Hedge Your Bets (Rumble Promo #1)
Apr 2, 2020 7:33:39 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer, Justin, and 2 more like this
Post by Cross Recoba on Apr 2, 2020 7:33:39 GMT -5
Sometimes, the beauty of privacy was understated. The freedom unrivalled, the choice unlimited, and the time invaluable. In this moment though, everything was magnified. The silence became deafening, the endless choices were tiring, and the elasticity of time had turned into a box-ticking exercise he imagined most prisoners could relate to.
The stress ball was sent to the wall and returned to his right hand. Once more it was cast but this time he plucked it out of the air with his left. He could tell himself this was his attempt at trying to turn everything he did into training but that was stretching even his talent at selling a half-truth.
He looked over to the other side of the couch and scanned the names on the list he’d made. Lizette Miracle, Kira Izumi, and Brad Swann were next for the viewing party but he knew that soon he’d hit a realisation that they were all much of a muchness, what so highlight reels really tell you?
In the background hummed the endless chatter of what counted for a twenty-four-hour news cycle. He cycled between FOX, CNN, and, for news from the Motherland, Rai News24. None of it was uplifting on the least, but still, it remained his background noise of choice, for now.
The Rai feed held the most value for the road ahead, while the news from the White House washed the furore over in a sea of failed spin, xenophobia, and attacks at whoever stepped forward to question it. There had been rumours that the event was going to be taken away from Italy but Recoba hoped they were unfounded.
In any other place on Earth, if Cross heard himself getting cheered he’d feel like he wasn’t doing his job properly but in Italy, he was a folk hero and he was going to do nothing to discourage it. He’d never publicize it but for his last appearance in Italy, eighteen months previous, he’d footed the bill for the entire village his family came from in Sicily to watch him at the Futsal Arena in Rome. Acts like that didn’t make for people that were easy to boo, so he’d funnelled the money through a couple of friends’ accounts to make for a harder trace.
The last time was his first pay-per-view for Valor Pro Wrestling, this time would be his first XHF Event. A chance to prove to Jackson Steele that he belonged in the main-events not when the members of LGBTKO that counted wanted the night off, but every night. A chance to show Chris Card that he was now the leading member of High Finance after his time away from the team had taken him around the globe. More importantly, he wasn’t going to be the Box Office Smash of the AWF, he was going to extend it to the entirety of the XHF Network.
The backlight on his laptop flickered into life milliseconds before the sound had a chance to catch-up signifying an incoming Skype call. She could wait, it was harsh but sadly, true. Her decision to stay in Arizona before driving to Vegas was one that she’d have to live with for the time being, she knew that this match was for what he coveted most in the XHF Network.
His phone jingled into life, glancing down he saw the message from his partner.
The issue with communication is that there has to be context. Otherwise, who cares whether you say? He’d get back to working out whatever riddle was hidden within the message later. He looked back over his laptop and decided that now was the best time, if ever there was one, to utilize his YouTube channel. He opened up the site and took a deep breath, he knew he was inviting idiots to think they had an opinion. Once more his phone sounded off, this time from an old school friend on Twitter.
He clicked the link and watched as the former AWF member spent an agonizing amount of time trying to prove he was the smartest guy in the room. Which, when you’re a company of one, smacks more of desperation than it does of actual talent. He heard the namedrop and smiled to himself as Dakota’s message finally rang true.
Satisfied, he clicked and saw the light on his laptop go green.
“Welcome to the beginning of what I set out to do when someone told me all about this..”
Cross reached down and brought the HCW Diamond Title into view.
“...for years this has spent its time on the mantelpiece in my office. A title from a company I joined that held one show and shut its doors, a nice memory but let’s not kid ourselves - what does it mean, really? The answer, until I came to Ascension Wrestling, was nothing beyond the fact that, as always, I proved that I’m the best wrestler on the continent! Then someone went and made the mistake of telling me that the XHF Network wanted to add it to their X Crown Title, bringing the number of belts that it was comprised of to twenty-two. Sounds great for them, doesn’t it?”
Cross’ face drops the joviality.
“Of course, they made the mistake of telling me I could turn it over and get a shot at the XHF Phoenix Title...a title that stopped being relevant the minute that Natasha lost it. Who is Aiden Merric? Who is Xialong in the grand scheme of things? So, I took the only course of action that made sense. At Road to Victory, I let the world know that there was one way I was going to surrender this belt and it was when I got a shot at the X Crown itself…”
The Diamond title is placed back, out of shot. Cross takes a quick sip from the glass of water by the laptop and continues.
