WFWF The Climb: Landslide

I couldn't tell you how long I was out there after that bell rang and I finally got my hands on the WFWF World Heavyweight Championship.

I suppose it can only have been a few minutes, but it felt like I spent an awful lot longer soaking it all up.

An awful long time staring through tear glazed eyes at the belt that I've been dreaming of all my life.

A moment that everything I've done in that ring has been leading up to. The matches with Jon O'Deeves, the humiliation at the hands of Carter Contra, the struggles against and with (and against again) Trace Demon, the destruction of Solomon Crow, the wars with Dave Demento, the first ever Supreme Gauntlet and every match in it. Some I'm okay with, some even proud, and there's been a lot of regret in there to. And I can't say I don't still regret some of those moments, but there's no denying that they've been a vital part of my journey to this point.

To becoming the WFWF World Heavyweight Champion.

Still feels a bit weird now, saying it in my head, it was f***ing bonkers when Christa Adina proclaimed it and I sat there, drinking in a moment that is going to be what people forever associate with professional wrestler Joe Bishop.

To be honest though, what really struck me, in that moment, was something that I suppose is more familiar to most than it is to me.

I've spent my entire career being loathed by those fans, and all I've ever been doing, is fighting for what I believe in.

But as I sat there, title in hand, tears in my eyes, soaking it all in, I was struck most by them. By what I was hearing.

They f***ing loved it.

Don't get me wrong, that's how I'd always pictured winning the title, but it wasn't half surprising when it actually happened.

When I heard those fans celebrating the fact that I, me, Joe Bishop, had won that belt.

Andy Yates: Something on your mind?

I must admit, I've been replaying that moment in my mind a little too often.

Joe Bishop: Huh? No. Sorry.

Naturally my victory, a surprise to many, was something that Andy, and just about everyone at his school, had been planning for. Even if they had there own little doubts, they knew it was a possibility, and I knew, that I was going to be sitting uncomfortably at a party held in my honour, because I knew I was going to make this happen.

Shuggy: Cheer up for feck sake you're the World Champion.

He had a point I suppose, I dunno, I guess I've got a tendency to do too much thinking and not quite enough celebrating. I'm still in shock to tell you the truth.

Andy couldn't help but laugh as a pissed Shuggy waltzed his way across the room, his point well and truly made.

Andy Yates: He's right.

Joe Bishop: Yeah, I'm well aware. I dunno, just gonna take a bit of getting used to I guess.

Andy Yates: Well hurry it up, I doubt there gonna give you that long to get used to it.

Joe Bishop: I suppose not.

Andy Yates: You deserve it.

Joe Bishop: I know.

Andy Yates: So what's the problem?

Joe Bishop: Just feels a bit odd finally doing it I guess. Becoming the World Champion. The best in the world. It's strange.

Andy Yates: Best in the world? It's a pretty small pool of talent remember.

Joe Bishop: Yeah, of course.

Andy Yates: Remember why you're doing it, it's about making the competition better. There's a lot of work to do.

Joe Bishop: You don't need to tell me.

Although, maybe, he sort of did... just a little...

Poppy Yates: Or you know, give yourself a break for once.

I was surprised to hear Poppy's input to be honest. Not because of what it was, but because she had something to share. Her anger had gone, and she was more than happy to be around me again, but she'd been seeming, I dunno, disinterested I guess. There certainly wasn't any of the euphoria that I must admit, I'd expected from her (even if I had no right to expect it) when I finally won that belt.

She'd been doing her best to keep out of my business really, which was a welcome relief in some ways, but a bit odd nonetheless.

Joe Bishop: No Andy's right, I've got work to do. Need to get myself back into the right frame of mind.

Her comment obviously couldn't have represented a major change in this new approach because she'd have vehemently refuted that a few weeks ago. But she went back to sitting there silent, pretending she wasn't interested.

Andy Yates: Good man. And make sure you watch your back, everyone's going to be coming to try and take that belt from you.

Joe Bishop: I know...

They sure are.

Joe Bishop: It's great isn't it?

---

It's easy to get carried away.

You know when I was five, six years old, I decided I was going to be a World Champion professional wrestler. I was determined that that's what I was gonna do no matter what it took. Then, at 13, the WFWF opened its doors and I worked out pretty quickly, that I needed to do whatever it was gonna take to become the WFWF World Champion. I suppose, if I'm going to be ultra critical, that's because I thought the WFWF was the best promotion in the world. And I'm pretty sure I thought that because the WFWF's advertising budget dwarfed everybody else's. But hey, we can all pick apart our childhood dreams. I was 13 and I knew that what I now have, was exactly what I wanted out of life.

