Post by Solomon Graham on Aug 31, 2020 20:00:22 GMT -5
We open with a first person view. Whoever is holding the camera is standing outside of a house. It’s a white house, with a picket fence… or at least… it seems that’s what it used to be. It seems that time has been… unkind to this house, as it’s falling apart, the white has faded into more of a grey colour, and the fence is broken and vandalised, with various different phrases written on it.
“This… this is where it all happened. This… is where I first learned how to wrestle, how to properly achieve greatness.”
The man holding the camera makes his way through the broken fence and into the backyard. It’s a decently big yard, with enough space to hold a large variety of things. However, the ground, which seems to have once had grass on it, is now just dirt and soil. There’s a deck in this yard… and it looks just as unsafe to stand on as the house seems to enter. Our cameraman points to the space beyond the deck.
“You see that, there?”
He continues to hold his arm up.
“That… is the exact space that I would play wrestle in. Not a basement… but right there. In my father’s ring, LONG before he and his brothers moved it to the Academy. So many memories, right here, in this exact spot.”
At that point, he lowers his arm and turns around so that he is now in the camera shot… and as it turns out, the man behind the camera… was Solomon Graham!
“This… is where it all began. My journey to become the cream of the crop. And now… I stand before you, a man. A man who would risk his life for this business, and a man who wouldn’t allow death to stop him. I stand before you… as the man who will be the NEXT… North American Cruiserweight champion… and when I get my hands on that championship, I will set the standards for this division!”
He pauses for a moment, realizing what's just happened… he's slipped into the proper head space and now, he knows what to do... but then, he covers his eyes with his left hand, as he was unprepared for that…
“Yeah… this is getting a bit more personal than I would’ve liked, but hey…”
He removes his hand from his eyes.
“I had to come back here. I had to see this. I had… to rediscover who I am. And seeing what time has done to this place… is more than enough to help me realize. And I’m glad that y’all could come along for the journey. Thanks…”
He gives a slight smile… before ending the recording.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We then open on a brand new shot. Solomon is sitting on a red couch in what seems to be a living room. Behind him, on the walls, are various different posters for various different wrestlers. Guys such as Lee Stevens, Lynx, and two other posters, both of which have been torn to bits, though we can just barely make out that those two posters are for his two greatest rivals: ALPHA and current FWA Professional Wrestling champion, Duncan Aries.
“Folks, the footage you just saw was taken two days ago, when I was going through a bit of a "rough patch" of self doubt (most of you can relate, I’m sure). But now, now that I've seen that house and now that I've had a few days to stew for a bit... I’m back to my usual, asskickin’ self, and my next opponent in NPW… is Lynx.
“Now, Lynx… There is no doubt in my mind that you are a great Professional Wrestler. Hell, I’d even go as far as to say that one day, very soon, you will be in a prominent place and hell, there may even be championship gold involved. But as for right now, at this moment in time? Now, I know that you love your dreams, but unfortunately for you, I'm about to KILL those dreams. DEAD!
“Because you see, you’re stepping into the ring with one of the most vicious combatants in Eastern Canada, and I can assure you that I will NOT let you walk away with the victory so easily. You want to win, you want to earn your place in that title match? Then you can try and take it from me!
“And in order to do that, you’re going to have to damn near kill me. Want the proof? Go back and watch my Three Stages of Hell match with Blair Sigma. In the first stage, I got hit by a goddamn car in order to lose. The Second stage? I won by throwing Blair Sigma off the top of the harbor and into the body of water below! And the third stage? The two of us damn near died, throwing each other into that electric steel cage structure and electrocuting the S*&T each other. Hell, I even took a shot in the mouth from this guy!”
He says as he points to the torn up ALPHA poster behind him.
“And he hits HARD! But guess what? I STILL got up, and I STILL demanded that the ref restart the damn match… and it was only then… when I finally fell short of victory. Lynx, my point is, that if you want this… if you REALLY want this… you will bring your absolute best and then some… because I can assure you, that at this stage of your career… it will take more than just your best to keep someone like me down. Don’t forget that... for it will serve as the most valuable lesson you will learn in your career.
