The sun was going down on the Princess Cruise for Summer XXXTreme and many of the wrestlers had done all the had to do show preparation wise much earlier in the day, but Ben Jordan had spent his day speaking to people, signing autographs, proving he is still the king of fan selfies and the like, but it was his turn to be a little more professional. He stood in the area of where the ramp would be set up closer to the end of the week, talking to three members of the production team. He tried to keep his voice lowered as the area was still open to the public.
"So you got the song, right?" He asked a man in his forties, the sound technician.
"Yes." He replied. "Christian and Mark got permission for it, so it's good to go. Great song choice by the way."
Ben smiled at the man and gave him a nod.
"Love it." he agreed. "I think it fits. I mean people might see a different meaning behind it, but when you think about it, it was a lot to do with years ago when we did the Blast From The Past, then went.... well, you know, the song title."
"How do you want the lights to look?" the lighting technician asked.
"Here's what I'm thinking overall." Ben said looking around the group. "So house lights off, should be dark enough by then to force people to get their phones out of their pockets. silhouette screen set up. Music starts, first line hits, light hits the screen to light up Sam, as soon as it gets to the two, two, two part, second light hits me. While this is happening, smoke the bottom bit so it rises going around the screen."
"From the start of the song?" the pyro technician asked.
"Straight away." Ben told him. "Soon as the song kicks in with the word someday, screens drop, light blue and pink lights slow flash through the entrance. We'll do some kinda pose in the ring when we get there, and tip someone the wink to end it. That possible?"
"It should be." The sound guy said confidently. "We'll run this to the main guys, get a sequence and when this place is cut off on Saturday for construction, we'll have a walk though of it."
Ben smiled at the three men.
"Brilliant lads." Ben said with a thumbs up. "But be ready to tweak on the fly. Sammi don't know too much of the idea here. I said I'd hit the bones of it, and she can flesh it out so it's a bit different from the separate entrances these teams have."
"Mr. Jordan." The lighting technician said softly. "Do you know those people?"
Ben turned his head to where the man tried to nod without being detected. Ben turned to see a group of women, four of them to be exact between the ages of eighteen and possibly late forties, looking towards him with adorning eyes. Ben sighed as he turned back to the group.
"I don't know them" He admitted. "I've seen them a lot. In fact come to think about it, everywhere I've been this week, I think I've at least seen one or two of them around."
"Someone's popular." The pryo guy joked.
"Maybe I should have made the divorce a little less public or much after the cruise." Ben said generally. "Probably wasn't my greatest idea to let that get out right before going to sea with very little escape. Tell ya what lads, I'm gonna sneak off for a quick pint, then I gotta meet Sammi, cause it's our yearly date night but I need to get changed first."
Ben pointed to his clothes, that just so happened to be a pair of white shorts, a light green polo shirt, and sandals, or flip flops as he would call them.
"Catch ya in a bit fellas." Ben said before giving them a nod.
He quickly moved away from the group of technicians and in the opposite direction of the women, moving across the deck and trying to blend in to the crowd a little before he reached the pool side bar. It wasn't his first visit and beer was quickly put in front of him. He lifted it, taking a swig before putting it back on the marble topped counter.
"I don't know what you're worried about Ben." he said to himself. "They're fans, that's all. You could have had fun on this whole cruise but you chose not to jump at everything, why?"
"Because you don't know a good thing when you see it." The voice of Fenris said next to him.
Ben turned around to see Fenris sitting at the bar next to him. Ben reaches over and puts his arm around the shoulder of his friend.
"Nothing wrong with a few ring rats." Fenris joked as he picked up his drink. "And for the first time in a long time, you don't have that ring on your finger."
"That's why I'm getting all the looks." Ben said. "There's no Evie here to scare them off so they either wanna show sympathy which I don't need, or they wanna jump my bones."
"Sympathy might be their way of trying to jump your bones." Fenris said with a smile.
Ben picked up his beer, taking another huge gulp and looking back at Fenris.
