Post by Rated R on Mar 29, 2017 15:05:08 GMT -5
5am. I wake up, roll out of bed, grumpily stomp my way downstairs for the morning coffee that replaced my morning cigarette. I’m in a bad mood most mornings, not gonna lie, it’s the one part of the day where the lack of drugs in my system really make me rethink being sober. But I push forward and head out for a morning run. Two hours through the Los Angeles hills, a carefully planned out route that avoids anyone that I don’t want to run into. Which means the entire population.
7am. Back in the house before anyone wakes up. Shower, dress, the usual morning sh*t. Spend time with my daughter before she’s whisked off by the nanny to the nursery. More coffee and often pointless chat with Emily and Caitlin. The entire time itching to get away to the one guaranteed highlight of every day.
9am. Breakfast. Pancakes at BLD to be precise. Words can’t describe the joy they bring, so I won’t even try.
11am. The gym for my usual workout routine, built for functioning cardio and strength. I realise most people will ignore the workout aspect of their days, but at the end of the day you can be the best wrestler in the world but if your body can’t take the strain then you may as well give up now.
2pm. Daily catchup with Elinor, running through the business side of things. A lot of stuff here I can’t talk about, even more I can’t be bothered with. But that’s part of the real world, having a job you don’t care about to make money you squander on things that don’t matter. Only difference between me and most is that aside from these catchups I don’t have to do a lot and make a whole lot more than others. It’s a perk, that’s for sure.
4pm. Tactics time. Watching tape, figuring out the best way to inflict pain on people. Today’s target? Joe Bishop. Easy prey, experience has built a solid view of the best way to finish him, but still, no slacking aloud. Endless amount of tape on Bishop but I stick to the more recent stuff to workout movement, style and gauge his emotional level in the ring. Work my way back at intervals to scout out any tricks he might pull out. He doesn’t have many.
6pm. Dinner, usually with the family. Spend time with my daughter before her curfew, catch up on the drivel that is Emily and Caitlin’s social lives. I listen as much as I need to in order to fake interest and maintain the conversation, but my thoughts drift to other things. Bishop, Faith, Anna. Wondering how life can be so simple and complicated at the same time. Then wondering whether it matters.
The rest of the night is a blur. Decide again hitting up the nightclub I own, unable to gather the enthusiasm for a one night stand with another naive newly-legal girl. Fighting off the urge to drink, to take anything and everything I can get my hands on. Thoughts swirling through my brain, thinking, always thinking…
What’s the point of it all?
< *** >
Trace Demon Presents
The Point
Chapter One
True Colours
Elinox Nix: It’s his daughter, the one you’ve been f*cking. She’s in hospital. Critical condition. She overdosed Trace.
So there I’m stood, Elinor in my doorway, having dropped the bombshell that a girl I’d been sleeping with, a girl who had aborted my child, a girl who just so happens to be the daughter of the closest thing I had to a friend for many years, was in hospital. She’d OD’d, probably off of drugs she’d bought using the money I’d paid her to keep her mouth shut. Now a decent guy would probably be pretty cut up about that, he’d rush off to the hospital to check on her, make sure his old friend was okay, offer to do whatever he could to help.
So the question is, am I a decent guy?
Trace Demon: So?
Am I f*ck.
Elinox Nix: So? That’s all you’re going to say?
Now don’t get me wrong, Faith’s words still echo through my head, telling me to be a good person before something happens that I can’t take back, before somebody gets seriously hurt and it’s all my fault, but this? This isn’t my fault. I can see the argument. She probably used my money to buy the drugs, and she’s probably only gone off the rails because of the abortion she only had to have because of my incredibly potent sperm, but does that mean I have to take responsibility for her poor life decisions?
Trace Demon: I don’t know what else you expect?
I step aside to let her in. A little bit surprised at her tone to be honest, out of everyone in my social circle she’s the one I thought had me pegged.
Elinox Nix: I mean a bit of compassion would’ve been nice. She’s your friends daughter for one-
Trace Demon: I mean friend is a bit of a strong word. Associate maybe, or underling. Underling’s probably more apt.
Elinox Nix: And two, you’ve been f*cking the girl. I don’t expect you to have some actual feelings for her, but a bit of concern for her wellbeing wouldn’t go amiss.
Trace Demon: I can pretend to be concerned if it’d make you feel better?
Elinox Nix: You’re unbelievable sometimes, you know that?
Trace Demon: It’s been mentioned.
I head for the table and switch my phone back on. All those missed (rejected) calls from Anders make sense now. I’m guessing he thought I’d want to know what’d happened. Again, it’s impressive how poorly the people who’ve spent the most time around me don’t even know me in the slightest.
Trace Demon: Honestly Elinor, I don’t know what the big deal is. I was f*cking her, sure, but f*cking and caring are completely different things. If I went to the club and hooked up with some girl and then a week later I found out she’d been hit by a car d’you really expect me to shed even a single tear over it? I’m a good actor, but I’m not pretending to care about people when I don’t no matter how it makes me look.
And I don’t care about her, no matter what went down between us. She was a good f*ck but that’s it. Did I fleetingly have some delusional moment of regret over the abortion? Maybe, but we’re all prone to moments of madness here and there, especially the ones who’re already mad.
Elinor leans against the back of the couch, looking at me, eyeing me up and not in the way I like.
Trace Demon: You don’t care about the girl, do you? I mean you’ve never even met her. So what’s got you so worked up?
Elinox Nix: You’re right, I couldn’t care less about Anders or his daughter. Honestly I don’t care that much about you, but you’re a good boss, and the money… well, it’d be a shame to have to step back down after this kind of work, which means making sure you’re not doing anything to f*ck your own life over.
Trace Demon: What’re you getting at?
Elinox Nix: Anders said they found a ton of drugs on his daughter, and the kind of stuff that’s not cheap. Now I don’t know about you but a nineteen year old girl with the kind of money to buy that is either whoring herself out to some rich creep or gotten herself into some shady sh*t. Both of which have you written all over it.
I mean I’d take offence if it wasn’t so on the nose.
Elinox Nix: Trace, are you taking again? Were those drugs something to do with you?
Trace Demon: No! F*ck no! I’ve got a kid now, a family, it might freak you out but I actually care about them. Those drugs have nothing to do with me.
Elinox Nix: Then where’d she get the money for them?
Trace Demon: Ah, well that… that might have had something to do with me.
I fill her in, on everything. There was a time when I didn’t trust anybody, more harm than it was worth, but you figure something out as you go, that there are some people who are worth trusting, usually the ones who you’re paying and who aren’t going to get a better deal elsewhere. Elinor’s here for the money, but she also prides herself on being discreet. She knows most of my dirty little secrets, more than Alexa ever knew, and she’s not turned on me yet. What’s one little abortion and blackmail story gonna change really?
