This roleplay is dedicated to the the memory of Chad Balanecki. RIP brother.
Well you can't say SCW doesn't do firsts because by hook or by crook, they do.... Saudi Arabia. Saudi fucking Arabia in the summer. No air conditioned arena for us, nope, huge heat in a stadium, utter genius. Heat and a match against a machine. I've been here a few hours and already sweltering in this heat. On the bright side, the fat boys of SCW should lose a little weight....
"Man, this is hot." I tell myself
Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium in Saudi Arabia. My eyes wonder around the stadium, looking at the empty seats around me in the stands. Standing on uncovered grass, I observe people setting up the ring and surrounding area. My train of thought is cut off as Despayre trots up next to me.
"Hey Gabriel!" He says with an excited tone to his voice "I need to ask you something."
I look at Despayre, looking at the twinkle in his eye.
Whenever you see that look, you know what he's about to ask you isn't gonna be good
"What's up Despy?" I say casually.
"Have you see a little notebook around?" He asks "One with say, Angel's picture on the front of it."
I raise an eyebrow towards Despayre, looking him up and down.
"You mean your revenge ideas for people book?" I ask.
"Yeaaaaaa.... no." Despayre replies with his best innocent look on his face. "The other one with all my very creative ideas in them."
"Creative ideas that might be revenge based?" I ask
"Yeaaaaa... no" He starts "Ideas that might.... have you seen it?"
"No." I start "Sorry little brother, I haven't seen your revenge book."
A disappointed look crosses Despayre face.
"Ok, have you see a guy that sells cherry coke around here?" He asks "I've gone to every store I've seen and every time I ask for it, the person sounds like they have something stuck in the back of their throats."
"I think that's the way they talk around here." I reply.
Despayre scratches his head, tilting it to look towards me.
"Wow." He starts "If you ever wanna be rich in this country, all you need to be is a throat doctor. Those guys must be the busiest guys in the entire country."
Despayre looks away from me, shouting across the open grassy area.
"Hey Angel!" He yells "Leave that ring guy alone, he's not in the revenge book!"
Despayre looks towards my smiling face.
"Uh, I mean book of creative ideas for people who deserve some..." Despayre looks at me with innocence crossing his face "Fun. I'll be back."
Despayre starts to wander off towards the ring.
"Put that screw driver down Angel!" Despayre yells out off camera.
I reach in to my back pocket, pulling out a notebook with Angel's face on the front of it and flicking through the first few pages, my eyebrows lowering as I read through the first couple of pages in my head. I slowly shake my head looking at the book.
"Either that bear is gonna someday rule the world..." I say to myself "Or we really don't give Despayre enough credit. Some of this stuff is brutal."
Synn's hand reaches down and rests on my shoulder, causing me to slightly jump an instinctively hide the book. I turn to see Synn and casually slide the book back in to my pocket.
"Joshua's revenge book?" He asks with a questioning tone
"It is." I reply "There's some really messed up ideas in this thing."
"Do you expect anything less from those two?" Synn says pointing in Despayre's direction.
I look towards Despayre, who is in the ring, holding Angel in the air in faux celebration, showing him to all sides of the empty stadium.
"Not in the slightest." I reply with a dry tone. "I expected worse."
"Oh the worse stuff is closer to the back of that thing." Synn informs me. "So how's the family?"
"All good." I reply "Everyone's doing well. Spoke to O just after I got here and she's ok, baby's fine. She really wanted to be here, but you know."
Synn nods in agreement.
"Wouldn't be wise for someone so young being in this intense heat." Synn mentions
I reach in to my pocket, pulling out my phone and quickly unlocking it. I hit the weather app button and my eyes widen.
"Surely a mistake." I say to Synn.
"111 degrees Fahrenheit?" He says slowly "Damn."
"Who's bright idea was it to book a show in an open stadium with this heat?" I ask "People are gonna be struggling all over the place. I'm gonna be struggling all over the place against one of the toughest opponents I've had in a while."
