Post by Mike Laszlo on Jan 25, 2015 18:39:18 GMT
For weeks on end I’ve heard about Judas Aliah, his cult, and how he’s the next big thing in this industry. I’ve heard of how he’s the breakout star of the year for 2014. I’ve heard how his message gets in the minds of those who follow him and makes them do whatever it is he sees fit.
The scene fades in from darkness to a lit arena…the California Memorial Stadium, home of Metamorphosis. The crew has assembled the stage and the ring, making final adjustments as the talents make their way in and out, training, making sure their matches go without a hitch. We see the Imperial Champion, that’s right…me, sitting on the top turnbuckle, the title strapped around the top rope.
I have a problem with this. Judas, there’s not a future until the present decides to recede into the past, and I’m telling you here and now that I won’t be receding anytime soon.
I won’t be riding into the sunset anytime soon.
Your words, your twisted riddles, it’s all a ploy, and it may have worked for you in the past, but I guarantee you that come Metamorphosis, your words will fail you. Your group of brainwashed misfits will fail you, just as The Sentinel did a couple weeks back.
I can’t help but look away for a moment and chuckle to myself.
I heard you. I do my homework and I don’t just let the words of an opponent or an ally flow through one ear and out the other. I don’t just blindly pass up what they have to say, because although the words may be meaningless in the end, they mean something at that exact point in time.
I hold my hand out to represent Judas’ words from earlier on.
Take for instance, you, your claim that my demise is imminent; that your plan has been laid out for quite some time to dethrone me, to take my title from me. Me beating you, me beating the Sentinel, they’re all plot points of a master plan you have devised to call yourself a champion. Did it ever occur to you that I have a plan? Did it ever seep into your brain and twist through the web of lies that you may not be the one who is a step ahead, but is a step behind instead?
I point to the lens, to Judas himself to emphasize my points.
I beat you…I beat your Sentinel and I barely broke a sweat. I gained the upper hand, I backed you into a corner, and how do you respond? How is it you feel you’ve gotten the upper hand back in this glorious game of chess?
I reach up and touch my forehead around my eyebrow, a slight twitch at the pain as I touched the healing wound from Monday night before lowering my hand to uncover a face, a look that could kill upon a simple gaze.
You have that body painted, brainwashed toad blast me in the face with the Invictus Title, busting me open, causing me to wear the proverbial crimson mask. You took pride in your follower taking up arms for your cause. You felt a sense of achievement getting the better of me on that one occasion, oblivious to the fact that on the underlying notions of this battle, I’ve gotten under your skin.
I jump down from the corner and unlatch my belt from the top rope, holding it in my hands before me, staring at it as Judas did his Invictus Title on Sacrifice. I have a look of worry on my face, a hesitation as I stare into the gold belt.
Does this look familiar? Does the hesitation seem like a déjà vu? Do you see yourself in this image Aliah? This was you on Sacrifice when Roberto Verona told you that you would have to give up the Invictus Title to face me. You had the choice to continue your reign or strive for something greater and you for a moment had doubt. You didn’t know if you could beat me, you didn’t even think you could. You thought for a moment that you should be content and continue your dominance on a level lower than mine. You relinquished that belt in the end, you made the gamble, and you gave the order for a cheap shot…one you will pay dearly for, a gamble you will lose.
I hold the belt with one hand, letting it drape to my side as I look up into the lens.
I’m not Angel, Judas. I’m not proclaiming myself a God. I’m not even saying that I’m some sort of unstoppable juggernaut. I’ve said it many times before and I will say it again, that anyone is beatable on any given night. You have your shot at greatness. It’s up to you how you go about it.
I raise the belt up near my face.
I am proclaiming however that I AM the Imperial Champion, the main man, the top dog in this yard that we call the Imperial Wrestling Federation. You may not respect that now…but when Metamorphosis is over…you will.
The camera watches as I walk to the ropes and exit the ring right before the feed cuts out.
====================
Title: To Grieve Is Not To Shut Down
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Time: 8:07 AM Local Time
Everyone has their own way of getting through things in life. For instance, and in my case, this “thing” was the death of a loved one. I’ve been through it a few too many times if you ask me. First it was my mother at a young age due to cancer. Then my wife, the mother of my child, dying in a car accident on a wet, Autumn day. Some people shut down completely. They go into a shell of themselves, they don’t talk to anybody unless absolutely necessary and they just stop for a period of time.
I’m not that kind of person.
I believe that everything in life happens for a reason. Take again, my situation. If my mother hadn’t died, I would have never moved to California when I was younger, never would have met the mother of my child, and my lovely little girl wouldn’t be here today. Then there was the death of that woman. If she hadn’t passed, who knows what direction my life would have gone in. I may not have met Alexis, she may not have gotten her shot in this business, and you, the viewing audience wouldn’t have one of the best Diamonds in this company.
