Good day you lovely bunch. Time for another promo thingy where I chat bout what's going on, what's happened lately, yada, yada, ya. Interesting time to be an SCW fan, don't ya think? So much madness going on, I gotta be honest with ya, I can't keep up. The Saviors have turned in to The Jerry Springer Show, Mac Bane is staking his reputation on picking someone with no proven SCW record to help him sell a supercard, Bobbie Dahl flew thousands of miles just to eat cake, Fenris is grumpier than usual and then there's me, becoming silent more and more when it comes to on screen stuff.
There's a reason for me being less on screen and more not. Despayre got me a wicked contract, less fighty, more talky. More public relations work, less smashy on my head with a chair. That is why you never saw me in Corfu. I mean you can say what you want about the bosses in SCW, you can moan all you like about certain things, and trust me, backstage people moan A LOT about things, but their sharpness for business is something that can not be questioned. Someone worked out quickly that Zante is a party place, full of Brits having a good time and it would be smart to chuck in an Englishman or woman with a little bit of the gift of gab and push those tourists in to seats. They coulda got Mark Cross to do it, but Mark's a loved up fella these days, good for him. They coulda sent Diamond Steele to Zante early to engage with the media and fans, but lets be honest, Diamond is very Americanised these days, throwing in a bloody here and there don't help, feels bloody forced, ya know what I mean?
There was a chat, it was a party place, there was only one man for the job and that would be me. I do have a bad reputation for a real good time, ya know?
But it wasn't always partying, although in a party town, yes, that was a big part of it, but you know what Brits love on holidays? Newspapers. Seriously, back home, we use the Internet like most people around the world, but for some reason, we go on holiday and we must hunt down newspapers, to go along with a fry up every day. It's really what us Brits do.
Someone in the office thought earlier in my trip, to speak to a local newspaper reporter about SCW, about what it can bring to a place like Zante. SCW goes to odd places but a wrestling company in Greece was ground breaking stuff, especially one that had a reputation such as SCW.
So there I was, sitting on a bench at the port of Zante, juggling two oranges while I waited for someone to show up, a reporter set up from the offices to come and talk about SCW, the business side of SCW. Mate, I sat there juggling those things for ten minutes before I heard a woman's voice.
"Ben Jordan?" She said in a soft English accent.
I knew a lot of reporters through out Europe came from The United Kingdom, it was a lot of people's dream jobs to be the foreign correspondent in a country where the sun shines a hell of a lot. It's what I would have been aiming at in that field.
"That would be me." I said as I dropped one of the oranges, watching it roll away towards the water.
I looked at her, a blonde woman in her early thirties, clearly a sun lover from the way her tan looked to be perfectly even.
"I think you was expecting me." She said with a little doubt in her voice. "Jenny Stevens, I'm a reporter, your office set up an interview."
"That they did." I said as I pointed to the bench space next to me. "Take a seat."
She did as I said, quickly taking a seat next to me.
"Thanks for meeting me." She said. "I'm a big wrestling fan, so it's good to speak to you."
"Could have been worse." I said with a smile. "Could have ended up with Kate Steele."
I knew it was a joke, us Brits lead the world in banter and well, that's all it was, little bit of bants as the kids would say.
"So SCW in Greece." She commented.
"Yeah." I said. "I've been here before, long story involving a heart, not really interesting though. Always loved the place, was like a cat with a rocket up it's jacksy when I heard we was coming here - over the moon."
I couldn't help but smile at my own cheesy joke, but Jenny was a professional it seemed.
"This is an untapped market." She said with an air of confidence. "What was behind SCW's thinking coming here?"
Little side note, whilst opinions might be mine people, facts come from the SCW office. I'd spent days talking to Christian and Mark about the corporate side of this, just so that there was no speculation, just facts. I knew to sell things though, I had to be me and talk like a lot was opinion. If not, might as well just sent a letter - who writes letters these days?
"As you said, it's untapped." I replied quickly. "SCW has the name, the reputation and means to tap any market. I mean you look at some of the stuff that's been done over the years, like beach shows, cruise ships, Caribbean resorts, a world tour in places some wouldn't think had a market for wrestling, but SCW created one."
"I could understand maybe Athens, but an island like Zante..." She said with a trail off.
I could see where she was going with this, this part of Greece and others on the tour is for tourists rather then anything else.
"All you need for a great wrestling show is people in the back willing to work, and people looking for a bloody good time." I said with a smile. "This island is teeming with people who want a good time. I mean how often will you be able to say you went to Zante to have a jolly up with the boys, and got to meet and see the people from the box? Our guys will be over here next week or at least the ones who actually embrace the tour rather then bounce back home every show, which for me is too much hassle. These guys will stand and talk to anyone within reason."
"Within reason?" She quickly picked up on.