Elinox Nix: We need to keep this quiet. I know you don’t care what people think about you but they do, and this is the kind of thing that could lose you money. The media would have a field day with it and it’s not like abortion and women’s rights are exactly a quiet topic right now.
Trace Demon: See this is why I like you Elinor, you’re always thinking logically. I’m sure America would be in a better place if everyone did the same.
Elinox Nix: Well it’s not like you make it easy.
Almost enough to make a guy move back to Canada.
Elinox Nix: They don’t know if she’s going to wake up, but if she does we need to keep her from talking, to everyone. Anders finds out and there’ll be no keeping him quiet. The guy’s always been a liability but that’ll be too much for him, he’ll blow and take you down with him.
Trace Demon: I’ll call him, play the good friend as best I can, offer to let Doc Brown look after her, Anders’ll go for that, he’ll want the best care and the Doc’s trustworthy, he’ll keep us in the loop, do right by me, as long as the money is right. And it always is. There’s nothing to worry about.
Elinox Nix: There never is, is there Trace? No matter what you come out of everything with barely a scratch on you.
Trace Demon: Call it my superpower.
Elinox Nix: Yeah, the worrying thing is sooner or later every superhero meets his kryptonite, and I’ve got a feeling that when you do, it won’t end well for any of us.
< *** >
One by one they've come, one by one they've fallen. Austin Hayes, Hugh Jass, Anna Ahriman. Each of them have attempted to dethrone the King of Demons, each of them have failed. Now you can of course argue that none of them were ever an actual threat to me and unfortunately you'd be right. I'd love to stand here and tell you how I've beaten the best of the best to get to this point in the tournament, that I've been pushed to my limits and proved myself worthy of being champion.
Sadly, I'd be lying.
None of them were ever a threat and everyone knew that. What they were however was the warmup. See this group has always been about two men. Myself and Joe Bishop. I mean was there ever any doubt that this match was going to decide who moved on to the finals to face David Brennan? Sorry Ante, but Schneider’s always been delusional and he ain't about to convince me otherwise by shouting his love for you from the rooftops. No, this tournament was always going to come down to David Brennan and either yours truly or Joey boy. That's just the way it works. Now of course the question becomes which of us will step up to stop Brennan becoming a double champion, and which of us will fall at the final hurdle? I know who my money's on.
Not that it matters which of us actually walk out with our arms raised. After all, I win either way. Not getting it just yet? Give it time, we'll get there.
For now let's consider the crucial question. What is the point? For Joe the answers simple, it's the same thing that's driven him ever since he came back to the WFWF. The point for Joe Bishop is proving that he's worth a damn. Now now, I hear your protests. You thought the point was his little revolution, or on a more primal level was simply finally killing the Demon that's haunted him for years. But no, at his very core the only thing that matters to Joe Bishop is proving that he actually matters. You see Joe has always been tarnished with that derogatory term ‘has potential’. It's eaten away at him every time it's been uttered. Because the fact is nobody ever wants to have potential, they want to realise it. The longer somebody has potential the more it means they've failed to actually do anything about it.
Joe Bishop has potential.
He's had it for years, and he still has it. That's the real reason he's made this so personal, that's the real reason he has to win. Because the more people say he has potential the more it means he's a failure. For Joe Bishop the point of this tournament is finally escaping the shadow of Trace Demon and finally escaping that dreaded P word. For Joe Bishop the point of this tournament is finally becoming his own man, stepping out into the spotlight where everyone has always said he belongs. His whole revolution is a cover, because he can't just admit that he's only doing this for himself because if he did… well that makes him no better than me, does it? No, Joe Bishop has to beat me and finally win the big one because if he doesn't, if he falls here or against Brennan, then he'll always simply be the guy who had potential, and he knows as well as I do that that'd eat him alive.
But we still haven't got to the actual crux of it all yet, have we? We haven't yet got to the real reason why I've taken such an interest in little Joe? So again, I ask you the question…
What's the point of it all?
< *** >
Chapter Two
Protege
All eyes turn to me when I walk into the room. Not some sh*t music lyric, just a fact. It might have something to do with the fact that I don’t really show my face around House of Hell anymore, not since me and Wayne had that little falling out over the whole trying to utterly destroy his daughter thing. Still, business is business and the wrestling school rolls on, even if we’ve both palmed off our responsibilities to others nowadays. That does mean that when I do show up every single person looks my way, wanting to get a look at the kind of guy they one day hope to be getting beaten up by in the middle of the ring.
I take my place beside Johnny Lazarus, which yes might just be the most ridiculous name in the world, and that’s coming from me. The guy’s a top class wrestler, no doubt, but he’s got this ludicrous thing about refusing to tell me if it’s his real name or just something he came up with for the ring. Think he gets off on the frustration it causes. But pain in the ass or not the guy knows how to run a wrestling school, which is what I hired him for, so I cut him slack.
Trace Demon: How’s he doing?
Me and Lazarus go back a long way, before my WFWF days to be precise, back when I was a struggling rookie trying to make it work in Canada. He worked both my tours of Japan as well, so we had some time to get to know each other. Or rather we partied together, which is pretty much the same thing. It was the partying that did him in. Not the drugs or girls or any of that exactly, more the whole trying to hit on girls with boyfriends who then take a baseball bat to your knee kind of thing. Standard stuff, but left the guy with no chance of ever making it big. He went back to Canada and worked as a trainer over there and when me and McGurk set this place up I took pity on the guy and brought him in, stupid name and all.
Johnny Lazarus: Not bad, he’s getting the basics down but he’s not thinking things through properly, leaving himself open. Might be he just doesn’t have the brains for it eh.
‘He’ is Tyler Draven, the other recent pain in my ass. Kid wanted me to train him but, having better things to do, I calmly and politely said no… with a baseball bat. Turns out he was just trying to do it to help his sister, who’s got some spinal problems, so I took pity on him and sent him here. What can I say, I’ve got a soft spot for underdogs.
I choose to stay silent and just watch. Johnny’s got him working with one of the other students, pretty bland looking guy if I’m honest, must come from the McGurk side of things. A lot of these kids think all you have to have is a lot of heart to make it in the business, they come here to have that kicked out of them and some common sense instilled. It’s about skill, not heart. Quicker they learn that the quicker they can stop wasting their parents money.
Trace Demon: Nah, he’s got the brains, see that?
Tyler sidesteps the kid at the perfect moment, dropping him with a hip-toss at an angle that most wouldn’t have even thought to go for. Then a second later he leaves himself wide open to a takedown and finds himself trapped in a headlock on the mat.
Trace Demon: It’s not brains that’s the problem, it’s focus.
I slap my head on the edge of the ring canvas, the signal to break it up. I climb up on the apron, signalling for Draven to come over.
Trace Demon: You’re heads not in it, you’ll never be worth a damn if you’re thinking of anything but what’s going on in the ring.
