Post by SalTal on Aug 27, 2010 19:25:48 GMT -4
It all comes down to this. A month of preparation? No, more than a month. The day I stepped into APW I was working toward this match. Toward this moment. Toward the opportunity to stake a claim in APW. The whole time I was walking toward this match against Level-One. Was it always going to be Level-One? No. I could have easily have been facing Pence Weatherlight or Bryan Payne. Then again, maybe it was meant to be Level-One. He managed to reclaim his title despite all the obstacles, the challenges, and the opponents. And he stayed the champion all the way up to Shockwave. I don't know, I'm not one to talk about fate but there's a lot of coincidences at play here.
World title match. Shockwave main event. Level-One versus Sally Talfourd. A match to define APW for the weeks, months, years to come. And what a match it will be. Two of the best talents that the APW has the throw up against each other. Only once before seen, and even that match gives us no idea how this is going to end. On paper, Level-One has the advantage, right? He's the multi-time APW champion, a former Experts champion, and all round good guy. Well, good some of the time. But he's renowned throughout this business, so how is it that a mere woman - not even one-fifty pounds wet - could ever stand up against this man? He's a champion among champions. What the heck can I do?
Well, I know that I at least rate pretty highly as a prostitute. I guess that's something, right? Though only a seven on a normal 'hot-ometer' isn't anything to brag about. Then again, this isn't exactly a beauty contest. And half the stuff Level-One said about me sounded a lot like him covering up for the fact he secretly wished I actually liked him more than I do. But, you know, I'm not about to 'out' him. I'll let him do that on his own. Maybe when I hold the APW Title, he'll have reason enough to say as much. But until then, I can live with his hate and diatribe and whatever else he has to say. It's water off a duck's back. I've been around too long to let that get to me. The only think I'm thinking about is this match and not about how highly my opponent rate on the whore-o-meter. Or who they hang around with. Or what they did a pay per view ago. Nope, it's all about Shockwave for me.
There's just one thing I have to make clear. Oh, Lester, you should also know this: I've only ever had to fake an orgasm when I'm with a guy from Canada. Seriously, shrinkage must be permanent up there or something.
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Recorded the 27th of August, 2010. Shockwave is finally here and we watch Sally go through the preparations of getting ready for an appearance. Watch the transformation of Sally as she goes from regular Sally Talfourd to hottie Sally Talfourd. Oh yeah, and she says something about her main event, title match too.
Starring: Sally Talfourd, Shane the Cameraman
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"Sally Talfourd presents ..."
is written across the screen, fades out, then
"In association with Action Packed Wrestling"
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"Happy Endings T.V."
is written across the background before it fades out to a title which reads
Last week on OverDrive
That then fades away (wow, a lot of fading) to a shot of the Alltel Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas, still rocking as the night is closing down. The crowd cheers and starts a ''Match of the year!'' chant as Sally Talfourd can't help but blush at the crowds response. Level-One looks at the super faction laid out before him, as he grins ear to ear.
Level-One: I lived up to my end of the bargain. I had your back until the Red Shield Mafia and The Greatness threat was defused. And I'm sure we both can concur that our little problem here is done and over with...
Sally Talfourd nods her head up and down, thanking Level-One for living up to his word. Level-One simply takes a few steps back, as he glances at his world title. He stops and looks back at Sally Talfourd. Level-One plants a boot the chest of Sally Talfourd sending her off the side of the ramp, sending her into a stack of tables and cable wires! Sally Talfourd crashes through the tables and lays lifeless on the concrete floor. The fans immediately change their tune, booing relentlessly—as the fans in attendance couldn't believe what had just played out in-front of them. Level-One stands on the edge of the ramp looking down at Sally Talfourd who is lying in the wreckage and isn't moving. The APW world champion doesn't show any signs of emotion as he removes the APW world championship off his shoulder and lifts it high above his head, as the APW logo flashes across the screen and Thursday Night Overdrive comes to a close. Fade away to a blank screen, then .....
Next week, in Seattle
The shot opens up to a mirror. Just a plain mirror, though the face looking back isn't any plain face. It's Sally Talfourd! The woman you've been hanging out to see all week. She's leantowardards the mirror, inspecting her face. Even she succumbs to staring at herself every once in a while too. She looks herself over and, when she sees that the little red light from Shane's camera is blinking, she looks to the camera through the reflection with a beaming smile.
[Sally] Hi guys and girls. Welcome back to another action packed and rousing episode of Happy Endings TV. I am, as always, your gracious and loving host Sally Talfourd and boy, isn't this episode going to be choc-bloc full of everything you wanted to see. Because there's a lot going on this week. Shockwave is day away. The tag team titles have returned and there's a hot contest for them. Crazy Joe is defending his Xtreme Championship. Shaun Kilgore is looking to stay off the challenge to his OverDrive title. And, of course, everyone is looking forward to the APW World Heavyweight Title match. Level-One versus yours truly Sally Talfourd. A match that will *Sally places a hand on her chest, feigns modesty with a coy look away from the camera* I believe be a hot contender for match on the year - if not match of the century. This is going to be the hottest pay per view that you could order all year. It's not able making talent, making a name, or making a distraction. Shockwave is about making career as legitimate and renowned talents step in to the ring to, well, reach for that glory that hangs in front of them or fall away in the gutter trying. Who will win? Who will lose? And who will survive? You won't find out faster than if you order Shockwave right now. *Sally looks to the side of the camera's shot, to Shane* How was that? Think they can use it?
[Shane] Perfect Sally. If management use that, people will be ordering twice.
Sally laughs, then lets out a sigh,
[Sally] Ok, jokes aside guys and girls. Welcome to another episode of your favourite webshow. This is going to be a bumper-buster of an episode so settle in, comfyphey, maybe grab a couple of snacks, and drink. Whatever you need to really enjoy Sally Talfourd. I mean, you really have to prepare yourself. I realise now that my, what, hours of yab-fest must be exceptionally boring. I mean, Level-One said as much, so it must be trWhensen's he ever been wrong about anything ...
Sally rolls her eyes, then breaks away her look from the camera. She loher faceface over once more, then looks down. The camera zooms out as we find she is in a dressing room, in front of a vanity with all her make-up spread out. Looks like it's about time to get ready for something. Sally looks around then takes up her hair brush. She pulls out her hair with her free hand first, then starts brushing down. All the while, she stares into the mirror, inspecting herself. A type of quality control you might say.
[Sally] Being serious now, I did hear what Level-One had to say about me. I listened to it. I listen and watch everything he does. You might say I've been his number one fan for the past few weeks. *Sally blows a kiss into the mirror, bounces off, and heads straight for Level-One himself* I mean sure, a lot of the time it's like watching an episode of Days of Our Lives. Who is this mysterious young woman who looks to upset everything Level-One has worked for? Will he or won't he fall to the temptations of steroids? Who is this nefarious figure from his past that has upset Lester oh-so much? Tune in next week to find out nothing at all as we drag this out over the course of a year. And, of course, *Sally looks to the camera through the mirror, stopping her brushing for a moment. She stares at the camera with a cold, chiseled look* the obligatory stare to close out the day's episode. *Sally smiles, shakes off the look, and goes back to her hair* I don't mind. I actually sometimes enjoy getting an insight into Lester's little life. He's really set up the whole white-picket fence dream, hasn't he? His darling woman, baby on the way, money coming in, living the life. His parents must be so proud. It woulddisastrousrous is something were to ruin all that ...
Sally trails off, a couple more brushes through her hair and then she's done. She inspects her handiwork before she rummages around her kit for whatever comes next. Ah ha! The mascara. She starts to twist off the top, looking down at it as she continues on.
