Changing the Subject. RP1 for EOD
Oct 14, 2019 4:02:30 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, Dave D-Flipz, and 1 more like this
Post by Bobby Barratt on Oct 14, 2019 4:02:30 GMT -5
Sunday October 13th
Backstage at End of Days night 3
We start backstage at End of Days night three. Bobby Barratt walks back through the curtain after his triumphant win over LXW's Jynn. As he does so, staff wearing AWF shirts applaud him. Normally, he’d sneer at such attention from people employed by AWF, but this time something’s different. He wears a grin we haven’t seen from him in a while...especially whole he isn’t holding gold. He shakes a few hands and bumps a few fists as he walks by the crowd, acknowledging the congratulations he is receiving from the crowd. After walking what seems to be for miles and passing fewer and fewer people as the crowds thinned, Bobby finally arrives at his dressing room. He goes to open the door and stops. Something seems off. He frowns as he puts his ear to the door, listening for anything that might be going on inside. After a few seconds the frown disappears from his face and he shrugs before slowly opening the door. We can’t see a thing from outside as the lights are off. Bobby walks into the room and turns to switch on the lights. As they come on, Bobby is ambushed by a guy in a black leather jacket. He goes to fight back before he realises that the guy is none other than his partner in crime Jack Diamond.
Jack: So I guess congratulations are in order!
Bobby looks at Jack, decked out head to toe in his infamous fitted Armani suit.
Bobby: I guess they are. One more go around for the old guy, huh?
Bobby steps forward and he and Jack share the kind of hug you’d expect. Manly and with plenty of back slaps. A few seconds pass and they both take a half step backwards.
Bobby: It's good to see you man. Hows it going?
Jack: You know. Same old, same old. Casino's thriving and Mongo never did make a move on the place.
Bobby: You ever think he would? Guy’s a pussy cat!
Jack: Hey you’re his assistant, says a lot right?
Bobby: Well you’re.... fuck you!
Jack laughs. It’s not often he sees Bobby lost for words.
Jack: You almost went for a mom joke, didn't you?
Bobby: Shut up!
Jack laughs again.
Jack: So... you went out and gave it your all at Fired Up. You came down here tonight and showed the XHF fans that you can still go out and put on a show.... think you’ve got one more blockbuster in ya?
Bobby: Mate, I've not trained harder or been cleaner in my life!
Jack: I've seen. I mean you looked good out there. You conditioning was on par, your stuff hit hard and you came away with the win. If you'd done this a year ago, you'd have been unstoppable!
Bobby: Dude, I was unstoppable! I held a lot of titles last year, but this year hasn't been so hot.
Jack: Yeah. This year hasn't been so hot for you, huh?
Bobby: Too right.
Jack: Why's that?
Bobby: Maybe it's the focus that pinfall and the commissioner gig have pulled?
Jack: You might be right... But I don't think you are.
Jack lets the words hang in the air for a moment. Bobby looks on, waiting for some kind of elaboration on this theory. Jack just stares off into the far corner of the room.
Bobby: Mate, you've got a theory, just out with it already!
Jack: Fine. I was hoping you'd figure this out yourself, but you know what I think your issue is?
Bobby: Nah mate, I mean aren't we just waiting here for a laugh? Of course I want to know!
Jack: You don't want this anymore.
Bobby: The fuck do you mean I don't want this anymore? I took time away from the ring, I got bored. I trained hard, I got my head straight and my life clean. How do I not want this?!
Jack: Well look at your 2018: Two World Championships, One Prestige Championship, One Global Tag Team Championship, End of Days winner, multiple XHF Awards and to top it all off, you left with the X-Crown!
Bobby: Yeah I get it, I rocked the shit out of 2018... And?
Jack: See that's it! You've always been the kind of guy to break ground, blaze a damn trail and let others follow! You've always been the kind of guy that says "what's next?!".... But what's left to do for a guy who's done everything? What stone is left to be unturned by the guy who's flipped every damn rock in the desert?
Bobby: I do it again! I'm up for the X-Crown again and I'm taking another shot at the XHF Tag Team Championships with Rocco Rose!
