The camera fades in to Ben Jordan in his usual setting, just sitting on a chair in front of the camera, dressed in a light blue suit and black buttoned up shirt. The camera out to see his dog Bear, next to his chair.
"Alright people." Ben starts with a smile on his face. "Bet there was a huge pop seeing this fella back on your screens."
Ben leans down and ruffles the fur on Bear's head but Bear just continues to lay unfazed by the stroking.
"We all know how this goes." He says with a nod. "This is the part where I pretty much introduce you to what's been going on in my life this past week or so, or at least a tale from it to set things up for you lovely people but today, it's not just a straight set up and jump in to it."
He shakes his head slightly.
"See, context is everything people." Ben says with a lowered eyebrows and a slight nod of his head. "If not, you'll just think I'm doing this for the sake of doing it."
Ben sighs as he looks down at Bear then up to the camera.
"So this is the first time I publicly sat and spoke to you people directly about what's really gone on in my life since I disappeared for a while." Ben says with a tone of honesty. "Well as you know I struggle a little bit with depression, anxiety, all the good stuff, but I had a bit of a rough time in my personal life that brought on some big changes."
Ben holds up his left hand and points to his wedding finger, a ring no longer there.
"I know you've heard it through the rumour mill but I haven't faced it directly." He says. "Until now where I'm saying yes, it's all true, I became one of those guys I never wanted to be and I am no longer married."
He looks off camera for a few seconds before staring back down it.
"I'm not gonna be all bitter and all that malarkey." He says with a half smile. "These things happened and we all get to move on. The thing is people, things like that can change a bloke, not only personal levels but situations around them, and it really did for me. Everything changed in the blink of an eye."
He pauses to reflect.
"I basically had choices to make." He says thoughtfully. "I spent most of my adult life not needing to worry about money or a roof over my head cause it was always there and well, money still is but the roof over my head thing, that was an issue. Every time I've gone through something like this, I've gone for a completely clean break, clean start of it all and everything that was once ours, well, I can't make it mine again. Remember Emma Rose? Yeah, when she went, the underground house got sold and this was no different. Without Evie, things got sold on. The house in the Channel Islands, sold, the house on the lake in Maine, sold that too, that one gutted me, not gonna lie. The New York place was never mine to speak off so I dunno what she did with that, but the other houses, and property we owned together, sold on and the money split. Any business I was involved in with Evie, she bought me out. I even sold every car I had that was mine."
Ben forces a smile on his face.
"It was an everything most go sale and everything went." Ben says with a nod. "So I'm good for money, I could go anywhere I wanted, I could be anywhere I wanted. Just me, Bear, a couple of bags and a wander around. We met a lot of good people on our little travels."
Ben looks down at Bear.
"But sometimes, you need to put down some roots somewhere." Ben says seriously. "And the world was my oyster. Couple of single lads with money to burn, could be anywhere in the world, because trust me, they smell a pound note, they'll give ya a visa to any country, but I believe in full circle. Everyone knows when it's their time to go home."
Ben smiles.
"Enjoy this one." He says with a salute. "Roll it for the good people please."
"So as you've seen, it's got four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, big living area space, cosy kitchen and great views of the river." A man's voice is heard saying.
The camera opens to show Ben Jordan standing next to Bear in a strange unseen place before, an apartment looking space with big windows, from high up overlooking a river flowing past. Another man in a dark suit stands near Ben, point out other amenities.
"The building has a private car park and a gym too." The man says. "It's a great place for you and your family."
Ben turns to look at the man and weakly smiles.
"This is my family that's looking for a place." Ben says as he turns his head to him. "Me and man's best friend here."
The man looks at Ben through confused eyes, his forehead wrinkling.
"Oh, a place this size, I thought it was a family home." The man replies.
Ben smiles a little stronger towards the man.
"I thought estate agents never presumed anything." Ben says with a nod, causing the man to uncomfortably smile back.
"We don't usually." The estate agent admitted. "But when you came in to the office looking for a local place of this size, we thought it was going to be a family home."
Ben frowns and shakes his head at the man.
"Nah, recently divorced." Ben told him. "I lived all over the place, Canada, America, Cuba, Jersey and all that, travelled the world for work, but it's time to come on home."
