Post by Markw on Jun 8, 2014 4:38:24 GMT -5
WFWF Dream Catcher - Scorched Earth
There have been too many occasions in my career, when I haven't had the bottle to admit that I made a mistake.
I lost the National Championship to Jon O'Deeves, I shouted 'conspiracy'.
I lost the National Championship to Carter Contra, I shouted 'cheat'.
I blew three shots at the International Championship, I shouted 'politics'.
But each time, I lost fair and square. Because I wasn't good enough.
That's the truth, I've just been too ashamed to admit it.
I've always found an excuse and it has stopped me from changing things.
And I'm not just talking about my wrestling career, it happens in all walks of life. I make a mistake and I always have someone lined up to blame. I always have an excuse ready.
That's why I'm a failure, that's why inside and outside of the ring, I have become miserable.
I'm not doing that again. I made a mistake, but this time I'm man enough to admit it.
I was wrong about Solomon Crow.
And, although it might not be a popular opinion, I was dead wrong about Trace Demon.
It just wasn't until SuperBrawl that I realised that I'd made that second mistake. And it wasn't until shortly before Reborn, that I realised I could make up for some of the damage my mistakes caused. Although, not all of it.
Reborn, for most, was the tacky name attributed to a show that represents a 'new era' for the WFWF. An era that in a lot of respects will mimic everything that has gone before it. There will still be the struggle for power, the in-fighting, the roster full of men who will call themselves the best whether it's true or not. It clearly wasn't a rebirth for the WFWF. Not really. The faces are set to change, but the rest of this federation will remain the same as it has always been.
For me though, it did exactly what it said on the tin.
Because believe me when I say, post-Reborn Joe Bishop is not the same man who walked into that arena. He is not the same man who choked three times in a row before finally capturing the International Championship. I am not being a failure any more and I will not be fooled again.
When I stood above Solomon Crow, the man who has spent the last month ruining me, and brought that steel chair crashing down, crumpling round his skull, I was, reborn.
Dream Catcher, is a title that will also be quite apt.
For while the likes of Solomon Crow, 'The Roy' and anyone else who stands in the way, will try desperately to contain the nightmare, to trap it. They will fail. The nightmare is coming, and there's nothing they can do to stop it. Not at Dream Catcher, and not at any point after.
The men of real quality will rise. The Johnny-come-lately's, who have been handed everything they have, will fall. And, while much will remain the same, new life will be breathed into this husk of a promotion.
I've spent two years, bitter, twisted and I've been making excuses for my failings. And still in that time I've had two more National Championship reigns, I helped gain control of this promotion for Trace Demon, I stood tall over everyone else in the WFWF locker room and I have become the International Champion.
In two years time, the reborn Joe Bishop, the Joe Bishop that doesn't make excuses. That takes what he wants rather than waiting to be handed it. The Joe Bishop who discards of his enemies as quickly and efficiently as he did to Solomon Crow at Reborn. Imagine where he'll be?
In another two years I won't be talking about International Championships and National Championships. I'm not settling for mediocrity any more. I'm not going to excuse it again.
---
“Why did you do it?”
My mind should really have been on Yukio Blaze, on finally capturing the International Championship I have worked so hard to get my hands on. But I couldn't force myself to care about that now. The only human being I have any sort of connection with, the only person I ever interact with. Was lying in a bed, trapped in this lifeless room, with me. I was angry. Not at her, I had no right to be angry at her. Just angry, that something had almost driven the only person I can actually talk to, to take her own life.
I've always looked to solve my problems with violence, it's probably not very healthy, but it's why I'm a wrestler. It's the one aspect of my character that has brought me here, to this point. It's who I am.
I had to know what, who, had done this to her. Who had put those pills in her hand. I needed to know... so that I could respond, in the only way I can. With my fists.
I know it wasn't a question I should have asked, I shouldn’t have tried to make her relieve it. But I was ready to explode, and I needed a target.
“I really don't want to talk about.”
“I need to know.”
I snapped back in a tone that was perhaps harsher than it needed to be, but I needed an answer. I had to know what had driven her to this point.
“I'm not talking about it.”
She responded softly. I couldn't keep pushing. I shouldn't have said anything, and more to the point, I didn't need to push any further. I could see it in her eyes. I'd seen it before.
She looked broken, defeated. Like the life had been sucked away from her, from a leech, a tick that had latched on and sucked her dry.
Yes, I'd seen it before. As Dave Demento lay broken, the International Championship stripped from him by his leader. And whether they'd admit it or not, it was the same lifeless look on the faces of Randye, Matthew & Lukas as they were torn out of Solomon's world and thrown into the real world. She, like them, had been destroyed by the same man who tried to do exactly the same to me.
And I was going to get revenge.
“Sorry, I shouldn't have pushed you.”
“It's okay.”
I leaned over, embracing the broken woman who just a few months ago had save my life. No longer the the person I could confide in. Now a frail little girl, with no one but me, to be strong for her.
