Post by Deleted on Aug 30, 2020 3:05:51 GMT -5
The sun shines down on the Molineux Stadium on a bright Sunday morning in England. The green turf was just watered as its dampness glistens under the sunlight. The stadium was sold out just a few days ago when the home of Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club brought the victory home. The fading screams of the crowd can be heard to only the most observant set of ears as cars and the day life of Wolverhampton thrives.
The rusted statue of Billy Wright in all its glory serves the gatekeeper to the legendary stadium as the camera pans towards the living city.
Screams can be heard again, emerging from the stadium. Loud piercing screams that cut through the noise of daytime.
The camera zooms past Wright and into the stadium doors to reveal another sold out spectacle taking place inside!
Only this time, it's not Wolverhampton Wanderers taking on West Bromwich Albion, their biggest and most competitive rivals.
Instead, there's a wrestling ring in the center of the green turf.
The ropes are a bright purple with a metallic ramp on the outside which adjacently leads to the stage.
A giant head of a wolf poking through a ring of fire; inside its mouth is the giant plasma screen that captures all the action! Long tall metal beams keep the structure afloat with speakers stacked like a club sandwich.
Then suddenly –
The show theme and vignette plays.
The show theme and vignette plays.
The fireworks go off like gunshots, crackling and popping into the sky. The louder the fireworks, the more the sold-out crowd grows frenzied!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! goes the pyro!
Which is fitting because tonight, it's –
The roars of the crowd are only amplified in the outdoor arena!
Alecia Matthews: Welcome everyone to Sonic Boom! As always, I’m Alecia Matthews and–
Maxwell Dachs: And I’m Brass Tacks Dachs!
Alecia Matthews: We’re back and live from England once again, this time in the beautiful and legendary stadium – Wolverhampton Stadium!
Maxwell Dachs: This place ain’t nothing like the Hamptons though….
Alecia Matthews: This is a football arena, not a getaway resort. There’s history here dating back to the 1700s!
Maxwell Dachs: Yeah? Well, The Hamptons has beer on tap. Cheaper too!
Alecia Matthews: Regardless, we have quite the show for everyone here tonight as we continue going down the road….The Road to SuperBrawl 11!
Maxwell Dachs: Ugh.
Alecia Matthews: Our trek into the UK will conclude at The Biggest Show of the Year in the most famous arena in the UK…..Wembley Stadium!
Maxwell Dachs: Wow. Then we go back to eating regular food again?!
Alecia Matthews: Ugh.
The crowd continues to roar, which is fitting because -
“Roar” by Katie Perry starts playing on the arena PA getting a huge pop from the crowd in attendance.
Alecia Matthews: Wait? Is that….!?
Maxwell Dachs: What’s she doing here? She doesn’t work here!
Alecia Matthews: It is! It’s Nikki Dean!
Nikki isn’t doing much in the way of pandering to the crowd, clearly here for a reason, but she can’t help but crack a smile at the adoration she’s receiving on her return to a WFWF stage.
Maxwell Dachs: What’s in the bag, Nikki?
What indeed? Mrs. Dean walks down the ramp way, carrying a duffel bag in one hand, and she can’t help but reach out to some of the outstretched arms of the crowd on her way to the ring.
Alecia Matthews: A hero's welcome for the former two time National Champion. This is a really lovely sight.
Maxwell Dachs: She better have more heroic intentions than her husband has displayed recently.
Nikki is in the ring now and the time keeper passes her a mic as the crowd tries to stop cheering long enough to let her speak. They calm down as she lifts the mic, but then a chant breaks out that builds to a crescendo:
WELCOME BACK!
WELCOME BACK!
WELCOME BACK!
WELCOME BACK!
WELCOME BACK!
Nikki has to take a second to compose herself, clearly overcome by the moment. The chants wear down and she lifts the mic a second time.
Nikki Dean: From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
Cheers again.
Nikki Dean: It’s a real privilege to be back out here in front of you, but I have to admit, I’m not back to perform. I’m not even back for my own sake. No, tonight I’m here in this ring for the sake of my husband. For the sake of my marriage. I’m here, under my own agency I might add, to broker some kind of peace.
