The final RP

[gib]

I know that I have had moments of weakness in my career, moments where I have been at less than my best and those times are often juxtaposed with moments that are among the worse in my personal life. It is fitting, when things are going south in the personal life it only makes sense that they transcend into the workplace, but recently it has been an interesting opposition that has existed.

See, I have never been happier in my personal life, I have a great family, I have a wonderful wife, my children, and my son's wife who are all wonderful to me. I have people who care about me deeply and love me very much for who I am despite my many well documented and obvious shortcomings, yet for some reason this dark portion of me is itching to come out, this part of me that I have tried to recess to the very darkest corners wants to return to the forefront, wants to take over completely.

And I think anyone who knows a thing about the world knows that this dark side which lies in such binary opposition to who I am and for all I stand for is one that involves me going on an absolute rampage the likes that hasn't been witnessed in a long time. I mean, I know Spike is a certifiable bad ass but Spike, I tore a man's hair from his head and created a mask with it. I turned his family against him. I played the ultimate antagonist to his life.

And when it was all said and done, when it was all wrapped up people understood what I was doing, because ultimately I was showing this man his shortcomings, I was showing this man that he was taking his family and his love and all his wonderful gifts for granted, and I changed his life. I changed it for the better.

And that is the difference, that is why despite the desire to break you, despite the desire to tear you apart limb from limb, to make you question everything about your very being I have been able to repress the monster, I have been able to push it back so that I can have the world remember me for the bright times, not for the dark times.

And Spike, if there is anything I want for you, it is the following. I want you to quit being a bullshit artist, I want you to show the world what you are really capable of, I want you to show the world that you are an amazing athlete and wrestler. Not some sideshow freak, not some villain in a Saturday morning cartoon. Let's drop the act, let's put it aside because honestly it is stupid. I know because I lived it first hand and ultimately it did nothing for me as a professional.

And I know that you aren't in the business of improving others like I was.

See Spike you like Icarus have fallen, you have fallen from the greatest pinnacle because of trying to fly to close to the sun, your wings are melting and you are too stupid to see it. I am here to show you, I am here to help you. I am here to turn it right Spike, I am your last salvation. Quit the dramatic bullshit and do what you do best. Get in the ring, wrestle and prove to the world that you are the best at that.

Because that is what we are, we are wrestlers not actors, we are athletes not dictators.

And you are good at what you do.

So why hide it?

Why pretend?

Get back to your roots Spike.

And show the world you still have it. Start with me. I am your salvation.

{Scene opens to the film room that Gib watches tapes in, well, he normally watches video of pornography and his son religiously watches tapes of wrestling become the epitome of a student of the game. In the room today is someone else, Simon Daye. Simon is watching on the television a match that the two of them faced against the team of Burning Angels. Gib smiles and sits next to his tag team partner a man that shared everything with him, including a bunk bed. He claps his hand across his shoulder and Simon laughs}

Simon: How are you feeling old man?

Gib: Beat up, bruised and broken. Just about par for the course for about the last ten years though, things are going well my man, what are you doing?

Simon: Checking out tapes, watching our matches. IWF has asked me to start looking through matches to make a best of Team America tape, so I am watching some of our greatest moments. I mean, when you look at what we did, in retrospect it is quite amazing. The teams we defeated, they were a whose who.

Gib: Please, that international tournament was a joke. There was no problem there, we were the biggest fish in a very small pond.

Simon: I know what you are saying, in the beginning it wasn't a big deal, but holy shit at the end we were on a roll. We defeated the Second Rate Riders, they represent two of the first three IWF Imperial Champions, we beat Angel and Philip Burns, the second longest reigning champions in NCW history, we defeated Alex Jones and Ken Davison, Todd Williams and AC Douglass. We really faced a whose who and we came out on top.

Gib: Which makes me wonder why I am the only one of us who is an active wrestler now.

Simon: Come on man, you know I will be back eventually. The stuff with your daughter really messed me up, and I haven't been ready to come back yet.

Gib: I understand, but there comes a time in your life that you have to put your balls back on and be a man, and it is about time that you reattach your nuts and become a man again.

