Post by Roberto Verona on Oct 29, 2017 14:33:06 GMT
{ Our scene opens up inside a familiar locale, the dilapidated and decidedly dated gymnasium routinely frequented by the IWF COO, Roberto Verona, on the eve of his upcoming matches. Verona stands beside the ring which dominates the centre of the room, removing a carefully pressed suit which appears completely at odds with its surrounding as the sound of clicking heels approaches and Hannah Reed makes her way towards him. Hannah looks around, her face awash with disgust as Verona looks up towards her. }
Hannah Reed: You know, you really ought to consider using the state of the art facilities we just finished building for the rest of the roster, at least I could be confident you wouldn’t catch something down there.
{ Roberto slips on his suit jacket. }
Roberto Verona: I’m not sure we could say the same for the rest of them, they’re like rabbits on heat ninety percent of the time.
{ Hannah shudders. }
Hannah Reed: There’s an image I never needed, perhaps you should stick to this dump after all.
Roberto Verona: This shit hole is the place that made me the man I am today.
Hannah Reed: That explains all of your crippling character flaws.
Roberto Verona: It’s always good to remind yourself of where you came from, besides, nobody expects to find a billionaire in a crumbling gymnasium… unless he’s concluding some sort of nefarious backhanded business agreements of course.
{ Verona reaches into his bag, pulling out a bottle of red wine and a couple of glasses. }
Hannah Reed: Do you just carry alcohol with you everywhere you go?
Roberto Verona: You never know when you’re going to get a two hour conference call from marketing lecturing you on the potential damage to our “loyal business partners” if we push the envelope too far. Or a five minute conversation with anybody on our roster.
Hannah Reed: Touché.
{ Roberto uncorks the bottle, tossing the cork to one side as he begins pouring the rich merlot into the two glasses. }
Hannah Reed: Have you ever considered what might happen if Cable actually manages to wriggle his way out of this? You might stop drinking as much for one…
{ Verona smiles. }
Roberto Verona: Of course I have, do you honestly think I’d make any offer of this magnitude without considering the potential consequences?
Hannah Reed: Well… you have taken a lot of blows to the head of the years…
Roberto Verona: That explains why I put up with you still.
{ Hannah laugh and playfully smacks Roberto on the arm. }
Roberto Verona: If, by some miracle, Cable manages to weasel his way out of what is coming to him, the fact is he’s got something much worse to endure.
Hannah Reed: And what would that be?
Roberto Verona: Power. Everybody craves it, but few actually understand what it entails. People fantasise that by accumulating they can just waft their hand of click their fingers and their will is done, but when you hold that power, how the world treats you is very different to when you’re simply in the pursuit of it.
{ Roberto passes Hannah a glass of wine. }
Roberto Verona: They don’t advertise the fact you’ve got to try and balance the interests of hundreds of people at a time to maintain your position, they don’t romanticise the countless meetings, phone calls and inevitable arguments you’re swamped by because your one decision to benefit some inevitably steps on the toes of others. The fact is Cable think he’s just going to waltz in here, book a few matches and have his fill of the buzz of power, but he’s quite blatantly neither ready nor in receipt of the realisation of what it entails.
Hannah Reed: Maybe you really are sick, pawning off 2am phone calls from disgruntled wrestlers upset about their pay or positions in the company to somebody who has no idea what they’ve gotten themselves into…
Roberto Verona: Perhaps, you’ve known me long enough by now to appreciate that if I can’t get my own way, I’ll make damn sure that I reduce my collateral in defeat. Part of me even hopes Cable does manage to survive the trials I have in place for him, just to watch him slowly suffer and come to learn what I’ve been trying to drill into his thick skull for a year.
{ Verona takes a sip of wine. }
Roberto Verona: On the other hand, simply humiliating him and watching his pride erode over the coming months will more than suffice.
Hannah Reed: No wonder people repeatedly ask why I stay with you.
Roberto Verona: My billions of dollars, job security and a mansion?
