Post by Mike Laszlo on Feb 27, 2017 5:47:17 GMT
The scene fades into my training area. As the camera glances from one side to the other and you see the expensive equipment, you slowly trail over to the ring where you find the one singular person you were looking for all along...me. I’m sitting in the corner, knees stuck out, feet tucked under me as I sit Indian Style, quite peacefully, resting my head back against the turnbuckle.
So now that that’s all said and done...we can finally get back to something a bit more important. Steve, last week, you and I, as a team...it worked. The odds were four against two and yet we prevailed...mainly because we’re just better than that group of kissing cousins and short bus riders. This Sunday at Danger Zone is what it’s truly all about.
I point into the camera and then at myself.
It’s about two men who really don’t have a hatred for each other, who respect each other, going out into that ring and doing battle. We’re not going out there for a title, or to win some fancy tournament for a trophy...we’re simply going to march down to that ring and fight to figure out who the better man truly is.
I stick my arms out and shrug.
Spoiler alert…
I point to myself.
It’s me.
I reach upward, grabbing hold of the top rope, pulling myself to a vertical base, still resting back into the turnbuckle.
You and I Steve...this is what we were meant to do. You dabbled in movies...yet you’re here. I own businesses that range from small gyms to a multi-million dollar resort in Las Vegas...and yet...I’m here.
I put my hands up in front of me and spread them through the vast horizon of things we could be doing.
We could easily be living the high life Steve. I could be up in the penthouse of a luxurious hotel, overlooking the great view of the strip, sipping champagne with my beautiful wife by my side and my daughter running around having the time of her life. You, no longer under the control of Rob and The House that you could go back to the movies and live that lavish lifestyle of yours...yet we don’t, and do you know why Mr. Awesome?
I look around me, my eyes slowly cascading around the gym before settling in the center of it. I take a few steps forward, now standing in the middle of the ring with my arms outstretched as I look up at the bright white rays of the light hanging above me, and with my eyes shut, I point down at the mat below me and yell…
BECAUSE WE...BELONG...HERE!
I slowly bring my head down, looking into the lens of the camera filming this whole thing, the hood hanging over my head, darkening part of my face from the light above.
Yet even though we belong here Steve, despite the fact that we’ve both been around for a bit, a couple of weeks ago is the first time we stepped foot in a ring on opposite sides of one another. In all the battles you and I have fought with some of the biggest names in the industry, we never came across each other.
I point forward.
Then you went and screwed it up, getting us both counted out...yeah, I said it.
With a smirk on my face, I remove the hood, throwing it back behind my head as I step forward, out of the direct light. I lean over the top rope and looks down at the camera that has since been moved to the floor.
So, despite the fact that you screwed it up for everyone last time...this time we get to do it again. We get to show the world what two guys fighting for nothing but pride can truly do. We go out and scratch and claw, fight tooth and nail, go toe to toe, and whatever other corny saying you want to spit out, and we put on the damndest show the audience has ever seen.
We go out and put on a match that has match of the year written all over it.
I fling my hands to the side.
We don’t need goofy stipulations. There’s nobody set to interfere on either of our behalves, and that’s the way it should be. We’re going to fight Steve Awesome, and when the dust settles, one of us will be proclaimed the victor. Be prepared Steve...for anything.
The feed abruptly ends.
==================================
Title: What It’s All About
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Time: 12:22 AM Local Time
Alexis and I were in the gym, sparring with one another. She was one of the better training partners I had as she had quick instincts...and the fact I loved her didn’t hurt. She was mad though. She thought about how Riley Gordon had talked to her a couple weeks ago, and it...well...just didn’t sit well with her. I could feel it with each punch of the pads I was wearing.
Mike Laszlo: Somebody is amped up tonight.
Alexis Caffrey: Who does she think she is talking to me like that? To you?
Mike Laszlo: Well, she is one of the higher ups.
She glared at me and I knew better. I stood back as she continued hitting my hands.
Alexis Caffrey: True, but there’s better ways she could address us.
Mike Laszlo: She’s new at this whole authority thing. That’s why it didn’t bother me. I think you let it bother you a little too much...and still are.
Alexis Caffrey: What!?
Before I could move, she punched me in the gut, doubling me over as I wasn’t truly expecting it.
Mike Laszlo: Ouch.
She was quickly apologetic.
Alexis Caffrey: Oh my God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hu…
Before she could finish, I sprung to life and lifted her with a hug.
Mike Laszlo: I’ll do it. I‘ll suplex you right across this ring and you’ll deserve every bit of it.
She feigned her fear.