"Oh, and before I forget: Marcus Smith... After Lynx, you're next!”
At that point, he reaches over and shuts the camera off, bringing this to a close.
CUT
“This… this is where it all happened. This… is where I first learned how to wrestle, how to properly achieve greatness.”
The man holding the camera makes his way through the broken fence and into the backyard. It’s a decently big yard, with enough space to hold a large variety of things. However, the ground, which seems to have once had grass on it, is now just dirt and soil. There’s a deck in this yard… and it looks just as unsafe to stand on as the house seems to enter. Our cameraman points to the space beyond the deck.
“You see that, there?”
He continues to hold his arm up.
“That… is the exact space that I would play wrestle in. Not a basement… but right there. In my father’s ring, LONG before he and his brothers moved it to the Academy. So many memories, right here, in this exact spot.”
At that point, he lowers his arm and turns around so that he is now in the camera shot… and as it turns out, the man behind the camera… was Solomon Graham!
“This… is where it all began. My journey to become the cream of the crop. And now… I stand before you, a man. A man who would risk his life for this business, and a man who wouldn’t allow death to stop him. I stand before you… as the man who will be the NEXT… North American Cruiserweight champion… and when I get my hands on that championship, I will set the standards for this division!”
He pauses for a moment, realizing what's just happened… he's slipped into the proper head space and now, he knows what to do... but then, he covers his eyes with his left hand, as he was unprepared for that…
“Yeah… this is getting a bit more personal than I would’ve liked, but hey…”
He removes his hand from his eyes.
“I had to come back here. I had to see this. I had… to rediscover who I am. And seeing what time has done to this place… is more than enough to help me realize. And I’m glad that y’all could come along for the journey. Thanks…”
He gives a slight smile… before ending the recording.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
We then open on a brand new shot. Solomon is sitting on a red couch in what seems to be a living room. Behind him, on the walls, are various different posters for various different wrestlers. Guys such as Lee Stevens, Lynx, and two other posters, both of which have been torn to bits, though we can just barely make out that those two posters are for his two greatest rivals: ALPHA and current FWA Professional Wrestling champion, Duncan Aries.
“Folks, the footage you just saw was taken two days ago, when I was going through a bit of a "rough patch" of self doubt (most of you can relate, I’m sure). But now, now that I've seen that house and now that I've had a few days to stew for a bit... I’m back to my usual, asskickin’ self, and my next opponent in NPW… is Lynx.
“Now, Lynx… There is no doubt in my mind that you are a great Professional Wrestler. Hell, I’d even go as far as to say that one day, very soon, you will be in a prominent place and hell, there may even be championship gold involved. But as for right now, at this moment in time? Now, I know that you love your dreams, but unfortunately for you, I'm about to KILL those dreams. DEAD!
“Because you see, you’re stepping into the ring with one of the most vicious combatants in Eastern Canada, and I can assure you that I will NOT let you walk away with the victory so easily. You want to win, you want to earn your place in that title match? Then you can try and take it from me!
“And in order to do that, you’re going to have to damn near kill me. Want the proof? Go back and watch my Three Stages of Hell match with Blair Sigma. In the first stage, I got hit by a goddamn car in order to lose. The Second stage? I won by throwing Blair Sigma off the top of the harbor and into the body of water below! And the third stage? The two of us damn near died, throwing each other into that electric steel cage structure and electrocuting the S*&T each other. Hell, I even took a shot in the mouth from this guy!”
He says as he points to the torn up ALPHA poster behind him.
“And he hits HARD! But guess what? I STILL got up, and I STILL demanded that the ref restart the damn match… and it was only then… when I finally fell short of victory. Lynx, my point is, that if you want this… if you REALLY want this… you will bring your absolute best and then some… because I can assure you, that at this stage of your career… it will take more than just your best to keep someone like me down. Don’t forget that... for it will serve as the most valuable lesson you will learn in your career.
"Oh, and before I forget: Marcus Smith... After Lynx, you're next!”
At that point, he reaches over and shuts the camera off, bringing this to a close.
CUT