But I was no longer the coward, the man with nothing and no one. Now I had someone to fight for. Something to fight for.
Now I had something to live for.
Vengeance.
“I'm going to put this right.”
---
“Here is your winner, and the new International Champion, Joe Bishop!”
Finally, I have done it.
I am the International Champion.
The fans still chanting Yu-ki-o, Yu-ki-o, but it doesn't matter. This reception that the loser is getting doesn't matter one jot.
Because I, am, the Champion.
I am, better, than Yukio Blaze.
I'm not walking to the back tonight, liked. I'm not a man who can go into a bar and get too many free drinks. I'm not winning a popularity contest. But I AM the International Champion. And really, it has become clear that, that's all that matters.
But it's not enough. The show isn't over. And I know that I'm going to walk back to that locker room, a crowd gathered round the monitors and see five people compete for the prize I crave.
I'm not there and, while holding this belt feels great. It's not quite what I was expecting, It's not the World Championship.
Years of work, of putting myself back into the battlefield time and time again, has won me this. The second biggest prize in the WFWF.
But second best, not that I can even claim that, just isn't good enough.
I've reached an impasse, I've hit a level just below the top echelons of the WFWF, but no matter what I do, how many hours I train, how much sweat and blood is lost, I can't break into it.
I've got the talent, the desire, the willingness to sacrifice everything I have to do it.
But I'm missing something. I'm not quite capable of breaking through, I'm not capable of pushing on and getting to the top.
And while that's true, until what it is I'm lacking hits me, I know I'll remain where I am. International Champion, average, middle of the road. Nothing.
---
“I ask myself that question a lot, did I choose the right side, did I make the right decisions, am I the guy I want to be. And the answer to all three is yes, because I’m the WFWF World Heavyweight Champion going into Superbrawl. Which means whatever war I’ve been fighting all this time, whatever side I’m on, I won. Because that’s the thing right, history is written by the victors. The bad guys never win, because the winners make themselves the good guys. In years to come people won’t be talking about all the horrible things I did, they’ll be talking about all the success I had whereas you… well they won’t be talking about you at all. You see you chose the wrong side because it didn’t get you anywhere, you made the wrong decisions because they didn’t pay off for you, if things had gone differently, if you were holding the world title right now they’d be calling those same decisions genius. Now you see there’s something coming Joe, something big, and sooner or later you’re going to have to pick a side. And when that time comes I just want you to ask yourself one question. Do you want to be on the good side, or do you want to be on the winning side because right now you’re a soldier without an army.” - Trace Demon
Trace's little speech, word for word, has been going through my mind from the moment I left the WFWF training centre.
What if he's right?
I've been doing 'the right thing' for months. I've put everything into doing so.
And in the end it has got me here. SuperBrawl, what is supposed to be the biggest night of my life has come to a close. And I'm the International Champion.
I've been chasing it for years, and you know, it's something of an anti-climax.
I'm no on top of the world. I've yet to do anything that's really going to get me remembered. I've not done anything that's going to justify saying I'm the best.
I've seen Trace work, I saw it at Battleground when he took a team of men and women who despised him, myself included, and yet, he triumphed.
I closed the night standing tall in the ring, but the big winner at Battleground, was Trace Demon.
At Scars & Stripes, the big winner, was Trace Demon.
SuperBrawl was a different kettle of fish entirely. But looking at the bigger picture, a dying man is the World Champion right now and if we're honest, everyone knows, that it's a matter of time until it gravitates back to 'The King Of Demons'. It's inevitable.
Where as me? I'm going to keep falling short. I'm going to keep triumphing in the little battles and losing the wars.
That's who I am. That's what doing the right thing has got me.
I'm not sure that's good enough anymore.
I'm not sure that I want to avoid the politics of the WFWF, out of principle, and get shat on by those who are willing to do the dirty deals.
I guess I need to grow up. To wise up to the world around me.
Because when I look at every great Champion this promotion has had, the people I idolised growing up, none of them have done it by being whiter than white. They've lied, they've cheated, they've done whatever it takes, stepped on whoever they've had to, aligned themselves with anyone who can help push them another rung up the ladder.
I've created my own Trace Demon myth. I've built him up to be a monster, and that's exactly what he wants. I've created, in my own mind, this idea that he stands for everything I am against. I've said time and time again that he is destroying the WFWF.
But the truth is, he wants everything I want, with the key difference being, he's succeeded.
Maybe Trace Demon, isn't a monster, maybe he's my ticket to the top. I have been jealous of this man for so long, and I've become obsessed with beating him.
But at the end of the day, when push comes to shove, he's going to be on the winning team.
---
Smash.
The chair jerked back after the second shot, Solomon Crow a man who I have come to despised, had his head opened up, blood pouring out. I had done it. I had finished the man who has offered me salvation and done more than anyone to rip my life apart.
Solomon is finished.
Still there's no harm in making sure.
