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Climax Control Archives / Building Bridges
« on: March 13, 2020, 06:19:33 PM »
Frustration is something I've had to deal with a lot in my life for many reasons, but it was usually my fault, but this time, I was feeling a little more innocent. Sure there was some blame that was mine, maybe I overstepped something but to treat me like a leper was a bit much to me, it was uncalled for.
Let me give you a little back story on this, cause I know a lot of you are focused on your own thing and don't really care about too much unless you're forced to. To quote Madness, my girls mad at me... Well, it's Evie so she's pissed off rather than mad. I was the one behind entering her in Blast From The Past, yes, this guy here, so that annoyed the hell out of her, but have I been given a chance to explain? Have I boll... fairy cakes! Not a chance because in Evie's eyes, I over stepped, not true, and if she ever let me explain, she might see that.
If that wasn't bad enough, Brooke Saxon books me in a drinking contest with my old mucker Mickey Carroll, someone booked ME, I didn't say oi love, I'm going out on the piss, someone booked ME. But that's by fault too apparently. Another reason to look down on me, so here I was, banished to somewhere else, basically let's not communicate for reasons beyond your control, let just stay in this argument till I feel you've been punished enough - Oh and while ya at it, cause you've had a few, you ain't coming home tonight.
Yes, that was my Sunday, so at 6am on Monday morning, this was me....
6am, Monday morning
I've woke up in some strange places before in some very odd situations, but to be woke up with a bottle of water being placed next to my head as I laid on a floor somewhere was a bit of a new one on me, the thump of the bottle on the floor causing me to open my eyes and look at the clear liquid in the bottle. I should have been feeling like hell after the night before, me and Mickey went back to me and Mickey in our teens and early twenties, but we're older now and some of us can't do what we used to do, by some of us, I mean me. I can't smash things back the way I used to but I oddly felt alright as my eyes fixated on the water. I should have been hungover as all hell, but I felt good until the realization hit me that I wasn't laying in a bed somewhere, I was on a floor.
"Thank you water fairy." I said as I blinked rapidly, sitting up.
"Water fairy?" Fenris voice could be heard saying with a confused tone behind me. "What the fuck?"
I wanted to make a my my Evie, your voice has changed joke at that point, but I knew that if that one ever got out, it would be another thing she'd hold against me. I took me a few seconds to figure out who that voice belonged to.
"Kristjan?" I said as I forced my body to sit up.
"Well it ain't ya mother." Fenris voice said as he stood behind me.
I tilted my head back as I looked upside down at him, shaking my head.
"What the hell am I doing here?" I asked him.
Fenris reached down, his hand reaching towards me and I put my right hand up, grabbing the bottle of water with my left hand as he pulled me to my feet. I spotted a sofa next to me and swung myself around, sitting down on the sofa and looking towards him as I spun the lid off the water bottle. I took a long gulp, it was heaven to a dehydrated through alcohol man, I think you all know what I mean by that as my eyes laid themselves upon Fenris.
"Ok, I got a million questions, but think I'll go with the obvious one." I said as I looked at him. "What am I doing here?"
Fenris pushed his long hair from his face and pulled a nearby chair towards him, spinning it around to sit backwards on it, his elbows resting on the back of the chair. I admit, I felt like a school boy about to get yelled at by the principle at this point, but the opposite came from him.
"Just saving you from a fight with your wife." He said with an almost sympathetic tone.
"She made you do it, didn't she?" I replied with a smile.
It's not like Fenris didn't have sympathetic moments in his life, at times, he was the opposite of what you saw on the camera, but I knew just looking at him that this wasn't one of those times.
"Yeah." Fenris told me. "All I was doing was looking at the end of your drinking contest, you was passed out, Mickey was passed out, and she walked by, next thing I knew, I had a house guest."
"I hope Aron didn't mind." I said to him, not remember the night before.
"I'm on his shit list so he isn't here." Fenris said with a shrug.
My mind tried to drift back, trying to figure out what he meant. Like most men who drink a fair bit, the night before was like a broken mirror, just ripped in shards with no clear picture, but often a trigger word or some would take you back to the time before. Something in the back of my head made me think I spotted this on the television while I was drinking. That's another thing alcohol blots out at times for me, even forget the stuff I did sober too and I was fairly sober watching Aron on the screen. I couldn't remember exactly but I knew Fenris, I knew his concerns leading up to this, so I took a shot in the dark.
"You got involved in his match and now he's not happy." I said, taking a punt. "Am I close?"
Fenris almost scoffed without actually saying a word as he looked at me and at that point, I knew I had hit the nail on the head.
"You gotta have some faith in him." I said to Fenris. "From what I know, he's been training for a long, long time, more than most without ever having the intention of getting in the ring. Now he is, play cheerleader, he might surprise ya. He's already had better success in match one than I did."
"He shouldn't be in the ring." Fenris said to me with a harsh tone.
"Nor should half the people in SCW." I said with a slight laugh. "But he's better than most of them. Besides, maybe he's just trying to do what you did. Go win Blast From The Past. It's launched a lot of careers, got people's eyes on them. He might have a good chance against the champ."
"You're the champ." Fenris reminded me, causing a smile to break out on my face.
"Like I said, he's got a good chance." I replied. "Speaking of things I got no chance with. I should probably go talk to my wife and get this whole thing sorted."
Fenris smirked at me, causing the feeling of confusion to run through my body as I looked up at him.
"I wouldn't rush." He told me. "She's out doing what you did last night."
"Drinking with Mickey?" I joked as a smile crossed my face.
"With Dani, Charley and Kenz." Fenris told me. "So she might be gone a while."
I raised my eyebrow at Fenris as I looked across at him.
"How do you know these things?" I asked.
"It's a social media world, we just all live in it." Fenris said with a smirk. "But I am meeting Daniel for a run, so you can come with or..."
That was my cue to stand up. I felt fine but running at this time, nah, you're alright mate.
"I should probably get going." I said as I stretched out, my muscles trying to stretch in to place. "Thanks for putting up with me."
"You forgetting something?" Fenris asked.
"Well you ain't getting a goodbye kiss." I told him with a joking tone. "I appreciate the floor and all, but not that much."
Fenris jetted a thumb over his shoulder towards something on the table, causing me to smile as my eyes fell upon the SCW World Heavyweight championship belt. I quickly moved towards it, spotting a cheese head next to it and looking back at Fenris.
"That's yours too." He informed me, much to my surprise.
I picked up the cheese head and held it out to him.
"How? Where? Why?" I asked but Fenris just shrugged his shoulders at me.
I picked up the World championship, placing it over my shoulder as I looked at him and picked up the cheese head, tilting the tip as one would wearing a brimmed hat.
"I bid you good day sir." I said in the most upper class voice I could before walking out.
I knew I was about to go and fight a battle, part of me hoped the alcohol would soften her or let her sleep enough for me to figure out a game plan, but if not, it was time to end the squabbling one way or the other... or so I thought.
It was around 7am by the time I'd grabbed a quick cup of coffee in the hotel. I sat pondering for a while, part of me wanting to get the inevitable over and done with, the other part of me just hoping it all blows over, but people who wait for it all to blow over, often ends in divorce. I knew I had to get off my arse and get this sorted because even I was growing annoyed. I got to the point I felt I couldn't do right anymore and it was changing me. I'd stopped becoming fun loving Ben and started to become why bother Ben. I'd built myself up by the time I'd walked in to that hotel room but I was met with the sounds of silence.
"Maybe she's passed out if she was out on the lash." I told myself as I walked towards the bedroom.
Peering my head around the corner, I was met with a familiar face, the face of Bear, our dog looking up at me from the bed, but no Evie to be seen.
"Where's Evie?" I asked the dog as he looked up at me with tired eyes.
His head tilted as if to say he was gonna ask me the same thing, but quickly hopped off the bed and towards me.
"Alright, let's get you sorted." I said to Bear. "Walkies and some grub?"
Bear was out of the bedroom door before I could even turn around and we were off for a wander around York. People gathered around us, even in these worrying times, asking for pictures, for autographs, which I indeed gave them before Bear and I returned back to the hotel room an hour or so later, but still, there was no Evie to be seen. I looked at Bear with a worried look as he chowed down.
"She shouldn't be long." I said to myself. "Probably fell asleep at one of the others place. Now I have a choice."
