Post by Angel Blake on Jul 19, 2023 20:38:56 GMT
It’s a lovely Wednesday morning outside of the Blake estate. We see the fresh green grass soaking in the moisture from the week's rain storms.
We transition away from the picturesque exterior to the interior of the home. Traveling through it room by room as the sounds of bumping on a wrestling ring get progressively louder. Finally we find ourselves in the on-site gym of the Blake estate, dead in the center of it is a wrestling ring, inside of that ring is Angel Blake with his oldest daughter, Hayleigh, continuing her wrestling training.
The two are in the midst of a collar and elbow tie up. Angel has moved past the point of giving her instructions on what to do next, he’s allowing her intuition and knowledge to guide her from moment to moment now.
Hayleigh goes for a drop behind to a rear waistlock, Angel allows it only to break her “S” grip. Angel spins around with a backfist however Hayleigh has this move well scouted. With a forward roll under his arm she leaps to her feet to grab him from behind with an inverted neckbreaker!
Angel tries not to smile as he comes back to his feet and he’s lucky he didn’t. Hayleigh launches herself at her father with his signature leaping knee strike. Angel only just gets his hands up to block it but his daughter isn't backing down as she now feels she has the advantage.
Hayleigh follows up her opening with several stiff kicks to her father’s left leg, Angel staggers back trying to create distance between them to regroup but Hayleigh isn’t having it. Hayleigh picks the leg of her father, attempting a dragon screw leg whip but Angel manages to roll his way through it, alleviating the damage the move could’ve caused. With Angel back up at his feet, his daughter walks right into his own leaping knee strike!
Hayleigh regroups but Angel holds up his hand.
”Enough.”
Hayleigh heads to the ring apron where she grabs a bottle of water with a towel. She wipes away at her brow while she guzzles the water.
”You’re holding back, why?”
Hayleigh takes one more long sip before flip topping the bottle over the top rope where it lands directly on its side and rolls off the apron.
”Honestly?”
”Please.”
Hayleigh squats down on the second turnbuckle while she processes exactly what she wants to say. Angel just coolly regards her, taking in the wonder his once little girl had become.
”Before I start let me just say I really appreciate you and mom taking my training so seriously.”
”Of course.”
”That being said-”
Hayleigh pushes herself back up to her feet.
”I don’t understand what you abducting Knox’s kid has to do with professional wrestling!?”
”First, she isn’t one of his brood and second, I didn’t abduct her, I read her a story.”
Angel quickly replies to his obviously heated daughter.
”And then you burn down the guys gym!?”
”Allegedly. The fire marshal hasn’t found a cause yet.”
Hayleigh lets out an exasperated sigh.
”And this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this. I remember that sick shit you did to Steve Awesome, coaxing him into suicide. Or that feud you had back in the day with Homeless Harold involving his family. And! I distinctly remember you pile driving somebody's wife who wasn’t a professional wrestler on her head!”
Angel takes a moment to think about everything she just said.
”That all checks out.”
”What does any of that have to do with professional wrestling!?”
Hayleigh starts to pace in the ring.
”You both keep telling me you want me to be the best there has ever been! You both have been teaching me everything you’ve ever learned! And yet!? The things you’re most remembered for is the horrible shit you’ve done outside of a ring!”
Hayleigh comes to a stop in front of him, her eyes locked on his. He was so proud of her defiance in this moment.
”I don’t have an easy answer for you, Bones.”
”Just tell me the truth.”
Angel lets out a sigh as he looks at the mat.
”I can only speak for myself.”
”Of course.”
”In professional wrestling you’re going to make enemies.”
Angel pauses as he tries to chose his words carefully.
”Sometimes these enemies will just be in ring rivals. People you can share a locker room with after a brutal match up. But some of them? Some of them will go the extra mile to make your rivalry personal.”
”And when it’s you making it personal?”
She’s clever, he thought, she’s been having this conversation in her head for a while now, he can tell.
”I make it personal because some people don’t deserve what they have.”
Angel speaks with almost a seething tone.
”You’re old enough to remember my rivalry with Spike, right?”