"Forget jumping bones for a while." Ben said as he looked at him. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Fenris took a deep breath and looked at Ben.
"When I heard about you and Evie, I had to come and say something to you in person." Fenris said with a serious look on his face.
"Oh?" Ben said curiously.
"Yeah..." He replied, the mood seemingly darkening. "I needed to tell you about fucking time!"
Fenris smiled his, as some would call it, his fish lips smile towards Ben who just snorted.
"Why didn't you tell me you got divorced?" Fenris asked.
Before Ben could respond, the palm of Fenris met the back of Ben's head.
"Why didn't you tell me you got married?" Ben quickly fired back.
As Fenris opened his mouth, Ben swung his palm, connecting with the back of Fenris' head in a return fire motion.
"I see that shoulder is getting better." Ben quipped towards Fenris.
"I see single life is doing wonders for your arm strength." Fenris fired back bluntly.
"You two are just picking up where you left off." Aron's voice could be heard saying as he approached Ben and his brother. "I did overhear a little there. In Kristian's defence, he didn't know he got married either at the time."
Ben tilted his head sideways to look at Fenris, a half smile painted across his face.
"Oh really?" Ben said as he looked at Fenris, deep in the eyes.
"That's a story over another beer." Fenris said as he looked towards the bartender, but Ben raised his hand to stop him.
"I know you're gonna ask what happened to the old Ben, but I need to say no to another beer." Ben said seriously.
"Don't tell me Evie took half of your fun side in the divorce." Fenris joked as he slapped Ben on the back.
"She did and I took half her spy assassin side in the divorce so I can make things look like an accident." He responded with a wink.
Aron couldn't help but smile at the comment at Ben stood up.
"It's date night, the platonic date night with Sam, movie under the stars and I'm dressed like..." Ben said but Fenris cut him off.
"Unsure if you're playing golf on a hot day, or going to the beach?" Fenris said as he pointed up and down Ben.
"Yeah, something like that." Ben said, taking it with good humour. "We always seem to get the dress thing wrong, because we never tell each other of the plan, so I need to go and be a tart about it, think about what her dress style might be and see if we get it right this time."
"You could just ask her." Aron chimed in.
"Where's the sport in that." Ben replied with a wink. "Beer at the nearest opportunity fellas?"
The brothers nodded in unison at Ben as he wandered away, through a door leading towards the cabins. Ben turns a corner only to run in to the four women from earlier, who was watching from afar.
"Evening ladies." Ben said as politely as they could.
It didn't take long before the women started swarming Ben, talking to him, whispering sweet nothings in his ear. Others gathered around him, mostly female to try and get close to Ben. It seemed like women were coming from all over the place to be around him. Oddly, a ripping of clothes could be heard amongst the melee.
"Bollocks..." Ben's voice could be heard saying amongst the crowd.
Seconds later, Ben was seen crawling through the legs off people getting on the outside of the circle. He stood up with a partially ripped shirt. He glanced over his shoulder as he started to move away, but one eagle eye woman spotted him, pointing to the others and the chase was on. Ben moved quickly through the halls, turning a corner.
"Lose one wedding ring and chaos!" He said to himself.
He quickly ducked in to a room, looking around to see cleaning supplies and leaned against the door, just listening for footsteps to charge past. Ben couldn't help but smile to himself as the footsteps seemed further and further away. He quietly turned his head around the door, looking around to gather his bearings.
"I know that room!" He said as he looked across the hall.
Darting out of the supply room, Ben quickly moved across the hall, banging on the door.
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!" he yelled out.
He glanced to the right to see one of the women looking back around the corner at the end of the long corridor.
"He's down there!" Her voice could be heard saying in the distance.
He banged on the door in front of him just a little louder.
"Save me, Ginge!"
Well, was Ben saved? or did the women catch up to him and try and see more of the Cockney King? Was this living proof that sun and alcohol are not a great mix or just women have a thing for strapping cockney's who walk around in sandals?