Tyler Draven: What? No I’m-
The kid’s smart enough to know when he’s been caught out, and moreso that I’m no easy man to fool. His head drops out of guilt. I resist the urge to smack him upside it.
Tyler Draven: I’m grateful for the opportunity, I really am, and I don’t want to let you down-
He says it as if I give a damn what he does.
Tyler Draven: It’s just hard to come here while my sister is stuck in the apartment on her own. I know she can take care of herself at home, but I’m splitting so much time between here and work that-
Trace Demon: Are you quitting?
Tyler Draven: What? No! This is everything I’ve ever wanted! This is all I’m good at!
Trace Demon: Then stop giving me bullsh*t about your sister. I don’t care. Realise and remember that kid, I simply don’t give a damn about your problems. I set you up here, you flake out and you won’t be getting a second chance, understand?
He nods, but that’s not good enough.
Trace Demon: Do you understand what I’m saying to you?!
I shout it, louder than there’s any need for. Again everyone stares, but what’s it matter? The message needs to be sent loud and clear, no room for debate or argument.
Tyler Draven: Yes, I understand.
Trace Demon: Good, now get back to it, and if I see you slacking again then I’ll kick you out myself.
I drop down off of the apron, taking the spot next to Johnny L again. We both watch for a few minutes in silence. Tyler’s quicker, more alert. Good, let’s hope it stays that way. As much of a soft spot I’ve got for underdogs that doesn’t mean I won’t kick them out if they start sh*tting on the carpet.
Johnny Lazarus: Bit harsh on the kid, aren’t you? Almost like you’ve got some interest in how he does here eh?
Trace Demon: Strictly professional. I’m preparing.
Johnny Lazarus: Preparing? For what?
I look at him and smirk, then turn my back and head for the door. I’ve had my fill of pointless conversations today, though I doubt they’ve had enough of me. But still, I never can turn down a few parting words. Not in my nature, going out quietly.
Trace Demon: The end Johnny, I’m preparing for the end.
Because sooner or later, it comes for us all.
< *** >
When I first met Joe Bishop he was nothing but a little boy with big dreams. He was a boy with a lot of upside but no idea how to actually capitalise on it. In short he had potential. There's that word again, that dreaded little P word that drives the kid mad, but it's the truth. He had potential, but no idea what to do with it. Now sure, he'd had a little success but let's me be honest here, Joe Bishop was not what you'd call a name. If you asked someone to name the first person they thought of when you say the letters WFWF and nobody was going to answer Joe Bishop. No, Joe was just another cog in the machine, a kid who had all the pieces but nobody to put them together. In short, he had potential.
Then I came along, and I saw just what Joe Bishop could become. I took little Joe under my wing and I taught him how to really win, how to really manoeuvre around this twisted minefield that is the WFWF. See there's a lot more to bring a top wrestler than being able to wrestle and despite what Bishop likes to preach nowadays he knows that's true. You need to be a name, you need to be able to be marketed, you need a hook. I was the first hook that Joe Bishop ever had. Being associated with the name Trace Demon made Joe a somebody. Suddenly people cared about him, suddenly he had an audience who actually have a sh*t what he did. Say what you want about Joe Bishop’s ability in the ring, but it was Trace Demon that made him relevant outside of it, where it really matters.
Now a lot of people, Joe included, will try to tell you that I only did that because I had a use for him, because I needed Joe Bishop in my Final Revolution. But I never needed Joe, I could have taken my pick of nobodies with potential. Cam Nitta, Mak Cross, Ace Bennett, every single one of them would have served the exact same function that Joe Bishop did. But I chose Bishop and I made him a somebody. Don't believe me? Tell me then, do you see any of the others around? Nah, me neither, their careers are as dead and pathetic as Shawn Malakai. No, I chose Joe Bishop because I saw something in him, and I helped him become more than he could have ever been without me. Did I get something out of it? Sure, I'm not stupid, but Joe got just as much out of it as I did. More even, since he stole my whole revolution act as well.
I took Joe Bishop and I taught him how to be a somebody, and he knows it, but he's seen the narrative of Trace Demon being a villain and he's run with it. I should be proud really, he's only using what I taught him. And that's the key term. What I taught him. See Joe Bishop might like talking about me but it's only because he knows how much he owes me. He knows I'm the reason he's here, he knows I'm the reason he could walk straight back into a job after running with his tail between his legs. I'm gonna be honest Joe, I was pretty disappointed when you did that, when you ran off, because that's not something I taught you. I taught you how to fight, how to win, not how to run. You disappointed me, so now’s your chance to finally redeem yourself. Now’s your chance to finally do right by the man who got you where you are today, the man you owe everything to.
You do that by beating me Joe. Prove to everyone that you're more than just your potential and put me down just like you claim you're going to. But wait Trace, what're you saying? Why're you urging someone to beat you? Have you lost your mind? Maybe, but this ain't got anything to do with it. See the reason why I'm telling Joe Bishop to beat me, the reason why I win either way, well that…
That's the point of it all. Let me explain.
< *** >
Chapter Three
Beneath The Mask
Faith Demon: You ever think about giving up?
The words startle me, which is not an easy thing to do.
Trace Demon: Woah, come on now! It’s only your first session for f*cks sake!
I don’t like hospitals. Actually, I kind of despise them. They’re buildings for the ill and weak, two types of people I’d usually give a wide berth to. But Faith, my younger sister, has cancer, so here I sit, in a place I can’t stand, so that she’s not alone during her first round of chemo. And no, I’m not referring to that masked jackass.
Faith Demon: Not me you idiot, you, the whole wrestling thing.
Not really a ‘thing’ but she’s got cancer, I’ll let it go.
Trace Demon: I’m thirty Faith, not exactly young enough to be thinking about retirement.
Faith Demon: Yeah you’re thirty, which means you’ve been hurting yourself for fourteen years Trace. You’ve got a family, what’re they going to do when you can’t walk, or worse? How are you going to take care of them then?
Trace Demon: Why do I have to take care of them? One day I’m going to be old and broken down and they’ll have to take care of me. Then we’ll see who’s complaining about the boatloads of money I’ve got stored away.
Not even joking. I don’t trust banks. They sink more than boats.
Trace Demon: Anyway I don’t see you having this conversation with Axel, it’s not like he’s exactly safe with his ring style.
Axel, the typical youngest child, managed to get himself stuck in Tokyo after a show two nights back. Some problem at the airport. Here’s hoping he sorts it out, he’s nowhere near charismatic enough to pull a Tom Hanks.
Faith Demon: He’s younger, and never had your demons.
Trace Demon: Was that meant to be a pun? Because if it was it was sh*t.
Faith Demon: Trace-
Trace Demon: I get it Faith. You’re ill and it’s got you panicking about how everyone is going to cope without you, but guess what? I am and always have been the reason the rest of this family copes, so I’ll be just fine. Plus you’re not even terminal! Doc Brown says you’ve got an eighty percent chance of beating this. Setting the world to rights is reserved for people fifty percent and below.
