"Alright." she said. "Board flat, paddle out with your arms and your legs. Then get over the waves, sit on the board, turn yourself around, paddle back fast, spring to your feet as the wave breaks and balance."

I knew she was dumbing it down for me cause she knew I had no idea what I was doing. It was that she was watching me to see me make a tit of myself, it was mostly to see if I could actually do it.

"Roger that!" I said with a salute.

I turned the board around and laid it flat in the water, instantly watching it slightly drift away from me.

"Boards gonna go without ya." Evie said with a smile.

I knew she was getting a kick out of this, probably as much as anyone else watching us that might have known us was. Not every day you see a couple of people from the television out on the beach, although probably more common in a celebrity vacation spot like this.

"Ok, you got this." I muttered to myself.

"What was that?" Evie asked.

"Ummm." I stumbled out. "Cowabunga dude?"

Evie rolled her eyes, her fingers running across her forehead as she once again frowned at me.

"Fucking hell." She muttered this time. "I married a ninja turtle."

I heard the comment, brought a smile to my face as I looked away and to the board floating in the water and moved towards it. I pressed my body down on to it and started to paddle. I made it a whole three feet when.

SPLASH!

Yes, I was off the bloody thing and not even sure how. The water was so shallow, my toes were touching the sand below me. Here I was, face first in the drink, knowing I had to turn around and face my Aussie wife, with surfing in the blood of most Aussies. I leaned on my elbows, keeping my head above water, stalling on turning around but I knew I had to eventually. I took the plunge, turn, sat cross legged in the water and looked her dead in the eye. There was no hiding of the smile this time, it sat widely on her face as she looked at me.

"Not your best attempt at anything." She said with that beautiful smile on her face. "But it was your first go. Try again."

Her words were encouraging, even if I knew she was laughing inside. Let's be honest, everyone would have laughed seeing that. I had to get back on and try again, so I did. I brought the board towards me and scrambled my way and tried again. I got six feet this time before.

SPLASH!

Yep, I was in the drink again.

"Oh bloody hell!" I said to myself as the water splashed around my face.

I knew I wasn't out of sight of anyone, so I grabbed the board and pulled myself on to it, but I put too much wait to one side and...

SPLASH!

Back in it without moving another inch.

"Are you kidding me!" I said as my head dropped in disappointment.

"Surfing God's must have it out for you." Evie said.

That voice didn't seem too far away, I'd gone about nine or ten feet away from the shore, I shouldn't be hearing her voice this clearly. It baffled me until I turned my head to see her standing next to me.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked as my mind got slightly more confused.

"You're not that far out, the water is about four foot deep here." She said with a smile.

I cocked my head to the side to see Evie standing in the water, the water barely over her stomach with her feet on the sand beneath the water. Realizing how shallow it was, I swung my feet for the bottom of the water and found it barely with my toes. With a quick shift of my weight, I was on my feet and looking at her.

"Probably got a confession to make." I said with a deflated shrug. "I don't know what the bloody hell I'm doing here, haven't got a scooby."

I put my best sympathetic face on as I looked at Evie, who nodded her head slowly.

"No shit?" She said in a sarcastic tone. "I thought you were expert level."

"Well that would be a stretch." I admitted. "I'm more of I haven't started playing the game level, over expert."

"Well, if you'll listen to me, I might give you a few pointers." She offered.

What else could I do, but say yes to my wife and for the next two hours, she gave me pointer after pointer. She explained things a whole lot clearer and things were finally sinking in, and it might have took a while, it might have taken getting out of the water and a demonstration with a chalkboard, and a youtube video on a phone. It might have taken standing on the board on the beach for two hours like a ninja about to strike, but I was ready to get out on the water and this happened.

"WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" I shouted out as I stood on the board in the water.

I had done it! Hours later I was up on the surfboard at the top of a wave. The roar of the water rung in my ears as I balanced like a cat.... A three legged cat....

"SHIIIIIII." I yelled out but....

SPLASH!

Yep, I was in it again up to my next. Hours of work, still couldn't do a thing. I turned my head to breathe as the tide gently brought me back to the beach, like a lot of tiny hands carried to like I was crowd surfing to the shore, the board drifting gently next to me, right at Evie's feet. I looked up at her.

"At least I stood up that time." I said as I rolled over on my back and looked up.

Truth is, surfing wasn't for me and the reason I told this story was because I need to link it to SCW and Griffin Hawkins. Here's the moral of the story. I tried and I tried and I had a ton of fun doing it, but I just couldn't get what I wanted. The top prize in my head was to stand up and drift in and regardless of the fact I tried, I just couldn't do it. I had the bravado, I had all the talk, but I just fell short.

Do you see the link now?

Good.

Anyway, now would be a good time to pause this promo and swing by Evie's promo cause you'll see more of our adventures, or misadventures from The Maldives!




Hope you enjoyed that one, but now ya gotta join me sitting with my feet up on the sofa, just a pair of shorts on, and the SCW World Heavyweight championship over my shoulder. It's time to talk to you good people, the people who cheer me on, the people who are tired of me, the lot of ya.

"Alright people." I say as I look down the camera in front of me. "It's been a bit of a chill out week for me, as you saw stuff from Monday, and now ya looking at me now. I ain't one to mess about so once this has been given the thumbs up, you'll be sitting here watching me."

I quickly fire a thumbs up towards the camera.

"So, raise ya hands, who saw this tag match coming right before Summer XXXTreme?" I ask.

I had to raise my own hand, I had a sneaky feeling this could happen. It was a smart thing to put champs and challengers in the ring at the same time and give the fans something to look forward to after a little taster.

"I saw it coming and I ain't too disappointed." I say with a smile. "I'm a massive believer that if you wanna know an opponent properly, you need to be in the ring with them. I've been in the ring with Griffin Hawkins a bit ago, so I wanna say I know what he's capable of and I'm pretty sure there hasn't been too much evolution over the past few months. I ain't saying it to knock Griffin at all, but what you see is pretty much what you get, that phrase was made for him, because when you look at Griffin, you see social media star, rockstar, talented wrestler, and believe me he's all of them, but I don't have the distraction of all of that. In fact, you'd notice that I haven't been as active on social media lately."

What? Did you all think I've forgotten my password or something? Nope, it was an intentional thing to prove that I didn't need social media to build myself up.

"I don't need the like, the retweets or spending probably ninety percent of my day trying to get people to watch me." I state honestly. "You know where I'm best when it comes to work Griffin? When I'm right there in the ring and showing people the skill set that turned me in a world champion. I know you have a ton of world championships to your name, but did social media get ya any of them? No, your wrestling skills did and that's where I've decided to put my focus and that's on what I can do in the ring. Now don't get me wrong mate, I'm not saying that you don't put the effort in but I dunno where you find the time to do it. I take every match seriously and I've been putting my time and effort in to sharpening up my moves rather than my thumb."

I don't dislike people who spend a lot of time on social media, each to their own of course, but I know for a match this size, you need to be more focused on the skills. Summer XXXTreme is a weird event, being out there at sea, has different effects on people. Sea air makes some tired or sluggish.

"I know our big showdown is a couple of weeks away." I say with a nod. "But it's never too early to get ready for a huge match and this is what I've been doing since it was announced and this is a perfect match for me to have right before a supercard. It's a chance for you to see what ya up against real close because I feel like I got a ton better from the last time we faced. Being a top bloke is about growing in to the role and I think I've grown more and more since I've won the World Heavyweight championship. I think it might have gone the other way for you though Griffin."

Not a slight on the man at all, just pure observation.

"Since our first match, your first chance at getting your hands on this." I look at the world title over my shoulder and smile as I speak. "Things ain't exactly been rosey in your garden, has it? Lost the Roulette championship, been on a bit of a slide down that slippery slope people talk about. Not really done a lot since that Roulette title went for a burton, but it doesn't take away that you are a dangerous bloke but it's not really gonna matter. Sunday is gonna show ya that you're still a bit behind where you need to be at this point. There's not too much momentum behind ya run at this and whacking a fella in the mush who offered to help ya, isn't really momentum building. In fact this match, as good as it is, could work against ya."

I don't like playing mind games, just stating fact.

"Say I pin ya Griffin." I start. "How's that gonna effect ya when ya go face to face with me one on one? I mean it'll play games with me if the boot was on the other foot. I'd be sitting there thinking bloody hell, I can't beat a bloke when I got a partner on my side, taking breaks in between to rethink, how the bloody hell am I gonna beat him one on one? Mate, it would proper mess with my nut, the disappointment in my heart, and the thoughts going through my melon would put me lower than a snakes gooleys."

I wonder if he knew what that meant? If not, someone will explain it to him.

"While this is a cracking match for me to step in to and it really is." I admit. "but not for you if you don't come out on top of this one. I know it would mess with my mind, so dunno what it'll do to you but that smile on ya face can't last forever if you don't walk out of this one without winning. I know how much this one little tag match means to me and Eves and we wanna go in with the advantage in the ring, and in the mind too. We're not champions cause we didn't work for it Griffin, and it's something you and Andrea should know by now. Pretty much every challenger is the underdog. You two are the underdogs at Climax Control and you will be at Summer XXXTreme."

