The scene opens to show Simon Jones sat on a 3 seater sofa in a well-lit room. He is sat on the far left of the sofa, behind which is a wall, painted pale blue, and hanging on the wall, centred above the sofa, is a framed collection of football cigarette cards from the 1930's; the floor of the room is covered by a light brown carpet. Simon is wearing a grey t-shirt that has the words "BON TEMPS FOOTBALL" printed on it in red; he is also wearing navy blue jeans and a pair of white socks. Perched on Simon's lap is a laptop.
The silence is broken by the sound of a doorbell, which prompts Simon to lift the laptop and place it next to him, on the middle of the sofa; he then stands up, before turning and walking towards the right of the shot, after which he disappears from view. The sound of a door being opened can soon be heard, followed by Simon greeting the person at the door of his home.
Simon: 'Alright Jase.'
A couple of seconds later, the sound of the door being closed is heard, and then shortly afterwards, Simon reappears into view from the right of the shot, followed closely behind by Jason O'Neil, who is wearing a zipped-up black coat, black jeans and a pair of black trainers; Simon then turns around and glances at Jason, before looking towards the sofa and motioning with his hands in that direction. Jason unzips his coat, revealing a green t-shirt beneath, and then sits down on the far right of the sofa, as Simon re-takes his seat on the far left of the sofa; the pair then turn their heads to look at one another.
Jason: 'So then, what have you been up to since we parted ways after training earlier?'
Simon: 'Nothing much worth mentioning; just now, before you got here, I was on Twitter.'
Jason frowns.
Jason: 'When did you sign up to Twitter?'
Simon: 'I haven't.'
Jason: 'Well if you aren't signed up to Twitter, what were you doing on there?'
Simon: 'As I told Misty when I saw her backstage at Climax Control the other week, I'm aware that Mickey Carroll has said some things to her on Twitter, about the forthcoming match between he and I...'
Simon is interrupted by Jason.
Jason: 'The match that she is the special guest referee for.'
Simon nods his head.
Simon: 'Correct. So I was having a look to see if Mickey had said anything else to Misty, more recently, but it turns out he hasn't - it's been a couple of weeks since his last tweet.'
Jason: 'How about Misty - has she had anything to say about the match, since you and her crossed paths?'
Simon: 'I can't tell, something to do with her account being protected, whatever that means, so your guess is as good as mine. But when you arrived I was about to take a look at Ben Jordan's Twitter feed - he's never short of an opinion or two.'
Simon picks the laptop up and rests it on his lap again; he then looks back to Jason.
Simon: 'So let's see what he has been tweeting about.'
Simon turns his attention back to the laptop.
Simon: 'In the past few days there's some comments on Wrestlecast Radio, and he's been discussing his match with Drake Green...'
Jason: 'I'm looking forward to watching that match - I'm sure that it's going to live up to all of the hype.'
Simon: 'I have no doubt that it will.'
Jason: 'Any other tweets of interest from him?'
Simon: 'I'll go back a bit further, see what else...'
Simon's voice trails off, a look of surprise on his face.
Jason: 'What's the matter?'
Simon: 'From the twelfth of May: "Quality seeing Jonesey on the SCW show tonight."'
Simon turns to look at Jason, as he continues to quote from the tweet.
Simon: '"And hearing SCW want more in the ring." And then he ended it with the hashtag "SimonJonesAndDrakeGreenforSCW."'
Simon looks back to the laptop, lifts it up and leans forward, placing it on the carpet to the right of his feet; he then leans back against the sofa and gazes off in the direction of the camera.
Jason: 'You know, if you did fancy setting foot in an SCW ring, and doing more than just holding a microphone and airing your thoughts - like you did last month in Argentina - then there's the perfect opportunity coming up this weekend, with the open invitational gauntlet battle royal that's being staged to determine the number one challenger for the SCW Heavyweight Championship.'
Jason edges along the sofa slightly, getting nearer to Simon.
Jason: 'Think about it: the match this weekend would be your first match in SCW, and then, if all goes well, four weeks later you would be challenging Jordan Williams for the SCW Heavyweight Championship - now how can you possibly let that opportunity pass you by?'
Simon: 'That does sound appealing.'
Simon turns to look at Jason.
Simon: 'But what about my match with Mickey Carroll? I don't want to lose focus on that.'
Jason: 'I believe you've already done all the preparation you need for that; you've trained long enough and hard enough - that match will take care of itself. This gauntlet battle royal on the other hand...'
Jason glances over his left shoulder and then looks back at Simon.
Jason: 'Simon, you're coming off the back of the biggest victory of your career, and with this open invitational match in SCW on the horizon, I think you ought to strike while the iron is hot - you need to capitalise on the momentum that you've gained from winning the NWA Cruiserweight Championship. And what better way is there for you do that, than to put yourself in line for a shot at another title?'
