[Simon Jones]

 The scene opens inside the upper floor of The Great Western - a pub in Cardiff city centre - shortly after five o'clock on Friday 20th November. Stood at the top of the staircase that leads from the ground floor to the upper floor, is Simon Jones; he is wearing a pair of navy blue jeans and a black jacket.

Simon glances around, seemingly looking for someone; he then walks towards an area where there are several tables. A grin crosses Simon's face, when he finds who it is that he is looking for.

Simon: 'Alright, gents?'

Sat at one of the tables, on opposite sides, are two friends of Simon's: Coel and Luke; Coel is wearing a pair of pale blue jeans and a white t-shirt that has a skull on it, whereas Luke is wearing a pair of black trousers, and a grey button-up shirt and matching tie.

Luke: 'Alright?'

Coel: 'Alright, Simon?'

Coel raises his right hand, and Simon high fives him.

Simon: 'I'm gonna go to the bar, to get myself a drink; do either of you want anything?'

Coel and Luke both have pints of beer in front of them, on the table, which they are partway through drinking. Despite both of them knowing that they have not yet finished their respective drinks, they both still take a quick look at their glass - almost instinctively - before looking back to Simon.

Coel: 'No, I'm fine, thanks, buddy.'

Luke: 'Yeah, I'm fine too, thanks.'

Simon nods his head in acknowledgement.

Simon: 'Okay.'

Simon then moves away from the table his friends are seated at, and walks the short distance to the bar. Benefiting from it still being comparatively early on in the evening, Simon arrives at the bar to find that there is no queue; he does not have long to wait for a member of staff, as only a few seconds pass before a bartender appears.

Bartender: 'Hi. What can I get you?'

Simon: 'A pint of Tuborg, please.'

Simon look on patiently, as the bartender pulls the his pint; once poured, the bartender places the full glass on the bar, in front of Simon.

Bartender: 'That's three twenty-five, please.'

Simon pulls his wallet out of the pocket of his jeans; he takes a note from the wallet, and hands it over to the bartender. The bartender then opens the cash register, and gives Simon his change.

Simon: 'Thanks.'

Bartender: 'Thank you.'

Simon puts the change into his wallet, and then puts his wallet away. As the bartender wanders off, out of view, Simon picks up his pint of Tuborg, and has a sip. He then turns away from the bar, and makes his way back towards his friends.

Once he gets back to the table, Simon takes another sip of his beer, before putting his glass down. Simon then takes off his jacket, revealing that he is wearing a green t-shirt underneath; he places his jacket on the back of the chair next to Luke, which he then sits down on.

Luke: 'Coel and I were just trying to remember when the last time we all saw each other was.'

Simon looks at Luke.

Simon: 'Well, it's only been a couple of months since I saw last you: it was either the end of August, or the beginning of September - definitely one of the two.'

Simon then turns his attention to Coel.

Simon: 'It's been a bit longer since I last saw you though, Coel.'

Coel: 'How long has it been?'

Simon: 'I'm not sure - I'm trying to think; it was definitely before I returned to SCW.'

The three men each drink some of their beers, while they ponder the answer to the question.

Luke: 'I seem to remember the three of us coming here for some drinks at the end of May.'

Luke looks to Coel.

Luke: 'I'm sure Dave showed up at one point.'

Coel nods his head in agreement.

Coel: 'Yeah, I remember that.'

Luke then looks back to Simon, letting a teasing tone enter his voice.

Luke: 'What's wrong, Simon? You're usually the one that's good at remembering dates.'

In stark contrast to Luke, Simon responds in a sombre tone of voice.

Simon: 'I know. I've just got a lot on my mind at the moment, is all.'

Luke's tone of voice changes to being apologetic, as he realises what Simon is referring to.

Luke: 'Oh, yeah, of course; I'm sorry about your friend.'

Simon: 'Thanks.'

Confused, Coel looks at Luke, then at Simon.

Coel: 'What's this?'

