A very dark room is seen, just a candle on a table can be seen in the room, it's light reflecting off another object, unable to see what it is, but the light dances off a reflective metal surface. The camera turns to see the light across half the face of the latest addition to the male roster in SCW, Tony Thorn. He's eyes look down at the candle, not blinking, just staring through dead looking pale eyes. Who knows what might be going through his mind as he watches the flame bounce from side to side.
Narrator: Tony Thorn, new addition to the roster and one would say one of the most curious to put his name on the dotted line to become an SCW star. He had done his history of Sin City Wrestling and had seen the people who had came before him. People who believed they were from hell, pretty people, egotistical human beings, even non humans, but Tony is non of the aforementioned, Tony is different, Tony is special, he is truly gifted without the need to use it as a gimmick.
Tony holds his hand over the candle, watching the flame stretch towards his hand but his expression on his face remains the same.
Narrator: He was not one of those I love pain people, he was not in wrestling for the glory either. He was there for a reason. To understand who he is, we're going to have to go back to a simpler time in his life. Tony wasn't the most popular child at school, nor did he go out of his way to become popular. In his eyes, an attempt to do so would only happen to hide the flaws he didn't want others to see. Friends were at a premium for him, as long as he could remember.
2005 in Lima, Ohio.
A young Tony Thorn can be seen walking up the pathway towards a modest looking home.
Narrator: Even at nine years of age, it was obvious that Tony was different. While other kids wanted to play out with their friends, Tony wanted to learn, that was reason enough to be targeted.
With books under his arm, Tony walks towards the front door of his home, only to be cut off but a much older looking boy. The boy looks down at Tony, the shadow of his upper body covering the much shorter Tony.
Tony: As much as I should thank you for keeping the sun's harmful rays off my body, saving me from skin cancer, I'm afraid I must ask you to step aside. I have very important things to learn.
Narrator: As with most of that age group, listening wasn't a strong point.
Older boy: What if I don't wanna get out of your way? What if I want to take your money?
Tony: Well, I'd have to insist you do move, as it wouldn't benefit either of us to stand out here too long. As for the threat of taking money from me, I'd like to remind you of the time. It's very much after lunch time, so the chances of me, or anyone that may have lunch money, significantly decrease after one post meridiem, or as you will know it, one P.M. I would say decreases as much as eighty eight percent if I were to hazard a guess, but I can do the math if you prefer to come up with a more accurate answer.
Older boy: You're a nerd!
Tony looks at the boy through his thick rimmed glasses, just thinking for a few seconds.
Tony: I'd like to disagree with that fact. See, Nerd is defined in the Oxford dictionary as a single-minded expert in a particular technical field. I can assure you I'm adept in more than a single field.
The older boy looks confused at Tony, who's facial expressions don't seem to change.
Older boy: Haha, you've read the dictionary?
Tony: You haven't? I've perused it a few times, and it does open someone's mind.
The older boy looks confused by the comments, but Tony looks at him as if his comments were completely normal.
Narrator: Tony had yet to define intelligence from lack of intelligence at this age. He understood that some people were smarter than others but at that young age, like most, he believed everything was how he saw it, was also seen by others in the same light. His lack of human interaction showed him little in to the human mind.
Older boy: You really are a nerd.
The older boy pushes Tony to the ground, the books flying in multiple directions. Tony lands in a heap on the floor while the older boy points and laughs. The door of the tiny house swings open to see an irate woman standing there, Tony's mother Victoria. Anger seethes through her body as her nostrils flare and she makes a beeline to the laughing boy. The boy senses the danger and the smile falls from his face.
Victoria: Boy if you put your hands on my son again, you won't be laughing because you'll have no fucking teeth in your head to show off.
The boy stays frozen in place, the smile on his face long gone.
Victoria: I swear to god, I will break my foot off in your ass if you don't leave my son alone. Now get!