Hannah Reed: I was going to say you charm and hidden warmth and generosity, but now you mention it I’m not sure how I’d live without a heated swimming pool through November…
{ Hannah smirks as she takes another sip herself, a wry smile running across Verona’s lips. }
Roberto Verona: All that matters is that come this Sunday, when the lights go out and the production crew dismantle the set, Cable Arcane will begin to learn a valuable lesson, all that remains to be answered is just how precisely he desires to consume his medicine.
Hannah Reed: Some would call it poision.
Roberto Verona: Call it what you will, but contrary to whatever is going on inside that head of his, he won’t be the same man come the end of next month, I don’t even quite think it’s dawned on him yet that this weekend there is simply no conceivable way he comes out of this as a winner. Best case scenario Cable Arcane gives me a well-earned break for a month, when that finally dawns on him I just hope there are cameras around to capture the moment for prosperity.
Hannah Reed: And what exactly do you plan on doing with this month off?
Roberto Verona: I don’t know, if it comes to it, maybe I’ll come and keep you company in the legal department.
{ Hannah’s eyes open wide. }
Hannah Reed: Jesus… maybe I want you to win after all…
{ Roberto laughs. }
Roberto Verona: Don’t worry, if Cable Arcane manages to achieve the impossible, I’m going to be there every single second of the way to watch as he comes to the realisation that he’s in well over his head.
Hannah Reed: And if he fails?
Roberto Verona: And when he fails I’m going to make sure I’m there to watch what’s left of the man crumble into insignificance. Whatever happens, this is the last time anybody is going to see the Cable Arcane they know, love him or loathe him.
Hannah Reed: You know, you really ought to consider using the state of the art facilities we just finished building for the rest of the roster, at least I could be confident you wouldn’t catch something down there.
{ Roberto slips on his suit jacket. }
Roberto Verona: I’m not sure we could say the same for the rest of them, they’re like rabbits on heat ninety percent of the time.
{ Hannah shudders. }
Hannah Reed: There’s an image I never needed, perhaps you should stick to this dump after all.
Roberto Verona: This shit hole is the place that made me the man I am today.
Hannah Reed: That explains all of your crippling character flaws.
Roberto Verona: It’s always good to remind yourself of where you came from, besides, nobody expects to find a billionaire in a crumbling gymnasium… unless he’s concluding some sort of nefarious backhanded business agreements of course.
{ Verona reaches into his bag, pulling out a bottle of red wine and a couple of glasses. }
Hannah Reed: Do you just carry alcohol with you everywhere you go?
Roberto Verona: You never know when you’re going to get a two hour conference call from marketing lecturing you on the potential damage to our “loyal business partners” if we push the envelope too far. Or a five minute conversation with anybody on our roster.
Hannah Reed: Touché.
{ Roberto uncorks the bottle, tossing the cork to one side as he begins pouring the rich merlot into the two glasses. }
Hannah Reed: Have you ever considered what might happen if Cable actually manages to wriggle his way out of this? You might stop drinking as much for one…
{ Verona smiles. }
Roberto Verona: Of course I have, do you honestly think I’d make any offer of this magnitude without considering the potential consequences?
Hannah Reed: Well… you have taken a lot of blows to the head of the years…
Roberto Verona: That explains why I put up with you still.
{ Hannah laugh and playfully smacks Roberto on the arm. }
Roberto Verona: If, by some miracle, Cable manages to weasel his way out of what is coming to him, the fact is he’s got something much worse to endure.
Hannah Reed: And what would that be?
Roberto Verona: Power. Everybody craves it, but few actually understand what it entails. People fantasise that by accumulating they can just waft their hand of click their fingers and their will is done, but when you hold that power, how the world treats you is very different to when you’re simply in the pursuit of it.
{ Roberto passes Hannah a glass of wine. }
Roberto Verona: They don’t advertise the fact you’ve got to try and balance the interests of hundreds of people at a time to maintain your position, they don’t romanticise the countless meetings, phone calls and inevitable arguments you’re swamped by because your one decision to benefit some inevitably steps on the toes of others. The fact is Cable think he’s just going to waltz in here, book a few matches and have his fill of the buzz of power, but he’s quite blatantly neither ready nor in receipt of the realisation of what it entails.