I knew there was two ways I had to deal with Evie today, it was either shock her in to live with something harsh to get her to listen to me, or do something to make her see that I'm not a monster. Usually that would mean travel off to some place where we can be Ben and Evie Jordan, people, instead of Ben and Evie Jordan, wrestlers. Unfortunately, travel wasn't an option at this point, flights have been all sorts of messed up since COVID-19 had decided to find its way in to the world to the point many SCW stars have wondered how we're moving on to the next leg of the tour. Thankfully, we didn't have to think about this for a while, who knows what the world will look like in a month? Either way, there was no way of escaping the country right now, so I needed a plan B. I was sick of feeling like I was being treated wrong here, even more sick of not being able to explain.
For weeks she had done this to me, not let me explain anything, acting in public that we were fine, then giving me the cold witches tit in private. It pretty much felt like a sham marriage at this point and I was sick of it.
My eyes drifted to Bear.
"I'll be back in a bit boy." I told him. "If she gets back here before I do, keep her awake, this needs to get sorted as soon as, or you might have to go to two houses at Christmas."
Bear ignored me as food was under his nose. It wasn't uncommon, the boy loved to eat, but I was out of the door and setting my plan in place, if she didn't kill me before this part of the plan. It took forever to set up but it was done. The time had gotten away from me as I walked in to the hotel room a little before eleven to see the back of Evie, tossing rings on to the nearby hallway bench. I saw her body straighten up as the door clicked behind, spinning on her heels to give me yet another death stare. I was sick of them. I let a sigh go from my lungs.
"Forget it, I'm sick of this." I told her as I breezed past her and in to the living room area. "Come on boy, time for another walk."
Bear turned his head to look at me as if to say nah, I'm good, but I was hoping that comment would draw Evie in. It worked as she followed me in to the room.
"Sick of what?" Her voice said in a firm tone. "Sick of drinking contests? Sick of passing out? Sick of drunken comments?"
I had her, I knew my next line could either shock her in to reality or get me killed, but it was my shot, I had her attention properly, I had a little bit of power I knew I'd be lacking for a bit. I smiled but knew I had to put my serious game face on as I turned around and pointed.
"Sick of this shit!" I said with a firm point. "Sick of you acting like you're smelling of roses instead of alcohol and cigarettes, sick of the way you're treating me, sick of you!"
RIP Ben I thought as I looked at her face but the anger wasn't there, shock was. Maybe from me actually swearing and knowing if Despayre could see this, the swear jar would be waved in front of my face. Maybe it was the calm before the storm where I was seconds away from getting thrown out of a hotel window. I had to build on this.
"You're punishing me without giving me a chance to explain a single thing, cause you've had your head up ya own arse so long, you can't hear a word I'm saying!" I said firmly.
I didn't really mean it, but I needed to get her to listen. I was tired, drained, beat because the one person you're meant to communicate with had cut me off.
"Punishing you?" Evie snapped back. "You're the one who got me in this Blast From The Past shit that I didn't wanna be in. You're the one who got in a drinking contest with Mickey, you're the one who made comments about a taxi, you're the one who didn't pick Mickey up on comparing me to your ex, and you're the one who didn't watch my match."
"And you're the one who won't shut up and let me explain anything, because you can't see my from your high horse!" I fired back.
I knew I was either gonna get the chance to explain or I was about to be kicked square in the wotsits.
"You got five minutes." She told me as she sat down.
I could still feel the anger in her tone as Bear looked at her before looking towards me, I guess he was just as interested on what I had to say as she was.
"Frankly, I was pissed out of my skull." I told her. "But I never booked the damn drinking contest, Mickey never came up to me and asked me to do it, it was officially booked, and guess what darling? It was actually fun to sit there for a show and catch up with an old mate I haven't seen in years. You forget how many friends I don't see anymore since I moved to Canada, Cuba and America. SCU moves in different places so one of the friends I do have from many years ago, I don't see because when he's about, he's in a different city, so I will not apologize for that and if you think I will, you're barking up the wrong tree."
From Bear's reaction, he knew I might have said the wrong thing as I watched him cover his eyes with his paw. I could see Evie wanted to say something, so I fired my finger up.
"Zip your lip, you gave me time to talk, so don't interrupt." I told her. "Punishing me for something I didn't say too? Really? Snap out of it. Mickey made a comment, I was drunk, nothing was said. Never made a comment towards someone who shrugged it of? Of course you have, everyone has, you're just using that as an excuse to bitch at me some more and the taxi joke, really wanna go at me for a drunken joke that was actually funny? Hell, if that was in a sitcom, people would laugh for days, you're just being petty for that."
Bear covered both his eyes with his paws, thinking I was digging deeper and deeper.
"And didn't watch your match?" I said with a shake of my head. "I watched it last night and passed out cheering, ask for the backstage footage, I even watched it again today while I was waiting for you to appear, I watched every single move, so again, just another made up excuse for you to be mad at me. What you're really mad at is because I got you in Blast From The Past."
"No shit Sherlock!" Evie muttered as Bear looked at her, just removing one paw before his eyes moved back to me.
"Still in my five minutes so keep stoom." I told her as I put my finger to my lips. "If you'd have no been arsey to me for weeks, I would have told ya and you wouldn't have been walking around like someone pissed in your cornflakes. I got you in there because you did the same thing to me. You pushed me hard to become SCW's World Champion. I didn't really want it and you knew that, I didn't wanna have my face plastered all over the place, but you got in my ear and pushed me because how it would look for me and my career, you did that cause you saw I had more to give."
I knew this is where I had to soften up because my five minutes were running out, so I kneeled down in front of her.
"And I wouldn't change that now." I said softly. "You pushed me to be better because you knew I was fading when it came to this business, that I was happy treading water with mid card and those kinda things, but you pushed me and the truth is, I had to do the same for you."
Bear removed the paw from his eye to watch as I took Evie's hand.
"You can sit there all you want and say you were happy watching me." I told her in a calming tone. "But deep down, you missed it, I could see it and so could others and if you wanted to push me to be the best, I wanted you to be the best too. Evie Jordan Vs Roxi Johnson, it's money. You've still got it, we saw that last night, I knew you didn't wanna go out on a loss to a pair of witches. I knew you were better than that and I knew you could win this whole thing and I knew that after one match, confidence will come back and you'll see you're back where you belonged."
Evie sighed.
"I'm sorry if I overstepped there, and I knew if it was one match, it could bite me on the arse." I said honestly. "I really am, but you drove me on to stop treading water and I needed to do the same with you. I couldn't sit there and let you be someone you're not. You're a competitor, you're someone who loves to win, you're not someone who can sit at home watching turtles and wanting to heard sheep."
Hearing the world turtles caused bear to raise his head. He clearly missed his turtle friends back home.
"I did it cause you needed it." I told her. "And you can't tell me you didn't, because you did and you showed there was nothing you needed to be insecure about when it came to being in the ring. I bet somewhere in you, you actually liked being in that ring."
Her face stayed mostly blank, but I could see something in her eyes that she didn't want to admit, I could see a sparkle.
"I had faith in you then, I have now. You're gonna go on and win this, get the taste back and put fear back in to that division." I told her. "If you trust me, you know I did the right thing here."
She leaned forward, putting her arms around my neck, just holding me.
"Now I think we should go discuss things in Italy." I told her, forcing her to push me away a bit.
"We can't go to Italy." She told me. "It's locked down."
I stood up as I smiled and took Evie by the hand.
"I know that." I told her "But if you can't go to Italy...."
I lead Evie by the hand and shook my head to Bear, causing him to stand up and led her to the door. I opened the door and lead her and Bear to a room opposite, sliding the keycard in the lock and opening the door, much to their confusion.
"Bring Italy to us." I told her.
Evie's eyes wandered over the Italian theme room I'd spend hours setting up earlier.
"But before we go in." I started. "What the hell happened to your face?"
What indeed... Well, I guess you're gonna have to watch Dani Weston's promo later to find out!
Days had passed since that blow up with Evie and things were very much improving between us since I finally got off my chest the things that had been weighing me down on a personal level but I had to get some other stuff off my shoulders this time.