To answer these questions and many, many, more, you might just wanna watch Sam Marlowe's promo....
******
"Alright people!" Ben Jordan's voice can be heard saying.
The camera opens looking at the magnificent ocean in front of the ship, the night stars brightly shining in the sky as the moon softly touches the ripples of the water below as the cruise ship moves at a steady speed. The camera moved to the face of Ben Jordan as he looked over the waves, a tired, but peaceful look on his face.
"I've always been a bloke who has loved the water." He said with a little smile on his face. "Even as a kid, when the mind needed clearly, I'd go have a sit down next to the River Thames and just relax. I moved around a bit as a wrestler, and moved to Cuba, right next to the sea, I moved to Jersey in the Channel Islands, right next to the channel, I lived in Maine, right next to my own glorious lake. I'm at ease around water, it is my happy place so you'd think I'd be like a dog with two todgers sitting here looking at this scene, right?"
He tilted his head towards the camera.
"As happy as I am to be here, I'm no so sure I'm happy with the conditions." Ben informed the listeners. "I should have been here gearing up for a top match, with a title on the line, going for proper gold, instead, it all went a bit wonky when a certain person decided that because they wasn't good enough to make it to a match themselves, for some reason, some unknown reason, I'm guessing because they either wanted to stay relevant, or because they wanted to be in the bosses minds, that they decided to pick us, take away me and Sammi's chance of getting to the final. The worst part of it was I can't even begin to think about why us? I mean there was 6 other teams after you two got sent packing, six teams and the target was us. Was it all because of the history with Sam that you Bea, you couldn't just let the past go?"
Ben shrugged his wide shoulders.
"You can get professional help for that, you know." He said off the cuff. "It might have been pure bitterness there but you dragged me in to it and recently Bea, I'm a man with a million doubts in my head. Do I still have what it takes? Is this worth my time now I'm free, single, got money to burn and could go anywhere in the world and just be Ben Jordan, the guy that goes down the pub, that's not against the late night kebab after ten pints, the bloke who will walk in to the pub and buy a round of beers for everyone he knows. The Ben Jordan that sees the guy counting his change to get a beer, knowing he's going through tough times and being out of his house in a social setting is saving him from over thinking, even though he can't afford to be there and say I got this for you mate. I could be that guy, instead of Ben Jordan, the board member, the wrestler, the famous face. I could just be Ben and losing that match because of your interference Bea, it did nothing but put doubt in my mind on who I want to be."
He sighed deeply as he looked out at the water.
"I want to be that guy that gets those championship belts Bea and it means going through you and Bill." He said seriously. "I listened closely to what you said last week Bea, just listened to everything you had to say and love, let me tell ya this, you're a bit naive just brushing me and Sammi off like that. In your head, this is done, this is finished, this is over and you have already won. Bea love, here's a bubble bursting thing for ya, Sammi's a Hall of Famer, I'm a former World champion, you and Bill, neither hall of fame worthy or World championship worthy. To just chuck us away like an old pizza box is a silly thing to do."
Ben shook his head.
"Was you smashed out of your nut when you decided to see the match up close as you put it?" Ben asked "You had no reason at all to be there. You had no reason to be anywhere near us and there you were and you're claiming you didn't have something in mind? Come on Bea, this is just making it silly season. You knew what you was doing, you got involved in something that you should never have gotten involved in. You were already finished, done, out of the tournament by then, you had no right to be there other then little petty jealousy. You call people bone heads, but you're clearly telling porky's here about absolutely everything. I mean I would love you to present that crock to a judge and see if he or she would believe you, cause I got a little secret to tell you Bea, come closer."
Ben waved his finger at that camera, causing it to zoom in a little.
"Our little shows are tapped Bea, people can go rewatch them on the SCW site, you don't need to spout rubbish about licenses and stuff, it's right there on the site for any subscriber and you get yours for free, people can see that your events as you recall them, are nothing but fantasy." He said softly. "So I think you might need to get off those magic mushrooms and step back in to reality."