The boy heeds in the instruction, running off and away from Victoria and Tony. Tony pulls himself to his feet, dusting himself off and reaching down to pick up his books. Victoria looks towards her son, reaching down and picking up a nearby book and handing it to him.
Victoria: Don't listen to them son. They're just scared because they're dumb as a bunch of rocks compared to you.
Tony: Rocks are just rocks.
Victoria: And they're just idiots. Go inside and momma will make you a snack.
Narrator: Now Tony's expects to hear the momma boy jokes through his career, he has done through his life but there's only three things in this world you can trust, animals, yourself and your mother. Victoria was a firecracker, there was no doubts to be had there, but the woman's support allowed Tony to grow. There was no danger of him doing what modern youth do and join a gang, there was no danger of him hanging out on street corners. Tell me right now, where ever you're listening to this do you have a gang problem? Do you often sit there and wonder why the parents are not doing anything? You've all uttered that phrase once in your life, but this was never gonna happen to Tony with a supportive, protective parent. Make all the jokes you want about momma's boys, but hey, do you know where your children are right now?
Tony listens to his mother, walking in to the house and through the small domain, moving towards the end of it and opening a door. He walks in to his own small bedroom, where books cover the walls, covering a various amount of subjects. Tony places the books on his bed before moving towards the other side of the room where a whiteboard in on the wall. Tony picks up and starts to write a single world in cursive.... "bullies."
Narrator: Whenever Tony didn't know about anything, he would learn, this was his life, his thirst for knowledge would overshadow everything else he could think of. When he wanted to learn about something, he would until he'd learned everything possible about the subject, and I do mean everything. This was his first look in to the human mind, his first attempt to find out why people were the way they were. Everything he'd ever try to learn about what physical, how the world turns, but this was his first attempt at learning about the most dangerous things on the planet.... humanity. This alone opened up his eyes to millions of other things to learn.
Tony looks at the word, his eyes fixated on it as he formulates theories in his head, but the voice of his mother breaks his conversation. Victoria can be heard arguing with someone.
Victoria: I don't give a fuck what your son says, he put his hands on my boy, and he's lucky I didn't use his face to wash my bathroom floor with it! Now get the fuck off my property before I break my foot up in your ass too and start to dig a hole in the garden for ya!
The sound of the door slamming can be heard and footsteps can be heard walking towards where Tony is situated. His bedroom door swings open and his mother stands at the doorway.
Victoria: Your snack is ready son.
Tony looks up at his mother, curiosity on his face.
Tony: Mom.
Victoria: Yes son?
Tony: Is it really possible to snap your foot off in someone's rectal cavity?
Victoria smiles at Tony with warmth.
Victoria: You're the smart one, why don't you figure it out? Come on.
Tony exits the room with his mother but quickly returns to his room seconds later, looking along the bookshelf and selecting a book called anatomy before leaving the room again.
The camera switches back to modern day Tony, still his eyes fixated on the candle.
Narrator: Older years didn't get much better for Tony, he was still the loner, still the outcast because of his intellect. High School was a waste of time for Tony, he was far beyond his years and far more advanced than his peers, his potential was getting wasted, his curiosity was not getting fulfilled sitting in a classroom waiting for everyone to catch up. His genius wasn't going unnoticed, universities scrambled for him at a young age and at fourteen, he decided it was the only way for his mind to grow stronger than it already was. Victoria wasn't too keen at her baby leaving for university so young, but she was supportive of him, and agreed to let him leave the home and trust councillors and other authority adults with her baby boy - with a stark warning that should anything happen to him, there will be hell to pay...
2010
Tony sits on the bed in his shared dorm room at the age of just fourteen, his eyes embedded in an advance physics book.
Narrator: He chose many different subjects to study, and holds many qualifications, advanced chemistry being one... Before you ask, yes, he probably could make a highly toxic bomb if he chose to, university seemed to help improve his mind but the social side of his life was still a little short.
He read each complicated word and understood the meaning to each one, most of the words, the normal person would struggle to even pronounce.
