Post by SalTal on May 19, 2012 10:38:21 GMT -4
You know sometimes people forget a lot of things in this business.
They forget about the fans. How important they are to this business, to us as wrestlers. They pay their money, they buy the merch, they cheer and boo us. Without them, we’re just about nothing. I mean, really, if there’s no fans, who is sitting in all the seats? Who is telling you if you’re doing the right thing or not? Who is making you fight harder, dig deeper, go longer? Without the fans, we’re nothing. And yet, they are so often forgotten by the people out there who do all of this for themselves. The selfish and the self-absorbed. The Michael Callahan’s who isn’t in this business for any other reason except to get a quick pay-day and a bump in the polls. He might try and say otherwise, but we all know better.
People also forget about the effort of some things. About the gravity of a match or a show. Thee’s no such thing as an unimportant show. There’s no such thing as a free-pass. And there’s definitely no such thing as a guarantee in this business. You have to fight hard for everything in this business, every single win and loss takes effort. But, of course, for some it’s easier. For those big, hulking, supermen-style people all of this can be a little easier. But what does it say about someone like me - someone half the size, half the weight, and with half the strength of her average opponent? What does it say about my effort? My focus? My fortitude? That I can conquer the highest of highs in APW? Something so easily forgotten - that some people just have the effort to make everything count in this business.
But most often forgotten - the most common thing that the wrestlers forget these days - are their opponents. No, they don’t forget their name, or their stats, or anything like that. They forget who they are. They forget that they are people too. That they live and breath, they they hurt and feel. They forget that they’re dealing with another person. A person who is just as invested in all this, just as committed to all this, just as important to a moment like this as they are. There shouldn’t be winners and losers outside the ring, just at the end of matches. There’s a way to handle yourself in this business, and sometimes you just forget what you’re doing.
And Michael Callahan, you’ve forgotten that.[/i]
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Internet Explorer-*click*-Favorites-*click*-APW.com-*click*-Survive and Conquer-*click*-Sally Talfourd-*click*-Loading...
"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."
Which fades away to a tracking shot of Sally Talfourd hard running laps around one of the nearby parks in Montreal. The sun is just setting for the last moments of the day. The last day before Mayhem. Shane watches from the side as Sally makes her way from that far side all the way over to this side. Step after racing step, she pounds away on the ground. Working up a sweat, pushing her endurance, getting herself ready for Sunday’s big match. But, there’s something more to what she’s doing. It’s not beaming a smile. She’s not her bubbly self. She’s not even looking like herself. There’s a passion, a fire driving her on here. You can tell from the way she breaths, the way she moves, the way she stares the camera down with her determined eyes.
[Shane] Are you feeling better?
[Sally] Yes...*Sally, leaning up on the fence beside Shane, draws in deep breaths*[/b]...no. I don’t know. [/color]
[Shane] The jog didn’t help?
[Sally] No, it did not. I didn’t think it would, either.
Help with what? What’s happened? What’s pushed Sally into this fit of...how can we even describe it? The scene holds on Sally, still drawing in breath, before it fades away. Then we come back to a very different shot (it’s a flashback). Sally sits back in what looks to be the most comfortable seat in the world. Or maybe it’s the most uncomfortable seat, just that Sally boosts its reputation? Anyway, there she sits, kicking back on this morning, drinking down a lovely glass of OJ, when all of a sudden...a wild Shane appears! He bursts the the hotel door (that’s where we are, the hotel). Who’s doing the filming then? Doesn’t matter. He sucks in breaths like he’s been underwater for seven minutes.
[Shane] Sally! I got here...*He looks around, sees only a startled Sally and no signs of any distress*[/b]...have you been to APW’s website this morning? [/color]
[Sally] No...why?
[Shane] No nothing...*Sally gives him a peculiar look, then pulls her laptop from the table beside her*[/b]...no Sally. Don’t. [/color]
As if Sally is going to listen. She’s furiously typing away, eager to find out what’s been happening. It’s not long before she’s there, and, judging by the progressive worsening of her face - from a rather excited and giddy smile to straight shock and horror - that whatever Shane didn’t want her to find, she’s found.
[Sally] Well...I guess he had to...say something? *Sally gently folds the laptop up, then starts tapping her fingers on it* I mean, he’s a politician and all. Going down that path, lying about having some sort of crush on me, that’s everything to be expected right?