Hannah Reed: Maybe you really are sick, pawning off 2am phone calls from disgruntled wrestlers upset about their pay or positions in the company to somebody who has no idea what they’ve gotten themselves into…
Roberto Verona: Perhaps, you’ve known me long enough by now to appreciate that if I can’t get my own way, I’ll make damn sure that I reduce my collateral in defeat. Part of me even hopes Cable does manage to survive the trials I have in place for him, just to watch him slowly suffer and come to learn what I’ve been trying to drill into his thick skull for a year.
{ Verona takes a sip of wine. }
Roberto Verona: On the other hand, simply humiliating him and watching his pride erode over the coming months will more than suffice.
Hannah Reed: No wonder people repeatedly ask why I stay with you.
Roberto Verona: My billions of dollars, job security and a mansion?
Hannah Reed: I was going to say you charm and hidden warmth and generosity, but now you mention it I’m not sure how I’d live without a heated swimming pool through November…
{ Hannah smirks as she takes another sip herself, a wry smile running across Verona’s lips. }
Roberto Verona: All that matters is that come this Sunday, when the lights go out and the production crew dismantle the set, Cable Arcane will begin to learn a valuable lesson, all that remains to be answered is just how precisely he desires to consume his medicine.
Hannah Reed: Some would call it poision.
Roberto Verona: Call it what you will, but contrary to whatever is going on inside that head of his, he won’t be the same man come the end of next month, I don’t even quite think it’s dawned on him yet that this weekend there is simply no conceivable way he comes out of this as a winner. Best case scenario Cable Arcane gives me a well-earned break for a month, when that finally dawns on him I just hope there are cameras around to capture the moment for prosperity.
Hannah Reed: And what exactly do you plan on doing with this month off?
Roberto Verona: I don’t know, if it comes to it, maybe I’ll come and keep you company in the legal department.
{ Hannah’s eyes open wide. }
Hannah Reed: Jesus… maybe I want you to win after all…
{ Roberto laughs. }
Roberto Verona: Don’t worry, if Cable Arcane manages to achieve the impossible, I’m going to be there every single second of the way to watch as he comes to the realisation that he’s in well over his head.
Hannah Reed: And if he fails?
Roberto Verona: And when he fails I’m going to make sure I’m there to watch what’s left of the man crumble into insignificance. Whatever happens, this is the last time anybody is going to see the Cable Arcane they know, love him or loathe him.
What do you know about responsibility?
The only responsibility you’ve ever had is to yourself, some may call that admirable, some may even call it wise in this business, but then I’d disagree. I’d call it selfish, I’d call it arrogant and most of all I’d call it naïve.
You seem to think that because you’ve been a champion you’re entitled to the world, by right of conquest, but the reality is accumulating accolades entitles you to the square root of fuck all. Being the champion is a responsibility, but one you always shirked, you never represented anybody but yourself when you paraded around here making demands, trying to cash in your achievement to gain your next professional fix.
Addicted to the spot light.
You’ve been making demands and running your mouth for well over a year, yet through all that time you’ve remained completely oblivious to the reality of your situation. You don’t get to just demand that the COO of a professional multi-billion dollar international company gives you things because you just so happened to have ticked off a few items on your bucket list. You don’t get to have everything given to you on a silver platter because you personally believe you have “made it”.
And you definitely don’t get to have your name in lights by trying to wound my professional pride.
You see, Cable, when you actually have to shoulder a level of responsibility that is well beyond your comprehension, you simply learn to rise above the petty squabbles of the rank and file of the locker room. There may have been a time, long ago, that honour would dictate that I avenge anybody sullying my name, but quite frankly the opinions of mindless sheep looking for their next big pay day is of very little consequence to me. It’s all just the a myriad of unintelligible chatter, worthless jibes designed to try and coax me into making a name out of somebody.