Narrator: He learned a lot in those five years about human behaviour and what makes the mind tick and he was more than wise enough to understand that finally there would be people of his standard, people with the same level of intelligence as he had. Until he met the person he was sharing a room with. A man they called Boomer.
Boomer walks in to the room, a towel wrapped around his waist, fresh from the community showers. Tony glances over the top of his book for a few seconds seeing the older man walk in to the room, before looking back down at the book, finding it more interesting than the sight of the man in a towel.
Boomer: That was a great shower!
That comment alone forced Tony to look up.
Tony: What's the difference between that shower and any other that you've had there?
Narrator: It was a serious question from Tony. He felt he had to question everything just to expand his mind.
Boomer looks at Tony on the bed, slightly taken back by the comment.
Boomer: It was just great.
Tony: How? I presume the water pressure is the same as any other day and the temperature was set to your prefer standard choice of heat, that you also used the same soap as you always do, so what made this particular shower better than others you've taken?
Boomer looks at Tony once more, his eyes narrowed as he looks at him.
Boomer: Shut up little man. Now make yourself look good cause it's party night!
Boomer reaches in to a mini fridge and pulls out two beers, offering one to Tony, but Tony shakes his head.
Tony: I'm fourteen, I can't drink, nor do I want to. Do you know what alcohol does to you? It poisons your body, attacking your liver and immune system, ages you faster than it should. It's also a depressant, which explains why most suicides are committed after the consumption of it.
Boomer: Boy you take the fun out of everything!
Tony: Cause not everything is fun.
Boomer: This is.
Boomer opens the beer and chugs some of it back, looking towards Tony sitting on the bed, not breaking eye contact with the young man. He places the beer on a side table next to his bed.
Boomer: That's the problem with you little man. You're in college! You're meant to have fun, you're meant to party and do shit you're not allowed to do in the real world yet. You're meant to go out and get laid with random women.
Tony: It's illegal for me to fornicate, well, more so illegal for my willing partner.
Boomer: You're taking the fun out of random sex now! Boy you're never gonna get some action with that attitude. There's hundreds of women with no morals and a low tolerance to alcohol on this campus, they ain't gonna give a shit how old you are, but you're even trying to take the fun out of meaningless sex! What in God's name is even wrong with you?
Boomer moves closer to Tony, his voice getting louder.
Boomer: You're a freak, that's what you are, that all you're ever gonna be! You're gonna go through life with your head in books. Hello genius, we have the Internet now! You're just gonna sit there and have no friends, no one who cares and it's your own fault!
Narrator: Harsh words, but he'd heard them before, and never did take too kindly to them. He'd grown in the last five years, learning about people but learning that extracting revenge was not a case of getting physical, but about being smarter than they are.
Boomer turns his back on Tony, proud of his words as he starts to dry off and get dressed. Tony looks towards the side table next to his bed, seeing the beer Boomer had placed down. Tony slowly reaches over to the table, picking up a box of eye drops. He removes the tube and just fills the syringe, holding the end over the beer can and dropping one single drop in to the beer can before hiding the box behind his back.
Narrator: Tony knew more than a drop could have long term health effects, he had read the box countless times, knowing each chemical well, after all, he was studying advanced chemistry at the time. He knew just the right about to put it to cause stomach issues. Still, I wouldn't try this at home, some of the chemicals that are found in eye drops are not good, but a single drop would be enough to give discomfort without causing too much damage.
Tony leans back on the bed and lifts his book, looking at his, yet one eye kept on Boomer. Boomer eventually gets dressed and turns back, picking up the beer and chugging it back. A slight smile crosses Tony's lip as he watches Boomer finish the beer.
Boomer: I'm off to have a life. Enjoy doing nothing.
Tony smiles innocently at Boomer.
Tony: I hope you get all the meaningless fornication that you desire.
The camera cuts to Tony sitting in the darkened room once more.
