Post by SalTal on Oct 23, 2012 8:02:57 GMT -4
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 shot of Sally Talfourd, looking flash and impressive: White dress with black polka dots, a pink bow in the hair, and exactly the right amount of make-up to not look trashy. She sits pretty up on a stone bench, shadowed by the last of the leaves on a once-blooming Cherry Blossom. We’re here in the Shin-Edogawa Gardens, not too far from the Tokyo Dome. Yet while the Dome will be the place of violence, mayhem, and destruction in a week and some time, the garden is a place of peace, tranquility, and discussion for now.
[Sally] Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this special episode of Happy Endings - brought to you all the way from Tokyo, if you’ll believe it where APW is all getting worked up for One Night in Hell. As always, I’m you ever-lovely host Sally Talfourd and behind the camera is Shane.
[Shane] That’s nice of you.
[Sally] What’s that?
[Shane] To introduce me. It’s been a while since you’ve said anything about me. I notice these things while I’m doing the editing.
[Sally] I’m sorry Shane. I don’t mean to. Everyone knows you’re an important part of the show. Please...say something to all your fans.
[Shane] Really?
[Sally] Of course not! One: I don’t think you have any fans. Two: People want to hear what’s going to happen at One Night in Hell. And three: Because you’re getting your own show soon!
[Shane] What? For real?
[Sally] *Looking all suspect and untrustworthy*[/b] Of course! I totally didn’t just say that to stop you from taking up air time from me. Definitely you’ll get a show. Just, let’s work out the details later. Because what I want to do, rather than looking to our future is look back to my past. Back two years to... [/color]
[Shane] Sally, I have to stop you there.
[Sally] What? Why?
[Shane] Well, in your most recent contract renewal for the year, you agreed to a clause that said you could only use 10 hours of APW.com’s time talking about history. And you maxed that out last week.
[Sally] What? Why would I sign that? Why would you negotiate that!?
[Shane] Hey! I’m no lawyer. I just put it through spellcheck and that’s it.
[Sally] So all my promos have added up to that 10 hours or whatever?
[Shane] No, just last week’s.
[Sally] So I can’t talk about how I won my first belt at 2010 One Night? *A shake of the camera suggests no*[/b] Or how I ran second in 2011? *Another shake*[/b] Or how that first time I came in first and lasted against everyone, even Level-One, when no one could believe I’d do it? *Third shake*[/b] Then I guess I better not talk about it, huh? Though maybe that’s a good thing. You see, living in the past can only get you so far. [/color]
Sally teases the front of her dress. Autumn is on the approach here, but there’s still enough warmth around to warrant a summer outfit. After splaying out the dress again over her legs, she looks up with a beaming smile.
[Sally] Ok, so the future. Everyone’s future comes to a head at One Night this coming weekend. And, yet, everyone’s future will start again at One Night too. You see, that’s where we’ve all been aiming to get for a long time now. Not just since Shockwave, but from way before that. It’s the fixture, a premiere event on the APW calendar. It’s the event where we know we are going to see a whole lot of carnage, a whole lot of wrestling and...hopefully...a whole lot of surprises.
[Shane] Yes, it will be surprising to see Atken walk out world champ.
[Sally] I don’t mean that surprise! I mean the surprise of seeing the queen of APW back on her throne. The surprise of Sally winning her second chamber match in APW. The surprise of me being able to get back to the place were I’ve worked so hard to be.
[Shane] That’s being modest. You’re saying that’s a surprise for people?
[Sally] Look, 2012 hasn’t exactly been the Year of Sally. I’ve had as many ups as I’ve had downs. Survive...
[Shane] Nope! That’s in the past.
[Sally] What about...
[Shane] And your win against Level-One at Rasslemania. In the past. Get to the future.
[Sally] Argh! Ok. The people I’m facing off against, they’ll be expecting something from me based on my recent headline performances. I haven’t exactly come up trumps in my most recent title matches, so it would be surprising to see me win, I think. But that’s two things the fans, undoubtedly, want to see: A surprise and me winning. So that’s what I’m working towards. This moment is an opportunity...a great moment for me. And I, more than anyone in this match, realise that great moments don’t just show up. Great moments, where you are defined, don’t just turn up from nothing. You have to pursue them. They are elusive. They are fleeting. And they are rare. You don’t just have a moment like this handed to you. You have to pursue it. And you do that with every little action. Every moment, every effort, every idea...it all works towards a great moment. And if you pursue it enough - with the determination and the strength and the focus that no one else can match - then you might get a chance at truly getting the chance to define yourself in a truly great moment.