Champions seem to find that extra step and I knew this. I had to find it against Fenris, I had to find it against Mark Cross, I had to find it against Jack Washington and I did.

"After taking on a talent like Jack Washington." I start. "I'm on a bounce up. From the outside looking in, it doesn't look like it was a big match on paper, but trust me with the talent that kid has, it was a huge test for me, and I passed it well enough. I worked hard and got through it and with you Griffin, you'd have to be a mug not to think you can pull off an upset not only this week but at Summer XXXTreme, and it's not a chance I'm willing to take to ease up because you've been going downhill and I've been on the bounce. I don't like letting my guard down in a ring and I won't with you and on Sunday, you'll see just how much better I've become since we first stepped in the ring with each other."

I felt better, I felt stronger, I felt like I knew what I was doing better and better in the ring. My work rate was upped because it had to be, my energy levels in the ring were higher than they've ever been before.

"I'm a better guy than I was when you first got in the ring with me and it's something you will see very soon." I say with a smile. "But I really hope I'm wrong and this doesn't effect you as much as I know it can because I know I'm gonna get the best Griffin Hawkins I can get on Sunday for you to prove a point, I know I'm gonna get that guy who is gonna try and get rid of any doubts, get rid of anyone who ever sat there and call you a loser. I know you're gonna try and silence any voice behind ya back saying that ya just not good enough for this business, but this is the Griffin Hawkins I want coming at me at Summer XXXTreme VIII. This is the Griffin Hawkins I want there, and I know it'll be a tough one to pick yourself up after this match when me and Eves walks away with the win. I don't want this to get in your head because not only do I wanna win this one, I wanna make sure this sets me on the way to beating the best Griffin Hawkins you can be."

It's what every wrestler wants, to beat people while they're at this best. Maybe it's an egotistical thing, maybe we're all narcissists, but we want to beat the best version of everyone. Not like champions in non title matches, who lose and say they can't be bothered cause nothing was on the line, that's just plain lazy.

"So look at this match as a lesson Griffin." I say with a nod. "Look at this match and soak in all the information you need to know about what I might do, and how I might act and bring your absolute best you can on Sunday, because it's the only way you'll ever know what you need to improve on in that short two weeks there will be to actually stand a chance of taking away me belt that I worked for years to get and worked even harder to keep."

I really have, it's been a long time between my last top title in ACW and this one and I worked so hard to even get anywhere near this one. Others come in, make demands because they feel they need a title, I didn't, I worked my socks off to get where I am and stay here for a long time.

"But I did it anyway Griffin." I say with a proud tone. "And I ain't ready to chuck it away now. Sunday is a taster of things to come and things to come are me and Eves winning this match, going on to Summer XXXTreme as champions and leaving as champions."

I knew my time was running short, yes, we only have so long to do these things and I knew my time was coming up.

"So anyway you lovely bunch." I say with a wide smile. "I'm gonna leave this right here. Now I covered talking about Griffin, so if you want to know what Evie has to say about Andrea and the fact Alicia is the guest referee too, then switch on back to what she has to say."

It's Evie, expect it to be blunt, obviously.

"So until then." I say as I nod my head firmly. "You stay safe, tune in on Sunday and watch the champions show you why we're champions."

I wink at the camera.

"Laters people!"

And with that, another one of my promos had come to an end. Thanks for watching, The Jordan's will see you on Sunday!

19
Climax Control Archives / Kids say the funniest things
« on: July 03, 2020, 07:41:19 PM »
 Thursday 25th June 2020.

It's insane how quickly something can come on that ya never see coming, something I never saw coming. I was always a bright and bubbly bloke, try and keep a smile on my boat as much as I could, try and look at the positives rather than the dark side of life. I've always tried to think about the good and look for the silver lining in everything but the last few weeks have been a bit different. You could say that shot to the head at the supercard was still effecting me but for some reason, I've been feeling like I'm on a bit of a downward turn. A lot of the time lately, I've been a grouch, I've been down, I've been short and snappy. I dunno what changed but I started feeling like I don't deserve to be where I am. There was always one person I spoke to when I had self doubt, when I felt like I was lower than a snakes goolies, and that was a call to home, a call to the biggest influence in my early life, my grandmother.

"Hello darling." I said with a bright smile, but a frown cover my face. "Nan, move the camera down love, can only see the top of your head."

I lay on the sofa in the hotel room, with a laptop on my chest.

"It's not a pretty view from what I see." She says back as she moves the camera down.

She was probably right, probably seeing right up my nose, so I moved myself up to a seated position and moved the camera to rest itself aimed at my face.

"Better?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not counting the hairs up your nose this way." She said dryly. "What's on your mind love?"

This was tough to say. I mean men are just not built in that way to get feelings out in the open, and such. That's why there's been more male suicides than female, because the public image of men is to be all tough and strong and not talk about things that drag us in to the ground.

"I'm having a tough time nanna." I admitted.

It took a lot to get that out of my mouth, it felt like it stuck in my throat and I had to force it out.

"And I'm really not happy." I added.

I watched her body straighten up as she looked at me with a slight look of concern.

She always said to me from when I was eighteen that I was my own gov'ner, that I had no one to answer to myself and I always took that in my stride and smiled at everyone. I was the eighteen year old with the pub in the family, and was taught treat the customers with a smile and cheery joke. I was the guy that was always asking how's ya luck darling? You alright geezer? That was me, it stuck with me through all the years of my life. I'm not saying that was a false front, because it was me being me, so not many have ever seen me low for any reason. I was the bloke hearing about a death and telling people don't worry, they're in a better place, so for me to be feeling low and showing it, was a worry and very out of the ordinary.

"What's the matter, love?" She asked.

I still didn't know where to start, this is not the usual conversation I've had. This is not who I was but I was in this funk that not many people could help me get out of. I was feeling down and I had to talk to someone, I didn't wanna pull out the mental health card, cause frankly, I think mental health is a load of old codswallop pulled out to make excuses for people acting like tossers.

"Ever since I kept that title at Into The Void, I've felt down." I started. "I felt like I was taking a step too far, that I was borrowing time I didn't have or wanted and I think I was proper excited to be doing something new, like having the other companies belt. I felt that I would be able to crack on and become something different, have a bit of life breathed in to this old dog, but those plans went tits up. To me, great chance lost there, when I could have done something proper special before turning it all in."

It wasn't bitterness in me, I thought things were a bit shortsighted and things coulda been thought through a little bit more, a little better, but I guess it was more of get the Underground title on an SCU wrestler, although O'Malley is not just an Underground wrestler, he is SCW too, you wouldn't know it when all he does is moan, but he is.

"I thought there was a great chance to bring the companies together." I told Nan. "But what does it solve letting me have their belt for five minutes. Yes, I'm the only bloke in history to have both SCW and SCU top titles, but five minutes as champion meant sod all really. I mean SCU could have piggy backed my SCW stuff so everything SCW got me doing, I coulda been splitting it with SCU, everyone wins, instead, some whiny little twat ended that run after five minutes."

"Ben!" Nan says firmly.

"Sorry." I said with a shrug.

"You mean that Irish fella?" Nan asked while I nodded. "Oh him, he is a whiny little twat. Well I think he is, I can't understand a lot he says. It's like he turns that poxy accent up for some reason. You're Irish, we get it."

I couldn't help but smile, my Nan's wit and blantentness was why my friends growing up loved her to bits. One of my friends only met her once and loves to tell the tale of how she was blatant with him from day one and that still makes him smile years later. It's why now anyone that meets her to this day, calls her nanny rose after one meeting.

"He does ham it up a bit." I said with a smile. "But it's not only that."

"Oh?" She said looking closer at the phone.

"Everything's changing so fast." I told her. "I know I should be used to it a bit being one of the longest serving people around this place but it's like a revolving door with people in and out. They come in, they do well, they lose, they bugger off. Make friends with a couple of people and before you know it, they're on their way out. Everyone's taking breaks and we know most of them won't be back."

"I think being locked down is finally getting to you." Nan commented.

"I thought it would be a good chance for me and Eves to be around people we only spend a weekend with." I said honestly. "Only other time I'm around these lot is when I throw parties and people show up."

"I bet you buy all the booze too." Nan said with a stern look.

"Mmmmhmmmm." I replied.

"Amazing how far people would go for a free piss up." Nan said without a hint of a joke in her voice.

"Yeah, but ya know, something different." I said. "I thought being around people here would be great, but it's a rotating door here. People in and out, friends disappearing, it's getting to the point it's just me and Eves and she's trying, God love her, she's trying to make new friends all over the place, but I'm reverting the other way, I can't be arsed with people. In fact, I'm considering going back to Maine and staying there. Send in stuff from when I'm not wrestling, show up when I do have to wrestle."

"We both know that's not you." Nan said firmly. "You don't have arse anything, so you will show up for shows, it doesn't matter if you go back to Maine or not, you'll still be flying back to the shows because down or not, you take things seriously."

She was right and she knew she was, her smile said a thousand words. I had this thing about work ethic and I've been on every single show since becoming a champion, which combined, if you don't count Fenris, it was probably more than the last few champions managed put together. When I won't this belt, I said I wouldn't do what Austin James Mercer did and show up to talk every now and again, or be like Senor Vinnie, who showed up, mumbled a few incoherent lines and claimed to be a great champion. I knew I wanted to take things back to be like Fenris and show up all the time, flash the belt off and be that hard working champion.

