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Centurion · (05-17-2019)

Centurion: I guess the first thing I should say is, “I’m sorry.”

(Centurion’s voice is a level of uncomfortable and uneasiness that hasn’t been heard from the veteran in a very long time. Whoever he is speaking to, he is somewhat intimidated by.

We open up inside the C&C Inc. Training Facility, where Centurion is standing near the front door. He is looking into the facility, where a mystery person, whose back is turned to Centurion, is pacing around the facility, looking at the various pieces of equipment, as well as the living arrangements Centurion set up for himself. The figure is slowly walking their way through the space, ignoring Centurion and internally critiquing every aspect of the building.)

Centurion: What I did was wrong. Inexcusable, even. And to ask for your help after all this time has to be the most laughable thing you’ve ever heard. But I wouldn’t have done it if I could have avoided it, and you know that. So I’m here to take whatever lashing you give me, and hopefully we can move forward…because I need you.

(The figure continues to walk around the room, stopping at the ring and pulling on the bottom rope, before moving on. Centurion just keeps talking, hoping to get some reaction from the figure.)

Centurion: If I could go back in time and change things, I would. But I can’t. All I can do is try to prove to you that I’m a different person now – a different person who is at the end of their rope, and is looking to make amends for all my past misdeeds.

(Finally, the figure makes it to the side room, where Centurion has been living. They glance all throughout the room – at the cot, and the makeshift stove made out of hot plate. After seeing just about enough, the figure turns around, to reveal...)

[Image: jc.png]

Camden: This place looks like shit.

Centurion: You should have seen it before I made the improvements.

Camden: What happened to your ivory tower? What happened to you that you went from living in a castle to squatting in a fucking closet?

Centurion: The story is long and boring.

Camden: Hmm. Most of your stories are.

(Camden walks up to Centurion and looks him dead in the eyes. Centurion stands there, unmoving. If she was planning on hitting him, he was going to take it. After all, he deserves it.)

Camden: I want you to know that I’m here as a favor to your sister, because for some reason, she actually cares if you’re alive or not.

Centurion: She doesn’t care enough to come with you, though.

Camden: No, because I told her I might murder you and I didn’t want her here to see that. And since I haven’t stabbed you in the fuckin’ chest yet, that must mean I at least want to hear whatever bullshit you’re going to be throwing onto me. So, tell me, love…why am I here?

(Camden cocks her head to the side, but doesn’t break her gaze with Centurion. Despite giving up a few inches to Centurion, she is making him feel about 2 feet tall, and her intimidating look, the same look that took down men twice her size on her way to a WGWF Hall Of Fame career, continues to burn a hole through Centurion’s skull.)

Centurion: I have a match…

Camden: HA!

(Camden immediately turns away from Centurion as she laughs. She shakes her head and walks away from him before turning back round and going on a rant.)

Camden: You flew me all the way across the pond and bared your heart and soul to me all because you want to step back in the ring and relive the days when you weren’t a bitch? Well, I’m sorry, I’m not looking for trainees at the moment, and by the looks of things, you can’t afford me anyway.

(Before Camden is able to storm away from Centurion, Centurion stops her by pulling out a piece of paper.)

Centurion: You may want to take a look at the match first.

(Camden sighs and snatches the piece of paper out of Centurion’s hand. She turns away from him as she unfolds it and paces with it, reading the contents within. It is a card, for the upcoming War Games Pay Per View.)

Camden: …who the fuck is Destiny Graves?

Centurion: No, that’s…something else. The bottom – read the bottom.

(Camden continues to pan her eyes down the page until she reaches the main event. When she does, she stops pacing, and the face of anger and intimidation changes to one of concern. She takes a deep breath before folding up the paper and sticking it in her pocket.)

Camden: MDK? I thought he was dead.

Centurion: That’s what I said!

Camden: Let me guess – Chris Page showed up with some WGWF folks to try and take down the XWF, and you’ve been caught in the middle of it all, and since I’m someone who has fought multiple battles against him and his mates, you decided to swallow your pride and make the hardest phone call of your life thinking that, while I may hate you, my hated for Chris Page will top any personal issues we may have. Does that sound about right?

Centurion: That’s…pretty accurate, yes.

(Camden mutters “God dammit” under her breath as she paces around the room.

Camden thinks back to the more recent moments of her relationship with Centurion and where it all went wrong – Centurion purchasing the WGWF and actively seeking to stop Camden from the world title. Centurion’s relationship with Isabelle Desjardins that was used as a proxy for Centurion’s continuing battle with Camden. Camden and Desjardins building an alliance. And the final interaction – Centurion and Camden being on the same War Games team as one another, but Centurion nailing Camden with a 1000 Mile Slam and walking out on his team. Camden was still able to overcome the odds and win the match, but she and her wife Allison, who also happens to be Centurion’s sister, never saw Centurion again.