"You rate Kain that highly?" Synn asks
"I do" I start "People have slated Kain, asking how he deserves this match, but it's all people who will never deserve a shot at my title. Kain is much better than they give him credit for and he is not someone I'll be taking lightly at all. Others will write him off, I will not be making that mistake. The guy works hard as anyone in the ring, but this heat might slow him down a little bit. God knows it's gonna make me slow down big time."
"Well you have a couple of days to get used to the heat." Synn tells me "This is where you are at a disadvantage to others."
"How so?" I ask Synn with a raised eyebrow.
"Because you fly in for the shows, you fly back home." He starts "Others have been here all week and are used to the heat."
"Yeah, but I come in, win matches while being disadvantaged and look good doing it." I arrogantly reply to Synn "So the rest of the roster need to keep up. I see it as an advantage. I get to see my family, relax away from the spotlight, while they're probably missing their families, always in the spot light doing promo stuff up and down the country. This effects them. I come in here, all relaxed and do what I do best."
Synn shrugs his shoulders at me.
"That's one way to look at it I guess." He tells me.
"What I do know though is this damn heat is kicking the daylights out of me." I quickly say "So I'm gonna head in to the shade for a bit. You might wanna sort that out."
I point a thumb to Despayre, who has a hammer in hand, hitting the ring post as the ring crew look at him with a baffled look on his face. Synn nods at me and makes off in the direction of Despayre.
A little while later...
Walking through the hallways of the Prince Abdul Aziz bin Musa'ed Stadium, I find myself staring at a vending machine, with bottles of water covering the front.
"You're gonna do some serious business this week." I mumble to myself.
I reach in to my pocket, pulling out a note and putting it in to the machine before hitting a button on the front. A bottle of cold water drops in to the tray below and I pick it up, opening the cap and taking a huge gulp. Behind me, two men approach me.
"You ez Gabriel." One man says.
I turn my head around and look at the man, seeing a second man.
"Sorry lads." I start "Not doing autographs today, come back tomorrow."
"Ve are not after z'autographs, ve are after a bounty." The second man tells me.
"Oh." I start "You two want to collect on Sean Jackson's bounty by kicking the ever living shit out of me? Oh yeah, that makes sense."
I look the two men up and down, both bigger than I am.
"Well, come on then, I haven't got all day." I say.
The two men approach but I instantly catch one with a huge shot to the jaw, knocking him over. The second grapples me against the machine, nailing me with shots to the gut. I spin the man around and catch him with a heavy shot to the face, but the other man hits me with something solid from behind, dropping me to my knees. He reaches in to his pocket and pulls out silver handcuffs, wrapping them around my wrists and locking them tight. They pull me to my feet and hold me against the wall.
"Ve are going to take you somevare and earn ze bounty" One man informs me.
"Oh handcuffs..." I say sarcastically "How will I ever escape."
The two men grab and arm each, rushing me to a nearby car and opening the boot, throwing me inside. The duo walk around to either side of car and get in.
"Ezy money." The driver brags.
The driver starts the engine, driving away.
"So..." I ask "Where are we going?"
To the surprise of the two men, both turn around and see me sitting in the back seat with a smile on my face, handcuff free. The scene cuts to the outside of the car as it crashes in to a concrete pillar. The camera spins around to see me sitting on the roof of the car.
"FYI Sean Jackson." I start "Maybe you should have gave people some history on me before sending them after me... I'm a fucking magician after all."
I slide off the car with a smile on my face.
"Handcuffs.... magician.... really...." I say dusting my hands off.
The scene fades out.
This has been a tough week.
Draining, stressful, eye opening and now we find ourselves in sweltering heat just to put on a show.
At least SCW heard my call. I said I would only wrestle for them should they find me an opponent worthy of my talents and they did just that.
