Parris Island, South Carolina. A place where boys grew up to be men, where women went to be something bigger and better than they ever thought they could. Parris Island, a place where many found out what their true metal was. What they possessed on the inside, just as much as what they possessed on the outside.
For those who survived their stay on the island, to become marines, they would get to carry that distinction with them for the rest of their lives. For the moment you became a marine, you stayed a marine. It was as simple as that.
There was nothing in the world more feared than a marine. From the jungles of Vietnam to the streets of Baghdad, the United States Marine struck fear into all those who were unfortunate enough to find themselves in the cross hairs. Pure and simple, there was nothing more dangerous than a marine. Their battlefield exploits was a thing of legend. Especially those who survived Parris Island.
October 17, 2014
Atlanta, Georgia
With Climax Control from Ft. Benning, Georgia now in the books, Sean Jackson found himself back in his hotel room, preparing for the next leg of Sin City Wrestling's tribute to the troops. After not being booked at Benning, and forced to watch Drake Green defend the title against Steve Ramone....
He wasn't going to sit back any longer and watch as others garnered HIS title shots. He proved that the moment he left Drake Green laid out on the arena floor, the beneficiary of a brilcream chairshot, a high knee to the skull, and a Hook Em Horns Driver on the steel ring steps. But does Sin City take notice? do they reward him with a title shot?
No, instead he gets Giani Di Luca.
As Sean lifts the remote control, he presses the play button and watches as a video comes to life on the television. He pays real close attention as Full Metal Jacket begins with the trainees in the barber chair, getting their heads shaved.
Jackson: "From the moment those people made the conscious decision to join the marines, their fates were sealed. They went from being able to think for themselves, to becoming robots that had thought forced on them."
He winces as their hair falls to the floor, the military's version of conformity. Everyone having to dress the same, look the same, act the same.
Jackson: "Sorry, but there's no way I would sit in that chair and allow strangers to shave my head bald. There's no way I would allow strangers to force me into conformity, to force me to be something that I'm not. To force me to respect people that I simply have no respect for...."
As Full Metal Jacket continues, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman played by R Lee Ermy is introduced. Oh yes, R Lee Ermy. A man that Sean Jackson could definitely respect. If only he actually existed.
Jackson: "R Lee Ermy, now there is a fucking joke. Here is a man, who up until Full Metal Jacket hit the movie theatres, was a freaking nobody. He was nothing more than a common bully, a man who took great pride in being protected by the system. A man who hid behind that smokey the bear hat in order to choke, curse, and mentally abuse the weak minded, in order to make him feel good about himself. Kind of like that coward Drake Green."
In the movie, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman was a fictional character, played by the real life Senior Drill Instructor R Lee Ermy. Now in a perfect world, Full Metal Jacket would be the movie that Sean could get behind. A movie that manipulated the free thought of men, a movie that affected the mentally weak through physical and emotional abuse, a movie that would garner his interest from start to finish. But there was that one part that Sean simply couldn't get beyond, just couldn't seem to let go....
Hartman's piece where he insults the state of Texas by implying that only steers and queers came from there. That because Private Cowboy didn't have horns, it kind of narrowed down the choices. So being from Texas himself, and the fluid way in which R Lee Ermy spoke it, it kind of narrowed down the impression that Sean had towards the former drill sergeant.
Jackson: "Drake Green has hidden behind Christian Underwood and Eric Staggs, just as R Lee Ermy hid behind Hartman and that drill sergeant hat. But when you're a coward, you learn to hide behind things. When I put Drake down last week, Sin City Wrestling could have given me exactly what I wanted."
Sean pauses the video.
Jackson: "But no, Drake cried and forced them to do the opposite, booking me this Sunday against Giani Di Luca. Now don't get me wrong, getting to blast out the back of a man's skull with the high knee is something that I enjoy. But Giani Di Luca?"
Sean shrugs. After attacking Drake Green two weeks in a row, he wonders just what it will take to get Drake in the ring, and with the title on the line. Does he need to make things personal? does he need to place the cross hairs on someone else? maybe of the female persuasion?
Wait a minute, maybe that was it. Maybe Sean had been looking at this all wrong. Instead of targeting people like Jon Dough, Justin Halliwell, and Jamie Dean....
Maybe he needed to pay closer attention to a particular someone on the bombshell roster. Yes, that would probably be the ticket.
Jackson: "Why do I have to waste my time with him? Why do I need to waste my time with someone who obviously doesn't have it any longer? Maybe it's because I haven't struck closer to home. Maybe it's because I haven't sent a clear enough message yet. Let me see, who did Drake make cry the other day?"