Camden also thinks about her battles with Chris Page, including Page stalking her wife and leaving Camden in a hospital. She thinks about her match with MDK, where she was able to take him down despite everyone in the back talking about how great he was. She thinks about her back and forth with Rage, a constant thorn in her side and someone who was always held on a high pedestal no matter where he went. She thinks about Fuzz…

…she doesn’t remember Fuzz.

She also remembers that, without Centurion, she never would have gotten her start in pro wrestling to begin with. He brought her to the US, financed her early career, and got her to sign with the WGWF. Without him, Camden would likely still be bartending at The Island. Plus, she’s fucking his sister, and that means something.

Camden walks over to Centurion and places her hand on his shoulder.)

Camden: Fine. I’ll help you. But first…

(Camden pulls Centurion by the shoulder and knees him straight in the stomach, causing Centurion to fall to the ground in a heap.)

Camden: Get changed. We hit the ring in 10 minutes.

------Straight Buzzin, Robitussin------

I knew eventually all my demons would come back to try and kill me. I just didn’t know how quickly they would arrive.

Well…they’re here.

One of the positives of coming back to the XWF this late in my career is that virtually everyone I clashed with in the past is gone. I get to be part of new, fresh match ups that will both show off the current crop of talent while also allowing me to test my skills against a group of competitors who grew up watching me and my colleagues. It was a new beginning for me – an opportunity to get away from my past while rebuilding my legacy.

That didn’t last long, but it would have been naive for me to think it would.

It started with Fuzz. The moment I decided to return, Fuzz stalked me and attacked me, then did this “am I your friend or am I your enemy?” routine, as if Fuzz has been anything other than an asshole in his 20 years in the business. I must say, though, I was a little heartbroken to find out that Fuzz was just using me to get to James Raven. What, am I not good enough for you?

Then came Chris Page, who had to make his appearance in the most Chris Page way possible – wait until the end of a show, announce his presence, talk about how great he is and his now defunct wrestling company is, and demand a match with a man that guarantees him a spot in the main event. Chris Page doesn’t do openers. Chris Page doesn’t do the midcard. If he can’t be at the top of the ticket, then he won’t be there at all. It’s one of the things that lead to the downfall of the WGWF – that, and allowing a businessman from Atlantic City to take over the company from underneath his nose.

Next came Rage, who just couldn’t help himself, because the idea of being in YET ANOTHER battle with James Raven was just too much to pass up.

Finally, in walked MDK, who I initially thought I had no previous interactions with, then I remember a random tournament we were both entered into back in 2010. I was part of something called the Extreme Tournament – a multi federation wrestling tournament where wrestlers are locked in jail sells in Siberia and fight each other, the winner getting fuck-all besides bragging rights. I won my first round match, but went up against MDK in the second round, and he knocked me out of the tournament. So, hey, he has a victory on me. Good work. Other than that, though, not much has happened between MDK and I. In fact, the dude has been a ghost for several years. Pretty sure he just needs a paycheck, and Chris Page has been his sugar daddy for quite a while.

Chris Page is going to walk into this match, acting like some kind of savior and “God’s gift to wrestling” or whatever, and he is going to try and say that the WGWF was better than the XWF ever was, and that we should all be ashamed that we never had an owner as wonderful as he is. He likes to act as if he’s never failed. But he did fail. Multiple times. When he couldn’t do it on his own anymore, he needed Ranma Saotome to come in and bail his ass out. When that fell through, I bought the company. It was only after Page saw me dismantling his legacy that he decided to be this wonderful, caring leader that helped “save the WGWF’. Prior to that, Page was more than willing to run rough shot over the company, giving himself and his buddies every opportunity he could while holding the boot on the throats of his enemies. It wasn’t long after he ran off everyone that the WGWF closed its doors, save for a couple of reunion shows that failed to get off the ground.

So it makes sense as to why Chris Page is here. He still has a blood feud with the XWF after all these years, and he’s angry at James Raven because, lets face it, if Raven decided to become co-owner of the WGWF instead of the XWF, we’re having a very different conversation right now. It also makes sense as to why Rage is here – Rage was always compared to James Raven in one way or another, and he would never give up the opportunity to face Raven once again. And MDK, he has nothing better to do, so why not help out his buddy Page? Gets him out of the house for the weekend.

The one that doesn’t make any sense is Fuzz. Why would someone, who spent most of his career in the XWF, align himself with the man whose mission for years has been to destroy the XWF? Did Chris Page promise him a shiny, new title in whatever new promotion he plans on opening in the wake of the destruction of the company? Or did James Raven just hurt his feelings so much by ignoring him that he felt he had no choice but to accept Page’s offer of an alliance? Either way, it’s sad.

The problem Fuzz is going to have is that he’s not the big dog in this fight. Chris Page’s ego won’t allow him to be a leader, and with so much other great talent in the ring, Fuzz is just “a guy”. Fighting Samuel McPherson on a random episode of Warfare? Yes, he’s an attraction that everyone is going to focus on. Being in a War Games match with several other legends and champions? Suddenly there’s nothing special about him.