"Oh, you was a local?" The estate agent says with a hint of surprise.
Ben couldn't help but smile at the man.
"I was." Ben says trying not to brag. "But I hit it big, and trained to be a wrestler and that got me all over the world. Got married, travelled some more, did a lot of cool stuff for charities, got divorced, came home."
"Nice." The estate agent says with a touch of doubt in his voice. "So if you hit it big, why this area?"
Ben waves his finger at the man,
"Now, now, no need for up sells and all that." Ben says with a smile. "I was born around here, I still have some family around here. I still have a few mates around here, I even went to the school down the road there. I know I've been on TV a lot over the years, but I still feel like this is the place I can be just one of the guys."
"I see." The estate agent replies.
"I just want a quiet life with the occasional wild night when the occasion calls for it." Ben says sincerely. "The travelling is all good, but sometimes, it's nice to have a place to call home, especially when it really is home."
The estate agent looks at Ben as he seems to drift away in to his own thoughts for a few seconds.
"A lot of good memories growing up around here." He comments to himself. "Coming back here feels right."
"So would you like to look at a few other places?" The estate agent asks?
Ben shakes his head.
"Nah." Ben says to the man. "Being round here, place I was brought up, place I learned everything, place I had a lot of firsts. This feels right and the area has changed a lot but the roads are exactly the way I remember them so I couldn't possibly get too lost so I think we'll be alright here. What ya reckon boy?"
Ben looks down at Bear who raises his head and sharply back down in a nod like movement. Ben looks at the estate agent.
"Looks like we have his approval." Ben says putting his hand out to the estate agent.
The two men shake hands firmly and Ben looks the man in the eye.
"Great news. Looks like I have a new neighbour." The estate agent says. "I live just down the road."
"So you know The Ferry House then?" Ben asks.
Ben clicks his fingers for a second to freeze the scene and turns to the camera with a tilted head.
"Alright people, forth wall break down a bit so you know what I'm prattling on about." He says. "The Ferry House is a local pub, right outside where I will soon be living, the oldest pub on the Island, very rich history behind it and most likely where I will spend many evenings."
Ben clicks his fingers again and the man begins to talk again.
"I drink in there myself." The man said strangely proudly.
"What's their deal with out four legged friends?" Ben asks with just a nod towards Bear.
Bear looks towards the estate agent as if he too is waiting for an answer.
"Oh, they're fine in there." The man says. "They welcome them in there. More dogs then customers in there at times and they have this weird kid who works in there who forgets they have customers when a dog walks in."
Ben looks down at Bear as he reaches for a tablet from a nearby table.
"It looks like you're about to make more friends then I am." Ben says with a smile.
"So if you'd just swing by the office tomorrow morning, we can sort out details and we can push this through as fast as we can." The estate agent tells Ben.
"Excellent." Ben says with a wide smile on his face as he looks down at Bear. "Come on then, let's go make some new friends."
Ben looks towards the estate agent.
"I'll buy ya a pint if you're about in a bit." Ben says firmly to the nodding man.
A few minutes later, Ben stands outside the freshly decorated by the looks of things, public house. Big gold letters above the door read The Ferry House. He holds in his right hand the tablet he picked up a little earlier. Ben looks down at Bear who looks back at him.
"What are we thinking here?" Ben asks Bear. "It's been years since I've popped in this place, probably a good sixteen years."
Bear tilts his head, slightly moving towards the door before stopping and looking back at Ben. Ben sighs and nods his head.
"Yeah, ya right, never know unless you try." Ben say in a firm tone. "Let's go see the lay of the land and see what happens. Never know unless ya dip ya toe in."
Ben pushes the door open and Bear trots in and Ben follows in. He looks around to try and get a second first impression of the pub.
"Christ, this hasn't changed much." He says to himself quietly.
He looks around at the place, barely changed from his youth, just freshened up with a new paint job. The bar still seems familiar to him and the lay out of the pub was exactly the same as he remembered. His eyes move along the wooden, worn down varnished bar, looking at the now common long plastic based beer mats covering them and smiles to himself. He looks around the customers, fairly limited in number, a chubbier man at the end of the bar spoke to a much thinner man with a thin moustache and accent sounding like he was not a local. A young lady sat at the end of the bar, sipping a dark drink through a straw. At the other end of the bar, was a man slightly swaying on his bar stool, salt and pepper short hair and a stomach that hung over his belt.