Faith Demon: I know you feel you’ve got to be strong for everyone but-
Trace Demon: My god! If every session is going to be like this then warn me so I can gouge my eardrums first.
Faith Demon: Well it’s not like you ever listen to anyone anyway.
We both go quiet, that dull hum of the too-bright lighting echoing through the room. I don’t say anything to her but her words run through my brain. It’s not the first time I’ve thought about it. Retiring. Lately the idea’s run through my mind more and more. I started wrestling because I had a need to hurt people and the ability to do so, but no outlet. Now, as I get older, that aggression is long gone. The joy of violence is still there, but it’s not what it used to be and to be honest, neither am I.
There’s just one thing that keeps me gripping on, one question I didn’t have an answer for, one fear that has stopped me from walking away every time. But as time has gone that fear has dimmed, the answer’s become clearer and my grip has lessened. Trace Demon’s days in the WFWF are numbered, and I know it better than anyone.
The awfully indulgent self-reflection is interrupted by Faith’s attempts to rise from her seat.
Trace Demon: Woah, where do you think you’re going?
Faith Demon: Short answer? I need to pee.
Trace Demon: Then I’ll get a nurse in here. I need to get a coffee anyway.
I make a swift exit and make sure that the most competent nurse is heading my sisters way before I head for the nearest coffee machine. As I walk a thought pops into my head, something crazy, but something I can’t ignore. Figuring I’ve got time I head for the lift, heading down to the third floor, one of the hospitals general ward. I know exactly where I’m headed, one of the benefits of having Doc Brown on my payroll, though I can’t tell you exactly why I asked for the info in the first place. I reach the room and stand outside of it, looking through the large glass window. I probably stand staring for far too long because a nurse notices me. Though let’s be honest, I’m difficult to miss.
Nurse: Excuse me sir, but do you know her?
I glance at her, then back at the room. Anna lies in the bed, still having not come out of the coma the drugs put her in. Anders sits slumped in the chair next to the bed, asleep and exhausted. Don’t think he’s left the bedside since she was brought in two weeks back.
Trace Demon: No. Not even a little.
I know she says something else, probably trying to work out who I am, that I’ve not escaped from the loony bin or something, but I’m gone, heading back the way I came, the entire time that singular question running through my mind. The question I ask myself every time I think about finally calling it a day. The question… when I’m gone…
What will I have left behind?
< *** >
Go on Joey boy, why don’t you tell me? What’s the point of it all? Why do you do it? Why do you step inside that ring night after night? Why did you come back to the WFWF when you yourself have admitted that it was not the kind of place that you wanted to be. That it was a shell of it’s former self, that it disgusted you to see the state that it was in. Why did you come back? Why did you choose to return? What was the point of it all?
What’s the point of any of it? For you? For me? For every single person in this business? Why do any of us do this to ourselves night in, night out? I mean we all have our own answers don’t we, when that question comes up. We’ve all got the answer that we give to the people in front of us. I want to prove to the world how good I am. I want to show everybody that they were wrong about me. This is all I know, all I’m good at. I want to change this business. I want to be the best. We all give different answers but they all amount to the exact same thing. At the end of the day there’s only one reason that any of us do what we do, only one reason we hurt ourselves and we bleed and we inflict pain on others.
It’s the simplest reason in the world Joe.
It’s because we want to be remembered. That’s it, that’s all it is. The entire reason that we wrestle, that we do this when we could be doing anything else is because we want people to remember us. Deny it all you want, but why else would you stake your name on a revolution when you could be out there wrestling in any number of promotions more attuned to your sensitive disposition? No, you chose to come back to the WFWF in the hopes of changing it, because you know that if you’re the man who ‘changes’ the WFWF then that’s how you’ll always be remembered. People will talk about how they owe all this great wrestling to Joe Bishop. Every Superbrawl video package will start with your image, about how this is ‘your era’. Joe Bishop will be the most important person in WFWF history, more important than even grand slam winners like me.
It’s a bit selfish if you ask me Joe, making this company all about you, but we’re wrestlers, we’re notoriously selfish people, and you learned from the best. And that is what it’s all about, isn’t it Joe? You want this revolution to be your legacy, and who am I to judge? Because that’s what we all want. We all want a legacy, a reason to be remembered, some way for people to speak about us long after we’re long gone. We all want our legacy.
That’s the point.
That’s why we do this. That’s the reason. It’s all about legacy, history, about always being a somebody. This revolution is yours, and it’s a mighty fine legacy to build… but only if you actually pull it off. That’s the downside to this little crusade of yours Joe, it only works if you can upset all the odds and actually change things. Better men that you, mainly me, have tried and failed to do just that so gonna be honest with you, I don’t fancy your chances. But see, whatever way it falls that’s the sword you’ve chosen to fall on, that’s what you want to be remembered for, and I respect that. But see Joe, that’s your legacy…
And you’re mine.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Don’t know whether it’s age, whether it’s what’s going down outside the WFWF, not sure it matters really. I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to leave behind when I’m gone. What will Trace Demon be remembered for? And I mean sure, I’ve done basically everything there is to do in the WFWF, and my name will forever be etched in the record books as one of the greatest champions the WFWF has ever seen, not to mention the man who used to own the place, but is that enough? Is that really the kind of thing that’s going to ensure that people are talking about me when I’m no longer around? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s better to be sure, isn’t it?
See, the best way of being remembered around these parts is to latch yourself on to the next big thing, to ensure that whenever they are in that ring people are still talking about you. That’s where you come in Bishop. That’s where everything I’ve been doing for the past month comes into play. Riling you up, getting into your head, fanning that flaming hot hatred you have for me. It’s so that when I beat you, and I will beat you Joe, it won’t deflate you, it won’t send you out of here, it’ll motivate you to be better. It’ll motivate you to become the best because you’ll want to get back at me, you’ll want to be the man who was better than Trace Demon. And in doing so you’ll make sure I’m remembered around here for the rest of your career.
Because face it Joe, you’re here because of me. I took you under my wing when you were at a crossroads, I turned you into the man you are today, I trained you, made you better, made you see things properly. Made you willing to do whatever it takes to win. Even your little revolution was planted by me, all of those thoughts and desires about changing things, I’m the one who started that Joe, I’m the one who put that in your mind, I’m the reason that you can’t shake it.
Everything you are is because of me Joe, and that’s going to live with you the rest of your career. You’ll always be the man that Trace Demon trained, you’ll always be remembered as being the man that the King of Demons created. So at the end of the day this match, this whole tournament, is all about me. Because if I beat you then I win. And if you somehow manage to beat me… then I win, because you’ll have only done it because of me. You want to kill the myth of Trace Demon Joe? How are you going to do that, when doing so will only make it stronger?