"I guess so but there's times I just wanna run away. Give up the belt and just hide from the world." I said with a nod.

That was actually true, I can not tell you how many times I've thought about running away and hiding and just becoming Joe Public, the face in the crowd, no heirs or graces, just the bloke working on a farm or something.

"Oh shut up you tart!" Nan snapped out.

"Say what you really mean darling." I said with a smile.

"You can't hide, you'll never get away with it, because Bear is what you'd call a celebrity dog." Nan says with a smile. "That pooch loves the spotlight and he's got a recognizable face, people will work out who you are right away. What you need to see is what will be will be. No point sitting in a mud hole, all you're gonna get is a wet arse."

She always did have a way with words, but I got her meaning. There was no point being in this slump cause I'll end up with nothing good.

"I just think I need to get out of this bloody slump and try something new." I admitted

"You'll feel better when you get back home and relax a little more than you are there." She said.

"I thought it would be sunshine and roses here." I said with a sigh. "Get to know people a little more, dwindle away time in a five star place and not have to worry but part of me misses normality Nan. I'm not talking about popping down the local. I miss being able to have a wander around the lake, I miss just taking Eves out somewhere as a surprise, I miss being able to say sod it, let's jump on a plane and go somewhere. Poxy virus has ruined so much. This tour we was meant to be on, couldn't seen some of the world, instead, lumbered here."

"Give it a few more weeks." She said reassuringly. "Things are getting better here, might get better there too."

"Honestly Nan." I said. "As soon as they'll let us fly from here to London, and back again whenever we want, I think I might speak to Eves about coming back to London for a bit. Be a lot safer there then we would be here, cases going through the roof here. I'd feel a lot better being back home."

"Well as soon as you can, come home." Nan said. "We would all love to see ya."

If I would run home at this point, I think I would, in fact, I don't think I'd give it a second thought but I knew at this point, I couldn't, I was just a few days away from Climax Control 272, not that I was booked to do anything, I just had to be there to keep up my championship look I guess.

"I think I will Nan." I said seriously. "I need to do something different, so as soon as I get the chance, and the government let me, I'll be coming home for a little while."

I meant it. I missed London too. I missed being able to pop to the bookies, even in this online gambling world, even silly little things like running to the shop and grabbing a newspaper, or sitting on the grass with a can of Fosters - yes Aussies, mmmmmm Fosters - with a friend or two.

"And stop worrying so much." She said with a wave of her finger. "You'll be fine."

The rest of the conversation turned towards talking about the family. I didn't know in just a few days time, my day brightened just by hearing about my next supercard opponent.




Sunday 28th June 2020

Griffin Hawkins! Oh man, that was so much better than I actually expected to hear about Summer XXXTreme! I gotta be absolutely honest with everyone, I truly expected Caleb Storms to jump up in that spot, or Stephen Callaway, both had been teasing a match with me for the championship, but neither have followed through with it. Maybe they was considering it but looks like Griffin had jumped in to take that spot and I'm absolutely delighted by that if you couldn't tell. Proper up for that, cause it's Griffin Hawkins, a man who has build his reputation for years to put himself in line for a top main event. I know Griffin is a bit ropey at times, his first match with me, he took to Twitter as if to already dismiss me, there was no sign of any kind of respect from the man, so I hope he's learned a little respect after our first encounter and shows a little more respect for me, and what I've done between the time I faced him before and the time I will face him again.

I know I got a little speed bump in the way of things before I get to Griffin, although at this point not confirmed, I suspect Jack Washington's King For The Day thingy will see my face him next week, actually one weeks time, it's expected but I couldn't help but look forward to Griffin Hawkins. It could bite me on the 'aris but damn I was excited. Motivation has not been with me since I beat Mark Cross, maybe in my heart, that was my peak. I beat the Blast From The Past winner and the men's division was very much in the shadows of the Bombshell division. Between Evie, Alicia Lukas, Roxi Johnson, Andrea Hernandez and Christina Rose, those give were lighting it up and you could pick two out of those five and you'd have a main event that wouldn't disappoint, but the men's side? Fenris had gone and he was top level, Austin James Mercer and Senor Vinnie were embroiled in their own war. The guys who could have stepped up like Jack Russow had sadly departed, and even O'Malley had his own thing to deal with by being, and I'm saying this through gritted teeth, the SCU Underground champion. Even Mark Cross had eased his SCW stuff to focus on SCU. Kris Ryans would have been a top choice, but Mikah's return has squashed that for now. The top of the men's division was a bit rough. Hearing Griffin Hawkins saying he's stepped up was fantastic. He even went to the ring to tell the world, I respect that.

I found out on camera and you saw my reaction, but the cameras had gone, and Evie and I sat in the dressing room, a mocked up set cause there was simply no sofa's in the arena until that was thrown together, wasn't even comfortable, there was a spring poking in my arse the whole way through it, but set dressing is important in wrestling. Half the stuff you see on TV is placed for a reason.... Who really leaves a sledgehammer just laying around under a ring?

So Evie looked at me, the cameras off and Pussy Willow had left the room. Her eyebrow raised as her eyes pierced through me.

"So are you really that excited?" She asked.

I took a few seconds to think about it as I returned her look, my eyes deeply in to hers.

"Actually." I started. "There's a lot of relief there babe. I genuinely thought I was gonna get something dodgy, or something like a give a loser a chance match where they threw everyone who didn't have plans, in a match with me so either I come out of it looking like the dogs nuts, or someone shocks the world."

"You've already beat Griffin." Evie reminded me.

She was right, I had beaten Griffin before, while he was a champion. It wasn't exactly the easiest match I've had in my career and had me more than a little jumpy before it. Hell, till that music hit and I walked to the ring, the nervous energy that I had could have powered the arena.

"I have." I said with a smile. "But it showed a lot about him that he didn't step away when he lost his title. So many have done that. Half the roster did that. Jack Russow left after losing the Roulette belt, when it was obvious he was set to step up through the belts till he got to the top. I don't need to go through the list of people who bugger off as soon as a belt disappears from them. Contracts mean nothing to them."

"Or Mark and Christian are actually nice people in secret." Evie said with a smirk.

"Why put money in people's pockets if they're not gonna put the effort in?" I questioned. "There's so many people out there that would love a job in a place like this that have the talent. Either way, Griffin could have been one of those people, but he wasn't. He fought it out, not being on the greatest run of his career but he has the heart."

I mine quickly drifted to the advice Max Burke had given me a couple of weeks before. Don't get ahead of myself, I know Jack Washington's card is next week, I know he's coming after my title, I know I need to focus on him and not dismiss him.

"But first, I gotta focus on Jack Washington." I reminded Evie. "We both know what he's gonna do."

Evie shook her head at me and smiled.

"He lost to a guy that talks to a fucking cactus." She said with venom in her tone. "A fucking cactus. DQ or not, he could have wrestled him for a week straight and never beat him. This is the guy who is giving himself a shot at you."

I knew Evie was right, but I was looking for a reason to respect Jack Washington. I had to try and find a reason, it's how I worked. A little bit of healthy respect for someone keeps me on my toes. I've done it with every single opponent I've ever faced. I've found something I could respect about them, just to remind myself that they have done things that have opened peoples eyes. I was struggling to find something to respect Jack for, I was hoping if he got past Vinnie, I'd be able to respect that, but he didn't. Watching him, I don't think Vinnie was ever in danger at all and this made it tougher for me to find that little respect.

"Well, he probably is capable of pulling off a shock." I tried convincing myself. "The thing with SCW, maybe wrestling in general, is that anyone can beat anyone at any time."

"I beg to differ." Evie said as she put her hand on my championship belt.

This is a side you don't see of Evie when those cameras are rolling. You see the she made you go for the belt thing. She didn't just tell me I could win it, she helped build the confidence I had, and turn it in to something that has given me what? Seven months as a champion? She could read me like a book she's read a million times and still enjoys. She knew I had the motivation as a sloth for this upcoming match with Jack. She knew I couldn't be arsed and just couldn't find my stride. The motivation had broke quarantine and gone elsewhere. She was reminding me why I am a champion to begin with.

"You've beaten everyone put in front of you." Evie reminded me. "O'Malley doesn't count cause he doesn't know the difference between in front and behind. Jack Washington isn't on the level of Fenris, Vinnie, and the rest."

"I wanna be motivated to face Jack." I told her "but my motivation isn't because of Jack. It's because I will get to face Griffin at Summer XXXTreme if I beat Jack. I should be more focused on him."

"Oh that'll come over the week." Evie said with confidence dripping from her tone. "The closer it gets, the more your focus will move towards Jack, but if the motivation is to get to Griffin Hawkins at Summer XXXTreme, then fuck it, use it. Jack isn't that good."

His record was a bit off at times, but didn't take away his talent in my mind. Yes, he never came close to beating Vinnie in my mind, the DQ actually saved him from getting pinned in my opinion but there was something there, there was some kinda talent there but not sure he knew how to really use it to be his best.