Again, a refresher course for those who only follow their own stuff and no one else's. A few months ago, leading up to the time when I became SCW World Champion, a camera crew had been following me around, documenting everything just in case I did become the World champion, stuff they could use for future bluray sales and the like. I'd won it, their job was complete, but the powers that be had decided to keep this one going, a part two so to speak, where they've been following me while I was champion to see in to daily life of mine, seeing how things changed from when I was chasing, to when I was being chased. My life in all fairness had become one hell of a reality show that may or may not be released at some point. They've spoke to me about many things, but the one thing they hadn't spoke to me about yet was my sit down interview on March 1st, Climax Control 260, with Ms. Rocky Mountains.
You could go back on to the SCW Network right now and watch it if you want, but the long and the short of it, you'll probably pick up on if you're watching this. The subject hasn't been broached by the producer until today. It was always gonna happen and being as I was getting things off my chest, might as well get them off my shoulders too.
Thursday 12th March.
I sat on a bench, next to the River Stour, looks at the water flowing past, a cup of coffee in between my fingers. Considering the public fears of not only England, but the world with all the fear mongering about a certain virus sweeping the globe, Canterbury seemed to be in it's own little bubble, beautiful, historic and calm. Kent really was the garden of England, and just sitting looking at the river felt peaceful, like a world away from the panic in the world. This felt like a perfect place to talk about a couple of weeks ago. I'd asked the producer to use that line of questioning, to talk about that night where I sat there and said what I did and this location brought a calmness where I felt I could talk openly and honestly about things and maybe take the weight off my shoulders a little.
The producer had the camera set off to my left hand side, just to get a look of me, looking at the river, catching people passing by, looking at the man talking to a camera, some wondering who he was, but I was a pro, I knew things could be edited as I waited for the producer to talk.
"And we're rolling." His voice said off the camera. "Ben, let's talk about March the first in Hamilton, Scotland. You opted to sit backstage and drop some shocking news."
Some would call it shocking I thought, some would be dancing for joy.
"You said you was willing to give up the SCW World Heavyweight championship until something happened." The producer said. "I watched that and I was surprised, knowing how hard you worked for it after following you around for months."
He did have a little inside look in my life. There's stuff that you've seen that may make the final cut, but there's a lot that you haven't seen, yet he has.
"All the work not only leading up to that six way match, but the work leading in to the championship defences against Senor Vinnie and Fenris, some would say two of the top guys here, and you came through them." He continued. "So why would you even consider giving them up?"
That was a question that ran through my head constantly, that had been there for weeks before that interview.
"It's tough." I said without looking at him. "I faced like you said, the two top guys, or two of the top guys to find myself in the position of power. Did I think my match with Vinnie was amazing? No, but it was good enough to sit there and be proud of that one, but the one with Fenris, that was incredible. It was how do you top something like that? How do you go and better something like that? It was a main event worth talking about for years to come. I knew it could live up to the hype, I knew it could be something special when it was announced, even before I had the belt, the match was a long time in the making and I knew when it was spoke about, discussed at great lengths that it could be the defining match of my career. I'd put in years of work, faced many opponents but this one was special, there was always an air of special with it. It was a case of where to go if it lived up to the hype."
"It did live up to the hype." The producer said. "But in that interview, you said you decided weeks ago that the run was over."
"Yeah." I started. "I've enjoyed being champion, and I knew there was a big chance I was gonna be on the losing side against Fenris so none of this would have mattered. It's rare a champion goes in to a match as the underdog but I knew I was but I got away with it. Leading up to that match, I had to sit there and ask myself if I was happy with what I had done so far. Winning that six way match, delighted, being able to walk out in front of those fans and say I was the SCW World Heavyweight Champion, and feeling the energy from them, absolutely over the moon. Facing Senor Vinnie and coming through it, it was amazing. I felt that all those years of hard work, and it has been hard work, had got me to where I wanted and I was the top guy. Beating Fenris would have been a bonus, something special and it happened, but before that, I was happy with how things went. I had goals of winning, then beating a former champion to legitimise it and I did that so I thought to myself if I win, it would be time to give up the belt."
It was actually true, no storyline, not something to give me something to talk about, not burned out, just a man who had done the things he'd wanted to do, so why not let someone else get their dreams? It was and is the kinda guy I am. Everyone should have a shot of their dreams, to get their goals and I had got mine.
"Even though it would have disappointed some people?" The producer said.
This was always something I was in two minds of. Would people be disappointed? I had long term fans, fans who watched me from the ACW days who loved to see me win this championship. I even had people in the back who were advising me on getting the best out of this run, but I always doubted I could keep peoples attention enough. I didn't wanna be one of those who the fans got bored of.
"I don't think everyone would have been disappointed, but it woulda been tough to see where to look next." I replied "Would they have been happy with Vinnie back as champion? I mean no disrespect to Vinnie at all, but did he really pop as champion? Would they have been happy with Fenris knowing he could be unstoppable because he goes in to every match as the heavy favourite? Austin James Mercer is now spearheading the Internet division, giving it credibility to rebuild it to where it once was. It's a case of where do you look while Blast From The Past is going on. I know there's people out there that don't wanna see me as champion, I know they wanna spin things the way they wanna. I can't stop them, but kicking on for the true fans was part of the choice to keep going."
"But as mentioned, not the only reason." The producer said.
"No." I replied. "I'd been getting abused online a bit, just for becoming champ by people who used to be people who worked here. I know I shouldn't pay any attention to them, but it's a bit of a global problem really. Online bullying and all that, and I'm sure they're over the moon they're getting mentioned now, but taking the flack from people after I worked hard to be where I am, it left me low."
"But helped in your decision to keep going." The producer stated.
"Absolutely." I replied with a slight smile as I looked towards him for the first time. "When you sit there and you know that something you're doing can pull a reaction out of someone, good and bad then you're doing something right. I ain't ever really been someone who over thinks that but when I know I'm that far under people's skin because I'm the World Champion means I'm doing something spot on. People like that forget your hard work, they forget that you were once opening cards, losing to bigger people, their sheer entitlement to thinking they're better than you makes them blind to the hard work you put in. Not everyone can show up, kiss some arse and be put above everyone else, some of us worked for it and I was one who did. I was one who pushed myself to be good and I got where I wanted."
"So people's trolling of you is what's driving you on?" He asked as I looked back at the river.
"Yeah." I said with a chuckle. "See, if the trolls would have got back under their bridges waiting for Billy Goat Gruff to walk over, I'd have said I was happy with what I had done and SCW would have had a brand new World Heavyweight Champion right now. Seriously, some people knew of this plan, none were overly happy, but respected it. After I beat Fenris, that was the cherry on top for me and I was happy going like that on a match that would take a lot of beating. That would have been the perfect way to go."
What a high that would have been too. I could have used this tour to thank the fans who did care about me, that came on that roller coaster ride with me and Fenris, and then gone back to Maine and planned the next step in my life.
"But people like that have driven me on to sit there and look for a few more high profile matches against top people." I said with a serious nod. "Which they'll probably take credit for."
I couldn't help but smirk at that one. I know the people who dislike me, still watch me to have a reason to moan, so congrats, you can have the credit for me still working hard to keep my championship.
"And it has lead to another high profile match." The producer commented.
"Yeah, very." I responded with a slight shrug. "It's not every day you can go up against another champion."
"Even though it's only your championship on the line." The producer reminded me.
"I'm alright with that." I said with a slight nod of my head. "Let's be realistic here. I've been around here for a long time, I know how this works, I know people can't defend two belts, or hold two belts, SCW bosses won't have it so essentially, if both belts were on the line, the Roulette championship would be vacated next week, forced or otherwise. What would have been the point at ending Griffin's run as Roulette champion should he fail to step up on to bigger things?"
"Do you see yourself as the favourite in this one?" He asked me.
"I do but not because Griffin is a bad wrestler at all." I replied.
"Oh?" The surprised tone came from the producers mouth.
"I just don't think he gets me." I explained. "I mean the match gets announced, and his first tweet is about destroying the champion. I get it if I was an evil bad guy, or kicked kittens up the arse when I was bored, but there was no thought, no research, just instantly talking about destroying me. That shows a lack of knowledge about who I am, what I stand for, what I do. Makes ya wonder if he'd ever seen a single promo I've done, or even watched the match with Fenris, checked back on me, just wants to destroy that champ."
"He's changed towards you during the week though." The producer reminded me.