The crowd is a little confused.
Nikki Dean: Okay, who am I kidding? I know there’s no chance of peace, but I’m hoping my being here tonight, and what I intend on doing, will at least serve to bring the temperature down a notch or five. Because, honestly? It’s been a real gift having Josh at home these last three years. Of course he’s always busy with work, but at least he comes home at the end of every day. He’s not out on the road all year and, more importantly, I don’t have to worry that he’s not going to arrive home in one piece. Now I know as well as anyone that this game isn’t ballet. People in this industry get injured at the drop of a hat. Careers ended in an instant, like mine for example. But what most people don’t see is what happens once the cameras stop rolling. Let’s say Josh suffered a career ending injury, heaven forbid, something so debilitating that he could never wrestle again, heck, maybe never walk again. Never play with his kids again? Never feed himself again? It’s a horrific thing to see, but once he’s been off your TV screen for 6 months, a year, 5 years, 10 years? You'd forget about it. But me or any family member of a professional wrestler? We have to live with that forever. There is no forgetting it when it’s right there with you every day. So for Josh to have been forced to step away, without anything so serious it effected his life permanently, was almost a blessing for the Dean household.
Maxwell Dachs: She’s happy Josh got hurt?
Alecia Matthews: Stop twisting her words.
Nikki Dean: But I know my husband, and Josh couldn’t let it go. He couldn’t let go of the one person that stole his moment. Or at least, that’s how he sees it….. and I do too. Though we both know this other man tells a different story. So now, he’s back and it’s as if a switch has been flicked, and he’s as deep into things again as he ever was, if not deeper. You’ve seen it for yourselves. This isn’t the savior you used to know and love is it? He’s colder. Less noble. And believe me that doesn’t end when he leaves the arena. There’s been a change in Josh at home, and I’m tired of feeling like I’m a 3rd wheel. I feel like I’m losing the love of my life to another woman. Only in this instance, there is no love affair. There is no secretary that he’s fooling around with. No, there’s just an obsession with another man. Not a lover, but an enemy.
Maxwell Dachs: She had me awful confused there for a minute, Alecia.
Alecia Matthews: Get a grip.
Nikki Dean: Isaac. If you’re back there tonight, then I’d like you to come on out here, so that we can de-escalate things a little please.
She waits. To no avail.
Maxwell Dachs: It seems the champ isn’t interested in what she’s offering.
Alecia Matthews: Is he even here tonight? The guy seems to show up when he feels like it these days.
Nikki Dean: Okay. I thought that might be your answer, which is why I brought these with me.
She takes a knee and unzips the duffel bag that’s been sat next to her through her speech. The crowd watches in near silence to see what she’s got, until she pulls out both the WFWF International and World Heavyweight Championship belts from the bag and lays them out on the canvas. The crowd pops hard for this, as they know that bait like that is sure to attract a predator.
Nikki Dean: I’m guessing my bringing these here without Josh’s knowing isn’t gonna put me in his good books, and I’m guessing by now he’s realized they’re gone and won’t be far behind me. So Isaac, if you want these back, then you’d bett…….
Drakz: Okay, you’ve got my attention.
The crowd turns to see Drakz walking out onto the stage. His verbal announcement in place of the entrance music and pageantry he’s apparently shunned since last Superbrawl. They boo the ever living sh*t out of him as he walks down to the ring, calm and collected, with just a hint of holding back a grin. When you consider the fact that this is Drakz’s home country, that really says a lot about how much of a d*ck wipe he really is. He’s talking again as he climbs the ring steps:
Drakz: So what is it Nik? You’ve spirited these away from your husband’s otherwise empty trophy cabinet, in the hopes that I won’t beat him so mercilessly that…….how did you put it? That he won’t be able to feed himself any more?
He steps through the ropes and immediately approaches Nikki, stepping over the spread eagle title belts, getting a little too close to her for comfort. She stands her ground though.
Drakz: Did your marriage counselor put you up to this?
Some laughs from the crowd but they’re drowned out by a sea of boos.