[Shane] So here’s your great moment: How are you going to define yourself this time?
[Sally] That’s simple Shane: I’m defining myself as the best thing for APW for the future. I was the best once...but *Getting in there before Shane cuts her off again!*[/b] I’ve grown. I’ve matured. I’ve changed into someone that is better for APW, better for a championship, better for the fans. And I’m certainly better than the alternatives. You’ve got Rebel, a man trying to prove himself in APW not that he’s the future...not that he’s the most exciting or the most dazzling...but that he’s just as good as his former tag team partner. That just screams the future, doesn’t it? And then you’ve got Callahan. Didn’t he get into this business to appeal to the voters more than anything else? If that’s true, that’s just pathetic. Almost as much as his pseudo-crush on me and his exploitation of me all those months ag...anyway...he’s not the sort of person to take Asylum into the future, is he?
You see, as long as I’ve been in APW, I wanted to do good. I want the business, the company, the world to be better because I was here. I want to have made something of my time here, to be remembered for...for...for doing something. Not for being selfish. Not for trying to prove an egotistical point. Not for being the best of a bad bunch. I want to be the best of a good bunch. I want Asylum to be the good bunch and to be seen as the best that it has. I have five other people in this match that want to stop that. And, to varying degrees, they want to do me harm. When you boil each and every other opponent of mine down, there is something bad within them. Even when you get to the Bailey’s and the Saint’s, there’s just something in them that stops hem from being as good for Asylum as me. Bailey, for as great a guy as he is...he doesn’t have the instinct, the champion’s drive, to go out and be the best. The absolute best. He has his championship and now he’s trying to keep it. A champion should be more. A champion should be trying to better themselves, not keep the chasing pack from simply catching up. [/color]
Isn’t that what she’s always strived to be? Someone who keeps everyone chasing her, rather than stopping to fight? Because when you stop to fight, it means you’re not moving. And a champion should always be moving. Moving forward and bringing everyone with her. That’s how she moved ahead of everyone else when they were busy trying to figure out who should get a title shot in 2010. And now Sally’s looking to repeat it.
[Shane] What’s your plan then, for the match?
[Sally] Well, I guess it comes down to, simply, numbers. When am I going to come out? From there, I’ll have to survive either a bunch of less than a bunch of people. Atken comes out last, we all know there. if I’m the one before him, great. If I’m the first in then it really will be a night in hell. But, essentially, the plan will be the same: Stay out of the firing line, use the chamber to my advantage, and stay out of close calls.
[Shane] And if all that fails? What’s plan B?
[Sally] Plan B? Silly Shane. There is no plan B. There’s no reason to have plan B because it distracts from plan A. Plan A is to take every chance to win this thing. Plan B is just a distraction from that, a cheap escape. have I ever been cheap? I have to get through each of them, one by one, until there’s none left. If that’s two, great. If that’s five, just as great. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.
[Shane] And these people that you have to run through?
Sally lets out a short laugh, a raise of the eyebrows and a half-smile half-grimace. There’s some friends in this match, and some enemies. But they are all opponents, and that’s all they’ll be in the chamber. That’s unfortunate, but that’s the truth. The fans want to see who the best wrestler is, not the person with the most friends. Sally looks away into the distance, trying to find the words.
[Sally] This is the bit where I rant about each of my opponents, right? Talk about their weaknesses, their failings, and how bad people they are? What’s the point of that, huh? *Sally glances back to the camera*[/b] The people watching this will know all about them. And we want people to buy the pay per view, right? Why tell them how bad everyone is? And, in all honesty, what’s bad about any of these guys? We have the World Heavyweight Champion...a world-renowned Experts competitor...the company’s longest reigning champion...a veteran of the ring...and a man who has exploded onto the stage from relative obscurity? Why drag them down into the mud that, frankly, most of them will do to me?
What does Bailey’s family problems have to do with the match?
What does Saint’s failings on OverDrive have to do with an Asylum match?
What does Callahan’s misogyny and bizarre crushes have to do with a chamber match?
What does Atken’s short resume have to do with him being here?
What does Rebel’s age have to do with getting the job done?