[Sally] But I wouldn't do that to him. I'm nice. I don't slander people, you know? I don't call people mean things, kick up a stink and cry about, well, not getting my way. I just do things, you know? *With the lid off, Sally leans to the mirror again and starts to paint her eyelashes* I just go out to the ring and just do things. I do them well, and I do them as good as I can. That's what I'm known for. Maybe there's a tiny bit of drama associated with me outside of the ring. But every week, when people turn up to the arena and see me on the card they know that I'm going into my matched focused on one thing only: That match. The very thing that people have paid to see gets my one-hundred percent attention. This week, it's important that that happens. You see, any lesser man or woman would be still worried about some reject stable that has made it their mission to come after me. Someone like Level-One would be obsessing over them, or maybe a competitor not even in the match like Bryan Payne, or comparing his opponent to any one of the people that wouldn't measure up to me if they tried. But truth be told? I'm not worried about that. That stabledelinquentsints don't have to guts to come down to the ring during our match. They don't have the balls to spoil the main event for the second biggest night of the year. And they definitely have enough sense to not ruin the match that Level-One and I have been fighttowardards all this time. They aren't complete idiots, the Shieldeild Mafia and Sports Nutz. They're pretty stupid, but not that bad. So I'm not worried about them. Level-One might be. Level-One can fret and sweat all he wants about them. Me? I'm thinking only about you, Lester. You and you title. Well, you and your soon-to-be my title if everything goes to plan.
Ooooh, a plan!? I wonder what it is? Pretty simple: Sally goes out to the ring and does what she does best. It's not something over the top like 'win' or 'destroy Level-One'. And it's definitely not 'taking names and kicking ass' as Level-One so eloquently made the job of the APW Champion out to be. No, it's wrestle. Often Sally thinks people have forgotten that key ingredient to evrecipeiepe written for this business. Wrestling? Remember that? Not some spectacle or showboatingspot-festfest. But the art of wrestling. True wrestling. The practice that you never have a full handle on - despite how many world titles and random awards you win. art-formform that you strive for years to get good enough at to find yourself in a main event at a pay per view wrestling for a championship. That thing we all try to do in the ring that tells our story, rewards our efforts, and moves us further and further into the spotlight. That 'wrestling' thing. Everyone talks about so much stuff, that they forget there's something more important than, you know, conspiracy theories involving who got who to beat someone down with a chair. Or who saved who from which stable. Those are just distractions. And the people who talk about that, they're just clouding the picture so that they can cover up for the fact that, when they get measured up against someone like Sally Talfourd, they're just that little bit short of being in the same league as her. But don't take my word for it. Listen to the woman herself.
[Sally] Now no offense to the historians out there, but this episode isn't about where I came from. It's not about eight years ago, one year ago, a month ago, even a day ago. What this is about ... what I am about is tomorrow. The next match. The next pay per view. What's in the future is ten times more important than what happened last week. Does the past have, you know, bearing on the future? Of course it does. Take, for example, my current condition. Thanks to what happened last week, I'm not at peak physical condition. My knee has flared up, my back didn't take too well to landing on cables and wires, and I'm still not sure I shouldn't have got my head checked. But the thing is I can't change that. I can't change the fact that I was assaulted by Level-One and his thugs last week. I wish it hadn't happened, but it did, and now I have to cope with it. I'm not about to, you know, go out and cry about how someone nearly broke my neck or that doctors didn't want me to wrestle. I'm sorry, but we all know the dangers of this business when we sign up. *Sally's finished with the mascara, starts to put the lid back on, then drops it in her kit* Lester, if you're making excuses for yourself now, then you're doing two things to yourself. If you lose, people won't have sympathy for you. They'll just think less of you. The fans won't feel sorry for you. They just want to see a good match. And if you couldn't deliver, then you shouldn't have been there. The other thing you're doing is casting a poor shadow over yourself if you win. You had to try and take me out just to edge out a victory. And that's just not what a champion does. It's not classy. In fact, it's pretty un-classy. But you did it, and that's something you're going to have to cope with now. I know I might sound like the lame mother who guilts her kids into good behaviour rather than giving them a slap across the bum, but that's my style. I'm not going to reduce myself to your level. I'm better than you in and out of the ring, and I'm going to show the world that by just letting you be until the bell rings.
Last week, I'll deal with that in the weeks that come. My focus - my whole focus - is on Level-One this week. Young Mannie, Shaun Kilgore, and thlackeyskies are simply a distraction at the moment. A distraction I can't afford to look at. When the dust settles from my match, after I've dealt with Level-One, and after I've sacrificed everything I have for the APW Title, then I'll start thinking about thdelinquentsints. But for now, it's about this weekend, this pay per view, and this match I'm in.
Last week might have been a whole of seven days ago, but the effects still remain. The toll to Sally's body, and the shadow that will hang over Level-One should he walk out the victor emanatenate from last week. The second time Sally wasreceivingving end of a beating from that stable, and it felt no better. Level-One might go around accusing Sally of having been weak enough to be in the position to get attacked, or to be so blinded by her personal obsessions to get distracted for long enough, or whatever else he can come up with. The truth remains that if the role were reversed, seven men could easily get the jump on Lester. Did he beat them down by himself? He did, and congratulations for that. He only had a chair to help him out, an even playing field, and, well, no one lurking behind doors and in shadows waiting for you. No, Level-One could easily have been in that chair. He's found himself on the bad end of a beating before. Bryan Payne all but put him out for a month after their match. Pence Weatherlight, twice, snatched that title thatcherishesshes so dearly from him. It seems Level-One's weakness is not when the opposition out-numbers him, but rather when it's a fair fight. And lookey at Shockwave: It's a fair fight.
Sally looks around and finds the lipstick she's been after the whole time. A nice crimson red. She runs it over her lips, then puckers them over. She's starting to look like herself. Ignore the bandages that are under her outfit, or the ideas that are running through her head. To be a champion, you have to look the part. And, like the many stages involved in having to become champion, there's many stages involved in having to get the look right. From head to toe, there's each step you have to go through. It's like a match too. You have the 'big' things: The hair, the costume, the boots. The things that make you look like a wrestler. And in a match, you've got the big things: The finishers, the trademark moves, the spots. But then you get to the details. The make-up, maybe you tape up your wrists, what's it say on your boots? Just like a match: The pace, the timing, working over a body part, wearing your opponent down. When you're in this business, you're in it deep. When you're a wrestler, you live wrestling. You look the part and you live the paWhat youtyou do in the ring is as much shown in your actions outside of the ring as it is just how lookooke. And with Sally, she takes pride in how she looks. So of course she takes pride in what she does in that ring. And that's precisely why she doesn't run in with chair, muscles her way into main events, and injures her opponent simply because she might not win. That's not the image of a wrestler. That's the image of a thug. But more on that later ...
[Shane] So your match Sally. It's for the APW World Heavyweight Championship and ...
Sally stops looking around for her next piece of make-up. She stops dead and looks down at her hands. She can picture that title in them. She can feel that leather strap, the gold plates, and her own face being reflected back at her. She can see the result already. Or maybe she can only see a dream? One of the many dreams she's had about that moment. She shakes her head, looks to Shane.
[Sally] It's not for the title. Ok, like, it is for the title. And I really want to get my hands on it. But let's be honest guys. This match is for more than the APW title. It's not just for that belt, but for more. So much more. It's about respect. It's about who will become the face of this company. It's about what everyone else who looks into this madhouse will think. It's about where this company is going. So much more. All this is riding on each of our shoulders as we walk in. For Level-One, it's about continuing his disrespect. His disrespect for me. His disrespect for everyone around him. His disrespect for APW and the World Heavyweight Championship. Don't let him fool you. He has no respect for that title or for me or for our match. He wants to accuse me of not having what it takes to back up my words? Trust me: He doesn't have what it takes to back up his. He says he respect me, and then he kicks me fifteen feet through the air all because he is so insecure about retaining his title. He says he respects me, and then he pays me out with his diatribe. And he says he respects me, all the while plotting how he will make sure that I don't rain on his parade. If he did respect me, he would have paid the last month a different set of actions. He wouldn't have attacked me last week. He wouldn't have treated what I've done here like a joke. And he definitely wouldn't have walked around sprouting ridiculous conspiracy theories. No, he would have done everything he could to make sure that this match at Shockwave was the best it could have been. He might say he respects me, but he so clearly doesn't.