Narrator: Needless to say, Boomer did not have a great night that night, having spent most of it in the bathroom, due to what can only be described as intense stomach cramps. Still, that shows off the side that Tony wasn't the most popular person at school, shying away from parties, and meeting people, so it does make you wonder how he could go from being such a recluse to wanting to be in front of a camera, in front of people in a live audience. I mean people who are like that don't tend to change their styles after twenty long years of being who they are, but for all those books smarts, he still couldn't find a way to break through to people, try to educate them on life and make the world a much better place. It was a stroke of pure dumb luck that lead him to where he is now...
2016.
Back in Lima, Ohio.
Narrator: Tony had finished his time at university and returned home to Lima a different man. He'd grown not just mentally, but physically too. The glasses were gone, the hair was longer, he felt different, much older than his age. He had to decide his next step, but it wasn't a choice he was going to make lightly. He had degrees in many things, passing every single class with flying colors, yet he knew he had to speak out to the masses.
Walking through the streets in early evening, a thoughtful Tony wandered aimlessly, not knowing where he was going, just needing a head clearing walk. Lima wasn't exactly a Las Vegas, or a Santa Monica, it had no overruling character to it, just another city in America. The wind was picking up as he walked through, considering a return to home, but his eyes fell upon a crowd across the road from where he was. His eyes narrowed as he saw people trying to get in to this small building.
Narrator: He had no idea what it was, or what was going on, but something drew him to the building, something had piqued his interest. He knew he needed a crowd in front of him if he was to teach them something new about life, maybe that's what this is. Maybe it was a place where people meet and enlighten each other.
Tony moves across the road to join the crowd, standing at the back of the line, slowly edging forward as the people entered the building one by one. Eventually getting to the front, he reaches in to his pocket, pulling out one ten dollar bill and handing it to the man in the ticket office.
Narrator: He still didn't know what he was even spending his money on, but walking in to that building changed his life. All the degrees in the world couldn't have changed his life as much as what he saw in front of him, his first encounter with wrestling.
Tony looks surprised as he stands in the arena, his eyes running over a wrestling ring for the first time in his entire life.
Narrator: He didn't watch too much television and was hardly the sporting man, but he was looking at something new. It was in Tony's nature to see something new and learn all about it.
Tony makes his way towards the front of the arena as the lights drop out, clearly in unknown territory. The lights drop out and a man walks to the ring to music and is handed a microphone. He starts to speak to the crowd, the people holding on to his every words as he pulls them through a rollercoaster of emotions. Tony watches on curiously.
Narrator: At this moment, Tony saw it was possible to large crowds and have their attention, have them hang on to everything you could possibly say. The thought alone was everything he had been looking for, everything he wanted. He had the urge to share his knowledge, he had the urge to make the world listen to him, just like this man had hundreds of people listening to him. He watched in awe as people ate up every words the man said before the first match started, and ideas were forming in his head.
Tony's eyes watched on as two men started a wrestling match, but his eyes turned towards the crowd, watching every set of eyes but his own locked on to the action.
Narrator: He was stunned at how two men could hold then attention of all the people in the room and he knew at that point that this was the path he needed to take, this was the way to get people to listen to him, to spread the knowledge he had worked hard to acquire over the years. This was his way in.
Tony: I get it. endurance, plus fitness, plus moments to get the crowd off their feet, plus the ability to connect to a crowd, equals success.
Narrator: His formula was fairly accurate for a man who has seen this for the first time, but he knew some sort of training would be needed. He estimated to be a complete success, to be well rounded, he needed daily training for two years. I know most go through six months and think they're the best thing since sliced bread but realistically, two years would be perfect. He needed to find out more.
Waiting patiently for the match to finish, Tony turns his attention to a man to his right.
Tony: Excuse me sir, could you tell me if these shows are a regular thing?
The man looks at Tony, a little taken back by his question.
Man: No, this is just a company passing through, they'll be somewhere else tomorrow.
Tony: Oh, that is a shame. Do you know any way I can see more of this sport?
Man: Have you been living under a rock or something?