Smash, Smash, Smash. The chair crumples round the head of Solomon, again and again. His body convulsing as I throw the chair at his skull with more and more power each time. Trace reaches out an arm and stopped me, just as I was beginning to enjoy myself.
Trace lunges at the bloody man, who falls to the outside and lies motionless, on the floor below. No longer does Solomon Crow hold the same aura, the gravitational pull that had brought me, Mary, Demento, Randye, Matthew and Lukas to him. Now he was a mess of a man. Broken, like all of us.
Winning the National Championship, for the first time was a moment of immense pride for me. My winning début in the WFWF was pretty satisfying. Becoming the International Champion at SuperBrawl, standing tall at Battleground, ending Reckless, defeating Mak Cross, embarrassing Jon O'Deeves and Jack Sabbath, none of it. Nothing, comes close to the satisfaction of seeing Solomon Crow's head burst open, of seeing his body fall to the outside. Nothing can ever feel as good as eliminating the monster. And I've got Trace Demon to thank for giving me the opportunity to get my revenge.
If Solomon has any sense, then he won't be coming back. Not that I think he's in any fit state to do so, whether he wants to or not.
But it doesn't end there.
The satisfaction I got from getting my revenge, only tells half the story.
Because what was equally as satisfying. What was particularly pleasing, was knowing that I am going places.
In the past I would have spent months trying to put an end to Solomon Crow, and I would have probably succeeded. But instead, he was dispatched in about five minutes.
Now that's a possibility and if I can learn how to do that, then I'll be moving up in the world.
I may not get as satisfying a moment as I did at Reborn, but that's because no one is doing as much damage to me a Crow did.
Lila, put a body in front of me, try to snatch the title away from me, and the same thing that happened to Crow, will happen to them.
Not because I hate the people you're putting in front of me, but because it's what I have to do, to get where I want.
---
Roy, I'm not going to insult your intelligence by pretending I care about you. I don't.
I've been where you are, ready for my big debut. I know that kick starting you career with the biggest promotion in the wrestling world is going to be daunting. No matter what you've done in any other promotion, nothing is going to quite match the feeling you get when you walk down the ramp and step foot in a WFWF ring for the first time. Nothing is going to match that feeling.
I also know, that how much of a challenge I face, will be determined by how you handle the big occasion.
It gets to people, of course it does. Some just can't handle going out there for the first time and they falter. Others, like I did, rise to the occasion, and put in an incredible performance.
In that respect, you're something of an unknown quantity. I don't know if I'm going to get you at your best or at your worst, and frankly I don't know if either are capable of challenging me.
But I do know, that at Reborn, when I lifted that chair over Solomon's head and brought it crashing down into his skull, I made a statement. Myself and Trace Demon shook the WFWF, and while what happened may have been overshadowed, in the short term, it will be remembered in the long term as the most significant moment in my career. Perhaps even the most significant moment in WFWF history.
I can't afford to lose to you Roy.
I can't follow up a momentous event like that with a defeat to the new kid on the block. If I do, then, well I'm back to square one. I'm back to being a no-name. A loser. Spat on by the upper echelons of the WFWF. If I lose to you, I'm a little fish in a big pond. I can't let that happen.
In the same way that I couldn't let Solomon Crow walk out of Reborn, after everything he has done to me. I couldn't face another Reckless scenario, a long relentless war, a detour from my path to the top. So I shut him down. I did a deal with the devil, I sold my soul, and it worked a treat. I ended him.
I don't have anything against you. But I've got the chance, to be part of something huge. To push myself to the next level, to the top of the WFWF, to be more than just a soldier without an army. And a loss here, well that brings my plans to a premature halt.
So I'm going to have to shut you down.
It's not going to give me any pleasure, but I have to do whatever it takes to make sure the job is done. I have to ensure that whether I get a nervous 'The Roy' or a 'The Roy' at his very best, I beat him back into the dirt. I send him packing. And I keep marching on.
The armies are mobilising. The troops are marching through the streets. And when that happens, unfortunately, innocent people get hurt.
You've been thrown in at the deep end. You've been dropped into a situation you can't begin to comprehend. And Roy, the end result is, well, you're going to be a casualty of war. It's a shame, sure, but at the end of the day, it's you or me.
I'm taking no prisoners.
OOC: I'm really not that happy with this, not because I hate all of it, but I know it doesn't really address the main issues that came out of the feedback to my SuperBrawl RP. I had planned to do bits and pieces involving other characters, but I had communication issues on holiday (no internet and basically no phone signal) and only got back shortly before the deadline, couldn't spend that time writing those scenes and it was too short notice to ask to use characters after that really. I've not done myself any favours by giving Bishop such a small circle, and attempts to bring in one off characters really just didn't feel right. So I've just tried to address where Bishop is at after Reborn, if anything just because I've not been as involved as I should or would want to have been for the last year and need to really get a feel for where Bishop is at again.