Post by The Soul Of Philly on Mar 22, 2013 20:09:14 GMT -4
Saturday March 23th, 2013 10:54 AM
We open the scene in what looks like a small mediation room. A single table with three chairs in the middle of the room. To our left sits Roger Gings while across from him, our right, sits his brother, Trey Gings. The two brothers are dressed in suits as they both have manila folders lying front of them. The sound of an opening door fills the air as we see “The Soul of Philly” TJ, dressed in a far more official attire than the norm, a three piece suit and the Tap Out Championship over his shoulder. He sits down between Trey and Roger and puts his own folder in front of him.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Hey guys. Thanks for being a part of this.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings No problem TJ.
Trey.Gings Yeah, I heard what Reaver said.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Yeah, well that’s why the three of us are here. You see, a couple of days ago, Trey here, as he normally does, was on his laptop looking at Niobe Martin’s picture gallery and, as it happens to everyone, a pop up telling him that Reaver has spoken. What it didn’t tell him what that what Reaver said was utter nonsense. Trey, will you please, present example A.
Trey nods and gets up and pulls over a TV straight from a high school AV Club. He presses play as Reaver appears on the TV floating through the air.
YOU'VE BECOME VERY PRETENTIOUS TJ. HEHEHAHAHAHA......YOU SAW ME AND THOUGHT THAT I'D BE EASY PICKIN'S HUH? YOU THOUGHT THAT I'D BE SOME PUSH OVER AND THAT WAS WHY YOU STARTED PLAYING MIND GAMES WITH ME. YOUU COULD LOOK DEEP INTO MY EYES RIGHT NOW AND SEE I WAS TELLING YOU THE TRUTH ABOUT WHO I WAS FROM DAY ONE BUT YOU CHOSE TO IGNORE THAT. YOU KNEW THAT YOU WOULD BECOME TAP OUT CHAMPION BECAUSE FARQUAR WOULD BE TOO WEAK TO PUT YOU DOWN AFTER DEALING WITH THE LIKES OF THREE TOUGH COMPETITORS PRIOR IN THE SAME MATCH. IT WAS THE SAME THING THAT HAPPENED TO JASON KASH BEFORE HAND IN THE SAME SCENARIO.
As we turn from the TV to TJ, so does he. Roger hangs his head while shaking it in disbelief.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Roger?
Roger.“Raj”.Gings TJ. Please…I…can’t…it’s too much.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ You’re right, it is too much, too much false, too much opinion. Plain and simple, it was too much Johnny Knuckles. Yes, I know that was Reaver skydiving. Yes I know that wasn’t “Johnny Knuckles” but they’re the same person. First thing, I didn’t KNOW that Julius was going to be weak after facing three other guys. See, I did my job. I beat Yarmouth so bad, the boy didn’t show back up. Julius got himself DQ’d and I won a coin toss, not my decision. I didn’t care who was there at the end of a gauntlet, I was gonna win. I knew it and I did it. I didn’t chose who was in the gauntlet. I didn’t chose who was at the end of it.
TJ looks at Trey and Roger while he pauses.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ I didn’t see you and think you’d be easy pickings. No, in fact, I saw you and saw someone who I knew thought the same way as me. Work hard and honest, and you’ll be rewarded. But, you, you didn’t work hard and honest. You had a skeleton in your closet didn’t you. We all do don’t we? Well no, not if you work hard and honest, and you didn’t. See that’s why when you were called an identity thief, I stopped looking at you in that light. I stopped thinking that you and me were of the same ilk.