Sally lets out a half-assed laugh, then looks at the laptop and then gently tosses it to the floor. She sits there for a moment, digesting this. Then, she knows that she needs to get a clear head. She can’t let this new revelation break her concentration on her match. She’s up from the seat and heading for the door.
[Shane] Where are you going?
[Sally] For a jog.
She’s quick to open the door, and just as quick to shot it. Then, immediately, we cut back to the shot of Sally resting up on the fence.
[Sally] Who does that? Seriously, two weeks ago he’s talking about loathing me for everything I’m worth. Now he’s playing on emotions? On real feelings? Talking about some crush on me or something. Why woudl he do that? To make fun of me? Try to exploit me even more because he’s at the end of his rope? It all has nothing to do with a match!
[Shane] Sally...
[Sally] No Shane. Saying some things is one thing. He can go and say I’m not good enough to beat him. He can say I don’t deserve any of the reputation I carry in APW. He can say I’m over it. But to make cheap shots like he did? To try and play some dirty trick like that? I thought he was above it, that’s all. I just thought that he had some morals, you know? Then he goes and says that? As if it justifies everything he’s said about me? I don’t believe him for a second...
[Shane] But?
[Sally] But how much of an insult is it to the people out there who are watching him? The fans that might actually take something out of him? Those kids who watch him and think “Hmm, you know, he’s excused for everything he’s done to her because he actually likes her! That’s ok.” And what about the people who watch us that have been hurt by these real things? He’s tapping into those ‘no go’ areas now, all so that he can get a win. *Sally turns, then slides down the side of the fence to be sitting on the grass*[/b] Is he so hypocritical to have said these things and not think it’s not going to hurt some people? The fans? Me? Does he really think going out to the world and saying these things about me won’t have some sort of effect? That it won’t get a reaction? [/color]
[Shane] What are you going to do about it? Don’t do something you’ll...
Sally holds up a hand, stopping Shane before he can finish. Something she’ll regret? Of course she won’t do that. She’s not like Callahan. You see, he’s done something stupid. He’s done something only a fool would do. And now it’s something he’ll regret.
[Shane] Don’t be silly. I’m not stooping to his level. I’ll do what I do whenever anyone does something like this. So many people I’ve had to square off against have done something like it. I gues...*Sally’s voice breaks for a moment...she coughs to hide it, but we all know why*[/b]...I guess I’m an easy target. But I’ll do what I do to all of them: I’ll wait. I’ll wait for our match, and then I’ll do what I need to do. [/color]
[Shane] And what’s that?
Sally looks up with a smile. Not one of her best, but it’s an attempt.
[Sally] I’ll win. I’ll take everything I’ve got and I’ll make him regret having done this. I’m a master at wrestling, he’s not. I’m a master at lasting in the match, he’s not. I’m a master at knowing when there’s an opportunity, he’s not. All week I’ve been studying him. I’ve been watching every week on Asylum. Watching him and his matches. Seeing where he’s good, where he’s not. This match is staying on the mat. I’m so far better than him there. I’m faster than him too, so I’ll be able to stay ahead of him. Run his tired, then wrestle him out. That’s the game plan this week. With a few surprises, of course.
It’s been a winning formula so far in APW. She can last longer in match as long as it stays a contest of endurance, not strength. These big, heavy guys...they tire. They all tire. Then, when they’re tired, they’re sloppy. They leave doors open, doors of opportunity. And that’s when Sally strikes. She sees those opportunities, and she takes them. She goes at them hard, and it’s on her terms. It’s down to the mat. It’s a wrestling contest. Pure wrestling: The artform that so many of the new megastar fail to appreciate and, as a result, fail to grasp.
[Sally] The only thing now is, I got my wake-up call.
[Shane] How so?
[Sally] I’m in this match now, Shane. All week, I was working hard, training hard, studying hard. And, really, at the end of every day, I was confident of what I was going to do to win. I knew what I needed to do. But my heart - it wasn’t in this match yet. I knew I needed to win for the fans, but I didn’t know why I needed to win for myself.
[Shane] And why do you need to win?
