Post by Mike Machado on Nov 16, 2013 17:52:23 GMT
”Goddammit Gerald! I thought you were supposed to be the damned enforcer! Why the hell didn’t you enforce out there?”
”I tried…there were five..”
”Ay! Gerald! No excuses! You were supposed to protect Michael! I can still see in the back of my mind… those men…”
Sophia shudders as her mind replays Machado receiving an Earthshatter from Jackhammer. The Defenders’ locker room is in complete disarray after team was viscously attacked after their match at Sacrifice. Machado is totally disheveled, one of the straps on his singlet completely ripped, his hair a mess and even the glorious mustache showing signs of wear and tear. Gerald isn’t much better, as he’s sporting a black eye and is holding his side in pain.
”Sophia! I’m fine. I’m okay. I’ve been hit much harder than that. One time Homeless Harold hit me so hard that I turned into a hot pocket addict for months - and only spoke in ‘warrior’ speak. Those were dark days…”
”It’s not like I came out unscathed. The bastards took me out, too.”
Sophia rushes to Machado and pushes herself up to his side, burying her face in his neck. Machado comforts her by gently stroking her hair.
”Gerald did all he could, right Gerald?”
Gerald turns a bit red, trying to hold back his rage.
”Of course I did! Are you kidding me? Was it you who was out there two versus one against license to kill? I spent three-quarters of the night flat on my damn back. Where the hell were you two?”
Machado looks at Sophia, and she looks back at Machado. After a moment of hesitation they both answer simultaneously.
“Flat tire!”
“Traffic!”
They look at each other again, and Machado cringes, scratching his head.
“The truth is Gerald, well… me and Sophia were talking on the way back from our weekend together, and we decided that it would be an awesome game plan if you went out there and softened them up, and then I came in when they were overconfident for the win.”
Gerald throws his hands up into the air in frustration.
”It was a good plan!”
”The plan worked, Gerald. You did your job, and I came out and did mine, and we won, and the fans loved it Gerald! The fans love us! The fans love me. And frankly it’s about time I…we… get the recognition that we deserve.”
”It doesn't matter if the plan worked or not. We were supposed to game plan together, Mike; me – and you. Remember? Before you bailed on me for the second time in a week?”
Machado has no retort. He looks at Gerald apologetically, and Gerald turns to walk out of the locker room. As he’s walking out Sophia nudges Machado and nods toward Gerald.
”Gerald, wait…”
”What, Mike? What?”
”There’s something I wanted to talk to you about. About… the team.”
”Now isn’t the time. I don’t know what you have to say, but I just got my ass handed to me by about seven people, and I’d like to take a goddamn shower if that’s okay with you.”
Gerald gets kind of scary when he’s angry, being almost seven foot and all. Machado backs down and Gerald storms out of the room. As soon as he’s gone Sophia breaks herself away from Mike’s embrace and quickly strides to close the door.
”Michael, you promised you would talk to him!”
”I will, babe. Don’t worry, he’ll come around. I don’t want to throw too much at him right at this moment. We’ll talk soon.”
”You better! You promised!”
Sophia makes a playful pout face at Machado, and he rushes to hug her.
”No worries, Sophie…We’re going to the top, just like you said.”
Gerald finishes pulling a t-shirt over his massive torso. He reaches over to his gym bag and pulls out a cell phone, pressing a few buttons before placing it back into the bag. Machado sneaks into the room without knocking. Gerald notices him, but doesn’t acknowledge him.
”Hey man. I think that we need to talk.”
”Yeah, I agree. We have an awful lot to talk about. Are you actually going to make time for me?”
Machado winces at the jab, but takes a seat next to Gerald anyway.
”I guess I deserve that. Look, I get that I wasn’t fair to you. I should have run it by you before I left you out there by yourself. I shouldn’t have kept you in the dark, and I shouldn’t have let you get beat down just so I could come in and save the day.”
”Mike, man, I don’t care about the two versus one. Hell, I enjoy fighting against the odds. I don’t even care that you came in and took all the glory. You deserve the glory – you can have it… but there needs to be some communication. You can’t just do stuff like that without running it by me…”
”I get that now. I’m sorry – I got swept up in the moment.”
