Post by anthonycaffrey on Dec 24, 2021 13:18:37 GMT -5
“Listen, all I want is five-- ten, ten minutes of your time. If I can’t convince you that we could beat El Bang Herbanos, that we could become XHF tag team champions in 2022, that you could become great…”
The scene opens with FIRESIDE owner Anthony Caffrey seated in a heated outdoor booth on a December night in Philadelphia. The man looks like he hasn’t slept in a few days, the dark circles under his eyes giving away the stress he’d rather hide. He has himself a large swig of red wine before continuing.
“...well, then you can tell me to fuck myself and peace on outta here. I’ve got a lot of anger in my heart -- anger that built this company and shut down two others, a lot of passion ready to go as I go to war with two of the Bang Bros’ finest. If you ain’t up for it, I don’t want it.”
Sitting in front of the owner of FIRESIDE was the Shining Star, MYŌJIN, wearing their trademark sunglasses… even at night time. The blonde had their arms crossed, leaning back in their chair- and while their eyes were somewhat hidden by the shaded lenses of their glasses- a simple irritated frown gave away their emotion. Sitting with a martini that they sipped from with a straw, MYŌJIN leaned forward- placing their hands on the table.
“That I could become great?” MYŌJIN repeated, a golden eyebrow raising as they tilted their glasses down- showing a glare. “Excuse you? I don't know if you have taken too many slams through tables to the point where you have memory loss, but I revitalized the Junior Heavyweight division and helped make that belt worth something again- I then, you know, main evented Night of Champions and won. I already am great, Tony- I can call you Tony, right?”
Before Caffrey could answer that question, MYOJIN raised their palm to stop him. “Actually, don't answer that- This isn't about me ‘becoming great’ or realizing my full potential or whatever you're trying to sell me: This is about you wanting to get revenge, so you dragged me into your problems because you needed help- because you already know that I am great.” The blonde spoke matter of factly before taking another sip from their drink.
We can see Caffrey’s stress level continuing to rise as MYOJIN speaks. He removes his glasses, the stress lines in his forehead indicating that he’s been around a bit longer than his new tag team partner. He rubs the bridge of his nose as the Shining Star continues, flagging down the waitress for another glass of wine as he finishes the one he’s working on.
“And believe me, I'm flattered- but tag teams are usually formed out of… you know, natural friendship? Two people on the same wavelength. Not by abusing your authority to pull someone into your bullshit-” They continued.
Caffrey looks at his palm, pondering for a few moments. He decides against it as he looks back up at the former X-Crown champion seated across from him.
“I guess what I'm trying to say…” They paused, their eyebrows furrowing with their mockingly sardonic tone. “Is you took away my chance to finally make the loser you continue to enable who, oh I dunno, STABBED me because you're tired of being bullied in your own company- and I'm failing to see why I should help you or want to be your partner.”
“Jesus, if I knew you hated this idea this much, I would have called up that kid Dinosaurio and teamed with him instead of signing his release papers. Are you done?”
Caffrey’s tone isn’t exactly polite. The knowledge of one half of Bear O’Dactyl asking to walk hasn’t exactly made the news just yet, but the former world champion has a lot on his mind.
MYŌJIN tilted their head, as if they were almost amazed by the audacity of the man in front of them. They scoffed, “You really are lucky I bothered to even show up here. You pulled me out of a championship match that I had my head smashed into an exposed turnbuckle just to qualify for.”
“So you could get punked out by Evan Valentine and any number of his goons, get angrier and bitchier, and begin blaming the people who made you, the fans on your lack of luck lately? Listen I’ve been all over the world and booed out of every building, I can tell you right now going down that path ain’t worth it--”
MYOJIN raised their hand to shush Caffrey again dismissively. “Save it. If I have to hear the fifth monologue about your redemption arc and how you were a terrible person before two years before you saw the error of your ways, I'll cry.”
Caffrey looks stunned, realizing he can’t go to that well. He takes a deep breath before finishing his glass of wine.
“I’m sorry. I’m in the middle of a mass exodus, and I’m not taking it well. I’ve got four people leaving after the pay-per-view… varying levels of talent, really. NLW closed the door on Felix for now, Spike’s leaving and naturally, his brother Brad has decided to follow suit…”
“And thus since Spike's leaving, you're upset about the X*Crown- that I was never pinned or submitted for, by the way- leaving with him… Maybe it's not the best idea to make so many enemies on your own promotion's roster? Especially the one with the top championship of the entire Network?”