That’s the point, that’s the reason for it all. Trace Demon will never die, Trace Demon will never be gone, because everything is and always will be about Trace Demon. After all Joe, I’m the King of Demons.
And the legacy of a king lives forever.
7am. Back in the house before anyone wakes up. Shower, dress, the usual morning sh*t. Spend time with my daughter before she’s whisked off by the nanny to the nursery. More coffee and often pointless chat with Emily and Caitlin. The entire time itching to get away to the one guaranteed highlight of every day.
9am. Breakfast. Pancakes at BLD to be precise. Words can’t describe the joy they bring, so I won’t even try.
11am. The gym for my usual workout routine, built for functioning cardio and strength. I realise most people will ignore the workout aspect of their days, but at the end of the day you can be the best wrestler in the world but if your body can’t take the strain then you may as well give up now.
2pm. Daily catchup with Elinor, running through the business side of things. A lot of stuff here I can’t talk about, even more I can’t be bothered with. But that’s part of the real world, having a job you don’t care about to make money you squander on things that don’t matter. Only difference between me and most is that aside from these catchups I don’t have to do a lot and make a whole lot more than others. It’s a perk, that’s for sure.
4pm. Tactics time. Watching tape, figuring out the best way to inflict pain on people. Today’s target? Joe Bishop. Easy prey, experience has built a solid view of the best way to finish him, but still, no slacking aloud. Endless amount of tape on Bishop but I stick to the more recent stuff to workout movement, style and gauge his emotional level in the ring. Work my way back at intervals to scout out any tricks he might pull out. He doesn’t have many.
6pm. Dinner, usually with the family. Spend time with my daughter before her curfew, catch up on the drivel that is Emily and Caitlin’s social lives. I listen as much as I need to in order to fake interest and maintain the conversation, but my thoughts drift to other things. Bishop, Faith, Anna. Wondering how life can be so simple and complicated at the same time. Then wondering whether it matters.
The rest of the night is a blur. Decide again hitting up the nightclub I own, unable to gather the enthusiasm for a one night stand with another naive newly-legal girl. Fighting off the urge to drink, to take anything and everything I can get my hands on. Thoughts swirling through my brain, thinking, always thinking…
What’s the point of it all?
< *** >
Trace Demon Presents
The Point
Chapter One
True Colours
Elinox Nix: It’s his daughter, the one you’ve been f*cking. She’s in hospital. Critical condition. She overdosed Trace.
So there I’m stood, Elinor in my doorway, having dropped the bombshell that a girl I’d been sleeping with, a girl who had aborted my child, a girl who just so happens to be the daughter of the closest thing I had to a friend for many years, was in hospital. She’d OD’d, probably off of drugs she’d bought using the money I’d paid her to keep her mouth shut. Now a decent guy would probably be pretty cut up about that, he’d rush off to the hospital to check on her, make sure his old friend was okay, offer to do whatever he could to help.
So the question is, am I a decent guy?
Trace Demon: So?
Am I f*ck.
Elinox Nix: So? That’s all you’re going to say?
Now don’t get me wrong, Faith’s words still echo through my head, telling me to be a good person before something happens that I can’t take back, before somebody gets seriously hurt and it’s all my fault, but this? This isn’t my fault. I can see the argument. She probably used my money to buy the drugs, and she’s probably only gone off the rails because of the abortion she only had to have because of my incredibly potent sperm, but does that mean I have to take responsibility for her poor life decisions?
Trace Demon: I don’t know what else you expect?
I step aside to let her in. A little bit surprised at her tone to be honest, out of everyone in my social circle she’s the one I thought had me pegged.
Elinox Nix: I mean a bit of compassion would’ve been nice. She’s your friends daughter for one-
Trace Demon: I mean friend is a bit of a strong word. Associate maybe, or underling. Underling’s probably more apt.
Elinox Nix: And two, you’ve been f*cking the girl. I don’t expect you to have some actual feelings for her, but a bit of concern for her wellbeing wouldn’t go amiss.
Trace Demon: I can pretend to be concerned if it’d make you feel better?
Elinox Nix: You’re unbelievable sometimes, you know that?
Trace Demon: It’s been mentioned.
I head for the table and switch my phone back on. All those missed (rejected) calls from Anders make sense now. I’m guessing he thought I’d want to know what’d happened. Again, it’s impressive how poorly the people who’ve spent the most time around me don’t even know me in the slightest.
Trace Demon: Honestly Elinor, I don’t know what the big deal is. I was f*cking her, sure, but f*cking and caring are completely different things. If I went to the club and hooked up with some girl and then a week later I found out she’d been hit by a car d’you really expect me to shed even a single tear over it? I’m a good actor, but I’m not pretending to care about people when I don’t no matter how it makes me look.
And I don’t care about her, no matter what went down between us. She was a good f*ck but that’s it. Did I fleetingly have some delusional moment of regret over the abortion? Maybe, but we’re all prone to moments of madness here and there, especially the ones who’re already mad.
Elinor leans against the back of the couch, looking at me, eyeing me up and not in the way I like.
Trace Demon: You don’t care about the girl, do you? I mean you’ve never even met her. So what’s got you so worked up?
Elinox Nix: You’re right, I couldn’t care less about Anders or his daughter. Honestly I don’t care that much about you, but you’re a good boss, and the money… well, it’d be a shame to have to step back down after this kind of work, which means making sure you’re not doing anything to f*ck your own life over.
Trace Demon: What’re you getting at?
Elinox Nix: Anders said they found a ton of drugs on his daughter, and the kind of stuff that’s not cheap. Now I don’t know about you but a nineteen year old girl with the kind of money to buy that is either whoring herself out to some rich creep or gotten herself into some shady sh*t. Both of which have you written all over it.
I mean I’d take offence if it wasn’t so on the nose.
Elinox Nix: Trace, are you taking again? Were those drugs something to do with you?
Trace Demon: No! F*ck no! I’ve got a kid now, a family, it might freak you out but I actually care about them. Those drugs have nothing to do with me.
Elinox Nix: Then where’d she get the money for them?
Trace Demon: Ah, well that… that might have had something to do with me.
I fill her in, on everything. There was a time when I didn’t trust anybody, more harm than it was worth, but you figure something out as you go, that there are some people who are worth trusting, usually the ones who you’re paying and who aren’t going to get a better deal elsewhere. Elinor’s here for the money, but she also prides herself on being discreet. She knows most of my dirty little secrets, more than Alexa ever knew, and she’s not turned on me yet. What’s one little abortion and blackmail story gonna change really?
Elinox Nix: We need to keep this quiet. I know you don’t care what people think about you but they do, and this is the kind of thing that could lose you money. The media would have a field day with it and it’s not like abortion and women’s rights are exactly a quiet topic right now.
Trace Demon: See this is why I like you Elinor, you’re always thinking logically. I’m sure America would be in a better place if everyone did the same.