TJ looks at Trey and Roger as they nod their head.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Both of us regarded by people, fans, as blue collar heroes. We were the guys that win or lose, were going to give the fans their money. We would come out to the ring; wrestle our asses off for the fans. Everything we did was for the fans, not ourselves. We didn’t wrestle for the money, we would have been lawyers then. No we did it for the love and the admiration of the fans. We did it for the adrenaline of thousands and thousands cheering for us, on their feet, blowing out their lungs just to cheer us on. That’s what I saw, then I saw the true Knuckles. The Knuckles that was for himself. He wanted to finally beat Jason Kash. He wanted to finally capture a title in APW. He wanted to win Survive and Conquer. But what about me? Didn’t I want to win the Tap Out Championship for me? Didn’t I join the Pillars to get my name out there? No and no. See, I never wanted to win the Tap Out Championship. I wanted to remove it from Julius Farquhar, a coward of a champion. The fans deserve fighting champions and Julius Farquhar was not that. I didn’t join the Pillars to get my name out there by being in the same group as greats like Sally Talfourd, talents like Chris Strike, or highly, HIGHLY, respected wrestlers like Keaton Saint. I did it for the guys like us, well, me. Guys who spend years and years busting their ass for the fans but because they’re selfless, they don’t get the attention, the respect of names like those. That’s why I did it, not for me, not for TJ. FOR THE FANS. Raj, example B please.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Sure thing.
Roger grabs a CD out of his folder and inserts it into the DVD player. He presses play as Reaver stands, talking to us.
Let's talk truth for a brief moment TJ. You have worked your ass off for this company for what? Over a year? Almost two? You fought hard and finally became a champion that fits in the style of who you really are. You are a man of honor, Asylum's White Knight as it were. You fight for justice and finally dominated in a division where two men walk into the ring and fight face to face without interruption. No escape, no trickery, just straight up go. It's commendable, it really is. I was once just like you but I fell onto hard times. I used to believe the same things and that's why you and I got along so well.
But now this is where we differ. While title shot after title shot was handed to you out of sheer pride, I was offered nothing. I worked my ass off for damn well three years and had the same amount of opportunities as you did. Sounds to me that the powers that be didn't want a greasy guy like me to be showcased as much as a clean cut goody goody like you. Never once did I complain TJ, I took it all in stride and you saw the potential in me.
Now standing next to the TV, TJ looks at us and speaks.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ That’s right, I did see the potential in you. I just said it, but now you’re sounding like Stefan Raab. I’m not gonna say anything to this, I said it a month ago. And now we go back to Knuckles doing it for Knuckles. “WAAAH I DIDN’T GET TITLE SHOTS! WAHHHHHHH” See, you call me a man of honor, and I quote, “Asylum’s White Knight”. I’m just a man, like yourself. I have my own moral code, if it makes me seem “white knight” like then so be it. I believe you go on to say that I don’t claim that, but that’s what you see. I wondered why, but I figured it out.
As TJ stops leaning on the TV set, it moves on its wheels as he moves forward to us.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ See, you wanted to be me. You wanted to be the blue collar hero for the fans. The only problem was you couldn’t go all the way. There’s a reason why I got “handed” title shots, it’s because I was robbed of the ones I earned. I beat Julius at Shockwave, I had him tapping out, but he bought a ref. Reginald made the rematch, and the ref called the match for me because he was worried about me. You on the other hand, you earned your shots, but you lost. Christmas Chaos 2012, Suicidal Championship, you beat Chris Strike, the champion, in a non title match prior to the event, but when the title was on the line, you couldn’t finish and you lost to Jason Kash. Test for the Best 2012, you were riding high and you almost beat Sally, who I beat, but you didn’t beat her. Rasslemania VIII, you took Jason Kash on one-on-one, riding the high off your Survive and Conquer performance and you lost when the World Heavyweight Championship was on the line. Unlike you, I finish. Trey, will you present example C?
Trey grabs another DVD from his folder and plays it, again Reaver is falling through the air when he speaks.
THIS IS WHY YOU THINK I'M NOTHING MORE THAN JUST A SIMPLE MAN. YOU STILL LOOK AT ME AS THE JOKE OF APW. YOU STILL SEE A FUN LOVING GUY WHO WANTED TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY. NOTHING HAS CHANGED TJ, I JUST DO IT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU REMEMBER. PEOPLE NEVER TOOK ME SERIOUSLY, THEY SAW ME AS YOU DO AND YOU'RE LIVING PROOF. YOU SAID IT YOURSELF REMEMBER? BUT THAT'S NOT THE ONLY THING YOU FEAR. YOU DON'T WANT TO LOSE TO THAT GUY. HOW WOULD IT LOOK ON YOU; TO LOSE A HARD EARNED CHAMPIONSHIP BELT TO THE WALKING JOKE OF ASYLUM? IF THIS IS ALL YOU'RE AFRAID OF TJ, THEN YOU MIGHT HAVE BITTEN OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW.....