"Bloody woman!" He gruffly says to no one in particular, as he looks at his phone.
"We've all been there." Ben thought as he moves closer to the bar.
Through his nostalgia trip, Ben fails to notice the attention Bear was getting from a younger person with long hair.
"This has to be the kid the estate agent was talking about." Ben thought to himself.
"Hello doggy!" The clearly teenage person says out loud before looking towards Ben. "What's his name?"
Ben snaps out of his nostalgia trip fully enough to answer.
"His name is Bear." Ben says with a warm smile.
"Hello Bear." The kid says. "Does Bear like treats?"
"Not those plastic dog ones." Ben says with a chuckle. "He has different tastes, his kind of treat is bacon."
The kid was clearly taken back as Ben says that.
"Let me get you some water." The kid says.
"Sparkling, twist of lemon, he's a posh lad." Ben says trying not to laugh.
The teen wasn't sure how to handle his request and Ben could see it on his face. Ben chuckles to himself.
"I'm kidding, he only likes that stuff before bed." Ben jokes. "He probably could do with a drink."
He watches the teen move around the bar.
"As could I." Ben mutters under his breath.
He quickly looks up to see the woman at the end of the bar standing in front of him on the other side of the bar.
"What can I get ya?" She asks smile less and bluntly.
Ben looks around the bar and the beers on offer and quickly catches a glance of the glance at the man next to him who was not happy with his woman and but doesn't catch the name on it.
"I'll have one of those." Ben says "And a couple of bags of pork scratches."
He waits patiently but can feel the eyes of everyone on him, as few as they were in numbers. He looks around, just deciding to nod and smile at people.
"You look familiar." The young barmaid says as she places Ben's order in front of him.
Ben averts his eyes to a television screen above a set of double doors to see a replay of SCW Climax Control from he week before, watching Mikah and Kris' kids cause havoc with Scott Oliver. He smiles thinking back to it, but quickly straightens his face as he turns back to the barmaid.
"I've just got one of those faces." Ben says. "People often mistake me for some fella off the box or something."
Ben pulls his card from his pocket and takes another cheeky glance at the TV He taps his card and picks up his order.
"Cheers love." Ben says with a little nod.
Ben looks at Bear and the two walk to a back room. Ben sits down on a chair as he places his pint down in front of him and the two bags of snacks. He opens one up by ripping the bag and places it down on the floor for Bear as the teen with the water comes back and puts the bowl in front of Bear.
"Cheers." Ben says to him as he walks away.
Ben takes the tablet and quickly switches it on and hits the button on the front and starts tapping away. A few seconds later, the face of Sam Marlowe appears.
"Ben!" She yells out. "Where are ya?"
"All in good time love." Ben says with a smile "Let me add Jamie to this call, got something to tell you both at once."
Sam raises an eyebrow and Ben taps away on the buttons. A few seconds later, a strange sight appears.
"Oh for God's sake Jamie!" Ben says out loud. "Could you get your cats arse off the screen."
Ben sighs as Jamie picks up Anubis, his Siamese cat and flips it around to the face the camera instead of mooning Ben and Sam.
"Every bloody time!" Ben says shaking his head.
"Well, he knew you was calling and got excited." Jamie says with a snort. "Hi Sammi!"
"Hey Jamie." Sam replies with a sweet smile. "Alright prat, what's this about?"
"Well my Ginger Ninja friend." Ben starts with a smile. "I've finally got off my aris and stopped being one of those homeless people that crash on couches. I finally picked a place and well, I know have a place to call my own, well mine and Bear's place to call our own."
"That's great news!" Sam says with a wide smile.
"Congratulations." Jamie adds. "Where did you decide in the end?"
Ben looks around the pub and back at the camera.
"I decided it was time for me to come on home." Ben says with pride on his face. "I decided that it was time to move back to London, to actually move back to where I was born."
Both Sam and Jamie look surprised.
"The Isle of Dogs?" Jamie says with a surprised tone matching his face.
"I thought you was looking more exotic." Sam adds.
