[Simon Jones]

 Monday 18th November

The scene opens to show Simon Jones sat on a wooden chair, in the kitchen of his home; he is sat at a circular table - which is in the centre of the shot - that matches with the chair. There are three similar chairs positioned around the table, each of which is unoccupied. Simon is wearing a pair of navy blue tracksuit bottoms and a plain grey t-shirt.

In the left foreground of the shot, stood by a kitchen counter, is Jason O'Neil, who is wearing black tracksuit bottoms, and a white sweatshirt that has an Adidas logo on it. The counter-top extends along much of the left wall of the kitchen, although before the kitchen door is reached - which is visible in the left background of the shot - there is a refrigerator, and then a kitchen bin; in front of Jason - on the counter-top - is a half-pint glass, and adjacent to that - near to Jason's right hand - is a carton of six eggs.

Jason moves his left hand to grip the glass firmly, and then with his other hand, he removes an egg from the carton; he proceeds to crack open the egg against the rim of the glass, before emptying the raw egg into the glass. Following this, Jason places the eggshell on the counter-top, then selects another egg from the carton, and begins to repeat the process - as he does so, Simon becomes the first of the pair to speak.

Simon: 'What are you doing over there? Making an omelette?'

After pouring the second egg into the glass, Jason puts the eggshell on the counter-top, and then takes a third egg from the carton.

Jason: 'You'll see.'

Jason cracks open the egg, and empties the contents into the glass; he then places the eggshell on the counter-top, before taking another egg from the carton.

Simon: 'Why did you get me out of bed at four a.m.?'

Jason: 'Giani Di Luca. Or, to be more specific, your match against Giani Di Luca six days from now.'

Simon: 'You've never woken me up so early to train for a match in the past, though - what's different about this match? Do you think I need to spend more time preparing for Di Luca than I have for any of my other opponents, is that it? I don't understand.'

Jason: 'You will.'

Having poured a fourth raw egg into the glass, Jason puts the eggshell on the counter-top, and then takes one more egg from the carton; he cracks open that egg, and empties the contents into the glass. Jason moves his left hand away from the glass, and gathers up the four previously discarded eggshells; he walks over to the bin, and disposes of the five eggshells. Jason goes back to the counter-top, and with his left hand, he picks up the egg carton - which now contains just a solitary egg - before walking to the refrigerator; he uses his other hand to pull open the refrigerator door, and places the carton inside. After shutting the door of the refrigerator, Jason returns to the counter-top, picks up the glass with his right hand, and then turns to walk towards the table; he puts the glass down on the table, and takes a seat in the chair opposite to the one that Simon is sat in.

Jason: 'You know, once you become a father, you'll need to get used to being woken up at all hours - being woken up by me at four a.m. will seem like a lie in, in comparison.'

Simon: 'As if you know what it's like to have a newborn baby in your home.'

Jason: 'Hey, I didn't even know I had a son until months after he'd been born.'

Simon: 'Yes, ever so like Mickey Carroll - people could be forgiven for thinking that it's a recurring trait amongst Irish wrestlers. But at least Carroll is trying to be a father to his son - when was the last time you saw Ryan?'

Jason: 'March, maybe.'

Simon: 'March, maybe?'

Jason: 'I don't know, I'm not sure - it was some time in the early part of this year, when I was last in the UK; you know that it's difficult for me to spend time with Ryan, ever since his mum married my gobshite of a stepbrother - Ryan thinks the sun shines out of his arse, but I find it a challenge to be in the same room as the bloke, without developing an urge to punch him in the face.'

With his right hand, Jason reaches towards the glass, and slides it across the table, in the direction of Simon.

Jason: 'Anyway, stop concerning yourself with my relatives, and get that down your neck.'

Simon extends his right arm towards the glass; he lifts the glass up slightly, eyes its contents for a moment, and then raises the glass to his mouth. After drinking the five raw eggs, Simon places the glass back down on the table.

Jason: 'How was that?'

Simon: 'It wasn't exactly the best tasting drink that I've ever had first thing in the morning. Seriously Jason, what is this all about? Waking me up at four o'clock, getting me to drink raw eggs - you've never done either of those things before, so what's going on?'

Jason: 'As I said, it's because of Giani Di Luca - it's to start preparing you for your match against him next weekend.'