"Oh absolutely." I replied. "But it's probably because he's finally read up about me, finally seen we're on the same side when it comes to good and evil, and didn't wanna make a tit of himself. Curse of attacking a face that quickly, some will turn, don't make yourself look too good. Makes you look a bit misinformed and if he is that misinformed on me, who I am, what I stand for, he's never gonna catch up now, but me, I watch everything. Since Griffin showed up, watched him, thought he was a decent fella, bit mad on social media posts, but generally a good guy, so I watched a lot of his stuff, so I think I'm the favourite because I know him better than he clearly knows me."
"That's an interesting way to look at it." The producer said with an impressed tone.
To me, it shouldn't be an interesting way to look at it. People should take pride in their work, take the time to watch, to learn about everyone. You think football teams, basketball teams, baseball teams, and one for the Canadians, hockey teams, go in to everything blind? Do you think opposing teams sit there and don't know that Ronaldo and Messi are half decent at football? You know them, you try and stop them from bending you over without taking ya to dinner first. Only difference is, is that WE are the scouts, we don't have a scouting network to tell us someone like LeBron is gonna be better than you. We have to put in the leg work to know who is around us, their strengths and weaknesses, and not many in SCW do. Most wouldn't know the strength and weakness difference between Austin James Mercer and Caleb Storms.
"Yeah, I think so." I replied with just a slight shrug of my shoulders. "But there's plenty of time for me to talk about Griffin later."
And there was so we spent the rest of the time talking about different subjects that may or may not air at some point, but it was all about tomorrow for me, focusing on Griffin Hawkins and doing what good champions do to get over... Selling a match....
Friday morning - 13th of March..... Oooooh spooky!
The scene fades in to a long distance shot of Canterbury Cathedral, showing it's amazing architecture and historic look. The camera then changes to the front of the Cathedral, where a crowd can be gathered in front of it. In front of them stood one man... Me.
I do love this part when it comes to the tour, I said I'd cut promos on my opponents in front of famous city and town landmarks and talk in front of a crowd. It's called selling. I wanted to give the people of these places the live experience of being at a show, in case there are a few tickets left, just to push things over the edge and today wasn't gonna be any different, so I threw on my jeans, my SCW shirt, a jacket and rattled that championship belt over my shoulder to talk to a crowd. I know people should be taking more precautions in this worrying corona virus times, but if these guys were willing to take the chance, so was I. Besides, I've beat worse over the last couple of years.
"Alright people!" I say with a smile. "Welcome to the latest live promo here, today we get to talk about a bit of a legend in the field of rock music, a popular name in the wrestling game and pretty much a social media star, Griffin Hawkins!"
The crowd cheered at me, I wasn't sure if it was to do with me being in front of them or the mention of the ever popular Roulette champion.
"I mean it's easier to sit here and sell good vs evil." I say with a thoughtful look. "It's been that way for donkeys through everything, films, TV, even sporting events, there's always someone you're rooting for more than the other guy because he's good. I mean you lot rooted for Tyson Fury again, not because of where he was from, because he was cheated out of fight one, so you wanted to see him get justice."
That line was for my buddy Todd, who's still got a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp every time he thinks about Wilder's arse constantly hitting the canvas.
"But with this one, it's one of those fifty fifty things, because it's hard to sell good against good, so at the end of the day, it's down to you guys to either pick a side, or enjoy what's in front of you." I tell them. "And there will be a bit of a treat in front of you, have no fear about that because you don't just have two men, you don't just have two people used to the cheers, used to fans loving them, but you have two champions who have done bloody well for themselves in their runs."
It is a tough sell to sell against someone as popular as you are, I've approached this before with others and got through it but Griffin was one of the most popular people to ever step in to SCW. His social media presence, his hundreds of tweets a day kept him in people's thoughts.
"So it's hard to sit and pick fault with a bloke like Griffin other than the fact he's not ready for me at all." I told the crowd. "I mentioned to someone yesterday about his first thought was to destroy the champ, first thought he had, first tweet he made, wasn't like a whoa, I got a title shot, whoa, I'm facing Ben Jordan, whoa, this match is huge, it was I'm gonna destroy the champ and there in lies the problem for me cause it shows he hasn't got a scooby what the champ here is capable of. He didn't see the hell I went through against Fenris, it probably didn't register that in my six month war with Kedron that I was even there to him, probably hasn't even clocked yet that the belt he has over his shoulder, used to come home with me. Now this one does."
I looked at the championship belt on my shoulder and couldn't help but smile. It's what I worked for.
"I can't help but feel that to Griffin, all he sees is the prize at the end of it." I say as I tap the World Heavyweight championship. "And not the man holding it. I can't help but think in his eyes, it doesn't matter who the champion is, that he is instantly getting an upgrade on his title belt. That's where things are gonna go wrong because you are not seeing what's there about to stop you Griffin. You need a little more respect for what I've done, for who I am and for how hard I've worked to be where I am. Don't get those stars in your eyes already thinking you got this one and that's that, because you haven't. I've worked too hard to be where I am with my focus on wrestling to just give it up without a fight."
It wasn't my style to just lay down and just give up.
"This is where I'm seeing me with the advantage." I say as I look around the crowd. "Cause I haven't seen an opponent and had to run to the SCW site to learn about him, I've actually watched him since he showed up here the first time around, I sat and watched him as Internet champion, I sat and watched him as Roulette champion, I guess I've been a bit of a fan cause I've sat and watched him constantly for a long time so without being in the ring with him, it's like I already know who Griffin Hawkins is. I haven't had to run to a website to learn, cause I sat there and watched so many things he's been in, I've seen his rivalries, I've seen his wins and losses, he's had my attention for a long time cause I knew that one day, I'll be in a ring with him and on Sunday, I will be, but I've been ready for this for a long time. I've been ready to face you title or not."
"Take his title!" A voice in the crowd says.
I couldn't help but smile as I look for the voice.
"Not for his belt mate." I tell the crowd. "But I've been there and done that. As much as I don't think Griffin Hawkins needs a title to connect with a crowd, I think that in his mind, he does. He's always targeted a title and got it really, he's rarely gone that he's in it for the wrestling, he's pretty low key with that, but if his belt was on the line, and I won it, all it would mean is I give it up next week and vacant wins another belt. I will win this match, I have no fear or doubt about it, but I'm glad his belt isn't on the line. It's not that it's below me, I've loved the Roulette belt and the concept since day one, I loved being the Roulette champion, but I got the big boy title, and when I walk out with it at the end of it, the bright side is Griffin will go on to have that much anticipated match with Jack Russow."
I admit, I'm actually looking forward to Griffin Hawkins Vs Jack Russow.
"I don't dislike Griffin at all, I hope that's come across to ya all." I tell the crowd. "And I do think he will go on and be a World champion someday, but this is not his time to do so. This one was thrown at him in a sink or swim situation but right now, I'm on a roll and it's not time for me to hand it over just yet. Your time will come Griffin and people will love you more for it. Your time will be met with everyone being over the moon for you, I'll be over the moon for you, but this is not your time."
I shake my head to the crowd.
"This is you thrown in at the deep end." I say as I glance at the camera. "and as much as I hate to say it, cause I don't like slating the good guys, I don't think you're ready for this but the good to come out of this is that the fans get to see something great. I get to tick an opponent off the list that is a dream match for me. It's a bit of a dream match for the fans too, I know you guys are looking forward to this one, right?"
I look around at the cheering crowd, looking at the excitement on their faces.
"You guys are what we're here for." I tell them. "To entertain and Griffin Hawkins is an entertainer, I am the SCW World Heavyweight champion and I don't plan on giving this up without a fight. I've spent a long time working to get to this place, I'm comfortable as the champion, I'm in the mindset that I know nothing will last forever, but I'm gonna do everything in my power to make sure I walk out of here with my championship belt over my shoulder. Take this as a learning experience Griffin, learn from this match like I had to in my first and unsuccessful championship shot. I learned that I wasn't ready to be the World Champion then, I learned that I wasn't ready to be the top guy then, but I also learned that someday, I will be ready and I am."
I glanced down at the World championship and nodded before looking back up at the camera, smiling down it.
"It's nothing personal Griff." I say as if he's in front of me. "You're a good fella but this just isn't your time just yet. It will come, I have no doubt about it, but not right now."
I look up and around the crowd around me.
"Ladies and gents, I've taken up enough of your time." I tell them. "Thanks for coming out and listen to me ramble on for a bit. Enjoy the rest of your Friday and make sure you check out the SCW show on Sunday. Ben Jordan Vs Griffin Hawkins, clash of the champions, SCW World Heavyweight Championship on the line. You guys won't wanna miss it."