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ I’ve bitten off more than I can chew? I wasn’t the one who attacked you for no reason. See, I’ve been defensive for a good part of a month. I said I never saw you as a joke. You heard how I saw you, but I did say that no one took you serious, yourself included. What self-respecting, “hard working”, “blue collar” guy creates their own championship because they feel slighted? Not only that, but a championship that no one wants. No one takes you seriously if you don’t. I learned that a long time ago. When I say I’m the most dangerous, I’m serious about it. I make sure there isn’t a damn image, a sliver of doubt, that people can point at and say, “He’s not serious”.
TJ looks at his Tap Out Championship.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ I’m not afraid of losing this title because I know that if I lose this title, I didn’t work hard enough to keep it. That’s failure and if you’re afraid of failure, you’re not good enough to hold this title. Johnny Knuckles, he wasn’t afraid of failure for the longest time. He celebrated his 100th loss. But he wasn’t afraid of failure because he embraced it because he didn’t take himself serious. You can point at whoever and blame them for no one taking you serious, but it started with you and it’s going to end with you. Raj, can you show them example D?
Roger.“Raj”.Gings No.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ What?
Roger.“Raj”.Gings No.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Why?
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Because I’m tired of this. This guy is out of his mind. Not because he enjoys pain, but he thinks he knows your fear. He has no idea what you fear.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Just play the god damn clip.
Reluctantly, Roger gets up and plays the DVD. Again, Reaver appears on the screen, this time on an airplane.
“I'm putting myself into position TJ. By backing myself into the corner, it fuels the killer instinct I have and makes me that much more dangerous. The same thing could easily be said about you I guess. The fear that you have of me. It wasn't there before but I was instilled by me and that; combined with what I'm putting myself through at this very moment will make for a very interesting fight don't you agree?
We pan to TJ who turns from the TV to us.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ That would make a very interesting fight and I think our fight will be interesting, but not for the reason you stated. See, I’m not afraid of you, I do not fear you. What I fear is what you can do inside of your world. It’s like going to a zoo. You see a lion or tiger in their enclosures. You see them and you see them lying around doing nothing. You hear all these great things about the lions and tigers, how fierce predators they, but you see them doing nothing. You tend to believe that these stories of a lion or tiger are fake. On the other hand, if you were to go to their natural habitats, their worlds, if you will, they are scary. Those stories are far more true than the zookeepers made them to be. Violence, gore, terror. All that is there. In their world, it’s an entirely different animal.
Silence as TJ pauses to look at Trey who shakes his head.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ It’s like you Knuckles. When I came to APW, I heard all these stories about you and how tough you were, but I never saw it, not really. I saw maybe a little of it, but never what everyone made you out to be. Then, two weeks ago, I stepped into your world, and it was scary. It wasn’t what people made it out to be, it was worse. I wasn’t expecting that and I paid the price. I fear that, but not you.
Again, TJ pauses allowing silence to take over as he looks to his best friend, Roger.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Show him.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Allow me to present example E.
TJ opens up his folder and pulls out a DVD of his own and plays it. We see images of crime scenes in Philadelphia, bodies covered cloth, families crying.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ and examples F through Y
TJ picks up his folder and empties it on the table. Roger and Trey fight back tears as they look through the contents of the folders: obituaries of younger Philadelphians. TJ on the other hand, let’s the tears flow causing his eyes turn red.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ My fear, my only fear, is that my city gets looked at like this. Violent, gore, terror. A city filled with killers and criminals. The scum of the world. It’s not. I am the soul of Philadelphia. It’s not a nickname, its real life. Philadelphia doesn’t back down, Philadelphia doesn’t take cheap shots and turn the other cheek, Philadelphia may have crime, but it does not define Philadelphia. My fear…
TJ folds his folder back, showing one obituary with “Example Z” written in bold black letters over it. Holding the folder in front, TJ’s eyes are now tear filled, causing him to wipe them.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Is having my city betraying me. This is my brother. Jacob Hutchinson. Two years ago, he was killed because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Since then, I’ve done everything I can to make sure that never happens to anyone else. Philly’s Gym is a safe haven for kids, if they need to leave the house for a bit to cool down, if they’re worried about kids coming to get them, if they need something to get them to where they want to be in life. I get paid like a champion, but I live like I’m still a rookie. I give my money to organizations that seek the same goal as I. I give money to families that need it. When my brother died, I had to face my fear. My fear is that all the work I put it results in nothing. My fear is having everything I stand for crumble underneath me. My fear is doing everything for myself. My fear is letting everyone change how I act and who I am.
