Post by Mav. on Apr 29, 2020 21:43:19 GMT -5
PRUDENTIAL CENTER - Newark, New Jersey
The scene opens up backstage as we’re met with Maverick walking through Gorilla Position with frustration on his face as he makes his way to the doctor’s office where he finds Shawn Hughes still being treated for the chair shot to the head he took from Howell. He throws his Undisputed Championship down onto the floor as he walks into the room as doctors insert staples into his head. A second doctor walks over to Maverick and holds him in place before speaking.
Doctor: Sir, would you mind stepping out of the room until we’re finished?
Maverick’s frustration begins to boil but he keeps his temper calm and collected as he picks up his championship and heads out of the room. Once the doctor closes the door behind him, he slings the championship over his shoulder and makes his way to the locker room. For the first time in a long time, he feels like a targeted man as he walks through the backstage area. Upon Maverick making it to the locker room, Hannah comes running over just as his hand comes into contact with the door handle.
Hannah Kehoe: What the fuck happened out there?!
Maverick: I’ve no idea, I don’t know why Howell is the referee for my match! Who does Wallace think he is pulling that shit? I’m the one being targeted for trying to be the good guy in all of this, I’m trying to give this title a good reputation and this shit is pulled. It’s fucking bullshit.
Hannah Kehoe: Where’s Shawn? I saw what happened but they wouldn’t let me near him.
Maverick: He’s getting staples put into the back of his head. I have to wait until they’re done to even see him or talk to him. That was his best friend who attacked him, someone he sided with for years! I don’t know who’s trying to fuck us over but right now, the three of us are targeted by management and the roster. Everyone seems to want my head on a silver platter.
Hannah Kehoe: You’d expect that because you’re the holder of that belt.
Maverick: No, Hannah, this is way different. My one and only title reign as a fucking World Champion is at stake and the odds are screaming for Eddie Kovacs. I’m not going to let them fuck me over like this, they wanted a war? Well now they’ve fucking got one.
Hannah Kehoe: Jay, you said you’ll change your ways. Don’t let them get into your head like that!
Maverick shakes his head in disagreement to what Hannah had to say, he once again grabs the door handle and opens the door to the locker room. Throwing his championship onto the couch, he grabs his suitcase and gear bag and places both of them onto the nearby cheap and plastic table in the room.
Hannah Kehoe: What about Shawn? Are you just gonna leave him there without a goodbye?
Maverick: Right now, I just want to leave this fucking building, I just want to leave this shithole of a State. I just want to go fucking home, okay?
Hannah Kehoe: At least let Shawn know, for fuck sake.
Maverick: You tell him then! Fucking yapping in my ear about Shawn. At this moment, I just don’t fucking care!
Maverick’s tone has increased and it spooks Hannah, leaving her visibly shaken but Maverick doesn’t even take notice. He’s seeing red after everything that happened tonight. Maverick begins to undress into his casual clothing and placing his ring gear into his gear bag, he grabs his championship and places it inside of his suitcase. Maverick pauses, thinking back to what he said to Hannah and the tone he used, he turns to apologize but she’s already gone. We cut to Hannah walking her way to the doctor’s office with her head lowered, not looking up as she bumps into someone along the way, that person being Shawn Hughes.
Shawn Hughes: Hannah. What’s wrong?
Hannah Kehoe: It’s Jay, it’s his temper… He’s snapped.
Shawn Hughes: What happened? I couldn’t see anything.
Hannah Kehoe: The match at Battle of New York has a Special Referee and it’s Howell. Eddie Wallace made the call for it to happen.
Shawn Hughes: Shit… Shit… Shit. ( He pauses for a moment. ) Where is he now?
Hannah Kehoe: Who?
Shawn Hughes: Jay, where is he?
Hannah Kehoe: ...in the locker room packing shit up. He sent me to tell you we’re leaving, he just wants out of here.
Shawn Hughes: Come on.
Shawn gently grabs Hannah’s hand as the both head towards the locker room. Once they make it there, Shawn is the first to enter and stands at the doorway, as if he’s blocking it off.