Tony shakes his head at the man.
Tony: No sir, but I prefer factual written text, to fictional moving pictures.
The man doesn't really know how to respond to Tony, but answers.
Man: Search the Internet, there's shows online all the time, from a lot of different companies.
Tony: Thank you my good man, enjoy the show.
The camera cuts back to Tony sitting in the darkened room, his eyes now looking up at the camera.
Narrator: Two years in the making, two years of intense training, mostly self taught from watching hours and hours of wrestling videos, hours and hours of gym work, hours of moulding himself and his body in to maximum conditioning to have a greater chance of success.
Tony: And here I am now.
He looks down the camera before focusing on the candle in front of him, slowly flickering.
Tony: The journey from who I was to who I've become in such a relatively short amount of time has been enough to astound even the brightest of minds. The odds I've defied is enough to make a mind melt with envy. I know my worth and how far I've become with the motivation that has carried me through to where I need to be and where I need to be is right here.
A slightly twisted smile passes on Tony's face as he tilts his head towards the right, his eyes focused on the only light source in the room.
Tony: Motivation can come from so many places, it can be incredibly random in so many ways. I am a perfectionist that makes me want to do everything to the best of my abilities. My motivation was always there to not only step in to the ring from the moment I set my mind on it, but to educate, but this past week, motivation came from a source that I didn't expect. The source of social media. I for one knew it was a powerful tool in the modern ages, the numbers alone on growth for social media speaks for themselves, although it has taken away from the much more sensible forms of communications. People would rather send a little video of themselves on a platform called Snapchat, with rabbit ears to ask a question that could be answered with a simple and more efficient text message, or an old fashioned phone call. Social media has ruined the future youth, watering them down. Thankfully, there happens to be people like me who sees the true meaning of social media, to impart wisdom. Yet social media played a huge part in my motivation this week, thanks to a certain lady.
Tony reaches to the table and picks up the object on it from earlier, more in to the light shows it as a crossbow. He fires in to the darkness and as the show of the bolt crunches in to something, a dim light appears above a wall showing two pictures on the wall, one of Effie Bingham and the other of Ty West. The bolt through the forehead of Effie. Tony stands up and moves towards the picture and the bolt.
Tony: Effie Bingham, a lady who claims importance. A woman who claims importance, yet for very unknown reasons. A woman who openly admits to getting beat by a nine year old at a game that offers no education value. A woman who appears to do what exactly?
He taps his chin as he looks at the picture.
Tony: I admit, I do not know you, I do not know what purpose you serve on an SCW screen, I have a clue that no one actually knows who you are, and they're incredible confused by your presence. I can not imagine one person has ever said the phrase "I can not wait to watch Climax Control tonight because that Effie woman is gonna be on the screen playing with her phone and trying to get close to a wrestler" and actually mean it. You're a wasted presence on the screen, but you do play a fantastic role of motivating someone off the screen.
He runs his finger down the picture of Effie on the wall.
Tony: In fact it's simply marvellous that a simple tweet saying hi to Ty, to build up my debut, would motivate you to sign up a social media account, just to mock me.
He taps the picture on the nose.
Tony: Now please don't say you didn't sign up just for me. I was one of the first you followed, I was the first you quoted, I was the first direct tweet you sent. It doesn't need my IQ to work out that someone had a little word in your ear and you felt the need to defend your crush because as you so informed me, Ty doesn't do social media. Do you know for a second how that makes him look? That his little lady friend has to stick up for him. You can mock me for caring about my mother all you like, but what you've done has made him look weak. What you've done, has done more harm than good. You've sat and embarrassed the man by actively going on social media to rile up his opponent. You've gained him nothing.
He lowers himself down to look in the eyes of the picture.
