Post by Damien Sparks on Aug 8, 2017 19:39:57 GMT
Monday Night Sacrifice has gone off the air and we open on the backstage studio set of Tyler Talks, but instead of Tyler Jacobs, we find Jake "The Ace" Conway sat opposite Damien Sparks.
Damien Sparks: Hello, and welcome to an exclusive Network edition of Tyler Talks. Now, the more observant among you may have already noticed that I am not your regularly scheduled host Tyler Jacobs, who was forced earlier this evening to take an unscheduled and rather brutal bathroom break by The Council's resident hell hound, Jason Sandman. Therefore I have taken it upon myself to stand in for my colleague and conduct his post show interview for him. Please welcome my guest at this time, Jake "The Ace" Conway...
Jake Conway: Pleasure to be here, Damien...
Damien Sparks: As I understand it, you personally requested some time tonight. Am I right in assuming that this is because some of the things Tyler has been saying lately about how you allegedly weaselled your way into an Imperial Championship rematch at Lineage?
Jake Conway: Yes, and it's not just Tyler Jacobs who holds that opinion, most people believe that the way the rematch came about was all part and parcel of some dastardly ploy by me to guarantee myself a Championship opportunity that I did not deserve, and I'm here tonight to categorically and definitively speak out against such utter rubbish. I mean, you tell me Damien, exactly what kind of a cynical and jaded world do we live in when people would rather doubt the sincerity of an innocent ten year old girl than simply give the most honest man in professional wrestling today a second chance?
Damien Sparks: It is a rather sad state of affairs. For what it's worth, I never doubted you or your beautiful little girl...
Jake smiles.
Jake Conway: Thank you, Damien. It's nice to know that somebody around here has the good sense to see that if it was really all a grand scheme for me to guarantee that I walked out of Lineage with the richest prize in our sport, wouldn't I have made damned certain that I was sitting here right now with the Imperial Championship? Over the years, we've all seen the real bastards in this company guarantee themselves their most important victories through any means necessary. Men like Roberto Verona who had a pair of brass knuckles as an insurance policy at Night of the Immortals III. Roberto Verona, a man that I have been unfairly and less than flatteringly compared to by IWF's current reigning Imperial Champion Andrew Jacobsen over the last two months, might I add, knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was walking out with the Imperial Championship because he really did have a dastardly plan, and he really was willing to sacrifice all of the morality and integrity that the title is supposed to represent in a way I never ever could - certainly not at the expense of my daughter. Her innocence and value to me cannot be measured by ten pounds of gold and four pounds of leather...
Damien Sparks: Looking back at what transpired at Lineage, I think its fair to say if it was all a plan, it didn't work very well.
Jake Conway: That's because it wasn't a plan at all. It was simply the culmination of one little girl's wish to see her father and her hero do battle one more time, because unlike my peers, my baby girl actually believes that a man like me is worthy of second chances. If all I wanted at Lineage was the Imperial Championship at the cost of those people who matter to me, why would I have stopped at Solitaire? Why not Domino? Why not my wife, Kathy? Why didn't I tell Kathy to distract the referee when I was in trouble, and use that opportunity to crack Andrew in the skull with my steel rake? You know, all things I've done in the past without hesitation to steal myself a victory from the jaws of defeat? If I used those tactics in the past in matches with far less at stake, why the hell wouldn't I use them in the single most important rematch of my IWF career?
Damien Sparks: That's a very good point. Why wouldn't you? Why didn't you?
Jake Conway: Because my daughter believed I could compete with one of the best pure technicians in the business and the best professional wrestler in the world today, and do it fairly...and that is exactly what I did - for her. Over the years, I have criticised and questioned a lot about Andrew Jacobsen, but one thing I have never denied is his wrestling ability and in ring prowess. I promised Solitaire that I would give Andy the match of his career, because she deserved to see it even more than Andrew deserved to experience it - and in the end, even though I didn't get the victory, that's exactly what I did. I gave Andrew my very best, and to his credit, he did what heroes always do - he persevered, he survived, and he walked away triumphant on that night. If I couldn't accept that and I was really the dastardly villain that Andrew is apparently convinced that I am, would I really have accepted how the match ended? Would I really be sitting here right now giving Andy all the credit in the world for tapping me out and leaving no doubts in anybody's minds that he truly deserves the position he is in in IWF today? No, I would be pulling a Roberto Verona and tainting the legitimacy of his win over me, but I haven't and I won't because I'm not Roberto Verona. I am better. I am and always have been the better man, morally, because I can do the one thing Roberto Verona never can. I can accept defeat and I can give credit where and when it is due.