Alexis Caffrey: No, no, no, please don’t.
I looked her in her brown eyes and simply kissed her. I couldn’t throw her across the ring...it just wouldn’t be right. I motioned behind my back with my foot and some of the people around ringside slid a giant pad into the ring.
Mike Laszlo: Okay, I won’t...but I will do this!
In a fluid motion I spun her around and German Suplexed her on the giant pad, her tiny little frame being lifted with ease as she screamed while being pulled back. She hit the pad and the two of us started laughing.
Mike Laszlo: Just forget about her and concentrate on more important things.
Alexis Caffrey: Like you versus Steve.
I nodded.
Alexis Caffrey: What is it about him that makes you want this match so badly?
I rolled off the pad and sat on the mat with my knees drawn up and my feet firmly planted on the canvas.
Mike Laszlo: There’s just a level of competition there that’s for all intents and purposes...refreshing. This match isn’t about who is loved and who is hated. It’s not about a championship, though I bet if it were it would be so much more intense. It’s about two guys who want the same thing...to be the best...to win.
Alexis Caffrey: Like you and Rob?
I shook my head.
Mike Laszlo: No, there’s definitely hatred there. I don’t think we could have nearly killed each other like we did without a little hate mixed in.
I threw my hand out.
Mike Laszlo: Whereas with Steve...there’s not hate, really no love, no beef at all. It’s just a matter of us being on the same path at the same time, headed for the same destination, and the path is narrowing. The path is getting to the point where only one of us can take it any further, and at Danger Zone, we’re going to find out who needs to find an alternate route.
She looked at me with a smile, and I couldn’t quite see where she was going with this.
Mike Laszlo: What?
Alexis Caffrey: You.
Mike Laszlo: What about me?
Alexis Caffrey: You’re happy.
Mike Laszlo: I’m with you.
Alexis Caffrey: I know that...I mean with your situation.
I couldn’t help but crack a smirk.
Mike Laszlo: I am. There’s just less stress. I’m not trying to impress people. I don’t have to make them love me or hate me. They get to choose, and since my mind isn’t wrapped around ways to sway them, I’m able to concentrate on the product of which I produce...and right now...I’m loving every moment of it.
She leaned over and kissed me.
Alexis Caffrey: And as long as you’re happy, I’m happy.
I kissed her back.
Mike Laszlo: I am...after all...this is what it’s all about.
==================================
As the scene fades back in, I’m standing in front of a trophy case. I’m back at my house in Cleveland, Ohio, and I’m in the basement where I work out and where I now keep memorabilia to remind me of the things I’ve done in my career. I stare up at the center of the case, near the top where my Imperial Championship sits. I can’t help but ease a smirk across my face as I point up at it.
Steve, that’s what it’s all about for me. To hold that championship, to taste the pride that beams from every pore in your body as you carry that title around means the world to me. I’ve had that taste Steve, and while I know you’ve done so elsewhere, you’ve never held THAT belt.
I turn down to the camera.
To hold THAT belt means you’re the absolute best of the best this business has to offer. There’s not a single organization before IWF or after, especially none I’ve been in that even come close to comparing. We have Hall of Famers from other organizations that could only dream of holding that belt, yet when they get in the ring with the competition we have here, they falter at each opportunity.
I point into the camera.
I know that’s what you want Steve, and you know that to get it, you’re going to have to go through me and plenty others to get it. It’s why you declared yourself for the Roulette.
I take a deep breath.
However, I want to do something that has never been done before...I want to be the first to hold that title, not once, but twice. I want to be the man forever known as the first two-time Imperial Champion, and I know...to do that...I have to go through you, I then have to do something that I’ve never done before...the one thing that has eluded me here in the IWF...win the Roulette.
I turn to the camera.
If that means beating you, and showing the world, and you that I’m better than you, just like I had to do Rob Diamond, and just like I had to do Angel...so be it.
I told my wife, and now I’m telling you Steve. There’s a path we’re going down. With each passing week, it narrows. The yellow brick road, isn’t so yellow...it’s crimson. That road is paved with the blood, the sweat, and the tears of every man to walk it before us, some who failed, and some who have succeeded, all who have sacrificed.
Sunday, at Danger Zone, that bloody path narrows to a pinch where only one of us can go on. We will fight to see who moves on. We will fight to see which of us truly is the better man, and neither of us will truly be worse off for it, for the loser, I have no doubt, will find another way to meet at the end point. The loser...you...will find a way to get where you want to go while I continue to walk ahead, trudging through the sacrifices of the others before us, all while making sacrifices of my own.