”It wasn’t just the moment though… I don’t want to sound jealous, because I’m truly happy that you’ve found Sophia, but if we’re going to be a tag team, if we’re going to try to win the tag team titles, then we’re going to need to spend some time together.”
” I agree one-hundred percent, Gerald. And in that spirit – I want to take you out tonight.”
”On a date?”
Machado laughs, stands up and pats Gerald on the shoulder.
”If that’s what you want to call it... but before you say no – I’m thinking we can go do dinner at Medieval Times, just like the old days.”
”Just me and you?”
Machado sits back down and his face twists a bit in discomfort.
”Well us and…”
”Us and Sophia, right?”
”Well... yeah, man. She’s going to be a big part of my life now, Gerald…”
”She’s not a part of this tag team. This tag team is me and you.”
”Yeah, that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to make her the manager.”
Gerald stands up quickly and points an angry finger at Mike.
”No. No, that’s too far.”
”Dude – if you want us to spend time together as a team, the best way to do that is to pull her into the team. That way we can all spend time together.”
”She’s not a good fit for the tag team, Mike. You know what – she’s not good for you, either. Ever since you’ve been with her..”
Machado cuts Gerald off, raising his voice in a defensive and upset tone.
”Ever since I’ve been with her, what? Ever since I’ve been with her I’ve been undefeated? Ever since I’ve been with her my star has never been brighter? What bad things have happened, Gerald?”
”Well for starters…”
Machado interrupts again and continues on his tirade.
”She can take us to the tag team titles, Gerald. She can make us legitimate contenders. No longer will people look at us as the comedic relief in the IWF – they’ll see us for what we are: The most talented team on this roster.”
”We can do it without her…”
Mike doesn’t even stop to take a breath, he just keeps laying into his tag team partner.
”We’re doing it with her. She’s the manager of Defenders of the Realm. Look, I came to you out of courtesy, and because I felt bad about Monday night, but this is happening Gerald, so get on board.”
Machado is finished, and storms out of the room without giving Gerald a chance to respond and without looking back.
”I tried…there were five..”
”Ay! Gerald! No excuses! You were supposed to protect Michael! I can still see in the back of my mind… those men…”
Sophia shudders as her mind replays Machado receiving an Earthshatter from Jackhammer. The Defenders’ locker room is in complete disarray after team was viscously attacked after their match at Sacrifice. Machado is totally disheveled, one of the straps on his singlet completely ripped, his hair a mess and even the glorious mustache showing signs of wear and tear. Gerald isn’t much better, as he’s sporting a black eye and is holding his side in pain.
”Sophia! I’m fine. I’m okay. I’ve been hit much harder than that. One time Homeless Harold hit me so hard that I turned into a hot pocket addict for months - and only spoke in ‘warrior’ speak. Those were dark days…”
”It’s not like I came out unscathed. The bastards took me out, too.”
Sophia rushes to Machado and pushes herself up to his side, burying her face in his neck. Machado comforts her by gently stroking her hair.
”Gerald did all he could, right Gerald?”
Gerald turns a bit red, trying to hold back his rage.
”Of course I did! Are you kidding me? Was it you who was out there two versus one against license to kill? I spent three-quarters of the night flat on my damn back. Where the hell were you two?”
Machado looks at Sophia, and she looks back at Machado. After a moment of hesitation they both answer simultaneously.
“Flat tire!”
“Traffic!”
They look at each other again, and Machado cringes, scratching his head.
“The truth is Gerald, well… me and Sophia were talking on the way back from our weekend together, and we decided that it would be an awesome game plan if you went out there and softened them up, and then I came in when they were overconfident for the win.”
Gerald throws his hands up into the air in frustration.
”It was a good plan!”
”The plan worked, Gerald. You did your job, and I came out and did mine, and we won, and the fans loved it Gerald! The fans love us! The fans love me. And frankly it’s about time I…we… get the recognition that we deserve.”
”It doesn't matter if the plan worked or not. We were supposed to game plan together, Mike; me – and you. Remember? Before you bailed on me for the second time in a week?”
Machado has no retort. He looks at Gerald apologetically, and Gerald turns to walk out of the locker room. As he’s walking out Sophia nudges Machado and nods toward Gerald.
”Gerald, wait…”
”What, Mike? What?”
”There’s something I wanted to talk to you about. About… the team.”