”Most of it, what I couldn’t remember I looked up online.”
She’s so amazing.
”Spike Kane was an objectively awful person. He used the suffering he caused other people to make himself feel better. He was emotionally abusive to everyone who dared share a last name with him. He was physically abusive as well. He always claimed to regret the choices he made but he would always make those same choices again. He lived his life in a never ending circle of self regret and deplorable decisions.”
”And what does that have to do with you allegedly burning a gym down?”
”Spike didn’t deserve the good life he had. He had the respect, he had the money, he had the accolades, he had everything every young professional wrestler dreams of having and none of it meant anything to him. All he cared about was what would make himself feel better in the moment. But the joke was, nothing ever made him feel better.”
Hayleigh takes a moment to really think about what her father is saying before she responds.
”Knox reminds you of him?”
Angel slowly nods.
”The entire world keeps telling me how good Matt Knox is. He’s been a champion here, there and everywhere. He’s one of the most sought after talents in the professional wrestling world but is he a good person? Does he deserve everything he has?”
”You don’t think so?”
”I don’t, Hayleigh. Look at me, look at all the awful things I’ve done in the past. I’ve apologized for them. There are so many things I did when I was younger, so many people I hurt but people like Spike and Matt? I don’t regret that. I will never regret that.”
Angel drops to a knee before his daughter so they are more or less at the same level.
”In the past I was selfish. Now I fight against the selfish. You want to know what I’ve done recently has to do with professional wrestling? It has everything to do with professional wrestling. If I don’t teach people like Matt Knox to appreciate everything they’ve accomplished then they will go on poisoning this business. People who look up to them will emulate them and by the time he is a distant memory to the world the business will be populated with people like Matt Knox.”
Hayleigh waits to reply, she really absorbed everything her father just said.
”I understand.”
”Do you?”
”I do. People like Knox don’t love this business like we do.”
”They don’t.”
”You, mom, Tara, Dean, everyone, you do awful things to awful people but you also pass your knowledge on. You try to prepare to the next generation.”
”We do.”
”And sometimes you need to be the villain.”
”I do.”
Hayleigh looks into her father’s eyes for several moments.
”Because a villain is what the people need.”
”Sometimes.”
”But what if it goes too far? What if Knox comes for your family like you came for his?”
That terrible grin works its way across his face.
”I feel sorry for the person who comes for my family.”
”Because you’ve prepared us.”
It’s a statement, not a question.
”I’ll leave you with this. There’s a lot of ways to reach the top of our industry. You don’t have to walk my path. I’d prefer you didn’t.”
Hayleigh shoots him a smile of relief.
”Now, let’s get back to work.
You see the Lord's reflection as he slowly draws the black lines on his face.
”Last week I said the Heir to the Throne has eluded me…”
He continues dawning his paint as he speaks.
”Some took that as me forgetting I won the Heir to the Throne in 2022. That is not what I meant…”
There’s a seething anger just beneath his words.
”I meant it has eluded me so far this year. I am the only participant who has found himself without a single match with points on the line. Until this week. Until Bloody Assizes…”
A sneer creeps across his lips as he continues.
”We are a full month into Heir to the Throne 2023 and I am only just now being allowed to compete for points. So yes, the Heir to the Throne has eluded me, this year. And I am not happy about it…”
The sneer gives way to anger as he fills in the black aspects of his face paint.
”Ace Sky…”
He says with a distasteful tone.
”I do not envy you this week, my friend. You have been tasked with an insurmountable objective. Fell God or find yourself dead last in the points…”
He shakes his head ever so slightly.
”I know what my money is on…”
He says with the faintest of smirks.
”It’s a wonder someone as decorated as yourself has never crossed my path before. Of course I have heard of you. The enigmatic enigma, Ace Sky. The tranquil warrior. The Ghandi of professional wrestling. Truly your reputation precedes you…”
The smirk fades as he applies the finishing touches to his visage.
”And yet, you find yourself without a single victory in the Imperial Wrestling Federation. A man as accomplished as yourself, allegedly devoid of ego and hubris must still feel the biting sting of disappointment…”
His pale, painted face is now complete as he continues to glaring into the mirror. Those cold black eyes seem to get a shade darker as he carries on.