Damien Sparks: Well, after everything you've said here tonight, I don't think anybody watching this right now can deny that. Earlier tonight, we saw your wife go a considerably long way in rescuing her bid to be the next Heiress to the Throne with am important victory over Kate Steele after a loss to Helena Sawyer at Lineage. Any thoughts on that, and any truth to the rumours that you two have something of a friendly wager going on right now?
Jake laughs.
Jake Conway: Yes, and given that I couldn't win the Imperial Championship at Lineage and that Kat is still very much in the running for the Heiress, I'd say she's already won that little wager and I wish her all the luck in the world as she continues her journey towards the Diamonds Championship. Bring it home baby...
Jake winks directly into the camera.
Damien Sparks: So what's next for you? Where do you go from here? Kole Kaos and Xavier Cross have been mentioning you lately, where do you stand on The Council? Will you get involved at all?
Jake shakes his head.
Jake Conway: No. That's a job for the heroes in this company, and if recent events have proven anything, I'm not a hero. I'm just a father trying to do my best for my family. At this stage in my career, after almost fifteen years in this business, I have come to terms with the fact that there will always be someone trying to "kill" this company, the Council is just the latest to that particular party...and they are just not my primary concern or responsibility right now. My primary responsibility is being the best possible husband and father I can be, and going to war with the latest group of rag tag revolutionaries is just not high on my list of priorities. The Imperial Wrestling Federation can save itself, it already has it's true hero to take up that responsibility. IWF already has its indisputable Imperial Champion - "The North Star" Andrew Jacobsen...
Damien has a finger to his ear.
Damien: Well I'm being told that that's all we have time for tonight. Thank you for your time Jake, I'm Damien Sparks, and this has been a real honour.
It is on this note that the studio lights slowly go down and the scene fades to the Tyler Talks logo.
Damien Sparks: Hello, and welcome to an exclusive Network edition of Tyler Talks. Now, the more observant among you may have already noticed that I am not your regularly scheduled host Tyler Jacobs, who was forced earlier this evening to take an unscheduled and rather brutal bathroom break by The Council's resident hell hound, Jason Sandman. Therefore I have taken it upon myself to stand in for my colleague and conduct his post show interview for him. Please welcome my guest at this time, Jake "The Ace" Conway...
Jake Conway: Pleasure to be here, Damien...
Damien Sparks: As I understand it, you personally requested some time tonight. Am I right in assuming that this is because some of the things Tyler has been saying lately about how you allegedly weaselled your way into an Imperial Championship rematch at Lineage?
Jake Conway: Yes, and it's not just Tyler Jacobs who holds that opinion, most people believe that the way the rematch came about was all part and parcel of some dastardly ploy by me to guarantee myself a Championship opportunity that I did not deserve, and I'm here tonight to categorically and definitively speak out against such utter rubbish. I mean, you tell me Damien, exactly what kind of a cynical and jaded world do we live in when people would rather doubt the sincerity of an innocent ten year old girl than simply give the most honest man in professional wrestling today a second chance?
Damien Sparks: It is a rather sad state of affairs. For what it's worth, I never doubted you or your beautiful little girl...
Jake smiles.
Jake Conway: Thank you, Damien. It's nice to know that somebody around here has the good sense to see that if it was really all a grand scheme for me to guarantee that I walked out of Lineage with the richest prize in our sport, wouldn't I have made damned certain that I was sitting here right now with the Imperial Championship? Over the years, we've all seen the real bastards in this company guarantee themselves their most important victories through any means necessary. Men like Roberto Verona who had a pair of brass knuckles as an insurance policy at Night of the Immortals III. Roberto Verona, a man that I have been unfairly and less than flatteringly compared to by IWF's current reigning Imperial Champion Andrew Jacobsen over the last two months, might I add, knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was walking out with the Imperial Championship because he really did have a dastardly plan, and he really was willing to sacrifice all of the morality and integrity that the title is supposed to represent in a way I never ever could - certainly not at the expense of my daughter. Her innocence and value to me cannot be measured by ten pounds of gold and four pounds of leather...