Caffrey ignores the words about Spike for now, doing his best to play it off.
“Well, Spike never breathed FIRESIDE anyway. The true players here really understand, and he didn't. He was more a Jason Long type, just older... and that's why he and the others are coming off the roster. This is a land of opportunity, people are pointing at their plots in the garden and getting mad at the dirt for them not growing bountiful plants. And Spike is mad at apparently having all the plants."
You can hear him mutter about a dumbass before reshifting his focus.
"But the point is… the timing isn’t accidental. I show up on a card, I announce I’m going to start competing, and suddenly the poison of ‘fuck Caffrey’ turns from mere words to people rushing to break contract and violent threats. Have I become what I hated? With everyone rushing to leave just like I did, have we peaked? Are we just the new AWF?”
MYOJIN paused, clasping their hands together with a thoughtful “Hm.” as a few moments passed, seemingly empathetic before responding with a harshly blunt: “Not to be rude and interrupt your crisis, hun, but what does any of that have to do with me?”
“You’re one of the reasons the answer is no. You breathe FIRESIDE, whether you know it or not. This Sunday’s Crown match is about someone who never got it vs. someone who always has, and you and I, we’re the other fixtures defending that name, that brand, There’s a handful of stars that came into being here over the year, stars that wouldn’t have had a shot otherwise. Constantine, MAJESTY, Burrows, Apathy… you.”
Before the Shining Star can respond, Caffrey puts his hand up this time.
“You and I rip legs apart for sport. We’re former X-Crown champions, but if this was the AWF, the XHF back in 2018 when I came in… well, I’ll be honest. This---”
He gestures to the entirety of MYOJIN’s being.
”---wouldn’t have had a fucking sniff at the Crown, or even the Junior Heavyweight title you made famous. Nah, instead, because of you and your identity, your lifestyle, you’d be in segments implying you had relations with Copycat and Bradshaw. You’d be trotted out like a joke at the Rumble rather than a threat to win it all. LGBTKO was an anomaly, instead of being a champion -- and this is nothing against your talent levels, you’re a fucking warrior and that’s why I want to team with you over anyone else on my roster-- before FIRESIDE came around, instead of being a champion, you’d be a fucking punchline.
It’s an uncomfortable truth. The vibe has changed.
“So yeah, you know what? This is a revenge thing. It’s vengeance. It’s beating back an inadequacy, a deep flaw. It’s beating back a system that rewards nostalgia acts and tough-guy bravado like it’s 2005 and then wonders why the industry is getting emptier and older despite the world going the other way. And you can blame me for that, if you really want. You can blame me for not getting my hands dirty, for not stopping the BANG Bros sooner. You can blame me for not getting involved with Valentine and everything that happened to you. I failed in that way, I benefitted, and hell you’d be damn right in saying I profited from it. But I’m here now, the best mind in the business and I’m sitting across one of the brightest shining stars FIRESIDE shot into the cosmos with a plan to begin beating this bullshit back.”
The two exchange a mutual look.
“Am I getting revenge in the process? You’re godadmn right, but I am a hungry dog and this city runs on hunger. Kanyon especially for the past year has been going out of his way to systematically ruin my life. He has beaten me, my workers, my dearest friends, again and again as he sits in his little ivory tower. I can’t get a tag team in here longer than three months because he just beats them all. Look at him: he’s had maybe the best year of anyone in the whole XHF Besides one little fluke title loss, the man went from president to being king. Now he’s got three knights making up his court, and we’ve got to take him down and the one I respect the least: El Combatiente.”
MYOJIN curiously blinked, folding their arms while resting against the table. “You don't like him? He seems the most tolerable one out of them.”
“He thinks he’s a good guy, but we all know he’s not. He’ll fret and frown when his associates cheat, but man… I know first hand, there's only so many times you can claim to be good while still doing bad before people stop believing you. At least the rest of the gang seems to know what they’re doing is wrong, even if some lunatics cheer them. I just don’t believe him."
It’s a rather honest moment for the owner.
