The second annual Blast from the Past Tournament was drawing to a close with the Semi-Finals being held this week and the finals being held in three weeks’ time at Blaze of Glory III, several great teams have come and gone including several former champions leaving only four teams, Odette Ryder and Steve Ramone, Ethan Brody and Delia Darling, Simon Jones and Brandi Shotze and Ben Jordan and Song of the FoShan Bombshells, and in a strange twist of fate the team that defeated Jessie Salco’s team in the tournament was facing the team that she was hoping that she’d get to face in round three.
Unfortunately for him that wasn’t all that was on his mind.
Before the Blast from the Past Quarter Finals started Steve did an in-ring promo whilst dressed as and making fun of Gabriel, things were light-hearted at first until Gabriel showed up and threatened his family, apparently he immediately left the arena after that segment and headed straight to his hotel room to make sure Sophie was safe and thankfully she was but for how long? Especially with his team facing Ethan Brody and Delia this week, can he win?
A small café, Queens, New York
March 10th, 2014, 15:00pm
I didn’t want it to come to this.
Gabriel was thankfully bluffing, Charlotte and Sophie are safe for the time being but I’ve been in the business long enough to know that I can’t take chances with people like Gabriel, I need to make sure that my family is safe, I need to make sure that Gabriel can’t get to them.
And that’s why I’m in my hometown of Queens, New York and not Northridge California, otherwise known as the sight of the next Climax Control.
It’s not like I was sort on choices for people to keep my family safe, I still keep in contact with some of the guys from the GWA who have retired but that’s the problem, they’ve been on TV, people know their faces, their names, their addresses, to make sure that my family’s safe I need to contact someone outside of the wrestling business, someone I can trust, thankfully I have two such people right here in New York.
“Need another drink sir?” The waitress asked and I nodded, Charlotte and Sophie were at another table as they only had two tables available and we needed space for our guests, they don’t like it either but they knew the risks going in, they knew that someone was going to try to use them against me at some point but we didn’t think it would get this bad.
Damn it, I’m a veteran, I should know better!
“Steve?” I looked up and saw a young woman with shoulder length dark brown hair and blue eyes wearing a t-shirt and jeans accompanied by a guy around my age with black spiked up hair, a matching goatee and brown eyes wearing a hoodie and jeans. “I never thought I’d have to show my face on a wrestling show again.” The young woman sighed and I shook my head.
“Sara, you know why you’re here and I wouldn’t have contacted you or Corey if I couldn’t trust you.” I responded and Sara and Corey nodded, the girl’s my younger sister and one time manager Sara Ramone, like me she’s trained in the martial arts but she’s out of practice if I can be brutally honest, the guy? He’s another face from my past, Corey “The Innovator” Steel he did things in that ring that would blow your mind and together we tore up the ring as the New York Connection, yeah, I know, how original, may I add that we were eighteen and nineteen at the time, I was trying to get him to join the GWA for the longest time when it was still open but he suffered a career ending injury on the indy circuit before he could meet Al and Grinder, life sucks, what can I say?
“I know man and it’s just a messed up situation all around.” Corey responded with a nod and I nodded in agreement. “I mean, did anything you said in that promo really warrant him dragging your family into this?”
“We both know the answer to that.” I responded as Charlotte and Sophie came over. “Let’s go over the instructions one more time.”
“Always look to see who it is before answering a door, if we get a call or an e-mail from an SCW Superstar besides you we call you first, try to keep things like meals out to a bare minimum.” Corey responded and I nodded with a grin of satisfaction on my face. “Are you absolutely sure that you can’t leave them with someone like Cyrus?”
“My friendship with Cyrus has been rocky since my first Blast from the Past Tournament and that guy’s always looking for new allies.” I responded and Corey nodded. “Besides we’ve been over this, Gabriel can easily track down someone affiliated with SCW by asking around, you two? You haven’t seen the inside of a wrestling ring for five years and you’ve been under the radar since you retired.”
“Yeah, last time we made the headlines was when we announced our engagement.” Sara nodded in response as she turned to Charlotte. “Are you absolutely sure about this Charlotte?”
“It’s not like I have much choice, I don’t want that lunatic anywhere near my daughter.” Charlotte responded and Sara nodded. “So what’s your plan Steve?”
“You and Sophie will stay with them until I’m sure that it’s safe for you to come on the road with me again.” I responded with a frown. “As much as I’d like to say that I know how long it’ll take I don’t.”
“Take as long as you need Steve but just make sure that the other SCW wrestlers know that going after our family isn’t acceptable.” Corey responded and I nodded. “Can’t the bosses do anything about him?”
“Technically he hasn’t done anything wrong, for all we know he was just bluffing at Climax Control.” I responded as I shook my head. “But the moment that he acts on his threat is the moment that I’m marching into Mark and Christian’s office and demanding that they do something about it!”
“And knowing the wrestling industry like we do that will likely mean a match that’ll most likely take place at the next Supercard.” Corey responded and I nodded in agreement. “Will you be ready for him?”
“I’ve faced his kind before and he’s no different from the likes of Goth and Lady Ashe.” I responded and Corey nodded. “I think you’d better get going, I’ll pay for the food and drinks.”
“Daddy, I’m scared.” Sophie admitted and I had to admit, her tone of voice broke my heart, it was normally happy and full of wonder for the world that she was living in, not now, she was terrified and I couldn’t blame her.