Each time someone has passed in my life, it has in the end, made me a stronger person. Each time there was an untimely death it pushed me in a direction that ultimately, to this point, has led to bigger and better things for me. So then came the passing of my grandfather.
Does it hurt? Of course.
Do I miss him? Dearly.
Will I sit here and dwell on it? Hell no.
I had my moment, I took the time to let the emotion out in private, and it was time to move on with my own life. There were other things however, linked to my Grandpa, that held me down. There was the matter of the estate, the funeral, the finances, all of it was a lot to handle, and that’s where we find me at this moment.
I’m sitting behind my desk in my den, on the phone.
Mike Laszlo: I understand. You need to understand that you haven’t fulfilled your end of the bargain sir. We said we wanted three death certificates and you only gave us two.
There was a pause.
Mike Laszlo: I understand it is the holiday season, but this is your job. I expect another certificate dropped off by the end of the week as your boss said would be done.
Another pause as I listened to the person on the other end of the phone.
Mike Laszlo: No, I don’t believe I’m being unreasonable. You’re higher ups signed a contract, as did I, and I expect them to uphold their end of the bargain as due receipt of the money I’ve already paid you.
There was some stern tones being transmitted from the other side of the line, something I was in no mood for…as they quickly found out.
Mike Laszlo: Listen to me here and now. I’ve told you what I want, and your attitude isn’t one of them. Give me my damn certificate by the end of the damn week or you’ll be hearing from my lawyer.
With that, I hung up the phone and let it slide out of my hand abruptly onto the desk. Apparently the noise was enough to cause Alexis some concern as she stepped in the doorway.
Alexis Caffrey: Everything okay?
Mike Laszlo: These guys are assholes. You’d think they’d be more apathetic with a grieving family.
Alexis Caffrey: Why? What did they say?
Mike Laszlo: Grandma needs three death certificates. One for the life insurance company, one for social security, and one for herself to make copies of for everything else. The idiots at the funeral home were supposed to send three, they only sent two, and now when I tell them I want a third, as was written in the contract, the prick wants to give me attitude.
Alexis Caffrey: Wow.
Mike Laszlo: I know right? So I threatened them with legal action and gave him a little of that attitude right back.
Alexis Caffrey: Do you need help with any of this?
I looked across my desk at all the different forms to fill out and leaned back in my chair with a sarcastic smile on my face.
Mike Laszlo: I wish you could help me babe. I gotta do it. It’ll get done eventually. They just like to try my patience is all.
She walked in and kissed me on the forehead, then again on the lips.
Alexis Caffrey: If you need anything…let me know.
She left the room as I watched her leave, a smile on my face as I dug back into the paperwork before quickly falling back in the chair again, folding my fingers together.
Mike Laszlo: I love that girl.
I sat back and thought about the first time my Grandpa met Alexis. He was happy for me, glad I was able to move on from the death of my wife. He accepted her with open arms and loved her as if she was family…as if he knew that she was the one. I nodded and leaned forward again diving into the massive amounts of paperwork as the scene fades.
====================
You see Judas, that’s what this is all really about.
The scene fades in and you see me leaning up against the inner wall of the arena, a tunnel leading to the dressing room area with the IWF Title over my shoulder.
It’s all about respect. Judas, you can brainwash people, you can beat random people, but unless you do something memorable, unless you garner the respect of your peers, of the fans, of everyone, it all means nothing. I thought I had that respect for all the years of hard work, for the great matches I’ve had, for the battles I’ve forged. If not then…
I look at the title over my shoulder.
Than when I won this. I thought defeating the monster known to the rest as “God” would garner me that respect.
I look down at the floor.
But it was the exact opposite.
I look back into the lens.
Instead of heaping any sort of praise on my for defeating the tyrant, I instead got labeled as a fluke, a mishap, a one time out of ten occurrence. So I proved them wrong again. I took on Angel with MY title on the line and I beat him…again. You would think that would be enough…no?
I shake my head from side to side.
No…it wasn’t. I still don’t get put in main events because that pompous ass Verona has some sort of vendetta. I don’t get put against the best this company has to offer, instead I’m stuck with upstarts like you.
I grab the title off my shoulder.
THIS IS MINE! I EARNED IT!
I don’t give a damn about someone like you. We’ll get in that ring, I’m going to kick your ass, I’m going to kick The Sentinel’s ass and anyone else as far as I’m concerned. I will go through every single person put in front of me until I am recognized for my accomplishment, until the choke artist label has dissipated from the lips of every pundit in the world. I will prove this weekend as I have since the middle of last year that I am the absolute best this damn company has to offer.
I hold the belt up again by my face.
This prize, this trophy is a symbol of my accomplishments, it is the stamp that says I am indeed the best of this company. It is mine and there isn’t a single person who is going to take it from me!