Simon: 'But he and I were opponents as recently as three weeks ago yesterday, and you didn't feel the need to do anything like this to prepare for that match, so what's changed in the interim - what's different now?'

Jason raises his right arm, and holds up his index finger and middle finger.

Jason: 'Two things: firstly, the last time that you and Di Luca were opponents, you also had Kain and Nick Jones to contend with, whereas come Sunday, it's just going to be the pair of you in the ring; and secondly, you didn't win that match - Di Luca did.'

Jason lowers his arm.

Simon: 'At least I didn't have the ignominy of being the one that was pinned - that went to Nick Jones.'

Jason: 'That's true. I suppose you could make the argument that the odds were against you - there was a twenty-five percent chance that you would win, and a seventy-five percent chance that you wouldn't - but then, that would be ignoring the fact that the odds were the same for each of the other three men; one of you had to win - and Di Luca was that one.'

Simon: 'Look, Jason, if you want to build up my confidence before Sunday, reminding me of how Giani Di Luca succeeded where I failed in our last encounter, this really isn't the way to go about it.'

Jason: 'No, but going over certain things that occurred in that match could prove to be vital in helping you to defeat him this time round - that, coupled with the experience that you already had of being in the same ring as Di Luca from back in May, an occasion on which you were of course the victor.'

Simon nods his head.

Simon: 'Okay, that's fair enough. But I still don't understand where waking me up at four o'clock to drink raw eggs comes into the equation.'

Jason: 'You know how it's said that, the definition of insanity is repeating the same course of action and expecting a different result?'

Simon answers with an uncertain tone of voice.

Simon: 'Yes?'

Jason: 'That's why we're going to prepare differently this time, so that the outcome of the match next Sunday will be different - an outcome more to our liking. And because you'll only have the one opponent this time - rather than three - we can tailor your preparations specifically to deal with countering the threat that Giani Di Luca will pose to you in the ring.'

Simon: 'And an early start and drinking raw eggs is the first stage in these plans of yours that are going to lead me to victory against Di Luca?'

Jason: 'Yes. Because to conquer "The Italian Stallion," you must become The Italian Stallion.'

Simon: 'But I don't recall ever seeing Giani Di...'

Simon's voice trails off, and as the realisation of something sets in, the expression on his face changes to a look of bewilderment; a smile then creeps across his face, before he opens his mouth to speak again.

Simon: 'You're having me train like Rocky Balboa, aren't you?'

Jason smiles back.

Jason: 'Yep. I must say though, I'm surprised that it took a fan of the Rocky films such as yourself so long to recognise the reason why I had you do that.'

Simon: 'Do you really think that having me emulate the actions of a fictional boxer is going to help me - a wrestler - win a match against an opponent whose nickname is taken from said boxer?'

Jason: 'The last time that you followed in Rocky's footsteps, you went on to be victorious.'

Simon frowns.

Simon: 'When was that?'

Jason: 'Back in April, when you defeated Vixen to win the world cruiserweight title.'

Simon raises his left arm, moving his hand towards his face, to scratch his forehead; a few seconds later, he takes his hand away from his head, and responds to Jason.

Simon: 'I wouldn't say I "followed in Rocky's footsteps" seven months ago - I certainly didn't copy any of his training methods, or do any other kind of training that was out of the ordinary; I simply compared the situation I was in to his situation in the original film - he was preparing to challenge Apollo Creed for the world title, in what was undoubtedly the biggest match of his career, and I was preparing to face Vixen, in what was the biggest match of my career to that point.'

Jason: 'We can debate the details of it, but you channeled Rocky's spirit, his - dare I say it - eye of the tiger, and the important thing to remember, is that it worked: you beat Vixen. Now, prior to your last encounter with Giani Di Luca, you acknowledged the fact that you hadn't won a singles match since the end of June - a statistic that remains - so perhaps it's time that you got reacquainted with your eye of the tiger, just as Rocky did when he was training for his rematch with Clubber Lang; Rocky beat Clubber Lang second time around - I want you to do likewise against Giani Di Luca. And putting in a performance that's on a par with the one that you put in against Vixen, will go some way towards achieving that.'

Simon turns his head to his right, looking away from Jason.