“It’ll be fine Sophie, I promise, you’ll have to trust that your aunt and uncle in law can look after you in the meantime.” I reassured her after a few minutes and Sophie nodded in response before I turned to Sara. “Now I know you two recently moved out of that apartment you shared, can I have your new address?”
“I got it right here.” Corey responded before reaching into his pocket and showing me the address which I kept hidden from the camera on the off chance that Gabriel was watching this promo. “The new Phone Number’s there and I included our e-mail addresses there as well.”
“I already had Sara’s e-mail address but thanks.” I nodded in response before quickly pocketing the piece of paper with the address on it. “Sara, you still have my e-mail don’t you?” I asked and Sara nodded. “Can you tell Corey it?”
“I will when we get home.” Sara nodded in response before the four of them stood up and left the café.
“Excuse me, can I have the bill?” I asked a passing waitress who nodded before continuing on her way, once I got the bill I paid for it with a ten dollar bill before leaving the café in a somber mood, I think you can guess why, once I reached my car I hopped in the driver’s seat and the cameraman hopped in the passenger’s side seat and I started my promo.
“I have been a wrestling fan since a very young age, I started my career as a professional wrestler when I turned nineteen years old and through all those years as a wrestler and a fan I thought it was a safe assumption that not even the bitterest of rivals threatened family members, I was wrong.” I said as I shook my head. “Odette wants me to keep my distance from Gabriel but how can I do that when he’s threatening my family? I had to take them to Queens New York to stay with family just so I can ensure their safety because he made it personal and the next time I see him in person I will personally kick each and every one of his teeth down his goddamned throat!”
It’s that simple!
“But as bad as the situation with Gabriel is getting my attention is elsewhere! The Blast from the Past Semi-Finals are here and as you’ve probably guessed my team is one of the four teams left in this tournament, me and Odette have worked great together despite the Gabriel situation looming over our heads and I hope to continue our recent run of luck as we take on Ethan Brody and Delia for a place in the Blast from the Past Finals at Blaze of Glory III!”
And I’m starting with Ethan.
“Doesn’t this company have enough British wrestlers at it is? We seem to be finding them under every other rock these days! All joking aside, I don’t know a lot about the Guns for Hire but what I’ve seen of the two of you in the ring has impressed me a lot! Ethan, your team managed to defeat your tag team partner Landon Axel and the very talented Jessie Salco last week, suspicious circumstances or not that was a huge win, but I have an advantage here!”
And it has to do with last week’s match.
“Let’s recap the closing moments of Landon Axel and Jessie Salco vs. Ethan Brody and Delia Darling, shall we? No? Too bad! I’m doing it anyway! Jessie’s pissed because she got screwed over by Jasmine somehow missing the blatant cheating on Delia’s part! Ethan and Landon shake hands to show the world that there are no hard feelings over the match…..and then Lucian Frost enters the ring with his half of the SCW Tag Titles in one hand and I black bag in the other and one of the most brutal beatings I’ve seen in quite some time ensues!”
Seeing what I mean here?
“I don’t exactly need a medical degree to tell that you are still hurting from your beatdown so it must really suck to have to compete the very next week in spite of it! Take it from a guy who once wrestled a GWA match with a fractured leg, wrestling injured isn’t fun at all! My point is that you Ethan are still tender from the beating and I am willing to bet that you will still be tender by the time Climax Control rolls around, right or wrong me and Odette are going all the way! Oh and another thing, your partner said last week that I was riding Odette’s coattails? Do me a favor and tell him how full of shit he is after I’m done kicking your ass this week!
Next up is Delia.
“Let’s see, it worked against Misty, it worked against Roxi so rule of three states that it should work against “Double D” Delia Darling as well! First off, that has got to be one of the most pornographic sounding nicknames that I have ever heard in all my years as a wrestler and trust me, I once worked in a fed that featured a female wrestler called Holly Suksadik! In all seriousness though you may have won your matches to date by cheating but it won’t work on Odette!”
Nope, it won’t work at all.
“Why? Isn’t it obvious? You’ve only won one match for your team! Ethan Brody beat Derek Thorne and Diamond a few weeks back and last week you only one because you cheated! Don’t give me that “it’s not cheating if you don’t get caught” BS because the whole goddamned world saw it except for Jasmine for whatever reason! Odette is too much of a veteran to get caught off guard by your tricks Delia and that will bring your team down!”
It’s that simple.
“You walk around SCW thinking that the world owes you a favor just because you’re rich! I wasn’t aware that Hawkes had gotten a sex change and signed up for the SCW Bombshell Division under the name Delia Darling! Then again he was always girly looking to begin with! The problem is Delia is that you have done little to show that you have earned the right to carry your attitude the way you do and until you do, this opinion will be shared by the rest of the SCW Roster male and female! Until then you can look forward to playing a fun game of count the ceiling lights!”
I started driving out of the parking lot, the plan was for me to drop off the cameraman at the room the production crew did their work from once I got back to Northridge and then go back to the hotel room but until then I decided to wrap things up, it’ll be a long journey so it’s not like I haven’t got plenty of time.
“The situation with Gabriel will always be at the back of my mind until I know that my family is safe and sound but until then I will continue to kick ass in the Blast from the Past Tournament! Delia, Ethan, congrats on making it this far but you are facing the favorites to win this whole tournament this week and by the end of the night we will advance! Just remember that the two of you have nothing to fear but fear itself and no one to fear but “The Fearless One” Steve Ramone and Odette Ryder.”
I drove off as the scene fades.