Simon: 'Are you certain about this?'
Jason: 'Positive. And with the variety of opponents that you'd be up against in this match, it could also give you the chance to show people around the NWA that you're not merely a good cruiserweight, but that you're a good wrestler regardless of your weight class, which I know is something that you're keen to prove. But you need to make a quick decision - time is running out, so if you're going to enter yourself into this match, you need to do it fast.'
Simon turns and looks at down at the floor in front of him for a moment; he then glances at Jason, before leaning forward to pick up the laptop, and then turning towards Jason and handing the laptop to him.
Jason: 'Why are you giving me this?'
Simon smiles.
Simon: 'Because whilst I make a pair of phone calls, I need you to search for flights to San Diego.'
As Jason grins, before setting to work on the laptop, Simon reaches into the left pocket of his jeans and pulls out a mobile phone. After several presses of buttons, Simon raises the phone to his ear; only his side of the conversation is audible.
Simon: 'I'm fine Rick, thanks. How are you?'
Jason whispers.
Jason: 'Rick O'Shea?'
Simon nods.
Simon: 'Good. Anyway, the reason that I'm calling you is to tell you that I need to reschedule our meeting for a later date.'
With Simon in mid-conversation and Jason focused on the laptop, the scene fades to black.
The scene opens to show Simon Jones, who is stood staring at the camera. Visible behind him is the Serra Museum, in Presidio Park in San Diego. Simon is wearing a navy blue t-shirt that has the words "I KNOW WHAT I AM" printed on it in red; he is also wearing dark blue jeans and a pair of black trainers. The NWA cruiserweight title draped over Simon's right shoulder and he is holding a bottle of water in his left hand; he raises his arms, stretching them wide open, and speaks.
Simon: 'Here I am in San Diego.'
Simon puts his arms back down by his side.
Simon: 'I hadn't planned on being here, but plans can change - lots of things can change: this time last year I wouldn't have expected to be anywhere other than the UK; and I definitely wouldn't have expected that within a matter of months I would resume my career as a professional wrestler, let alone go on to win an NWA title. And yet here I am, thousands of miles from home - not for the first time, but now with a difference: I'm now the NWA Cruiserweight Champion.'
Simon smiles.
Simon: 'I don't like having to repeat myself, and I'm not too fond of having to listen to myself speak, but that's one thing that I don't mind saying again. Now don't get me wrong, you're not about to have to put up with me reminding you at every opportunity, that I won the cruiserweight title, it's just that after all of the hard work and effort that I've put in down the years, it's satisfying to have this to show for it.'
Simon taps the cruiserweight title with his right hand.
Simon: 'But after my success last month, what does May have in store for me? Well, I opted to not put myself forward to be considered for a spot in the Lord of the Ring match at the event of the same name, as I'm happy being the NWA Cruiserweight Champion - I don't feel the need to get over-ambitious and to try to upgrade to one of the other titles; not yet, anyway. And with the heavyweight title as the only one of the four NWA titles that is being defended on that show, that means I won't be appearing at Lord of the Ring.'
Simon shakes his head.
Simon: 'How about the King of the Death Matches tournament? Oh, there was a time, when I was younger, that I would've gladly entered such a tournament, but now, at 33 years of age, I'd rather not have to put my body through such torment, if I can help it.'
Simon lifts the cruiserweight title off his shoulder and bends down to place it on the floor, by his feet.
Simon: 'So it appeared that May was going to be a straight forward month, with just the one match for me, in ACW, against Mickey Carroll. But then came the announcement of the open invitational gauntlet battle royal in SCW, a match to determine the number one challenger for the SCW Heavyweight Championship. And after seeing a tweet from a fellow member of the ACW roster, and after talking it over with my friend Jason O'Neil, I decided that - forget Lord of the Ring, forget King of the Death Matches - this is the alliance-wide event that I want to be involved with in May.'
Simon again stretches his arms out wide for a moment.
Simon: 'So then, here I am, in San Diego; having already wrestled in the IWA, Ricochet Wrestling, ACW and PRA, this weekend, by popular demand - or on the recommendation of Ben Jordan, at least - SCW will become the fifth region of the NWA that I have competed in. And what an occasion on which for me to wrestle in SCW for the first time, when the stakes could barely be any higher; all I need to do now is to make the most of the opportunity that I've been presented with, and earn the right to fill the vacancy in the match against Jordan Williams at Into The Void II.'
Simon unscrews the cap on the bottle of water and takes a drink; he then screws the cap back on, and looks back to the camera.