”He’s not a weak link, though. Besides a surprising aversion to potassium, the guy is an asskicker. Everyone has their head turned to look at Kanyon and then gets stabbed in the back by the guy. He’s a world champion and one of the best aerial wrestlers in the business. I need you to rip his legs apart and keep his ass off the ladder."
“You think that’s just going to work? You're saying that as if it's just an easy accomplishment.”
”It has to. There is no other option. Between this, Oh Violent Night, all of this chaos with Spike, and them losing the XHF Tag Team titles, this is the moment to strike. They are distracted, spread in a million directions and believe stupid shit like ‘chemistry’ is going to stop two of the best wrestlers in the world from beating the hell out of them. You neutralize El Combatiente, and I’ll incapacitate Kanyon."
“That’s not going to be easy---”
”---nothing worth doing is easy, but this isn’t just for me. This is for all of FIRESIDE. His advantage is that he regularly fluctuates from being the smartest man in the room to the craziest. The problem for him is that I’m smarter than him and have been planting for this moment since he took my championships in April. For eight months, I have waited and wanted, for eight months I’ve gone through table after table building up my pain tolerance. Dylan Black found out the hard way, and now Mr. President will find out the same way: hit me with a hammer, the Purple Emperor will hit you right fucking back."
Caffrey looks at his watch.
“My ten minutes is up, but now I’m going to ask you for thirty more. All I need is thirty minutes out of you next Thursday, and if you still can’t vibe with me, with one of the longest-reigning world champions of all time, well then that’s all I’ll ask. But if you want to be great, if you want to make history and put yourself back on the record books, if you want to make the statement that you’re here to stay and that the Shining Star hasn’t already burnt out, if you want to knock some old world bullshit values fat on their ass, and if you want to cement not only your legitimacy and legacy but also your identity in front of the world… well, I’ll see you next Thursday.”
Caffrey extends a hand, looking for a shake.
MYOJIN contemplates, looking at the other's hand for a second. They finally sigh, relenting, as they reach out to shake his hand before standing from the table, letting go.
“I'll do my part. I'm not entirely sold on this- and it's going to take a while before I think I can not be pretty upset with what you did, but it's a wrestling match. More importantly, a wrestling match with titles on the line- and if there's one thing you've maybe gotten right about me, Anthony- It's that I like being a champion.”
Having gotten what he wanted, Caffrey smiles as the scene fades to black.
The scene opens with FIRESIDE owner Anthony Caffrey seated in a heated outdoor booth on a December night in Philadelphia. The man looks like he hasn’t slept in a few days, the dark circles under his eyes giving away the stress he’d rather hide. He has himself a large swig of red wine before continuing.
“...well, then you can tell me to fuck myself and peace on outta here. I’ve got a lot of anger in my heart -- anger that built this company and shut down two others, a lot of passion ready to go as I go to war with two of the Bang Bros’ finest. If you ain’t up for it, I don’t want it.”
Sitting in front of the owner of FIRESIDE was the Shining Star, MYŌJIN, wearing their trademark sunglasses… even at night time. The blonde had their arms crossed, leaning back in their chair- and while their eyes were somewhat hidden by the shaded lenses of their glasses- a simple irritated frown gave away their emotion. Sitting with a martini that they sipped from with a straw, MYŌJIN leaned forward- placing their hands on the table.
“That I could become great?” MYŌJIN repeated, a golden eyebrow raising as they tilted their glasses down- showing a glare. “Excuse you? I don't know if you have taken too many slams through tables to the point where you have memory loss, but I revitalized the Junior Heavyweight division and helped make that belt worth something again- I then, you know, main evented Night of Champions and won. I already am great, Tony- I can call you Tony, right?”
Before Caffrey could answer that question, MYOJIN raised their palm to stop him. “Actually, don't answer that- This isn't about me ‘becoming great’ or realizing my full potential or whatever you're trying to sell me: This is about you wanting to get revenge, so you dragged me into your problems because you needed help- because you already know that I am great.” The blonde spoke matter of factly before taking another sip from their drink.
We can see Caffrey’s stress level continuing to rise as MYOJIN speaks. He removes his glasses, the stress lines in his forehead indicating that he’s been around a bit longer than his new tag team partner. He rubs the bridge of his nose as the Shining Star continues, flagging down the waitress for another glass of wine as he finishes the one he’s working on.