Nikki Dean: This is about more than physicality Isaac, and you know it.
Drakz: I do? I’m not sure I follow……Nicola. Please, enlighten me.
Alecia Matthews: I don’t like the atmosphere in that ring right now. He better not lay a hand on her.
Nikki Dean: Well, for one, I’m sure we can all agree that perhaps for the first time ever, Josh is inside YOUR head.
Drakz takes a step even closer to Nikki, now leering over her, practically breathing into her face. She opts to step around him this time, deeming her personal space more important than keeping up appearances.
Nikki Dean: But that hasn’t come without a price on my end. Like I already said, Josh is obsessing over this, day and night. It’s not a pretty sight, and it’s sure as hell not a dynamic I want around my children.
Drakz: So you’re telling me, it’s somehow my fault that your husband’s being a f*cking douche bag?
Nikki Dean: You’ve certainly paraphrased me a little there, but yes it’s 100% your fault.
Drakz: What?! He’s the one who’s stolen MY championships! He’s the one who attacked me!
Nikki Dean: Are those battles finally catching up to you? I think you may be suffering from a loss of memory there Isaac, because Josh spelled it out to you a couple of weeks back. Whether you want to admit it or not, you and Trace Demon screwed Josh 4 years ago and stole the World Heavyweight Title from him. And as if that wasn’t enough, you put him through hell during that year long Tag Team Title reign. You made it your personal mission to try and break his spirit back then, and this is just those chickens coming home to roost. This is entirely your own making!
The crowd roars as a fire flares in Nikki Dean’s eyes. She takes a moment, letting that flame simmer down again though.
Nikki Dean: Isaac, I’m not here as Josh’s cheerleader, and I’m not here to try and change who you are. I retired from all this. I don’t do this any more, and if this really is the last time Josh is going to be doing this himself, then I’d like to make sure he crosses that finish line with his dignity, morality and sense of self still intact. If I only have to anxiously watch him leave home these last few times, then I’m going to do everything in power to make sure he’s still the man I love when he makes it home again. You, and only you, have the ability to change him…..Drakz. And you know what it is he wants. He’s already changing, and if he carries on in that vein then it’s not going to end well for either of you……or me. I don’t know what exactly he’s got planned for you, I haven’t asked because I don’t want to know, but I do know it isn’t good.
Drakz seemed to enjoy that. He’s smiling at Nikki.
Alecia Matthews: I don’t like this. Drakz is looking…..
Maxwell Dachs: Pleased?
Alecia Matthews: Exactly.
Drakz steps over both title belts again, backing Nikki towards the corner of the ring.
Drakz: So what you’re saying is, if I take these title belts as a ‘peace offering’, you’re hoping things will come off the boil, and me and Josh will just have a good, clean, catch as catch can wrestling contest? Come on, you're not that naive. You said it yourself Nicola, Josh’s already changing. He’s not going to accept that outcome. And me? F*ck it, neither am I. So I’ll take my titles back, and thank you for them. That was the right thing to do. I commend you for that, but you’re also correct, I’m in agreement with you. This IS the first time Josh has got one over on me, and it’s made me furious. I was as good as done with caring about any of this…..
He waves his hand, gesturing around the arena.
Drakz: ……until I was suddenly served up a plate of unfinished business. Which means now…….now I need to reset the balance, and put myself back in the driver’s seat, and I've been wondering how best to do that…….until you showed up.
His smile widens, as do Nikki’s eyes, as she starts to realize the danger she’s in. Drakz, quick as a cat, grabs Nikki by the wrist and applies enough pressure to force her to wince and yield.
Drakz: Such a shame you arrived here before your husband. I guess I’ll just have to hope he watches this footage back.
Drakz turns to the lens of the hard cam and addresses Josh directly.
Drakz: I asked politely Josh, but you wanted to play games. Well now it's my move.
The crowd suddenly erupts, but Drakz is dumb enough to think it’s to do with him, and pays them no mind, completely oblivious to the fact that Josh Dean has jumped the barricade, slid into the ring and is approaching him fast!
WHAM!