He raises his hand to his chin for a moment, gently stroking it a couple of times before completely flipping the switch, getting back on track.
Jackson: "Now don't get me wrong. I'm pretty sure that Giani thinks he's worthy of stepping into the ring with me, probably even thinks he's worthy of the ass kicking that I'm sure to give him. But he's not Drake Green, a far cry from what I actually deserve..."
His eyes begin to narrow, the facial expression a complete 180.
Jackson: "Now once again Giani, don't get me wrong. Just like that fraud R Lee Ermy, you USED to be someone in this company. You USED to be the SCW heavyweight champion, you USED to be the top dog. But somewhere along the way, you became just another face in the crowd. You ceased to be relevent...."
Maybe there was a reason why Sean disliked R Lee Eemy so much. Maybe he was now letting the entire world know that reason, and it was possibly due to comparison. R Lee Ermy and Giani Di Luca....
Gunnery Sergeant Hartman to Drake Green.
Jackson: "And now you think that one simple match with Sean Jackson will put you back on the path to relevence. Well Giani, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm not going to be a stepping stone for anyone. Least of all, a has-been like you."
As Sean unpauses the video, Drill Sergeant Hartman begins the scene with Lawrence...aka Private Pyle. Having seen the Law and Order series, and being familiar with the character that Vincent D' Onofrio portrayed, it was difficult seeing him in that position. Lowering himself to put his neck into Hartman's hand in order to *choke himself*
Jackson: "Let me ask you Giani. Is THIS what you've been regulated to do? coming back to Sin City after being gone for so long, thinking you've done something worth while by saving Equinox?"
A smile begins to form on his face.
Jackson: "Had you just left well enough alone, kept your nose out of every one elses business, you wouldn't be in this predicament. But knowing you, you probably think that you're being rewarded. That stepping into the ring with me is something that you want to do. Well Giani, you're preventing me from doing what I want to do..."
The smile gets larger.
Jackson: "You're preventing me from getting Drake Green, the ACTUAL SCW heavyweight champion into the ring, with the title on the line. You're making me waste my time on you, a has-been, a former champion."
Sean rewinds the video, back to Hartman and Private Pyle. Back to where Pyle lowers himself and places his own neck into Hartman's hand to be *choked*.
Jackson: "So I ask again Giani, are you ready to choke yourself? Are you ready to put your career in my hands? Because if you are, then I'm fully ready to take it."
Sean tosses down the remote, the sound of Hartman's voice echoing in the room.
Jackson: "Because the sooner I get rid of you, the sooner I get to take that title from Drake Green. Giani, I'm sure you consider yourself something more than just a distraction. But to me, you're Private Pyle wishing he can be Vincent D' Onofrio...."
The smile quickly leaves, replaced with a cold hard stare. A look of complete indifference and contempt.
Jackson: "You're a broken down version of that gutter trash R Lee Ermy. Like Ermy, your best years are far, far behind you. As far as I'm concerned, he was nothing more than a bunch of one liners, a lingering reputation of what used to be, just like you. When J2H and Ringo bailed from the ring last Sunday, it was because of a past history, and not because of anything you think you can bring to the table now."
As he takes a deep breath, the contempt continues. The tension can be cut with a knife.
Jackson: "Giani, you should have stayed gone. You should have left well enough alone. But no, you had to play hero. You just had to save Equinox, basically screwing everyone over in the process. Well since you didn't have the common sense to keep your seat, now you have to pay the price. But I don't blame you entirely Giani, there's someone else who is complicent in all this...."
Once again, Sean reaches down and pauses the video. This time it stops on the face R Lee Ermy.
Jackson: "And that's you Ermy. An old codger who gets to live his past glories, through a freaking movie made at Parris Island. Had it not been for you Ermy, I wouldn't have to waste my time on that God forsaken island, dealing with another wrestling has-been living off of past glories. Living off of a dead reputation as the former champion."
Sean lifts his knee up and sets it down on the table in front of him. Of course it's the right knee, the knee that delivers the lights out high knee.
Jackson: "But that's okay Ermy. Hopefully you'll be there at Climax Control, and I'll be able to kill two failed careers with the same knee. Just like Cowboy at the end of the movie, he exposes himself just enough for the sniper to get the shot, taking him out. Well Giani, you've exposed yourself just enough and when you finally step into that ring at Parris Island..."
Sean taps his knee.
Jackson: "I will take the shot."
The smile returns.
Jackson: "Lights out, game called due to darkness."
Fade.