You set yourself a goal like that, so many many years ago, and then you achieve it – man that feels special. I'm not going to deny that.

And it's very easy, when celebrating that achievement, to forget the journey.

To disregard what it is that got you to that point. To jump between remembering that little kids dream and celebrating that dream finally becoming a reality.

And I guess there's also a tendency to think of the intervening years as the 'blood, sweat and tears' the tireless work to get you to this point, and now, now you've finally achieved it, that's it. You've got what you wanted.

I think I made the mistake, for just a brief moment after winning that belt, of forgetting.

Forgetting that along that road between the six year old kid who dreamed of being a World Champion, and the 28 year old man who is the WFWF World Heavyweight Champion... my dream changed. My goal changed.

But, more importantly, my idea of what a Champion actually is, changed.

I've got a faux leather strap and a slab of gold on the front of it. But the truth is, I'm not a Champion.

Not yet.

Having this belt doesn't make you a champion in any noteworthy sense. Not unless we want to start saying that Shawn Malakai or Dex or Trace Demon were actual, legitimate champions.

They weren't, and right now, nor am I.

I know that's not exactly the ordinary victory speech, but, quite frankly, I don't intend to be an ordinary champion. Not by WFWF standards.

Winning that belt is a good chunk of the battle, but it's far from being enough to stand there and call yourself a champion.

I'm a title-holder.

Just like Trace was, just like Shawn was, just like Dex was.

But a champion, a real champion, is somebody who makes this strap mean more than it did when they picked it up. A real champion is somebody who isn't satisfied with just winning it. Just having it their in the record books.

A real champion is somebody who stands up and does whatever they can, within the laws of the sport, to keep hold of it.

And, who, when the time comes, is bested in that ring by somebody who just has that little bit more about them. Somebody who is going to take that belt from them and elevate it even higher.

That's exactly what I intend to do.

I intend to defend this belt against any and all comers, to strive to keep it without resorting to the sort of tactics Drakz used to do just that, and to make sure that it'll take a ridiculously talented athlete to take it from me.

Then, then I can call myself a champion.

Then I can be satisfied that I have elevated this title, the WFWF and the sport.

But until then, I've nothing to crow about. Until then, I'm as much a Champion as Donald Trump is a President.

This belt should mean something, but right now, it doesn't mean an awful lot. Right now it's a strap passed, far too frequently, between people who don't belong in a wrestling ring let alone the WFWF. And my aim, as a 28 year old man, as somebody who has grown out of that piddly little notion of winning a strap that felt, then, like the biggest thing the world, my aim's very different now.

I want to change the world.

And you can laugh it up all you like. You can say it's about trying to gain an advantage. You can call it selfish. You can say I'm self-centred, or I'm blinkered, or I'm too much of an idealist, or I'm living in a fantasy world, or whatever it is you want to throw at me. Everybody who wants to change things gets that s*** thrown at them and I'll be damned if I'm going to let it slow me down.

I'm not a champion yet, but I will be, and I'm gonna be the best f***ing champion the WFWF's ever had. Because I care as much about the WFWF World Heavyweight Championship, as I do about being it's champion.

Trust me, and buckle up, 'cause I've got no intention of being your average title-holder.

---

WFWF headquarters. God I hate this place.

Never has something so fantastic, something that inspires such passion as I feel for professional wrestling, been based in such a soulless hole.

Businessmen, secretaries, security, the volunteers they've got running round doing the dirty work 'cause the businessman aren't big on wealth redistribution surprisingly enough.

It's f***ing depressing.

And what's even more depressing is how infrequently you bump into a professional wrestler in the WFWF offices.

So it won't come as too much of a surprise that I was taken aback by seeing not just a wrestler, but one I was actually looking forward to catching up with.

Joe Bishop: Hey man, congrats on the big win.

I was hoping the feeling would be reciprocated. But my comrade looked like something was playing on his mind. Either that or that's his version of my 'ugh half an hour of talking to Lila Sleater about a sport she knows nothing about, kill me now' face.

Frank Lynn: Took the words right out of my mouth Champ.

Joe Bishop: Haha, thanks. Still feels a bit surreal.

Frank Lynn: Well you earned it.

Joe Bishop: I know. Just a bit, difficult to take it in I guess...

I still can't quite believe it happened.

Joe Bishop: What's up with you anyway? Look a bit flustered if you don't mind me saying.

Frank Lynn: I'm fine.

Joe Bishop: Sure?

He nodded, but his face quickly gave the game away and he asked the question that I assume had been preying on his mind...

Frank Lynn: You know I'm not trying to ride your coattails, right?

What?

Joe Bishop: Of course.