The cold, hard, reality is that when you’re in a position like mine everybody and anybody is out to try and build a career off of you, the fact they know damn well that I am still in my professional prime is simply a further carrot to the professional stick that is their ego, encouraging them selfishly along the path of least resistance.
Taking me down is, of course, the ultimate statement in professional wrestling.
And I get it, for as much as you and everybody else thinks I am a coward, an asshole, a dictator and any other slur you wish to toss me way, you live and die in this industry by being remembered, by creating moments that live in the minds of everybody watching around the world. Nobody cares about the men and women who’ve simply won belts here, they care about those who created memories which live and breathe inside everybody.
So I understand why your professional drive to be the best and to be remembered locked your eyes square onto me, after all I bloodied the water by reminding the world that I am the one true, legitimate Imperial champion.
It was always a matter of time before you took the bait.
Yet, despite months and month of constant attempts to drag me into that ring to have your moment, I have been careful to deny you it because every step of the way you’ve shown that you’ve completely failed to reach the epiphany you’re long overdue. That the world doesn’t revolve around Cable Arcane, that sometimes myself and this company has a much bigger responsibility to every single person on its payroll, one which eclipses any obligation we may hold to any one single cog in the machine.
Remember what I said about the importance of moments?
What gives you the right to think you’ve earned one ahead of the countless other men and women you share that locker room with? Who gave you the authority to decide that you and you alone have earned your day in the sun after months of dominating the company at the expense of others? Who told you that you have the privilege of unending domination and bottomless investment in your brand?
IWF is bigger than Cable Arcane, however hard that has been for your to comprehend. I don’t owe you anything more than I owe the countless others under my employ, I certainly don’t owe you more time and investment at their expense simply because you stomped your feet and demanded it. I have as much of a duty to men like Nighthawk, Dean Harper, James Gilmore, Mason St. Croix and Jayson Matthews as I do you.
You’d know that if you ever thought about the bigger picture, Cable. I’ve been there, I’ve lived and breathed professional wrestling, I’ve been so absorbed in accomplishing my professional goals that sometimes the rest of the world appeared inconsequential, but what separates you and me is the fact that ultimately, deep down, my commitment was always to making the business better, not just for myself, but for anybody who followed me.
I never created the monumental merely for my own self-aggrandisement, I did it so that I could one day be in a position to force a change.
And I bloodied my hands and soiled my honour to accomplish that, I sold my soul to the devil herself Kelly Fox, I did it all to ensure that I could finally be passed the responsibility for the future of this business, a responsibility that I carry with me every single day. Everything I do, I do for you all, you think this pantomime act is merely a thankless exercise in stroking my own insecurities? I’m a villain as and when it is required to inspire the best in those who need a monster to strike down to accomplish their potential. I am a relentless hero of pure virtue when the animal inside my roster needs to be unleashed.
I am whatever my company needs me to be, I am whatever each individual on my roster needs me to be at any given time, I wear many masks and I bends many truths, all because it is my responsibility to ensure that everybody, not just one or two, gets the opportunity to accomplish everything they are capable of.
It is my responsibility to give everybody the chance to succeed. A responsibility I cannot just put to the wayside to serve the egotistical self-interests of one particular member who are so absorbed in their own careers that they completely forget that, whilst they couldn’t give a damn about everybody else they’ve stepped on to reach the peak of the mountain, there are others who can ill afford that luxury.
Believe it or not, I care about everyone on this roster, and it is my job to make sure they aren’t completely overshadowed by the demands and desires of one or two men or women who think the company revolves around them after they strap a bit of leather around themselves for a few months.
For months I have tried, Cable, to drill this message into your head, through means of force, slight of hand and illusions, but you’ve systematically continued to fail to understand. So it has come to this, the only lesson which may speak to your unrelenting pride and professional arrogance.
Humiliation.
You’ve spent over a year trying to demand your chance to put me on my back and have your name written on everyone’s lips, to steal the spot light from everyone around you and it’s about time your wish was granted. Only, wishes don’t always come true quite the way you had hoped, the only way you’re going to learn about responsibility, about your true place on the food chain, is with a moment that will live with you for all the wrong reasons.