The belt that's on the line, that is worthy of respect. So much more than he pays it. There's only one belt to hold in this industry, and it's the APW World Heavyweight Championship. Every company out there says that their belt is the most prestigious, that their belt is the symbol of excellence, and that their belt is the hardest to get to. And sure, *Sally shrugs* some of them probably have a claim to that. But the APW Title? That's a real title. And you have to show it the respect that it deserves. Level-One doesn't respect it. If he did, he would have lined up like everyone else. He would have proved himself like everyone else. And he would have protected the reputation of that belt like everyone else. He muscled his way into that belt. The weeks I walked into APW, I walked into the firestorms that were burning between Level-One and Bryan Payne, with a bit of Pence Weatherlight on the side. Level-One made a path to his belt not with effort or hard work, but rather with the up-side of a steel chair, violent attacks, and threats to the management of this company. Me? I wrestled my heart out. I beat the greatest foe of my career. I don't care whether you regard her highly or not, Lester. The fact remains that I had someone hell-bent on taking me out of this business and I'm still here. I'm still standing despite everything Leila did to me. Again, I know you don't respect her. You don't respect anyone worthy of it. But at the end of the day, I beat her out.
Then I won Test For the Best. Once again, you don't respect my efforts there. You don't respect what I was able to do in that one night. Otherwise you wouldn't have made a mockery of it last week. And you definitely would have sat up and taken note of me a lot longer before you did. That night, when I earned this title shot that has seemed so far away at times, I celebrated. I didn't celebrate like I had won the World Title then and there. I didn't claim that it made me the greatest wrestler the world has seen. I didn't carry myself as if I was God on Earth, walking around with an ego the size of a house and ignorance the size of two. No, that was you, Lester. Me? I celebrated my win for what it was. It showed everyone that in one night, I can keep my eye on the prize for three matches. I have the endurance and the focus and the ability to get where I need to. Was Test For the Best like wrestling you? Absolutely not. I haven't said that for one minute. But continueinue to disrespect what that win stands for. And you're just blinding yourself when you do that. You've blinded yourself and now you have no idea what to expect from me in our match.
You probably think you do. You've probasurmisedised that from our singles match and our pair of tag team matches that you've got me sorted right out. Nothing is further from fact. I have come so far since that singles match that you never really won anyway. A match that I clawed myself to the end in, wasn't pinned or made to tap. I don't see how you could get sort ofrtof confidence out of that match. I was as green as a cut tree to APW that week. My third match in. And I managed to run with you all the way to the end. Say what you want about what might have happened if Bryan hadn't come in and made his presence known. Say whatever you want about the 'might haves', but at the end of the night it never did happen. Same way I've never seriously said my tag team wins over you were any more than symbolic. I didn't pin you. I never made you tap. I don't hold those wins over you as anything more than what they were. Did I poke fun at you with them? of course I did. I couldn't help it. It's like you go to the zoo and tap on the class to get the animals to do something. I needed you to do something, Lester. Because, truth be told, I would forget you were champion at times.
That's right. You're APW champion and what have you done to cement that in people's mind? You beat me up? You beat up the Red Shield Mafia? You beat up the Sports Nutz? You ranted and raved and stomped your feet? That, to me, sounds like a thug. And that's all you are right now. Nothing but a glorified thug. You don't follow the rules. And sure, people have made a career of flaunting rules and what have you. But you don't do that. You just let your arrogance show. You show the world, truly, who you are: a thug. The APW doesn't deserve that as its image. The APW Title doesn't deserve your bloodied hands on it. So I'm going to stop you. I might not win, but I will make you act your part. Because you'll know, at the end of our match, that there's someone out there who can cut it with you. And if there's one, there's probably two. And three, and four. Enough people to make you sweat, and to make sure that you carry yourself like you should. And if I do win, I'm going to make damn sure that people think better of us, of this company, and of that title.
Who, honestly, should people think of when they see the letters 'APW'? Level-One, a man who nothing but a thug? Or Sally Talfourd, a woman who hasn't put a foot wrong since startedretd working for this company? I am fighting, like I have done every week, to bring prestige to this company. I love APW like it's my home. I can't imagine being anywhere else right now. And it pains me every time Level-One holds up his title over another beaten and broken body. I don't live in fairy land. I know that sometimes justice comes from the upside of a steel chair. But there's a time and a place for that. Not every time you find someone who might just edge out a win against you next time they are standing across from you. Because that's all you've done. Don't harp on about protecting and saving and whatever sob-story you can come up with tomorrow about why you took out the super stable. It doesn't hide the fact that every time you got the chance, you made sure that I was brought closer and closer to your broke-down level.
Sally stops herself. She takes her glance from staring down the camera with intent and a ferocity rarely seen on her face to just staring at herself. What was that? That agro rant? There's already one bitch in this match, no need for two? Has Level-One really gotten to Sally? What's he made her do? For weeks she's stood there and been the good girl. She might have a hathingthig to say now and then, but never that bad. Never that aggressive. Being aggressive is for the ring. Sally lets out a long, pent-up sigh as she closes her eyes, letting all those emotions wash away. She looks back into the ring.
[Sally] That Level-One is pretty good. Ignoring his in-ring skills, half of his success is simply psychingiing out his opponents before the match even starts. And you probably think you're in my head, Lester. You probably think you're in there, chipping away at me. The fact is that there's nothing you can say to me that I haven't heard before. I've been around long enough to hear some of the worst, most vile things said about a person. And there was a time when it might have got under my skin. But now, it's nothing. Do I get worked up? Sure, especially around the middle of a month. But I get over it. I don't pay you any more thought than I do any other opponent I might have. Maybe the day before, the hours before, I'm thinking about you a lot. But it's not what you say. I think about what you can do. What you will do in our match. And how I can stop you. You want to do your spots, your big moves, whatever you need to do to make yourself feel like a man? That's fine. I'll sit back and study you and figure out a way to beat you. *Sally reaches down, takes up ... a pencil? No, eye-liner. She pulls down her left eyelid, starts to run the tip across* I'll figure out how I can use my advantages against you. Because I do have them, advantages.
I'm faster than you. You can't use your strength if you can't catch me. You can try, and I'll wear you down. Speed is half the battle of a match. It means I set the pace. I set the tone. And I make the rules. If I don't want you to catch me, I don't have to let you. Now I know you'll make some quip about how speed won't get me a win, or if I want a win I'll have to actually lay hands on you. Of course, I'm not that silly. *Right eye now* But the fact of the matter is, if I'm fast enough, I'll make sure you don't get any hands on me for longer than it takes you to figure out what exactly you're going to do to me. How else am I better than you? I guess I don't bring my emotions into the ring. For the past month, it's been a classic case of "Being Ruled By You Emotions 101". Any time you fired up, Lester, or got mad, or felt threatened, what did you do? You took out the super stable and you took out me. When your emotions took control of you, you just went into crazy rages! That's not what I'm about. You want to win a big match, you have to keep a level head. And if you want to do that, you have to leave those emotions ringside. Otherwise you do stupid things. You'll take a gamble that won't pay off. You'll get sloppy and have something reversed. And you'll miss one little thing and BANG! *Sally claps her hands, frightening Shane by the shake of the camera* the match is out of your hands and into your opponents. I've just got to go out there and be Sally Talfourd, because that means I'm just better than you in ways that you haven't figured out how to handle.
That's pretty true: No one is Sally better that Sally. In the ring, she's in her element. She's fast and agile. She can reverse a lock or a hold no matter where she is. She's not just fast of body though. She's fast of mind. Her brain goes at 100 mile per hour. Thinking, calculating, processing what's happening, and what's going to happen. Where is she going to go next? What's she going to do? Wristlock or hammerlock? Top rope or mat? Take out the legs or take out the arms? These questions race through her mind as she locks up, wraps around, reverses, strikes. She has to counter her opponent's strength with something. What is it? Speed? Technicals? Always thinking, through the match. Even when it looks like it's over. All to figure out when is the perfect time to hit The Makeover, or to lock on the COTS. Looking for that one moment, that perfect moment, where the match is decided. Hit it, lock it on, and the match is hers. Miss, or get reversed out, and the match is lost. A wrestler's mind in a wrestlers body. Sally's mind in Sally's body. And Sally has to be herself, because it's this thinking that's got her this far. Sally drops the eye-liner pencil and takes up the eye-shadow. A royal blue, of course. It really accentuates the eyes.