“So, the question you’re all asking is ‘Why bother entering the Rumble when you have a title-shot in your back pocket?’. It’s a valid one but let’s break this down a little. I offered Sainovic an opportunity to come onto Ascension television, sign a contract, and he could get the chance to be the champion who added to the title’s history. Instead, and not surprisingly for someone who has all the social skills of a Turkey on Thanksgiving Eve, he shied away. I tried to do this with some decorum and class but instead, Zoran decided that he’d rather compete in classics like the Blanket Fort Deathmatch and calling out Bobby Barnett, which is great but shall we try and aim above the bare minimum? Maybe realize that I’m the reason that Bobby Barnett is off nursing his wounds and not being in the match? I’ve got something planned for you, tune into Prestige Fifty and you can find out what awaits you in the match!
I can see the allure for him though, who’s his competition in SWAT? Caffrey? The man who has an answer for everything except how to win the big match . How’s life outside of Ascension treating you? I mean, from what I can gather you either got chokebombed out of the company by Natasha or the other rumor is true...you realized that you’d never better Seth Dillinger and took your ball and ran home to Moma Caffrey! Go on, Hot Shot, tell me which one it is - we’re all friends here. Although, I need to ask - if you did manage to win this year’s Rumble, would it always have an asterisk next to it in your head? After all, without Seth Dillinger there does it mean as much? Or do we go for the more likely eventuality? That if we had to list your talents inside the ring by their strength that ‘choke artist’ would rank the highest?
Go on, Anthony, go nuts with what I just said, break it down so that you can show just how smart you are! Attaboy! After all, who am I to you? Just another name in the hat, right?
Maybe it’s time for a bit of a whirlwind tour of who the fuck I am. Do you think Chris Card wastes his time on dead prospects? I’m the guy who answered his call, when he told me I’d get to put Bobby Barrett, he who gave the mantelpiece decoration that started off this quest for the X Crown, down and out like he deserved I could hardly say no, could I? After all, when I last teamed with Card I was just a rookie looking to make a name for himself and now?
Now, what you’ll see at the XHF Rumble is someone who gave Cosmo Cooper his only loss in Valor Pro, that made opportunities where they didn’t exist and main-evented shows across five continents. I’m undefeated since last June and what does that all mean? It means that for all the cocksure words, I can back it up. For all the people in the match who watch this and think they see a blowhard, be careful making assumptions. For those tuning in for the next XHF Supershow - be ready to christen your new Champion!”
Cross moves the camera round to a wall full of magazine covers, all featuring himself, naitch.
“I took out a double-champion Barratt, I’ve already taken notice of his partner, Jack Diamond, and if he’s still in the match when I am - I’ll take great delight in letting him get an early shower. I was recruited by another double-champion, trust me when I say this...I intend to make sure that Destiny, SWAT, GUNS, and every other company competing realize what an ABSOLUTE STEAL I was when I signed with Ascension!”
The smile comes back on Cross’ face, he runs a hand lazily through his hair.
“To any of you betting, ask yourself this - who seems the best place to invest your money? Tarrasque? He’ll be lucky if he comes out with any knees from a Scaffold match that only an absolute moron would agree to, let alone this close to the Rumble. Bloodied Fox? He’s spending most of his time trying to play Mother to the rest of LGBTKO. What about Rat Bastard? When he won the first X Crown it was in a field of amateurs. After that, what about the independents? Let’s be clear, if they were anything to talk about wouldn’t they have been here before? Wouldn’t someone have signed them up? This isn’t a Cinderella story, despite what people might try to tell you.”
Cross grabs some tape from a bag and starts to absent-mindedly wraps it around his hands.
“When my music hits I’ll have one thing in mind, fight smart. I’ve made a career on using my brain to get the win, I can wrestle but why spend five minutes doing something that you can achieve just as well in five seconds? I’m a blonde Italian-American, trust me when I tell you that I’ve been in my fair share of brawls and that’s all this is going to be. Don’t expect me to spend my time working a hold when choking them out with the ropes and sending them to the floor is a quicker route to what I want.”
He switches the tape in his hands.
“Diamond, don’t think I haven’t made special plans for you - High Finance don’t just come together when it suits, we know that LGBTKO are in a state of disarray and what better way to get a shot at the AWF tag-titles than a win over ‘The Icons’...”
Cross can be seen rolling his eyes at their name.
“But, seeing as Bobby Boy is on the shelf I’ll have to settle for the next best thing - seeing you flying over the ropes and realizing that third time is never a charm!”
Cross laughs to himself at the thought.
“I almost forgot, I’m guessing what you all want to know is - what if it boils down to Chris and me in the ring? We’re not drawing up a Gentleman’s Agreement, there aren’t going to be any team orders. It will fall down to which one of us is the better man of the night, sorry to disappoint as I’m certain that someone, somewhere, would be stupid enough to suggest that we’re simple enough that seeds of doubt can be planted.”
Cross pulls back the cuff of his shirt and checks his watch.