Elinox Nix: Well it’s not like you make it easy.
Almost enough to make a guy move back to Canada.
Elinox Nix: They don’t know if she’s going to wake up, but if she does we need to keep her from talking, to everyone. Anders finds out and there’ll be no keeping him quiet. The guy’s always been a liability but that’ll be too much for him, he’ll blow and take you down with him.
Trace Demon: I’ll call him, play the good friend as best I can, offer to let Doc Brown look after her, Anders’ll go for that, he’ll want the best care and the Doc’s trustworthy, he’ll keep us in the loop, do right by me, as long as the money is right. And it always is. There’s nothing to worry about.
Elinox Nix: There never is, is there Trace? No matter what you come out of everything with barely a scratch on you.
Trace Demon: Call it my superpower.
Elinox Nix: Yeah, the worrying thing is sooner or later every superhero meets his kryptonite, and I’ve got a feeling that when you do, it won’t end well for any of us.
< *** >
One by one they've come, one by one they've fallen. Austin Hayes, Hugh Jass, Anna Ahriman. Each of them have attempted to dethrone the King of Demons, each of them have failed. Now you can of course argue that none of them were ever an actual threat to me and unfortunately you'd be right. I'd love to stand here and tell you how I've beaten the best of the best to get to this point in the tournament, that I've been pushed to my limits and proved myself worthy of being champion.
Sadly, I'd be lying.
None of them were ever a threat and everyone knew that. What they were however was the warmup. See this group has always been about two men. Myself and Joe Bishop. I mean was there ever any doubt that this match was going to decide who moved on to the finals to face David Brennan? Sorry Ante, but Schneider’s always been delusional and he ain't about to convince me otherwise by shouting his love for you from the rooftops. No, this tournament was always going to come down to David Brennan and either yours truly or Joey boy. That's just the way it works. Now of course the question becomes which of us will step up to stop Brennan becoming a double champion, and which of us will fall at the final hurdle? I know who my money's on.
Not that it matters which of us actually walk out with our arms raised. After all, I win either way. Not getting it just yet? Give it time, we'll get there.
For now let's consider the crucial question. What is the point? For Joe the answers simple, it's the same thing that's driven him ever since he came back to the WFWF. The point for Joe Bishop is proving that he's worth a damn. Now now, I hear your protests. You thought the point was his little revolution, or on a more primal level was simply finally killing the Demon that's haunted him for years. But no, at his very core the only thing that matters to Joe Bishop is proving that he actually matters. You see Joe has always been tarnished with that derogatory term ‘has potential’. It's eaten away at him every time it's been uttered. Because the fact is nobody ever wants to have potential, they want to realise it. The longer somebody has potential the more it means they've failed to actually do anything about it.
Joe Bishop has potential.
He's had it for years, and he still has it. That's the real reason he's made this so personal, that's the real reason he has to win. Because the more people say he has potential the more it means he's a failure. For Joe Bishop the point of this tournament is finally escaping the shadow of Trace Demon and finally escaping that dreaded P word. For Joe Bishop the point of this tournament is finally becoming his own man, stepping out into the spotlight where everyone has always said he belongs. His whole revolution is a cover, because he can't just admit that he's only doing this for himself because if he did… well that makes him no better than me, does it? No, Joe Bishop has to beat me and finally win the big one because if he doesn't, if he falls here or against Brennan, then he'll always simply be the guy who had potential, and he knows as well as I do that that'd eat him alive.
But we still haven't got to the actual crux of it all yet, have we? We haven't yet got to the real reason why I've taken such an interest in little Joe? So again, I ask you the question…
What's the point of it all?
< *** >
Chapter Two
Protege
All eyes turn to me when I walk into the room. Not some sh*t music lyric, just a fact. It might have something to do with the fact that I don’t really show my face around House of Hell anymore, not since me and Wayne had that little falling out over the whole trying to utterly destroy his daughter thing. Still, business is business and the wrestling school rolls on, even if we’ve both palmed off our responsibilities to others nowadays. That does mean that when I do show up every single person looks my way, wanting to get a look at the kind of guy they one day hope to be getting beaten up by in the middle of the ring.
I take my place beside Johnny Lazarus, which yes might just be the most ridiculous name in the world, and that’s coming from me. The guy’s a top class wrestler, no doubt, but he’s got this ludicrous thing about refusing to tell me if it’s his real name or just something he came up with for the ring. Think he gets off on the frustration it causes. But pain in the ass or not the guy knows how to run a wrestling school, which is what I hired him for, so I cut him slack.
Trace Demon: How’s he doing?
Me and Lazarus go back a long way, before my WFWF days to be precise, back when I was a struggling rookie trying to make it work in Canada. He worked both my tours of Japan as well, so we had some time to get to know each other. Or rather we partied together, which is pretty much the same thing. It was the partying that did him in. Not the drugs or girls or any of that exactly, more the whole trying to hit on girls with boyfriends who then take a baseball bat to your knee kind of thing. Standard stuff, but left the guy with no chance of ever making it big. He went back to Canada and worked as a trainer over there and when me and McGurk set this place up I took pity on the guy and brought him in, stupid name and all.
Johnny Lazarus: Not bad, he’s getting the basics down but he’s not thinking things through properly, leaving himself open. Might be he just doesn’t have the brains for it eh.
‘He’ is Tyler Draven, the other recent pain in my ass. Kid wanted me to train him but, having better things to do, I calmly and politely said no… with a baseball bat. Turns out he was just trying to do it to help his sister, who’s got some spinal problems, so I took pity on him and sent him here. What can I say, I’ve got a soft spot for underdogs.
I choose to stay silent and just watch. Johnny’s got him working with one of the other students, pretty bland looking guy if I’m honest, must come from the McGurk side of things. A lot of these kids think all you have to have is a lot of heart to make it in the business, they come here to have that kicked out of them and some common sense instilled. It’s about skill, not heart. Quicker they learn that the quicker they can stop wasting their parents money.
Trace Demon: Nah, he’s got the brains, see that?
Tyler sidesteps the kid at the perfect moment, dropping him with a hip-toss at an angle that most wouldn’t have even thought to go for. Then a second later he leaves himself wide open to a takedown and finds himself trapped in a headlock on the mat.
Trace Demon: It’s not brains that’s the problem, it’s focus.
I slap my head on the edge of the ring canvas, the signal to break it up. I climb up on the apron, signalling for Draven to come over.
Trace Demon: You’re heads not in it, you’ll never be worth a damn if you’re thinking of anything but what’s going on in the ring.
Tyler Draven: What? No I’m-
The kid’s smart enough to know when he’s been caught out, and moreso that I’m no easy man to fool. His head drops out of guilt. I resist the urge to smack him upside it.
Tyler Draven: I’m grateful for the opportunity, I really am, and I don’t want to let you down-
He says it as if I give a damn what he does.