Simon: 'Didn't you see my...no, of course, you wouldn't have - you're not on Facebook, and I didn't tweet about it.'

Simon gulps down more of his beer, for some liquid courage, before he continues.

Simon: 'I found out earlier that a friend of mine, whose name is Ian, and who I've known since we were both four years old - since we started school together...'

Simon pauses for a moment to gather himself.

Simon: 'I found out that he died yesterday morning.'

Coel: 'Shit, Simon; I'm sorry.'

Simon: 'Yeah - me too.'

Simon takes another swig of beer, savouring the taste.

Simon: 'Ahhh...I needed that.'

Coel: 'What happened?'

Simon looks away from his drink, and back to Coel.

Simon: 'He was killed in a car crash. As I said, it happened yesterday morning, so I'm guessing that he must have been on his way to work at the time; he was involved in a collision with another car, and he died at the scene.'

Luke: 'What about the driver of the other car?'

Simon turns to look at Luke.

Simon: 'As far as I'm aware, he or she survived.'

Luke finishes off the pint of Guinness that he had been drinking.

Luke: 'I'm going to go and get myself another pint.'

He then stands up.

Luke: 'Do you guys want anything?'

Coel shakes his head.

Coel: 'No thanks.'

Simon pulls out his wallet, from which he takes a note that he hands to Luke.

Simon: 'Get us some shots.'

Luke: 'Rum round?'

Simon smiles at the suggestion.

Simon: 'Good call.'

Simon then puts his wallet away, and as Luke heads for the bar, to buy more alcohol, Simon and Coel both consume some of what remains of their current drinks.

Coel: 'How are your parents?'

Not wanting to dampen the mood any further, Simon neglects to tell Coel about his mother's illness.

Simon: 'They're both fine; how about yours?'

Coel: 'Yeah, they're fine, too.'

Simon: 'And Rees and Lily?'

Rees and Lily are Coel's wife and stepdaughter, respectively.

Coel: 'They're both good; I've managed to get Lily interested in wrestling.'

Simon smiles at hearing this.

Simon: 'Good man; SCW, I hope.'

Coel: 'Of course - well, SCW, plus one or two other companies.'

Simon: 'As long as SCW is one of them, that's all that matters.'

Coel: 'She has taken an immediate liking to one of new blokes that has joined SCW.'

Simon raises his eyebrows.

Simon: 'Is that so? Which one?'

Coel: 'I think his name is Chris Shields.'

Simon: 'He hasn't even debuted yet.'

Coel: 'That doesn't matter - she saw a picture of him yesterday, and that was all it took.'

Simon chuckles; he and Coel then both pause to drink some more of their beers.

Coel: 'Just before you got here, Luke asked me, "If we were The Three Musketeers, who would each of us be?"'

Simon frowns.

Coel: 'I know; a typical Luke question.'

Simon: 'What did you say?'

Coel: 'I changed the subject.'

Simon laughs.

Simon: 'I'll have a think about that one, and try to come up with an answer for him.'

Coel then looks past Simon, having spotted something.

Coel: 'Here he is now, on his way back from the bar with our rum round.'

Simon turns to see Luke approach the table, carrying a fresh pint of Guinness in one hand, and three shots of rum in the other hand; Luke passes a shot each to Simon and Coel, before retaking his seat. The trio then clink their glasses and say 'Cheers!' in unison, after which, they down their shots of rum.

Simon: 'Shall we have another one of those later?'

Coel: 'Yeah, but let's wait a bit first.'

While Simon nods his head, Luke drinks some of his new pint.

Simon: 'Alright.'

Luke - who, unlike Coel, is not really interested in wrestling - then asks Simon a question.

Luke: 'Have you got a match this weekend?'

Simon turns to look at Luke.

Simon: 'No - if I did, then I would be on my way to Costa Rica right now, and not sat here with you two.'

Luke: 'Costa Rica, eh?'

Simon nods.

Luke: 'I think Cuba is the closest that I've been to Costa Rica.'

Coel: 'You met Sara there, didn't you?'