[Sally] Getting into this match was easier than the match will be. The month leading up has put me through the tests, sure. But wrestling Level-One? That's a whole new ball game. Heck, it might as well be a whole new sport. What I have to do in that match is no easy feat. It wouldn't be easy if it wasn't for the title and everything associated with it. But because it is? He's shown how far he's willing to go to retain this. Last week, the few weeks before. He's nearly prevented me from coming to this match. I just need to show him how far I'm willing to go for this match. Not just for this match, but for this company. Because I'm all about APW. Level-One might treat that whole idea as a joke, or just discount it completely. But I am here not just for me. I'm here to do this company proud. When I walk out with those three letters attached to my name, I want it to mean something. I want people to look at those three letters with absolute awe and think "Gee, that's where the best of the best go to wrestle. I hope i can go there some day." Or "APW is coming in to town and I know that they will put on the best matches I will see of any company that comes to town." The fans see our company and they are going to think we're either the best or just another company. I'm in this match to make sure that they see us as the best. If I win that title, that's all I'm workitowardards. And that's why, come Shockwave, I'm not wrestling for myself but for something bigger.
Our match isn't about our own personal glories. It's not about, like, winning a title for another line of a resume or to get our names more exposure or to earn some extra money. I know that our match is something more. Something bigger. Our match, it's about our business. It's about our respect professionalonal wrestling. It's about the art that makes up our business and our respect for this art that we practice. That's what it is. An art. And when push comes to shove, some of us cut it as artists and some of us are exposed as just kids who are finger painting. Unless your heart and your soul and every piece of you is poured into what we do, you don't make it as far as we do. Level-One, for as lacking a heart as he might have has at least given himself over to this great profession. He's at least put his everything into what he supposedly loves. You don't get to where he is without that. And here I am, nipping at his heels. That should be proof enough that I', in this for something more than just another title. Something more than the gold and the accolades.
If I was in it for the rewards, then I'd be in a hundred and one companies. I'd walk in, demand a title shot, promise the world, and never deliver. And there's a hundred companies out there we could be wrestling for, where we could all be doing that. Deep down, Level-One and I know that none of those companies are like this one. APW stands for everything that I, you Lester, and our match represent. It's focused, it's disciplined, and it's going to be rewarding, both our match and our company. You can't just walk in here and get a title handed to you just like I don't expect to walk into our match and get the APW Championship handed to me. You have to earn every inch you want in APW, and I'm going out there tonight to earn that title off you Level-One.
I know you don't respect everything I do. If I didn't know better, I'd say don'tdo't respect anything I do. But I've seen you in the ring, I've heard you talk, and I've seen the way you carry yourself. And I do know better. And I know that, somewhere in that dark and regressive mind of yours, you respect what I can do to you. Did you get pinned in either of the tag team matches we've had? No. But did you lose them both? You sure did. If you were that much better than me, it wouldn't matter who else was in the match, you'd be able to beat me. Now, I don't make any bones about it: You beat me in our first and only singles encounter. But if you look at that, the saving grace for both of us was Bryan Payne. Bryan came to the ring and got me disqualified. It spared me from the hands of you and it spared you from having to stare down against your opponent what wasn't going to give an inch. Things could have ended very, very different if Bryan hadn't stuck his nose in our business. But he did, and we have another finish that neither of us can really claim tells us much. Three matches lead us to where we are now, and there's not a whole lot of conclusive outcomes we can take from them. But at Shockwave, at the pay per view that will be broadcast around the world for everyone to see, we'll have our conclusive answers. We'll have the answer to the biggest question in wrestling today. And we'll have the finish that will tell us who, out of Sally Talfourd and Level-One, is the better wrestler.
Sally is done with the eye-shadow. She pulls out the blush stick and starts to swirl it over her cheeks. Shane steps back and takes Sally all in. She's dressed in a dazzling get-up today. A black denim skirt with red and white plaid trim and a matching black denim top. The top, however, is the eye-catcher with a seriescrosscthreadedepinkpink lrunningning down the front and back, ending in a set of cute little bows. From the looks of her shoes - heels of course - she isn't getting ready for a match. A look around the dressing room shows us that's it couldn't possibly be something that sprungpung for, because there's all sorts of luxuries around. Fresh fruit, flowers, bottles of water and soda. And look! A nice looking couch. No, it must be for some TV show. An obligatory publicity appearance? Probably. But Sally doesn't mind these things. Whatever she needs to do to appease the fans and get everyone talking APW, she'll do it. Well, not absolutely everything. But that's what she's about. She steps back once she's done with the blush to take herself in. She gives herself a satisfied nod, then turns to front up the camera.
[Sally] What do you think Shane?
[Shane] That you'd knock anyone over just if they looked at you. Tell me again why we're here?
[Sally] Well, it's not every day APW has a chance to really appeal to the women fans out there. So they lined me up with Oprah ...
[Shane] Really? I think Level-One tried to pay you out with that ...
[Sally] And I guess he gave management a great idea! I mean, if business picks up for APW just because I win the APW Title, how is that a bad thing? Despite what Level-One might think, a company isn't, you know, doomed if they have a female champion. If anything, it gets attention. People sit up and they are like "Oh wow, a woman made it there. She must be tough stuff. And I know the company must treat people alright, because they gave her this chance. I should definitely see if I can work for APW." I don't know who that Amy whatever was that he spoke about, but I can tell you one thing: If I become champion, I'm doing everything in my power to make sure that APW is known as the premier company around. I'm not going to spend my time complaining about injuries or how so and so is being a jerk, whiningging about a stable out there. I'll actually do something that is decent and honest. That way, everyone gets a Happy Ending. Me, the company and, of course, the fans. They are the ones relayealy want me to come out on top. I know that the fans are cheering me on every step of the way.
I have the fans behind me. And when you have them behind you, you can do anything. I walk out there and the fans go insane. They know what they are in for. Sure, there's probably some who cheer me just because of the way I look. But I promise you this: The vast majority of people cheer me because they know that they are getting everything from me. They get a match that pulls no punches, spares no expense, and delivers on every front it promises to. The fans who cheer me on know that that's everything I need from a match. Win, loss, draw? It doesn't matter so long as those fans are standing on their feet, hands clapping, minds racing, and loving every minute that they watched. Every audience member, not just my fans, go home knowing that they have seen one of the best matches of their life. The audience for Shockwave are in for a real treat: This is going to be the match they remember this year for. 2010 will go down as the year when Level-One defended the APW World Heavyweight Title against Sally Talfourd at Shockwave. Nothing before this, nothing after this, nothing on the same night - as good as all those things will be, no doubt - will be as memorable as our match.[/color]
Suddenly there's a knock on the door. A muffled voice yells through "Five minutes!" and then footsteSallyllyu looks at Shane with a smile, getting all excited.
[Sally] This is so exciting! Anyway, I should probably wrap this all up with something, you know, heart-felt and emotional. Because I'm not, you know, hungry enough for the win to get aggressive or skilled enough to say something about wrestling, right Lester? *Sally cocks her head,inquisitiveitve look crosses her face as she waits a moment for an answer that she knows isn't coming* I mean, that's what you branded me as. The funny thing is that if either of us has shown a lack of hunger for the title over your shoulder, it's you. For the past month, I've been trying to prove to everyone that I deserve me spot against you. You? You've been off on little duck hunts of your own. Each week I've not only shown that I want that title bad, but I've shown I've got the skills to take it from you. Don't say that I don't measure up to you. Don't you dare, you ass. *Getting a little worked up, Sally checks herself down* How could you be so self-centred to possibly think that. If you watched me in every match I've been in, then you'd know how wrong you were when you said that. I beat two of the biggest names around here. Sure, they might not be at their peak at the moment. But these were two guys that could turn in on like that. *Sally clicks her fingers* And I beat them. And you know what is just offensive? That you have galgaul to say that I'd be a weak champion. Let's make a litchecklistkist of what makes a weak champion, shall we? *Sally counts on her fingers ...* Relies on weapons. Attacks his number one contender. Bribes off management to win matches. Dupes people into working with him and then throws them to the wolves. Lester, if anyone has been a weak champion of late, it's you. It's offensive that you would suggest that.
But I'm not crying about it. I'm not sulking and that. You know what I'm doing? I'm thinking of every way to make you eat your own words. I will show you that I'm not weak, that I have the skills, and that I'm damn hungry for that title. I'll make you respect me, seeings that's what this match is about. And I'll make sure that the APW has a champion that fans and talent alike can look up to. And I'll make sure your sorry face isn't reflected up out of that title for a long, long time. So help me, I will make sure I put everything I have behind doing all that. The fans know it, you know it, and I know it. It's going to happen Sunday. I'm glad you don't like Happy Endings, because there isn't going to be one for you.