TJ stops, his face goes pale.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ My fear, is becoming you, and I have. You want to put yourself into survival mode by skydiving, facing your fear of heights, fine. I’ll do the same.
TJ’s eyes glaze over, his stare staying on us as Roger and Trey notice the look on his face.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Fuck.
Trey.Gings TJ.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Yea?
Trey.Gings You good?
TJ licks his lips.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Yea.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Seriously?
TJ looks down at his phone and fiddles with it a bit, typing something rather lengthy.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Ah TJ?
TJ chuckles as he looks up at Roger.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Maybe. I dunno, I think so. We’ll find out at Rasslemania won’t we?
TJ gets up and leaves with his title. Roger and Trey look at each other with confusion on their faces.
Trey.Gings What did he mean, “So will I?”
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Remember how he was when Jacob died?
Trey.Gings Like, careless of other people?
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Yea, well, that’s putting it lightly, but yea, that.
Trey.Gings I would hate to be Reaver.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Yeah. I think TJ’s going to make him regret his whole Joker to his Batman.
Trey.Gings No, I’d hate to be Reaver. He quotes Wikipedia in his videos. Speaking of Wikipedia
Trey opens up his laptop.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings What are you doing?
Trey.Gings Gonna edit his wiki page saying his father was a donkey and his mother was a midget.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Would explain a lot.
Trey’s face drops.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings What?
Trey.Gings This.
Trey’s turns his lap top around and at the bottom of the page it reads. “On March 25th, 2013, Reaver was pronounced dead in a Toronto hospital following his Anything Goes Match with “THE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL OF PHILLY” TJ. We fade as Roger and Trey sprint out to the room.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Hey guys. Thanks for being a part of this.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings No problem TJ.
Trey.Gings Yeah, I heard what Reaver said.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Yeah, well that’s why the three of us are here. You see, a couple of days ago, Trey here, as he normally does, was on his laptop looking at Niobe Martin’s picture gallery and, as it happens to everyone, a pop up telling him that Reaver has spoken. What it didn’t tell him what that what Reaver said was utter nonsense. Trey, will you please, present example A.
Trey nods and gets up and pulls over a TV straight from a high school AV Club. He presses play as Reaver appears on the TV floating through the air.
YOU'VE BECOME VERY PRETENTIOUS TJ. HEHEHAHAHAHA......YOU SAW ME AND THOUGHT THAT I'D BE EASY PICKIN'S HUH? YOU THOUGHT THAT I'D BE SOME PUSH OVER AND THAT WAS WHY YOU STARTED PLAYING MIND GAMES WITH ME. YOUU COULD LOOK DEEP INTO MY EYES RIGHT NOW AND SEE I WAS TELLING YOU THE TRUTH ABOUT WHO I WAS FROM DAY ONE BUT YOU CHOSE TO IGNORE THAT. YOU KNEW THAT YOU WOULD BECOME TAP OUT CHAMPION BECAUSE FARQUAR WOULD BE TOO WEAK TO PUT YOU DOWN AFTER DEALING WITH THE LIKES OF THREE TOUGH COMPETITORS PRIOR IN THE SAME MATCH. IT WAS THE SAME THING THAT HAPPENED TO JASON KASH BEFORE HAND IN THE SAME SCENARIO.
As we turn from the TV to TJ, so does he. Roger hangs his head while shaking it in disbelief.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Roger?