Tyler Draven: It’s just hard to come here while my sister is stuck in the apartment on her own. I know she can take care of herself at home, but I’m splitting so much time between here and work that-
Trace Demon: Are you quitting?
Tyler Draven: What? No! This is everything I’ve ever wanted! This is all I’m good at!
Trace Demon: Then stop giving me bullsh*t about your sister. I don’t care. Realise and remember that kid, I simply don’t give a damn about your problems. I set you up here, you flake out and you won’t be getting a second chance, understand?
He nods, but that’s not good enough.
Trace Demon: Do you understand what I’m saying to you?!
I shout it, louder than there’s any need for. Again everyone stares, but what’s it matter? The message needs to be sent loud and clear, no room for debate or argument.
Tyler Draven: Yes, I understand.
Trace Demon: Good, now get back to it, and if I see you slacking again then I’ll kick you out myself.
I drop down off of the apron, taking the spot next to Johnny L again. We both watch for a few minutes in silence. Tyler’s quicker, more alert. Good, let’s hope it stays that way. As much of a soft spot I’ve got for underdogs that doesn’t mean I won’t kick them out if they start sh*tting on the carpet.
Johnny Lazarus: Bit harsh on the kid, aren’t you? Almost like you’ve got some interest in how he does here eh?
Trace Demon: Strictly professional. I’m preparing.
Johnny Lazarus: Preparing? For what?
I look at him and smirk, then turn my back and head for the door. I’ve had my fill of pointless conversations today, though I doubt they’ve had enough of me. But still, I never can turn down a few parting words. Not in my nature, going out quietly.
Trace Demon: The end Johnny, I’m preparing for the end.
Because sooner or later, it comes for us all.
< *** >
When I first met Joe Bishop he was nothing but a little boy with big dreams. He was a boy with a lot of upside but no idea how to actually capitalise on it. In short he had potential. There's that word again, that dreaded little P word that drives the kid mad, but it's the truth. He had potential, but no idea what to do with it. Now sure, he'd had a little success but let's me be honest here, Joe Bishop was not what you'd call a name. If you asked someone to name the first person they thought of when you say the letters WFWF and nobody was going to answer Joe Bishop. No, Joe was just another cog in the machine, a kid who had all the pieces but nobody to put them together. In short, he had potential.
Then I came along, and I saw just what Joe Bishop could become. I took little Joe under my wing and I taught him how to really win, how to really manoeuvre around this twisted minefield that is the WFWF. See there's a lot more to bring a top wrestler than being able to wrestle and despite what Bishop likes to preach nowadays he knows that's true. You need to be a name, you need to be able to be marketed, you need a hook. I was the first hook that Joe Bishop ever had. Being associated with the name Trace Demon made Joe a somebody. Suddenly people cared about him, suddenly he had an audience who actually have a sh*t what he did. Say what you want about Joe Bishop’s ability in the ring, but it was Trace Demon that made him relevant outside of it, where it really matters.
Now a lot of people, Joe included, will try to tell you that I only did that because I had a use for him, because I needed Joe Bishop in my Final Revolution. But I never needed Joe, I could have taken my pick of nobodies with potential. Cam Nitta, Mak Cross, Ace Bennett, every single one of them would have served the exact same function that Joe Bishop did. But I chose Bishop and I made him a somebody. Don't believe me? Tell me then, do you see any of the others around? Nah, me neither, their careers are as dead and pathetic as Shawn Malakai. No, I chose Joe Bishop because I saw something in him, and I helped him become more than he could have ever been without me. Did I get something out of it? Sure, I'm not stupid, but Joe got just as much out of it as I did. More even, since he stole my whole revolution act as well.
I took Joe Bishop and I taught him how to be a somebody, and he knows it, but he's seen the narrative of Trace Demon being a villain and he's run with it. I should be proud really, he's only using what I taught him. And that's the key term. What I taught him. See Joe Bishop might like talking about me but it's only because he knows how much he owes me. He knows I'm the reason he's here, he knows I'm the reason he could walk straight back into a job after running with his tail between his legs. I'm gonna be honest Joe, I was pretty disappointed when you did that, when you ran off, because that's not something I taught you. I taught you how to fight, how to win, not how to run. You disappointed me, so now’s your chance to finally redeem yourself. Now’s your chance to finally do right by the man who got you where you are today, the man you owe everything to.
You do that by beating me Joe. Prove to everyone that you're more than just your potential and put me down just like you claim you're going to. But wait Trace, what're you saying? Why're you urging someone to beat you? Have you lost your mind? Maybe, but this ain't got anything to do with it. See the reason why I'm telling Joe Bishop to beat me, the reason why I win either way, well that…
That's the point of it all. Let me explain.
< *** >
Chapter Three
Beneath The Mask
Faith Demon: You ever think about giving up?
The words startle me, which is not an easy thing to do.
Trace Demon: Woah, come on now! It’s only your first session for f*cks sake!
I don’t like hospitals. Actually, I kind of despise them. They’re buildings for the ill and weak, two types of people I’d usually give a wide berth to. But Faith, my younger sister, has cancer, so here I sit, in a place I can’t stand, so that she’s not alone during her first round of chemo. And no, I’m not referring to that masked jackass.
Faith Demon: Not me you idiot, you, the whole wrestling thing.
Not really a ‘thing’ but she’s got cancer, I’ll let it go.
Trace Demon: I’m thirty Faith, not exactly young enough to be thinking about retirement.
Faith Demon: Yeah you’re thirty, which means you’ve been hurting yourself for fourteen years Trace. You’ve got a family, what’re they going to do when you can’t walk, or worse? How are you going to take care of them then?
Trace Demon: Why do I have to take care of them? One day I’m going to be old and broken down and they’ll have to take care of me. Then we’ll see who’s complaining about the boatloads of money I’ve got stored away.
Not even joking. I don’t trust banks. They sink more than boats.
Trace Demon: Anyway I don’t see you having this conversation with Axel, it’s not like he’s exactly safe with his ring style.
Axel, the typical youngest child, managed to get himself stuck in Tokyo after a show two nights back. Some problem at the airport. Here’s hoping he sorts it out, he’s nowhere near charismatic enough to pull a Tom Hanks.
Faith Demon: He’s younger, and never had your demons.
Trace Demon: Was that meant to be a pun? Because if it was it was sh*t.
Faith Demon: Trace-
Trace Demon: I get it Faith. You’re ill and it’s got you panicking about how everyone is going to cope without you, but guess what? I am and always have been the reason the rest of this family copes, so I’ll be just fine. Plus you’re not even terminal! Doc Brown says you’ve got an eighty percent chance of beating this. Setting the world to rights is reserved for people fifty percent and below.
Faith Demon: I know you feel you’ve got to be strong for everyone but-
Trace Demon: My god! If every session is going to be like this then warn me so I can gouge my eardrums first.