No wink, no kiss. Sally is just drilling holes into the camera. It holds her in shot for a moment, then fades out to
"Sally Talfourd"
that gets written across the screen to finish up the episode.
World title match. Shockwave main event. Level-One versus Sally Talfourd. A match to define APW for the weeks, months, years to come. And what a match it will be. Two of the best talents that the APW has the throw up against each other. Only once before seen, and even that match gives us no idea how this is going to end. On paper, Level-One has the advantage, right? He's the multi-time APW champion, a former Experts champion, and all round good guy. Well, good some of the time. But he's renowned throughout this business, so how is it that a mere woman - not even one-fifty pounds wet - could ever stand up against this man? He's a champion among champions. What the heck can I do?
Well, I know that I at least rate pretty highly as a prostitute. I guess that's something, right? Though only a seven on a normal 'hot-ometer' isn't anything to brag about. Then again, this isn't exactly a beauty contest. And half the stuff Level-One said about me sounded a lot like him covering up for the fact he secretly wished I actually liked him more than I do. But, you know, I'm not about to 'out' him. I'll let him do that on his own. Maybe when I hold the APW Title, he'll have reason enough to say as much. But until then, I can live with his hate and diatribe and whatever else he has to say. It's water off a duck's back. I've been around too long to let that get to me. The only think I'm thinking about is this match and not about how highly my opponent rate on the whore-o-meter. Or who they hang around with. Or what they did a pay per view ago. Nope, it's all about Shockwave for me.
There's just one thing I have to make clear. Oh, Lester, you should also know this: I've only ever had to fake an orgasm when I'm with a guy from Canada. Seriously, shrinkage must be permanent up there or something.
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Recorded the 27th of August, 2010. Shockwave is finally here and we watch Sally go through the preparations of getting ready for an appearance. Watch the transformation of Sally as she goes from regular Sally Talfourd to hottie Sally Talfourd. Oh yeah, and she says something about her main event, title match too.
Starring: Sally Talfourd, Shane the Cameraman
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"Sally Talfourd presents ..."
is written across the screen, fades out, then
"In association with Action Packed Wrestling"
is next to appear, holds, then fades out for
"Happy Endings T.V."
is written across the background before it fades out to a title which reads
Last week on OverDrive
That then fades away (wow, a lot of fading) to a shot of the Alltel Arena in Little Rock, Arkansas, still rocking as the night is closing down. The crowd cheers and starts a ''Match of the year!'' chant as Sally Talfourd can't help but blush at the crowds response. Level-One looks at the super faction laid out before him, as he grins ear to ear.
Level-One: I lived up to my end of the bargain. I had your back until the Red Shield Mafia and The Greatness threat was defused. And I'm sure we both can concur that our little problem here is done and over with...
Sally Talfourd nods her head up and down, thanking Level-One for living up to his word. Level-One simply takes a few steps back, as he glances at his world title. He stops and looks back at Sally Talfourd. Level-One plants a boot the chest of Sally Talfourd sending her off the side of the ramp, sending her into a stack of tables and cable wires! Sally Talfourd crashes through the tables and lays lifeless on the concrete floor. The fans immediately change their tune, booing relentlessly—as the fans in attendance couldn't believe what had just played out in-front of them. Level-One stands on the edge of the ramp looking down at Sally Talfourd who is lying in the wreckage and isn't moving. The APW world champion doesn't show any signs of emotion as he removes the APW world championship off his shoulder and lifts it high above his head, as the APW logo flashes across the screen and Thursday Night Overdrive comes to a close. Fade away to a blank screen, then .....
Next week, in Seattle
The shot opens up to a mirror. Just a plain mirror, though the face looking back isn't any plain face. It's Sally Talfourd! The woman you've been hanging out to see all week. She's leantowardards the mirror, inspecting her face. Even she succumbs to staring at herself every once in a while too. She looks herself over and, when she sees that the little red light from Shane's camera is blinking, she looks to the camera through the reflection with a beaming smile.
[Sally] Hi guys and girls. Welcome back to another action packed and rousing episode of Happy Endings TV. I am, as always, your gracious and loving host Sally Talfourd and boy, isn't this episode going to be choc-bloc full of everything you wanted to see. Because there's a lot going on this week. Shockwave is day away. The tag team titles have returned and there's a hot contest for them. Crazy Joe is defending his Xtreme Championship. Shaun Kilgore is looking to stay off the challenge to his OverDrive title. And, of course, everyone is looking forward to the APW World Heavyweight Title match. Level-One versus yours truly Sally Talfourd. A match that will *Sally places a hand on her chest, feigns modesty with a coy look away from the camera* I believe be a hot contender for match on the year - if not match of the century. This is going to be the hottest pay per view that you could order all year. It's not able making talent, making a name, or making a distraction. Shockwave is about making career as legitimate and renowned talents step in to the ring to, well, reach for that glory that hangs in front of them or fall away in the gutter trying. Who will win? Who will lose? And who will survive? You won't find out faster than if you order Shockwave right now. *Sally looks to the side of the camera's shot, to Shane* How was that? Think they can use it?
[Shane] Perfect Sally. If management use that, people will be ordering twice.
Sally laughs, then lets out a sigh,
[Sally] Ok, jokes aside guys and girls. Welcome to another episode of your favourite webshow. This is going to be a bumper-buster of an episode so settle in, comfyphey, maybe grab a couple of snacks, and drink. Whatever you need to really enjoy Sally Talfourd. I mean, you really have to prepare yourself. I realise now that my, what, hours of yab-fest must be exceptionally boring. I mean, Level-One said as much, so it must be trWhensen's he ever been wrong about anything ...
Sally rolls her eyes, then breaks away her look from the camera. She loher faceface over once more, then looks down. The camera zooms out as we find she is in a dressing room, in front of a vanity with all her make-up spread out. Looks like it's about time to get ready for something. Sally looks around then takes up her hair brush. She pulls out her hair with her free hand first, then starts brushing down. All the while, she stares into the mirror, inspecting herself. A type of quality control you might say.
[Sally] Being serious now, I did hear what Level-One had to say about me. I listened to it. I listen and watch everything he does. You might say I've been his number one fan for the past few weeks. *Sally blows a kiss into the mirror, bounces off, and heads straight for Level-One himself* I mean sure, a lot of the time it's like watching an episode of Days of Our Lives. Who is this mysterious young woman who looks to upset everything Level-One has worked for? Will he or won't he fall to the temptations of steroids? Who is this nefarious figure from his past that has upset Lester oh-so much? Tune in next week to find out nothing at all as we drag this out over the course of a year. And, of course, *Sally looks to the camera through the mirror, stopping her brushing for a moment. She stares at the camera with a cold, chiseled look* the obligatory stare to close out the day's episode. *Sally smiles, shakes off the look, and goes back to her hair* I don't mind. I actually sometimes enjoy getting an insight into Lester's little life. He's really set up the whole white-picket fence dream, hasn't he? His darling woman, baby on the way, money coming in, living the life. His parents must be so proud. It woulddisastrousrous is something were to ruin all that ...
Sally trails off, a couple more brushes through her hair and then she's done. She inspects her handiwork before she rummages around her kit for whatever comes next. Ah ha! The mascara. She starts to twist off the top, looking down at it as she continues on.
[Sally] But I wouldn't do that to him. I'm nice. I don't slander people, you know? I don't call people mean things, kick up a stink and cry about, well, not getting my way. I just do things, you know? *With the lid off, Sally leans to the mirror again and starts to paint her eyelashes* I just go out to the ring and just do things. I do them well, and I do them as good as I can. That's what I'm known for. Maybe there's a tiny bit of drama associated with me outside of the ring. But every week, when people turn up to the arena and see me on the card they know that I'm going into my matched focused on one thing only: That match. The very thing that people have paid to see gets my one-hundred percent attention. This week, it's important that that happens. You see, any lesser man or woman would be still worried about some reject stable that has made it their mission to come after me. Someone like Level-One would be obsessing over them, or maybe a competitor not even in the match like Bryan Payne, or comparing his opponent to any one of the people that wouldn't measure up to me if they tried. But truth be told? I'm not worried about that. That stabledelinquentsints don't have to guts to come down to the ring during our match. They don't have the balls to spoil the main event for the second biggest night of the year. And they definitely have enough sense to not ruin the match that Level-One and I have been fighttowardards all this time. They aren't complete idiots, the Shieldeild Mafia and Sports Nutz. They're pretty stupid, but not that bad. So I'm not worried about them. Level-One might be. Level-One can fret and sweat all he wants about them. Me? I'm thinking only about you, Lester. You and you title. Well, you and your soon-to-be my title if everything goes to plan.
