Post by Ryan Blade on Sept 22, 2013 16:33:01 GMT
{The rain has ceased, and now the sun pokes its head out from behind a cloud, creating a beautiful rainbow in the sky. As we pan down, we see Ryan's girlfriend, Chelsea, sitting on a picnic table under a willow tree with her back to the camera. She looks out over a small pond as a family of ducks moves atop the water in a straight line, and the birds have even come back out to sing a sweet song with their chirps. The peaceful scene is interrupted as the Man of Steel Champion comes into frame and sits down on the table next to Chelsea.
Having come directly over after talking to his mother, Blade has so much running through his head at the moment. The kid wasn't prepared for everything that came at him today... that's a lot of emotion for the young star. But it was almost a good thing for Ryan... of course it's not fun seeing your mom in such a weakened state, but at the same time, she showed strength even in her darkest hour. And even when things were bad, she was still trying to reassure her son.
Something she said really stuck with the kid, and he's ready to make some big decisions in his life.}
Ryan Blade: "Really peaceful, isn't it?"
Chelsea: "Yeah. Calm and serene. Just the thing you need at a time like this."
{Blade reaches over and puts an arm around his girlfriend, pulling her closer as the two sit in silence, just watching nature happen.}
Chelsea: "So how is your mom doing? Any big news from her?"
Ryan Blade: "Actually, yeah. Huge news, in fact."
Chelsea: "Is she okay?"
Ryan Blade: "The chemo is just really taking a lot out of her.... including her hair. She's pretty upset about the whole thing, and so am I, to be honest."
Chelsea: "Oh no. That's terrible."
Ryan Blade: "It's pretty bad. She's still as strong as ever though. This whole thing has shown me how short life is, and how we can't wait around forever, or focus on the future."
Chelsea: "Something that big really does help you put things into perspective, doesn't it? Your poor mom, though. I can't even imagine what she's going through right now."
Ryan Blade: "It's a tough situation, but she's a tough lady."
{Chelsea reaches both arms around Blade and hugs him from the side in a show of support. Honestly, if Chelsea weren't around, Ryan doesn't know how he'd be handling this whole terrible situation. Hell, she's made his entire road as a professional wrestler easier than it ever had any right to be. At the same time, he's helped her out a lot as well. Chelsea comes from a hard home life herself, and Blade's been her rock, and she, his.
For two young kids, they've been through a lot, and they're still going through hard times. But they make it work, and when one falls, the other picks them up. They've been dating for a while, but they've been friends for years... and Ryan's mom gave him some good advice. When you have a girl like this, you can't let her slip away.}
Ryan Blade: "You know.... life IS too short... and everything happens so fast. Mom told me not to lose you... and I don't want to."
Chelsea: "I'm not going anywhere, Ry."
Ryan Blade: "Even still, I don't want to risk it. I want you to know that I want to be with you for the rest of my life... I want you to always be with me on this crazy journey, and I want to be there for you too."
{Blade stands up and grabs his girlfriend's hand, who responds with a shocked face, covering her mouth with the other hand.}
Ryan Blade: "And even though I don't have a ring right now, it doesn't make this any less real. So I guess what I'm saying right now, Chels, is that I want you to marry me."
{He drops down on one knee.}
Ryan Blade: "Will you marry me?"
{The redhead removes her hand from her face and looks down at the Man of Steel Champion. It's all so sudden. They'd never even talked about this before, and now it's happening.}
Chelsea: "Ryan.... no."
{Blade shoots up to his feet and looks confused and insulted.}
Ryan Blade: "What?"
Chelsea: "I said 'no', Ry."
Ryan Blade: "But why?"
Chelsea: "You know I love you and everything, but the only reason you're doing this now is because you're so emotional over your mom's situation. People don't get married because of hardships going on in their lives, and I don't want us to jump into this just because everything else is going so terribly. When the world is wrong, I want us to be right... and this isn't the right way."
{Blade puts his hand on his temple and starts to walk back and forth, pacing.... confused. Sure it wasn't a well thought out attempt, but he didn't see it going that badly. I guess the failed proposals aren't really the ones you see on TV, are they? He stops pacing and looks at the redhead.}
Ryan Blade: "So you don't want to marry me?"