"Yeah, I mean end of the day, we are on the screen all the time, but we are people too." I said diplomatically. "If ya out with ya partner having dinner, you don't want people running over to you all the time. Wait until people are done and they'll be more than happy to talk to ya. I mean you could pop down to the beach and run in to Senor Vinnie and his cactus, who will probably have a chat with ya. You might run in to Roxi Johnson in a bakery, who will be fan friendly, you never know, you might get to see Mac Bane and Amber Ryan having a stroll down the street who will take snaps with ya. All that adds to a good time, so to me, there's no better place then Zante to find people who wanna have a blinding time and that's what we are here to give."
I was oddly proud of that answer and couldn't help but smile just a little at it.
"So you feel there will be no problems drawing a crowd?" She asked looking me dead in the eye.
"None at all." I said confidently. "I think this will be one hell of a show, I think it will get the locals and the tourists. I mean we have a Greek roster member who is real popular, young, talented, fans love her so I think she'll be a draw. We have some amazing matches, things are heating up on camera, lots to get done. We've done shows all over and never had an issue."
"SCW has evolved a lot over the years." She commented.
"It has, that's why I don't think it will be a problem here." I replied quickly. "SCW started off with a few hundred fans and it grew in to huge shows, stadium shows. Everywhere SCW goes, they tend to get huge crowds and it's good stuff. The people here are lovely, I've met a lot of people who have gone and bought tickets and showed me. There's already a buzz around here, think what it's gonna be like in the next few days when the rest of the crew get here. Plus the islands are not too far apart, short trip over to come see us."
"You sound fairly confident." She said with a side glance.
I was confident that a show in Zante with tourists and locals alike would be amazing, and would completely rock the island. There was not a doubt in my mind about this at all. I truly thought SCW would create something special in Greece.
"Very confident." I said with an affirmative nod. "I feel SCW can create something special here in Greece. I feel that SCW can show that there's a call for this here and that we get to come back to this place a lot more. Since I've been here, this has been amazing."
"You think this would lead to more shows in Greece?" She asked with an arched eyebrow.
"I don't see why not." I said with a shrug. "Seems like people are loving this tour and not to sound boring, but the numbers are great and everyone seems to be having a good time so yeah, think it could lead to a lot of other things here, including a bit more scouting here for newer talent."
"What do you think of the current storylines?" She slipped in.
I did have a feeling something like this was gonna happen. There was a bit of a controversial thing going on when Mac Bane picked Matthew Knox to defend the championship against and yeah, it did kick up a bit of a backstage stink really, but it is what it is.
"I tend to focus a lot more on what's going on with me." I said partly avoiding the question. "But I can't complain. Supercard gave us a couple of new champions, so will be interesting to see where that goes. There's a lot of people lulling around at the moment with a little effort, could really break through, so it's a good time to be a fan."
I think she quickly worked out I was talking absolutely the diplomatic answer, journalistic instincts you might call it. It got half a smile at least.
"Are we gonna see you back in the ring any time soon?" She asked me.
"Very soon." I said with a smile. "I spoke to the booking people and looks like I'm gonna be back in Crete. I'm not sure who I'm facing but yeah, should be back getting swung at then."
"Do you miss wrestling as regular as you used to?" She said, trying to hide a smirk.
I knew at this point she was looking for some juicy story about why I haven't done as much as I used to but I'm transitioning in a way. I actually really like going out and meeting people, and talking away.
"Not really." I said smoothly. "I'm enjoying the way things are right now. I get to do a lot of public relations stuff that keeps me busy. I get to hang around a lot of good people in the media, I get to go and meet the fans, I get to sell the show while others don't. I'm really liking that at the moment, I'm really liking being able to be free enough to go help sell tickets without being beat up from the night before. It's a challenge, and I like a challenge."
"But surely a match with Mac Bane should be in the future?" She questioned.
"You'd have thought so." I replied with a grin. "He's rocked his jaw enough talking about it, but you can see it as a nice slow build. Something is there bubbling under the surface, everyone knows it's there bubbling under the surface, so when it happens, timings gotta be bang on right for that explosion that's gonna make people sit there and scream for it, rather than roll their eyes. When it happens, believe me, it's gonna be good to the point we won't need to sell it. I won't have to go on Twitter and call out people because they're doubting what I can do."
That drew a smile from the young woman's lips and we continued to talk for another hour covering a lot of subjects wrestling wise. It was an alright way to spend an afternoon. By the way, if you were wondering about what happened to that orange that rolled away, and of course you was.... Seagull stole it.
Let's bring things up to today, Crete, Greece - Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium. The ring crew was hard at work as I sat in the stands looking down at the work going on. I was just waiting for the cameraman to give me the thumbs up to start talking.... Wait, looks like he'd been trying to get my attention for a bit, but my eyes were busy looking around at the work being done. It's ok, we can edit that out.
"Alright people." I start, with my voice just about going above the noise of the work.
Pipe down people, trying to sell a match here!