Roger.“Raj”.Gings TJ. Please…I…can’t…it’s too much.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ You’re right, it is too much, too much false, too much opinion. Plain and simple, it was too much Johnny Knuckles. Yes, I know that was Reaver skydiving. Yes I know that wasn’t “Johnny Knuckles” but they’re the same person. First thing, I didn’t KNOW that Julius was going to be weak after facing three other guys. See, I did my job. I beat Yarmouth so bad, the boy didn’t show back up. Julius got himself DQ’d and I won a coin toss, not my decision. I didn’t care who was there at the end of a gauntlet, I was gonna win. I knew it and I did it. I didn’t chose who was in the gauntlet. I didn’t chose who was at the end of it.
TJ looks at Trey and Roger while he pauses.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ I didn’t see you and think you’d be easy pickings. No, in fact, I saw you and saw someone who I knew thought the same way as me. Work hard and honest, and you’ll be rewarded. But, you, you didn’t work hard and honest. You had a skeleton in your closet didn’t you. We all do don’t we? Well no, not if you work hard and honest, and you didn’t. See that’s why when you were called an identity thief, I stopped looking at you in that light. I stopped thinking that you and me were of the same ilk.
TJ looks at Trey and Roger as they nod their head.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Both of us regarded by people, fans, as blue collar heroes. We were the guys that win or lose, were going to give the fans their money. We would come out to the ring; wrestle our asses off for the fans. Everything we did was for the fans, not ourselves. We didn’t wrestle for the money, we would have been lawyers then. No we did it for the love and the admiration of the fans. We did it for the adrenaline of thousands and thousands cheering for us, on their feet, blowing out their lungs just to cheer us on. That’s what I saw, then I saw the true Knuckles. The Knuckles that was for himself. He wanted to finally beat Jason Kash. He wanted to finally capture a title in APW. He wanted to win Survive and Conquer. But what about me? Didn’t I want to win the Tap Out Championship for me? Didn’t I join the Pillars to get my name out there? No and no. See, I never wanted to win the Tap Out Championship. I wanted to remove it from Julius Farquhar, a coward of a champion. The fans deserve fighting champions and Julius Farquhar was not that. I didn’t join the Pillars to get my name out there by being in the same group as greats like Sally Talfourd, talents like Chris Strike, or highly, HIGHLY, respected wrestlers like Keaton Saint. I did it for the guys like us, well, me. Guys who spend years and years busting their ass for the fans but because they’re selfless, they don’t get the attention, the respect of names like those. That’s why I did it, not for me, not for TJ. FOR THE FANS. Raj, example B please.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Sure thing.
Roger grabs a CD out of his folder and inserts it into the DVD player. He presses play as Reaver stands, talking to us.
Let's talk truth for a brief moment TJ. You have worked your ass off for this company for what? Over a year? Almost two? You fought hard and finally became a champion that fits in the style of who you really are. You are a man of honor, Asylum's White Knight as it were. You fight for justice and finally dominated in a division where two men walk into the ring and fight face to face without interruption. No escape, no trickery, just straight up go. It's commendable, it really is. I was once just like you but I fell onto hard times. I used to believe the same things and that's why you and I got along so well.
But now this is where we differ. While title shot after title shot was handed to you out of sheer pride, I was offered nothing. I worked my ass off for damn well three years and had the same amount of opportunities as you did. Sounds to me that the powers that be didn't want a greasy guy like me to be showcased as much as a clean cut goody goody like you. Never once did I complain TJ, I took it all in stride and you saw the potential in me.
Now standing next to the TV, TJ looks at us and speaks.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ That’s right, I did see the potential in you. I just said it, but now you’re sounding like Stefan Raab. I’m not gonna say anything to this, I said it a month ago. And now we go back to Knuckles doing it for Knuckles. “WAAAH I DIDN’T GET TITLE SHOTS! WAHHHHHHH” See, you call me a man of honor, and I quote, “Asylum’s White Knight”. I’m just a man, like yourself. I have my own moral code, if it makes me seem “white knight” like then so be it. I believe you go on to say that I don’t claim that, but that’s what you see. I wondered why, but I figured it out.
