No more lazy champions (British TV Title 1/2)

[Anthony Jordan]

INT. PRIVATE GYM IN PORTLAND, OR

KALMIN WATTS is shown performing some squats. He’s got around 500 pounds loaded up and guts his way through his last two reps. The British TV Title is resting on a shelf away from where any errant bars or barbells can harm it. ANTHONY JORDAN walks into the frame with a local news crew behind him.

JORDAN

Look at that! This boy is throwing up five bills like it is nothing! Pure power!

Watts racks the bar and walks over to Jordan and the crew. Jordan shakes hands with Watts and pats him on the back.

JORDAN

Well, Kalmin, I have a crew here who would like to get to know you. What they are filming will also be shown in Belfast, which will be seen by your Irish fans. Just be yourself. I nominated myself to be your interviewer.

WATTS

Sounds good, but let’s keep it quick. I don’t want to cool down.

Jordan gives the camera the sign to start filming. He stands proudly next to his client.

JORDAN

Kalmin, you are entered into a battle royal for a show at the W:U.K. World Heavyweight Title…

WATTS

(cutting Jordan off) Nah, I don’t want to talk about that right now.

JORDAN

“Nah”? You know it is a big match for your career, right?

WATTS

Yeah, I think it will be, and I’ll talk about it later. The way I see it, though, is that that’s all talk about someone else’s title. Besides the battle royal, I’m defending MY title, and that’s where my attention is.

JORDAN

Okay. Tell us a little about the British Television Title.

WATTS

(pointing over to the British TV Title) That’s the most important belt in WUK to me.

(turns back to the camera)

The Commonwealth Title is currently on ice. The World Heavyweight Title feels like a pawn in a game between the Bastards and the High Rollers Club. If Wesley Crane had his way, he’d never defend it. The British TV Title, on the other hand, is defended in all shows. It’s the belt the fans can count on seeing. I’m proud to be the British TV Champion, and I’m always happy to defend it on WUK programming in front of the greatest fans in wrestling!

JORDAN

Your next challenger is your biggest. He is Frank Windsor from the B-words. What are your thoughts on him?

WATTS

My thoughts on Frank Windsor is that he’s lost his honor along the way. The Bastards used to be the toughest guys who were always up for a fight. Along the way, they started acting like thugs. Instead of being respectable warriors, they let themselves be drug down by the High Rollers Club. As each show goes by, the Bastards get more thuggish. They tell themselves it’s okay because it’s against people they don’t like, but that doesn’t make it right.

JORDAN

Is there anything you’d like to tell Frank Windsor?

WATTS

Frank Windsor, I don’t think you respect the British TV Title! I think you want to collect it, so the Bastards can have bragging rights and say they have all the titles. I won’t deny your prominence in WUK, but I’m not going to roll over to make your dominance complete. I’m going to Belfast as champion, and I intend to leave as champion.

(beat)

It’s not about you. It’s not about me. It’s about the British TV Title! It’s about wanting to be the man who fights every show and defends his title with honor. It’s not a belt that you throw on the pile with the rest of the titles the Bastards have. It’s not an accessory you put on your car like a hood ornament. I’m sure if someone asks you if you want to be British TV Champion, you’d say something like “Yeah, I want the title”. But what you won’t say is that you want to be champion to pad your achievements. You don’t want to be British TV Champion for today. You want to be the champion, so you can look at your achievements in ten years and pat yourself on the back for winning another title. Will you even defend it? It’s a fair question to ask. Rob Riot won the Commonwealth Title almost four months ago and has defended it once. I’m not a lazy champion!

JORDAN

I want to hear more about being a fighting champion. How is Kalmin Watts different from the rest of WUK?

WATTS

(looks around at the gym before looking back at the camera)

Look how I spend my down time. I’m grinding away in the gym. I’m sweatin’ and sufferin’ in hopes of just get 1% better. I’m not hanging out in a bar, riding around in my favorite car, or hanging out in a casino. I’m working! I’m a big believer in that you work to get what you want in life, then you work even harder to keep it. You just don’t see that with the elite in WUK, and I think that sends a bad message.

JORDAN

How so?

WATTS

Wesley Crane actually did work hard to get to the top. If I’m being fair, he didn’t cheat any less than the Bastards did. However, now with the title, he has his entourage pulling any tricks they can to help him keep him. He stopped believing in hard work.

(beat)

Eron Hunter, a man of integrity who WUK sorely misses, is a man who did it the right way, but he lost his title to a man who is on pace to defend three times a year. Our supposed top two champions abandon the idea of hard work as quickly as they can. That disgusts me. Frank Windsor would make three, which is why I’m not going to let that happen at St. Patrick’s Day Massacre!

Watts is done with the interview and goes back to his workout as Jordan signals for the camera to cut.