Steve...come Danger Zone...know, there’s not a personal feeling to do with what’s going to happen...it’s just business.
And I’m in the business...of succeeding...at all cost.
After all Steve...that’s what it’s all about.
So now that that’s all said and done...we can finally get back to something a bit more important. Steve, last week, you and I, as a team...it worked. The odds were four against two and yet we prevailed...mainly because we’re just better than that group of kissing cousins and short bus riders. This Sunday at Danger Zone is what it’s truly all about.
I point into the camera and then at myself.
It’s about two men who really don’t have a hatred for each other, who respect each other, going out into that ring and doing battle. We’re not going out there for a title, or to win some fancy tournament for a trophy...we’re simply going to march down to that ring and fight to figure out who the better man truly is.
I stick my arms out and shrug.
Spoiler alert…
I point to myself.
It’s me.
I reach upward, grabbing hold of the top rope, pulling myself to a vertical base, still resting back into the turnbuckle.
You and I Steve...this is what we were meant to do. You dabbled in movies...yet you’re here. I own businesses that range from small gyms to a multi-million dollar resort in Las Vegas...and yet...I’m here.
I put my hands up in front of me and spread them through the vast horizon of things we could be doing.
We could easily be living the high life Steve. I could be up in the penthouse of a luxurious hotel, overlooking the great view of the strip, sipping champagne with my beautiful wife by my side and my daughter running around having the time of her life. You, no longer under the control of Rob and The House that you could go back to the movies and live that lavish lifestyle of yours...yet we don’t, and do you know why Mr. Awesome?
I look around me, my eyes slowly cascading around the gym before settling in the center of it. I take a few steps forward, now standing in the middle of the ring with my arms outstretched as I look up at the bright white rays of the light hanging above me, and with my eyes shut, I point down at the mat below me and yell…
BECAUSE WE...BELONG...HERE!
I slowly bring my head down, looking into the lens of the camera filming this whole thing, the hood hanging over my head, darkening part of my face from the light above.
Yet even though we belong here Steve, despite the fact that we’ve both been around for a bit, a couple of weeks ago is the first time we stepped foot in a ring on opposite sides of one another. In all the battles you and I have fought with some of the biggest names in the industry, we never came across each other.
I point forward.
Then you went and screwed it up, getting us both counted out...yeah, I said it.
With a smirk on my face, I remove the hood, throwing it back behind my head as I step forward, out of the direct light. I lean over the top rope and looks down at the camera that has since been moved to the floor.
So, despite the fact that you screwed it up for everyone last time...this time we get to do it again. We get to show the world what two guys fighting for nothing but pride can truly do. We go out and scratch and claw, fight tooth and nail, go toe to toe, and whatever other corny saying you want to spit out, and we put on the damndest show the audience has ever seen.
We go out and put on a match that has match of the year written all over it.
I fling my hands to the side.
We don’t need goofy stipulations. There’s nobody set to interfere on either of our behalves, and that’s the way it should be. We’re going to fight Steve Awesome, and when the dust settles, one of us will be proclaimed the victor. Be prepared Steve...for anything.
The feed abruptly ends.
==================================
Title: What It’s All About
Location: Cleveland, Ohio
Time: 12:22 AM Local Time
Alexis and I were in the gym, sparring with one another. She was one of the better training partners I had as she had quick instincts...and the fact I loved her didn’t hurt. She was mad though. She thought about how Riley Gordon had talked to her a couple weeks ago, and it...well...just didn’t sit well with her. I could feel it with each punch of the pads I was wearing.
Mike Laszlo: Somebody is amped up tonight.
Alexis Caffrey: Who does she think she is talking to me like that? To you?
Mike Laszlo: Well, she is one of the higher ups.
She glared at me and I knew better. I stood back as she continued hitting my hands.
Alexis Caffrey: True, but there’s better ways she could address us.
Mike Laszlo: She’s new at this whole authority thing. That’s why it didn’t bother me. I think you let it bother you a little too much...and still are.
Alexis Caffrey: What!?
Before I could move, she punched me in the gut, doubling me over as I wasn’t truly expecting it.
Mike Laszlo: Ouch.
She was quickly apologetic.
Alexis Caffrey: Oh my God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hu…
Before she could finish, I sprung to life and lifted her with a hug.
Mike Laszlo: I’ll do it. I‘ll suplex you right across this ring and you’ll deserve every bit of it.
She feigned her fear.
Alexis Caffrey: No, no, no, please don’t.
I looked her in her brown eyes and simply kissed her. I couldn’t throw her across the ring...it just wouldn’t be right. I motioned behind my back with my foot and some of the people around ringside slid a giant pad into the ring.