[Sally] Because creeps like Callahan...they can’t win. They just can’t. They can’t do that to me and, you know, expect to be let off. I won’t do something I regret, but he’ll very quickly see how far I’m prepared to go to the edge. You know the edge, Callahan. *Sally pulls herself up to her feet, a chance to stare through to the camera, through to Callahan himself*[/b] That tipping point between you and me. The difference between clean and dirty. Right and wrong. Winner and loser. You’ve woken me up, Michael. It wasn’t you little attempt to get under my skin for months or your sudden realisation that, yes, you might like me or something. No, it was your last move in this preparation game. Your effort to get in my head, rather than under my skin. To go from saying that you like me to then running me down like I was past any sort of achievement in your pontificating diatribe. I now know just how low you will go - and it’s a lot lower than I would ever stoop to.
But, in your darkest hour, you did manage to get into my head. You got in and when you did, you made me sit up. You didn’t get in and do any damage. You got in and scared me straight! You showed me how low you’re prepared to stoop; how far you’re willing to go to be better than me. Some might call that blind ambition: I call it disgusting. What you did was disgusting, Michael. And now? Now you get to see what happens when you do that to the likes of me. All your life, you’ve surrounded yourself by weak people. People who have been too in awe or too afraid of you to actually stand up to what you’re doing. Now though? Now you’re in a match with someone whose not only prepared to stand up for herself, but who is prepared to take the fight to you! And I’ll take it to you Callahan. I’ll take a fight to you that you’ll regret having ever got into! I’ll... [/color]
Sally has to stop herself. You see, that’s the difference between getting into someone’s mind and doing damage and, well, just firing someone up. The person still knows when to stop. And that’s the difference it will be in the match. Callahan won’t know when to stop. He won’t know when to step back from the match. He will push himself further and further, stoop to any low, take any opportunity and blindly believe in himself. Sally though? Sally knows when an opportunity is bad. She knows when to stop. She knows how to keep herself above the fray, rather than stooping down to the levels of Callahan.
[Shane] Let’s go home? Get some rest before tomorrow?
[Sally] Yeah, ok.
The scene fades to a close with Sally hopping over the fence. There’s the hold on the blank screen, then we’re back. Back in the locker rooms - that treasured place of solitude that each wrestler secretly craves more than their home. That one place where there is a calm, a peace that can’t be lost. We’ve got Sally, in full dress for her match.
[Shane] Is it out of your system now?
[Sally] Yesterday’s stuff? *Sally brushes a hand through the air, as if to get rid of the suggestion completely*[/b] Yes, of course. It’s gone from here...*Sally taps her temple*[/b]...but it’s still in here. *Sally taps her chest*[/b] It’s now the fire, Shane. It’s the fire driving me in the match. It’s the fire driving me to pay Michael back for all the horrible things he’s done. To me, to others, to the fans. He deserves it. He deserves it because he’s a bad person. Politicians are normally bad, but Callahan...he’s in a class all of his own. I’m going to take it to him. Every lock is going to be tighter, every hold stronger. And when it comes to closing out this match? The kicks are going to be stiffer and the strikes are going to be painful. Callahan might have thought he knew what he was in for all this week, but now he has no idea.
Mayhem is a chance for me to continue everything I’ve been working for. A chance to improve APW. A chance to better the wrestling that we see here. A chance improve the reputation that we have. As long as Callahan is a champion, someone needs to oppose him. Someone needs to offset all the horrible things he does. Otherwise, what do we have? We have a company that is known as the place where the likes of Michael Callahan have free reign. I won’t allow that. I can’t allow that. He doesn’t deserve that opportunity. He doesn’t deserve the airtime to do that. Espouse his degrading ideas, slandering people who don’t deserve it, insulting the very people that help him to get the attention he so dearly craves. He wouldn’t be where he is without a whole bunch of people, and he certainly wouldn’t be staring down the opportunity of a lifetime tonight without me. But can he accept that? Does he show any respect to any of us for that? [/color]
The lack of answer tells us all exactly what the truth is. The fact of the matter is that Sally’s hurt here. She’s hurt that she was insulted before Rasslemania and when her shoes got ruined. It wasn’t the shoes though, it was the principle of it. She’d worked so hard for APW, and Callahan didn’t have the decency to respect that. Then, after Mania, it was the continued disrespect. His over-the-top celebrations, his continued insults, his lying to her week after week. And only after she put the match on the table did he show an ounce of credibility. But that was short lived, quickly going back to insulting the legacy she had fought for, disrespecting a woman who has only had her fans in her heart right beside her love for APW, and abusing the notion that she was somehow undeserving of everything she’s worked for. She’s hurting, but the initial pain is over. She is healing, and as with the healing process the adrenaline is kicking in.