”Now isn’t the time. I don’t know what you have to say, but I just got my ass handed to me by about seven people, and I’d like to take a goddamn shower if that’s okay with you.”
Gerald gets kind of scary when he’s angry, being almost seven foot and all. Machado backs down and Gerald storms out of the room. As soon as he’s gone Sophia breaks herself away from Mike’s embrace and quickly strides to close the door.
”Michael, you promised you would talk to him!”
”I will, babe. Don’t worry, he’ll come around. I don’t want to throw too much at him right at this moment. We’ll talk soon.”
”You better! You promised!”
Sophia makes a playful pout face at Machado, and he rushes to hug her.
”No worries, Sophie…We’re going to the top, just like you said.”
Davey Ortega and Mason St. Croix – well isn’t this magical. Frankly, I’m upset. It’s downright disrespectful to the best tag team in this company to just throw two singles wrestlers together and then throw them at us. I mean, I get it. The storyline is “Can Mason and Davey work together, or will they eat each other alive”, right? The thing is – even if they do work together – they cannot beat the defenders of the realm.
Me and Gerald, we’ve worked hard to get where we are now. It’s not as if we’ve been doing it for months or anything, and yet here we are; the hottest tag team in the company – at the very top of the power rankings. Everyone knows who our opponents should be… but this is the IWF – everyone in this company is tied up in some daytime TV soap opera drama. The tag team champions are too busy trying to fight this huge war with Spike Kane’s Empire, and so we get stuck with Mason St. Croix and Davey Ortega.
Not that I’m taking them lightly. How could I? Aren’t we once again the underdogs?
In the past I’ve been a super modest guy, and where has that gotten me? Absolutely nowhere. So today, I’m going to tell you people what I really think.
I’m the hero this company deserves.
I, Mike Machado, should be talked about when people talk about the best wrestlers in this company. When people talk about challengers for the Imperial title, they should be talking about Mike Machado. When the end of the year awards come around, I should be the one on the podium. Week in and week out I’ve been here, sweating my ass off to improve, to get better, to gain the respect of the locker room… and every single week it’s all smiles and sunshine and ‘oh that zany Machado, at it again!’. I’m done with that.
I’m taking what is mine, by force. So if you throw Davey and Mason together, and call them our ‘opponents’ – so be it.
It’s not that I’m not grateful for the opportunity. Hell, half the guys in the back would kill for a shot at Ortega. Not because he’s a nCw hall-of-famer. Not because it’s some huge accomplishment to beat the guy… because Davey Ortega is an annoying little asshole.
Any time you put fifty competitive guys in one locker room, there are going to be little beefs here and there. People will have their differences, and some guys will come off as ‘the bad guy’. There are guys like Spike Kane and Rob Diamond that are so competitive, and so driven that it often turns the locker room against them.
Then there are the Davey Ortega’s of the world.
Actually, I take that back, because there’s only one Davey Ortega and everyone in the whole world hates the guy.
It’s not because of his competitive spirit, or because he’s so accomplished, or because of jealousy or anything like that. It’s because he’s a rash on the ass of professional wrestling that just will not go away. Whenever he opens his mouth I get the overwhelming urge to shove my fist into it, but I’ve never had the opportunity… because his foot is already there. This week, I’m going to get him in the ring, and I’m finally going to get my chance to shut the guy up.
At least I really hope that I get that opportunity. I might not. It’s possible that Mason St. Croix will beat me to the punch. Mason, I’m sorry, man. I really am. I have nothing but respect for you. I see you out there trying to do this organization a favor… busting your ass so that hopefully we won’t have to hear Spike’s crap for a little while… and I’m cheering for you this time. Hell, I think it’d be great to see you take that Imperial title home, seeing as how it doesn’t look like I’m going to get my shot at this time.
This week, though? It’s business, man. I know that you understand that. After me and Gerald have won the match, I’ll try and leave a piece of Ortega for you to clean up.
Gerald finishes pulling a t-shirt over his massive torso. He reaches over to his gym bag and pulls out a cell phone, pressing a few buttons before placing it back into the bag. Machado sneaks into the room without knocking. Gerald notices him, but doesn’t acknowledge him.
”Hey man. I think that we need to talk.”
”Yeah, I agree. We have an awful lot to talk about. Are you actually going to make time for me?”