"I was but..." Ben starts seriously. "Sometimes, something just calls you home. Sometimes when you've seen enough of the world, you take a look at yourself and you reflect a bit and that's what I've done for a year. I'm a couple of years shy of forty, I've seen some incredible things in my life, done things people can only dream of, but right now, I don't need a beach, I don't need a lake, what I need to do is get up out of bed, take Bear for a walk around Island Gardens park, pop across the road to the bookies and throw on a couple of bets, get on down to Chrisp Street and grab some pie and mash, jump back down to go for a few pints. I even wanna get back over the football when I can."
Sam and Jamie listen intently.
"While I was off running all over the world and doing mad things, I left behind something I loved." He says honestly. "I left behind family, I left behind friends, I left behind a bunch of unattractive brick buildings, but those buildings were there when I was growing up. I left behind a different life. Those old buildings may be gone, but I want to reconnect with family, friends and my old life. It's my full circle."
Sam and Jamie nod but Ben puts a finger up to them and turns to the camera.
"This convo went on a lot longer, but we don't have time to show it all." He says with a frown. "So back to me about to cut a promo."
Ben raises his glass.
"Good health!"
The camera fades back in to Ben sitting in the chair and smiling.
"That's right, The Cockney King and his loyal steed down here are back in Cockneyland." He says with a wide grin. "Back where it all began, back where Ben Jordan was born."
He winks and gives a thumbs up to the camera.
"I never thought I'd end up back home after all these years but after living in all those lovely places, I thought it was time to get myself home." He says with a warm smile. "But what does that mean for my SCW career? Well, you lot know when my contract ends, you know how I do it, January first to January first, so that's a bridge we'll cross at some point, but people, didn't matter where I lived, I'd always be able to get to the shows, and this is no different. I used to fly in from Cuba, or Jersey, or Maine, it didn't matter it's the life of a wrestler, and I will be there on Sunday in San Diego!"
Ben nods his head up and down firmly.
"Beautiful place, beautiful people and the home of Jet City, and I get to face one of the best to come out of Jet City in Jaycee MacDonald." He says. "Top talent but first off, cheers to Kris Ryans for shutting the place down for the weekend to allow the SCW people to party. You're a good geezer Kris, know how to bring people together."
Ben fires a thumbs up towards the camera.
"I gotta admit, I feel like I'm a team playing away at this point." He says using a sporting term. "I feel like I'm walking in to a place where the majority is home supporters waiting to dig out the away fans and make it seriously intimidating, but this is where away teams step up and push themselves a little more and that is the plan."
Ben scratches his cheek.
"So Jaycee." He starts. "I gotta admit, for me, this young lad has it all to be the top guy in SCW. You look at these younger guys and you can see that their destiny is in their own hands, but that comes with pitfalls. Wrestlers of Jaycee's age can either reach for the stars or get caught up in their own hype and become brought in to the seedy side of wrestling and believe me people, there is a very seedy underbelly to this sport, people handle their fame and failures in very different ways. Some get crushed by their own egos, others push on and use that to their advantage and people like me take it in their stride and get on with it. I get the feeling that Jaycee is the latter and will take everything thrown at him in his stride."
Ben pauses for a second.
"And that is a brilliant attitude." Ben says with an approving nod. "Thing is with things like this, you have to take the knock backs to be able to come back stronger and this is what I've had lately. Not just outside the ring, but inside the ring too, because I had the chance to become a champion again and I put in everything I could in to that match, I put in every ounce of strength I had and I fell short. I have no one to blame but myself, I have no one to put at fault but myself and I hold my hands up to it, better team won."
Ben puts his hands up, palms out for a few seconds.
"It's not unfamiliar for me." He says candidly. "I've lost a few matches in my career, never been one to sweat on winning or losing, but that one stung a bit. That one stung to the point where I let doubts creep in to my head about if I'm made for this anymore or if I'm just a tad past where I want to be. These doubts will always creep in to my head after a loss but I'm not one for retiring after a loss, if I'm going out, I'm gonna tell you its my last match in advance, so I don't look like a wuss when it comes to things like that, but this one rocked me a bit more then I expected it too. Thing is when you start doubting, when you start thinking you're not good enough, you have that choice to make. You have the choice to say to hell with it and tell people you're on your way out, or you pull yourself off ya jacksy, stand up and go again. You can accept that you're not who you once were and ya role in the place has changed and you get on with it and try and give back to wrestling in another way, or you refuse to accept it and bounce back stronger."