Sara is Luke's wife.

Luke: 'Correct.'

Simon: 'Well, there was an SCW show in Cuba last Sunday; I didn't have a match that night, either, so I just recorded a video, to air during the show.'

Coel: 'I saw that: you said that you want a match against either Goth or Lord Raab.'

For Luke's benefit, Simon explains who Goth and lord Raab are.

Simon: 'Goth is a former World Heavyweight Champion, and the current Roulette Champion - that's one of the singles titles below the heavyweight title; I think he's won his last dozen matches. Lord Raab is also a former World Heavyweight Champion, although he lost the title a month ago.'

Luke: 'Is he really a lord?'

Simon: 'I think he's as much of a lord as Dr Pepper is a doctor.'

Luke: 'Did you just compare a wrestler to a fizzy drink?'

Simon gives a nonchalant shrug.

Simon: 'I suppose I did - and I can't say that I'm particularly
fond of either of them.'

Simon then takes a sip of his beer - a beverage that is much more to his liking than Dr Pepper is.

Simon: 'Lord Raab also calls himself "The Masked German Monster" - that one is slightly less dubious: he is German, and he does wear a mask.'

Luke: 'Is he a monster, though?'

Simon: 'That depends on your definition of what a monster is, I guess; in terms of his size, I think you're as tall as he is.'

Coel: 'Luke versus Lord Raab - I would pay to see that.'

Luke and Simon both laugh.

Luke: 'So why do you want a match against one of those two, then?'

Simon: 'Because of the challenge that a match with either of them would give me. I've been in the ring with Goth twice previously, and I pinned him both times, but it has been almost two years since our last encounter. As for Lord Raab, he and I have never been opponents.'

Luke: 'Do you think you'll get what you want?'

Simon: 'We'll see; I've been waiting two months for a shot at the tag team titles, so probably not.'

Coel interjects.

Coel: 'You not having a tag team partner might have something to do with that.'

Turning to look at Coel, Simon replies jokingly.

Simon: 'Hey - point out your holes in my argument elsewhere.'

Luke: 'Are you going to dedicate your next match in your friend's memory?'

Simon looks back to Luke.

Simon: 'I'm not sure that would be wise. If I do end up with a match against Goth, or Raab, or someone of a similar calibre, I could just as easily lose as win; I don't think a defeat would be the best way for me to honour Ian's memory.'

Luke: 'Don't you usually win? You're a former World Champion as well, aren't you?'

Simon: 'Yeah. Emphasis on the "former" part of that, though - it's been almost eighteen months since I last held that title.'

Simon lets out a sigh.

Simon: 'My return to SCW hasn't quite gone the way that I would have liked it to.'

Luke: 'No?'

Simon: 'Well, it started out well enough: I received a great welcome from the fans, and my first match back was a main event, which ended in a win - but unfortunately for me, things went a bit downhill after that. I had an unsuccessful shot at regaining the heavyweight title; since then I've won a couple of matches, and I've lost a couple - I've still won more matches than I've lost, but I haven't managed to scale the heights that I reached previously in SCW.'

Coel: 'Do you regret going back?'

Simon shakes his head, as he turns to look at Coel.

Simon: 'No - no regrets. Do you remember a few years ago, when Ricky Hatton attempted a comeback, three years after his last fight? Afterwards, he said something along the lines of, he needed one more fight, to see if he still had it; if I hadn't gotten back in the ring, I would have been left wondering whether or not I still had it - whether or not I could have been successful again.'

Simon picks up his glass of beer, but hesitates before taking a drink.

Simon: 'And it's not as if my return to SCW has been a complete failure - like I said, I have at least won more matches than I've lost.'

He then takes a swig from his glass, as Coel and Luke do likewise with their drinks; Simon then turns his attention back to Luke.

Simon: 'So, while you were at the bar, Coel told me that you asked him which of The Three Musketeers would each of us be.'

Luke smiles.

Luke: 'Why, what do you think?'