As TJ stops leaning on the TV set, it moves on its wheels as he moves forward to us.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ See, you wanted to be me. You wanted to be the blue collar hero for the fans. The only problem was you couldn’t go all the way. There’s a reason why I got “handed” title shots, it’s because I was robbed of the ones I earned. I beat Julius at Shockwave, I had him tapping out, but he bought a ref. Reginald made the rematch, and the ref called the match for me because he was worried about me. You on the other hand, you earned your shots, but you lost. Christmas Chaos 2012, Suicidal Championship, you beat Chris Strike, the champion, in a non title match prior to the event, but when the title was on the line, you couldn’t finish and you lost to Jason Kash. Test for the Best 2012, you were riding high and you almost beat Sally, who I beat, but you didn’t beat her. Rasslemania VIII, you took Jason Kash on one-on-one, riding the high off your Survive and Conquer performance and you lost when the World Heavyweight Championship was on the line. Unlike you, I finish. Trey, will you present example C?
Trey grabs another DVD from his folder and plays it, again Reaver is falling through the air when he speaks.
THIS IS WHY YOU THINK I'M NOTHING MORE THAN JUST A SIMPLE MAN. YOU STILL LOOK AT ME AS THE JOKE OF APW. YOU STILL SEE A FUN LOVING GUY WHO WANTED TO MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY. NOTHING HAS CHANGED TJ, I JUST DO IT SLIGHTLY DIFFERENTLY THAN YOU REMEMBER. PEOPLE NEVER TOOK ME SERIOUSLY, THEY SAW ME AS YOU DO AND YOU'RE LIVING PROOF. YOU SAID IT YOURSELF REMEMBER? BUT THAT'S NOT THE ONLY THING YOU FEAR. YOU DON'T WANT TO LOSE TO THAT GUY. HOW WOULD IT LOOK ON YOU; TO LOSE A HARD EARNED CHAMPIONSHIP BELT TO THE WALKING JOKE OF ASYLUM? IF THIS IS ALL YOU'RE AFRAID OF TJ, THEN YOU MIGHT HAVE BITTEN OFF MORE THAN YOU CAN CHEW.....
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ I’ve bitten off more than I can chew? I wasn’t the one who attacked you for no reason. See, I’ve been defensive for a good part of a month. I said I never saw you as a joke. You heard how I saw you, but I did say that no one took you serious, yourself included. What self-respecting, “hard working”, “blue collar” guy creates their own championship because they feel slighted? Not only that, but a championship that no one wants. No one takes you seriously if you don’t. I learned that a long time ago. When I say I’m the most dangerous, I’m serious about it. I make sure there isn’t a damn image, a sliver of doubt, that people can point at and say, “He’s not serious”.
TJ looks at his Tap Out Championship.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ I’m not afraid of losing this title because I know that if I lose this title, I didn’t work hard enough to keep it. That’s failure and if you’re afraid of failure, you’re not good enough to hold this title. Johnny Knuckles, he wasn’t afraid of failure for the longest time. He celebrated his 100th loss. But he wasn’t afraid of failure because he embraced it because he didn’t take himself serious. You can point at whoever and blame them for no one taking you serious, but it started with you and it’s going to end with you. Raj, can you show them example D?
Roger.“Raj”.Gings No.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ What?
Roger.“Raj”.Gings No.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Why?
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Because I’m tired of this. This guy is out of his mind. Not because he enjoys pain, but he thinks he knows your fear. He has no idea what you fear.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Just play the god damn clip.
Reluctantly, Roger gets up and plays the DVD. Again, Reaver appears on the screen, this time on an airplane.
“I'm putting myself into position TJ. By backing myself into the corner, it fuels the killer instinct I have and makes me that much more dangerous. The same thing could easily be said about you I guess. The fear that you have of me. It wasn't there before but I was instilled by me and that; combined with what I'm putting myself through at this very moment will make for a very interesting fight don't you agree?
We pan to TJ who turns from the TV to us.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ That would make a very interesting fight and I think our fight will be interesting, but not for the reason you stated. See, I’m not afraid of you, I do not fear you. What I fear is what you can do inside of your world. It’s like going to a zoo. You see a lion or tiger in their enclosures. You see them and you see them lying around doing nothing. You hear all these great things about the lions and tigers, how fierce predators they, but you see them doing nothing. You tend to believe that these stories of a lion or tiger are fake. On the other hand, if you were to go to their natural habitats, their worlds, if you will, they are scary. Those stories are far more true than the zookeepers made them to be. Violence, gore, terror. All that is there. In their world, it’s an entirely different animal.