Simon: 'Of course, that's easier said than done. As I've pointed out previously, unlike the majority of competitors that populate the various wrestling promotions around the world, it's unusual to hear me tell all and sundry that I'm going to be victorious in an upcoming match. The exception to this though, came last month, when I told Vixen that I was going to beat her - a claim that, thankfully, was shown to be accurate - but this month, it's a return to the norm for me; there's always an element of uncertainty when making any prediction, even when something might seem like a sure-thing. But let's face it, the only thing that's for sure, is that nothing's for sure, and so I'm not going to stand hear and say that I'm going to defeat Mickey Carroll, or that I'm going to be successful in SCW, because no-one can make such predictions with complete certainty. However, I can at least make a promise.'
Simon again unscrews the cap on the bottle of water to take another drink before he continues.
Simon: 'One thing that I've never been lacking in is effort. When I represented my school at football, rugby, and even basketball - with varying degrees of success - I always worked as hard as I could, put as much effort in as I could, to make the most of what ability I had. Even so, I was never going to reach the necessary standard to be able to carve out a career as a professional in any of those three sports; in wrestling though, I found a sport that was more suited to my talents. Yet I've never rested on my laurels, despite the proficiency that I have for the sport - from when I had my first match a dozen years ago, all the way through to the present day, I've always put the hard work in away from the ring, to maximise the ability that I possess, and to give myself the best chance of succeeding; even in the long period when I wasn't an active wrestler, I continued to train in the same manner, because I knew that one day I'd wind up back inside a ring, and I wanted to ensure that when that day came, I wasn't found wanting. And then, not so long ago, when I discovered that I was being given the opportunity to face Vixen for the NWA cruiserweight title...'
Simon bends down and picks up the cruiserweight title from the floor; he holds the title so that it is facing him and looks at it for a couple of seconds, before placing it over his right shoulder again. Simon then looks back at the camera.
Simon: 'Well, then I began to train even harder, doing the utmost to try to avoid letting the aspiration of a lifetime slip by me. And now, having won the title - and with all of the effort having proved to be worth it - I'm maintaining that level of hard work, so as to give myself the best chance of retaining the title, and also of being successful in any other matches that I happen to find myself in, such as the match in SCW that I will shortly be competing in. So the promise that I make to my opponents, is that, whilst I may have entered myself into this match at very short notice, that isn't going to be detrimental to my prospects of winning.'
Simon glances around him and then looks back to the camera.
Simon: 'Now sure, I haven't had sufficient time to properly prepare for each of the opponents that I might find myself in the ring with, but at the same time, I daresay that my opponents won't have had sufficient time to properly prepare for me, so at least we're equal in that regard. Besides, with the way that a gauntlet battle royal works, unless I'm amongst the first few men to enter the match, by the time that I make my way down to the ring it's likely that some of the other competitors will already have been eliminated, and so, with such little time left between now and Climax Control, why waste time preparing for an opponent that may already have exited the match by the time that I walk down the aisle?'
Simon shrugs his shoulders, gripping the cruiserweight title with his right hand as he does so.
Simon: 'Exactly when I enter the match will of course have a huge effect on the likelihood of me being the winner. If I have the misfortune of being one of those that enters early on, then I'm either going to be in for a long night, or a short one. Whereas if I'm fortunate enough to enter the match close to the end, then who knows, I may just manage to win it.'
Simon sighs.
Simon: 'That would mean me having to improve upon my performance in the last gauntlet battle royal that I was involved with: the tag team turmoil match in ACW, back in February. And this time I won't have a partner to aid me. But before you start writing off my chances of winning, it's worth noting that, on several occasions in the past, I've had success in matches featuring multiple wrestlers: for example, in the very first match of my career, I was victorious in a ten man elimination match.'
Simon looks upwards for a few seconds; he then looks back towards the camera and continues to speak.
Simon: 'How many opponents will I have this weekend? Let's see if I can remember all of the ones that have been confirmed so far: James Huntington-Hawkes III, Casey Williams, Jericho Hill, Tyler Page, The Spectre, Matthew Kennedy, Giani Di Luca, Brother Grimm, Goth, and Thatcher Rex, which makes ten in total - I hope that I haven't forgotten anybody. As I've already alluded to, it's highly unlikely that all eleven of us - plus anyone that might happen to put themselves forward for the match even later than I have - will find ourselves all together in the ring at the same time. But if we do, well, it wouldn't be the first time that I've shared the ring with a large number opponents. And as I mentioned just moments ago, the last time that I was in such a scenario, I was the one that walked out the winner; admittedly, eliminations then were achieved either by pinfall or submission, but hopefully I'd still be able to repeat the success.'
Simon glances down at the title draped over his shoulder, before looking back at the camera and continuing.
Simon: 'I'm willing to hazard a guess that some of my forthcoming opponents aren't all that familiar with me, although now that I'm the NWA Cruiserweight Champion, they may now know a bit more about me than they did before. Well, if any of my opponents want a formal introduction on Sunday, I'll happily give them one - and then throw them over the top rope.'
Simon smiles.
Simon: 'See you on Sunday gents.'
As Simon's smile broadens into a grin, the scene fades to black.