No, they’ve all earned a right to be here. They’ve all fought long and hard to be here. I don’t expect that same respect from all of them, but at the end of the day, here we are in the Asylum main event competing for the most coveted of titles. We’ve each come through different routes - Bailey comes in as defending champion, Saint the surprise entrant, Atken the underdog fighter, Callahan the dark horse favourite, Rebel the respected veteran. Each person has proven their worth. It’s the same with our whole careers. Even our whole lives. It didn’t matter where we started, or what the journey was like, it’s where we wanted to find ourselves. We didn’t grow with the sense that where we were was where we were going to be forever. We grew with the sense that where we were almost didn’t matter. Because we were becoming something greater. That’s what One Night is all about: Each of our quests to become something greater. [/color]
[Shane] What’s that going to look like? What’s Asylum got in store for it when each of that happens?
[Sally] A great one of any of us will certainly be a sight to see. But who would be a better sight to see than me at my greatest? Yes, they all have talent...but their greatness is still a level below the greatness that you’ve seen from me. I go into that ring and when I have a belt over my shoulder, the sparks are flying. You see fans sitting on the edge of their set, the matches being rated five out of five, and the ratings blasting through the roof! You see, me at my best leaves everyone for dead. And that’s my plan A: Go into that chamber and be my best. I will be better than those five other men. I will be faster and smarter and more resilient than those five men because I have to be. I have to be if I want to win and I have to be if I want to be the best. That’s the truth. There’s no if’s or but’s or plan B’s. Go out and be the best.
There might be people in this match that have more muscle than me. There might be people might be stronger than than me. There might be people more experienced than me than me. There’s people in this match that have got in on all of those things and more. But when we get in that chamber, one of two things are going to happen. Each of my opponents are going to get eliminated, or I’m gonna be carried out of that ring as close to ruined as I can get. It’s really that simple. That’s how bad I want this title again, Shane. That’s how bad.
There’s a moment pause, the determination and the focus on Sally is admirable. And, from the look of her face and the sound of her words, she means it. She lets off a slight nod, then turns to take in this peaceful, tranquil park. A stark reminder, again, about the carnage that awaits APW in just a few days. Before we fade out...
[Shane] It’s time, Sally.
Sally is quickly brought back to the moment, catches Shane’s comment, and then pushes herself off the bench. Time for what? Probably the next episode of Happy Endings...but that’s to come! After a moment more on the blank screen, there’s a slow fade out and then into...
Sally Talfourd
written across the screen, which in turn fades away as the episode comes to a close.
"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 shot of Sally Talfourd, looking flash and impressive: White dress with black polka dots, a pink bow in the hair, and exactly the right amount of make-up to not look trashy. She sits pretty up on a stone bench, shadowed by the last of the leaves on a once-blooming Cherry Blossom. We’re here in the Shin-Edogawa Gardens, not too far from the Tokyo Dome. Yet while the Dome will be the place of violence, mayhem, and destruction in a week and some time, the garden is a place of peace, tranquility, and discussion for now.
[Sally] Hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to this special episode of Happy Endings - brought to you all the way from Tokyo, if you’ll believe it where APW is all getting worked up for One Night in Hell. As always, I’m you ever-lovely host Sally Talfourd and behind the camera is Shane.
[Shane] That’s nice of you.
[Sally] What’s that?
[Shane] To introduce me. It’s been a while since you’ve said anything about me. I notice these things while I’m doing the editing.
[Sally] I’m sorry Shane. I don’t mean to. Everyone knows you’re an important part of the show. Please...say something to all your fans.
[Shane] Really?
[Sally] Of course not! One: I don’t think you have any fans. Two: People want to hear what’s going to happen at One Night in Hell. And three: Because you’re getting your own show soon!
[Shane] What? For real?
[Sally] *Looking all suspect and untrustworthy*[/b] Of course! I totally didn’t just say that to stop you from taking up air time from me. Definitely you’ll get a show. Just, let’s work out the details later. Because what I want to do, rather than looking to our future is look back to my past. Back two years to... [/color]
[Shane] Sally, I have to stop you there.
[Sally] What? Why?
[Shane] Well, in your most recent contract renewal for the year, you agreed to a clause that said you could only use 10 hours of APW.com’s time talking about history. And you maxed that out last week.
[Sally] What? Why would I sign that? Why would you negotiate that!?
[Shane] Hey! I’m no lawyer. I just put it through spellcheck and that’s it.
[Sally] So all my promos have added up to that 10 hours or whatever?
[Shane] No, just last week’s.