[Sally] Michael, I’ll speak to you now, plain and simple. It’ll be the last words I say to you before the match, so I don’t want to hear from you that you weren’t warned. You’ve hurt me, time and time again. You forgot that I’m a person to. Yes, I might be an opponent, but I’m another person all the same. And maybe you were short-sighted or maybe you intended it, but you’ve cut me. You can’t see them, the cuts. You won’t find blood anywhere. But in here...*Sally taps her temple*[/b]...I’m bleeding. And the only way to stop it is to make sure you know how much pain you’ve caused me. This match of ours? It’s not going to be fun for either of us. You feel the need to beat me, and I have to beat you. Neither of us is going to give an inch. The fans will love it. APW will love it. The whole world will love it. Except for two people: You...and me. Neither of us want to give in, but one of us has to.
And that’s where the fight comes into it. Who has the strength, the stamina, the fortitude to win. Who has what it takes to get it done. You think you do. I think I do. Only one of us does though. Only one of us can win this, Callahan, and the stakes won’t be bigger. There’s no belt, there’s no stipulation. There’s just emotion on the line. Reputation. All the stuff that no one can see, but the things that we hold dearly. And I’m not prepared to give them up, Michael. I’ve fought for two years here in APW for all these, and I’m not about to give them up to the likes of you! You don’t deserve a win against me. You don’t deserve to be in the ring with me. You don’t deserve to say my name after what you’ve done to me! No one in this company has ever...ever...been do heartless to me as you. So many people have not liked me, but you’re the first person to hate me like this. The first person to push me so far to the edge with the insults and the backstabbing that...that I have to do something to stop the hurt. I have to beat you. I have to win, otherwise how can I go on? How can I continue on Asylum if the likes of you are the people that are celebrated as champion and winner? It would be an insult to everything I worked towards. [/color]
Sally sit down on the bench, alongside the sprawling mess of her belongings. It’s a curious thing, the way Sally looks on the outside, but is on the inside. On the outside, she’s complicated and messy. Her things are everywhere. The details of her costume are intricate. The preparation time she needs to get ready can be measured in hours. She’s complex to look at. But in her mind, it’s so simple. She’s so clear and focused. She’s got the match planned out, she’s got her tactics ready, and she’s got everything she knows about Callahan at the front of her mind. How he locks up, how he drags, how he suplexes and how he works towards his finisher. Sally will be able to read him like a book while she’s wrestling him, and with all of that knowledge, she will know how to guide him towards a mistake. Towards an opening. Towards that tiny little error which is all it takes. Others less experienced, less talented might miss those little errors, but not Sally. Sally sees them and exploits them.
[Sally] You were right about one thing though, Callahan. Time is running out, Callahan. It’s running out on you. My time is far from over, but your time as this untouchable, golden-boy of Asylum is ticking away. You need that wake-up call, the same way you’ve given it to me. You need to realise where you are in APW. And when you do, you’ll see that you were wrong about me. You were wrong to try and run me down with words, and you were more wrong to try and run me down in a match. You thought I was predictable? You thought I was old news? You thought I was someone who should be pushed aside for you? Think again. I’m here to stop people like you ruining APW. I’ve done it before, and I’m about to do it again. In the ring, Callahan, words don’t matter. Emotions don’t matter. Legacies don’t matter. Just that fire within you. That drive that pushes you further and faster and harder. That some fire in you that might burn you to go far, but the fire in me that you’ve poured fuel on. And now it’s raging, Michael. It’s raging and I have to take it out on you in the ring. You tried to play dirty, I’m going to show you why you should have played clean. Because clean always wins. Good always win. I’m clean, you’re dirty. I’m good, you’re bad.
And I’m going to be the one to show the world which of us is really the fake and which of us is the real thing.
And with that, we have to leave our most loved megastar. A fiery look of determination, a passion that’s rarely seen in a megastar these day. And if they are any indicators, Sally is bringing it all to her match now. She’s getting into this, and she’s not taking it lightly. She’ll jump into that deep end, take Callahan with her, and see how long he can keep his head above the water. Sally’s gaze, drifting away - away to her match, to her preparation, her planning - is the last thing we see of her as the scene fades away. The shot goes to a blank, black screen, on which
Sally Talfourd
is written across the screen, which in turn fades away as the episode comes to a close.