Though, I guess I reject the idea that Fuzz was ever anything “special” to begin with. Don’t get me wrong, he was good, but he was also wildly inconsistent. There were times when Fuzz came back to the XWF and was on fire, beating everyone in his path and winning the Universal Title. Then, he would just lose it in the ring, and look like some opening match geek. Maybe it was his crippling heroin addiction? Or maybe it was because Fuzz was always kind of overrated and instantly become exposed the moment he had a few matches under his belt? I guess we’ll never know.

Regardless, Fuzz has put himself into a compromising situation here. See, unlike the rest of his team mates, who are likely to fuck off to whatever rock they live under now, Fuzz is actually trying to attempt a comeback in the XWF. Tossing himself into this match may have sounded like a good idea at the time, but in reality, it’s the worst possible thing he could have done. Not only is his team going to lose, and he’s going to be seen as the fraud that he is, but he’s also made enemies out of the Apex Prophecy, the most powerful group of individuals in the XWF. Who is he going to turn to when he ultimately needs help and Chris Page is nowhere to be found? Noah Jackson? That relationship didn’t seem to come off to a good start. Lux? I doubt it. Sarah Lacklan? That would be hilarious.

He has no one. That would be fine if he were planning on having a pretty low key comeback, but instead, he’s decided to pick a fight with James Raven and his crew. There is no winning in that scenario. The best case scenario is that, somehow, Team Page walks out as the winners of the War Games match. Ok, great…what was accomplished there? Page and his pals are still likely to take off, and Fuzz is still left to fend for himself, only now he stands face to face with four people - two of whom are legends and one that’s the Universal Champion – who are looking for vengeance. That sounds like a good time.

Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe one of these other three chuckleheads stick around after the match, though I certainly wouldn’t bet on it. Chris Page can’t be anywhere if he isn’t getting his ass kissed on a daily basis, Rage won’t want to be here if he can’t either fight James Raven or for the Universal Title every week, and MDK would be more of a liability than an asset.

I didn’t go into this expecting to dunk on MDK the entire time, but hey, I can’t pass up a golden opportunity like this. It is incredible, that someone who never stepped foot in an XWF ring gets a main event spot at a pay per view because of who he’s friends with. Nothing was earned here. Even I had to wrestle a few matches before I could be put back in this spot. I had to wrestle Jack Nation and Ned Kaye and Bearded War Pig, while MDK sucks Chris Page’s dick and gets tossed into the match.

By the way, why MDK? Was Nick Ryan unavailable? Couldn’t pull Paul Frost out of his speech therapy classes? Couldn’t shake Famine Of The Vile out of his syphilis induced madness? Got stuck with MDK, huh? That’s just unfortunate.

For those of you who watch XWF programming and never seen WGWF – so, most of you – M.D.K stands for “Murder Death Kill”, the most edge lord name in professional wrestling. He probably comes to the ring to Mudvayne or some other Nu Metal band. At least he isn’t another one of those “Juggalo” wrestlers, though – we’ve run our gambit on those.

I think back to a tweet that Vinnie Lane once made, which…those are words I never expected to come out of my mouth. He was responding to James Raven and Fuzz, who were having another pissing match on the worst social media platform on the planet (seriously, Twitter was a mistake) right after the main event of the pay per view was announced.

This main event is going to be bad, isn't it? https://t.co/TdaqaquIoo
— "Loverboy" Vinnie Lane (@LBVinnieLane) May 9, 2019

At first, I was offended, but the more I thought about it…the more Vinnie is right. This main event IS going to suck. On one side of the ring, you have one old dude and one really old dude trying to relive their glory days though two of the most talented members of the roster, and on the other side of the ring, we have four wrestlers whose careers either vanished 9 years ago, or never got started in the first place. This isn’t going to be fun. This is going to be Apex putting on a clinic, Raven showing flashes of what make him the greatest of all time, and me getting the opportunity to get a few licks in on my past aggressors, while also allowing the future of this industry to shine.

This one won’t be close. The only questions are how long Robert Main and Drew Arghyle…Argyle…Archvile?...allow the match to continue, and who is going to take the fall. If Chris Page was a true leader, he would fall on his sword to avoid embarrassing his friends. But I know better than that. The moment this match looks unwinnable, Chris Page will walk out on his partners and blame them all for failing him. He’ll then claim it was the ref, and the ring, and the fact that he was stoned, and the alignment of the planets that all fucked him over, and if WE were in HIS ring, this never would have happened. Chris Page is the most predictable son of a bitch on the planet.

A professional wrestler can win all the titles in the world, but there is nothing like the sweet satisfaction of humbling someone whose ego got a little too big for themselves. At War Games, I have the opportunity to do just that, with four wrestlers who have been riding high with inflated egos for over a decade. Oh, am I going to enjoy the breakdown after this is all said and done. In the words of a mutual friend of all of ours…

Peace, bitch.

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