"Good or not." I said. "It's all about this belt, this belt can take people beyond what they're usually capable of. It gives them an aim. I mean the other week when we were on opposite teams, it was a bloody meaningless match, it was all about Kate and Teddy trying to claim that they beat a champion so they could get a title shot. They were both much more motivated than I was cause their prize was the claim they could make, there was nothing there for us like that."

"Don't remind me." Evie scoffed.

"Not talking about the result." I said truthfully. "Just the fact they were more motivated cause they had something to aim at. My point is regardless of talent, if he has it, if he doesn't. His extra motivation is the fact he can shock the world and walk away with a belt he shouldn't have. That's where he can probably be dangerous."

"I'm not worried." Evie replied matter of factly "He's like those guys who took you up on open challenges. Not good enough, not gonna take your championship."

I loved Evie's confidence in me and saw her point a lot. I mean the people stepping up haven't been mind blowing opposition. I would have cacked myself if Austin James Mercer woulda stepped up, or Fenris, or a returning legend or something.

"His eyes are on the gold." I told Evie. "That's his prize, that's where he's focused. Ya know, he's probably been planning things for weeks. That could be why he lost to Vinnie, cause he was focused on me, lulling me in to a false sense of security. He had bugger all to lose my half arsing it against Vinnie when he was already sitting on a match with me. I can't fall in to the same pattern, looking at Griffin, cause I lose this, I lose everything. He had nothing to lose to lose to Vinnie."

"You're not gonna lose." Evie said, squeezing my arm.

"Not if I focus on him." I replied. "I'm over thinking this one a bit. He might well shoot himself in his foot. He does seem like the over confident guy, probably already planning his celebrational party."

"He'll be the only one there." Evie replied with a wicked smile. "People can't stand him."

I couldn't help but smile at Evie for that comment.

"Either way, I gotta get my head in the game." I told her. "I need to take the motivation I have to get to the supercard against Griffin and use that till I get there. I dunno, some donut might try and jump in with a nod towards my open challenge between now and then. Realistically, I could end up defending my title three times between now and Summer XXXTreme."

"And you will defend it with ease." Evie said with a tone of confidence filling the room.

"Yeah, if Fenris stayed in Iceland and don't facing popping back over to give me a bit of a heart attack." I replied with a smile.

I looked at my watch to check out the time and looked at Evie.

"Right babe." I started. "Gotta get off my arse here cause I gotta go quickly do a couple of things."

So I would tell ya all I had to do but I'll make it short for you all. I had to head over to Sin City Underground, but you knew that if you watched it. See, I had to have a quick meeting with the staff there about something coming up, then I'd heard a rumour about a very, very fine whiskey and I just so happened to walk past said whiskey in the possession of Max Burke.

Sadly, I couldn't stay drinking the expensive stuff after being invited to join Mikah and Kris Ryans for a drink with my wife, which my wife accepted. Not gonna lie, I think Kris is one of the best wrestlers in SCW and always has been, but we've never really hung out on a personal level. Mikah was married to my best friend for years, so this is gonna take some getting used to. Thankfully that whiskey running through my bloodstream left me relaxed enough to enjoy that night. I could see more couple dates like that in the future.

Could you imagine if the four of us formed an alliance at some point?

I'm gonna leave you with that thought, because it's time to move on. It's time to jump to later in the week. It was time for a surprise to those little people back home in Maine....




Thursday 2nd July 2020

This whole situation the world finds itself in, it's really easy to forget about certain things, like what it's like to walk barefoot on a beach, to be able to have the freedom to give back to the people around you. Ever since me and Eves moved to Maine, being in a small area, as sorta the only celebs there - although I don't like the word celeb, I'm a bloke on the TV, that's all, we've been asked to do a lot of things and for the most part, I've been more than up for it. One of the things I do a fair whack is things for kids. The local school are often asking us to appear for whatever reason - believe it or not, Evie got asked to teach a physical education class at some point - and I've been asked to talk to the kids at the local school. It's a good school and morale has been low in Bar Harbor for the kids, not able to see their family, so anything you can do to help is a good thing in times like this.

I sat waiting for the screen to light up in front of me. I had set up one of the televisions in a conference room in the hotel to be able to live stream to the kids at the local school in Bar Harbor, aged from three to eleven. I had been told there would be an assembly of some sort and screens were set up there for me to speak to the little 'uns. I had my SCW World Heavyweight championship in front of me as I waited. A few seconds later, my face has transported from Las Vegas to Maine in seconds via the wonders of modern technology. I looked at the stunned faces, some cheering as my face popped up on the screen.

"Alright kiddos." I said with a cheery tone to my voice.

I waited for a few seconds as the teachers tried to calm down the crowd of children jumping up and down in their chairs.

It was incredible seeing all those happy faces, just happy at seeing me look at them.

"Settle down you lovely lot." I said with a wide grin. "Your teachers have told me that you've all been real good through this whole thing, so they asked me to come and speak to you guys and say thank you for being as brilliant as you are."

I saw a lot of smiles firing back at me from the camera and it melted my heart. Just seeing so many happy faces.

"So today, we're gonna play a game." I said with a nod. "You can ask me anything you guys want and I'll answer them."

A slight cheer went through the room as they beaming faces looked towards me on their video set up.

"So you put ya hands up, and your teachers will point to one of you and you can ask whatever you want." I told them. "Annnnnnnnnnnything you want. Just put your hand up and the teacher will pick you out."

Instantly, I watched almost every hand fly in the air, bringing a smile to my face. I waited for the teacher to pick out a boy in the front row and listened.

"Hey Ben!" The boy said with enthusiasm. "Can you buy me a skateboard?"

I laughed out loud, as did many others in the room.

"Gotta ask yaself mate. Have you earned that skateboard?" I said with a smile. "All good wanting one, but if you haven't earned one, then I can't get ya one, but if you've earned it with good grades and stuff than I'll certainly think about it."

I waited for the teacher to pick out someone else from the crowd.

"Do you like horses?" A little dot of a girl asked me.

"I do." I replied. "In fact a little while ago, me and Eves thought about getting a horsey to run in races cause he was really fast. So I like horses, especially one's that run really fast."

More hands fly in the air and another is picked out.

"Who would win in a race, Supergirl or The Flash?" A boy asked.

I tapped my chin, thinking about the question.

"Well that depends." I said tapping my chin. "If it was a flying race, then Supergirl all day long, cause The Flash can't fly, but if it's a foot race, over like a mile or something, The Flash would win. He's used to running, where Supergirl doesn't run, she spends more time flying. You know, we got a guy I work with who looks like The Flash, he's not as fast as him, so The Flash would beat him in a race too."

Sorry Kris!

I watched other hands fire up eagerly in the air and I waited.

"Can I play with your hair?" A young girl asked as she released a big yawn.

"Now that's a good question sweetheart." I said with a nod, not expecting it but buying time to think. "I need a haircut, but the people here cutting hair are a bit strange, so I can send ya my hair to play with if you want. My hair likes to play dolly's and likes to have tea parties, so if you like to play them, my hair would love ya."

I wait for a second or two to wait around for another question to be asked.

"Do you have a baby?" I was asked.

"Only Bear." I replied quickly. "He's like a big baby at times, but no, me and Eves don't have kiddies right now."

"Where is Bear?" Someone shouts out without being asked.

"Bear's having his fifth nap of the day." I said with a grin. "He likes a nap, and goes to bed whenever we tell him to. He'd be a grouchy pup if he didn't nap a lot."

Sadly that was true. Have you ever put up with a moody mutt because of lack of sleep? Trust me, you don't wanna. He can be proper moody.

"Where do babies come from?" A boy shouted out.

Well.... That's an awkward one.

"Well I was found under a gooseberry bush." I told them. "And Eves was brought along by a stork, who wrapped her up and took her to her mum and dad."

I smiled and hoped that would be good enough as I waited for other hands to fly in the air and a boy was picked out.

"If you could be any colour Power Ranger, what colour would you be?" Came the question.

I tapped my chin, I had no idea what Power Rangers were still about, I haven't seen that show in years and I didn't remember it being that great all those years ago.

"I'd think I'd be my own colour." I said with a grin to cover up my lack of information. "I'm thinking like two colours, maybe a Dundee blue and white, maybe stripes or diamonds, so I stand out and when the bad guys see me, they'll be like who the heck is that Power Ranger? And while they're looking at me, the other Power Rangers can sneak up on them. I will have the power of distraction I think."

I wait for the next question to come in my direction and a little girl asked.

"Is pink your favourite colour?" She asked in a tiny voice.

A wide smile crossed my face as I looked at the screen, the innocence in her voice made me light up inside.

"Well, that depends." I said. "Is pink your favourite colour?"

The little girl nodded shyly at the screen.

"Then pink is my favourite colour too sweetheart." I said with a wink.

I waited for the next question to fire towards me.

"Do you think your toys come to life when you are sleeping?" A young lad asked me.

"Well, I think they do, but only to check on you when you're sleeping and keep the oooger boogers away from ya." I said. "My friend has a teddy bear that protects him when he's asleep. I think the thing protects him when he's awake too."

"ANGEL!" The boy yelled out.

My natural reaction was to look around the room and I did just that. You never knew when you might be doing something and Angel would appear, he has that habit.

"That's the guy." I said with a grin.

"Who would win in a fight." The same boy asked. "You or Angel?"