Machado winces at the jab, but takes a seat next to Gerald anyway.
”I guess I deserve that. Look, I get that I wasn’t fair to you. I should have run it by you before I left you out there by yourself. I shouldn’t have kept you in the dark, and I shouldn’t have let you get beat down just so I could come in and save the day.”
”Mike, man, I don’t care about the two versus one. Hell, I enjoy fighting against the odds. I don’t even care that you came in and took all the glory. You deserve the glory – you can have it… but there needs to be some communication. You can’t just do stuff like that without running it by me…”
”I get that now. I’m sorry – I got swept up in the moment.”
”It wasn’t just the moment though… I don’t want to sound jealous, because I’m truly happy that you’ve found Sophia, but if we’re going to be a tag team, if we’re going to try to win the tag team titles, then we’re going to need to spend some time together.”
” I agree one-hundred percent, Gerald. And in that spirit – I want to take you out tonight.”
”On a date?”
Machado laughs, stands up and pats Gerald on the shoulder.
”If that’s what you want to call it... but before you say no – I’m thinking we can go do dinner at Medieval Times, just like the old days.”
”Just me and you?”
Machado sits back down and his face twists a bit in discomfort.
”Well us and…”
”Us and Sophia, right?”
”Well... yeah, man. She’s going to be a big part of my life now, Gerald…”
”She’s not a part of this tag team. This tag team is me and you.”
”Yeah, that’s kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. I want to make her the manager.”
Gerald stands up quickly and points an angry finger at Mike.
”No. No, that’s too far.”
”Dude – if you want us to spend time together as a team, the best way to do that is to pull her into the team. That way we can all spend time together.”
”She’s not a good fit for the tag team, Mike. You know what – she’s not good for you, either. Ever since you’ve been with her..”
Machado cuts Gerald off, raising his voice in a defensive and upset tone.
”Ever since I’ve been with her, what? Ever since I’ve been with her I’ve been undefeated? Ever since I’ve been with her my star has never been brighter? What bad things have happened, Gerald?”
”Well for starters…”
Machado interrupts again and continues on his tirade.
”She can take us to the tag team titles, Gerald. She can make us legitimate contenders. No longer will people look at us as the comedic relief in the IWF – they’ll see us for what we are: The most talented team on this roster.”
”We can do it without her…”
Mike doesn’t even stop to take a breath, he just keeps laying into his tag team partner.
”We’re doing it with her. She’s the manager of Defenders of the Realm. Look, I came to you out of courtesy, and because I felt bad about Monday night, but this is happening Gerald, so get on board.”
Machado is finished, and storms out of the room without giving Gerald a chance to respond and without looking back.
Defenders of the Realm is a team.
Say what you want about us having our differences –but in the end me and Mike have each other’s back. Whatever he’s going through right now, I’ll stick with him through it. I may not agree with some of his decisions, but that’s not going to drive us apart. At the end of this thing, we’ll be stronger, and even better.
Mason and Davey, you two are not a team.
In fact, from everything I can tell you wouldn’t think twice about throwing this match for your own motives. We all know that next week is Extinction Event, we all know that both of you have qualified. So, let’s be honest. What’s more important to you: The match this week, against a tag team that seems invincible; or the match next week where you can steal a title?
I think we all know the answer to that.
While you two have been very busy, battling each other, battling Spike Kane and the Empire, battling your own demons or law suits... me and Mike have been very busy, too. Busy winning. Busy forming the best tag team that this organization has ever seen. Yes - you heard that correctly. The best damn tag team that the IWF has ever seen. Better than HonorBound, better than Criminal Intent, better than even InFamous. We damn sure aren't going to let two singles wrestlers stop this train.
While you two have been very busy, battling each other, battling Spike Kane and the Empire, battling your own demons or law suits... me and Mike have been very busy, too. Busy winning. Busy forming the best tag team that this organization has ever seen. Yes - you heard that correctly. The best damn tag team that the IWF has ever seen. Better than HonorBound, better than Criminal Intent, better than even InFamous. We damn sure aren't going to let two singles wrestlers stop this train.
So go on, kill each other in that ring. I’m grateful for the opportunity. We could use a win to unify us, and I have a feeling that you two fit the bill perfectly.
Just don’t look past this Monday night completely – or you may not make it until next Sunday.
Well howdy there pardner.