”You were touted as the hottest free agent in the world. Your services were desired by every major promotion in professional wrestling. Promoters were tripping over themselves just to book an appearance. And then?”
For a moment he looks bemused.
”Nothing…”
He holds his hands up as if expecting something, shrugging then placing them back down.
”You came to IWF as the grand marshal of a fabulous parade only to fall flat on your face as soon as you stepped through the ropes. It’s honestly a wonder there is so much spectacle surrounding you because the only thing I find impressive about Ace Sky is…”
“How bad you are…”
“It really raises the question of how high the bar is for independent talent? Is the IWF just so far and away the best in ring competition anywhere in the world or were you just playing big fish in little ponds for twenty years?”
Angel grunts a wry laugh.
”Truly I am asking. Your laundry list of accolades would lead one to assume you’re among the best in the world right now. However, your performance upon arrival here has been anything but exceptional. In fact, it’s exceptional Roberto Verona even allowed you into the Heir to the Throne…”
“I’ll have to discuss this matter with him personally…”
“Then again, perhaps you’ve just been nervous? Perhaps all the lights, cameras and crowd noise put you off your game? Perhaps you are every bit as good as your record would indicate and you’re going to show the whole world when you step into the ring with God?”
He snorts a laugh with a smirk.
”Yeah and Matt Knox is a good father…”
The jab brings with it a sizable laugh from our Lord.
”The fact of the matter is, I do honestly wish you were the man you present on paper. That man would be an incredible opponent and an even better challenge for me. You may have missed it while you’ve been spending your Tuesdays checking all the lights in the arena, I’m in something of a blood feud with Matt Knox…”
“Dear Matthew would have the world believe that I’m some sort of comic book movie villain. Painting my face up and burning down his life around him all while twirling a comically large mustache. The truth is, on paper and in life, Matthew Knox doesn’t belong in my company…”
”And IWF is MY company…”
“And I have made it my mission to burn him out of existence. I say all this because that is not my intention for you, Ace. Not at all. I don’t want the rumors and innuendo to steer you the wrong way here. I’d hate for you to jump on the bandwagon of claiming I am what’s wrong with this business..”
“It’s both insulting and illogical…”
“I have given back more to this business than I have taken from it. I have literally given this business my family. Two full generations of Blake’s performing every single week inside of that ring. A third generation is well on their way. I have trained countless students, Tara has trained countless more. We and I have more than left our mark on this industry doing everything in our power to grow its prosperity…”
He pauses for a moment to reflect before continuing.
”In my time here in IWF I have never once taken advantage of an opponent in the ring. I have never intentionally hurt someone that didn’t deserve it. I have never broken or even bent the rules during a singles match. People can hate me for my supposed ego or the way I dress but anyone who tries to argue I am anything but prophetic for professional wrestling must be suffering from a mental illness…”
“I do hope you don’t count yourself among the suffering, Ace…”
“I would hate to turn this match into something it doesn’t need to be. My intention Sunday evening is simply to wrestle a supposedly stellar opponent and see who the better really is. Anything beyond that is a fantastical exaggeration of my desire…”
A crooked grin works its way across his pale, painted face.
”That being said, if you decide to give into the madness that is currently afflicting certain members or our roster and paint me as some kind of monster? Then my hand will be forced, Ace and I will have to play my part…”
“Regrettably…”
“As I am sure there are many people who care about and love you. People who would not wish to see your skull caved in or body left broken in a million pieces. People who would advise you to do the right thing and keep any unwarranted opinions to yourself…”
“People who would warn you not to piss me off…”
The Lord rises from his seat, turning away from the mirror to face you head on.
”Of course someone as smart and tenured as yourself probably already knows that. Unlike a certain Matt Knox, you respect this business and the people who have turned it into a titan of industry…”
“People like me…”
“That’s why you won’t make the mistake of turning this personal. You’ll leave it in the ring the same as I. Like true gentlemen of the sport…
“Won’t you…”
End.