I walk off down the hall and smack a lone water bottle from a production crate as the scene cuts.
The scene fades in from darkness to a lit arena…the California Memorial Stadium, home of Metamorphosis. The crew has assembled the stage and the ring, making final adjustments as the talents make their way in and out, training, making sure their matches go without a hitch. We see the Imperial Champion, that’s right…me, sitting on the top turnbuckle, the title strapped around the top rope.
I have a problem with this. Judas, there’s not a future until the present decides to recede into the past, and I’m telling you here and now that I won’t be receding anytime soon.
I won’t be riding into the sunset anytime soon.
Your words, your twisted riddles, it’s all a ploy, and it may have worked for you in the past, but I guarantee you that come Metamorphosis, your words will fail you. Your group of brainwashed misfits will fail you, just as The Sentinel did a couple weeks back.
I can’t help but look away for a moment and chuckle to myself.
I heard you. I do my homework and I don’t just let the words of an opponent or an ally flow through one ear and out the other. I don’t just blindly pass up what they have to say, because although the words may be meaningless in the end, they mean something at that exact point in time.
I hold my hand out to represent Judas’ words from earlier on.
Take for instance, you, your claim that my demise is imminent; that your plan has been laid out for quite some time to dethrone me, to take my title from me. Me beating you, me beating the Sentinel, they’re all plot points of a master plan you have devised to call yourself a champion. Did it ever occur to you that I have a plan? Did it ever seep into your brain and twist through the web of lies that you may not be the one who is a step ahead, but is a step behind instead?
I point to the lens, to Judas himself to emphasize my points.
I beat you…I beat your Sentinel and I barely broke a sweat. I gained the upper hand, I backed you into a corner, and how do you respond? How is it you feel you’ve gotten the upper hand back in this glorious game of chess?
I reach up and touch my forehead around my eyebrow, a slight twitch at the pain as I touched the healing wound from Monday night before lowering my hand to uncover a face, a look that could kill upon a simple gaze.
You have that body painted, brainwashed toad blast me in the face with the Invictus Title, busting me open, causing me to wear the proverbial crimson mask. You took pride in your follower taking up arms for your cause. You felt a sense of achievement getting the better of me on that one occasion, oblivious to the fact that on the underlying notions of this battle, I’ve gotten under your skin.
I jump down from the corner and unlatch my belt from the top rope, holding it in my hands before me, staring at it as Judas did his Invictus Title on Sacrifice. I have a look of worry on my face, a hesitation as I stare into the gold belt.
Does this look familiar? Does the hesitation seem like a déjà vu? Do you see yourself in this image Aliah? This was you on Sacrifice when Roberto Verona told you that you would have to give up the Invictus Title to face me. You had the choice to continue your reign or strive for something greater and you for a moment had doubt. You didn’t know if you could beat me, you didn’t even think you could. You thought for a moment that you should be content and continue your dominance on a level lower than mine. You relinquished that belt in the end, you made the gamble, and you gave the order for a cheap shot…one you will pay dearly for, a gamble you will lose.
I hold the belt with one hand, letting it drape to my side as I look up into the lens.
I’m not Angel, Judas. I’m not proclaiming myself a God. I’m not even saying that I’m some sort of unstoppable juggernaut. I’ve said it many times before and I will say it again, that anyone is beatable on any given night. You have your shot at greatness. It’s up to you how you go about it.
I raise the belt up near my face.
I am proclaiming however that I AM the Imperial Champion, the main man, the top dog in this yard that we call the Imperial Wrestling Federation. You may not respect that now…but when Metamorphosis is over…you will.
The camera watches as I walk to the ropes and exit the ring right before the feed cuts out.
====================
Title: To Grieve Is Not To Shut Down
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Time: 8:07 AM Local Time
Everyone has their own way of getting through things in life. For instance, and in my case, this “thing” was the death of a loved one. I’ve been through it a few too many times if you ask me. First it was my mother at a young age due to cancer. Then my wife, the mother of my child, dying in a car accident on a wet, Autumn day. Some people shut down completely. They go into a shell of themselves, they don’t talk to anybody unless absolutely necessary and they just stop for a period of time.
I’m not that kind of person.
I believe that everything in life happens for a reason. Take again, my situation. If my mother hadn’t died, I would have never moved to California when I was younger, never would have met the mother of my child, and my lovely little girl wouldn’t be here today. Then there was the death of that woman. If she hadn’t passed, who knows what direction my life would have gone in. I may not have met Alexis, she may not have gotten her shot in this business, and you, the viewing audience wouldn’t have one of the best Diamonds in this company.
Each time someone has passed in my life, it has in the end, made me a stronger person. Each time there was an untimely death it pushed me in a direction that ultimately, to this point, has led to bigger and better things for me. So then came the passing of my grandfather.