"Angel, hands down." I told him. "He'd wallop me. I'm glad he hasn't tried to win my championship. He should have the nickname The Baddest Bear On The Planet."

A lot of kids in the room in Maine laughed out loud and hands jumped in the air again. A little redheaded girl was picked out.

"I'm Samantha and I is four...what is the naughtiest thing that you has done?" She asked.

"I know a Samantha who's a redhead, but she's a bit older than four, well I think she is, but she won't tell me her age. Now let me think." I said tapping my chin.

I had to step on ground that I didn't expect, I couldn't be completely honest, because these were kids after all, so I picked something that came to mind first.

"Well Samantha." I started slowly. "One day, I got really drunk and I jumped up on a table and started dancing."

The kids laugh out loud.

"And I can't dance, but I was shaking my bum bum like a right wally." I said with a smile. "This shows that you should never, ever get drunk cause you'll end up doing silly things like that and shaking booty in a room full of strangers."

I wiggled in the chair to prove my point and looked with a sideways glance at the clock on the wall.

"Now, how's about a game of would you rather?" I asked.

It wasn't too long till a cheer went up in the room, and eager hands reached for the sky. I waited for a teacher to pick someone out.

"Would you rather get eaten by a crocodile or a lion?" A boy asked.

"Gotta be one of those crocagator things." I said with a confident nod. "I mean those things would just eat ya in one go, where a lion sorta has hands and he might get a knife and fork out and will take him longer. Which means he'll probably cook me and it'll take ages. Crocs will be happy having me as sushi."

I waited for the next question to come at me.

"Would you rather fly a kite or swing on a swing?" A little girl asked.

"I would rather swing." I said with a nod. "Cause I can throw my legs in the air and yell Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

The kids laughed at me and I waited once more for the next question.

"Would you rather be funny or smart?" Someone asked me.

"Aw, I have to pick one?" I said. "I thought I was already funny and smart, but if I had to pick just one, I'd have to go with smart. If I was that smart, I could figure out how to be funny too, so I can then be funny and smart at the same time."

I tapped the side of my head and smiled at the camera.

"Would you rather be able to do flips and backflips or break dance?" a boy asked me.

"Oh break dance definitely." I said right away. "I mean if I tried to do a backflip with my chunky butt, I'd probably land right on my head and that will hurt. I'll be walking around with little birdies flying around my head, just like in the cartoons and no one wants to see that, especially the little birdies who would probably get dizzy flying around in a circle."

I watched as I heard a few more laughs and got the next question.

"Would you rather only be able to walk on all fours or only be able to walk sideways like a crab?" a girl asked.

"Totally crab like." I said without hesitation. "Could you imagine me walking like a crab? I could sneak up on Eves as a crab and she'd never see me coming."

Admittingly, she'd probably turn around and punt me in the mush but it'll be completely worth it. Plus, people might used the My Name Is Earl thing..... Heeeeeeeeeeey crabman!

"Would you rather have the chance to design a new toy or create a new TV show?" An older boy asked me.

"Both." I said. "I could create a new TV show about people creating new toys. You'd watch that, right?"

The general consensus of the room was a yes and I waited for another question.

"Would you rather have a magic carpet that flies or a see-through submarine?" An older girl asked.

"Magic carpet." I replied quickly. "Just so me and Eves can do that scene from Aladdin.... I already know the words.... I can show you the woooooooooorld."

The room giggles at my hammy, over the top version of A Whole New World, well, the line from it and another question was quickly asked by another boy.

"Would you rather be able to control fire or water?" He asked.

"Now that's a good question but I think it would have to be water." I said with a slight nod. "With water, you can cool yourself down when you feel like a sweaty Betty, plus if there was ever a big fire, you could go whoosh and put it out in seconds. Plus if there's someone you don't like, you can wait for them to step outside their house and get them all wet. Not that I'm saying you should do that, you should all be nice to each other."

Dodging bullets there. The last thing I needed was someone going and lumping a bucket of water over someone they don't like. The angry letters I'd get!

"Would you rather have a tail that can’t grab things or wings that can’t fly?" Someone asked.

I laughed out loud at that one myself, what an absolute brilliant question.

"Amazing question." I started with an approving nod. "I think I gotta go with wings that don't fly. I think people might think I'm an angel or something with angel powers and wouldn't be mean to me, even though they're just wings."

I waited to get another question.

"Would you rather eat a whole raw onion or a whole lemon?" A boy asked.

"Onion, no doubt." I replied. "I absolutely love onions, love raw onions. Evie thinks they're horrible but I love raw onions, so I'd sit there and chomp down on an onion if I can cut it up first. Don't think I can do it if I had to munch it like an apple though."

I glanced at the time once more.

"I think guys and girls, I have time for a couple more questions." I told them.

I got a sigh of sadness coming back through at me, which made me sad inside but I knew these guys needed to get back to class. I watched as more hands went in to the air.

"Would you rather have eyes that change colour depending on your mood or hair that changes colour depending on the temperature?" An older boy asked me.

"Gotta be the eyes." I said with a smile. "I wouldn't want my hair to turn like purple whenever it got cold. I'd look proper funny then."

The teacher selected another student.

"Would you rather eat broccoli flavoured ice cream or meat flavoured cookies?" The girl asked.

"Meat flavoured cookies, definitely meat flavoured cookies." I replied right away. "I don't like broccoli at all, I love ice cream but broccoli, nooooooooooooooo, so bad."

I really couldn't stand the stuff, I mean really couldn't, but again, one of those differences with me and Eves, she loves the stuff, like how? Why? It's broccoli

"Guys, I got time for one more question and you lot need to get back and fill that edge with knowledge." I told them all.

As expected a plethora of hands fired in to the air and the teacher picked one out, causing the others to groan loudly.

"Would you rather have a house with trampoline floors or a house with aquarium floors?" A girl asked.

"Trampoline." I said quickly. "Imagine how quickly I could move around the house if all the floors were bouncy? I could like bounce all the way to where I was going in a few jumps."

I smiled widely, knowing my next thing I said would disappoint people.

"Right guys and girls, it's time for me to get going." I said sadly.

As expected, a groan came back in my direction.

"But don't worry." I said with a reassuring grin. "We'll do this again real soon. Make sure you watch me wrestle on Sunday."

A few short goodbyes later, the screen was black and the kids were off to class. It was good to try and give someone else a boost, God knows we all need it at this point. It was time to focus, to focus on one man and one man only, Jack Washington.




The scene opens inside the Staggs Dungeon. The camera spins around the walls decorated with memorabilia of the Staggs family, their trainees, as well as championships won, and pictures. The camera spin to the ring to show me standing in the middle of the ring, the SCW World Heavyweight Championship over my shoulder. I look around the empty building as the camera moves in a little.

"Alright people." I say with a smile on my face. "Thanks for joining me in a ring where on Sunday, I'll be back in action."

I point to the ring canvas.

"First off, massive thank you to you fellas who own this place for not only letting me stand here and have a chat, but for letting us have a few shows here." I say with an appreciative nod. "It's been a tough time and honestly, most of us are running out of places to stand and have a chat with you guys about upcoming matches. It's all fun and games when you hear you're staying in a luxury hotel, but after a few months, kinda run out of places to sit and have a chin wag."

It was true, how many more promos could I do from the bar? It's going back to the days where that fella Matthew Kennedy used to do every promo from a hotel room and shut the laptop to finish as a full stop. Strange days.

"So I had a word with the good people I know and got to come here early to have a chat." I say with a wave of my finger. "I know Vegas has opened up a bit but I'm a cautious bloke after spending best part of a year sick."

I knew I was getting off track so it was time to get it back on track.

"Anyways. What a mad few months it's been." I comment. "Not just the outside world but in our own little world, in our wrestling world. I've been a champion for a while now, and I've done all I can to keep driving this division, I've taken on everyone who's stepped up, I've taken on and beaten everyone who has gone the open contract route and I've been proud of that. I know you can sit there and look through the eyes of Mark Cross and how he saw it, I've been beating people who had to jump at an open challenge because they wasn't at that level. It was one way to look at it, but I saw it as a challenge, keep things exciting. Now Jack Washington has jumped up to be the next one in line, but for some reason, Jack Washington doing that stick in my throat."

Realistically, there was no difference between an open challenge and someone stepping up and Jack giving himself this title match, but for some reason, it got on my last nerve.

"I think I know why it got on my nerves Jack, well a couple of reasons." I confidently put across. "One, this has been the plan for you since that hand grabbed hold of whatever was swinging about the ring and you heard that bell go ding ding ding! And secondly, you never had the Jacobs to come and walk to that ring, or stand face to face with me and say you want a go at this."

I run my hand over the SCW World Heavyweight championship.

"I believe a lot can be said about a person when it comes to them wanting a title." I say with bowed head. "I mean you look at the other side, people like Christina, people like Jessie Salco, they don't have a desire for gold, they have a thirst for it, like they must have a title to boost themselves, not cause they're the best for the job, they have no care about the fact there are better people than them about to lead, they are just thirsty. Then you get the entitled, sadly like Alicia Lukas, I'm a big fan of Alicia, but she sees that title and must have it, don't wanna sit there and build herself, it's just a gimme, gimme, gimme way, but the difference between them and you, they call out champions, you try and sneak in the backdoor. That's cowardly."