[Sally] So I can’t talk about how I won my first belt at 2010 One Night? *A shake of the camera suggests no*[/b] Or how I ran second in 2011? *Another shake*[/b] Or how that first time I came in first and lasted against everyone, even Level-One, when no one could believe I’d do it? *Third shake*[/b] Then I guess I better not talk about it, huh? Though maybe that’s a good thing. You see, living in the past can only get you so far. [/color]
Sally teases the front of her dress. Autumn is on the approach here, but there’s still enough warmth around to warrant a summer outfit. After splaying out the dress again over her legs, she looks up with a beaming smile.
[Sally] Ok, so the future. Everyone’s future comes to a head at One Night this coming weekend. And, yet, everyone’s future will start again at One Night too. You see, that’s where we’ve all been aiming to get for a long time now. Not just since Shockwave, but from way before that. It’s the fixture, a premiere event on the APW calendar. It’s the event where we know we are going to see a whole lot of carnage, a whole lot of wrestling and...hopefully...a whole lot of surprises.
[Shane] Yes, it will be surprising to see Atken walk out world champ.
[Sally] I don’t mean that surprise! I mean the surprise of seeing the queen of APW back on her throne. The surprise of Sally winning her second chamber match in APW. The surprise of me being able to get back to the place were I’ve worked so hard to be.
[Shane] That’s being modest. You’re saying that’s a surprise for people?
[Sally] Look, 2012 hasn’t exactly been the Year of Sally. I’ve had as many ups as I’ve had downs. Survive...
[Shane] Nope! That’s in the past.
[Sally] What about...
[Shane] And your win against Level-One at Rasslemania. In the past. Get to the future.
[Sally] Argh! Ok. The people I’m facing off against, they’ll be expecting something from me based on my recent headline performances. I haven’t exactly come up trumps in my most recent title matches, so it would be surprising to see me win, I think. But that’s two things the fans, undoubtedly, want to see: A surprise and me winning. So that’s what I’m working towards. This moment is an opportunity...a great moment for me. And I, more than anyone in this match, realise that great moments don’t just show up. Great moments, where you are defined, don’t just turn up from nothing. You have to pursue them. They are elusive. They are fleeting. And they are rare. You don’t just have a moment like this handed to you. You have to pursue it. And you do that with every little action. Every moment, every effort, every idea...it all works towards a great moment. And if you pursue it enough - with the determination and the strength and the focus that no one else can match - then you might get a chance at truly getting the chance to define yourself in a truly great moment.
[Shane] So here’s your great moment: How are you going to define yourself this time?
[Sally] That’s simple Shane: I’m defining myself as the best thing for APW for the future. I was the best once...but *Getting in there before Shane cuts her off again!*[/b] I’ve grown. I’ve matured. I’ve changed into someone that is better for APW, better for a championship, better for the fans. And I’m certainly better than the alternatives. You’ve got Rebel, a man trying to prove himself in APW not that he’s the future...not that he’s the most exciting or the most dazzling...but that he’s just as good as his former tag team partner. That just screams the future, doesn’t it? And then you’ve got Callahan. Didn’t he get into this business to appeal to the voters more than anything else? If that’s true, that’s just pathetic. Almost as much as his pseudo-crush on me and his exploitation of me all those months ag...anyway...he’s not the sort of person to take Asylum into the future, is he?
You see, as long as I’ve been in APW, I wanted to do good. I want the business, the company, the world to be better because I was here. I want to have made something of my time here, to be remembered for...for...for doing something. Not for being selfish. Not for trying to prove an egotistical point. Not for being the best of a bad bunch. I want to be the best of a good bunch. I want Asylum to be the good bunch and to be seen as the best that it has. I have five other people in this match that want to stop that. And, to varying degrees, they want to do me harm. When you boil each and every other opponent of mine down, there is something bad within them. Even when you get to the Bailey’s and the Saint’s, there’s just something in them that stops hem from being as good for Asylum as me. Bailey, for as great a guy as he is...he doesn’t have the instinct, the champion’s drive, to go out and be the best. The absolute best. He has his championship and now he’s trying to keep it. A champion should be more. A champion should be trying to better themselves, not keep the chasing pack from simply catching up. [/color]
Isn’t that what she’s always strived to be? Someone who keeps everyone chasing her, rather than stopping to fight? Because when you stop to fight, it means you’re not moving. And a champion should always be moving. Moving forward and bringing everyone with her. That’s how she moved ahead of everyone else when they were busy trying to figure out who should get a title shot in 2010. And now Sally’s looking to repeat it.
[Shane] What’s your plan then, for the match?