“And believe me, I'm flattered- but tag teams are usually formed out of… you know, natural friendship? Two people on the same wavelength. Not by abusing your authority to pull someone into your bullshit-” They continued.
Caffrey looks at his palm, pondering for a few moments. He decides against it as he looks back up at the former X-Crown champion seated across from him.
“I guess what I'm trying to say…” They paused, their eyebrows furrowing with their mockingly sardonic tone. “Is you took away my chance to finally make the loser you continue to enable who, oh I dunno, STABBED me because you're tired of being bullied in your own company- and I'm failing to see why I should help you or want to be your partner.”
“Jesus, if I knew you hated this idea this much, I would have called up that kid Dinosaurio and teamed with him instead of signing his release papers. Are you done?”
Caffrey’s tone isn’t exactly polite. The knowledge of one half of Bear O’Dactyl asking to walk hasn’t exactly made the news just yet, but the former world champion has a lot on his mind.
MYŌJIN tilted their head, as if they were almost amazed by the audacity of the man in front of them. They scoffed, “You really are lucky I bothered to even show up here. You pulled me out of a championship match that I had my head smashed into an exposed turnbuckle just to qualify for.”
“So you could get punked out by Evan Valentine and any number of his goons, get angrier and bitchier, and begin blaming the people who made you, the fans on your lack of luck lately? Listen I’ve been all over the world and booed out of every building, I can tell you right now going down that path ain’t worth it--”
MYOJIN raised their hand to shush Caffrey again dismissively. “Save it. If I have to hear the fifth monologue about your redemption arc and how you were a terrible person before two years before you saw the error of your ways, I'll cry.”
Caffrey looks stunned, realizing he can’t go to that well. He takes a deep breath before finishing his glass of wine.
“I’m sorry. I’m in the middle of a mass exodus, and I’m not taking it well. I’ve got four people leaving after the pay-per-view… varying levels of talent, really. NLW closed the door on Felix for now, Spike’s leaving and naturally, his brother Brad has decided to follow suit…”
“And thus since Spike's leaving, you're upset about the X*Crown- that I was never pinned or submitted for, by the way- leaving with him… Maybe it's not the best idea to make so many enemies on your own promotion's roster? Especially the one with the top championship of the entire Network?”
Caffrey ignores the words about Spike for now, doing his best to play it off.
“Well, Spike never breathed FIRESIDE anyway. The true players here really understand, and he didn't. He was more a Jason Long type, just older... and that's why he and the others are coming off the roster. This is a land of opportunity, people are pointing at their plots in the garden and getting mad at the dirt for them not growing bountiful plants. And Spike is mad at apparently having all the plants."
You can hear him mutter about a dumbass before reshifting his focus.
"But the point is… the timing isn’t accidental. I show up on a card, I announce I’m going to start competing, and suddenly the poison of ‘fuck Caffrey’ turns from mere words to people rushing to break contract and violent threats. Have I become what I hated? With everyone rushing to leave just like I did, have we peaked? Are we just the new AWF?”
MYOJIN paused, clasping their hands together with a thoughtful “Hm.” as a few moments passed, seemingly empathetic before responding with a harshly blunt: “Not to be rude and interrupt your crisis, hun, but what does any of that have to do with me?”
“You’re one of the reasons the answer is no. You breathe FIRESIDE, whether you know it or not. This Sunday’s Crown match is about someone who never got it vs. someone who always has, and you and I, we’re the other fixtures defending that name, that brand, There’s a handful of stars that came into being here over the year, stars that wouldn’t have had a shot otherwise. Constantine, MAJESTY, Burrows, Apathy… you.”
Before the Shining Star can respond, Caffrey puts his hand up this time.
“You and I rip legs apart for sport. We’re former X-Crown champions, but if this was the AWF, the XHF back in 2018 when I came in… well, I’ll be honest. This---”
He gestures to the entirety of MYOJIN’s being.
”---wouldn’t have had a fucking sniff at the Crown, or even the Junior Heavyweight title you made famous. Nah, instead, because of you and your identity, your lifestyle, you’d be in segments implying you had relations with Copycat and Bradshaw. You’d be trotted out like a joke at the Rumble rather than a threat to win it all. LGBTKO was an anomaly, instead of being a champion -- and this is nothing against your talent levels, you’re a fucking warrior and that’s why I want to team with you over anyone else on my roster-- before FIRESIDE came around, instead of being a champion, you’d be a fucking punchline.