Josh punts Drakz between the legs from behind, causing Drakz to immediately let go of Nikki’s arm. He lurches forward, chest first onto the ropes, his face contorted in pain, before Josh pulls him back around, scoops him up and….
Alecia Matthews: NAIL IN THE COFFIN!
Maxwell Dachs: On the Heavyweight Title!
The Falcon Arrow drills Drakz's head down onto the solid faceplate of the prestigious title, and he is done. Out like a light.
Drakz is barely moving as Josh takes the WFWF World Heavyweight Championship and slings it over his shoulder. Nikki shakes her head in disgust as she exits the ring. She heads up the ramp without waiting for Josh. He stares down at a fallen Drakz, admiring his handiwork. The crowd is a mix of cheers and boos, but the noise is thunderous.
Alecia Matthews: Well Nikki Dean is not sticking around. And I agree with her earlier comments, this has certainly gone on long enough.
Maxwell Dachs: I just can't believe Josh Dean had the gall to attack Drakz from behind. That's our champion!
Alecia Matthews: This is certainly uncharacteristic of Josh Dean, who we know as perhaps the most respectful man in this industry.
Maxwell Dachs: Things change, Matty.
Josh stoically backs up to the ropes, not taking his eyes off the still prone Drakz. He exits the ring and walks around to the timekeeper's area. After grabbing a folding chair and a microphone, Josh walks around ringside and heads toward the ramp.
Alecia Matthews: I don't know what Josh Dean has planned, or even what Kris Kash could do to stop him.
Maxwell Dachs: Drakz may be seriously hurt, Alecia. He hasn't moved since Josh spiked him on that title belt.
At the interchange of the stage and ramp, Josh sits the chair with the back facing the ring. Rikering (watch Star Trek) the chair, he has a seat. He drapes the WFWF Championship over the chair back and takes the microphone out of his hoodie pocket. The crowd draws silent as Josh leans forward over the chair back and begins to speak.
Josh Dean: Isaac Cray, as you try to see if your appendages still work, I want you to do something you've never done in your life and listen. What I'm about to tell you is strictly a courtesy, so you'll have plenty of time to process why this is happening to you. See this is a prime example of why after an obvious physical decline, you're still sitting on top of the WFWF. Yet here you are still trying to intimidate her, a retired wrestler. Understand that it's literally life threatening for Nikki to be out here anymore, and you put her in grave danger when all she wanted was to talk. I guess I shouldn't be surprised really, because I already knew this is how you'd conduct business. Now you're finding out that lying in the bed you made all those years ago isn't very comfy. What bed you ask?
Josh takes a moment to tie his hair back in a ponytail.
Josh Dean: The bed that only had room for the people you and Michael Kyzer endorsed.
The crowd pops in 'ohs' as Josh pantomimes an explosion.
Josh Dean: Ladies and gentlemen, the world's worst kept secret. Michael Kyzer and Isaac Cray are still best of friends to this day, and they've used it to shape WFWF as we know it. Their big 'fight' at the last SuperBrawl was one last sh*t show before Kyzer went off to his mansion in the suburbs to do whatever Kyzer does. And here's the kicker, you people paid for that mansion. Nice to see you've spent your money wisely too, Isaac.
Josh winks at the camera before turning his gaze back to the ring. He stares down Drakz, who at this point is starting to stir. The crowd continues to buzz as the cheers and boos become louder.
Josh Dean: Those people you two endorsed were allowed to have a modicum of success, just as long as it didn't eclipse yours. Don't believe me, ask David Brennan. That is, if you can get past the drunken stupor that produces those oh so lovely profanity-laced tirades. Meanwhile, everyone else either had their name sullied or they were literally crippled if they didn't fit your idea of what WFWF wrestling should look like. And I'm not talking about the watered down 2012 New Epoch or the 'great Epoch lovers' quarrel' of 2018, I'm talking about all the way back to 2006. For those who may be new to the program that was, for some unfathomable reason, when Kyzer and Cray managed to coerce someone into giving them a supervisory role within this company. God help you if you did some thinking for yourself against 'The Era of Excess' even when they weren't active competitors, because they'd turn against you and poof... gone one way or another, no matter how long it took.