{Simon laughs and Gib does too}

Simon: Honestly though man, I wish this wasn't your last match. I mean you leaving is something that no one wants, you put on great matches and there is going to be a hole without you.

Gib: That is why I was tagging with you, you were the one that was supposed to take my spot, you were the one that was supposed to fill the void, so, like I said, get your ass in gear.

{Simon seems taken aback by this statement and instead of responding he just nods and smiles as Gib focuses his attention on the match in the theater as the scene fades. We reopen and he is sitting with his son, they are standing atop a peak, likely somewhere in the Adirondack Mountain range. The two have snowshoes on their feet and packs on their back. Xander looks at his father, who has really worked hard to get in shape, who looks fit and unlike any other fifty year old man you know}

Xander: Dad… You know, Zelda told me about the mask thing. Look, I understand if you have to go there, but I don’t want anything to do with it, it changes you, it makes you inhuman.

{Gib thinks on this for a moment. He turns to his son and smiles}

Gib: If there is one thing I know, it is that moments of apprehension bring out the worst in us. See, Spike is a cool as hell dude, but here is this week, playing the same card he plays every week, the whole you are being predictable while being completely predictable schtick, I mean, he is the only person in the business that can completely undermine everything a person has done all while gloating about what he has done that is so much better. I was a boy like that once… And it only tells us on real and true thing about Spike…

Xander: Tiny penis?

Gib: Miniscule, it is the only answer. I mean only men that gloat about everything they have done so frequently have tiny penises.

Xander: Dad you gloat all the time.

Gib: Indeed.

{Xander chuckles and looks over at his father, a look of deep content in his eyes}

Xander: You know I am really proud of you. But how long before you get back into the thick of things? Do you have another run at the title in you? Are you bringing Simon back?

Gib: Hell no, man, I am done. This is it. Sure, every year or two if they want to bring me back for some marquee matchup than perhaps I will do it, but leaving as an active competitor now, on my terms, before my back is useless, before my knees give out completely, before I lose all quality of life is important to me. I want to enjoy the rest of my life, not spend it in a wheelchair or walker.

Xander: That’s a great way to think.

Gib: I mean, I have to be ready to play with some grandchildren if you ever figure out how to use your penis.

{Xander chuckles at this joke as the scene fades}

So this is really it, the final push, the final moment in time. I really am having trouble figuring out the perfect thing to say, or the best course of action to take because this is really foreign to me. I have not been one of those people who have came and gone, I am a loyalist and give my all to every single company that I have ever been part of.

I remember all the wrestlers, all the stars who, I have watched grow into amazing people, I have watched people like Ricky Johnson and Todd Williams rise to glory from being nothing more than pipsqueaks jerking curtains.

I have watched chaotic masterminds like Angel and Lex Sense devastate people with their mindgames and vitriol.

I have watched stars like Davey Ortega be cast off only to rise back to prominence.

I have watched my own children carve out their niches in this industry, becoming some of the most exciting and successful.

I have watched crazy bastards like Marcus Reeves and Kristoff Liam Bates and I have fought them all, I have stepped up to the plate time and time again and I have lived.

And you Spike, I have watched you. I have watched you through the high times, the low times, the times filled with brilliance and the times filled with babyish attitudes. I have watched you through your whole career but for you to say you are the reason I have a job is a little far fetched.

I am the reason this business exists, people like myself who brought this business to prominence, people like myself who used to wrestle in territories so the rest of you could jump on the gravy train when everything got huge.

And I am happy, but don’t question my legacy. Don’t question what I have done because damn it that is all I am, and that is what I have given this world.

And I’ll be damned if you are going to spit on it. There is only one thing that I have ever questioned about you, and that is your ability to react when things don’t go your way, your inability to go with the flow when the plan change has always been your weakness.

This week, things aren’t going to go according to plan. Things aren’t going to be a walk in the park. I am coming to fight, I am coming to take everything you have, I am coming to make sure this legacy lives on, to make sure this legacy is one that will be remembered forever.

Spike, so many portions of my career have involved you, and it is only fitting that I end it with you.

I won’t take the low road; I have done that too many times.

Spike, I wish you luck and I will be rooting for you here on out.

Thanks for giving me one last shot.