Post by Robbie A on Feb 18, 2022 18:30:54 GMT -5
Fade in to The Academy’s private gym in New Orleans. Rob Arnold is sat on the apron of a ring that’s set up, whilst Trixie Mars is on the phone and a little too far away to be heard until she walks towards Arnold and her sign off can be heard.
“Thanks for letting me know, I’ll see ya’ there!” She says cheerily before ending the call. Immediately she places the phone in her pocket and walks towards Arnold.
“Well?”
“Jack Ruby, Rain Blackheart and Vile, fatal four way.” Her tone isn’t as enthused as it was merely seconds before. Arnold however seems pleased.
“Your first Pay Per View match! That’s great!” Trixie however rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, sure…another prove myself match.” She sits further down the apron and sighs, Arnold straightens up and raises an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Why the sour tone, Trix? As much as I enjoy hearing a different tone than your usually vomit inducing positivity, I can’t help but worry that you’re not happy!” Arnold smirks.
“…don’t be fake-nice, it ain’t becoming of you, boss… it creeps me out an’ all!” She shudders. “Anyhoo, I’m just a little disappointed, ya’ know? I’ve hit the ground running here in UPW, and I guess I was hoping for a bit more recognition than another match with Jack Ruby!”
“It’s not just Ruby though, and as I see it? You owe him a receipt for that shot you took from his prosthetic hand.” He shrugs.
“Yeah, sure, I wouldn’t mind levelling the scores there after he cost me the last fatal four way I got put in, but-“
“But what?” Suddenly the tone is changing.
“I dunno, I guess I was excited, my first Pay-Per-View and I wanted something a bit more than this. It doesn’t feel very Pay-Per-View, it feels…meh.”
“Meh?” Arnold looks genuinely confused.
“Yeah, you know, meh.” She reaffirms.
“No I don’t, as I find myself saying far too often to you and Riley Richards, I’m almost forty years old and speak English, not sounds and weird catchphrases.”
“Well, I guess I just thought they’d put me in a bigger match, something a bit more-”
“Let me stop you there, because I think I know where this may be going. Did you think that you’d be put in a gimmick match? Or perhaps some more title contenders by now? You thought maybe an actual shot?” Arnold stiffens more, his tone is getting more and more aggravated.
“Well…you did say-”
“I said what?” Trixie opens her mouth but Arnold’s having none of it. “I told you when I met you that I was going to open doors for you. Right?”
“Right.” She’s still backing herself…perhaps a bad plan.
“Well I’ve opened the doors and you’re walking through them, I got you out of the regionals and onto the XHF circuit.” Trixie looks to say something else, and again she’s not allowed the chance. “And I know what you’re thinking, you thought you’d get some extra rub by being associated with me, in the same way that Riley Richards did, right?”
“Right.” She’s still backing herself…
“And that is exactly why I brought you here. To make sure that didn’t happen!” Before Rob can continue, it’s now Trixie’s turn to interrupt, and she is fired up. She stands and looks him dead in the eyes, which doesn’t bother him, but she goes off regardless.
“Wait, what? I didn’t sign on with you to be sabotaged for the sake of some soft British little-“
“Let me finish.” Arnold stands up and uses a tone so cutting Trixie’s eye’s widen and she sits back down. “Riley Richards has had everything handed to him because of me, because he joined a new promotion when everybody started equal and somebody like me can give them an advantage. Problem is, people now see that, people close more doors in his face because they think he’s nothing more than my overrated project. Nobody respects him, despite that he’s XHF European Champion and took down hall of famers to win that title. That’s my fault, and I don’t want the same for you.”
There's a careful silence, Arnold shakes his head ruefully.
“I could have sent you to anywhere across the Network, we could be in Japan right now, hell, we could have stayed in Vegas but gone to Tapout, but we didn’t. And do you know why? UPW is a new player, a lot of the guys and girls here don’t know much about me, nor the Network, and that means a clean slate, that means you can earn every single stripe you get. Let me tell you what it also means, you’ll appreciate it more, so much more, and the other people in the locker room will appreciate you more as well.” He shakes his head again. “Let me tell you something, when I first debuted, I was winning main events and headlining shows within months, and looking back? And I'm telling you this because I know that’s what you’re thinking about, you want the same start as me, right? Wrong.”
Trixie looks surprised at this point. She’s heard a few glory day stories, they don’t normally go negative.
“It was the worst thing that could have happened to me. The locker room hated me, I ended up making the wrong friends, I became entitled, all because the world fell at my feet aged nineteen. There were guys there who had been working years and I just breezed past them, bypassing a lot of them in the process to be a golden boy for a guy that just saw me as a cash cow. Now imagine my reaction when I went elsewhere and I was told I had to earn my shots! It made your little outburst look like one of those disappointing fireworks that make an annoying sound and that’s about it! You have the chance to be better, screw it, you are better. So you’re going to take this chance to show off your talent, you’re going to go to your first Pay-Per-view and make the statement I expect you to make. And then, if management still don’t give you the opportunities, maybe then I’ll get on my soapbox and scream at the world for you.”
There’s a small silence, the pair look at each other, waiting for somebody to say something. Trixie tries to hide a smile before finally giving in.
“Hey…I didn’t sound that annoying!”
“Sure you didn’t.” He winks. “I get that you want to learn from me, I get that you want the success I’ve got in my career, and I believe you’ll get all of that, but first you have to earn your stripes. So how about you get yourself on the pads, because you’ve got work to do.”
Trixie takes a deep breath, and nods.
“You’re right…you’re right. Line them up, I’ll knock them down. Let’s get to work.” She hops off the apron and exits, presumably to get set for pad work. The camera focuses in on Arnold, who has the final say…
“Keep that fire, kid…it’s going to come in handy come Blow Your Mind.”