{She slides down from the picnic table and stands up, holding Blade's arm and looking him in the eyes.}
Chelsea: "I do. Someday. Just not like this, and not today."
{She kisses him on the cheek.}
Chelsea: "You've got your wrestling career to focus on, plus your mom's struggle... and i've got family issues of my own. There's just too much going on right now, and this would just be a distraction from the real life stuff we have to deal with. Pain sucks, but it's only temporary; and us getting married right now would be just be putting a band-aid on the issue."
Ryan Blade: "I guess I was just all hopped up on emotion and didn't really think it through. You're probably right though.... I'm rushing things. I just thought this could make us both happy."
Chelsea: "We're already happy. And hey... we're still young. Time moves quickly, but not that quickly."
{Rejection in the nicest way is still rejection. He knows it was a crazy idea that he thought of on a whim... All it took was a carride over for him to convince himself that this was the right thing to do, and honestly, he was whole-heartedly in on the idea.
Now he has to put on a brave face and put together the pieces of a cracked, but not broken heart. One day, that girl is going to be his wife.
One day.
But for now, he pulls himself together and puts on a smile. For once, it hurts to smile.}
Ryan Blade: "Just promise me I'm not going to lose you in the meantime, okay?"
Chelsea: "That's the easiest promise I'll ever have to make."
{The two kiss sweetly under the old willow tree.}
Chelsea: "But in return, you have to promise me that you're going to win your match on Sunday.... and that one day, you'll ask me to marry you again.... hopefully with a ring next time."
{Both laugh.}
Ryan Blade: "I promise."
{And that's the easiest promise he'd ever make.}
__________________________________________________________________________________________
"It seems like every time I step into the ring nowadays, I'm going up against someone beyond eager to tell me exactly why I can't get the job done; someone who has an entire list of bulletpoint ideas to run down telling me why they're better than me and I'll be nothing more than a 'flash in the pan'. Go back to any week and see what my opponents have to say about me and it'll read like certain fact that I'm a fraud.
And that's the funny part of this whole thing to me: these people who didn't even know I existed in May are now telling me what I can and can't do. Guys who I've never met before or even spent five minutes talking to are making sure I know that they know that I'm not any good. I mean, what does the fact that I was undefeated longer than anyone else in IWF prove? What does having championship gold around my waist before my twenty-first birthday prove?
Seriously, Laszlo... what kind of ass backwards thinking is going on in your head when losing in the first show's main event, and losing in the first Heavyweight Title Match, and losing to a Hall-of-Famer mean more than what I've done? Because from where I'm sitting, I'm making a name for myself, and you just keep sullying that same weak reputation you've had since jump.
See, I'm a homegrown Imperial Wrestling talent. I've never been anywhere else, and I'll never be anywhere else. I'm the first new star this company has produced. Guys like you who came over from the previous fed? You came over with the safety net of having a reputation to fall back on, but you also came in with the chance to get a fresh start. Everyone started with the same record, and everyone got the same chances. Hell, you got the best opportunity of all, considering you came in and they tried to paint you as a star from day one but putting you in that first main event with a former World Champion.
But you blew those opportunities, and now here you come over to my tree and you're doing the same damn barking you've always done. You're better than me. You're going to prove yourself.
You're the best wr- ahahah.
Sorry, I couldn't keep a straight face through that.
It's amazing the way you're able to come out here week after week and spout off the same tired bullcrap about being the best, even though the results fly right in the face of everything you're saying. You pick and choose which matches mean something, and which ones you can write off. Like the week you pinned me, that's a big deal... and beating Trent Helms was something to hang your hat on, but everything else? Well who cares about that?
That's the thing, Mikey.... you can't pick and choose what matches mean something to you. I go out there every week, and whether it shows or not, every match is life or death to me. It's why I took getting pinned by you so hard, and it's why when I lost my first fatal four-way a few months back, I took it to heart. I don't come out here and make excuses for why I lost, and I don't tell you that it didn't matter, or that it didn't count. You pinned me, and it pissed me off. I beat you in a tag match two weeks ago and it's a non-issue? It's BS.
That's why I dislike you so you much... Yes losing is an opportunity to get better, but it's also a chance to look at yourself and see what the hell you did wrong in the first place, and in your eyes, you're infallible. Mike Laszlo can do no wrong, and every time he fails, his failure is better than anyone else's successes.