Jack: Yeah, I don't like that kid.
Bobby: What're you talking about? He came up, apologised and asked for a chance.
Jack: Yeah, I know someone else who would have done that a few years ago in order to get one up on a top guy..... You. I didn't trust you then either.
Bobby: Well I'm trying to see the good in people. See that they can change and don't need to be like I was!
Jack: I hope that works out for you! Anyways... Is that enough? Is ending 2019 in the same position as you did 2018 good enough? Is that enough to keep the fire inside you burning? I'm not getting at you here, I genuinely want to find out.
Tension hangs in the air as Bobby contemplates Jack's words. He practically stares a hole in Jack as he does so.
Jack: Man, I didn't take a flight out here just to shit in your cereal, you know that right? You know I want what's best for you... for all of us. I just wanted to look you in the eye when I said it.
Bobby: But what's the alternative? I hang it up? I go back to copying papers and having a secretary get me coffee? Disappear into the night and let the fucking world move on without me? I've said time and time again that I wouldn't quit until the history books remembered my name. Until I was sure that in 20 years when little Charlie Gumball gets signed and someone asks him who he looked up to growing up, that he names me! I've said it over and over, that I want to be remembered as the best in this fucking business, the guy that had it all and gave every fucking ounce when he hit the ring! The name people would fear landing next to on the running order of a card and the name they'd fucking dream of appearing opposite on a PPV banner! Title reigns are great, we both know that, but when you're set and done, laying up at home living off the money you made from this game, you want to know that the world did not move on without you!
Jack: You saying they've forgotten me?
Bobby: Of course they haven't! We put on one of the best cards of the fucking year with Diamonds are Forever and it was the best send off you could have asked for. I hope you feel that way too! You name went down in the ICW history books as the guy I couldn't beat. What kind of legacy do you get for being the guy that Bobby Barratt couldn't defeat?!
Jack: The guy that he finally overcame when it really mattered....
Bobby: So hit me with it. What kind of legacy do I have now?
Jack: That's not for me to say...
Bobby: Nah, come on. You've come out here to call me out. You wanted to make a point, Jack.... Make it.
Jack: Alright, you want to hear it? Fine. You 2018 was great... It was amazing! You were top of the damn world, Bobby! You could have walked away from this game and been remembered for years to come! But this year... This year you're going a good way to tarnishing that. We lost the tag titles, you lost the X-Crown, you came up short against Anthony Caffrey! You know yourself that your time in this game is limited. You just hit forty! So you've got two choices if you want that legacy you speak so fondly of. You dig down deep, find what gave you the drive to have the year you had this year or you pack up your shit and walk away from this game! Anything other than those two choices goes a long way to destroying the years of driving, fighting, recovering and setting up rings that you talk about! The dues you paid, the pain you've suffered both physically and emotionally!
Bobby looks shocked. He opens his mouth to speak, but he simply has no words for the near brutal stripping down he just got.
Jack: You want all that work to be for nothing? You want people to remember you as a guy who used to be pretty good, but he didn't know when to quit? Someone who just couldn't bare to leave the business and move on, so he sabotaged his own reputation in the process? Talking in the corner of a locker room about how you "COULDA MADE IT, KID!" Bobby, that's the question you need to ask yourself! No one can answer that for you!
Bobby: That's what you think? You think I'm too old to do this anymore?
Jack: I didn't sa-
Bobby: You think I don't have the drive, the determination, the fucking skill to do this at the highest level?! You flew out here to tell me to my face that I need to hang up my boots?
Jack: That's not what I mea-
Bobby: You think that all I'm doing now is undoing my own reputation and the best thing to do would be to take me out back like Old Yeller? Jack, fuck you! You saw me out there! You saw me take another name on my list of wins, you saw me advance to the X-Crown match at End of Days! You know I still have this!
Jack: All I'm saying.... Is the Bobby Barratt I know wouldn't have needed to qualify for this match... Just bare that in mind.