The moment you finally realise that for all your protestations and gesticulations, after months and months of begging me to make you a star, you’re just going to be left laying in that ring, humiliated, your soul laid bare, naked to the world.
You’re going to lose, because the reality is no matter what you do, I will circumvent every single rule to ensure victory is snatched away from you. I will teach you that life isn’t fair, that you don’t just get what you want because you think you’ve earned it and most of all…
I’ll leave you half the man you were, left with the gnawing realisation that for all you have done, you’ll never get another opportunity to complete the thankless task you have endeavoured to accomplish for all these months.
You’ll never get another chance at beating me.
Cable Arcane, the underdog that won’t quit, the living, breathing embodiment for passion for this business, the relentless machine who gathers success after success with everything in his wake submitting to him…
Will be a failure.
For the first time in your career, you will have to come to terms with the fact that you have failed and there will be no opportunity for redemption, no second chances. You will finally have a blight on that perfect record of achievement and as it eats away at you, alone in those countless hours in the gym trying to erase it from your mind you’ll remember this.
Maybe I should have listened to Roberto Verona.
It’s time to pay the reaper, Arcane, this Sunday will be the moment you have been begging for, but not the way you imagined.
The only responsibility you’ve ever had is to yourself, some may call that admirable, some may even call it wise in this business, but then I’d disagree. I’d call it selfish, I’d call it arrogant and most of all I’d call it naïve.
You seem to think that because you’ve been a champion you’re entitled to the world, by right of conquest, but the reality is accumulating accolades entitles you to the square root of fuck all. Being the champion is a responsibility, but one you always shirked, you never represented anybody but yourself when you paraded around here making demands, trying to cash in your achievement to gain your next professional fix.
Addicted to the spot light.
You’ve been making demands and running your mouth for well over a year, yet through all that time you’ve remained completely oblivious to the reality of your situation. You don’t get to just demand that the COO of a professional multi-billion dollar international company gives you things because you just so happened to have ticked off a few items on your bucket list. You don’t get to have everything given to you on a silver platter because you personally believe you have “made it”.
And you definitely don’t get to have your name in lights by trying to wound my professional pride.
You see, Cable, when you actually have to shoulder a level of responsibility that is well beyond your comprehension, you simply learn to rise above the petty squabbles of the rank and file of the locker room. There may have been a time, long ago, that honour would dictate that I avenge anybody sullying my name, but quite frankly the opinions of mindless sheep looking for their next big pay day is of very little consequence to me. It’s all just the a myriad of unintelligible chatter, worthless jibes designed to try and coax me into making a name out of somebody.
The cold, hard, reality is that when you’re in a position like mine everybody and anybody is out to try and build a career off of you, the fact they know damn well that I am still in my professional prime is simply a further carrot to the professional stick that is their ego, encouraging them selfishly along the path of least resistance.
Taking me down is, of course, the ultimate statement in professional wrestling.
And I get it, for as much as you and everybody else thinks I am a coward, an asshole, a dictator and any other slur you wish to toss me way, you live and die in this industry by being remembered, by creating moments that live in the minds of everybody watching around the world. Nobody cares about the men and women who’ve simply won belts here, they care about those who created memories which live and breathe inside everybody.
So I understand why your professional drive to be the best and to be remembered locked your eyes square onto me, after all I bloodied the water by reminding the world that I am the one true, legitimate Imperial champion.
It was always a matter of time before you took the bait.
Yet, despite months and month of constant attempts to drag me into that ring to have your moment, I have been careful to deny you it because every step of the way you’ve shown that you’ve completely failed to reach the epiphany you’re long overdue. That the world doesn’t revolve around Cable Arcane, that sometimes myself and this company has a much bigger responsibility to every single person on its payroll, one which eclipses any obligation we may hold to any one single cog in the machine.
Remember what I said about the importance of moments?