I had a huge dislike of people who did that and not man up.

"That puts you on a low level Jack." I say in a serious tone. "You could have at any point said you wanted a shot at me and you'd have got it. You didn't need to book yourself in this match, you coulda did what Griffin did and put your name on one of those open contracts for a huge show main event, you coulda walked to that ring and told me that's what you was gonna do and you'd have left this ring I'm standing in right now with at least a little of my respect. This feels cheap to me. I don't like cheap mate, I like a bit of face to face interaction, just so I can respect my opponent."

Win or lose, I wanted to always be in a ring with someone I respected. Yes, there was some opponents who might not have been on my level that I have faced, but at least I had respect for the way they've handled their business when it came to me.

"Have you ever heard of the phrase crawl before you can walk? Or walk before you run?" I ask. "Well this is one of those cases Jack. Cause last week, you got your arse handed to ya by a bloke who speaks to plant life. This is seriously a case of you running head first in to something, when a dirty great Mexican fella showed ya last week that you've barely started walking just yet. You've gone right, I just want that World title, I wanna beat Ben Jordan, I wanna shock the world, and try grab that belt and alter the face of SCW. I get that, but you must feel like a right bellend to think your chances have improved after that shambles last week. Let's be honest, it was the worst possible thing you coulda done. You lost to the bloke who looks like he'll be challenging for a lower title, then there's you who steps up to try and take a higher belt a week after losing to the number one contender to the Internet title. Do you see my point here Jack? Do you get it a little bit? You're not ready for this and you've let ego push you through and in to this match instead of sitting there thinking about building yourself in to someone I can sit and fear. If you would have won last week, I would have been sitting here taking you a little bit more seriously. I know how good Vinnie is and if you would have got past him, it would have been the perfect build up to trying to get your hands on me, and I would have been like hold on a minute, this fella can pull off a shock here. Truth is though, you lost to Senor Vinnie. It doesn't bode well for you."

I was speaking the truth there, if he would have beat Vinnie, I would have absolutely taken it more seriously, I'd have been believing a shock could be on the card.

"You can sit and say it was a DQ and don't mean a thing, you seem like that kinda guy who would use that one." I say slightly judgemental. "But the fact is, you couldn't put Senor Vinnie away Jack, and you're not gonna put me away, you're not gonna get this belt from my grip."

I smile as I tap my championship belt with my right hand.

"DQ or not, you lost. You heard that commentary line if you watched it back, said Vinnie clearly had the win before the DQ happened and I agree" I had to remind him. "Game over, you lost and trying to get hold of my belt is gonna be a whole lot tougher."

I could feel that confidence of a champion flow through me, I could feel a bounce in my step, I could feel myself feel like a champion again.

"I admit, I don't know if that loss has helped or hindered my feelings about this match." I say with a smile. "I mean it was obvious as all hell you was gonna give yourself this shot and I honestly sat there and asked myself if the fans would even wanna see this match. I mean according to Eves, you had The GO Gym's top new prospect on your side for Blast From The Past and you couldn't get through that, you had a top opponent last week and couldn't put him down. I dunno how much credibility you even have coming in to this one. I doubted long before you lost last week, that people would wanna see you face me, and if you'd have beat the Mexican, you'd have got people interested so I think people are less interested in this one this week than they would have been before then, but don't worry, I'll get their interest, it's what I do."

Yes, that confidence was there and hitting every part of me from head to toe.

"I admit, I had a ton of motivational issues coming in to this one Jack." I admit out loud. "I wasn't up for it at all, it was more of a sigh than thinking yeah, chance to take on someone new, the sigh became a groan after last week, and then I found out about Griffin Hawkins putting his name on a contract for Summer XXXTreme, and that got the blood flowing again, that got a smile on my face, that got me jumping up and down with excitement and I was probably guilty of looking forward to something, I was making that mistake of putting the cart before the horse and looking at future challengers over what's sitting right there in front of me. Then it hit me, this is gonna motivate me to get through you. Griffin Hawkins, just by putting his name on a contract is driving me forward because that is something the fans wanna see, that is something people will pay to watch. There's not a doubt in my mind that the fans are thinking of that. They've already skipped past the fact that come Sunday, Jack Washington gets his shot. They're already thinking about Ben Jordan defending against Griffin Hawkins, they're urging me on to make light work of you and move on to something they wanna see."

I can't lie, I'm much more excited about Griffin Hawkins than Jack Washington. I know the fans are too. Since Sunday, I've seen the fans explode about me and Griffin and how we can turn it in to a match of the year candidate. They ain't wrong.

"My halo might be a little faded at the moment Jack, but I'm still gonna wanna give the fans what they want." I say firmly. "And what they want is Ben Jordan Vs Griffin Hawkins, they don't want a chancer like you Jack, taking on Griffin. I think Griffin would much rather get in the ring with me again than taking you on for my championship so I will give those people what they want, I will give Griffin what he wants. You're just a little bump in the road for me at this point that I just gotta sneak over and I got all the confidence in the world in myself that I will get past you. It wasn't a well hidden secret this match was gonna happen, everyone knew ego over common sense would prevail so as long as you're sitting there thinking about how you're gonna wrestle my belt from me, for weeks, I've been thinking about how I'm gonna stop you from doing just that."

Every opponent is different for me, I never paint everyone with the same brush.

"So I've watched your successes Jack." I start. "I watched your failures and I'm gonna add another failure to your list. I got my plan and know exactly how to make it happen, have no fear about that. The last week, my mind has been focused on you. I don't like being that guy who rips the young talent down, I don't like being the guy who stops young talent rising to the top, I dislike people who do that but for you Jack, this is much too much, much too soon. I would stake a lot on the fact that you have future champion written all over you, a hell of a lot, because you're not without talent there, there's bags of it that even the blind can see mate, but this is one hell of a step up to whatever you've gone against before, one hell of a step up and it's a step your little legs just can't take. It's just a bit too steep for you at this point."

Sadly, I meant that. Jack Washington is the future of SCW, he will have my championship at some point in his career, I can't speak highly enough of his talent, but he's not ready for this, this is a jump off a cliff hoping there's water below.

"Anyway Jack, I think I'm outta time here, so I will leave you to have a little think about everything I've said. I hope you don't feel too disappointed when I walk out of here with my championship belt." I say seriously. "You may very well be the future of SCW if you stick with it, but the future isn't right now for you. I wish you all the luck in the world, but I don't think that's gonna help ya too much if I'm completely honest."

I shrug as I look directly down the camera.

"Right you lovely lot, it's been a whole lot of fun, but it's time to get me skates on." I say with a smile. "You make sure you join us on Sunday from this brilliant place, The Staggs Dungeon, and I'll promise you the best match of the night."

I wink and nod.

"Laters people."

The camera fades to black.

20
 It was meant to be the night dreams were made, was meant to be where the cream rose to the top and I was that cream, or so I thought. Into The Void was meant to be a whole lot of special for either Mark Cross or me. We were at the top, we busted our bollocks on coming up with entertaining promotional work to get people interested and I think we did that. We even gave you a match you was expecting, something special, something out of the ordinary, we showed you what two champions can do. We showed you why we were both champions. Win or lose, I thought I was coming out of there proud as punch, instead, the whole thing got pissed on by a little Irish leprechaun and his wicked witch of Dublin.

Can you tell I'm still a little cheesed off?

It was meant to be a night to celebrate a double champion, didn't matter if it was me or Mark Cross. One of us shoulda been buzzing at that point. If it was Crossy than I woulda been happy for him, cause he beat me and I've been on a roll lately, but the fact that neither of us got that moment in the sun left a very bitter taste in my mouth.

A bitter taste and a sore head.

I walked through the curtain at Into The Void and instantly looked around the backstage area for O'Malley, and those goons he had. My eyes were blurry, I could barely see a thing, whatever the hell he hit me with was not fun. My vision was drifting in and out, everything was a going from black to blurry within seconds, but my eyes searched for a member of SCU staff.

I've always been a go with the flow kinda guy, I never wanted to know too much, I always believed the natural reaction was a better seller than standing there practicing a shocked face in the mirror. I thought that winning would give me a chance to go to SCU a week later as their champion. I thought I'd have the chance to stand in front of the SCU guys and say I did it and offered them the same chances as I've offered every SCW person since I've become champion. Take on everyone and anyone really, wrestle for both companies on the same day to defend both belts but I knew as soon as I saw that woman walk out on the ramp that it wasn't to be. I expected that it was all or nothing when it came to SCU and I ended up with nothing. I thought that maybe O'Malley would walk out and face me man to man, and then I felt it, I felt that crash against my skull. I didn't know what it was but I knew whatever it was, it wasn't meant to hurt like that. It was an unprotected shot, it felt like a shoot, like a screw job.

"Either he screwed that up or it was a legit shot to put me out." I remember commenting as I looked around. "Are easier ways to do things."

I knew when I hit the ground I wasn't gonna hear finish him in my sense of the words. SCU had pulled a fast one on me there and then I thought at the time as my knees hit the canvas and another shot rained in on me. Then here I was, in the backstage area, not recognising anyone, barely seeing past my own nose, until Evie stood in front of me, her hands on my shoulders.