[Sally] Well, I guess it comes down to, simply, numbers. When am I going to come out? From there, I’ll have to survive either a bunch of less than a bunch of people. Atken comes out last, we all know there. if I’m the one before him, great. If I’m the first in then it really will be a night in hell. But, essentially, the plan will be the same: Stay out of the firing line, use the chamber to my advantage, and stay out of close calls.
[Shane] And if all that fails? What’s plan B?
[Sally] Plan B? Silly Shane. There is no plan B. There’s no reason to have plan B because it distracts from plan A. Plan A is to take every chance to win this thing. Plan B is just a distraction from that, a cheap escape. have I ever been cheap? I have to get through each of them, one by one, until there’s none left. If that’s two, great. If that’s five, just as great. I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again.
[Shane] And these people that you have to run through?
Sally lets out a short laugh, a raise of the eyebrows and a half-smile half-grimace. There’s some friends in this match, and some enemies. But they are all opponents, and that’s all they’ll be in the chamber. That’s unfortunate, but that’s the truth. The fans want to see who the best wrestler is, not the person with the most friends. Sally looks away into the distance, trying to find the words.
[Sally] This is the bit where I rant about each of my opponents, right? Talk about their weaknesses, their failings, and how bad people they are? What’s the point of that, huh? *Sally glances back to the camera*[/b] The people watching this will know all about them. And we want people to buy the pay per view, right? Why tell them how bad everyone is? And, in all honesty, what’s bad about any of these guys? We have the World Heavyweight Champion...a world-renowned Experts competitor...the company’s longest reigning champion...a veteran of the ring...and a man who has exploded onto the stage from relative obscurity? Why drag them down into the mud that, frankly, most of them will do to me?
What does Bailey’s family problems have to do with the match?
What does Saint’s failings on OverDrive have to do with an Asylum match?
What does Callahan’s misogyny and bizarre crushes have to do with a chamber match?
What does Atken’s short resume have to do with him being here?
What does Rebel’s age have to do with getting the job done?
No, they’ve all earned a right to be here. They’ve all fought long and hard to be here. I don’t expect that same respect from all of them, but at the end of the day, here we are in the Asylum main event competing for the most coveted of titles. We’ve each come through different routes - Bailey comes in as defending champion, Saint the surprise entrant, Atken the underdog fighter, Callahan the dark horse favourite, Rebel the respected veteran. Each person has proven their worth. It’s the same with our whole careers. Even our whole lives. It didn’t matter where we started, or what the journey was like, it’s where we wanted to find ourselves. We didn’t grow with the sense that where we were was where we were going to be forever. We grew with the sense that where we were almost didn’t matter. Because we were becoming something greater. That’s what One Night is all about: Each of our quests to become something greater. [/color]
[Shane] What’s that going to look like? What’s Asylum got in store for it when each of that happens?
[Sally] A great one of any of us will certainly be a sight to see. But who would be a better sight to see than me at my greatest? Yes, they all have talent...but their greatness is still a level below the greatness that you’ve seen from me. I go into that ring and when I have a belt over my shoulder, the sparks are flying. You see fans sitting on the edge of their set, the matches being rated five out of five, and the ratings blasting through the roof! You see, me at my best leaves everyone for dead. And that’s my plan A: Go into that chamber and be my best. I will be better than those five other men. I will be faster and smarter and more resilient than those five men because I have to be. I have to be if I want to win and I have to be if I want to be the best. That’s the truth. There’s no if’s or but’s or plan B’s. Go out and be the best.
There might be people in this match that have more muscle than me. There might be people might be stronger than than me. There might be people more experienced than me than me. There’s people in this match that have got in on all of those things and more. But when we get in that chamber, one of two things are going to happen. Each of my opponents are going to get eliminated, or I’m gonna be carried out of that ring as close to ruined as I can get. It’s really that simple. That’s how bad I want this title again, Shane. That’s how bad.
There’s a moment pause, the determination and the focus on Sally is admirable. And, from the look of her face and the sound of her words, she means it. She lets off a slight nod, then turns to take in this peaceful, tranquil park. A stark reminder, again, about the carnage that awaits APW in just a few days. Before we fade out...
[Shane] It’s time, Sally.
Sally is quickly brought back to the moment, catches Shane’s comment, and then pushes herself off the bench. Time for what? Probably the next episode of Happy Endings...but that’s to come! After a moment more on the blank screen, there’s a slow fade out and then into...
Sally Talfourd
written across the screen, which in turn fades away as the episode comes to a close.