They forget about the fans. How important they are to this business, to us as wrestlers. They pay their money, they buy the merch, they cheer and boo us. Without them, we’re just about nothing. I mean, really, if there’s no fans, who is sitting in all the seats? Who is telling you if you’re doing the right thing or not? Who is making you fight harder, dig deeper, go longer? Without the fans, we’re nothing. And yet, they are so often forgotten by the people out there who do all of this for themselves. The selfish and the self-absorbed. The Michael Callahan’s who isn’t in this business for any other reason except to get a quick pay-day and a bump in the polls. He might try and say otherwise, but we all know better.
People also forget about the effort of some things. About the gravity of a match or a show. Thee’s no such thing as an unimportant show. There’s no such thing as a free-pass. And there’s definitely no such thing as a guarantee in this business. You have to fight hard for everything in this business, every single win and loss takes effort. But, of course, for some it’s easier. For those big, hulking, supermen-style people all of this can be a little easier. But what does it say about someone like me - someone half the size, half the weight, and with half the strength of her average opponent? What does it say about my effort? My focus? My fortitude? That I can conquer the highest of highs in APW? Something so easily forgotten - that some people just have the effort to make everything count in this business.
But most often forgotten - the most common thing that the wrestlers forget these days - are their opponents. No, they don’t forget their name, or their stats, or anything like that. They forget who they are. They forget that they are people too. That they live and breath, they they hurt and feel. They forget that they’re dealing with another person. A person who is just as invested in all this, just as committed to all this, just as important to a moment like this as they are. There shouldn’t be winners and losers outside the ring, just at the end of matches. There’s a way to handle yourself in this business, and sometimes you just forget what you’re doing.
And Michael Callahan, you’ve forgotten that.[/i]
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Internet Explorer-*click*-Favorites-*click*-APW.com-*click*-Survive and Conquer-*click*-Sally Talfourd-*click*-Loading...
"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."
Which fades away to a tracking shot of Sally Talfourd hard running laps around one of the nearby parks in Montreal. The sun is just setting for the last moments of the day. The last day before Mayhem. Shane watches from the side as Sally makes her way from that far side all the way over to this side. Step after racing step, she pounds away on the ground. Working up a sweat, pushing her endurance, getting herself ready for Sunday’s big match. But, there’s something more to what she’s doing. It’s not beaming a smile. She’s not her bubbly self. She’s not even looking like herself. There’s a passion, a fire driving her on here. You can tell from the way she breaths, the way she moves, the way she stares the camera down with her determined eyes.
[Shane] Are you feeling better?
[Sally] Yes...*Sally, leaning up on the fence beside Shane, draws in deep breaths*[/b]...no. I don’t know. [/color]
[Shane] The jog didn’t help?
[Sally] No, it did not. I didn’t think it would, either.
Help with what? What’s happened? What’s pushed Sally into this fit of...how can we even describe it? The scene holds on Sally, still drawing in breath, before it fades away. Then we come back to a very different shot (it’s a flashback). Sally sits back in what looks to be the most comfortable seat in the world. Or maybe it’s the most uncomfortable seat, just that Sally boosts its reputation? Anyway, there she sits, kicking back on this morning, drinking down a lovely glass of OJ, when all of a sudden...a wild Shane appears! He bursts the the hotel door (that’s where we are, the hotel). Who’s doing the filming then? Doesn’t matter. He sucks in breaths like he’s been underwater for seven minutes.
[Shane] Sally! I got here...*He looks around, sees only a startled Sally and no signs of any distress*[/b]...have you been to APW’s website this morning? [/color]
[Sally] No...why?
[Shane] No nothing...*Sally gives him a peculiar look, then pulls her laptop from the table beside her*[/b]...no Sally. Don’t. [/color]
As if Sally is going to listen. She’s furiously typing away, eager to find out what’s been happening. It’s not long before she’s there, and, judging by the progressive worsening of her face - from a rather excited and giddy smile to straight shock and horror - that whatever Shane didn’t want her to find, she’s found.
[Sally] Well...I guess he had to...say something? *Sally gently folds the laptop up, then starts tapping her fingers on it* I mean, he’s a politician and all. Going down that path, lying about having some sort of crush on me, that’s everything to be expected right?