Fade out.
“Thanks for letting me know, I’ll see ya’ there!” She says cheerily before ending the call. Immediately she places the phone in her pocket and walks towards Arnold.
“Well?”
“Jack Ruby, Rain Blackheart and Vile, fatal four way.” Her tone isn’t as enthused as it was merely seconds before. Arnold however seems pleased.
“Your first Pay Per View match! That’s great!” Trixie however rolls her eyes.
“Yeah, sure…another prove myself match.” She sits further down the apron and sighs, Arnold straightens up and raises an inquisitive eyebrow.
“Why the sour tone, Trix? As much as I enjoy hearing a different tone than your usually vomit inducing positivity, I can’t help but worry that you’re not happy!” Arnold smirks.
“…don’t be fake-nice, it ain’t becoming of you, boss… it creeps me out an’ all!” She shudders. “Anyhoo, I’m just a little disappointed, ya’ know? I’ve hit the ground running here in UPW, and I guess I was hoping for a bit more recognition than another match with Jack Ruby!”
“It’s not just Ruby though, and as I see it? You owe him a receipt for that shot you took from his prosthetic hand.” He shrugs.
“Yeah, sure, I wouldn’t mind levelling the scores there after he cost me the last fatal four way I got put in, but-“
“But what?” Suddenly the tone is changing.
“I dunno, I guess I was excited, my first Pay-Per-View and I wanted something a bit more than this. It doesn’t feel very Pay-Per-View, it feels…meh.”
“Meh?” Arnold looks genuinely confused.
“Yeah, you know, meh.” She reaffirms.
“No I don’t, as I find myself saying far too often to you and Riley Richards, I’m almost forty years old and speak English, not sounds and weird catchphrases.”
“Well, I guess I just thought they’d put me in a bigger match, something a bit more-”
“Let me stop you there, because I think I know where this may be going. Did you think that you’d be put in a gimmick match? Or perhaps some more title contenders by now? You thought maybe an actual shot?” Arnold stiffens more, his tone is getting more and more aggravated.
“Well…you did say-”
“I said what?” Trixie opens her mouth but Arnold’s having none of it. “I told you when I met you that I was going to open doors for you. Right?”
“Right.” She’s still backing herself…perhaps a bad plan.
“Well I’ve opened the doors and you’re walking through them, I got you out of the regionals and onto the XHF circuit.” Trixie looks to say something else, and again she’s not allowed the chance. “And I know what you’re thinking, you thought you’d get some extra rub by being associated with me, in the same way that Riley Richards did, right?”
“Right.” She’s still backing herself…
“And that is exactly why I brought you here. To make sure that didn’t happen!” Before Rob can continue, it’s now Trixie’s turn to interrupt, and she is fired up. She stands and looks him dead in the eyes, which doesn’t bother him, but she goes off regardless.
“Wait, what? I didn’t sign on with you to be sabotaged for the sake of some soft British little-“
“Let me finish.” Arnold stands up and uses a tone so cutting Trixie’s eye’s widen and she sits back down. “Riley Richards has had everything handed to him because of me, because he joined a new promotion when everybody started equal and somebody like me can give them an advantage. Problem is, people now see that, people close more doors in his face because they think he’s nothing more than my overrated project. Nobody respects him, despite that he’s XHF European Champion and took down hall of famers to win that title. That’s my fault, and I don’t want the same for you.”
There's a careful silence, Arnold shakes his head ruefully.
“I could have sent you to anywhere across the Network, we could be in Japan right now, hell, we could have stayed in Vegas but gone to Tapout, but we didn’t. And do you know why? UPW is a new player, a lot of the guys and girls here don’t know much about me, nor the Network, and that means a clean slate, that means you can earn every single stripe you get. Let me tell you what it also means, you’ll appreciate it more, so much more, and the other people in the locker room will appreciate you more as well.” He shakes his head again. “Let me tell you something, when I first debuted, I was winning main events and headlining shows within months, and looking back? And I'm telling you this because I know that’s what you’re thinking about, you want the same start as me, right? Wrong.”
Trixie looks surprised at this point. She’s heard a few glory day stories, they don’t normally go negative.
“It was the worst thing that could have happened to me. The locker room hated me, I ended up making the wrong friends, I became entitled, all because the world fell at my feet aged nineteen. There were guys there who had been working years and I just breezed past them, bypassing a lot of them in the process to be a golden boy for a guy that just saw me as a cash cow. Now imagine my reaction when I went elsewhere and I was told I had to earn my shots! It made your little outburst look like one of those disappointing fireworks that make an annoying sound and that’s about it! You have the chance to be better, screw it, you are better. So you’re going to take this chance to show off your talent, you’re going to go to your first Pay-Per-view and make the statement I expect you to make. And then, if management still don’t give you the opportunities, maybe then I’ll get on my soapbox and scream at the world for you.”
There’s a small silence, the pair look at each other, waiting for somebody to say something. Trixie tries to hide a smile before finally giving in.
“Hey…I didn’t sound that annoying!”
“Sure you didn’t.” He winks. “I get that you want to learn from me, I get that you want the success I’ve got in my career, and I believe you’ll get all of that, but first you have to earn your stripes. So how about you get yourself on the pads, because you’ve got work to do.”
Trixie takes a deep breath, and nods.
“You’re right…you’re right. Line them up, I’ll knock them down. Let’s get to work.” She hops off the apron and exits, presumably to get set for pad work. The camera focuses in on Arnold, who has the final say…
“Keep that fire, kid…it’s going to come in handy come Blow Your Mind.”
Fade out.