I know so many of you have questioned what my opponent has done to earn this shot, what has he done to earn his place in the main event with me.
What the fuck is wrong with you fools? Are you blind? A man who was outcast elsewhere has come here, worked hard enough not to win one, not, two but three out of the four championships on offer and you fools have the audacity to question his championship and main even pedigree?
Jealousy is an ugly colour on most of you.
I went there with the jealousy thing, because the people who doubt him, are people who have done fuck all here. This man has achieved what so many of you can only hope to achieve in your lifetime.
So kudos SCW, you've give a worthy man a crap shoot on if he shall succeed or fail.
I think what I've learned this week is chances need to be taken when presented to you, chances need to be grabbed because you have no clue if another will come along, if it will be our only shot to take what we feel we deserve. It's one of those things where it's in front of our faces and this might be the one chance we have of taking it. I have known Kain long enough to know that he sees it this way, and that he knows the importance of taking that chance.
Yes, I have known Kain longer than you think. Way beyond the world of SCW. In fact, it goes back to the very beginning of my wrestling career.
The first time I ever wrestled on television was for a company ran by the man you see as an SCW cult hero, Goth. The Asylum was the first place that gave me the chance to lead me to where I am today. The roster was full of familiar faces that you see on television now right here in SCW, Goth, Casey, Chris Shipman and of course.... Kain.
Kain wasn't just a face in the crowd in AWA, Kain what the man. The guy everyone looked up to, the man with the championship gold, the man that put fear in to the heart of every opponent. I shit you not, people would see their name on the sheet against Kain and forget that gold could be won, but their reaction was that of disappointment. This man in his early twenties would strike fear in to the hearts of people who have spent years honing their crafts, this man was the man I wanted to be like. I wanted to be feared by people when they saw my name against them, I wanted to scare the living daylights out of people, just because my name was next to theirs. When I first started in wrestling, Kain was that man.
Everyone looked up to him and feared what he can do. As hard as it is to believe, I was one of those people. I was looking over the shoulders of others to get a glimpse of the man who brought people to their knees with a look. I wanted to be like that someday and of course, I am, but I had to work to be here, I had to stare people like Kain in the eye and have him accept me as an equal.
It took months of busting my arse, week in, week out, beating opponent after opponent, winning single and tag team championships, defending on every show, growing popular, becoming the anti Kain... I say anti cause he was a bastard and I was the smiley good guy. I became the anti Kain and then...
It happened...
I got the booking sheet through and there it was in black and white, the next show. Kain Vs Gabriel - Non title match.
That's when I knew I reached the top, that's when I knew I was finally in Kain's shadow instead of being below him, that's when I knew that I was being taken seriously.
You could say Goth's booking made me a star there, but the work I put in just to be able to get in the ring with the hottest talent in wrestling at the time, showed me I could do it.
I remember walking to the ring, trying my best to keep it all together, not to be overruled by the whole situation, I held it together and I got in that ring. I looked in to the eyes of the monster and the monster looked back at me, anger in his soul, hate in his heart and ice running through his veins as he put his title belt in my face and telling me I will never have it, I will never be good enough.
Did I feel intimidated?
Fucking right I did. Wouldn't you be when you stared down the devil himself? I did, and I was intimidated and I knew I would have to fight on instinct. I knew that this could be the longest night of my career and I wasn't wrong, cause Kain tore in to me like a bull in a china shop. He through me around the ring like a rag doll, he bounced my head off that mat so many times, I knew what a basketball felt like.
But I didn't give up. I fought back and I toppled the giant, I defeated the man in what turned out to be his last AWA match. You can look on it as a touch passing thing, but I defeated the beast!
Now that's a feeling I will never forget, I beat the beast that haunted AWA for so long. I didn't get his title belt that night, but I got a lot more from that match. I got the believe I could take out anyone at any time. I knew that I could shock the world. It gave me belief, it gave me what I needed to push on with my career.
It lead me to where I am right now.