Sally lets out a half-assed laugh, then looks at the laptop and then gently tosses it to the floor. She sits there for a moment, digesting this. Then, she knows that she needs to get a clear head. She can’t let this new revelation break her concentration on her match. She’s up from the seat and heading for the door.
[Shane] Where are you going?
[Sally] For a jog.
She’s quick to open the door, and just as quick to shot it. Then, immediately, we cut back to the shot of Sally resting up on the fence.
[Sally] Who does that? Seriously, two weeks ago he’s talking about loathing me for everything I’m worth. Now he’s playing on emotions? On real feelings? Talking about some crush on me or something. Why woudl he do that? To make fun of me? Try to exploit me even more because he’s at the end of his rope? It all has nothing to do with a match!
[Shane] Sally...
[Sally] No Shane. Saying some things is one thing. He can go and say I’m not good enough to beat him. He can say I don’t deserve any of the reputation I carry in APW. He can say I’m over it. But to make cheap shots like he did? To try and play some dirty trick like that? I thought he was above it, that’s all. I just thought that he had some morals, you know? Then he goes and says that? As if it justifies everything he’s said about me? I don’t believe him for a second...
[Shane] But?
[Sally] But how much of an insult is it to the people out there who are watching him? The fans that might actually take something out of him? Those kids who watch him and think “Hmm, you know, he’s excused for everything he’s done to her because he actually likes her! That’s ok.” And what about the people who watch us that have been hurt by these real things? He’s tapping into those ‘no go’ areas now, all so that he can get a win. *Sally turns, then slides down the side of the fence to be sitting on the grass*[/b] Is he so hypocritical to have said these things and not think it’s not going to hurt some people? The fans? Me? Does he really think going out to the world and saying these things about me won’t have some sort of effect? That it won’t get a reaction? [/color]
[Shane] What are you going to do about it? Don’t do something you’ll...
Sally holds up a hand, stopping Shane before he can finish. Something she’ll regret? Of course she won’t do that. She’s not like Callahan. You see, he’s done something stupid. He’s done something only a fool would do. And now it’s something he’ll regret.
[Shane] Don’t be silly. I’m not stooping to his level. I’ll do what I do whenever anyone does something like this. So many people I’ve had to square off against have done something like it. I gues...*Sally’s voice breaks for a moment...she coughs to hide it, but we all know why*[/b]...I guess I’m an easy target. But I’ll do what I do to all of them: I’ll wait. I’ll wait for our match, and then I’ll do what I need to do. [/color]
[Shane] And what’s that?
Sally looks up with a smile. Not one of her best, but it’s an attempt.
[Sally] I’ll win. I’ll take everything I’ve got and I’ll make him regret having done this. I’m a master at wrestling, he’s not. I’m a master at lasting in the match, he’s not. I’m a master at knowing when there’s an opportunity, he’s not. All week I’ve been studying him. I’ve been watching every week on Asylum. Watching him and his matches. Seeing where he’s good, where he’s not. This match is staying on the mat. I’m so far better than him there. I’m faster than him too, so I’ll be able to stay ahead of him. Run his tired, then wrestle him out. That’s the game plan this week. With a few surprises, of course.
It’s been a winning formula so far in APW. She can last longer in match as long as it stays a contest of endurance, not strength. These big, heavy guys...they tire. They all tire. Then, when they’re tired, they’re sloppy. They leave doors open, doors of opportunity. And that’s when Sally strikes. She sees those opportunities, and she takes them. She goes at them hard, and it’s on her terms. It’s down to the mat. It’s a wrestling contest. Pure wrestling: The artform that so many of the new megastar fail to appreciate and, as a result, fail to grasp.
[Sally] The only thing now is, I got my wake-up call.
[Shane] How so?
[Sally] I’m in this match now, Shane. All week, I was working hard, training hard, studying hard. And, really, at the end of every day, I was confident of what I was going to do to win. I knew what I needed to do. But my heart - it wasn’t in this match yet. I knew I needed to win for the fans, but I didn’t know why I needed to win for myself.
[Shane] And why do you need to win?