I have reasons to be confident, Mike. I've got a belt that tells me I have a right to be cocky. You? You've got nothing to brag about, and still you brag. You've got nothing to talk about, and still you talk. You're going to lose the match on Sunday and still you're going to wake up on Monday and think that you're better than me.
Wrong.
You see... I know I'm a champion, but I also know I still have a lot to prove. Not to prove to you, Mike, or to prove to anyone in the arena or watching at home. I've got things to prove to myself. You pinned me.... fair and square, no shenanigans, you pinned me. Now I get the chance to step into the ring with you on Sunday and get some payback on you, and prove that I'm the better man. Because as much as you can say it with words, the only way to prove it is with your actions. So when I cave your head in with Derek Vinyard, or if I choke you out, when the dust clears and the show goes off the air, I'll know without a shadow of a doubt that I am better than you. That's not a catchphrase to slap on a t-shirt or a buzzword to rile up the masses... it's a statement. A statement I make in the ring, where it matters. Because battles aren't won on the microphone, Laszlo. A lesson you're sure to learn soon enough.
I've faced some tough competition already in my career, and I don't expect Extreme Endurance to be any different. Obviously Laszlo's talented, or else he wouldn't have been able to pin me those weeks ago. But what Mike fails to realize is that loss only made me hungrier to beat him, because before that night, I didn't give a damn about the guy. Now? I don't want to beat you, MIke. I want to beat you decisively. I want to leave that ring and have you know that you went to battle with a god, and you just didn't measure up.
Thirty minutes in the ring with me... that's what's waiting for you. Thirty minutes of pure pain and horror. Half an hour stands between Mike Laszlo and the ultimate glory or yet another monumental loss. I know how this thing ends, and by now, you should too. Hell, you wrote the book on losing in spectacular fashion. I have no doubts that you have the endurance to go to the limit.
But will you go to your limit?
Or will you fall short again?
How bad do you want it? Because I'll tell you right now.... I want it more. And I'm going to do what I have to do to keep the gold around my waist, and keep my name at the top of the card. This is the first of many main events for me, Laszlo. I'll headline shows after this, I'm certain, but it's only the first time, one time.
And this one is going to be special.
Well... for me at least. You're right, Mike. I still have a long way to go; both in life and in wrestling. But you'd best believe that it's going to be a hell of a ride, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.
Starting with the thirty on Sunday."
Having come directly over after talking to his mother, Blade has so much running through his head at the moment. The kid wasn't prepared for everything that came at him today... that's a lot of emotion for the young star. But it was almost a good thing for Ryan... of course it's not fun seeing your mom in such a weakened state, but at the same time, she showed strength even in her darkest hour. And even when things were bad, she was still trying to reassure her son.
Something she said really stuck with the kid, and he's ready to make some big decisions in his life.}
Ryan Blade: "Really peaceful, isn't it?"
Chelsea: "Yeah. Calm and serene. Just the thing you need at a time like this."
{Blade reaches over and puts an arm around his girlfriend, pulling her closer as the two sit in silence, just watching nature happen.}
Chelsea: "So how is your mom doing? Any big news from her?"
Ryan Blade: "Actually, yeah. Huge news, in fact."
Chelsea: "Is she okay?"
Ryan Blade: "The chemo is just really taking a lot out of her.... including her hair. She's pretty upset about the whole thing, and so am I, to be honest."
Chelsea: "Oh no. That's terrible."
Ryan Blade: "It's pretty bad. She's still as strong as ever though. This whole thing has shown me how short life is, and how we can't wait around forever, or focus on the future."
Chelsea: "Something that big really does help you put things into perspective, doesn't it? Your poor mom, though. I can't even imagine what she's going through right now."
Ryan Blade: "It's a tough situation, but she's a tough lady."
{Chelsea reaches both arms around Blade and hugs him from the side in a show of support. Honestly, if Chelsea weren't around, Ryan doesn't know how he'd be handling this whole terrible situation. Hell, she's made his entire road as a professional wrestler easier than it ever had any right to be. At the same time, he's helped her out a lot as well. Chelsea comes from a hard home life herself, and Blade's been her rock, and she, his.