It’s an uncomfortable truth. The vibe has changed.
“So yeah, you know what? This is a revenge thing. It’s vengeance. It’s beating back an inadequacy, a deep flaw. It’s beating back a system that rewards nostalgia acts and tough-guy bravado like it’s 2005 and then wonders why the industry is getting emptier and older despite the world going the other way. And you can blame me for that, if you really want. You can blame me for not getting my hands dirty, for not stopping the BANG Bros sooner. You can blame me for not getting involved with Valentine and everything that happened to you. I failed in that way, I benefitted, and hell you’d be damn right in saying I profited from it. But I’m here now, the best mind in the business and I’m sitting across one of the brightest shining stars FIRESIDE shot into the cosmos with a plan to begin beating this bullshit back.”
The two exchange a mutual look.
“Am I getting revenge in the process? You’re godadmn right, but I am a hungry dog and this city runs on hunger. Kanyon especially for the past year has been going out of his way to systematically ruin my life. He has beaten me, my workers, my dearest friends, again and again as he sits in his little ivory tower. I can’t get a tag team in here longer than three months because he just beats them all. Look at him: he’s had maybe the best year of anyone in the whole XHF Besides one little fluke title loss, the man went from president to being king. Now he’s got three knights making up his court, and we’ve got to take him down and the one I respect the least: El Combatiente.”
MYOJIN curiously blinked, folding their arms while resting against the table. “You don't like him? He seems the most tolerable one out of them.”
“He thinks he’s a good guy, but we all know he’s not. He’ll fret and frown when his associates cheat, but man… I know first hand, there's only so many times you can claim to be good while still doing bad before people stop believing you. At least the rest of the gang seems to know what they’re doing is wrong, even if some lunatics cheer them. I just don’t believe him."
It’s a rather honest moment for the owner.
”He’s not a weak link, though. Besides a surprising aversion to potassium, the guy is an asskicker. Everyone has their head turned to look at Kanyon and then gets stabbed in the back by the guy. He’s a world champion and one of the best aerial wrestlers in the business. I need you to rip his legs apart and keep his ass off the ladder."
“You think that’s just going to work? You're saying that as if it's just an easy accomplishment.”
”It has to. There is no other option. Between this, Oh Violent Night, all of this chaos with Spike, and them losing the XHF Tag Team titles, this is the moment to strike. They are distracted, spread in a million directions and believe stupid shit like ‘chemistry’ is going to stop two of the best wrestlers in the world from beating the hell out of them. You neutralize El Combatiente, and I’ll incapacitate Kanyon."
“That’s not going to be easy---”
”---nothing worth doing is easy, but this isn’t just for me. This is for all of FIRESIDE. His advantage is that he regularly fluctuates from being the smartest man in the room to the craziest. The problem for him is that I’m smarter than him and have been planting for this moment since he took my championships in April. For eight months, I have waited and wanted, for eight months I’ve gone through table after table building up my pain tolerance. Dylan Black found out the hard way, and now Mr. President will find out the same way: hit me with a hammer, the Purple Emperor will hit you right fucking back."
Caffrey looks at his watch.
“My ten minutes is up, but now I’m going to ask you for thirty more. All I need is thirty minutes out of you next Thursday, and if you still can’t vibe with me, with one of the longest-reigning world champions of all time, well then that’s all I’ll ask. But if you want to be great, if you want to make history and put yourself back on the record books, if you want to make the statement that you’re here to stay and that the Shining Star hasn’t already burnt out, if you want to knock some old world bullshit values fat on their ass, and if you want to cement not only your legitimacy and legacy but also your identity in front of the world… well, I’ll see you next Thursday.”
Caffrey extends a hand, looking for a shake.
MYOJIN contemplates, looking at the other's hand for a second. They finally sigh, relenting, as they reach out to shake his hand before standing from the table, letting go.
“I'll do my part. I'm not entirely sold on this- and it's going to take a while before I think I can not be pretty upset with what you did, but it's a wrestling match. More importantly, a wrestling match with titles on the line- and if there's one thing you've maybe gotten right about me, Anthony- It's that I like being a champion.”
Having gotten what he wanted, Caffrey smiles as the scene fades to black.