We transition away from the picturesque exterior to the interior of the home. Traveling through it room by room as the sounds of bumping on a wrestling ring get progressively louder. Finally we find ourselves in the on-site gym of the Blake estate, dead in the center of it is a wrestling ring, inside of that ring is Angel Blake with his oldest daughter, Hayleigh, continuing her wrestling training.
The two are in the midst of a collar and elbow tie up. Angel has moved past the point of giving her instructions on what to do next, he’s allowing her intuition and knowledge to guide her from moment to moment now.
Hayleigh goes for a drop behind to a rear waistlock, Angel allows it only to break her “S” grip. Angel spins around with a backfist however Hayleigh has this move well scouted. With a forward roll under his arm she leaps to her feet to grab him from behind with an inverted neckbreaker!
Angel tries not to smile as he comes back to his feet and he’s lucky he didn’t. Hayleigh launches herself at her father with his signature leaping knee strike. Angel only just gets his hands up to block it but his daughter isn't backing down as she now feels she has the advantage.
Hayleigh follows up her opening with several stiff kicks to her father’s left leg, Angel staggers back trying to create distance between them to regroup but Hayleigh isn’t having it. Hayleigh picks the leg of her father, attempting a dragon screw leg whip but Angel manages to roll his way through it, alleviating the damage the move could’ve caused. With Angel back up at his feet, his daughter walks right into his own leaping knee strike!
Hayleigh regroups but Angel holds up his hand.
”Enough.”
Hayleigh heads to the ring apron where she grabs a bottle of water with a towel. She wipes away at her brow while she guzzles the water.
”You’re holding back, why?”
Hayleigh takes one more long sip before flip topping the bottle over the top rope where it lands directly on its side and rolls off the apron.
”Honestly?”
”Please.”
Hayleigh squats down on the second turnbuckle while she processes exactly what she wants to say. Angel just coolly regards her, taking in the wonder his once little girl had become.
”Before I start let me just say I really appreciate you and mom taking my training so seriously.”
”Of course.”
”That being said-”
Hayleigh pushes herself back up to her feet.
”I don’t understand what you abducting Knox’s kid has to do with professional wrestling!?”
”First, she isn’t one of his brood and second, I didn’t abduct her, I read her a story.”
Angel quickly replies to his obviously heated daughter.
”And then you burn down the guys gym!?”
”Allegedly. The fire marshal hasn’t found a cause yet.”
Hayleigh lets out an exasperated sigh.
”And this isn’t the first time you’ve done something like this. I remember that sick shit you did to Steve Awesome, coaxing him into suicide. Or that feud you had back in the day with Homeless Harold involving his family. And! I distinctly remember you pile driving somebody's wife who wasn’t a professional wrestler on her head!”
Angel takes a moment to think about everything she just said.
”That all checks out.”
”What does any of that have to do with professional wrestling!?”
Hayleigh starts to pace in the ring.
”You both keep telling me you want me to be the best there has ever been! You both have been teaching me everything you’ve ever learned! And yet!? The things you’re most remembered for is the horrible shit you’ve done outside of a ring!”
Hayleigh comes to a stop in front of him, her eyes locked on his. He was so proud of her defiance in this moment.
”I don’t have an easy answer for you, Bones.”
”Just tell me the truth.”
Angel lets out a sigh as he looks at the mat.
”I can only speak for myself.”
”Of course.”
”In professional wrestling you’re going to make enemies.”
Angel pauses as he tries to chose his words carefully.
”Sometimes these enemies will just be in ring rivals. People you can share a locker room with after a brutal match up. But some of them? Some of them will go the extra mile to make your rivalry personal.”
”And when it’s you making it personal?”
She’s clever, he thought, she’s been having this conversation in her head for a while now, he can tell.
”I make it personal because some people don’t deserve what they have.”
Angel speaks with almost a seething tone.
”You’re old enough to remember my rivalry with Spike, right?”
”Most of it, what I couldn’t remember I looked up online.”
She’s so amazing.