"Ben?" Her Australian accent felt thicker than usual. "Are you alright?"

I remembered that she had her match coming up next, as soon as she was told to leave, she had to. I knew there was a break, a promo, maybe two and she had to be gone. I couldn't let her worry about me, but the words just fell out of my mouth, like I had no control over them.

"I think he and SCU actually tried to end me there." I said without control. "Whatever that was, was a real shot, there was no holding back."

Through my blurry eyes, I could see Evie's eye narrow,  her teeth grit, I could literally feel the anger pulsate from her body to mine.

"I'll fucking kill him, and that woman, and whoever came up with this fucking idea in the SCU office!" She said through gritted teeth.

I had to get her focused on what she had doing.

"I'm alright." I lied. "As we say back home, it'll all come out in the wash. When my head stops wobbling, I'll get to the bottom of this whole mess. Right now, I need you to focus on you, cause you need to go out there and win that Bombshell World title. I got my one, time to be the non power, power couple. It's your time to bring that title home where it belongs."

I could see through blurry eyes that she was standing with her hands on her hips, not overly impressed with my words. I think at that point, she'd turned from the Evie you see on television to the Evie I see at home all the time.

"Honestly babe." I started "I'm fine, just a little rattled and unexpected. Thought I'd be sitting here with two belt without using stupid phrases that seem to be popular on Twitter, something like Benny Two Belts, cause that's just cheesy as hell. Get out there and bring back that belt."

I knew she wasn't happy, but at least I knew she was listening to me. She looked past me as she saw someone wave her towards the curtain. She leaned forward just to give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Good luck." I said, barely seeing her.

I barely caught her nod as she walked past me and I turned to look in roughly the direction she would have walked to. I listened for her music to play and walk through those curtains before I stepped to the nearest wall, leaning my left arm on to it and my head leaning towards it. My mind had officially turned to goo at that point, everything feels like I'm missing so much. I heard Andrea's music and had to turn to the big screen, I had to watch my wife eventually go on and win the SCW Bombshell World championship. My head wasn't in it but I needed to.... sit down.

My body slid down the wall and I landed firmly on my arse, not gonna lie, it was a bit of a heavy bump that left a bruise in an awkward place. The championship slumped from my shoulder to my lap as people walked across me. I just remember a few minutes in to the match, someone sat next to me.

"Hey prat." The southern tone of Sam Marlowe said to me.

My head turned to look at her, seeing her for the first time in a while.

Sam had opted to step away from the ring for a little while. I don't blame her, we all need a little break from time to time.

"Hey Ginge." I replied. "How's life?"

"Meh." Was her surprising reply. "How about you?"

"Well I got a thumping headache." I replied. "Not sure what the hell is going on, my eyes don't like to work properly at the moment and did I mention my head hurts?"

"You did." Sam replied. "Maybe you should go and see a doctor, you could have gotten y'all a concussion or something."

I pointed at the screen to show Evie and Andrea wrestling.

"Can't." I said. "Promised Eves I'll be there after the match if she wins. Don't wanna let her down."

Sam nodded with understanding and we ended up watching the rest of the match with me slumped against the wall, looking like I'd had a heavy night out on the town. We watched as Evie once again became The Bombshell World Champion, my face lighting up with pride as Sam helped me to my feet so I could keep my promise to her.

I might not have been all there in the head but kept my promise to Evie and joined her in the ring and for a few moments everything was rosey for a few days. Then I learned of the SCU card and I was apprehensive but still rosey. I got up on Sunday morning thinking about that battle royal at Underground. I was fully focused on that, then that changed quite quickly.

Things became a lot less rosey just like that.




It was about seven in the morning on Sunday just gone when I sat in the living room area of the hotel room in the Saxon Hotel, usually this would be a Sunday off, but I was working for SCU actually in the hotel itself. There was no travelling, just wander down to the convention center of the hotel and do your thing. Gianni Di Luca was on the ball this week, getting in touch with us all early in the week to let us know what to expect from the day. Taping starting at eleven, so be there by ten to be told the running order. I knew I was in the headline match, so there wasn't much to do for a lot of the day, other than sitting in the crowd and watching the other matches. Being at the convention center helped, SCW wrestlers would wander in through the day to watch the matches. There was a lot of SCW wrestlers on the show, all the male champions - No women allowed and Evie knew all she could do was enjoy a Ben-less day, but I had hours till I had to arrive.

Evie was still asleep but I had been up for about two hours, sleep hadn't been my friend over the last month or so, things were starting to drag me down. I was tired of going to sleep thinking about promos I had to do, matches I had to be in. Even at seven in the morning, hours before I needed to show up in SCU, my mind was already thinking forward. Jack Washington had made it more than clear that he was gonna go for my championship, my mind was already thinking about how to get rid of that little issue when it was his turn to book a show.

I wasn't stupid enough to rule out the fact that he, like Mark Cross, has probably been planning his promo to sell the match for weeks, and honestly, my mind was focused on him till I got the alert on my phone about this weeks card. Jack, whenever his show is booked, would have to wait.

My hand gripped around my phone as I looked down at it, seeing the group message sent out to all SCW wrestlers to announce the card with a link. I quickly clicked on the link and wasn't expecting to see my name at the top of the card.

"Ben Jordan and Kate Steele Vs Evie Jordan and Teddy Warren?" I questioned with a tone of disbelief in my tone. "In the opener?"

My eyes fell on the word opener in bold in brackets. I don't think my eyes could believe what they were seeing if I'm honest with myself. There was no talk with the new champion Evie to open the show as tradition, just instantly sticking the two top champions in the opener.

"Christina's lost her marbles." I said with a shake of my head. "And if this card continues like this, probably lost a lot of people's respect."

My eyes continued to look down the card to see that she'd booked us in a segment AFTER our match. No one does that but this little fake monarch had let the power go to her head.

"Unbelievable Jeff." I muttered to myself. "Seriously unbelievable."

I ran my fingers through my hair, I was numb, I seriously couldn't believe it as I scrolled down the card more to see the four way match.

"Now she's booking contender matches?" I said in shock. "She's actually offering up shots at my belt to either Bill Barnhart, Kris Ryans, Griffin Hawkins and O'Malley? Woman's gone bonkers."

I wasn't mad at the people in the match but I couldn't help but wonder if this was cleared or if she actually thinks she's running this company. It got worse as I saw the tag match she booked herself.

"Oh this woman is taking the piss!" I said to myself. "To get herself a future shot at Evie's belt, she's gone in a tag team match. The selfish, egotistical mother fuc..."

I was too disappointed to even finish that word. She had been trying so hard to show people she's a good person, but a leopard don't change it spots and a zebra don't change their stripes. This was the real Christina and I lost every ounce of respect I had for that woman. She's made a right pigs ear of this card, her true colours started bleeding through, and that was confirmed by the main event.

"Oh what a shocker, her missus is in a title match against three with poor win loss records, while she spins the wheel." I said disappointed. "Lemme guess, rigged wheel with rubbish like You need a ten count pin for Seleana to lose, if you pin one of the others, Seleana gets the title. This is so bent, might as well just give Seleana the belt now cause this is fixed, all in her favour."

I shook my head with disappointment.

"Absolutely no respect for the woman anymore." I said with a disappointed look. "This company is going to hell at this point. What with SCU able to get involved in an SCW match and this rubbish, throw in Jack Washington about to hand himself something after a few matches. I think this has finished me off."

I knew I needed to get out of the room, so I looked in on Evie, who was still fast asleep. Bear laid at the bottom of the bed on the floor, so I took the chance to go for a walk. I stepped out of the room and man was I peeved, so I did the English thing, I went to the nearest boozer, which happened to be a few flights of stairs up and in to the rooftop pool bar. I walked directly to the bar and quickly sat down.

"Pint of..." I trailed off, it was just after seven in the morning and I was working later. "You know what? Make it a cup of coffee."

The server nodded at me before moving towards the coffee station, but a voice behind me caught my attention.

"Spoken like a man who got out the bed the wrong side." The voice said to me.

I turned around to see Max Burke standing behind me. Max and I had known each other for years, going all the way back to Canada when I was training. He came from a legendary wrestling family and I honestly had no idea he had been near me for a long time under a GRIME mask.

"Got out the wrong side and walk smack bang in to a wall it feels like." I said as a pointed to a seat next to me.

Max nodded his head and took the seat next to me as the coffee was placed in front of me.

"Actually, I think I got out of bed the wrong side weeks ago and never got back in." I explained. "Everything seems to be going a bit Pete Tong."

I looked at Max's reaction and knew he must have been a little rusty with the Cockney conversation.

"A bit wrong." I explained.

Max nodded, he knew the strains of being a wrestler and more so being a champion. I was talking to GRIME's Nightmare champion after all. He knew the stresses that comes with being a long term champion.

"In a professional sense?" He asked.

It was a tough one to answer, but I liked Max, he had a way of being sincere, yet somewhat spooky at the same time. I don't mean like he's gonna pop up out the closet or something when ya asleep. He just always had a calm measured demeanour

"Both." I admitted. "Personal level, everyone's bugged off and left just me and Eves here. Sammi isn't about anymore, Amy's not about anymore, Jamie's not about anymore, even Fenris and Aron and buggered off back to the motherland or fatherland, whatever it is, plus a family pet died. We've been in here for months."