Bobby: Of course he wouldn't! I was draped in gold and no one could touch me! This is me trying to pick myself back up after the year I've had! I'm not dumb enough to think that I could just walk in and throw my toys out of the pram, demanding this and that! After the year I've had... I know I need to earn my way back in! Running through multiple matches at Fired Up proved that they can still strap the company to my back! It proved that I still got this! Sure, I made a mistake trusting Rocco that night and it won't happen again! But this journey I'm on right now? This is about proving that even with a fifteen year disadvantage against most of the guys I face, that not only can I still hang, but I can still do this! That I'm still one of the best, if not THE best around! I'm going into a match with the holder of the X-Crown, Subject 42, Psychotic Goth from over at SWAT and Maverick! I know going into this match that there's a high likelihood that at some point, I'm going to have to cave in the head of the guy that I've been looking out for for the best part of two years! The guy that we left the Icon name to when we upped and walked out of AWF last year! One of the guys that was there to pick my arse up off the ground when Jenny died! That's the fucking burden I have to bear, Jack! That we are going to go into that match, fucking guns blazing and at some point, I'm going to have a choice to make. Do I want this title more? Am I willing to put one of my best fucking friends in the ground in order to win it?
Jack starts to smile a little from the right corner of his mouth as Bobby continues his tirade.
Bobby: That's before we even factor in that no one has managed to take the X-Crown from Subject 42! He merged another title into it and the guy's a fucking monster! I mean seriously, he's bigger, stronger and probably genetically mutated to shit! No one's managed to stop him yet, so what makes me think I can? Do I want to take that chance? Psychotic Goth is a name I haven't heard until this point, but SWAT is legit and they've tore shit up since they came to the Network. So am I going to take him lightly? People still say he murdered his fucking PARENTS!! Of course I'm not going to take him lightly! But you've got the gall to stand there and ask me if I still want this, if I think I have what it takes to come out on top ONE more FUCKING time!? Jack, you're damn right I do!
With that, Bobby stops. The red drains from his face as it returns to a normal colour. Bobby catches his breath, the effort of that rant following a hard fought match is catching up with him. The tension hangs in the air once again for a few seconds before Jack breaks out into a big grin and slow claps Bobby.
Jack: Now THAT is what I wanted to see. That's exactly what I flew out here for. Any other reaction than that, I'd have known it was time, but all I know now.... is that you're ready.
End scene.
Backstage at End of Days night 3
We start backstage at End of Days night three. Bobby Barratt walks back through the curtain after his triumphant win over LXW's Jynn. As he does so, staff wearing AWF shirts applaud him. Normally, he’d sneer at such attention from people employed by AWF, but this time something’s different. He wears a grin we haven’t seen from him in a while...especially whole he isn’t holding gold. He shakes a few hands and bumps a few fists as he walks by the crowd, acknowledging the congratulations he is receiving from the crowd. After walking what seems to be for miles and passing fewer and fewer people as the crowds thinned, Bobby finally arrives at his dressing room. He goes to open the door and stops. Something seems off. He frowns as he puts his ear to the door, listening for anything that might be going on inside. After a few seconds the frown disappears from his face and he shrugs before slowly opening the door. We can’t see a thing from outside as the lights are off. Bobby walks into the room and turns to switch on the lights. As they come on, Bobby is ambushed by a guy in a black leather jacket. He goes to fight back before he realises that the guy is none other than his partner in crime Jack Diamond.
Jack: So I guess congratulations are in order!
Bobby looks at Jack, decked out head to toe in his infamous fitted Armani suit.
Bobby: I guess they are. One more go around for the old guy, huh?
Bobby steps forward and he and Jack share the kind of hug you’d expect. Manly and with plenty of back slaps. A few seconds pass and they both take a half step backwards.
Bobby: It's good to see you man. Hows it going?
Jack: You know. Same old, same old. Casino's thriving and Mongo never did make a move on the place.
Bobby: You ever think he would? Guy’s a pussy cat!
Jack: Hey you’re his assistant, says a lot right?
Bobby: Well you’re.... fuck you!
Jack laughs. It’s not often he sees Bobby lost for words.
Jack: You almost went for a mom joke, didn't you?
Bobby: Shut up!
Jack laughs again.