Does it hurt? Of course.
Do I miss him? Dearly.
Will I sit here and dwell on it? Hell no.
I had my moment, I took the time to let the emotion out in private, and it was time to move on with my own life. There were other things however, linked to my Grandpa, that held me down. There was the matter of the estate, the funeral, the finances, all of it was a lot to handle, and that’s where we find me at this moment.
I’m sitting behind my desk in my den, on the phone.
Mike Laszlo: I understand. You need to understand that you haven’t fulfilled your end of the bargain sir. We said we wanted three death certificates and you only gave us two.
There was a pause.
Mike Laszlo: I understand it is the holiday season, but this is your job. I expect another certificate dropped off by the end of the week as your boss said would be done.
Another pause as I listened to the person on the other end of the phone.
Mike Laszlo: No, I don’t believe I’m being unreasonable. You’re higher ups signed a contract, as did I, and I expect them to uphold their end of the bargain as due receipt of the money I’ve already paid you.
There was some stern tones being transmitted from the other side of the line, something I was in no mood for…as they quickly found out.
Mike Laszlo: Listen to me here and now. I’ve told you what I want, and your attitude isn’t one of them. Give me my damn certificate by the end of the damn week or you’ll be hearing from my lawyer.
With that, I hung up the phone and let it slide out of my hand abruptly onto the desk. Apparently the noise was enough to cause Alexis some concern as she stepped in the doorway.
Alexis Caffrey: Everything okay?
Mike Laszlo: These guys are assholes. You’d think they’d be more apathetic with a grieving family.
Alexis Caffrey: Why? What did they say?
Mike Laszlo: Grandma needs three death certificates. One for the life insurance company, one for social security, and one for herself to make copies of for everything else. The idiots at the funeral home were supposed to send three, they only sent two, and now when I tell them I want a third, as was written in the contract, the prick wants to give me attitude.
Alexis Caffrey: Wow.
Mike Laszlo: I know right? So I threatened them with legal action and gave him a little of that attitude right back.
Alexis Caffrey: Do you need help with any of this?
I looked across my desk at all the different forms to fill out and leaned back in my chair with a sarcastic smile on my face.
Mike Laszlo: I wish you could help me babe. I gotta do it. It’ll get done eventually. They just like to try my patience is all.
She walked in and kissed me on the forehead, then again on the lips.
Alexis Caffrey: If you need anything…let me know.
She left the room as I watched her leave, a smile on my face as I dug back into the paperwork before quickly falling back in the chair again, folding my fingers together.
Mike Laszlo: I love that girl.
I sat back and thought about the first time my Grandpa met Alexis. He was happy for me, glad I was able to move on from the death of my wife. He accepted her with open arms and loved her as if she was family…as if he knew that she was the one. I nodded and leaned forward again diving into the massive amounts of paperwork as the scene fades.
====================
You see Judas, that’s what this is all really about.
The scene fades in and you see me leaning up against the inner wall of the arena, a tunnel leading to the dressing room area with the IWF Title over my shoulder.
It’s all about respect. Judas, you can brainwash people, you can beat random people, but unless you do something memorable, unless you garner the respect of your peers, of the fans, of everyone, it all means nothing. I thought I had that respect for all the years of hard work, for the great matches I’ve had, for the battles I’ve forged. If not then…
I look at the title over my shoulder.
Than when I won this. I thought defeating the monster known to the rest as “God” would garner me that respect.
I look down at the floor.
But it was the exact opposite.
I look back into the lens.
Instead of heaping any sort of praise on my for defeating the tyrant, I instead got labeled as a fluke, a mishap, a one time out of ten occurrence. So I proved them wrong again. I took on Angel with MY title on the line and I beat him…again. You would think that would be enough…no?
I shake my head from side to side.
No…it wasn’t. I still don’t get put in main events because that pompous ass Verona has some sort of vendetta. I don’t get put against the best this company has to offer, instead I’m stuck with upstarts like you.
I grab the title off my shoulder.
THIS IS MINE! I EARNED IT!
I don’t give a damn about someone like you. We’ll get in that ring, I’m going to kick your ass, I’m going to kick The Sentinel’s ass and anyone else as far as I’m concerned. I will go through every single person put in front of me until I am recognized for my accomplishment, until the choke artist label has dissipated from the lips of every pundit in the world. I will prove this weekend as I have since the middle of last year that I am the absolute best this damn company has to offer.
I hold the belt up again by my face.
This prize, this trophy is a symbol of my accomplishments, it is the stamp that says I am indeed the best of this company. It is mine and there isn’t a single person who is going to take it from me!
I walk off down the hall and smack a lone water bottle from a production crate as the scene cuts.
Well howdy there pardner.