Faith Demon: Well it’s not like you ever listen to anyone anyway.
We both go quiet, that dull hum of the too-bright lighting echoing through the room. I don’t say anything to her but her words run through my brain. It’s not the first time I’ve thought about it. Retiring. Lately the idea’s run through my mind more and more. I started wrestling because I had a need to hurt people and the ability to do so, but no outlet. Now, as I get older, that aggression is long gone. The joy of violence is still there, but it’s not what it used to be and to be honest, neither am I.
There’s just one thing that keeps me gripping on, one question I didn’t have an answer for, one fear that has stopped me from walking away every time. But as time has gone that fear has dimmed, the answer’s become clearer and my grip has lessened. Trace Demon’s days in the WFWF are numbered, and I know it better than anyone.
The awfully indulgent self-reflection is interrupted by Faith’s attempts to rise from her seat.
Trace Demon: Woah, where do you think you’re going?
Faith Demon: Short answer? I need to pee.
Trace Demon: Then I’ll get a nurse in here. I need to get a coffee anyway.
I make a swift exit and make sure that the most competent nurse is heading my sisters way before I head for the nearest coffee machine. As I walk a thought pops into my head, something crazy, but something I can’t ignore. Figuring I’ve got time I head for the lift, heading down to the third floor, one of the hospitals general ward. I know exactly where I’m headed, one of the benefits of having Doc Brown on my payroll, though I can’t tell you exactly why I asked for the info in the first place. I reach the room and stand outside of it, looking through the large glass window. I probably stand staring for far too long because a nurse notices me. Though let’s be honest, I’m difficult to miss.
Nurse: Excuse me sir, but do you know her?
I glance at her, then back at the room. Anna lies in the bed, still having not come out of the coma the drugs put her in. Anders sits slumped in the chair next to the bed, asleep and exhausted. Don’t think he’s left the bedside since she was brought in two weeks back.
Trace Demon: No. Not even a little.
I know she says something else, probably trying to work out who I am, that I’ve not escaped from the loony bin or something, but I’m gone, heading back the way I came, the entire time that singular question running through my mind. The question I ask myself every time I think about finally calling it a day. The question… when I’m gone…
What will I have left behind?
< *** >
Go on Joey boy, why don’t you tell me? What’s the point of it all? Why do you do it? Why do you step inside that ring night after night? Why did you come back to the WFWF when you yourself have admitted that it was not the kind of place that you wanted to be. That it was a shell of it’s former self, that it disgusted you to see the state that it was in. Why did you come back? Why did you choose to return? What was the point of it all?
What’s the point of any of it? For you? For me? For every single person in this business? Why do any of us do this to ourselves night in, night out? I mean we all have our own answers don’t we, when that question comes up. We’ve all got the answer that we give to the people in front of us. I want to prove to the world how good I am. I want to show everybody that they were wrong about me. This is all I know, all I’m good at. I want to change this business. I want to be the best. We all give different answers but they all amount to the exact same thing. At the end of the day there’s only one reason that any of us do what we do, only one reason we hurt ourselves and we bleed and we inflict pain on others.
It’s the simplest reason in the world Joe.
It’s because we want to be remembered. That’s it, that’s all it is. The entire reason that we wrestle, that we do this when we could be doing anything else is because we want people to remember us. Deny it all you want, but why else would you stake your name on a revolution when you could be out there wrestling in any number of promotions more attuned to your sensitive disposition? No, you chose to come back to the WFWF in the hopes of changing it, because you know that if you’re the man who ‘changes’ the WFWF then that’s how you’ll always be remembered. People will talk about how they owe all this great wrestling to Joe Bishop. Every Superbrawl video package will start with your image, about how this is ‘your era’. Joe Bishop will be the most important person in WFWF history, more important than even grand slam winners like me.
It’s a bit selfish if you ask me Joe, making this company all about you, but we’re wrestlers, we’re notoriously selfish people, and you learned from the best. And that is what it’s all about, isn’t it Joe? You want this revolution to be your legacy, and who am I to judge? Because that’s what we all want. We all want a legacy, a reason to be remembered, some way for people to speak about us long after we’re long gone. We all want our legacy.
That’s the point.
That’s why we do this. That’s the reason. It’s all about legacy, history, about always being a somebody. This revolution is yours, and it’s a mighty fine legacy to build… but only if you actually pull it off. That’s the downside to this little crusade of yours Joe, it only works if you can upset all the odds and actually change things. Better men that you, mainly me, have tried and failed to do just that so gonna be honest with you, I don’t fancy your chances. But see, whatever way it falls that’s the sword you’ve chosen to fall on, that’s what you want to be remembered for, and I respect that. But see Joe, that’s your legacy…
And you’re mine.
I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. Don’t know whether it’s age, whether it’s what’s going down outside the WFWF, not sure it matters really. I’ve been thinking about what I’m going to leave behind when I’m gone. What will Trace Demon be remembered for? And I mean sure, I’ve done basically everything there is to do in the WFWF, and my name will forever be etched in the record books as one of the greatest champions the WFWF has ever seen, not to mention the man who used to own the place, but is that enough? Is that really the kind of thing that’s going to ensure that people are talking about me when I’m no longer around? Maybe, maybe not, but it’s better to be sure, isn’t it?
See, the best way of being remembered around these parts is to latch yourself on to the next big thing, to ensure that whenever they are in that ring people are still talking about you. That’s where you come in Bishop. That’s where everything I’ve been doing for the past month comes into play. Riling you up, getting into your head, fanning that flaming hot hatred you have for me. It’s so that when I beat you, and I will beat you Joe, it won’t deflate you, it won’t send you out of here, it’ll motivate you to be better. It’ll motivate you to become the best because you’ll want to get back at me, you’ll want to be the man who was better than Trace Demon. And in doing so you’ll make sure I’m remembered around here for the rest of your career.
Because face it Joe, you’re here because of me. I took you under my wing when you were at a crossroads, I turned you into the man you are today, I trained you, made you better, made you see things properly. Made you willing to do whatever it takes to win. Even your little revolution was planted by me, all of those thoughts and desires about changing things, I’m the one who started that Joe, I’m the one who put that in your mind, I’m the reason that you can’t shake it.
Everything you are is because of me Joe, and that’s going to live with you the rest of your career. You’ll always be the man that Trace Demon trained, you’ll always be remembered as being the man that the King of Demons created. So at the end of the day this match, this whole tournament, is all about me. Because if I beat you then I win. And if you somehow manage to beat me… then I win, because you’ll have only done it because of me. You want to kill the myth of Trace Demon Joe? How are you going to do that, when doing so will only make it stronger?
That’s the point, that’s the reason for it all. Trace Demon will never die, Trace Demon will never be gone, because everything is and always will be about Trace Demon. After all Joe, I’m the King of Demons.
And the legacy of a king lives forever.