Simon: 'Well, I think that Coel would have to be Porthos.'

Luke turns to look at Coel.

Luke: 'You get to die a hero's death.'

Coel replies in a sarcastic tone.

Coel: 'Great.'

Luke then turns back to Simon.

Simon: 'I'm minded to say that you would be Aramis...'

Luke: 'I don't die - I'm a survivor!'

Simon: '...and that I would be Athos.'

Luke: 'You get to die a slow and agonising death - like your wrestling career, from the sound of it.'

Coel and Simon laugh at Luke's remark.

Simon: 'Cheeky fucker. I'll have you know that there's still life left in my career yet - and I'll show that, the next time I'm in the ring.'

The trio's conversation then continues, and with their night out set to go on for another several hours, the scene fades to black.


The scene opens - on the afternoon of Thursday 26th November - to show the interior of a car, from the viewpoint of the front passenger seat; the car is stationary, by a row of terraced houses, in the Gabalfa district of Cardiff. Sat opposite the camera, in the driver's seat, is Simon Jones; Simon - who is sat facing the windscreen, staring off into the distance - is wearing a pair of dark blue jeans and a grey sweater.

Simon turns to face the camera, and begins to speak.

Simon: 'You probably don't need me to tell you that today is an important public holiday in the United States. I, of course, am not American, so I don't celebrate Thanksgiving - here in the UK, today is just like any other Thursday. I do, however, intend to take advantage of something that, for many, is an important part of Thanksgiving celebrations, by watching some of the NFL games later - I am particularly looking forward to watching the Packers beat the Bears. And so, with that in mind, I'm going to have a go at participating in another one of the day's traditions: the tradition of giving thanks.'

Simon rubs his chin.

Simon: 'I'm going to keep this bit reasonably short - I don't want to drone on, so I'll only mention a few things. Primarily, I'm thankful for my family and my friends, especially my wife and daughter - that ought to be obvious, really. As far as what most of you watching this are interested in is concerned - by which I mean my wrestling career - I'm thankful to SCW for giving me a promotion to call home, and for allowing me to return to the company earlier this year, after thirteen months away; I'm thankful to SCW for giving me the chance to regain the World Heavyweight Championship, although the match at Summer XXXTreme III didn't end the way that I would've like it to, but still, I'm thankful to SCW for continuing to give me the opportunity to entertain the fans, in matches such as that one, and the match that I will be competing in three days from now, against Gavin Stephens.'

Simon turns away from the camera, looking in the direction of  the windscreen again.

Simon: 'Gavin Stephens has of course recently made a return of his own to SCW, and just as I did, he immediately set his sights on getting his hands on some gold; nearly four months have passed since I returned to SCW, and I'm still waiting to add to my list of achievements - we'll see whether Gavin fares any better than I have, in his quest to get a title around his waist. He couldn't have done any more so far, having won both of the matches that he has had since returning, but my aim for this Sunday is to stop him from making it a hat-trick of wins, and for me to instead be the one that gets his hand raised in victory.'

Simon leans back in his seat.

Simon: 'I've seen this match referred to as the biggest test to date for Gavin Stephens, and at the risk of sounding as though I'm blowing my own horn, after a win against an out of sorts Kris Halc, followed by a win against newcomer CJ Sharpe, I tend to agree with that statement. However, this leaves me with a feeling of déjà vu: three weeks ago, I was preparing for a match against J2H - a match that was referred to as "the biggest match yet for J2H." Unfortunately for me, J2H shone brighter than I did in that match, and so now I need to make sure that I avoid another case of history repeating itself, by not allowing Gavin Stephens to do the same this Sunday - I can't allow him to claim my scalp, on his climb up the SCW rankings. Besides, I still harbour title ambitions of my own, and with that in mind, back-to-back defeats is something that I can ill afford - this match on Sunday is a match that I need to win.'

Simon turns back to face the camera.