Ooooh, a plan!? I wonder what it is? Pretty simple: Sally goes out to the ring and does what she does best. It's not something over the top like 'win' or 'destroy Level-One'. And it's definitely not 'taking names and kicking ass' as Level-One so eloquently made the job of the APW Champion out to be. No, it's wrestle. Often Sally thinks people have forgotten that key ingredient to evrecipeiepe written for this business. Wrestling? Remember that? Not some spectacle or showboatingspot-festfest. But the art of wrestling. True wrestling. The practice that you never have a full handle on - despite how many world titles and random awards you win. art-formform that you strive for years to get good enough at to find yourself in a main event at a pay per view wrestling for a championship. That thing we all try to do in the ring that tells our story, rewards our efforts, and moves us further and further into the spotlight. That 'wrestling' thing. Everyone talks about so much stuff, that they forget there's something more important than, you know, conspiracy theories involving who got who to beat someone down with a chair. Or who saved who from which stable. Those are just distractions. And the people who talk about that, they're just clouding the picture so that they can cover up for the fact that, when they get measured up against someone like Sally Talfourd, they're just that little bit short of being in the same league as her. But don't take my word for it. Listen to the woman herself.
[Sally] Now no offense to the historians out there, but this episode isn't about where I came from. It's not about eight years ago, one year ago, a month ago, even a day ago. What this is about ... what I am about is tomorrow. The next match. The next pay per view. What's in the future is ten times more important than what happened last week. Does the past have, you know, bearing on the future? Of course it does. Take, for example, my current condition. Thanks to what happened last week, I'm not at peak physical condition. My knee has flared up, my back didn't take too well to landing on cables and wires, and I'm still not sure I shouldn't have got my head checked. But the thing is I can't change that. I can't change the fact that I was assaulted by Level-One and his thugs last week. I wish it hadn't happened, but it did, and now I have to cope with it. I'm not about to, you know, go out and cry about how someone nearly broke my neck or that doctors didn't want me to wrestle. I'm sorry, but we all know the dangers of this business when we sign up. *Sally's finished with the mascara, starts to put the lid back on, then drops it in her kit* Lester, if you're making excuses for yourself now, then you're doing two things to yourself. If you lose, people won't have sympathy for you. They'll just think less of you. The fans won't feel sorry for you. They just want to see a good match. And if you couldn't deliver, then you shouldn't have been there. The other thing you're doing is casting a poor shadow over yourself if you win. You had to try and take me out just to edge out a victory. And that's just not what a champion does. It's not classy. In fact, it's pretty un-classy. But you did it, and that's something you're going to have to cope with now. I know I might sound like the lame mother who guilts her kids into good behaviour rather than giving them a slap across the bum, but that's my style. I'm not going to reduce myself to your level. I'm better than you in and out of the ring, and I'm going to show the world that by just letting you be until the bell rings.
Last week, I'll deal with that in the weeks that come. My focus - my whole focus - is on Level-One this week. Young Mannie, Shaun Kilgore, and thlackeyskies are simply a distraction at the moment. A distraction I can't afford to look at. When the dust settles from my match, after I've dealt with Level-One, and after I've sacrificed everything I have for the APW Title, then I'll start thinking about thdelinquentsints. But for now, it's about this weekend, this pay per view, and this match I'm in.
Last week might have been a whole of seven days ago, but the effects still remain. The toll to Sally's body, and the shadow that will hang over Level-One should he walk out the victor emanatenate from last week. The second time Sally wasreceivingving end of a beating from that stable, and it felt no better. Level-One might go around accusing Sally of having been weak enough to be in the position to get attacked, or to be so blinded by her personal obsessions to get distracted for long enough, or whatever else he can come up with. The truth remains that if the role were reversed, seven men could easily get the jump on Lester. Did he beat them down by himself? He did, and congratulations for that. He only had a chair to help him out, an even playing field, and, well, no one lurking behind doors and in shadows waiting for you. No, Level-One could easily have been in that chair. He's found himself on the bad end of a beating before. Bryan Payne all but put him out for a month after their match. Pence Weatherlight, twice, snatched that title thatcherishesshes so dearly from him. It seems Level-One's weakness is not when the opposition out-numbers him, but rather when it's a fair fight. And lookey at Shockwave: It's a fair fight.
Sally looks around and finds the lipstick she's been after the whole time. A nice crimson red. She runs it over her lips, then puckers them over. She's starting to look like herself. Ignore the bandages that are under her outfit, or the ideas that are running through her head. To be a champion, you have to look the part. And, like the many stages involved in having to become champion, there's many stages involved in having to get the look right. From head to toe, there's each step you have to go through. It's like a match too. You have the 'big' things: The hair, the costume, the boots. The things that make you look like a wrestler. And in a match, you've got the big things: The finishers, the trademark moves, the spots. But then you get to the details. The make-up, maybe you tape up your wrists, what's it say on your boots? Just like a match: The pace, the timing, working over a body part, wearing your opponent down. When you're in this business, you're in it deep. When you're a wrestler, you live wrestling. You look the part and you live the paWhat youtyou do in the ring is as much shown in your actions outside of the ring as it is just how lookooke. And with Sally, she takes pride in how she looks. So of course she takes pride in what she does in that ring. And that's precisely why she doesn't run in with chair, muscles her way into main events, and injures her opponent simply because she might not win. That's not the image of a wrestler. That's the image of a thug. But more on that later ...
[Shane] So your match Sally. It's for the APW World Heavyweight Championship and ...
Sally stops looking around for her next piece of make-up. She stops dead and looks down at her hands. She can picture that title in them. She can feel that leather strap, the gold plates, and her own face being reflected back at her. She can see the result already. Or maybe she can only see a dream? One of the many dreams she's had about that moment. She shakes her head, looks to Shane.
[Sally] It's not for the title. Ok, like, it is for the title. And I really want to get my hands on it. But let's be honest guys. This match is for more than the APW title. It's not just for that belt, but for more. So much more. It's about respect. It's about who will become the face of this company. It's about what everyone else who looks into this madhouse will think. It's about where this company is going. So much more. All this is riding on each of our shoulders as we walk in. For Level-One, it's about continuing his disrespect. His disrespect for me. His disrespect for everyone around him. His disrespect for APW and the World Heavyweight Championship. Don't let him fool you. He has no respect for that title or for me or for our match. He wants to accuse me of not having what it takes to back up my words? Trust me: He doesn't have what it takes to back up his. He says he respect me, and then he kicks me fifteen feet through the air all because he is so insecure about retaining his title. He says he respects me, and then he pays me out with his diatribe. And he says he respects me, all the while plotting how he will make sure that I don't rain on his parade. If he did respect me, he would have paid the last month a different set of actions. He wouldn't have attacked me last week. He wouldn't have treated what I've done here like a joke. And he definitely wouldn't have walked around sprouting ridiculous conspiracy theories. No, he would have done everything he could to make sure that this match at Shockwave was the best it could have been. He might say he respects me, but he so clearly doesn't.
The belt that's on the line, that is worthy of respect. So much more than he pays it. There's only one belt to hold in this industry, and it's the APW World Heavyweight Championship. Every company out there says that their belt is the most prestigious, that their belt is the symbol of excellence, and that their belt is the hardest to get to. And sure, *Sally shrugs* some of them probably have a claim to that. But the APW Title? That's a real title. And you have to show it the respect that it deserves. Level-One doesn't respect it. If he did, he would have lined up like everyone else. He would have proved himself like everyone else. And he would have protected the reputation of that belt like everyone else. He muscled his way into that belt. The weeks I walked into APW, I walked into the firestorms that were burning between Level-One and Bryan Payne, with a bit of Pence Weatherlight on the side. Level-One made a path to his belt not with effort or hard work, but rather with the up-side of a steel chair, violent attacks, and threats to the management of this company. Me? I wrestled my heart out. I beat the greatest foe of my career. I don't care whether you regard her highly or not, Lester. The fact remains that I had someone hell-bent on taking me out of this business and I'm still here. I'm still standing despite everything Leila did to me. Again, I know you don't respect her. You don't respect anyone worthy of it. But at the end of the day, I beat her out.