Jack: So... you went out and gave it your all at Fired Up. You came down here tonight and showed the XHF fans that you can still go out and put on a show.... think you’ve got one more blockbuster in ya?
Bobby: Mate, I've not trained harder or been cleaner in my life!
Jack: I've seen. I mean you looked good out there. You conditioning was on par, your stuff hit hard and you came away with the win. If you'd done this a year ago, you'd have been unstoppable!
Bobby: Dude, I was unstoppable! I held a lot of titles last year, but this year hasn't been so hot.
Jack: Yeah. This year hasn't been so hot for you, huh?
Bobby: Too right.
Jack: Why's that?
Bobby: Maybe it's the focus that pinfall and the commissioner gig have pulled?
Jack: You might be right... But I don't think you are.
Jack lets the words hang in the air for a moment. Bobby looks on, waiting for some kind of elaboration on this theory. Jack just stares off into the far corner of the room.
Bobby: Mate, you've got a theory, just out with it already!
Jack: Fine. I was hoping you'd figure this out yourself, but you know what I think your issue is?
Bobby: Nah mate, I mean aren't we just waiting here for a laugh? Of course I want to know!
Jack: You don't want this anymore.
Bobby: The fuck do you mean I don't want this anymore? I took time away from the ring, I got bored. I trained hard, I got my head straight and my life clean. How do I not want this?!
Jack: Well look at your 2018: Two World Championships, One Prestige Championship, One Global Tag Team Championship, End of Days winner, multiple XHF Awards and to top it all off, you left with the X-Crown!
Bobby: Yeah I get it, I rocked the shit out of 2018... And?
Jack: See that's it! You've always been the kind of guy to break ground, blaze a damn trail and let others follow! You've always been the kind of guy that says "what's next?!".... But what's left to do for a guy who's done everything? What stone is left to be unturned by the guy who's flipped every damn rock in the desert?
Bobby: I do it again! I'm up for the X-Crown again and I'm taking another shot at the XHF Tag Team Championships with Rocco Rose!
Jack: Yeah, I don't like that kid.
Bobby: What're you talking about? He came up, apologised and asked for a chance.
Jack: Yeah, I know someone else who would have done that a few years ago in order to get one up on a top guy..... You. I didn't trust you then either.
Bobby: Well I'm trying to see the good in people. See that they can change and don't need to be like I was!
Jack: I hope that works out for you! Anyways... Is that enough? Is ending 2019 in the same position as you did 2018 good enough? Is that enough to keep the fire inside you burning? I'm not getting at you here, I genuinely want to find out.
Tension hangs in the air as Bobby contemplates Jack's words. He practically stares a hole in Jack as he does so.
Jack: Man, I didn't take a flight out here just to shit in your cereal, you know that right? You know I want what's best for you... for all of us. I just wanted to look you in the eye when I said it.
Bobby: But what's the alternative? I hang it up? I go back to copying papers and having a secretary get me coffee? Disappear into the night and let the fucking world move on without me? I've said time and time again that I wouldn't quit until the history books remembered my name. Until I was sure that in 20 years when little Charlie Gumball gets signed and someone asks him who he looked up to growing up, that he names me! I've said it over and over, that I want to be remembered as the best in this fucking business, the guy that had it all and gave every fucking ounce when he hit the ring! The name people would fear landing next to on the running order of a card and the name they'd fucking dream of appearing opposite on a PPV banner! Title reigns are great, we both know that, but when you're set and done, laying up at home living off the money you made from this game, you want to know that the world did not move on without you!
Jack: You saying they've forgotten me?
Bobby: Of course they haven't! We put on one of the best cards of the fucking year with Diamonds are Forever and it was the best send off you could have asked for. I hope you feel that way too! You name went down in the ICW history books as the guy I couldn't beat. What kind of legacy do you get for being the guy that Bobby Barratt couldn't defeat?!
Jack: The guy that he finally overcame when it really mattered....
Bobby: So hit me with it. What kind of legacy do I have now?
Jack: That's not for me to say...
Bobby: Nah, come on. You've come out here to call me out. You wanted to make a point, Jack.... Make it.