Simon: 'The thing that Gavin Stephens is probably best known for by SCW fans, is for being Mikah's husband; if he wants to be known for more than that - if he wants to step out of his wife's shadow - then he needs to win matches like the one that he finds himself in this Sunday. Unfortunately for him, I don't plan on letting that happen.'

Simon shakes his head.

Simon: 'I've heard Gavin Stephens refer to himself on multiple occasions as "a visionary;" I wonder, Gavin, what role do I play in your visions? If I was to hazard a guess, I daresay that you envisage yourself inflicting severe pain and punishment on me, leaving me a beaten and broken man - a stepping stone, on your climb to the top; needless to say, I see things panning out a little differently on Sunday evening.'

Simon smiles.

Simon: 'I'm well aware of what you're capable of, Gavin; I've seen what you can do, and not just from what I've watched while studying you on tape in the past few days - I've also seen it in person. You see, back at the start of February, I was at the Climax Control that took place in Belfast, and that night I got to see what is probably the most memorable match that you have been involved in so far during your time in SCW: the Belfast Brawl between you and Drexel Matheson. Now, you may not have won that match, but you certainly got your pound of flesh.'

Simon nods his head, as he recalls the barbarity of that match.

Simon: 'Our match won't follow quite the same pattern as the one that you had with Matheson - at least, it won't be quite as violent. The one similarity with that match that I envision, is that you will again be the one that gets pinned. Sure, you'll get your licks in, but it'll count for very little in the end.'

Simon runs a hand through his hair.

Simon: 'After that loss to Matheson, it was nine months before you were seen again in SCW; should I indeed defeat you on Sunday, I hope you'll stick around this time - after all, being beaten by a two-time SCW World Heavyweight Champion is nothing to be ashamed of.'

Simon smirks.

Simon: 'In the past few weeks I've found myself thinking about what - if anything - I fear. That was brought about hearing J2H claim that he is "not afraid of anything any more," and then subsequently having him be an opponent of mine. And this brings me onto why I'm sat here, talking to a camera, in a car that isn't going anywhere - and why I don't fear anything that Gavin Stephens can do to me.'

Simon pauses to take a breath, before continuing.

Simon: 'A week ago today, a friend of mine, who I had known for over three decades, was killed in a car crash, on his way to work. In the days immediately afterwards, he was never far from my thoughts, as I struggled to accept that I would never see him again. In the past few days, though, I've tried to get my mind back onto other things - it may sound selfish, but for me to be able to win my match on Sunday, I needed to spend more time focusing on Gavin Stephens, and less time mourning the loss of my friend. However, there's one thing in particular that I haven't been able to shake off - one mental hurdle that I haven't been able to overcome: I haven't been able to get behind the wheel of my car, and drive anywhere - not even just a mile or so to the shops.'

Another pause follows, while Simon collects his thoughts.

Simon: 'I've found myself thinking about how my friend would have made that journey hundreds, or even thousands of times, but that this time, tragically, he didn't complete his journey; his girlfriend would have said goodbye to him that morning, not knowing that she would never see him alive again. And that has gotten me worrying: what's to stop the same thing from happening to me? I now find myself worrying about leaving my wife a widow, and leaving my daughter without a father - that's what I fear; compared to that, the thought of what Gavin Stephens could do to me is nothing.'

Simon momentarily looks away from the camera, to remove his key from the car's ignition; he then turns to face the camera once more.

Simon: 'While I can't bring myself to start the engine of this car, and drive off, I have no hesitancy about setting foot in the ring. I mentioned earlier that Gavin probably envisages himself inflicting severe pain and punishment on me, but to that I say, "bring it on." Bring everything that you have, Gavin: bring Mikah with you; hit with me everything in your arsenal - it doesn't matter to me. You can inflict as much torment upon me as you want physically, but it won't be anywhere near as bad as the mental anguish that I have experienced in the past seven days; you can't break me, Gavin, because I'm already broken.'

Simon leans towards the camera.

Simon: 'This is one match, Gavin, that isn't yours to win; see you in Mexico.'

As Simon stares intensely at the camera, the scene fades to black.