I quickly wink to the crowd.
"Laters people." I say with a wave.
And with that, the scene fades to black.
Let me give you a little back story on this, cause I know a lot of you are focused on your own thing and don't really care about too much unless you're forced to. To quote Madness, my girls mad at me... Well, it's Evie so she's pissed off rather than mad. I was the one behind entering her in Blast From The Past, yes, this guy here, so that annoyed the hell out of her, but have I been given a chance to explain? Have I boll... fairy cakes! Not a chance because in Evie's eyes, I over stepped, not true, and if she ever let me explain, she might see that.
If that wasn't bad enough, Brooke Saxon books me in a drinking contest with my old mucker Mickey Carroll, someone booked ME, I didn't say oi love, I'm going out on the piss, someone booked ME. But that's by fault too apparently. Another reason to look down on me, so here I was, banished to somewhere else, basically let's not communicate for reasons beyond your control, let just stay in this argument till I feel you've been punished enough - Oh and while ya at it, cause you've had a few, you ain't coming home tonight.
Yes, that was my Sunday, so at 6am on Monday morning, this was me....
6am, Monday morning
I've woke up in some strange places before in some very odd situations, but to be woke up with a bottle of water being placed next to my head as I laid on a floor somewhere was a bit of a new one on me, the thump of the bottle on the floor causing me to open my eyes and look at the clear liquid in the bottle. I should have been feeling like hell after the night before, me and Mickey went back to me and Mickey in our teens and early twenties, but we're older now and some of us can't do what we used to do, by some of us, I mean me. I can't smash things back the way I used to but I oddly felt alright as my eyes fixated on the water. I should have been hungover as all hell, but I felt good until the realization hit me that I wasn't laying in a bed somewhere, I was on a floor.
"Thank you water fairy." I said as I blinked rapidly, sitting up.
"Water fairy?" Fenris voice could be heard saying with a confused tone behind me. "What the fuck?"
I wanted to make a my my Evie, your voice has changed joke at that point, but I knew that if that one ever got out, it would be another thing she'd hold against me. I took me a few seconds to figure out who that voice belonged to.
"Kristjan?" I said as I forced my body to sit up.
"Well it ain't ya mother." Fenris voice said as he stood behind me.
I tilted my head back as I looked upside down at him, shaking my head.
"What the hell am I doing here?" I asked him.
Fenris reached down, his hand reaching towards me and I put my right hand up, grabbing the bottle of water with my left hand as he pulled me to my feet. I spotted a sofa next to me and swung myself around, sitting down on the sofa and looking towards him as I spun the lid off the water bottle. I took a long gulp, it was heaven to a dehydrated through alcohol man, I think you all know what I mean by that as my eyes laid themselves upon Fenris.
"Ok, I got a million questions, but think I'll go with the obvious one." I said as I looked at him. "What am I doing here?"
Fenris pushed his long hair from his face and pulled a nearby chair towards him, spinning it around to sit backwards on it, his elbows resting on the back of the chair. I admit, I felt like a school boy about to get yelled at by the principle at this point, but the opposite came from him.
"Just saving you from a fight with your wife." He said with an almost sympathetic tone.
"She made you do it, didn't she?" I replied with a smile.
It's not like Fenris didn't have sympathetic moments in his life, at times, he was the opposite of what you saw on the camera, but I knew just looking at him that this wasn't one of those times.
"Yeah." Fenris told me. "All I was doing was looking at the end of your drinking contest, you was passed out, Mickey was passed out, and she walked by, next thing I knew, I had a house guest."
"I hope Aron didn't mind." I said to him, not remember the night before.
"I'm on his shit list so he isn't here." Fenris said with a shrug.
My mind tried to drift back, trying to figure out what he meant. Like most men who drink a fair bit, the night before was like a broken mirror, just ripped in shards with no clear picture, but often a trigger word or some would take you back to the time before. Something in the back of my head made me think I spotted this on the television while I was drinking. That's another thing alcohol blots out at times for me, even forget the stuff I did sober too and I was fairly sober watching Aron on the screen. I couldn't remember exactly but I knew Fenris, I knew his concerns leading up to this, so I took a shot in the dark.
"You got involved in his match and now he's not happy." I said, taking a punt. "Am I close?"
Fenris almost scoffed without actually saying a word as he looked at me and at that point, I knew I had hit the nail on the head.
"You gotta have some faith in him." I said to Fenris. "From what I know, he's been training for a long, long time, more than most without ever having the intention of getting in the ring. Now he is, play cheerleader, he might surprise ya. He's already had better success in match one than I did."
"He shouldn't be in the ring." Fenris said to me with a harsh tone.
"Nor should half the people in SCW." I said with a slight laugh. "But he's better than most of them. Besides, maybe he's just trying to do what you did. Go win Blast From The Past. It's launched a lot of careers, got people's eyes on them. He might have a good chance against the champ."
"You're the champ." Fenris reminded me, causing a smile to break out on my face.
"Like I said, he's got a good chance." I replied. "Speaking of things I got no chance with. I should probably go talk to my wife and get this whole thing sorted."
Fenris smirked at me, causing the feeling of confusion to run through my body as I looked up at him.
"I wouldn't rush." He told me. "She's out doing what you did last night."
"Drinking with Mickey?" I joked as a smile crossed my face.
"With Dani, Charley and Kenz." Fenris told me. "So she might be gone a while."
I raised my eyebrow at Fenris as I looked across at him.
"How do you know these things?" I asked.
"It's a social media world, we just all live in it." Fenris said with a smirk. "But I am meeting Daniel for a run, so you can come with or..."
That was my cue to stand up. I felt fine but running at this time, nah, you're alright mate.
"I should probably get going." I said as I stretched out, my muscles trying to stretch in to place. "Thanks for putting up with me."
"You forgetting something?" Fenris asked.
"Well you ain't getting a goodbye kiss." I told him with a joking tone. "I appreciate the floor and all, but not that much."
Fenris jetted a thumb over his shoulder towards something on the table, causing me to smile as my eyes fell upon the SCW World Heavyweight championship belt. I quickly moved towards it, spotting a cheese head next to it and looking back at Fenris.
"That's yours too." He informed me, much to my surprise.
I picked up the cheese head and held it out to him.
"How? Where? Why?" I asked but Fenris just shrugged his shoulders at me.
I picked up the World championship, placing it over my shoulder as I looked at him and picked up the cheese head, tilting the tip as one would wearing a brimmed hat.
"I bid you good day sir." I said in the most upper class voice I could before walking out.
I knew I was about to go and fight a battle, part of me hoped the alcohol would soften her or let her sleep enough for me to figure out a game plan, but if not, it was time to end the squabbling one way or the other... or so I thought.
It was around 7am by the time I'd grabbed a quick cup of coffee in the hotel. I sat pondering for a while, part of me wanting to get the inevitable over and done with, the other part of me just hoping it all blows over, but people who wait for it all to blow over, often ends in divorce. I knew I had to get off my arse and get this sorted because even I was growing annoyed. I got to the point I felt I couldn't do right anymore and it was changing me. I'd stopped becoming fun loving Ben and started to become why bother Ben. I'd built myself up by the time I'd walked in to that hotel room but I was met with the sounds of silence.
"Maybe she's passed out if she was out on the lash." I told myself as I walked towards the bedroom.
Peering my head around the corner, I was met with a familiar face, the face of Bear, our dog looking up at me from the bed, but no Evie to be seen.
"Where's Evie?" I asked the dog as he looked up at me with tired eyes.
His head tilted as if to say he was gonna ask me the same thing, but quickly hopped off the bed and towards me.
"Alright, let's get you sorted." I said to Bear. "Walkies and some grub?"
Bear was out of the bedroom door before I could even turn around and we were off for a wander around York. People gathered around us, even in these worrying times, asking for pictures, for autographs, which I indeed gave them before Bear and I returned back to the hotel room an hour or so later, but still, there was no Evie to be seen. I looked at Bear with a worried look as he chowed down.
"She shouldn't be long." I said to myself. "Probably fell asleep at one of the others place. Now I have a choice."