The camera moved a little bit out again.
"And here's reality." Ben said with a smile. "You did what you did because you're an absolute plonker, and to further prove that you're a plonker, you sat there last week with a turn of events from your view, that is pure fiction and the world can see that. In fact, they might see that in a promo video leading up to this match to prove that you're just a liar living in a dream world. Reality is now you have to face the consequences for your actions, you have to sit there and look at the faces you've lied to, and cheated out of where they should be. Everyone knew me and Sammi had that match won if it wasn't for you. If I lost to Austin James Mercer, I'd be fine with it, it's Austin James Mercer, there's no shame in that, but your actions there Bea, that's what sticks in my throat, more so about being proactive and reactive."
Ben yawned, in a mockingly way.
"Now let me talk about proactive and reactive." Ben said as he put a pair of glasses on his face. "Glasses are to make me look smart, but I borrowed them off Despy, no lenses."
Ben put his finger through the frame.
"The difference between those words can be boiled down to two things, being a villain or a hero." Ben said with a nod. "Being reactive can make you a hero, Bill's an American, probably got a lot of guns under his bed, to be proactive, he would need to plan something, so say he took one of those guns out with him, he's done that for a reason to take aim at someone. Proactive is planning something, reactive is me getting people to safety because of him having a Yosemite Sam moment. It's a villain move to be proactive, especially in our game. I mean I wouldn't carry a fire hose around with me, just in case there's a fire, cause that is proactive, but I would be a hero and run in to a burning building to save someone if one was on fire, that's reactive."
Ben smiled.
"Look Bea, I can spin stuff to make myself sound better too." Ben said with a wink. "You can't anticipate everything, not even a boy scout can. I could get off this boat and get his by a bus, but I'm not walking around in a suit of armour just in case. I mean I bet you two are the kinda people who walk around carrying a water can just in case you see a dry flower.... Cause that's being proactive, right?"
Ben tilted his head.
"I call it being boring and robotic, and talking about it is boring." Ben said with a nod. "I'm gonna sleep well tonight. In fact talking about Bea makes me wanna go to sleep so I better move on and talk about you Bill before I nod off here."
He exhaled deeply.
"Let's be frank about it, you got your arse handed to you at Climax Control by J2H." Ben said with a hint of a smile. "You're right, J2H is a world class wrestler, he's beaten me before, but he was coming off an injury, he hadn't wrestled in weeks, you've been active, you've got no excuse not to give him a better match but he made you look like a right muppet. Now I ain't saying I'm as good as J2H, cause I'm not, him and Michael Harris are headlining cause they're leagues above everyone else, but you didn't even come close. I could just as easily dismiss you like you two have done to us, I could very easily just sit here and think nothing of ya, but I won't, because it all comes down to your missus putting you in this situation which you can't win."
Ben nodded his head firmly.
"I am a big fan of putting my point across and being realistic with things and first off, I'd like to say that no one really needs to know you listened to voicemail's, checked e mails and all that stuff, cause it's something everyone does daily." Ben said with a nod. "People don't need to know that when the cameras come on, your focus should be me. Your focus should be how to solve the problem that is Ben Jordan, not what blue pills you can get at discount prices."
He chuckled at his own joke.
"That one was off the top of me head, proud of that." He said with a smile. "No one cares about your living situation, not one person, what you're meant to be talking about is opponents, getting people to be interested in your match Bill, bragging about getting people fined as a way not to mess with you don't get me excited, it doesn't get me thinking I should buy a ticket for the show, it doesn't make me think as a fan that this guy is big and tough and gonna beat the other guy, cause he knows how to handle some housing association! He's so hard, he could beat up anyone! Bill, that's pretty silly and I can't believe the years you've been in this business, you can't tell a good promo from a bad one and that I'm sitting here schooling you on this whole thing. You should be a bit embarrassed by these promo skills. Just feels like a waste of time talking about your personal stuff, it adds nothing, doesn't draw any kind of sympathy. How many people switched off because you were talking about your neighbours?"