[Sally] Because creeps like Callahan...they can’t win. They just can’t. They can’t do that to me and, you know, expect to be let off. I won’t do something I regret, but he’ll very quickly see how far I’m prepared to go to the edge. You know the edge, Callahan. *Sally pulls herself up to her feet, a chance to stare through to the camera, through to Callahan himself*[/b] That tipping point between you and me. The difference between clean and dirty. Right and wrong. Winner and loser. You’ve woken me up, Michael. It wasn’t you little attempt to get under my skin for months or your sudden realisation that, yes, you might like me or something. No, it was your last move in this preparation game. Your effort to get in my head, rather than under my skin. To go from saying that you like me to then running me down like I was past any sort of achievement in your pontificating diatribe. I now know just how low you will go - and it’s a lot lower than I would ever stoop to.
But, in your darkest hour, you did manage to get into my head. You got in and when you did, you made me sit up. You didn’t get in and do any damage. You got in and scared me straight! You showed me how low you’re prepared to stoop; how far you’re willing to go to be better than me. Some might call that blind ambition: I call it disgusting. What you did was disgusting, Michael. And now? Now you get to see what happens when you do that to the likes of me. All your life, you’ve surrounded yourself by weak people. People who have been too in awe or too afraid of you to actually stand up to what you’re doing. Now though? Now you’re in a match with someone whose not only prepared to stand up for herself, but who is prepared to take the fight to you! And I’ll take it to you Callahan. I’ll take a fight to you that you’ll regret having ever got into! I’ll... [/color]
Sally has to stop herself. You see, that’s the difference between getting into someone’s mind and doing damage and, well, just firing someone up. The person still knows when to stop. And that’s the difference it will be in the match. Callahan won’t know when to stop. He won’t know when to step back from the match. He will push himself further and further, stoop to any low, take any opportunity and blindly believe in himself. Sally though? Sally knows when an opportunity is bad. She knows when to stop. She knows how to keep herself above the fray, rather than stooping down to the levels of Callahan.
[Shane] Let’s go home? Get some rest before tomorrow?
[Sally] Yeah, ok.
The scene fades to a close with Sally hopping over the fence. There’s the hold on the blank screen, then we’re back. Back in the locker rooms - that treasured place of solitude that each wrestler secretly craves more than their home. That one place where there is a calm, a peace that can’t be lost. We’ve got Sally, in full dress for her match.
[Shane] Is it out of your system now?
[Sally] Yesterday’s stuff? *Sally brushes a hand through the air, as if to get rid of the suggestion completely*[/b] Yes, of course. It’s gone from here...*Sally taps her temple*[/b]...but it’s still in here. *Sally taps her chest*[/b] It’s now the fire, Shane. It’s the fire driving me in the match. It’s the fire driving me to pay Michael back for all the horrible things he’s done. To me, to others, to the fans. He deserves it. He deserves it because he’s a bad person. Politicians are normally bad, but Callahan...he’s in a class all of his own. I’m going to take it to him. Every lock is going to be tighter, every hold stronger. And when it comes to closing out this match? The kicks are going to be stiffer and the strikes are going to be painful. Callahan might have thought he knew what he was in for all this week, but now he has no idea.
Mayhem is a chance for me to continue everything I’ve been working for. A chance to improve APW. A chance to better the wrestling that we see here. A chance improve the reputation that we have. As long as Callahan is a champion, someone needs to oppose him. Someone needs to offset all the horrible things he does. Otherwise, what do we have? We have a company that is known as the place where the likes of Michael Callahan have free reign. I won’t allow that. I can’t allow that. He doesn’t deserve that opportunity. He doesn’t deserve the airtime to do that. Espouse his degrading ideas, slandering people who don’t deserve it, insulting the very people that help him to get the attention he so dearly craves. He wouldn’t be where he is without a whole bunch of people, and he certainly wouldn’t be staring down the opportunity of a lifetime tonight without me. But can he accept that? Does he show any respect to any of us for that? [/color]
The lack of answer tells us all exactly what the truth is. The fact of the matter is that Sally’s hurt here. She’s hurt that she was insulted before Rasslemania and when her shoes got ruined. It wasn’t the shoes though, it was the principle of it. She’d worked so hard for APW, and Callahan didn’t have the decency to respect that. Then, after Mania, it was the continued disrespect. His over-the-top celebrations, his continued insults, his lying to her week after week. And only after she put the match on the table did he show an ounce of credibility. But that was short lived, quickly going back to insulting the legacy she had fought for, disrespecting a woman who has only had her fans in her heart right beside her love for APW, and abusing the notion that she was somehow undeserving of everything she’s worked for. She’s hurting, but the initial pain is over. She is healing, and as with the healing process the adrenaline is kicking in.