"That my friend is the thing about people." Max started. "Some people come, some people go, as long as they stay in contact, they will always be about. Once you get out of here, things will become a lot better."

Max was probably right. Once I got back to some kind of normality, maybe things would be different.

"You're right." I said reassured. "I think being around everyone has finally started to get to me a bit."

"And what troubles you on a professional level?" Max asked.

"What happened at Into The Void got on my tits if I'm honest. I didn't know what was going on. I mean O'Malley claimed after I wasn't an SCU wrestler, but how did he win the bloody belt without me being signed there? He shouldn't have even got a crack at me, briefcase or not, till I was signed down. Just a bloody loophole."

"He's a weak champion." Max said with a tinge of disappointment to his tone. "He won't hold it too long, he can not connect with a crowd."

"Then there's the card this week." I said with a nod. "Christina's stacked it in her favour so much, friends and family. I'm not a mug, I know why Christina's pals are against the champions in a mixed tag match, one of them pick up the win, they'll be bleating about pinning the champ and demanding title shots. I didn't come over on a banana boat. The main is stacked for her missus to win. This show is disappointing, and we've still got Jack Washington's card to come."

"She probably slipped in to one of her hundred personalities." Max commented on Christina's state of mind. "How do you know Jack Washington will do that?"

"Mentioned it in a promo." I told Max. "And he's egotistical enough to do and deluded enough to believe he really did earn it. Like an O'Malley syndrome. I'll happily go for an open challenge thing, but something ain't sitting right with this."

"You won't lose to him." Max said with confidence.

"I know, but something just ain't sitting right with these matches." I said with a shrug. "I've actually reached the end of my rope at this point."

"Meaning?" Max asked.

"Meaning I'm ready to jack this all in." I replied. "If Evie didn't win that belt, I would have honestly showed up next week and given the title back, thanked everyone and gone home to Maine. Honestly, this company is starting to fade with things like this. The whole thing is mad. It's like everyone here feels the need to have a title belt. I got Griffin Hawkins failing against me, but it's all about the titles for him, same with Wolfslair. Alicia pops back in and instantly, I want the title, Keira Fisher spends her life begging for a Bombshell title shot. You've got Christina stacking odds so she and Roxi can try and get a title shot. Even Kate Steele has been hinting at it while she's a champion."

"Times have changed Ben." Max said confidently. "People feel they need a championship to brush over their talent. We are old school, we have the talent to work as they did way back when. We're the people who enhance a championship, rather than a title belt enhancing a talent. All these people need the attention on a championship, because they have little talent to fall back on. For people like us, we take these championship belts and make them mean something. Can you honestly see Jack Washington taking the belt off you and people giving a damn?"

Max was right, and I couldn't deny it, people rarely react well to people with a handful of matches leading a company.

"Should he book himself against you and somehow get lucky, who will take a man with no history, seriously?" Max asked. "He is young, he doesn't see how this will damage his career rather than make it better, but first, you need to focus your mind of the tasks at hand. Tonight, we battle, that's your main focus. When that is said and done, focus on Teddy Warren. Don't worry about your wife, she will not be focusing on you, she will only have eyes for Kate. When that is done, focus on Jack Washington. Muddling thoughts will not help and will make your urge to leave stronger."

I couldn't help but sigh, Max was talking sense but it was hard to let the words sink in.

"You're in the ring with me tonight Ben." Max reminded me. "And I won't be playing nice. Get your focus in to tonight. Everything else will fall in to place."

Wise advice from a man who had done so much in wrestling, having lived and breathed it as a child, watching his family enter the ring.

"Thanks Max." I said as I stood up. "I appreciate the advice. I'll see you tonight in that ring. First, I better go find those tight trunks.  Just only thinking slightly ahead there."

Alas, Evie was on to me. She knew my game before I could even switch it on. She'd seen the card and by the time I got back to the room, those tight shorts were hidden. The rest of the day went well, I didn't exactly get the results I desired, but still, it was good being in the ring with some real champions.... Not you O'Malley.... but taking Max's advice, it was time to focus on the first roadblock in the way, that roadblock being Teddy Warren, and of course, my wife Evie.




A short wander around the rose garden at the base of The Saxon Hotel was needed. I've done promos from the bar, the pool, those kinda places, but I thought I'd have a stroll through the rose garden, rest me aris on a bench, with the belt over my shoulder and have a little chat with you all. Don't wanna babble on here too much because honestly, these tag promos are limiting and think I chatted too much a bit earlier. Ah well.

"Alright people." I say as I lean back on a bench.

Limited time here Ben, don't prat about.

"I never thought for a second I'd have to sit here and talk about a match like this. I didn't think there was a muppet on earth who would book such a thing, but apparently there is." I say with a shake of my head. "You Christina..."

I wave my finger.

"You are indeed a muppet if you think I couldn't see though you like a window." I say still waving my finger. "Kate and Teddy are your friends now, although it wasn't too long ago they were trying to rip you off to the point you also have a side job in a casino, but they're now your mates. Now you think I wouldn't work it out but I wasn't born last night, I know what this is about. This is all about getting your friends future title shots and before you sit there and say no, stop, because the lie detector in my nut is already going off. You book me and Eves on either side so if one of your friends score a pin over us, they can claim they beat a champion and should get a title shot."

I put my hands on the side of my head.

"Why do you think people won't see that bollocks a mile off?" I say as I shake my head. "It's obvious you wanna give your missus a title, give yourself a Bombshell title shot, and one of these two a claim to a title shot, plus someone else a shot at me. Lady, two things, one, you're worse than Oprah with these giveaways."

I hold up two fingers.

"And two." I start seriously. "This has to be the worst card I've ever been on. No thought behind it, just help ya friends and try and throw a title on your wife and make it all about you. I have no respect for you at all anymore Christina. Not a slight on your Roxi, but I seriously bloody hope Alicia and Andrea smack Christina to bits."

At this point, I don't even feel guilty for saying that, hell, I had to stop myself short of saying a trained chimp coulda put out a better card.

"I might be opening SCW's worst card in history, but your plan Christina ain't gonna work." I say firmly. "Your friends can only claim they should get a shot if they pin me or Eves."

I shake my head.

"It ain't happening." I say honestly. "Here's the thin point of things. I ain't giving a monkeys about teaming with Kate Steele, but I sure as hell hope Evie lays claim to Kate's belt if Evie pins her, oh yes, loophole Christina, works both ways. I honestly have no desire to team with Kate, I never have, never wanted to, really don't wanna right about now either. To me Kate, you're not in the match, you're just there, my only thoughts is Teddy Warren."

Realistically, my only thoughts were getting this rubbish over with, and that segment booked that I needed to do on the show and wait for the predictable announcement that Jack Washington is jumping the line.

"I don't really care if I beat you or not Teddy." I say seriously. "I couldn't give a rat's arse about the fact I haven't lost this year, ten on the spin or whatever it is. I mean in real matches, SCW matches, not that bollocks O'Malley pulled off, I mean face to face."

Got the belt but he's no champion.

"I don't care about what records I have, I don't have, I don't even mind about this right." I say as I look at the SCW World Heavyweight championship over my shoulder. "I'm frustrated Teddy, I'm wound up with so much dodgy stuff going on around here, so much dodgy stuff, not even hidden, just dodgy. I'm wound up with all the cry babies who must have title shots, I'm wound up with people showing up and talking belts. Wrestling is winding me up to the point on Sunday, I don't even feel like wrestling. I'm at the point where wrestling doesn't matter anymore. No longer is working with people outside people with a titles a thing, no longer is helping our business grow a thing, it's all about greed and titles and I'm sick of it. I'm actually at the point I don't wanna call myself a wrestler."

It was true. I started to feel like being a wrestler for SCW was watered down by title hungry, selfish people.

"But I am a fighter and fight I will do come Sunday." I say with a serious look on my face. "I'm a champion, not a thirsty for gold person like we have in SCW. I'm a champion so I'll act like it and I'll give the fans my time. Personally, I don't give a damn at the result, but you're not putting me down, and I can tell you this for free, Kate's not putting my wife down. If I'm gonna win this match, I'll be making sure I'm putting you down."

I honestly didn't care less about this, but Evie or I will be getting the pin, even if it means the other losing.

"Now Evie." I start with a smile. "I had this big old speech and stuff about how I was gonna win cause you know, it's what we're gotta do. I had this big speech about all the bad, bad things I was gonna do, be all manly about it and everything, but I came across a little problem with saying all that, and you'd have loved it, was a big speech and everything. It was as long as ya arm, this arm in fact."

I point to my left arm and look at my watch.

"But I'm out of time. I got my timing's wrong and yeah, don't have the time to talk about that, so yeah, bad Evie! I will beat you, I am the boss, I am the man, I will win! Blah, blah, blah." I say with a smile. "Anyway you lovely lot, really am out of time. Again, Christina, really bad card, but you've certainly made me appreciate Mark Ward and Christian Underwood's booking, I mean really appreciate it. Anyway, almost on borrowed time so I'll see you all Sunday."

I wink.

"Laters people."

The camera fades

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