He stops for a second.
"I'm choosing to bounce back stronger and this match with you Jaycee, is the perfect chance for that to happen." Ben says with a smile.
He leans back in the chair just giving the audience a chance to let that sink in.
"I'm coming up against one of the freshest, young top talents in SCW." Ben says honestly. "A guy who's future is seriously bright in SCW if he stays on the right path, so this is the perfect chance to show I can still hang with the up and comers. This is a great chance to show I still have it, that I'm not the old bloke in the corner of the boozer with stories that the young uns don't believe because they see you as nothing but a boozed up old fella with more tall tales then real stories. This is a chance to show that I can at least keep up with the quality that Jet City keep putting out. Yeah, I fell and landed in the mud in my last outing against someone from Jet City. Yes, I didn't do what I really wanted to do and walk out with the gold, but this is not me going full pelt vendetta against Jet City. This is me wanting to show you all that there's life in this old dog yet."
Bear looks up at Ben, and Ben stares back at him.
"Not you." Ben says with another ruffle of Bear's head.
Ben turns back to the camera.
"Let's just take a moment to be honest." Ben says with a serious look. "I don't need to be doing this. I am good for life with cash, I really don't have to work again. I could just blend in with the crowd and just be Ben Jordan, the geezer in the pub, the bloke who goes to the football, that pops up to see his old mate Simon Jones at the weekend. I could be that guy if I really wanted to. I don't need to get up and hit the gym as much as I do, I don't need to get dragged up at stupid O clock in the morning when I train with Fenris, just to go for a run, I don't need to stick to a diet, I could scoff my mush with kebabs and end up with chilli sauce all over my face, I don't need to leave the country or go on tours everywhere, I could pop down to a weekend in Clacton rather then flying to America. This is stuff I don't need to be doing just to wrestle. It's also the stuff I do because I want to wrestle, because I still want to be that guy I was in the past."
Ben rubs his hand down his chin.
"I do it for the love of what I do and I need to prove that I can do it with the top talents." He says "And Jaycee is that, he's the perfect opponent. He's a guy that's gonna push me to my limits and give me the answers I need, he's gonna force me to be better then I was in my last outing. It's a perfect storm when you think about it. Another guy with the training ethic of Jet City, a man who can wrestle all day, a man who has a point to prove and a very determined to bounce back Ben Jordan who has the heart of a lion and no urge to lay down."
Ben rests his finger on his chin.
"And if I can beat this kind of talent, and I know I can." He says with half a smile. "Then there's not a lot to stop me from creeping my way back up those rankings a bit and putting myself in mind for other things. I know you think me winning could derail this young guys career but you couldn't be further from the truth. This is what the theme of this whole thing has been about today, it's been about bouncing back. Yes, I tied everything in and hoped you'd understand."
Ben winks
"Showing you the house thing, talking about my low points, this promo of me trying to show you how determined I am. It's all been about one thing." He says raising a finger. "Bouncing back."
Ben smiles down the camera.
"This week I bounce back." Ben starts. "And a loss for Jaycee will put him on the path to do the exact same thing and bounce back. It will teach him more lessons in losing to me then most opponents. Losing to me, a former done it all champion and I guess you can say crafty old git with experience will teach him about how to approach things and I have no doubt he will bounce back with a huge jump and become the person I truly expect him to become in the future. This is good for us both, because I will be winning, I get myself back on track and you Jaycee, you learn a big time lesson."
Ben looks at his watch.
"I better wrap it up, there's been a memo around about shorter promos and such and only one guy moaned about it, but still, better just tie this one up." Ben says with a cheeky smile. "So Jaycee, I will catch ya on Sunday, looking forward to it mate, should be a proper good un!"
Ben fires a quick thumbs up.
"And to you lovely lot out there." Ben says staring directly down the camera. "Hope you enjoyed this whole thing, appreciate you all. Tune in on Sunday and join us all."
Ben winks down the camera.
"Laters people!" he says with a smile.
And with that, the camera fades to black.