Damien Sparks: Looking back at what transpired at Lineage, I think its fair to say if it was all a plan, it didn't work very well.
Jake Conway: That's because it wasn't a plan at all. It was simply the culmination of one little girl's wish to see her father and her hero do battle one more time, because unlike my peers, my baby girl actually believes that a man like me is worthy of second chances. If all I wanted at Lineage was the Imperial Championship at the cost of those people who matter to me, why would I have stopped at Solitaire? Why not Domino? Why not my wife, Kathy? Why didn't I tell Kathy to distract the referee when I was in trouble, and use that opportunity to crack Andrew in the skull with my steel rake? You know, all things I've done in the past without hesitation to steal myself a victory from the jaws of defeat? If I used those tactics in the past in matches with far less at stake, why the hell wouldn't I use them in the single most important rematch of my IWF career?
Damien Sparks: That's a very good point. Why wouldn't you? Why didn't you?
Jake Conway: Because my daughter believed I could compete with one of the best pure technicians in the business and the best professional wrestler in the world today, and do it fairly...and that is exactly what I did - for her. Over the years, I have criticised and questioned a lot about Andrew Jacobsen, but one thing I have never denied is his wrestling ability and in ring prowess. I promised Solitaire that I would give Andy the match of his career, because she deserved to see it even more than Andrew deserved to experience it - and in the end, even though I didn't get the victory, that's exactly what I did. I gave Andrew my very best, and to his credit, he did what heroes always do - he persevered, he survived, and he walked away triumphant on that night. If I couldn't accept that and I was really the dastardly villain that Andrew is apparently convinced that I am, would I really have accepted how the match ended? Would I really be sitting here right now giving Andy all the credit in the world for tapping me out and leaving no doubts in anybody's minds that he truly deserves the position he is in in IWF today? No, I would be pulling a Roberto Verona and tainting the legitimacy of his win over me, but I haven't and I won't because I'm not Roberto Verona. I am better. I am and always have been the better man, morally, because I can do the one thing Roberto Verona never can. I can accept defeat and I can give credit where and when it is due.
Damien Sparks: Well, after everything you've said here tonight, I don't think anybody watching this right now can deny that. Earlier tonight, we saw your wife go a considerably long way in rescuing her bid to be the next Heiress to the Throne with am important victory over Kate Steele after a loss to Helena Sawyer at Lineage. Any thoughts on that, and any truth to the rumours that you two have something of a friendly wager going on right now?
Jake laughs.
Jake Conway: Yes, and given that I couldn't win the Imperial Championship at Lineage and that Kat is still very much in the running for the Heiress, I'd say she's already won that little wager and I wish her all the luck in the world as she continues her journey towards the Diamonds Championship. Bring it home baby...
Jake winks directly into the camera.
Damien Sparks: So what's next for you? Where do you go from here? Kole Kaos and Xavier Cross have been mentioning you lately, where do you stand on The Council? Will you get involved at all?
Jake shakes his head.
Jake Conway: No. That's a job for the heroes in this company, and if recent events have proven anything, I'm not a hero. I'm just a father trying to do my best for my family. At this stage in my career, after almost fifteen years in this business, I have come to terms with the fact that there will always be someone trying to "kill" this company, the Council is just the latest to that particular party...and they are just not my primary concern or responsibility right now. My primary responsibility is being the best possible husband and father I can be, and going to war with the latest group of rag tag revolutionaries is just not high on my list of priorities. The Imperial Wrestling Federation can save itself, it already has it's true hero to take up that responsibility. IWF already has its indisputable Imperial Champion - "The North Star" Andrew Jacobsen...
Damien has a finger to his ear.
Damien: Well I'm being told that that's all we have time for tonight. Thank you for your time Jake, I'm Damien Sparks, and this has been a real honour.
It is on this note that the studio lights slowly go down and the scene fades to the Tyler Talks logo.
Well howdy there pardner.