Back to Basics. An Icons vs Guns RP for EOD
Oct 10, 2018 5:36:53 GMT -5
Mongo the Destroyer and Jack Diamond like this
Post by Bobby Barratt on Oct 10, 2018 5:36:53 GMT -5
SCRUB! SCRUB! SCRUB!
We open scene outside Bobby's house in Ohio. We see Bobby perched precariously on top of a tall ladder, which is leaning against the exterior A frame of his home. The shot switches to a closer up view. The physical exertion of the task is etched all across Bobby's face as we see the pain and glitter that was thrown at his house slowly shifting.
Jack: What the hell are you doing up there? Don't you have a guy for that?
Bobby turns around, a little panic shows in his eyes as he tries to dig himself out of this one. Jack was supposed to be preparing for his match with Chris Card!
Bobby: Yeah...Umm. With everything that's been going on lately, I decided I'd ground myself again. Rediscover the hustle and the grind that made me so hungry to get where we are now.
Jack: Hey not a bad shout!
Bobby: You want in?
Jack: Dude...You do you...Jack Diamond does Jack Diamond.
Bobby smiles to himself, rolling his eyes in amusement. He knew Jack would never take up the job, but he had to make it more believable.
Jack: How about we take five anyway? Kind of getting tired of shouting up and down a ladder to hold a conversation already.
Bobby: Yeah...Sure.
Bobby gets one more stubborn spot off the frame of his house and makes his way down the ladder, rag over his shoulder. He gets to the bottom and moves his right arm around a little, to mobilise the joint after so much effort.
Jack: So I didn't get chance to touch base with you. We're taking on the Guns soon, right?
Bobby: That we are. XHF Tag Team Titles are coming home, baby!
Jack: So you think we should...You know. Knock off the dust some?
Bobby: Yeah, there's a gym not too far from here. I think they're holding Wrestling tryouts soon. We could check that out?
Jack: Sounds good. Might help with this "back to basics" thing you have going on too. I'll get it sorted out. Now go shower up. These kids want to find out about Wrestling, not have a lesson in bad personal hygiene.
Bobby: Hey fuck yo-
Bobby looks at himself and realises that working on the house for a couple of hours has left him...less than presentable.
Bobby: Yeah, I guess you're right. Grab yourself a drink and I'll be down soon.
We come back to shot and see Bobby walking back into his room, post-shower. He pulls his training t-shirt down as he walks in. With where he's headed now, he isn't cutting the figure he normally would. Joggers and a t-shirt are the go-to gear for training. Nothing flashy and no needing to hide the fact he can't be as flashy as normal.
Bobby: Jack! You ready?
Jack: Sure am! I'll be in the car!
Bobby heads out of the room but stops still right by the door. He looks at the wall and there's a picture of Bobby and Amber. Their arms around each other standing in front of the Eiffel Tower. He took her there a few months back for a surprise trip.
Bobby: Hmmm. Must have forgotten this one. Amber...We could have been great. But we were both flawed. We both needed something and that thing wasn't each other. You took a broken down man and manipulated him, taking every penny you could get a hand on and I was powerless to stop you. I hope you're enjoying the time inside now.
Bobby tosses the picture into the wastebin as he leaves the room. The shot settles on the picture, half sticking out of the bin, showing only Bobby, with Amber being obscured by the other rubbish in the bin as the scene fades.
We come back and see Bobby and Jack pulling into the car park of the local gym. The wheels of Bobby's Impala kicks up dust from the poorly maintained ground as they swing into a space between two cars. Bobby and Jack get out, taking in the scenery around them. Bobby has a slight smile on his face and Jack looks disturbed by even being here.
Bobby: Ever get the feeling that it's nice to get back to where it all started?
Jack: You started across the pond. You've been here twice.
Bobby: Nah, you know what I mean though. Like get back to the meat and potato gyms. Mats on the ground, setting up and putting away the gear. Know what I mean?
Jack: Yeah...I guess. Just feel dirty even being here.
Jack takes a tissue from his pocket and tries in vain to wipe the dust off the lapels of his suit.
The scene switches to inside the gym. A trainer takes some teenagers through their warm up drills: yelling out instructions to squat, jump, push up and the like.
Vinnie: Alright kids, come take a knee!
The trainees all gather around. Some take a sip of their water mid session as some take the chance to regain their breath.