Just like my mentor, Wayne McGurk.
The crowd cheers wildly at the mention of the McGurk patriarch.
Josh Dean: Just like Jason Jadoa.
A slightly louder pop for the man better known as Reverend Shadow.
Josh Dean: Just like Phillip Schneider.
Another loud pop for the Prophet of Ash.
Josh Dean: Just like Alex Sean. The fact that I can rattle off about ten more names without trying makes me sick!
A massive pop for the multiple time World Champion. Josh turns away from the camera directly in front of him, his angry scowl reaching a seething boiling point.
Josh Dean: All so you wouldn't have any opposition to call yourselves the best when you're not. You could've been, without any debate. But you're too lazy and taking the easy route ensured results without ever getting your hands dirty, except when it served you. That's how Trace Demon got to run this company for as long as he did, because he was willing to play ball. And that's why I don't take issue with Ante Whitner for putting me on the shelf because he still doesn't know any better. Fourteen years, the combination of you two jackoffs have been able to run amok, sniping everyone around you that posed a threat.
Until you met me.
The crowd pops, but Josh motions for them to calm down. Drakz, holding his neck, begins to sit up. Josh, still fuming, calmly turns his attention back to Drakz, pointing at him.
Josh Dean: Oh hey, I would sit my ass right there in that ring if I were you, Isaac. Because if you do think about coming up here, I'll put you down for good and that's not what I want. What I want actually coincides with some comments I made at Light Up the Sky. See, I mentioned there that I had exactly five more appearances on my existing WFWF contract. And that falls in line with...oh I don't know...SuperBrawl.
The crowd loses their sh*t! Josh runs his fingers along the WFWF Championship. Drakz has managed to clutch the International Championship, subtlety pulling it towards him.
Josh Dean: You're going to give me what I want, Isaac, because this company can't afford for you not to. And I don't say these things to you because I want to be the shining knight. I'm past that. I'm past being the savior for this company. Quite frankly, I'm the champion this company doesn't deserve. I'd like to believe that this company's improved since Trace Demon's dead, but I can't be so sure because we got a guy in here now with more money than he's got brains. No, this is because we started something we never got to finish.
Josh adjusts the WFWF Championship on the chair back.
Josh Dean: You've been ducking me for four years Isaac, and you're going to pay up on my terms. So when I get it in writing and I beat you at SuperBrawl, proving unquestionably I'm the best, not only will I retire you for good, but then WFWF will find themselves in a very damning position. Tonight just confirmed a decision I made a long time ago.
He pauses before looking into the crowd.
His voice cracks.
His voice cracks.
Josh Dean: It hurts me to say as of right now, I'm not going to re-sign.
The crowd is stunned. Josh's eyes tell the story. He isn't joking. Drakz himself is stunned by this news as he stays seated in the corner nearest to the announce table with the International Title resting on his lap.
Josh Dean: Why should I when this company has been using my likeness without my permission the past three years? Huh? Why should I when you people in the crowd are just gonna buy whatever you're sold anyway? Of all the individuals who can influence this company's operations, you don't do sh*t about it! You control the bottom line with your money, yet recklessly throw it away, then want to complain when you're left disappointed. Well, if it's a matter of buyer's remorse, then you'll definitely want to tune in to this edition of SuperBrawl because you'll get your money's worth.
That stunned silence turns into boos mixed with a few cheers.
Josh Dean: So I'm gonna make this idiot proof for everyone. Right now, short of divine intervention, I'm leaving. And when I do, I'm leaving with the WFWF World Heavyweight Championship.
Josh drops the mic on the stage and stands up from the chair. The crowd is largely silent. Josh picks up the WFWF Championship and raises it over his head as he turns and walks toward the back. Drakz is in the ring, his normally stoic gaze being outlined with disgust and anger. Josh has just got one over on him again.
Alecia Matthews: I...I really don't know what to say about this. What an explosive way to start off Sonic Boom!
A close up of Drakz's face fades us into our first commercial break.
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