Mike Laszlo: Okay, I won’t...but I will do this!
In a fluid motion I spun her around and German Suplexed her on the giant pad, her tiny little frame being lifted with ease as she screamed while being pulled back. She hit the pad and the two of us started laughing.
Mike Laszlo: Just forget about her and concentrate on more important things.
Alexis Caffrey: Like you versus Steve.
I nodded.
Alexis Caffrey: What is it about him that makes you want this match so badly?
I rolled off the pad and sat on the mat with my knees drawn up and my feet firmly planted on the canvas.
Mike Laszlo: There’s just a level of competition there that’s for all intents and purposes...refreshing. This match isn’t about who is loved and who is hated. It’s not about a championship, though I bet if it were it would be so much more intense. It’s about two guys who want the same thing...to be the best...to win.
Alexis Caffrey: Like you and Rob?
I shook my head.
Mike Laszlo: No, there’s definitely hatred there. I don’t think we could have nearly killed each other like we did without a little hate mixed in.
I threw my hand out.
Mike Laszlo: Whereas with Steve...there’s not hate, really no love, no beef at all. It’s just a matter of us being on the same path at the same time, headed for the same destination, and the path is narrowing. The path is getting to the point where only one of us can take it any further, and at Danger Zone, we’re going to find out who needs to find an alternate route.
She looked at me with a smile, and I couldn’t quite see where she was going with this.
Mike Laszlo: What?
Alexis Caffrey: You.
Mike Laszlo: What about me?
Alexis Caffrey: You’re happy.
Mike Laszlo: I’m with you.
Alexis Caffrey: I know that...I mean with your situation.
I couldn’t help but crack a smirk.
Mike Laszlo: I am. There’s just less stress. I’m not trying to impress people. I don’t have to make them love me or hate me. They get to choose, and since my mind isn’t wrapped around ways to sway them, I’m able to concentrate on the product of which I produce...and right now...I’m loving every moment of it.
She leaned over and kissed me.
Alexis Caffrey: And as long as you’re happy, I’m happy.
I kissed her back.
Mike Laszlo: I am...after all...this is what it’s all about.
==================================
As the scene fades back in, I’m standing in front of a trophy case. I’m back at my house in Cleveland, Ohio, and I’m in the basement where I work out and where I now keep memorabilia to remind me of the things I’ve done in my career. I stare up at the center of the case, near the top where my Imperial Championship sits. I can’t help but ease a smirk across my face as I point up at it.
Steve, that’s what it’s all about for me. To hold that championship, to taste the pride that beams from every pore in your body as you carry that title around means the world to me. I’ve had that taste Steve, and while I know you’ve done so elsewhere, you’ve never held THAT belt.
I turn down to the camera.
To hold THAT belt means you’re the absolute best of the best this business has to offer. There’s not a single organization before IWF or after, especially none I’ve been in that even come close to comparing. We have Hall of Famers from other organizations that could only dream of holding that belt, yet when they get in the ring with the competition we have here, they falter at each opportunity.
I point into the camera.
I know that’s what you want Steve, and you know that to get it, you’re going to have to go through me and plenty others to get it. It’s why you declared yourself for the Roulette.
I take a deep breath.
However, I want to do something that has never been done before...I want to be the first to hold that title, not once, but twice. I want to be the man forever known as the first two-time Imperial Champion, and I know...to do that...I have to go through you, I then have to do something that I’ve never done before...the one thing that has eluded me here in the IWF...win the Roulette.
I turn to the camera.
If that means beating you, and showing the world, and you that I’m better than you, just like I had to do Rob Diamond, and just like I had to do Angel...so be it.
I told my wife, and now I’m telling you Steve. There’s a path we’re going down. With each passing week, it narrows. The yellow brick road, isn’t so yellow...it’s crimson. That road is paved with the blood, the sweat, and the tears of every man to walk it before us, some who failed, and some who have succeeded, all who have sacrificed.
Sunday, at Danger Zone, that bloody path narrows to a pinch where only one of us can go on. We will fight to see who moves on. We will fight to see which of us truly is the better man, and neither of us will truly be worse off for it, for the loser, I have no doubt, will find another way to meet at the end point. The loser...you...will find a way to get where you want to go while I continue to walk ahead, trudging through the sacrifices of the others before us, all while making sacrifices of my own.
Steve...come Danger Zone...know, there’s not a personal feeling to do with what’s going to happen...it’s just business.
And I’m in the business...of succeeding...at all cost.
After all Steve...that’s what it’s all about.
Well howdy there pardner.