Then I won Test For the Best. Once again, you don't respect my efforts there. You don't respect what I was able to do in that one night. Otherwise you wouldn't have made a mockery of it last week. And you definitely would have sat up and taken note of me a lot longer before you did. That night, when I earned this title shot that has seemed so far away at times, I celebrated. I didn't celebrate like I had won the World Title then and there. I didn't claim that it made me the greatest wrestler the world has seen. I didn't carry myself as if I was God on Earth, walking around with an ego the size of a house and ignorance the size of two. No, that was you, Lester. Me? I celebrated my win for what it was. It showed everyone that in one night, I can keep my eye on the prize for three matches. I have the endurance and the focus and the ability to get where I need to. Was Test For the Best like wrestling you? Absolutely not. I haven't said that for one minute. But continueinue to disrespect what that win stands for. And you're just blinding yourself when you do that. You've blinded yourself and now you have no idea what to expect from me in our match.
You probably think you do. You've probasurmisedised that from our singles match and our pair of tag team matches that you've got me sorted right out. Nothing is further from fact. I have come so far since that singles match that you never really won anyway. A match that I clawed myself to the end in, wasn't pinned or made to tap. I don't see how you could get sort ofrtof confidence out of that match. I was as green as a cut tree to APW that week. My third match in. And I managed to run with you all the way to the end. Say what you want about what might have happened if Bryan hadn't come in and made his presence known. Say whatever you want about the 'might haves', but at the end of the night it never did happen. Same way I've never seriously said my tag team wins over you were any more than symbolic. I didn't pin you. I never made you tap. I don't hold those wins over you as anything more than what they were. Did I poke fun at you with them? of course I did. I couldn't help it. It's like you go to the zoo and tap on the class to get the animals to do something. I needed you to do something, Lester. Because, truth be told, I would forget you were champion at times.
That's right. You're APW champion and what have you done to cement that in people's mind? You beat me up? You beat up the Red Shield Mafia? You beat up the Sports Nutz? You ranted and raved and stomped your feet? That, to me, sounds like a thug. And that's all you are right now. Nothing but a glorified thug. You don't follow the rules. And sure, people have made a career of flaunting rules and what have you. But you don't do that. You just let your arrogance show. You show the world, truly, who you are: a thug. The APW doesn't deserve that as its image. The APW Title doesn't deserve your bloodied hands on it. So I'm going to stop you. I might not win, but I will make you act your part. Because you'll know, at the end of our match, that there's someone out there who can cut it with you. And if there's one, there's probably two. And three, and four. Enough people to make you sweat, and to make sure that you carry yourself like you should. And if I do win, I'm going to make damn sure that people think better of us, of this company, and of that title.
Who, honestly, should people think of when they see the letters 'APW'? Level-One, a man who nothing but a thug? Or Sally Talfourd, a woman who hasn't put a foot wrong since startedretd working for this company? I am fighting, like I have done every week, to bring prestige to this company. I love APW like it's my home. I can't imagine being anywhere else right now. And it pains me every time Level-One holds up his title over another beaten and broken body. I don't live in fairy land. I know that sometimes justice comes from the upside of a steel chair. But there's a time and a place for that. Not every time you find someone who might just edge out a win against you next time they are standing across from you. Because that's all you've done. Don't harp on about protecting and saving and whatever sob-story you can come up with tomorrow about why you took out the super stable. It doesn't hide the fact that every time you got the chance, you made sure that I was brought closer and closer to your broke-down level.
Sally stops herself. She takes her glance from staring down the camera with intent and a ferocity rarely seen on her face to just staring at herself. What was that? That agro rant? There's already one bitch in this match, no need for two? Has Level-One really gotten to Sally? What's he made her do? For weeks she's stood there and been the good girl. She might have a hathingthig to say now and then, but never that bad. Never that aggressive. Being aggressive is for the ring. Sally lets out a long, pent-up sigh as she closes her eyes, letting all those emotions wash away. She looks back into the ring.
[Sally] That Level-One is pretty good. Ignoring his in-ring skills, half of his success is simply psychingiing out his opponents before the match even starts. And you probably think you're in my head, Lester. You probably think you're in there, chipping away at me. The fact is that there's nothing you can say to me that I haven't heard before. I've been around long enough to hear some of the worst, most vile things said about a person. And there was a time when it might have got under my skin. But now, it's nothing. Do I get worked up? Sure, especially around the middle of a month. But I get over it. I don't pay you any more thought than I do any other opponent I might have. Maybe the day before, the hours before, I'm thinking about you a lot. But it's not what you say. I think about what you can do. What you will do in our match. And how I can stop you. You want to do your spots, your big moves, whatever you need to do to make yourself feel like a man? That's fine. I'll sit back and study you and figure out a way to beat you. *Sally reaches down, takes up ... a pencil? No, eye-liner. She pulls down her left eyelid, starts to run the tip across* I'll figure out how I can use my advantages against you. Because I do have them, advantages.
I'm faster than you. You can't use your strength if you can't catch me. You can try, and I'll wear you down. Speed is half the battle of a match. It means I set the pace. I set the tone. And I make the rules. If I don't want you to catch me, I don't have to let you. Now I know you'll make some quip about how speed won't get me a win, or if I want a win I'll have to actually lay hands on you. Of course, I'm not that silly. *Right eye now* But the fact of the matter is, if I'm fast enough, I'll make sure you don't get any hands on me for longer than it takes you to figure out what exactly you're going to do to me. How else am I better than you? I guess I don't bring my emotions into the ring. For the past month, it's been a classic case of "Being Ruled By You Emotions 101". Any time you fired up, Lester, or got mad, or felt threatened, what did you do? You took out the super stable and you took out me. When your emotions took control of you, you just went into crazy rages! That's not what I'm about. You want to win a big match, you have to keep a level head. And if you want to do that, you have to leave those emotions ringside. Otherwise you do stupid things. You'll take a gamble that won't pay off. You'll get sloppy and have something reversed. And you'll miss one little thing and BANG! *Sally claps her hands, frightening Shane by the shake of the camera* the match is out of your hands and into your opponents. I've just got to go out there and be Sally Talfourd, because that means I'm just better than you in ways that you haven't figured out how to handle.
That's pretty true: No one is Sally better that Sally. In the ring, she's in her element. She's fast and agile. She can reverse a lock or a hold no matter where she is. She's not just fast of body though. She's fast of mind. Her brain goes at 100 mile per hour. Thinking, calculating, processing what's happening, and what's going to happen. Where is she going to go next? What's she going to do? Wristlock or hammerlock? Top rope or mat? Take out the legs or take out the arms? These questions race through her mind as she locks up, wraps around, reverses, strikes. She has to counter her opponent's strength with something. What is it? Speed? Technicals? Always thinking, through the match. Even when it looks like it's over. All to figure out when is the perfect time to hit The Makeover, or to lock on the COTS. Looking for that one moment, that perfect moment, where the match is decided. Hit it, lock it on, and the match is hers. Miss, or get reversed out, and the match is lost. A wrestler's mind in a wrestlers body. Sally's mind in Sally's body. And Sally has to be herself, because it's this thinking that's got her this far. Sally drops the eye-liner pencil and takes up the eye-shadow. A royal blue, of course. It really accentuates the eyes.
[Sally] Getting into this match was easier than the match will be. The month leading up has put me through the tests, sure. But wrestling Level-One? That's a whole new ball game. Heck, it might as well be a whole new sport. What I have to do in that match is no easy feat. It wouldn't be easy if it wasn't for the title and everything associated with it. But because it is? He's shown how far he's willing to go to retain this. Last week, the few weeks before. He's nearly prevented me from coming to this match. I just need to show him how far I'm willing to go for this match. Not just for this match, but for this company. Because I'm all about APW. Level-One might treat that whole idea as a joke, or just discount it completely. But I am here not just for me. I'm here to do this company proud. When I walk out with those three letters attached to my name, I want it to mean something. I want people to look at those three letters with absolute awe and think "Gee, that's where the best of the best go to wrestle. I hope i can go there some day." Or "APW is coming in to town and I know that they will put on the best matches I will see of any company that comes to town." The fans see our company and they are going to think we're either the best or just another company. I'm in this match to make sure that they see us as the best. If I win that title, that's all I'm workitowardards. And that's why, come Shockwave, I'm not wrestling for myself but for something bigger.