I knew there was two ways I had to deal with Evie today, it was either shock her in to live with something harsh to get her to listen to me, or do something to make her see that I'm not a monster. Usually that would mean travel off to some place where we can be Ben and Evie Jordan, people, instead of Ben and Evie Jordan, wrestlers. Unfortunately, travel wasn't an option at this point, flights have been all sorts of messed up since COVID-19 had decided to find its way in to the world to the point many SCW stars have wondered how we're moving on to the next leg of the tour. Thankfully, we didn't have to think about this for a while, who knows what the world will look like in a month? Either way, there was no way of escaping the country right now, so I needed a plan B. I was sick of feeling like I was being treated wrong here, even more sick of not being able to explain.
For weeks she had done this to me, not let me explain anything, acting in public that we were fine, then giving me the cold witches tit in private. It pretty much felt like a sham marriage at this point and I was sick of it.
My eyes drifted to Bear.
"I'll be back in a bit boy." I told him. "If she gets back here before I do, keep her awake, this needs to get sorted as soon as, or you might have to go to two houses at Christmas."
Bear ignored me as food was under his nose. It wasn't uncommon, the boy loved to eat, but I was out of the door and setting my plan in place, if she didn't kill me before this part of the plan. It took forever to set up but it was done. The time had gotten away from me as I walked in to the hotel room a little before eleven to see the back of Evie, tossing rings on to the nearby hallway bench. I saw her body straighten up as the door clicked behind, spinning on her heels to give me yet another death stare. I was sick of them. I let a sigh go from my lungs.
"Forget it, I'm sick of this." I told her as I breezed past her and in to the living room area. "Come on boy, time for another walk."
Bear turned his head to look at me as if to say nah, I'm good, but I was hoping that comment would draw Evie in. It worked as she followed me in to the room.
"Sick of what?" Her voice said in a firm tone. "Sick of drinking contests? Sick of passing out? Sick of drunken comments?"
I had her, I knew my next line could either shock her in to reality or get me killed, but it was my shot, I had her attention properly, I had a little bit of power I knew I'd be lacking for a bit. I smiled but knew I had to put my serious game face on as I turned around and pointed.
"Sick of this shit!" I said with a firm point. "Sick of you acting like you're smelling of roses instead of alcohol and cigarettes, sick of the way you're treating me, sick of you!"
RIP Ben I thought as I looked at her face but the anger wasn't there, shock was. Maybe from me actually swearing and knowing if Despayre could see this, the swear jar would be waved in front of my face. Maybe it was the calm before the storm where I was seconds away from getting thrown out of a hotel window. I had to build on this.
"You're punishing me without giving me a chance to explain a single thing, cause you've had your head up ya own arse so long, you can't hear a word I'm saying!" I said firmly.
I didn't really mean it, but I needed to get her to listen. I was tired, drained, beat because the one person you're meant to communicate with had cut me off.
"Punishing you?" Evie snapped back. "You're the one who got me in this Blast From The Past shit that I didn't wanna be in. You're the one who got in a drinking contest with Mickey, you're the one who made comments about a taxi, you're the one who didn't pick Mickey up on comparing me to your ex, and you're the one who didn't watch my match."
"And you're the one who won't shut up and let me explain anything, because you can't see my from your high horse!" I fired back.
I knew I was either gonna get the chance to explain or I was about to be kicked square in the wotsits.
"You got five minutes." She told me as she sat down.
I could still feel the anger in her tone as Bear looked at her before looking towards me, I guess he was just as interested on what I had to say as she was.
"Frankly, I was pissed out of my skull." I told her. "But I never booked the damn drinking contest, Mickey never came up to me and asked me to do it, it was officially booked, and guess what darling? It was actually fun to sit there for a show and catch up with an old mate I haven't seen in years. You forget how many friends I don't see anymore since I moved to Canada, Cuba and America. SCU moves in different places so one of the friends I do have from many years ago, I don't see because when he's about, he's in a different city, so I will not apologize for that and if you think I will, you're barking up the wrong tree."
From Bear's reaction, he knew I might have said the wrong thing as I watched him cover his eyes with his paw. I could see Evie wanted to say something, so I fired my finger up.
"Zip your lip, you gave me time to talk, so don't interrupt." I told her. "Punishing me for something I didn't say too? Really? Snap out of it. Mickey made a comment, I was drunk, nothing was said. Never made a comment towards someone who shrugged it of? Of course you have, everyone has, you're just using that as an excuse to bitch at me some more and the taxi joke, really wanna go at me for a drunken joke that was actually funny? Hell, if that was in a sitcom, people would laugh for days, you're just being petty for that."
Bear covered both his eyes with his paws, thinking I was digging deeper and deeper.
"And didn't watch your match?" I said with a shake of my head. "I watched it last night and passed out cheering, ask for the backstage footage, I even watched it again today while I was waiting for you to appear, I watched every single move, so again, just another made up excuse for you to be mad at me. What you're really mad at is because I got you in Blast From The Past."
"No shit Sherlock!" Evie muttered as Bear looked at her, just removing one paw before his eyes moved back to me.
"Still in my five minutes so keep stoom." I told her as I put my finger to my lips. "If you'd have no been arsey to me for weeks, I would have told ya and you wouldn't have been walking around like someone pissed in your cornflakes. I got you in there because you did the same thing to me. You pushed me hard to become SCW's World Champion. I didn't really want it and you knew that, I didn't wanna have my face plastered all over the place, but you got in my ear and pushed me because how it would look for me and my career, you did that cause you saw I had more to give."
I knew this is where I had to soften up because my five minutes were running out, so I kneeled down in front of her.
"And I wouldn't change that now." I said softly. "You pushed me to be better because you knew I was fading when it came to this business, that I was happy treading water with mid card and those kinda things, but you pushed me and the truth is, I had to do the same for you."
Bear removed the paw from his eye to watch as I took Evie's hand.
"You can sit there all you want and say you were happy watching me." I told her in a calming tone. "But deep down, you missed it, I could see it and so could others and if you wanted to push me to be the best, I wanted you to be the best too. Evie Jordan Vs Roxi Johnson, it's money. You've still got it, we saw that last night, I knew you didn't wanna go out on a loss to a pair of witches. I knew you were better than that and I knew you could win this whole thing and I knew that after one match, confidence will come back and you'll see you're back where you belonged."
Evie sighed.
"I'm sorry if I overstepped there, and I knew if it was one match, it could bite me on the arse." I said honestly. "I really am, but you drove me on to stop treading water and I needed to do the same with you. I couldn't sit there and let you be someone you're not. You're a competitor, you're someone who loves to win, you're not someone who can sit at home watching turtles and wanting to heard sheep."
Hearing the world turtles caused bear to raise his head. He clearly missed his turtle friends back home.
"I did it cause you needed it." I told her. "And you can't tell me you didn't, because you did and you showed there was nothing you needed to be insecure about when it came to being in the ring. I bet somewhere in you, you actually liked being in that ring."
Her face stayed mostly blank, but I could see something in her eyes that she didn't want to admit, I could see a sparkle.
"I had faith in you then, I have now. You're gonna go on and win this, get the taste back and put fear back in to that division." I told her. "If you trust me, you know I did the right thing here."
She leaned forward, putting her arms around my neck, just holding me.
"Now I think we should go discuss things in Italy." I told her, forcing her to push me away a bit.
"We can't go to Italy." She told me. "It's locked down."
I stood up as I smiled and took Evie by the hand.
"I know that." I told her "But if you can't go to Italy...."
I lead Evie by the hand and shook my head to Bear, causing him to stand up and led her to the door. I opened the door and lead her and Bear to a room opposite, sliding the keycard in the lock and opening the door, much to their confusion.
"Bring Italy to us." I told her.
Evie's eyes wandered over the Italian theme room I'd spend hours setting up earlier.
"But before we go in." I started. "What the hell happened to your face?"
What indeed... Well, I guess you're gonna have to watch Dani Weston's promo later to find out!
Days had passed since that blow up with Evie and things were very much improving between us since I finally got off my chest the things that had been weighing me down on a personal level but I had to get some other stuff off my shoulders this time.
Again, a refresher course for those who only follow their own stuff and no one else's. A few months ago, leading up to the time when I became SCW World Champion, a camera crew had been following me around, documenting everything just in case I did become the World champion, stuff they could use for future bluray sales and the like. I'd won it, their job was complete, but the powers that be had decided to keep this one going, a part two so to speak, where they've been following me while I was champion to see in to daily life of mine, seeing how things changed from when I was chasing, to when I was being chased. My life in all fairness had become one hell of a reality show that may or may not be released at some point. They've spoke to me about many things, but the one thing they hadn't spoke to me about yet was my sit down interview on March 1st, Climax Control 260, with Ms. Rocky Mountains.