Ben rubbed the side of his head with his fingers.
"You're meant to be a wrestler Bill!" Ben said a little louder. "A wrestler, not someone who chats about things like that. I love dogs, I have a dog, he's relevant in a lot of the work I do, he gets a lot of attention, he has personality and people love him on the screen but no one needs to hear about your neighbours dogs. No one needs to know you creepily researched your neighbours dogs. It took ten minutes or so for you to even get to talking about wrestling and I'm pretty sure that whole thing you started with is pure fantasy too."
Ben lowered his head and started to shake it.
"Chris Shipman is your half brother? Really?" Ben said confused. "Mate, I used to watch Chris Shipman in SCW, I caught some of his other stuff before SCW and he's your half brother? I seriously need a Maury episode on this because I am not buying that for a second. I know that guy is a loon but I'm thinking you're the one who needs to be put in an asylum."
He paused for a second.
"I'm not gonna go down the age route or say you're the same age as you were in AWA as you are today." Ben said with a smile. "I'm gonna go with something current to prove you're mentally unwell. You said that Sam and I moaned and what not about being cheated, well, you're missus did get us in this situation or it wouldn't be happening, but I haven't done much whining as you claimed, I've kept pretty stoom about it cause I want my actions to speak louder then my words. This makes me believe that the man hears voices in his head. I think he hears things that are not there, detaches from reality more then any man actually should. This should be a real worry to everyone around him."
Ben placed his hands out flat.
"Another reason why Bill isn't mentally right." Ben started. "He sat and claimed he couldn't watch the match so couldn't comment so set Bea up for a long arse drone on about it. I call that a lie, because any fella would ask his missus about it straight away, we didn't need the dog and pony show on the camera, it could have been to eat up time and act like it was interesting when it really wasn't, but I think it's more to do with Bill's memory getting worse with every passing day. I want to present further evidence of this by noting the face that everything is a recap with him, he recapped the rules of a mixed tag match, something the fans have seen pretty much every week for the last few weeks, which makes me think that good old Bill there does the recaps, tells people the rules of things, just so he can remember himself. Everyone knows the rules Bill. Repetition is key to remembering things, so I seriously think that his marbles might be going."
Ben waved him finger around the side of his head.
"Another point, the whole IQ thing." Ben said with a shake of his head. "Pure fiction Bill. I've come across winos in the pubs that come across wiser then you two. I've found more profound moments with people who have less of an IQ, you two do not have IQs that high, because you come across as dull. People with IQ's like that tend to be interesting, they tend to have interesting things to say and you two really don't. You strip everything to bare minimal. Honestly, you have a delusions of grandeur, and that is not gonna help you win this match, it's not gonna help you beat me and Sam."
Ben shook his head firmly.
"You have spent so much time talking about what happened recently, but I'm gonna talk about what's about to happen Bill." Ben said firmly. "There's now a snowballs chance in a microwave that you win this. I've beaten you so many times, there's no chance that doesn't happen again. I'm channelling my disappointment from my last match in to this one and this is where I step it up a gear. Part of me feels I should have put the last one to bed long before I did, so I'm not coming to play around this time Bill, I'm coming to finish this one as quickly as I can and leave no doubt in anyone's mind that we should have been in that four way match. I'm leaving no doubt in anyone's mind that I'm in this to win it as quickly as I can. No matter how proactive you are Bill, every reaction I have is gonna be better then yours. You can't plan for what I got mate, you're certainly not ready for it."
Ben yawned loudly.
"Alright, that one wasn't planned as a Mickey take." Ben said. "So I guess that means I'm good to go and get my head down. Cheers for that absolutely boring piece of work you two put out, cause it means after rewatching it before I started rabbiting, rehashing it as I was talking about and throwing down some counter points, this could be the best nights kip I've had in a long time."
Ben winked.
"Laters people" He said with a thank you signalling nod.
Ben turned and walked off camera as the camera swung up to get another shot at the stars before fading to black.