[Sally] Michael, I’ll speak to you now, plain and simple. It’ll be the last words I say to you before the match, so I don’t want to hear from you that you weren’t warned. You’ve hurt me, time and time again. You forgot that I’m a person to. Yes, I might be an opponent, but I’m another person all the same. And maybe you were short-sighted or maybe you intended it, but you’ve cut me. You can’t see them, the cuts. You won’t find blood anywhere. But in here...*Sally taps her temple*[/b]...I’m bleeding. And the only way to stop it is to make sure you know how much pain you’ve caused me. This match of ours? It’s not going to be fun for either of us. You feel the need to beat me, and I have to beat you. Neither of us is going to give an inch. The fans will love it. APW will love it. The whole world will love it. Except for two people: You...and me. Neither of us want to give in, but one of us has to.
And that’s where the fight comes into it. Who has the strength, the stamina, the fortitude to win. Who has what it takes to get it done. You think you do. I think I do. Only one of us does though. Only one of us can win this, Callahan, and the stakes won’t be bigger. There’s no belt, there’s no stipulation. There’s just emotion on the line. Reputation. All the stuff that no one can see, but the things that we hold dearly. And I’m not prepared to give them up, Michael. I’ve fought for two years here in APW for all these, and I’m not about to give them up to the likes of you! You don’t deserve a win against me. You don’t deserve to be in the ring with me. You don’t deserve to say my name after what you’ve done to me! No one in this company has ever...ever...been do heartless to me as you. So many people have not liked me, but you’re the first person to hate me like this. The first person to push me so far to the edge with the insults and the backstabbing that...that I have to do something to stop the hurt. I have to beat you. I have to win, otherwise how can I go on? How can I continue on Asylum if the likes of you are the people that are celebrated as champion and winner? It would be an insult to everything I worked towards. [/color]
Sally sit down on the bench, alongside the sprawling mess of her belongings. It’s a curious thing, the way Sally looks on the outside, but is on the inside. On the outside, she’s complicated and messy. Her things are everywhere. The details of her costume are intricate. The preparation time she needs to get ready can be measured in hours. She’s complex to look at. But in her mind, it’s so simple. She’s so clear and focused. She’s got the match planned out, she’s got her tactics ready, and she’s got everything she knows about Callahan at the front of her mind. How he locks up, how he drags, how he suplexes and how he works towards his finisher. Sally will be able to read him like a book while she’s wrestling him, and with all of that knowledge, she will know how to guide him towards a mistake. Towards an opening. Towards that tiny little error which is all it takes. Others less experienced, less talented might miss those little errors, but not Sally. Sally sees them and exploits them.
[Sally] You were right about one thing though, Callahan. Time is running out, Callahan. It’s running out on you. My time is far from over, but your time as this untouchable, golden-boy of Asylum is ticking away. You need that wake-up call, the same way you’ve given it to me. You need to realise where you are in APW. And when you do, you’ll see that you were wrong about me. You were wrong to try and run me down with words, and you were more wrong to try and run me down in a match. You thought I was predictable? You thought I was old news? You thought I was someone who should be pushed aside for you? Think again. I’m here to stop people like you ruining APW. I’ve done it before, and I’m about to do it again. In the ring, Callahan, words don’t matter. Emotions don’t matter. Legacies don’t matter. Just that fire within you. That drive that pushes you further and faster and harder. That some fire in you that might burn you to go far, but the fire in me that you’ve poured fuel on. And now it’s raging, Michael. It’s raging and I have to take it out on you in the ring. You tried to play dirty, I’m going to show you why you should have played clean. Because clean always wins. Good always win. I’m clean, you’re dirty. I’m good, you’re bad.
And I’m going to be the one to show the world which of us is really the fake and which of us is the real thing.
And with that, we have to leave our most loved megastar. A fiery look of determination, a passion that’s rarely seen in a megastar these day. And if they are any indicators, Sally is bringing it all to her match now. She’s getting into this, and she’s not taking it lightly. She’ll jump into that deep end, take Callahan with her, and see how long he can keep his head above the water. Sally’s gaze, drifting away - away to her match, to her preparation, her planning - is the last thing we see of her as the scene fades away. The shot goes to a blank, black screen, on which
Sally Talfourd
is written across the screen, which in turn fades away as the episode comes to a close.