Vinnie: So today, I got a call from a couple of local names that wanted to come down and check you guys out.
The trainees all spark back to life, wondering who will walk in.
Vinnie: These guys have done big league stuff, without working for the E...Right now they're working out of Ohio, but ranging across the Midwest area. Please welcome two thirds of AWF's Icons...Bobby Barratt and Jack Diamond.
Some of the trainees' eyes pop open. They know these guys from shows they've checked out. The Icon name is pretty known throughout these parts. Other trainees are indifferent. They only watch WWE nowadays and maybe some of the Japanese stuff, but they're largely casual fans. Bobby and Jack walk in and shake a few hands before they address the class.
Bobby: Alright, so Vinnie kindly let us come down here and check you guys out! See what the future of the Ohio Wrestling scene looks like. Sound good?
Even the indifferent trainees start looking more keen at this point. This could be their shot!
Jack: So I need two volunteers.... You and....
Bobby: You!
Two of the kids get onto the mats. The mats are arranged into a square with the absence of a ring. One of the kids is tall, gangly with frizzy brown hair. The other is shorter, stockier and looks as if he's spent a little time around a Gym.
Bobby: Ok, we want to see your basics. Basics are the fundamentals of Wrestling. If you can do those well, you're already better than 50% of weekend warriors kicking around on local Indy shows. Lock up!
The two kids lock up. The size difference makes it slightly awkward, but eventually, the shorter kid falls on his arse.
Jack: OK! Not bad. Now you, shorter kid....stand up.
The shorter guy does as he was told.
Jack: Lock up with Bobby.
The kid's eyes widen as he's about to tussle with a local celebrity.
Jack: Bobby. Don't hold back! Go!
They lock up again. The height is more equal this time, but the kid gets pushed over again, even quicker.
Jack: See that? That's one tiny error that lets your opponent get an upper hand on you. Who saw it?
A few suggestions come in from students trying to prove their knowledge.
Bobby: A few of you were pretty close there. Know where the problem started, kid?
The shorter kid looks a little embarrassed, as he has no suggestion that hasn't already been offered.
Jack: Hey, it's fine. Don't worry we're all here to learn.
Bobby: It all started here.
Bobby points at the kid's feet.
Bobby: If you don't get that base, then you're going down 1005 of the time. You don't want that. Now lock up again, but just hold position.
Bobby and the kid lock up again.
Jack: Stop there!
They hold their position, no one pushing.
Jack: I want you to take a look at the difference between Bobby and....What's your name?
Jay: Jay, sir.
Jack: Ok, Jay. Now move that back foot over here. Your stability in this situation always comes from the back foot. He's trying to push you over, or move you into position to take the advantage. Get yourself a good solid base and you can do the same.
Jay moves his foot a little back.
Bobby: Ok, now I'm going to try to push you over.
Bobby pushes against Jay, who resists and holds his position. They break away.
Jack: Much better! See? Basics. I don't care if you can 630 Dragon Corkscrew Phoenix Press over fire...If you don't get the basics right, your opponent will never be in the position where you can do that! Got it? Ok break up! Go show us what you just learned.
The trainees go back to work as Bobby slaps Jay on the back for helping out with the demonstration. The techniques look solid and Jack goes around the room, offering slight corrections on stance and technique.
Vinnie: So you jumped in and picked out Jay. Any reason?
Bobby: Well being a smaller guy myself, I like to see a smaller guy get a shot. We have to work in a different way to compensate for the difference in size. This business got all about the huge jacked dudes and it's time that we realised that's not a normal physique.
Vinnie: Don't you worry about how it looks on TV?
Bobby: Most of these kids will never make TV. Doesn't mean we can't teach them right from the beginning. That one change, that tiny adjustment to his feet just improved his technique massively.
Vinnie: So what made you guys call us anyway? Don't you have matches coming up?
Bobby: Sure do. I'm taking on Eric Chronister this week as part of the End of Days tournament for the XHF and Jack takes on Chris Card to defend his X*Crown Championship for AWF. Then depending how things pan out, we will have more matches before End of Days itself. Though we definitely have a match versus the Guns.
Vinnie: Those are the guys that hold the tag belts, right?
Bobby: You got it.
Vinnie: I admit, I didn't know a whole lot about you guys, but when I heard you were headed over, I might have looked up what was going on in order to look like I did to the kids.