You could go back on to the SCW Network right now and watch it if you want, but the long and the short of it, you'll probably pick up on if you're watching this. The subject hasn't been broached by the producer until today. It was always gonna happen and being as I was getting things off my chest, might as well get them off my shoulders too.
Thursday 12th March.
I sat on a bench, next to the River Stour, looks at the water flowing past, a cup of coffee in between my fingers. Considering the public fears of not only England, but the world with all the fear mongering about a certain virus sweeping the globe, Canterbury seemed to be in it's own little bubble, beautiful, historic and calm. Kent really was the garden of England, and just sitting looking at the river felt peaceful, like a world away from the panic in the world. This felt like a perfect place to talk about a couple of weeks ago. I'd asked the producer to use that line of questioning, to talk about that night where I sat there and said what I did and this location brought a calmness where I felt I could talk openly and honestly about things and maybe take the weight off my shoulders a little.
The producer had the camera set off to my left hand side, just to get a look of me, looking at the river, catching people passing by, looking at the man talking to a camera, some wondering who he was, but I was a pro, I knew things could be edited as I waited for the producer to talk.
"And we're rolling." His voice said off the camera. "Ben, let's talk about March the first in Hamilton, Scotland. You opted to sit backstage and drop some shocking news."
Some would call it shocking I thought, some would be dancing for joy.
"You said you was willing to give up the SCW World Heavyweight championship until something happened." The producer said. "I watched that and I was surprised, knowing how hard you worked for it after following you around for months."
He did have a little inside look in my life. There's stuff that you've seen that may make the final cut, but there's a lot that you haven't seen, yet he has.
"All the work not only leading up to that six way match, but the work leading in to the championship defences against Senor Vinnie and Fenris, some would say two of the top guys here, and you came through them." He continued. "So why would you even consider giving them up?"
That was a question that ran through my head constantly, that had been there for weeks before that interview.
"It's tough." I said without looking at him. "I faced like you said, the two top guys, or two of the top guys to find myself in the position of power. Did I think my match with Vinnie was amazing? No, but it was good enough to sit there and be proud of that one, but the one with Fenris, that was incredible. It was how do you top something like that? How do you go and better something like that? It was a main event worth talking about for years to come. I knew it could live up to the hype, I knew it could be something special when it was announced, even before I had the belt, the match was a long time in the making and I knew when it was spoke about, discussed at great lengths that it could be the defining match of my career. I'd put in years of work, faced many opponents but this one was special, there was always an air of special with it. It was a case of where to go if it lived up to the hype."
"It did live up to the hype." The producer said. "But in that interview, you said you decided weeks ago that the run was over."
"Yeah." I started. "I've enjoyed being champion, and I knew there was a big chance I was gonna be on the losing side against Fenris so none of this would have mattered. It's rare a champion goes in to a match as the underdog but I knew I was but I got away with it. Leading up to that match, I had to sit there and ask myself if I was happy with what I had done so far. Winning that six way match, delighted, being able to walk out in front of those fans and say I was the SCW World Heavyweight Champion, and feeling the energy from them, absolutely over the moon. Facing Senor Vinnie and coming through it, it was amazing. I felt that all those years of hard work, and it has been hard work, had got me to where I wanted and I was the top guy. Beating Fenris would have been a bonus, something special and it happened, but before that, I was happy with how things went. I had goals of winning, then beating a former champion to legitimise it and I did that so I thought to myself if I win, it would be time to give up the belt."
It was actually true, no storyline, not something to give me something to talk about, not burned out, just a man who had done the things he'd wanted to do, so why not let someone else get their dreams? It was and is the kinda guy I am. Everyone should have a shot of their dreams, to get their goals and I had got mine.
"Even though it would have disappointed some people?" The producer said.
This was always something I was in two minds of. Would people be disappointed? I had long term fans, fans who watched me from the ACW days who loved to see me win this championship. I even had people in the back who were advising me on getting the best out of this run, but I always doubted I could keep peoples attention enough. I didn't wanna be one of those who the fans got bored of.
"I don't think everyone would have been disappointed, but it woulda been tough to see where to look next." I replied "Would they have been happy with Vinnie back as champion? I mean no disrespect to Vinnie at all, but did he really pop as champion? Would they have been happy with Fenris knowing he could be unstoppable because he goes in to every match as the heavy favourite? Austin James Mercer is now spearheading the Internet division, giving it credibility to rebuild it to where it once was. It's a case of where do you look while Blast From The Past is going on. I know there's people out there that don't wanna see me as champion, I know they wanna spin things the way they wanna. I can't stop them, but kicking on for the true fans was part of the choice to keep going."
"But as mentioned, not the only reason." The producer said.
"No." I replied. "I'd been getting abused online a bit, just for becoming champ by people who used to be people who worked here. I know I shouldn't pay any attention to them, but it's a bit of a global problem really. Online bullying and all that, and I'm sure they're over the moon they're getting mentioned now, but taking the flack from people after I worked hard to be where I am, it left me low."
"But helped in your decision to keep going." The producer stated.
"Absolutely." I replied with a slight smile as I looked towards him for the first time. "When you sit there and you know that something you're doing can pull a reaction out of someone, good and bad then you're doing something right. I ain't ever really been someone who over thinks that but when I know I'm that far under people's skin because I'm the World Champion means I'm doing something spot on. People like that forget your hard work, they forget that you were once opening cards, losing to bigger people, their sheer entitlement to thinking they're better than you makes them blind to the hard work you put in. Not everyone can show up, kiss some arse and be put above everyone else, some of us worked for it and I was one who did. I was one who pushed myself to be good and I got where I wanted."
"So people's trolling of you is what's driving you on?" He asked as I looked back at the river.
"Yeah." I said with a chuckle. "See, if the trolls would have got back under their bridges waiting for Billy Goat Gruff to walk over, I'd have said I was happy with what I had done and SCW would have had a brand new World Heavyweight Champion right now. Seriously, some people knew of this plan, none were overly happy, but respected it. After I beat Fenris, that was the cherry on top for me and I was happy going like that on a match that would take a lot of beating. That would have been the perfect way to go."
What a high that would have been too. I could have used this tour to thank the fans who did care about me, that came on that roller coaster ride with me and Fenris, and then gone back to Maine and planned the next step in my life.
"But people like that have driven me on to sit there and look for a few more high profile matches against top people." I said with a serious nod. "Which they'll probably take credit for."
I couldn't help but smirk at that one. I know the people who dislike me, still watch me to have a reason to moan, so congrats, you can have the credit for me still working hard to keep my championship.
"And it has lead to another high profile match." The producer commented.
"Yeah, very." I responded with a slight shrug. "It's not every day you can go up against another champion."
"Even though it's only your championship on the line." The producer reminded me.
"I'm alright with that." I said with a slight nod of my head. "Let's be realistic here. I've been around here for a long time, I know how this works, I know people can't defend two belts, or hold two belts, SCW bosses won't have it so essentially, if both belts were on the line, the Roulette championship would be vacated next week, forced or otherwise. What would have been the point at ending Griffin's run as Roulette champion should he fail to step up on to bigger things?"
"Do you see yourself as the favourite in this one?" He asked me.
"I do but not because Griffin is a bad wrestler at all." I replied.
"Oh?" The surprised tone came from the producers mouth.
"I just don't think he gets me." I explained. "I mean the match gets announced, and his first tweet is about destroying the champion. I get it if I was an evil bad guy, or kicked kittens up the arse when I was bored, but there was no thought, no research, just instantly talking about destroying me. That shows a lack of knowledge about who I am, what I stand for, what I do. Makes ya wonder if he'd ever seen a single promo I've done, or even watched the match with Fenris, checked back on me, just wants to destroy that champ."
"He's changed towards you during the week though." The producer reminded me.
"Oh absolutely." I replied. "But it's probably because he's finally read up about me, finally seen we're on the same side when it comes to good and evil, and didn't wanna make a tit of himself. Curse of attacking a face that quickly, some will turn, don't make yourself look too good. Makes you look a bit misinformed and if he is that misinformed on me, who I am, what I stand for, he's never gonna catch up now, but me, I watch everything. Since Griffin showed up, watched him, thought he was a decent fella, bit mad on social media posts, but generally a good guy, so I watched a lot of his stuff, so I think I'm the favourite because I know him better than he clearly knows me."