What gives you the right to think you’ve earned one ahead of the countless other men and women you share that locker room with? Who gave you the authority to decide that you and you alone have earned your day in the sun after months of dominating the company at the expense of others? Who told you that you have the privilege of unending domination and bottomless investment in your brand?
IWF is bigger than Cable Arcane, however hard that has been for your to comprehend. I don’t owe you anything more than I owe the countless others under my employ, I certainly don’t owe you more time and investment at their expense simply because you stomped your feet and demanded it. I have as much of a duty to men like Nighthawk, Dean Harper, James Gilmore, Mason St. Croix and Jayson Matthews as I do you.
You’d know that if you ever thought about the bigger picture, Cable. I’ve been there, I’ve lived and breathed professional wrestling, I’ve been so absorbed in accomplishing my professional goals that sometimes the rest of the world appeared inconsequential, but what separates you and me is the fact that ultimately, deep down, my commitment was always to making the business better, not just for myself, but for anybody who followed me.
I never created the monumental merely for my own self-aggrandisement, I did it so that I could one day be in a position to force a change.
And I bloodied my hands and soiled my honour to accomplish that, I sold my soul to the devil herself Kelly Fox, I did it all to ensure that I could finally be passed the responsibility for the future of this business, a responsibility that I carry with me every single day. Everything I do, I do for you all, you think this pantomime act is merely a thankless exercise in stroking my own insecurities? I’m a villain as and when it is required to inspire the best in those who need a monster to strike down to accomplish their potential. I am a relentless hero of pure virtue when the animal inside my roster needs to be unleashed.
I am whatever my company needs me to be, I am whatever each individual on my roster needs me to be at any given time, I wear many masks and I bends many truths, all because it is my responsibility to ensure that everybody, not just one or two, gets the opportunity to accomplish everything they are capable of.
It is my responsibility to give everybody the chance to succeed. A responsibility I cannot just put to the wayside to serve the egotistical self-interests of one particular member who are so absorbed in their own careers that they completely forget that, whilst they couldn’t give a damn about everybody else they’ve stepped on to reach the peak of the mountain, there are others who can ill afford that luxury.
Believe it or not, I care about everyone on this roster, and it is my job to make sure they aren’t completely overshadowed by the demands and desires of one or two men or women who think the company revolves around them after they strap a bit of leather around themselves for a few months.
For months I have tried, Cable, to drill this message into your head, through means of force, slight of hand and illusions, but you’ve systematically continued to fail to understand. So it has come to this, the only lesson which may speak to your unrelenting pride and professional arrogance.
Humiliation.
You’ve spent over a year trying to demand your chance to put me on my back and have your name written on everyone’s lips, to steal the spot light from everyone around you and it’s about time your wish was granted. Only, wishes don’t always come true quite the way you had hoped, the only way you’re going to learn about responsibility, about your true place on the food chain, is with a moment that will live with you for all the wrong reasons.
The moment you finally realise that for all your protestations and gesticulations, after months and months of begging me to make you a star, you’re just going to be left laying in that ring, humiliated, your soul laid bare, naked to the world.
You’re going to lose, because the reality is no matter what you do, I will circumvent every single rule to ensure victory is snatched away from you. I will teach you that life isn’t fair, that you don’t just get what you want because you think you’ve earned it and most of all…
I’ll leave you half the man you were, left with the gnawing realisation that for all you have done, you’ll never get another opportunity to complete the thankless task you have endeavoured to accomplish for all these months.
You’ll never get another chance at beating me.
Cable Arcane, the underdog that won’t quit, the living, breathing embodiment for passion for this business, the relentless machine who gathers success after success with everything in his wake submitting to him…
Will be a failure.
For the first time in your career, you will have to come to terms with the fact that you have failed and there will be no opportunity for redemption, no second chances. You will finally have a blight on that perfect record of achievement and as it eats away at you, alone in those countless hours in the gym trying to erase it from your mind you’ll remember this.
Maybe I should have listened to Roberto Verona.
It’s time to pay the reaper, Arcane, this Sunday will be the moment you have been begging for, but not the way you imagined.
Well howdy there pardner.