”Spike Kane was an objectively awful person. He used the suffering he caused other people to make himself feel better. He was emotionally abusive to everyone who dared share a last name with him. He was physically abusive as well. He always claimed to regret the choices he made but he would always make those same choices again. He lived his life in a never ending circle of self regret and deplorable decisions.”
”And what does that have to do with you allegedly burning a gym down?”
”Spike didn’t deserve the good life he had. He had the respect, he had the money, he had the accolades, he had everything every young professional wrestler dreams of having and none of it meant anything to him. All he cared about was what would make himself feel better in the moment. But the joke was, nothing ever made him feel better.”
Hayleigh takes a moment to really think about what her father is saying before she responds.
”Knox reminds you of him?”
Angel slowly nods.
”The entire world keeps telling me how good Matt Knox is. He’s been a champion here, there and everywhere. He’s one of the most sought after talents in the professional wrestling world but is he a good person? Does he deserve everything he has?”
”You don’t think so?”
”I don’t, Hayleigh. Look at me, look at all the awful things I’ve done in the past. I’ve apologized for them. There are so many things I did when I was younger, so many people I hurt but people like Spike and Matt? I don’t regret that. I will never regret that.”
Angel drops to a knee before his daughter so they are more or less at the same level.
”In the past I was selfish. Now I fight against the selfish. You want to know what I’ve done recently has to do with professional wrestling? It has everything to do with professional wrestling. If I don’t teach people like Matt Knox to appreciate everything they’ve accomplished then they will go on poisoning this business. People who look up to them will emulate them and by the time he is a distant memory to the world the business will be populated with people like Matt Knox.”
Hayleigh waits to reply, she really absorbed everything her father just said.
”I understand.”
”Do you?”
”I do. People like Knox don’t love this business like we do.”
”They don’t.”
”You, mom, Tara, Dean, everyone, you do awful things to awful people but you also pass your knowledge on. You try to prepare to the next generation.”
”We do.”
”And sometimes you need to be the villain.”
”I do.”
Hayleigh looks into her father’s eyes for several moments.
”Because a villain is what the people need.”
”Sometimes.”
”But what if it goes too far? What if Knox comes for your family like you came for his?”
That terrible grin works its way across his face.
”I feel sorry for the person who comes for my family.”
”Because you’ve prepared us.”
It’s a statement, not a question.
”I’ll leave you with this. There’s a lot of ways to reach the top of our industry. You don’t have to walk my path. I’d prefer you didn’t.”
Hayleigh shoots him a smile of relief.
”Now, let’s get back to work.
Well there's nothing you can say to me now
And there's nothing you can do to stop me
It's hard not to be, a menace to society
When half the population, is happy on their knees
And there's nothing you can do to stop me
It's hard not to be, a menace to society
When half the population, is happy on their knees
You see the Lord's reflection as he slowly draws the black lines on his face.
”Last week I said the Heir to the Throne has eluded me…”
He continues dawning his paint as he speaks.
”Some took that as me forgetting I won the Heir to the Throne in 2022. That is not what I meant…”
There’s a seething anger just beneath his words.
”I meant it has eluded me so far this year. I am the only participant who has found himself without a single match with points on the line. Until this week. Until Bloody Assizes…”
A sneer creeps across his lips as he continues.
”We are a full month into Heir to the Throne 2023 and I am only just now being allowed to compete for points. So yes, the Heir to the Throne has eluded me, this year. And I am not happy about it…”
The sneer gives way to anger as he fills in the black aspects of his face paint.
”Ace Sky…”
He says with a distasteful tone.
”I do not envy you this week, my friend. You have been tasked with an insurmountable objective. Fell God or find yourself dead last in the points…”
He shakes his head ever so slightly.
”I know what my money is on…”
He says with the faintest of smirks.
”It’s a wonder someone as decorated as yourself has never crossed my path before. Of course I have heard of you. The enigmatic enigma, Ace Sky. The tranquil warrior. The Ghandi of professional wrestling. Truly your reputation precedes you…”
The smirk fades as he applies the finishing touches to his visage.
”And yet, you find yourself without a single victory in the Imperial Wrestling Federation. A man as accomplished as yourself, allegedly devoid of ego and hubris must still feel the biting sting of disappointment…”
His pale, painted face is now complete as he continues to glaring into the mirror. Those cold black eyes seem to get a shade darker as he carries on.