Hope I haven't given the impression that that's what I think.

Joe Bishop: What on Earth makes you think I'm worried about that?

Frank Lynn: Nothing. It's nothing.

Joe Bishop: Talk to me.

Frank Lynn: I dunno, just something Lila said.

Joe Bishop: Lila?

He nods.

Joe Bishop: It's been what a year now? I'd have thought you'd have worked out by now that Lila Sleater's opinion is worth f*** all.

Frank Lynn: I know.

Joe Bishop: Seriously, this is the woman who okayed Shawn Malakai hand-picking a World Champion. I'm not the least bit interested in what she thinks is going on in other people's head and nor should you.

Granted I'm running a little close to telling Frank Lynn what to think here, but hey – we're all taught sooner or later that Lila Sleater talks out her arse.

And no, don't ask who taught me that.

Frank Lynn: I guess.

Joe Bishop: Don't worry about her, and trust me you don't need to worry about what I think. Worry about David Brennan and Trace Demon.

Frank Lynn: I'm not worried about Brennan or Trace.

Actually, that's good.

Joe Bishop: Worry probably wasn't the right word, but concentrate on them anyway. We can win this, but we can't think for a second that it's gonna be easy. They're gonna give us a real test.

Frank Lynn: I know.

Joe Bishop: Good.

Frank Lynn: And I'm going to give them a much tougher test than they're expecting from me.

You know what, I've got a sneaking suspicion he's gonna do just that.

---

Poppy Yates: Sunk in yet?

I don't even know what that really means to be honest. But I'm an aspiring sports journalist, I feel compelled to ask anyone who's achieved anything that question. It's a bit annoying really, I'd rather I hadn't picked that one up.

Joe Bishop: I dunno.

Poppy Yates: No?

Joe Bishop: I guess it's a bit more in perspective now. I got a bit carried away.

Poppy Yates: You won the World Heavyweight Championship, I think you're allowed to get carried away.

Joe Bishop: I guess so. But, you know, I need to keep my focus.

Poppy Yates: Of course.

Still, it's always worth a try...

Poppy Yates: You don't want to come on the podcast and talk about the title win then?

Joe Bishop: I thought you didn't want me to.

Poppy Yates: Come on, you're not seriously gonna hold that against me are you? Heat of the moment.

Joe Bishop: Sorry, you said what you said.

Git.

Joe Bishop: I would. But they're putting me through the wringer already as far as the media's concerned, that's an aspect of this belt I'm really not gonna enjoy.

Poppy Yates: You should probably give it up.

Did that proper deadpan too, nice to know I can make him laugh.

Joe Bishop: It's such a weight off my shoulders.

Poppy Yates: Hmm?

Joe Bishop: Beating Brennan for the belt I mean.

Poppy Yates: Yeah I know.

Joe Bishop: I can't begin to put into words how demoralising it is to keep getting so close to getting everything you want and having it snatched away...

Gee, I can't possibly imagine how that feels

Joe Bishop: I know it's not job done, but everything just feels so much more positive, you know?

Poppy Yates: I'm... happy for you.

Although that sounded surprisingly tentative...

---

I don't think it'll come as a huge surprise to anyone, that I think a lot more of one of the men I'll be facing at The Climb, than the other.

At Ultimate Supremacy, David Brennan and I went toe to toe in a match that's going to be remembered for years to come. A match that perfectly encapsulated everything I've been saying, about what this company could be.

I can't say I feel 'proud' all that frequently, but I am genuinely proud of what we achieved in that ring. I'm proud of the show we put on, and I'll be proud to step in that ring with you again at The Climb.

The same just can't be said for Trace Demon.

And I feel like, now's probably the right time to clarify, that I actually think you're a damn good wrestler too Trace, when you want to be.

There, I said it.

This stuff about me being your legacy, I mean, it's dribble isn't it? You know it, I know it, David Brennan and Frank Lynn know it. And based on the impressive speed of the u-turn you've done on the subject, you know that you can't spin it so that any of these fans believe it.

The way we see this sport, the way we treat the competition, it couldn't be more different and the whole world knows it.

But, look, I learn from everyone. For all of your faults, for all of the bulls*** you've put this sport through, you can be a great wrestler when you want to be. And facing you, teaming with you, watching you, obviously there are things that have rubbed off on me. I'm not denying it.

And yeah, maybe it isn't going too far to say that I have become everything that you could be, if you were really, truly, driven to be the best, and if you had a moral compass.

But you don't.