Jack: Alright, you want to hear it? Fine. You 2018 was great... It was amazing! You were top of the damn world, Bobby! You could have walked away from this game and been remembered for years to come! But this year... This year you're going a good way to tarnishing that. We lost the tag titles, you lost the X-Crown, you came up short against Anthony Caffrey! You know yourself that your time in this game is limited. You just hit forty! So you've got two choices if you want that legacy you speak so fondly of. You dig down deep, find what gave you the drive to have the year you had this year or you pack up your shit and walk away from this game! Anything other than those two choices goes a long way to destroying the years of driving, fighting, recovering and setting up rings that you talk about! The dues you paid, the pain you've suffered both physically and emotionally!
Bobby looks shocked. He opens his mouth to speak, but he simply has no words for the near brutal stripping down he just got.
Jack: You want all that work to be for nothing? You want people to remember you as a guy who used to be pretty good, but he didn't know when to quit? Someone who just couldn't bare to leave the business and move on, so he sabotaged his own reputation in the process? Talking in the corner of a locker room about how you "COULDA MADE IT, KID!" Bobby, that's the question you need to ask yourself! No one can answer that for you!
Bobby: That's what you think? You think I'm too old to do this anymore?
Jack: I didn't sa-
Bobby: You think I don't have the drive, the determination, the fucking skill to do this at the highest level?! You flew out here to tell me to my face that I need to hang up my boots?
Jack: That's not what I mea-
Bobby: You think that all I'm doing now is undoing my own reputation and the best thing to do would be to take me out back like Old Yeller? Jack, fuck you! You saw me out there! You saw me take another name on my list of wins, you saw me advance to the X-Crown match at End of Days! You know I still have this!
Jack: All I'm saying.... Is the Bobby Barratt I know wouldn't have needed to qualify for this match... Just bare that in mind.
Bobby: Of course he wouldn't! I was draped in gold and no one could touch me! This is me trying to pick myself back up after the year I've had! I'm not dumb enough to think that I could just walk in and throw my toys out of the pram, demanding this and that! After the year I've had... I know I need to earn my way back in! Running through multiple matches at Fired Up proved that they can still strap the company to my back! It proved that I still got this! Sure, I made a mistake trusting Rocco that night and it won't happen again! But this journey I'm on right now? This is about proving that even with a fifteen year disadvantage against most of the guys I face, that not only can I still hang, but I can still do this! That I'm still one of the best, if not THE best around! I'm going into a match with the holder of the X-Crown, Subject 42, Psychotic Goth from over at SWAT and Maverick! I know going into this match that there's a high likelihood that at some point, I'm going to have to cave in the head of the guy that I've been looking out for for the best part of two years! The guy that we left the Icon name to when we upped and walked out of AWF last year! One of the guys that was there to pick my arse up off the ground when Jenny died! That's the fucking burden I have to bear, Jack! That we are going to go into that match, fucking guns blazing and at some point, I'm going to have a choice to make. Do I want this title more? Am I willing to put one of my best fucking friends in the ground in order to win it?
Jack starts to smile a little from the right corner of his mouth as Bobby continues his tirade.
Bobby: That's before we even factor in that no one has managed to take the X-Crown from Subject 42! He merged another title into it and the guy's a fucking monster! I mean seriously, he's bigger, stronger and probably genetically mutated to shit! No one's managed to stop him yet, so what makes me think I can? Do I want to take that chance? Psychotic Goth is a name I haven't heard until this point, but SWAT is legit and they've tore shit up since they came to the Network. So am I going to take him lightly? People still say he murdered his fucking PARENTS!! Of course I'm not going to take him lightly! But you've got the gall to stand there and ask me if I still want this, if I think I have what it takes to come out on top ONE more FUCKING time!? Jack, you're damn right I do!
With that, Bobby stops. The red drains from his face as it returns to a normal colour. Bobby catches his breath, the effort of that rant following a hard fought match is catching up with him. The tension hangs in the air once again for a few seconds before Jack breaks out into a big grin and slow claps Bobby.
Jack: Now THAT is what I wanted to see. That's exactly what I flew out here for. Any other reaction than that, I'd have known it was time, but all I know now.... is that you're ready.
End scene.