"Feels like I say this all the time but it feels like forever since I've had the chance to have a chat about an opponent." I say with a grin. "There ain't no messing around this week on the jump in to the ring is there because I'm facing a fella who opted out of his Sin City Underground contract pretty sharpish when he heard the news, and quickly scribbled his name to an Sin City Wrestling contract, a longer term one. I mean the man was in Blast From The Past, but he secured his future quickly. Some would call that a rat jumping from a sinking ship, but me, I ain't that guy, it's securing your future. He comes to SCW with a pretty decent record, a former underground champion."
And yeah, he held that belt longer than me.
"Hitamashii." I say with a firm nod. "I can't use your other name cause honestly mate, I can't pronounce it at all, but let me be the first to welcome you to SCW in your first big run with the big boys. You see the way this one was billed? Battle of the former Underground champions. It's a bit of an oversell, I was Underground champion for about five minutes, but you mate, you was an impressive little bugger down there, you showed that you was tough, strong, really picked up that title and ran with it till you couldn't run no more, but telling ya, SCW is a straight up different story, it's a whole new thing. Wrestling ain't as universal as people think, there's many different styles to it and this is Sin City Wrestling mate, this ain't Sin City Underground, here, it's different, here it's tougher to get going. You may well have been a big lad down there, but here, tougher. People quit all the time because they can't handle SCW, people lose a match and cry off. I mean there's names we haven't seen on the card in a while cause of it. It's all good coming up when you got Amber Ryan as a partner, all good but when ya standing on your Jack Jones, are you gonna be one of those people who sink or swim? I mean talk is one thing, we all do that, we chat like it's going out of fashion but can you actually lose to me this week and still think you have what it takes?"
We have seen it, people lose, people show who they truly are and leave.
"I know it took you a while to get hold of that belt, I know it took guts to keep bouncing back when Max Burke was slaughtering everyone and keeping your hands from grabbing it. You kept at him like a little pitbull gnarring at an ankle. It shows there's something there Hitamashii, but this is different, the spotlight shines a little brighter here, the star can grow beyond anything you can imagine. This isn't just something you can shrug off, you're losing in front of bigger and better peers, more fans. Are you gonna be able to handle it?"
I mean he could, right?
"I mean I'm used to it mate." I say confidently "I ain't one of these people hell bent on maintaining the perfect record, if I lose, I come back stronger. If it gets to me, I come up with ways to work harder, be better than I was before but it takes a special kinda person to be like that Hitamashii, a very special type of person to take the knocks and just keep rolling. I dunno if you're gonna be that person, I dunno if you're gonna be able to deal with it, because I don't think you're getting the Ben Jordan you're expecting. I need to stand out again mate, I really and truly need to step up and stand out because I'm spinning my wheels, I'm treading water at this point. I'm like so many others right now that are sitting there without putting in too much to get what I want and what I want is to be the old me again, the proper me, Ben Jordan Original. That's what I need to be and it will be a big feather in my dear stalker cap to grab a win over a bloke who was Underground champion not so long ago. That is a big old gold star on the resume."
All about the quality of opponent people.
"That is something that would stand out in my mind, and it will stand out in others minds too Hitamashii." The confident tone flows from my lips. "Long standing SCU champion, coming to SCW, picking up a win against him, that would be quiet the result and that is what is gonna happen mate. I need to be consistent, I need to be active to put myself in the right people's minds, the people who are gonna sit there and look at me and think yeah, he'll be a challenge, lets go against him. I need to be that guy who people wanna be in the ring with and I've beating the now former Internet champion in a non title match, and now I'm after the former Underground champion to add to that collection."
If things like that don't put me in people's minds, nothing will.
"This is the way I'm thinking right now." I admit. "I'm thinking about adding names to the list so if people can be bothered, they can look back at my record and think bloody hell, he's beaten some top guys, some big champions, some big former champions, he's the challenge, he's the one I need to step up to. Having a long term champion like yourself Hitamashii, perfect name to add to the next part of the list."
He would be a good name to be honest.
"So Hitamashii...." I start. "Are you gonna flop like a jellyfish after I beat you or not? Have no fear at all, I will beat ya, I'm in the mood mate, I'm in the mood to do some damage, I'm in the mood to have a little fun out there and give some people's head a wobble to remember what I can do. I think a lot of people have forgotten just what I can do, I think a lot of people need a bit of a refresher course in who Ben Jordan is, what Ben Jordan can do. I'm in the mood to show a little bit of ambition and stop looking at me shoe laces and start looking upwards. I've spent a lot of time looking down lately Hitamashii, spent a lot of time looking at my feet and not upwards, but it's time for me to look at that top of the mountain again, it's time for me to look at the sky, it's time for me to look at the heavens above and start moving my way towards them cause I'm done with looking at the ground. Take that one as a warning to ya mate."
Looking up is something I haven't done in a long time, it's something I needed to do if I ever wanted to go anywhere again in my life and career.
"Anyway, I've flapped my gums long enough." I say seriously. "Hitamashii, welcome properly to SCW, it's gonna be a rough ol' ride."
Time for the wink....
"Laters people!" I say with the wink.
And there you have it good people, see ya all on Sunday!