For two young kids, they've been through a lot, and they're still going through hard times. But they make it work, and when one falls, the other picks them up. They've been dating for a while, but they've been friends for years... and Ryan's mom gave him some good advice. When you have a girl like this, you can't let her slip away.}
Ryan Blade: "You know.... life IS too short... and everything happens so fast. Mom told me not to lose you... and I don't want to."
Chelsea: "I'm not going anywhere, Ry."
Ryan Blade: "Even still, I don't want to risk it. I want you to know that I want to be with you for the rest of my life... I want you to always be with me on this crazy journey, and I want to be there for you too."
{Blade stands up and grabs his girlfriend's hand, who responds with a shocked face, covering her mouth with the other hand.}
Ryan Blade: "And even though I don't have a ring right now, it doesn't make this any less real. So I guess what I'm saying right now, Chels, is that I want you to marry me."
{He drops down on one knee.}
Ryan Blade: "Will you marry me?"
{The redhead removes her hand from her face and looks down at the Man of Steel Champion. It's all so sudden. They'd never even talked about this before, and now it's happening.}
Chelsea: "Ryan.... no."
{Blade shoots up to his feet and looks confused and insulted.}
Ryan Blade: "What?"
Chelsea: "I said 'no', Ry."
Ryan Blade: "But why?"
Chelsea: "You know I love you and everything, but the only reason you're doing this now is because you're so emotional over your mom's situation. People don't get married because of hardships going on in their lives, and I don't want us to jump into this just because everything else is going so terribly. When the world is wrong, I want us to be right... and this isn't the right way."
{Blade puts his hand on his temple and starts to walk back and forth, pacing.... confused. Sure it wasn't a well thought out attempt, but he didn't see it going that badly. I guess the failed proposals aren't really the ones you see on TV, are they? He stops pacing and looks at the redhead.}
Ryan Blade: "So you don't want to marry me?"
{She slides down from the picnic table and stands up, holding Blade's arm and looking him in the eyes.}
Chelsea: "I do. Someday. Just not like this, and not today."
{She kisses him on the cheek.}
Chelsea: "You've got your wrestling career to focus on, plus your mom's struggle... and i've got family issues of my own. There's just too much going on right now, and this would just be a distraction from the real life stuff we have to deal with. Pain sucks, but it's only temporary; and us getting married right now would be just be putting a band-aid on the issue."
Ryan Blade: "I guess I was just all hopped up on emotion and didn't really think it through. You're probably right though.... I'm rushing things. I just thought this could make us both happy."
Chelsea: "We're already happy. And hey... we're still young. Time moves quickly, but not that quickly."
{Rejection in the nicest way is still rejection. He knows it was a crazy idea that he thought of on a whim... All it took was a carride over for him to convince himself that this was the right thing to do, and honestly, he was whole-heartedly in on the idea.
Now he has to put on a brave face and put together the pieces of a cracked, but not broken heart. One day, that girl is going to be his wife.
One day.
But for now, he pulls himself together and puts on a smile. For once, it hurts to smile.}
Ryan Blade: "Just promise me I'm not going to lose you in the meantime, okay?"
Chelsea: "That's the easiest promise I'll ever have to make."
{The two kiss sweetly under the old willow tree.}
Chelsea: "But in return, you have to promise me that you're going to win your match on Sunday.... and that one day, you'll ask me to marry you again.... hopefully with a ring next time."
{Both laugh.}
Ryan Blade: "I promise."
{And that's the easiest promise he'd ever make.}
__________________________________________________________________________________________
"It seems like every time I step into the ring nowadays, I'm going up against someone beyond eager to tell me exactly why I can't get the job done; someone who has an entire list of bulletpoint ideas to run down telling me why they're better than me and I'll be nothing more than a 'flash in the pan'. Go back to any week and see what my opponents have to say about me and it'll read like certain fact that I'm a fraud.
And that's the funny part of this whole thing to me: these people who didn't even know I existed in May are now telling me what I can and can't do. Guys who I've never met before or even spent five minutes talking to are making sure I know that they know that I'm not any good. I mean, what does the fact that I was undefeated longer than anyone else in IWF prove? What does having championship gold around my waist before my twenty-first birthday prove?
Seriously, Laszlo... what kind of ass backwards thinking is going on in your head when losing in the first show's main event, and losing in the first Heavyweight Title Match, and losing to a Hall-of-Famer mean more than what I've done? Because from where I'm sitting, I'm making a name for myself, and you just keep sullying that same weak reputation you've had since jump.