Silence as TJ pauses to look at Trey who shakes his head.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ It’s like you Knuckles. When I came to APW, I heard all these stories about you and how tough you were, but I never saw it, not really. I saw maybe a little of it, but never what everyone made you out to be. Then, two weeks ago, I stepped into your world, and it was scary. It wasn’t what people made it out to be, it was worse. I wasn’t expecting that and I paid the price. I fear that, but not you.
Again, TJ pauses allowing silence to take over as he looks to his best friend, Roger.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Show him.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Allow me to present example E.
TJ opens up his folder and pulls out a DVD of his own and plays it. We see images of crime scenes in Philadelphia, bodies covered cloth, families crying.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ and examples F through Y
TJ picks up his folder and empties it on the table. Roger and Trey fight back tears as they look through the contents of the folders: obituaries of younger Philadelphians. TJ on the other hand, let’s the tears flow causing his eyes turn red.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ My fear, my only fear, is that my city gets looked at like this. Violent, gore, terror. A city filled with killers and criminals. The scum of the world. It’s not. I am the soul of Philadelphia. It’s not a nickname, its real life. Philadelphia doesn’t back down, Philadelphia doesn’t take cheap shots and turn the other cheek, Philadelphia may have crime, but it does not define Philadelphia. My fear…
TJ folds his folder back, showing one obituary with “Example Z” written in bold black letters over it. Holding the folder in front, TJ’s eyes are now tear filled, causing him to wipe them.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Is having my city betraying me. This is my brother. Jacob Hutchinson. Two years ago, he was killed because he was at the wrong place at the wrong time. Since then, I’ve done everything I can to make sure that never happens to anyone else. Philly’s Gym is a safe haven for kids, if they need to leave the house for a bit to cool down, if they’re worried about kids coming to get them, if they need something to get them to where they want to be in life. I get paid like a champion, but I live like I’m still a rookie. I give my money to organizations that seek the same goal as I. I give money to families that need it. When my brother died, I had to face my fear. My fear is that all the work I put it results in nothing. My fear is having everything I stand for crumble underneath me. My fear is doing everything for myself. My fear is letting everyone change how I act and who I am.
TJ stops, his face goes pale.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ My fear, is becoming you, and I have. You want to put yourself into survival mode by skydiving, facing your fear of heights, fine. I’ll do the same.
TJ’s eyes glaze over, his stare staying on us as Roger and Trey notice the look on his face.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Fuck.
Trey.Gings TJ.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Yea?
Trey.Gings You good?
TJ licks his lips.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Yea.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Seriously?
TJ looks down at his phone and fiddles with it a bit, typing something rather lengthy.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Ah TJ?
TJ chuckles as he looks up at Roger.
The.Soul.Of.Philly TJ Maybe. I dunno, I think so. We’ll find out at Rasslemania won’t we?
TJ gets up and leaves with his title. Roger and Trey look at each other with confusion on their faces.
Trey.Gings What did he mean, “So will I?”
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Remember how he was when Jacob died?
Trey.Gings Like, careless of other people?
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Yea, well, that’s putting it lightly, but yea, that.
Trey.Gings I would hate to be Reaver.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Yeah. I think TJ’s going to make him regret his whole Joker to his Batman.
Trey.Gings No, I’d hate to be Reaver. He quotes Wikipedia in his videos. Speaking of Wikipedia
Trey opens up his laptop.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings What are you doing?
Trey.Gings Gonna edit his wiki page saying his father was a donkey and his mother was a midget.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings Would explain a lot.
Trey’s face drops.
Roger.“Raj”.Gings What?
Trey.Gings This.
Trey’s turns his lap top around and at the bottom of the page it reads. “On March 25th, 2013, Reaver was pronounced dead in a Toronto hospital following his Anything Goes Match with “THE SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL OF PHILLY” TJ. We fade as Roger and Trey sprint out to the room.