Kain was the first giant I slayed, and there was so many more to come.
You're probably wondering why I'm telling you this...
It's simple, this is roles reversed because I am that giant now, I am that guy on the top of the mountain looking down at everyone and Kain is now coming to topple me. Kain is now gonna try and do what I did to him all those years ago and get in my shadow and attack from within. Kain is motivated by that bigger prize.
Being the first ever grandslam champion.
It will drive him on like never before. It's why he was already at the top of the mountain in AWA while I was still on the hiking trail, because he was driven to be there and he is driven to take my throne. He is a man who can do anything when he's determined to do so, he is a man who will do anything to take what he wants. This is his next natural step and he will do what it takes too step up.
Exactly how I was leading in to my first match with Kain in AWA.
I was determined to step up, I was hell bent on making that next rung on the ladder. I was hell bent on getting there and by god I did, so I know what's going through Kain's mind right now. I know what's in his head and how much he wants to be know as SCW's World Heavyweight champion.
This is where things change from our first match.
You are the reverse Flash to my Flash, everything is happening like the past, but in reverse, where you have the chance to topple this king.
I respect you Kain, but this is where I rewrite the script because this ruler will not be overthrown. Don't get me wrong, if anyone has the chance to do it, you do, more than anyone I've faced before. You know me well enough to know what I can do, you know me well enough to know how I work and what I am capable of. If anything, you concern me more than any opponent has in SCW in a long time. You can claim responsibility for putting a little fire back in me, because I feel like I need to be at my very, very best.
I thank you for that.
But that is gonna go against you. Let's be honest Kain, even you know me off my game is better than half the roster on their game and seeing your name against me, has made me up my game, it's made me want to do better than I have done in recent weeks.
I admit to being a bit slack lately, but can you blame me when I've been booked against people not on my level? Can you blame me for taking my foot off the gas a bit here? Not this week Kain, this is me going full throttle at you, this is me about to push myself beyond what I have been doing for the past few weeks. This is me about to be reborn...
Because I have a quality opponent at last.
I have the hunger back, I have the determination back, I have the drive back. I have just as much drive as you do to win my title, I have just that to keep my title.
We all wanna be known for something and I wanna be known for this great championship run. I've had it since the turn of the year and want it beyond the turn of next year. That's my legacy I'll be leaving SCW with, being a long time champion and friendship, respect, and everything else aside Kain, it doesn't matter who gets in my way, including you, I will get my goal. I will be the man who holds the gold longer than anyone else, I will be the man that cements my name deeper in to SCW legacy and folklore, by holding this belt more than anyone else.
It's my destiny to do so.
As much as you have a better chance than most winning this gold, it doesn't mean you will. I will not just roll over, and I'll be disappointed if you expected me to. I will be bringing the fight to your doorstep and bursting right through.
I will give you the fight of your life, I will remind you why we're even in this business. I will do all I can to walk out of here with my title firmly in my very own possession. I will work like you've never seen me work before Kain, because I don't plan to walk out without this gold.
I don't give a flying fuck if Sean Jackson's little bounty gets claimed earlier by people attacking me, I don't care if they have to roll me down to the ring in a wheelchair, strap me to a board to keep me standing up straight, I will still do everything I possibly can to leave with my title. I will walk on broken glass, I will walk through fire, I will do whatever needs to be done Kain.
I thank you for the challenge
But the end result will still be the same, it will still be with me walking out holding my SCW world heavyweight championship, it will still be with me sitting on top of the mountain looking down. I will be the man with it all come the end of this one. I will be the man who will stand and continue being the champion.
It's nothing personal Kain
And I know we will rip the house down bit by bit, pulling it to pieces and sending the fans home happy with what we will do to each other and how we've put it all on the line, but have no doubt about it. I will be the one with my head held high at the end of this one. I will be the one moving on and looking for my next challenge.
May God have mercy on your soul Kain....
Cause I will not