You don't care about doing things the right or the wrong way, they're not even words in your vocabulary. And I know I've been getting a lot of s*** for preaching, I know you think I'm just trying to gain an advantage Dave, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with saying that the rules of the sport should be observed. That if you want to be a part of this promotion, if you want to be a professional wrestler, then you should do it by the laws of the game. That's not about gaining an advantage, that's about making sure this sport actually f***ing means something. I'm a competitive guy, I want to win, but winning loses all meaning if it's just about who can hit each other with the most furniture.

You Trace, you're not interested in doing it by the rulebook. To tell you the truth, I'm beginning to question exactly how interested in winning you are. You just want to hang around win, lose or draw and make sure everyone remembers you're 'The King of Demons', whatever the f*** that even means. I mean I get what you're going for, but it's not exactly threatening nowadays.

And then, after all of your bulls***, you have the audacity to call me your legacy. It's funny really.

You've everything a good wrestler needs Trace, except a passion for, you know, actual wrestling.

That's the big difference between the two of us. I care about professional wrestling, you care about your nickname.

Whereas you Dave, similar as you are to your 'partner' in a lot of ways, you've been doing it properly. You've gone into that ring and given everything you've had to win wrestling matches. That's why we were able to have the finest match a WFWF ring's ever seen.

I guess the big question is, what happens now?

Let's not beat around the bush, you pushed me all the f***ing way at Ultimate Supremacy. You were a whisker away from that victory.

I know that's gonna eat away at you. And I believe, right now, there won't be many people as determined as you are, to give me the kind of challenge I want.

I know this match is a huge opportunity for you to prove you deserve to be getting back in that ring with me, and believe it or not, I want you to rise to the occasion.

Because I know the WFWF. I know how this place works. Right now there are some suits sitting round a table, people who've never ever seen a wrestling ring, weighing up whether 'Joe Bishop vs. David Brennan II', or, *shudder* 'Joe Bishop vs. Trace Demon XXXVIII', for the World Heavyweight Championship is a bigger money maker. Which one of those two scenarios they think they can milk the most money out of.

That's my theory anyway.

And I've gotta be honest. I'd much rather you put in the sort of performance here that shifts that calculation in your favour. Because I really do believe, that you'd give me the fight I'm after. The challenge I want.

And believe me, I want a challenge.

I know that being the WFWF World Heavyweight Champion makes you a target. I mean that much is obvious. And I've got to be honest, I'm relishing that.

But don't make the mistake of thinking that it's job done for me now. That I'm just going to try and hold what I have, and not worry about making gains.

The truth is Dave, Trace, I'm not defending anything.

I've got nothing to consolidate.

We're still a long way from being the WFWF I want us to be, and I'm still a long way from being the WFWF World Heavyweight Champion I want to be.

I'm still fighting, and, just in case it hasn't dawned on the two of you over the last few weeks; this isn't a fight I'm losing.

This isn't a fight we're losing, I should say.

Because if anything's become clear to me over these last few weeks, it's that there's a real appetite for change.

And yeah, I do mean Frank Lynn, but not exclusively.

There's no doubt that Frank Lynn's dedication to this cause, his push to try and make this place better, there's no doubt that's evidence that this is not just some selfish crusade on my part. It's not just an attempt to make things better for me.

I'm not the only professional wrestler who sees the flaws in the way the WFWF operates right now, and finally, I'm not the only one who's going to stand up and do something about it

But it's not just about wrestlers.

You all heard those fans. You all saw the reaction myself, David Brennan and that match got. You all saw thousands and thousands of people having that moment of realisation that I had two years ago when I got my ass handed to me in a Japanese ring. They all realised that this, 'this is real f***ing wrestling'. What that was, that support, it was the people saying 'You can take your Philip Schneiders and your Trace Demons and you can stick them where the sun don't shine' because 'we, the people, are done with that s***'.

The WFWF will change, and it will be positive. Because not only are two of the best wrestlers this sport has on board, not only is one of the very best – whether it's an active decision or not – doing it within the laws of sport. But the people who really care about professional wrestling, the fans, are with us.

The WFWF is changing, and Joe Bishop, Frank Lynn and David Brennan, we're going to be a part of it. We need to be. Because whatever the differences in ideology, we go about it the right way and we're f***ing good at it.

As for Trace Demon and his ilk, well, watch out for the landslide buddy.

OOC: Apologies to Lynn that this clearly isn't what I wanted it to be, especially as I know you've been looking to raise your game for this one. It's particularly frustrating as from a skim read it looks like everyone else has been putting in really top stuff and I've let the side down. I've just had to prioritise trying to sort my life out, but I'm hopeful I'll be able to get to grips with juggling everything and improve the output for future matches. And that what I've thrown together here is enough to keep people's interest for what's to come. Sorry it's not had the same time as my previous pieces this run dedicated to it.