“There are at least eighteen more days, fans, you’re sure to see what I’ve just said ripped apart, as much as you’re likely to realize I’ve been contracted to do more of these, just ask yourself this question - who else in the XHF looks better with gold than the AWF Box Office Smash, Cross Recoba?”
Cross presses a button and the video comes to an end.
The stress ball was sent to the wall and returned to his right hand. Once more it was cast but this time he plucked it out of the air with his left. He could tell himself this was his attempt at trying to turn everything he did into training but that was stretching even his talent at selling a half-truth.
He looked over to the other side of the couch and scanned the names on the list he’d made. Lizette Miracle, Kira Izumi, and Brad Swann were next for the viewing party but he knew that soon he’d hit a realisation that they were all much of a muchness, what so highlight reels really tell you?
In the background hummed the endless chatter of what counted for a twenty-four-hour news cycle. He cycled between FOX, CNN, and, for news from the Motherland, Rai News24. None of it was uplifting on the least, but still, it remained his background noise of choice, for now.
The Rai feed held the most value for the road ahead, while the news from the White House washed the furore over in a sea of failed spin, xenophobia, and attacks at whoever stepped forward to question it. There had been rumours that the event was going to be taken away from Italy but Recoba hoped they were unfounded.
In any other place on Earth, if Cross heard himself getting cheered he’d feel like he wasn’t doing his job properly but in Italy, he was a folk hero and he was going to do nothing to discourage it. He’d never publicize it but for his last appearance in Italy, eighteen months previous, he’d footed the bill for the entire village his family came from in Sicily to watch him at the Futsal Arena in Rome. Acts like that didn’t make for people that were easy to boo, so he’d funnelled the money through a couple of friends’ accounts to make for a harder trace.
The last time was his first pay-per-view for Valor Pro Wrestling, this time would be his first XHF Event. A chance to prove to Jackson Steele that he belonged in the main-events not when the members of LGBTKO that counted wanted the night off, but every night. A chance to show Chris Card that he was now the leading member of High Finance after his time away from the team had taken him around the globe. More importantly, he wasn’t going to be the Box Office Smash of the AWF, he was going to extend it to the entirety of the XHF Network.
The backlight on his laptop flickered into life milliseconds before the sound had a chance to catch-up signifying an incoming Skype call. She could wait, it was harsh but sadly, true. Her decision to stay in Arizona before driving to Vegas was one that she’d have to live with for the time being, she knew that this match was for what he coveted most in the XHF Network.
His phone jingled into life, glancing down he saw the message from his partner.
The issue with communication is that there has to be context. Otherwise, who cares whether you say? He’d get back to working out whatever riddle was hidden within the message later. He looked back over his laptop and decided that now was the best time, if ever there was one, to utilize his YouTube channel. He opened up the site and took a deep breath, he knew he was inviting idiots to think they had an opinion. Once more his phone sounded off, this time from an old school friend on Twitter.
He clicked the link and watched as the former AWF member spent an agonizing amount of time trying to prove he was the smartest guy in the room. Which, when you’re a company of one, smacks more of desperation than it does of actual talent. He heard the namedrop and smiled to himself as Dakota’s message finally rang true.
Satisfied, he clicked and saw the light on his laptop go green.
“Welcome to the beginning of what I set out to do when someone told me all about this..”
Cross reached down and brought the HCW Diamond Title into view.
“...for years this has spent its time on the mantelpiece in my office. A title from a company I joined that held one show and shut its doors, a nice memory but let’s not kid ourselves - what does it mean, really? The answer, until I came to Ascension Wrestling, was nothing beyond the fact that, as always, I proved that I’m the best wrestler on the continent! Then someone went and made the mistake of telling me that the XHF Network wanted to add it to their X Crown Title, bringing the number of belts that it was comprised of to twenty-two. Sounds great for them, doesn’t it?”
Cross’ face drops the joviality.
“Of course, they made the mistake of telling me I could turn it over and get a shot at the XHF Phoenix Title...a title that stopped being relevant the minute that Natasha lost it. Who is Aiden Merric? Who is Xialong in the grand scheme of things? So, I took the only course of action that made sense. At Road to Victory, I let the world know that there was one way I was going to surrender this belt and it was when I got a shot at the X Crown itself…”
The Diamond title is placed back, out of shot. Cross takes a quick sip from the glass of water by the laptop and continues.
“So, the question you’re all asking is ‘Why bother entering the Rumble when you have a title-shot in your back pocket?’. It’s a valid one but let’s break this down a little. I offered Sainovic an opportunity to come onto Ascension television, sign a contract, and he could get the chance to be the champion who added to the title’s history. Instead, and not surprisingly for someone who has all the social skills of a Turkey on Thanksgiving Eve, he shied away. I tried to do this with some decorum and class but instead, Zoran decided that he’d rather compete in classics like the Blanket Fort Deathmatch and calling out Bobby Barnett, which is great but shall we try and aim above the bare minimum? Maybe realize that I’m the reason that Bobby Barnett is off nursing his wounds and not being in the match? I’ve got something planned for you, tune into Prestige Fifty and you can find out what awaits you in the match!