Our match isn't about our own personal glories. It's not about, like, winning a title for another line of a resume or to get our names more exposure or to earn some extra money. I know that our match is something more. Something bigger. Our match, it's about our business. It's about our respect professionalonal wrestling. It's about the art that makes up our business and our respect for this art that we practice. That's what it is. An art. And when push comes to shove, some of us cut it as artists and some of us are exposed as just kids who are finger painting. Unless your heart and your soul and every piece of you is poured into what we do, you don't make it as far as we do. Level-One, for as lacking a heart as he might have has at least given himself over to this great profession. He's at least put his everything into what he supposedly loves. You don't get to where he is without that. And here I am, nipping at his heels. That should be proof enough that I', in this for something more than just another title. Something more than the gold and the accolades.
If I was in it for the rewards, then I'd be in a hundred and one companies. I'd walk in, demand a title shot, promise the world, and never deliver. And there's a hundred companies out there we could be wrestling for, where we could all be doing that. Deep down, Level-One and I know that none of those companies are like this one. APW stands for everything that I, you Lester, and our match represent. It's focused, it's disciplined, and it's going to be rewarding, both our match and our company. You can't just walk in here and get a title handed to you just like I don't expect to walk into our match and get the APW Championship handed to me. You have to earn every inch you want in APW, and I'm going out there tonight to earn that title off you Level-One.
I know you don't respect everything I do. If I didn't know better, I'd say don'tdo't respect anything I do. But I've seen you in the ring, I've heard you talk, and I've seen the way you carry yourself. And I do know better. And I know that, somewhere in that dark and regressive mind of yours, you respect what I can do to you. Did you get pinned in either of the tag team matches we've had? No. But did you lose them both? You sure did. If you were that much better than me, it wouldn't matter who else was in the match, you'd be able to beat me. Now, I don't make any bones about it: You beat me in our first and only singles encounter. But if you look at that, the saving grace for both of us was Bryan Payne. Bryan came to the ring and got me disqualified. It spared me from the hands of you and it spared you from having to stare down against your opponent what wasn't going to give an inch. Things could have ended very, very different if Bryan hadn't stuck his nose in our business. But he did, and we have another finish that neither of us can really claim tells us much. Three matches lead us to where we are now, and there's not a whole lot of conclusive outcomes we can take from them. But at Shockwave, at the pay per view that will be broadcast around the world for everyone to see, we'll have our conclusive answers. We'll have the answer to the biggest question in wrestling today. And we'll have the finish that will tell us who, out of Sally Talfourd and Level-One, is the better wrestler.
Sally is done with the eye-shadow. She pulls out the blush stick and starts to swirl it over her cheeks. Shane steps back and takes Sally all in. She's dressed in a dazzling get-up today. A black denim skirt with red and white plaid trim and a matching black denim top. The top, however, is the eye-catcher with a seriescrosscthreadedepinkpink lrunningning down the front and back, ending in a set of cute little bows. From the looks of her shoes - heels of course - she isn't getting ready for a match. A look around the dressing room shows us that's it couldn't possibly be something that sprungpung for, because there's all sorts of luxuries around. Fresh fruit, flowers, bottles of water and soda. And look! A nice looking couch. No, it must be for some TV show. An obligatory publicity appearance? Probably. But Sally doesn't mind these things. Whatever she needs to do to appease the fans and get everyone talking APW, she'll do it. Well, not absolutely everything. But that's what she's about. She steps back once she's done with the blush to take herself in. She gives herself a satisfied nod, then turns to front up the camera.
[Sally] What do you think Shane?
[Shane] That you'd knock anyone over just if they looked at you. Tell me again why we're here?
[Sally] Well, it's not every day APW has a chance to really appeal to the women fans out there. So they lined me up with Oprah ...
[Shane] Really? I think Level-One tried to pay you out with that ...
[Sally] And I guess he gave management a great idea! I mean, if business picks up for APW just because I win the APW Title, how is that a bad thing? Despite what Level-One might think, a company isn't, you know, doomed if they have a female champion. If anything, it gets attention. People sit up and they are like "Oh wow, a woman made it there. She must be tough stuff. And I know the company must treat people alright, because they gave her this chance. I should definitely see if I can work for APW." I don't know who that Amy whatever was that he spoke about, but I can tell you one thing: If I become champion, I'm doing everything in my power to make sure that APW is known as the premier company around. I'm not going to spend my time complaining about injuries or how so and so is being a jerk, whiningging about a stable out there. I'll actually do something that is decent and honest. That way, everyone gets a Happy Ending. Me, the company and, of course, the fans. They are the ones relayealy want me to come out on top. I know that the fans are cheering me on every step of the way.
I have the fans behind me. And when you have them behind you, you can do anything. I walk out there and the fans go insane. They know what they are in for. Sure, there's probably some who cheer me just because of the way I look. But I promise you this: The vast majority of people cheer me because they know that they are getting everything from me. They get a match that pulls no punches, spares no expense, and delivers on every front it promises to. The fans who cheer me on know that that's everything I need from a match. Win, loss, draw? It doesn't matter so long as those fans are standing on their feet, hands clapping, minds racing, and loving every minute that they watched. Every audience member, not just my fans, go home knowing that they have seen one of the best matches of their life. The audience for Shockwave are in for a real treat: This is going to be the match they remember this year for. 2010 will go down as the year when Level-One defended the APW World Heavyweight Title against Sally Talfourd at Shockwave. Nothing before this, nothing after this, nothing on the same night - as good as all those things will be, no doubt - will be as memorable as our match.[/color]
Suddenly there's a knock on the door. A muffled voice yells through "Five minutes!" and then footsteSallyllyu looks at Shane with a smile, getting all excited.
[Sally] This is so exciting! Anyway, I should probably wrap this all up with something, you know, heart-felt and emotional. Because I'm not, you know, hungry enough for the win to get aggressive or skilled enough to say something about wrestling, right Lester? *Sally cocks her head,inquisitiveitve look crosses her face as she waits a moment for an answer that she knows isn't coming* I mean, that's what you branded me as. The funny thing is that if either of us has shown a lack of hunger for the title over your shoulder, it's you. For the past month, I've been trying to prove to everyone that I deserve me spot against you. You? You've been off on little duck hunts of your own. Each week I've not only shown that I want that title bad, but I've shown I've got the skills to take it from you. Don't say that I don't measure up to you. Don't you dare, you ass. *Getting a little worked up, Sally checks herself down* How could you be so self-centred to possibly think that. If you watched me in every match I've been in, then you'd know how wrong you were when you said that. I beat two of the biggest names around here. Sure, they might not be at their peak at the moment. But these were two guys that could turn in on like that. *Sally clicks her fingers* And I beat them. And you know what is just offensive? That you have galgaul to say that I'd be a weak champion. Let's make a litchecklistkist of what makes a weak champion, shall we? *Sally counts on her fingers ...* Relies on weapons. Attacks his number one contender. Bribes off management to win matches. Dupes people into working with him and then throws them to the wolves. Lester, if anyone has been a weak champion of late, it's you. It's offensive that you would suggest that.
But I'm not crying about it. I'm not sulking and that. You know what I'm doing? I'm thinking of every way to make you eat your own words. I will show you that I'm not weak, that I have the skills, and that I'm damn hungry for that title. I'll make you respect me, seeings that's what this match is about. And I'll make sure that the APW has a champion that fans and talent alike can look up to. And I'll make sure your sorry face isn't reflected up out of that title for a long, long time. So help me, I will make sure I put everything I have behind doing all that. The fans know it, you know it, and I know it. It's going to happen Sunday. I'm glad you don't like Happy Endings, because there isn't going to be one for you.
No wink, no kiss. Sally is just drilling holes into the camera. It holds her in shot for a moment, then fades out to
"Sally Talfourd"
that gets written across the screen to finish up the episode.