Tony: Your words have cost him Effie, what kinda person does that make you? You think you've got under my skin, that you've got in my head but you don't have that kind of level of intelligence to do that. Need to be a special kind of person to do that and you're not that person. You have simply motivated me. I won't lay my hands on you, it's not the gentlemanly thing to do, my mother might but I will not. I will however take my actions out on your friend, I will punish him for your sins. I will have to, just to help him. He needs to be able to tell you to stay out of things, he needs to tell you to stop because if not, every opponent he will face, that you will openly mock, will walk in to a match with the same mindset as I do and that's to take Ty West apart.
Tony turns his attention to the picture of Ty on the wall, poking his face viciously.
Tony: Tell her Ty! Tell her to shut up before she gets you hurt!
Tony closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, looking at the picture of Ty.
Tony: She's going to be your downfall Ty, she has motivated me to do some horrible things to that "pretty" face of yours.
Tony runs his thumb down the cheek of Ty's picture.
Tony: You put way too much stock in these looks of yours Ty. I did state that I had a theory about people who claim to be pretty. Do you want to hear it?
Tony moves his face closer to the picture, a very angry look on his face.
Tony: I said DO YOU WANT TO HEAR IT?
Tony's face changes to a cold smile.
Tony: I'm sure you do. I'm sure everyone does. Have you ever heard of distraction, Ty? I'm sure you have, most people have heard of it. It's when you force someone to look at something, to stop them from looking at the one thing you don't want them to see. People who deem themselves as pretty, are only doing that to hide the fact of something else. Now most people, they hide that really and truly, they don't see themselves that way, but someone in their lives have told them they are and they have to focus on that. No one sees what's behind the eyes of anyone, no one can read minds Ty, no one can see how unhappy people are, so people make others focus on their supposed good qualities, in your mind, your looks. It's a case of stopping people from looking beyond the looks because realistically, there is nothing beyond the looks, there's nothing else remotely interesting about you. You're not different from anyone else who focuses on their looks. All those selfies, with the duck lips that plague the world, they're not asking for people to know them, they're all saying "look at me, look at me, I'm an attention whore, look at me." They too know that past the external feature, they're nothing Ty. What does that say about you?
He stops moving his thumb down the picture.
Tony: What it says about you, is that there's nothing beyond the skin. While I agree, beauty is very much in the eye of the beholder, what's the point of beauty when there's nothing else about you. When you base your entire life on one thing, on looks, you fair to see things glaring you in the eye.
Tony scratches down the picture with his thumbnail, scraping away at Ty's face.
Tony: Looks fade Ty.
Tony puts his other hand on the picture and scraps down the other side of his face.
Tony: Then what? What happens when they're all gone?
He puts his hand across the picture and rips across, his voice growing louder.
Tony: What happens when something you put so much stock in to, disappears just like that? It can happen Ty!
He closes his eyes, taking another calming deep breath.
Tony: See, I've read stuff Ty, I keep up with world news and I see over in England, people are getting acid thrown in their faces, I've seen about people getting beaten within an inch of their lives, their faces caved in and never looking the same again. You're a wrestler man, you give everyone the chance to do that.
Tony runs his hand over the now ripped picture of Ty on the wall.
Tony: You base yourself on look and allow people the chance to take that away from you and on Sunday, one man is gonna take that away from you. You see, you're paying for something that was not your fault. If you had taken to social media to try and get under my skin, it would have been different, but as it was explained to me, you're scared to be stalked. You're a public figure Ty, I did the math for you. There's only a .33 percent increase that social media would lead to you being stalked so I suggest for your reputations sake, you man up.
Tony moves his head closer to that torn picture.
Tony: Don't worry if you feel you're gonna get stalked for your looks Ty, because come Sunday, I will be taking that reason away and driving the chances even lower that you will have someone want to follow you around.
He places his forehead on the picture.
Tony: This is two years in the making, and I will not fail, but if I was you, I'd try and find another quality that you have to base your name on. Till Sunday Ty.
Tony turns and walks away. The camera focuses on the ripped picture of Ty as the sounds of Tony's footsteps can be heard. A sharp exhale of air can be heard, presumably blowing the candle out can be heard, causing the scene to fade to black.