See, I'm a homegrown Imperial Wrestling talent. I've never been anywhere else, and I'll never be anywhere else. I'm the first new star this company has produced. Guys like you who came over from the previous fed? You came over with the safety net of having a reputation to fall back on, but you also came in with the chance to get a fresh start. Everyone started with the same record, and everyone got the same chances. Hell, you got the best opportunity of all, considering you came in and they tried to paint you as a star from day one but putting you in that first main event with a former World Champion.
But you blew those opportunities, and now here you come over to my tree and you're doing the same damn barking you've always done. You're better than me. You're going to prove yourself.
You're the best wr- ahahah.
Sorry, I couldn't keep a straight face through that.
It's amazing the way you're able to come out here week after week and spout off the same tired bullcrap about being the best, even though the results fly right in the face of everything you're saying. You pick and choose which matches mean something, and which ones you can write off. Like the week you pinned me, that's a big deal... and beating Trent Helms was something to hang your hat on, but everything else? Well who cares about that?
That's the thing, Mikey.... you can't pick and choose what matches mean something to you. I go out there every week, and whether it shows or not, every match is life or death to me. It's why I took getting pinned by you so hard, and it's why when I lost my first fatal four-way a few months back, I took it to heart. I don't come out here and make excuses for why I lost, and I don't tell you that it didn't matter, or that it didn't count. You pinned me, and it pissed me off. I beat you in a tag match two weeks ago and it's a non-issue? It's BS.
That's why I dislike you so you much... Yes losing is an opportunity to get better, but it's also a chance to look at yourself and see what the hell you did wrong in the first place, and in your eyes, you're infallible. Mike Laszlo can do no wrong, and every time he fails, his failure is better than anyone else's successes.
I have reasons to be confident, Mike. I've got a belt that tells me I have a right to be cocky. You? You've got nothing to brag about, and still you brag. You've got nothing to talk about, and still you talk. You're going to lose the match on Sunday and still you're going to wake up on Monday and think that you're better than me.
Wrong.
You see... I know I'm a champion, but I also know I still have a lot to prove. Not to prove to you, Mike, or to prove to anyone in the arena or watching at home. I've got things to prove to myself. You pinned me.... fair and square, no shenanigans, you pinned me. Now I get the chance to step into the ring with you on Sunday and get some payback on you, and prove that I'm the better man. Because as much as you can say it with words, the only way to prove it is with your actions. So when I cave your head in with Derek Vinyard, or if I choke you out, when the dust clears and the show goes off the air, I'll know without a shadow of a doubt that I am better than you. That's not a catchphrase to slap on a t-shirt or a buzzword to rile up the masses... it's a statement. A statement I make in the ring, where it matters. Because battles aren't won on the microphone, Laszlo. A lesson you're sure to learn soon enough.
I've faced some tough competition already in my career, and I don't expect Extreme Endurance to be any different. Obviously Laszlo's talented, or else he wouldn't have been able to pin me those weeks ago. But what Mike fails to realize is that loss only made me hungrier to beat him, because before that night, I didn't give a damn about the guy. Now? I don't want to beat you, MIke. I want to beat you decisively. I want to leave that ring and have you know that you went to battle with a god, and you just didn't measure up.
Thirty minutes in the ring with me... that's what's waiting for you. Thirty minutes of pure pain and horror. Half an hour stands between Mike Laszlo and the ultimate glory or yet another monumental loss. I know how this thing ends, and by now, you should too. Hell, you wrote the book on losing in spectacular fashion. I have no doubts that you have the endurance to go to the limit.
But will you go to your limit?
Or will you fall short again?
How bad do you want it? Because I'll tell you right now.... I want it more. And I'm going to do what I have to do to keep the gold around my waist, and keep my name at the top of the card. This is the first of many main events for me, Laszlo. I'll headline shows after this, I'm certain, but it's only the first time, one time.
And this one is going to be special.
Well... for me at least. You're right, Mike. I still have a long way to go; both in life and in wrestling. But you'd best believe that it's going to be a hell of a ride, and I'm going to enjoy every minute of it.
Starting with the thirty on Sunday."
Well howdy there pardner.