Shawn Hughes: Let’s talk about this before you leave, okay?
Maverick: If you insist…
Maverick drops his gear bag and takes a seat down onto the couch. Shawn walks into the room and is followed shortly after by Hannah. Maverick looks up at Hannah with an apologetic look in his eyes but she’s having none of it. Shawn looks down at Maverick, crouching down until he’s at an even eye level with him.
Shawn Hughes: Why are you running? Why are you running away? Is that what World Champions do?
Maverick: No, they don’t.
Shawn Hughes: So why the fuck are you doing it? Are you going to run away from everything and give it up because the odds are against you? You fought in the chamber and won it, yet you’re running from a Special Guest Referee and corrupted management? ( Shawn shakes his head in disappointment. ) I expected better from you, Jay, I really did.
Maverick: Ever heard of Anxiety? That’s what I felt walking through that entire backstage portion of the arena, all eyes were on me and not in the way I had hoped.
Shawn Hughes: You’re paranoid. Two weeks that hasn’t been going your way and now you feel like the whole world is against you, I know the feeling although I can’t say I’ve felt it personally but from what many have told me. Jason, I’m telling you now, don’t fucking run. What’s that showing Kovacs and Howell? What’s that going to prove you to be?
Maverick sighs, knowing the answer but he refuses to say it. Shawn slaps Maverick across the face and leaves him stunned from the slap. Maverick holds his jaw, looking at Shawn with a wide-opened mouth.
Shawn Hughes: What does that make you, Jason?
Maverick: A c- coward.
Shawn nods, standing back up straight.
Shawn Hughes: Because the shows are over, I’ll let you go. But next time, don’t fucking run. You’re stronger than that and you know that yourself, Jay. ( He says as he points to Maverick ) I’ll see you around.
Shawn forcefully shakes Maverick’s hand before walking out of the room, both Maverick and Hannah are stunned by Shawn’s actions but Maverick knows that it’s worked. He grabs his bags and gestures for Hannah to leave as the scene cuts to black.
LOCATION UNKNOWN - Somewhere in Ireland
The scene re-opens inside of a forested area in the South East of Ireland as the sounds of crackling sticks are heard with the camera panning around to find Maverick and the XHW Undisputed Championship resting over his shoulder. No Hannah or Shawn to accompany him this time as he stands in place, taking a deep breath and soaks in the silence.
Maverick: If you asked me about a year ago I would have been Undisputed Champion after ten whole months into a new promotion I joined, I would have laughed in your face. Never would I have expected to be here, talking to you fans out there, and being apart of something I love with this resting along my shoulders. ( Pointing to the XHW Undisputed Championship ) Now everyone knows that my career skyrocketed here in XHW, that in itself is no secret whatsoever. But what if your entire run up is now in jeopardy because of one malicious man with a higher power and then two men who are out for blood and would wound the living just to take what they want. That’s exactly how Wallace has Howell and Kovacs wrapped around his finger.
Maverick points a finger up in the air.
Maverick: And that one man would do anything it takes to make sure I don’t make it out of the Pay Per View as the Champion, including making someone who’s been a thorn in my side for the last month be the referee to my title match. It’s insane, isn’t it? Once again, the odds are against me and this time, it’s ninety-five percent advantage to the opponent than myself. Eddie Kovacs, you don’t realize how easy you have this match won. You’ve got Howell at the helm of this match and if I know that bastard any better than you… He’ll comply to your commands of bending the rules entirely. But answer this for me, Kovacs, could you have done the same without any advantages like these? ( He pauses for a moment ) Eddie, it’s hard for me to say that I’ve no help at Battle of New York because it’s true. There’s no Shawn Hughes, there’s not five other men trying to beat down the Champion, and there’s no crowbar-swinging David Arnold to attack you from nowhere and help me. It’s hard for me to tell you that you are more than likely going to walk out of The Garden with my belt… But I’ve come to acceptance.
Maverick closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before shooting his eyes open and looking dead into the lens of the camera.