"That's an interesting way to look at it." The producer said with an impressed tone.
To me, it shouldn't be an interesting way to look at it. People should take pride in their work, take the time to watch, to learn about everyone. You think football teams, basketball teams, baseball teams, and one for the Canadians, hockey teams, go in to everything blind? Do you think opposing teams sit there and don't know that Ronaldo and Messi are half decent at football? You know them, you try and stop them from bending you over without taking ya to dinner first. Only difference is, is that WE are the scouts, we don't have a scouting network to tell us someone like LeBron is gonna be better than you. We have to put in the leg work to know who is around us, their strengths and weaknesses, and not many in SCW do. Most wouldn't know the strength and weakness difference between Austin James Mercer and Caleb Storms.
"Yeah, I think so." I replied with just a slight shrug of my shoulders. "But there's plenty of time for me to talk about Griffin later."
And there was so we spent the rest of the time talking about different subjects that may or may not air at some point, but it was all about tomorrow for me, focusing on Griffin Hawkins and doing what good champions do to get over... Selling a match....
Friday morning - 13th of March..... Oooooh spooky!
The scene fades in to a long distance shot of Canterbury Cathedral, showing it's amazing architecture and historic look. The camera then changes to the front of the Cathedral, where a crowd can be gathered in front of it. In front of them stood one man... Me.
I do love this part when it comes to the tour, I said I'd cut promos on my opponents in front of famous city and town landmarks and talk in front of a crowd. It's called selling. I wanted to give the people of these places the live experience of being at a show, in case there are a few tickets left, just to push things over the edge and today wasn't gonna be any different, so I threw on my jeans, my SCW shirt, a jacket and rattled that championship belt over my shoulder to talk to a crowd. I know people should be taking more precautions in this worrying corona virus times, but if these guys were willing to take the chance, so was I. Besides, I've beat worse over the last couple of years.
"Alright people!" I say with a smile. "Welcome to the latest live promo here, today we get to talk about a bit of a legend in the field of rock music, a popular name in the wrestling game and pretty much a social media star, Griffin Hawkins!"
The crowd cheered at me, I wasn't sure if it was to do with me being in front of them or the mention of the ever popular Roulette champion.
"I mean it's easier to sit here and sell good vs evil." I say with a thoughtful look. "It's been that way for donkeys through everything, films, TV, even sporting events, there's always someone you're rooting for more than the other guy because he's good. I mean you lot rooted for Tyson Fury again, not because of where he was from, because he was cheated out of fight one, so you wanted to see him get justice."
That line was for my buddy Todd, who's still got a face like a bulldog chewing a wasp every time he thinks about Wilder's arse constantly hitting the canvas.
"But with this one, it's one of those fifty fifty things, because it's hard to sell good against good, so at the end of the day, it's down to you guys to either pick a side, or enjoy what's in front of you." I tell them. "And there will be a bit of a treat in front of you, have no fear about that because you don't just have two men, you don't just have two people used to the cheers, used to fans loving them, but you have two champions who have done bloody well for themselves in their runs."
It is a tough sell to sell against someone as popular as you are, I've approached this before with others and got through it but Griffin was one of the most popular people to ever step in to SCW. His social media presence, his hundreds of tweets a day kept him in people's thoughts.
"So it's hard to sit and pick fault with a bloke like Griffin other than the fact he's not ready for me at all." I told the crowd. "I mentioned to someone yesterday about his first thought was to destroy the champ, first thought he had, first tweet he made, wasn't like a whoa, I got a title shot, whoa, I'm facing Ben Jordan, whoa, this match is huge, it was I'm gonna destroy the champ and there in lies the problem for me cause it shows he hasn't got a scooby what the champ here is capable of. He didn't see the hell I went through against Fenris, it probably didn't register that in my six month war with Kedron that I was even there to him, probably hasn't even clocked yet that the belt he has over his shoulder, used to come home with me. Now this one does."
I looked at the championship belt on my shoulder and couldn't help but smile. It's what I worked for.
"I can't help but feel that to Griffin, all he sees is the prize at the end of it." I say as I tap the World Heavyweight championship. "And not the man holding it. I can't help but think in his eyes, it doesn't matter who the champion is, that he is instantly getting an upgrade on his title belt. That's where things are gonna go wrong because you are not seeing what's there about to stop you Griffin. You need a little more respect for what I've done, for who I am and for how hard I've worked to be where I am. Don't get those stars in your eyes already thinking you got this one and that's that, because you haven't. I've worked too hard to be where I am with my focus on wrestling to just give it up without a fight."
It wasn't my style to just lay down and just give up.
"This is where I'm seeing me with the advantage." I say as I look around the crowd. "Cause I haven't seen an opponent and had to run to the SCW site to learn about him, I've actually watched him since he showed up here the first time around, I sat and watched him as Internet champion, I sat and watched him as Roulette champion, I guess I've been a bit of a fan cause I've sat and watched him constantly for a long time so without being in the ring with him, it's like I already know who Griffin Hawkins is. I haven't had to run to a website to learn, cause I sat there and watched so many things he's been in, I've seen his rivalries, I've seen his wins and losses, he's had my attention for a long time cause I knew that one day, I'll be in a ring with him and on Sunday, I will be, but I've been ready for this for a long time. I've been ready to face you title or not."
"Take his title!" A voice in the crowd says.
I couldn't help but smile as I look for the voice.
"Not for his belt mate." I tell the crowd. "But I've been there and done that. As much as I don't think Griffin Hawkins needs a title to connect with a crowd, I think that in his mind, he does. He's always targeted a title and got it really, he's rarely gone that he's in it for the wrestling, he's pretty low key with that, but if his belt was on the line, and I won it, all it would mean is I give it up next week and vacant wins another belt. I will win this match, I have no fear or doubt about it, but I'm glad his belt isn't on the line. It's not that it's below me, I've loved the Roulette belt and the concept since day one, I loved being the Roulette champion, but I got the big boy title, and when I walk out with it at the end of it, the bright side is Griffin will go on to have that much anticipated match with Jack Russow."
I admit, I'm actually looking forward to Griffin Hawkins Vs Jack Russow.
"I don't dislike Griffin at all, I hope that's come across to ya all." I tell the crowd. "And I do think he will go on and be a World champion someday, but this is not his time to do so. This one was thrown at him in a sink or swim situation but right now, I'm on a roll and it's not time for me to hand it over just yet. Your time will come Griffin and people will love you more for it. Your time will be met with everyone being over the moon for you, I'll be over the moon for you, but this is not your time."
I shake my head to the crowd.
"This is you thrown in at the deep end." I say as I glance at the camera. "and as much as I hate to say it, cause I don't like slating the good guys, I don't think you're ready for this but the good to come out of this is that the fans get to see something great. I get to tick an opponent off the list that is a dream match for me. It's a bit of a dream match for the fans too, I know you guys are looking forward to this one, right?"
I look around at the cheering crowd, looking at the excitement on their faces.
"You guys are what we're here for." I tell them. "To entertain and Griffin Hawkins is an entertainer, I am the SCW World Heavyweight champion and I don't plan on giving this up without a fight. I've spent a long time working to get to this place, I'm comfortable as the champion, I'm in the mindset that I know nothing will last forever, but I'm gonna do everything in my power to make sure I walk out of here with my championship belt over my shoulder. Take this as a learning experience Griffin, learn from this match like I had to in my first and unsuccessful championship shot. I learned that I wasn't ready to be the World Champion then, I learned that I wasn't ready to be the top guy then, but I also learned that someday, I will be ready and I am."
I glanced down at the World championship and nodded before looking back up at the camera, smiling down it.
"It's nothing personal Griff." I say as if he's in front of me. "You're a good fella but this just isn't your time just yet. It will come, I have no doubt about it, but not right now."
I look up and around the crowd around me.
"Ladies and gents, I've taken up enough of your time." I tell them. "Thanks for coming out and listen to me ramble on for a bit. Enjoy the rest of your Friday and make sure you check out the SCW show on Sunday. Ben Jordan Vs Griffin Hawkins, clash of the champions, SCW World Heavyweight Championship on the line. You guys won't wanna miss it."
I quickly wink to the crowd.
"Laters people." I say with a wave.
And with that, the scene fades to black.