”You were touted as the hottest free agent in the world. Your services were desired by every major promotion in professional wrestling. Promoters were tripping over themselves just to book an appearance. And then?”
For a moment he looks bemused.
”Nothing…”
He holds his hands up as if expecting something, shrugging then placing them back down.
”You came to IWF as the grand marshal of a fabulous parade only to fall flat on your face as soon as you stepped through the ropes. It’s honestly a wonder there is so much spectacle surrounding you because the only thing I find impressive about Ace Sky is…”
“How bad you are…”
“It really raises the question of how high the bar is for independent talent? Is the IWF just so far and away the best in ring competition anywhere in the world or were you just playing big fish in little ponds for twenty years?”
Angel grunts a wry laugh.
”Truly I am asking. Your laundry list of accolades would lead one to assume you’re among the best in the world right now. However, your performance upon arrival here has been anything but exceptional. In fact, it’s exceptional Roberto Verona even allowed you into the Heir to the Throne…”
“I’ll have to discuss this matter with him personally…”
“Then again, perhaps you’ve just been nervous? Perhaps all the lights, cameras and crowd noise put you off your game? Perhaps you are every bit as good as your record would indicate and you’re going to show the whole world when you step into the ring with God?”
He snorts a laugh with a smirk.
”Yeah and Matt Knox is a good father…”
The jab brings with it a sizable laugh from our Lord.
”The fact of the matter is, I do honestly wish you were the man you present on paper. That man would be an incredible opponent and an even better challenge for me. You may have missed it while you’ve been spending your Tuesdays checking all the lights in the arena, I’m in something of a blood feud with Matt Knox…”
“Dear Matthew would have the world believe that I’m some sort of comic book movie villain. Painting my face up and burning down his life around him all while twirling a comically large mustache. The truth is, on paper and in life, Matthew Knox doesn’t belong in my company…”
”And IWF is MY company…”
“And I have made it my mission to burn him out of existence. I say all this because that is not my intention for you, Ace. Not at all. I don’t want the rumors and innuendo to steer you the wrong way here. I’d hate for you to jump on the bandwagon of claiming I am what’s wrong with this business..”
“It’s both insulting and illogical…”
“I have given back more to this business than I have taken from it. I have literally given this business my family. Two full generations of Blake’s performing every single week inside of that ring. A third generation is well on their way. I have trained countless students, Tara has trained countless more. We and I have more than left our mark on this industry doing everything in our power to grow its prosperity…”
He pauses for a moment to reflect before continuing.
”In my time here in IWF I have never once taken advantage of an opponent in the ring. I have never intentionally hurt someone that didn’t deserve it. I have never broken or even bent the rules during a singles match. People can hate me for my supposed ego or the way I dress but anyone who tries to argue I am anything but prophetic for professional wrestling must be suffering from a mental illness…”
“I do hope you don’t count yourself among the suffering, Ace…”
“I would hate to turn this match into something it doesn’t need to be. My intention Sunday evening is simply to wrestle a supposedly stellar opponent and see who the better really is. Anything beyond that is a fantastical exaggeration of my desire…”
A crooked grin works its way across his pale, painted face.
”That being said, if you decide to give into the madness that is currently afflicting certain members or our roster and paint me as some kind of monster? Then my hand will be forced, Ace and I will have to play my part…”
“Regrettably…”
“As I am sure there are many people who care about and love you. People who would not wish to see your skull caved in or body left broken in a million pieces. People who would advise you to do the right thing and keep any unwarranted opinions to yourself…”
“People who would warn you not to piss me off…”
The Lord rises from his seat, turning away from the mirror to face you head on.
”Of course someone as smart and tenured as yourself probably already knows that. Unlike a certain Matt Knox, you respect this business and the people who have turned it into a titan of industry…”
“People like me…”
“That’s why you won’t make the mistake of turning this personal. You’ll leave it in the ring the same as I. Like true gentlemen of the sport…
“Won’t you…”
End.