Bobby laughs a little, but his annoyance is clear. He decides to stay away from that conversation.
Bobby: Alright, kids! Group up!
Everyone comes back to the centre of the room. Bobby and Jack address the class again.
Jack: One more thing we want to go through with you guys. Talking. Talking is what makes people come to the show. Believe it or not, you guys can be the best wrestlers in the world, but if you can't convince people to come and watch you... They'll never know.
Bobby: For sure. With talking comes body language. If your head is down, looking at your laces, we won't believe you. We are going to show you how it's done, but Vinnie, we want you to check up on these kids because we are about to set some homework. Go check out your favourite wrestlers, see how they hold themselves, see how they put arses in seats. Watch their promos and most of all....Practice. Get in front of that mirror at home and work on it. Ready?
Bobby throws his phone to Vinnie.
Bobby: Record us. Now guys, make sure your attention is always on the camera. You're talking to your opponent, you're talking to the fans. You can talk to each other at home.
Jack: Action!
The sound of Vinnie hitting record is heard.
Jack: So Guns. You've had us jump through all sorts of hoops to get a shot at those titles as if we were that fucking Bear you cart around with you.
Bobby: Goldbear....Isn't that the name of a sweet? Haribo made it, right?
The class giggle in the background.
Jack: You've made us face your friends, you've carted out cheap impersonations of us in order to try to humiliate us, but all you did in the long run is desecrate the reputation of those belts. You haven't had a top tier match in months and you know it!
Bobby: So it's time.... It's time for us to do for the XHF Network what we have done for AWF. Bring it some importance. Bring those belts back to relevance and not just a fucking sideshow in a shitty Gym show in Atlanta.
Jack: It's time those titles got back to being in front of people. Being on shows that aren't advertised by the roster flyering on a fucking street corner. Shows where anyone on the lower card won't get paid. Shows which revolve around you two clowns dicking about for half of them and having a quick match at the end to get around the 30 day defence rule.
Bobby: Sure... We get it. You aren't as young as you were. You haven't got as many bumps on the old bump card as we have. We understand that you guys are looking to extend this gravy train for as long as you can in order to keep the cheques coming in to pay the bills, but all reigns, no matter how long, fraudulent and self serving as they may be....Must come to an end.
Bobby: So... End of Days...Whoever knows what show it's on. We got told they didn't want to double book us, but then they double booked us provided I advance this week against old jailbird, Chronic. We are going to get suited up and continue on the Icons vs the World tour and do exactly what we always say do...We're going to come in and systematically and methodically end the careers of two XHF Legends in the way only an Icon and a Legend Killer can.
Bobby stops to take a drink of water.
Bobby: In doing so, we are going to become the new XHF Tag Team Champions. We'll hold every global championship in the XHF and our haul between two of us will be twenty championship belts...TWENTY!
Jack: What's that like 19 for me and 1 for you?
Bobby: Back on task Jack! Now you can bring the bear to the ring. We honestly don't care. The field of fucks is barren and there are none left to give!
Jack: Hey, we could dress Mav up in a bear suit and have Mav-Bear!
Bobby: Yeah, I don't think he'll go for that!
Jack: True. Nevertheless, come the conclusion of End of Days, Jack Fucking Diamond will hold the X*Crown, Bobby Barratt will be the End of Days Champion and The Icons will hold the XHF Tag Team Championships! Total...
Bobby: Global...
Jack: Domination!
Bobby: Icons....Out!
Vinnie stops shooting and hands Bobby his phone back. The class applaud politely.
Bobby: See? We made our point and moved on. No rambling, a little bit of joking around is OK. Be who you are! Just stay on point! Now we're going to take off. Vinnie, keep these kids on track, if they work hard, we'll come back.
Jack: Now as a thanks for having us here, we are putting out tickets for you all to come and watch what we do to the Guns. Those guys are going to give us a big match and we want you all there to see it! Pay close attention to the basics. You're solid.
With that, Bobby and Jack shake hands with the trainees and Vinnie. They head out of the door and back to the car.
Bobby: See? That was fun!
Jack: Yeah, I guess. Kind of nice to see where it all started.
Bobby: Told ya!
Bobby presses the screen on his phone a few times, uploading the crudely shot promo to the XHF website. They get into the car and take off out of the car park as the scene fades to black.