Jason: 'Okay, so maybe you didn't prepare for the match against Vixen by training like Rocky Balboa. However, it's essential to vary your training methods from time to time, so that you don't become disinterested by going through the same routine over and over again, and also so that you don't become complacent, instead staying challenged and focused on the task at hand - that's another part of why I'm having you do this, which will hopefully then result in you being successful on Sunday.'

Simon turns back to face Jason and smirks.

Simon: 'Are you going to have me chase a chicken around, trying to catch it?'

Jason smiles, as he shakes his head.

Jason: 'No; I think we'll save that for the next time you face Giani Di Luca - the sequel.'

Simon: 'The sequel? Di Luca and I haven't even had our first one-on-one encounter yet, and you're already planning for the next match between the two of us?'

Jason: 'This is how I see it: Di Luca is the number one contender for the heavyweight title, right?'

Simon nods his head.

Jason: 'So, supposing you beat him, and he goes on to defeat Goth to win the title, surely you would then have to be under consideration as a potential challenger for the title, right?'

Simon: 'I think you might be getting quite a bit ahead of yourself there: I pinned Goth two months ago, during his first reign as champion, but that didn't lead to a subsequent match against him for the title, so even if...'

Jason interrupts Simon.

Jason: 'So even better: if you defeat Giani Di Luca on Sunday, then regardless of who is in possession of the title three weeks from now, you'll have a victory over them to your name.'

Simon: 'Yeah, well, as I was saying, even if the results at Climax Control and December To Dismember do play out the way that you suggested, I won't expect to necessarily be awarded a title shot - especially as should Goth lose, he would be entitled to a rematch. Besides, I still have an issue with a certain giant to resolve, never mind whatever aspirations I may have of regaining the heavyweight title.'

Jason: 'I know that things between you and Casey Williams are far from settled, but let's put that to one side for this week - I want you focusing solely on Giani Di Luca; so no pondering what may or may not be just around the corner as far as Casey is concerned - and no contemplating your latest retort to Kain, either, okay?'

Simon raises both of his hands, as if protesting his innocence.

Simon: 'Okay, as you wish.'

Simon then lowers his arms.

Simon: 'So, with Giani Di Luca - being "The Italian Stallion" - playing the role of Rocky Balboa in your scenario, who does that make me? Apollo Creed? Clubber Lang?'

Jason shakes his head.

Jason: 'They may have both beaten Rocky in their first matches against him, but they both also lost to The Italian Stallion when they fought him again - and that's no good to us. No, I see you as Mason Dixon - Dixon didn't lose to Rocky, and on Sunday, when you have your first on-on-one meeting with Giani Di Luca, hopefully you won't lose to The Italian Stallion either.'

Simon: 'So, I'm Simon "The Line" Jones, then?'

Jason shrugs his shoulders and chuckles slightly.

Jason: 'Yeah, I suppose you are.'

Simon: 'On the subject of nicknames, have you got any thoughts that you want to share with me in relation to Giani Di Luca's other nickname, "The Reflection Of Perfection?"'

Jason sighs.

Jason: 'No-one on this planet is perfect.'

Jason then shakes his head.

Jason: 'Those that don't think they're perfect, those that opt to acknowledge their imperfections - such as you and I do - they're the ones that stand a better chance of being successful, because people such as you and I, we continually work to improve themselves, and strive to be better than we already are; it's that sort of work ethic that took you to the world cruiserweight title, the SCW heavyweight title, and it's it's that sort of work ethic that will take you to a victory over Giani Di Luca - and, eventually, it'll take you back to the heavyweight title.'

Jason pushes his chair backwards and rises to his feet.

Jason: 'Enough talking about work ethics - it's time for you to show yours.'

Simon: 'What have you got planned for me?'

Jason: 'To properly start off your training for your match with Giani Di Luca, we're going to go for a run. And in true Rocky style, I have a route in mind that will culminate with running up the steps by the Town Clock - they can't quite match the real Rocky Steps, but they'll have to do.'

Simon gets up from his chair.

Simon: 'Let's get to it then. Just make sure to remind me to stop off at the grocery store before I come back here.'

Jason: 'Why?'

Simon: 'Because I need to buy another carton of eggs.'

Jason smirks at Simon's remark; as the two men walk towards the right of the shot - to exit the kitchen - the scene fades to black.