Maverick: The acceptance that I’m going to prove myself wrong, the odds wrong, and you wrong. Eddie, I’m going to give you the fucking beating you deserve, and you want to know why? Of course you do. You see, Eddie, I watched you win that All or Nothing Battle Royal and I watched you walk into SuperBrawl and win this exact championship. I know the exact person you are. You’re sick, sadistic and downright disturbing to even look at. You’ve done everything you wanted, you were handed opportunities, gifted these men just to physically do bodily harm to them. All to scar them? How pathetic.
He shakes his head and clicks his tongue.
Maverick: You act like a horror villain, if the man behind the paint wasn’t so much of a fucking pussy to fight for himself. And that’s exactly what you are, Eddie, you’re a fucking coward. Getting others into your fights now just to help you? This isn’t the Eddie Kovacs of about six months ago. That Kovacs actually put effort into his fights, not let others put him off his game and give him the leading advantage. Now… The Eddie Kovacs of today kisses more ass than Howell when he was teaming with me.
He gives off a slight smirk towards the camera.
Maverick: All you see in me, Eddie, is pure fucking success. That’s what I’m draped in after all… right? Trust me, Eddie, I’ve heard many a tale of the man who flew too high he burned. Back at home, there’s plenty a tale like that but what you don’t see, Eddie, is that I am immune to the sun. Quite frankly, I am the sun and you’re the one approaching at such an increased rate you don’t even fucking realize how burned you’ll get, and inside the Chamber proved that. YOU were the one with the wax wings, you were the one who thought he was too good for his own sake until he came too close to the sun and fell to his own demise… But with you, Eddie, you hung on. Hanging on the coattails of a true and deserving Champion, a real successor and the best this fucking roster- No. This entire fucking promotion has ever laid their eyes upon.
His voice gets grittier over time as he begins to gently squint his eyes with every sentence.
Maverick: I said it when I came here, the weekend you won that Battle Royal, that this title would be mine before the year ended. Nobody believed me and nobody cared for it, I was just a kid looking for attention, wasn’t I? That was until I was able to show you what I really could do in the ring. Didn’t I exceed your expectations? Haven’t I done things you wouldn’t have thought I’d do? Eddie, I’m a fucking magician to the ring. I’ve amazed many and showed them that with the odds stacked… You can’t put me down. Nobody expected me to win my first Pride Championship until I did it. Nobody expected me to beat Leon Washington for the United States Championship until I did it. And you know what happened in the chamber, I was the dark horse of it all, nobody and not even you would have guessed I’d be holding this Championship right now.
He takes the Championship up off of his shoulder and raises it up high with his right arm.
Maverick: If anyone’s got experience with the odds and how to beat them, Eddie, it’s the man you’re going to be facing for this. I’ve done things you could only fucking wish you done. Who held two fucking championships, not just two championships, but two SINGLES Championships at the same time? Who’s had the biggest success story of this year alone? Who’s been the man everyone’s been talking about this whole time? Eddie, can you take a few guesses? ( His voice gets louder ) Who’s been winning each and every single fucking he’s entered a match, only losing a very slight few matches? And who’s the man with the Undisputed Championship held over his fucking head? Eddie… It’s me, I’ve been doing all of this whilst you’ve been sitting on your fucking backside watching me do it all.
He changes his tone to a more calm demeanor.
Maverick: I’ve been able to run my mouth about all of this because I can, I’ve been able to shout it out that I’m a successful wrestler because I am exactly that. Battle of New York, we’re going to tear the fucking building down and I don’t mean with pure skill… I mean I’m going to break that glass jaw of yours and show you who the real man is. If it comes down to breaking the rules a few times, then that’s going to be your own demise. You made the mistake of even coming back for this belt, you made the mistake of even coming for the rematch and you’ll burn once again, just like what happened in the Chamber.
Maverick lets out a sinister laugh, showing teeth with a crooked smile along his face.
Maverick: And with the odds in your favor, Eddie, it should be your win but that won’t be the case. You’ll simply fall… until you end up dead.
End Transmission.