I can see the allure for him though, who’s his competition in SWAT? Caffrey? The man who has an answer for everything except how to win the big match . How’s life outside of Ascension treating you? I mean, from what I can gather you either got chokebombed out of the company by Natasha or the other rumor is true...you realized that you’d never better Seth Dillinger and took your ball and ran home to Moma Caffrey! Go on, Hot Shot, tell me which one it is - we’re all friends here. Although, I need to ask - if you did manage to win this year’s Rumble, would it always have an asterisk next to it in your head? After all, without Seth Dillinger there does it mean as much? Or do we go for the more likely eventuality? That if we had to list your talents inside the ring by their strength that ‘choke artist’ would rank the highest?
Go on, Anthony, go nuts with what I just said, break it down so that you can show just how smart you are! Attaboy! After all, who am I to you? Just another name in the hat, right?
Maybe it’s time for a bit of a whirlwind tour of who the fuck I am. Do you think Chris Card wastes his time on dead prospects? I’m the guy who answered his call, when he told me I’d get to put Bobby Barrett, he who gave the mantelpiece decoration that started off this quest for the X Crown, down and out like he deserved I could hardly say no, could I? After all, when I last teamed with Card I was just a rookie looking to make a name for himself and now?
Now, what you’ll see at the XHF Rumble is someone who gave Cosmo Cooper his only loss in Valor Pro, that made opportunities where they didn’t exist and main-evented shows across five continents. I’m undefeated since last June and what does that all mean? It means that for all the cocksure words, I can back it up. For all the people in the match who watch this and think they see a blowhard, be careful making assumptions. For those tuning in for the next XHF Supershow - be ready to christen your new Champion!”
Cross moves the camera round to a wall full of magazine covers, all featuring himself, naitch.
“I took out a double-champion Barratt, I’ve already taken notice of his partner, Jack Diamond, and if he’s still in the match when I am - I’ll take great delight in letting him get an early shower. I was recruited by another double-champion, trust me when I say this...I intend to make sure that Destiny, SWAT, GUNS, and every other company competing realize what an ABSOLUTE STEAL I was when I signed with Ascension!”
The smile comes back on Cross’ face, he runs a hand lazily through his hair.
“To any of you betting, ask yourself this - who seems the best place to invest your money? Tarrasque? He’ll be lucky if he comes out with any knees from a Scaffold match that only an absolute moron would agree to, let alone this close to the Rumble. Bloodied Fox? He’s spending most of his time trying to play Mother to the rest of LGBTKO. What about Rat Bastard? When he won the first X Crown it was in a field of amateurs. After that, what about the independents? Let’s be clear, if they were anything to talk about wouldn’t they have been here before? Wouldn’t someone have signed them up? This isn’t a Cinderella story, despite what people might try to tell you.”
Cross grabs some tape from a bag and starts to absent-mindedly wraps it around his hands.
“When my music hits I’ll have one thing in mind, fight smart. I’ve made a career on using my brain to get the win, I can wrestle but why spend five minutes doing something that you can achieve just as well in five seconds? I’m a blonde Italian-American, trust me when I tell you that I’ve been in my fair share of brawls and that’s all this is going to be. Don’t expect me to spend my time working a hold when choking them out with the ropes and sending them to the floor is a quicker route to what I want.”
He switches the tape in his hands.
“Diamond, don’t think I haven’t made special plans for you - High Finance don’t just come together when it suits, we know that LGBTKO are in a state of disarray and what better way to get a shot at the AWF tag-titles than a win over ‘The Icons’...”
Cross can be seen rolling his eyes at their name.
“But, seeing as Bobby Boy is on the shelf I’ll have to settle for the next best thing - seeing you flying over the ropes and realizing that third time is never a charm!”
Cross laughs to himself at the thought.
“I almost forgot, I’m guessing what you all want to know is - what if it boils down to Chris and me in the ring? We’re not drawing up a Gentleman’s Agreement, there aren’t going to be any team orders. It will fall down to which one of us is the better man of the night, sorry to disappoint as I’m certain that someone, somewhere, would be stupid enough to suggest that we’re simple enough that seeds of doubt can be planted.”
Cross pulls back the cuff of his shirt and checks his watch.
“There are at least eighteen more days, fans, you’re sure to see what I’ve just said ripped apart, as much as you’re likely to realize I’ve been contracted to do more of these, just ask yourself this question - who else in the XHF looks better with gold than the AWF Box Office Smash, Cross Recoba?”
Cross presses a button and the video comes to an end.
