Post by SalTal on Nov 22, 2012 2:29:19 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 the World Heavyweight Champion. Sally, looking as glamourous as ever strolls with one of those wheelie suitcases pulled behind her and a satchel bag hanging over her shoulder. She walks towards the camera, down the aisle of a hundred other bustling people. She’s just stepped foot of the airplane, here in ..., and is ready to take this city, like Lexington, by storm with the new era of Asylum wrestling. But before she can even get to Shane to introduce herself, a flock of reporters rush her, shoving microphones and flashing cameras and all sorts of ... reporter stuff at her.
[Reporter] Sally! Sally! Can you...
[Other Reporter] Ms. Talfourd! Tell us about...
In the cacophony of attention, questions, and interest, Sally has to hold up a free hand to pause it all. When they are all obedient, quiet, attentive little journalists then she gestures to the one nearest to her, calling on her question without calling on him.
[Reporter] Sally! Atken won the title shot last week; what are your thoughts?
[Sally] My thoughts? I think it’s wonderful! He won a match, he bettered a whole bunch of others, he’s the winner of the match. It’s a new match-up between us, leaving the chamber match aside. And if this brings out a serious side to Atken, then all the better.
[Other Reporter] Ms. Talfourd! Last week you spoke about forming up some new group to take over Asylum...
[Sally] It wasn’t exactly to “take over” Asylum, but continue.
[Other Reporter] ...well, there were reports through the week that you met with Chris Strike not long after the announcement was made. Care to comment?
[Sally] I do not care to comment. All you have to...*Sally has to talk a bit louder over all the mumbling and wondering*[/b]...all you have to do is watch Asylum this week and you will get the answers that you want. [/color]
[Different Reporter] What are your plans? Are you really trying to take over Asylum?
[Sally] Look, I never said I was taking over Asylum. I’ve only ever said I want to make Asylum better. What I’m doing is bringing together the best that the show has to offer to make sure that Asylum heads in the right direction. We will be giving everyone on Asylum something to work towards, some people to look up to. And the fans? Well, they will be amply rewarded, trust me.
[Another Reporter] Is your partner this week part of your plans?
[Sally] Look, I’m neither going to confirm or deny who is in or out of the group right now. But I can say that I understand Bailey isn’t feeling up to his best at the moment, and I’m sure he has lots of things to be worrying about other than what I’m up to.
There’s a rush to ask another question, but Sally holds up her hand again, then drops her shoulders and starts to plough through the deep crowd that’s formed around her. She’s the interest of the wrestling world this week. If winning the World Heavyweight Championship wasn’t world-shaking enough, that announcement she finished up with on Asylum really woke the wrestling world up. As she gets out of the throng, she finds Shane and they make a beeline to get out of the airport.
[Sally] Wow, I guess people are interested in what I’ve got to say again, huh?
The scene fades out as Sally throws that comment out there. I guess she’s not a boring champion, right? Anyway, we hold, and then come back to a much more demure, calm, and placid scene. Though, given that we’re in Kentucky, that could be just about anywhere. Let’s get specific: We’re here in the Louisville Waterfront Park. Sally, dresses in a nice, pristine white overcoat, has her hands stuffed in her pockets as the cold has rolled into town. Though, with APW rolling in on the other front, things won’t stay cold for long!
[Sally] To think that all of this was just a baron wasteland. Just an empty lot of waste and trash and emptiness. Now, it’s a pretty awesome park. Like, with trees and grass and...stuff. It’s amazing how things can turn around, yeah?
The camera turns from Sally to take in the scene. It’s true: The Park used to be just an empty lot. Now, it’s actually a pretty enough place that you’d want to go! We come back to Sally, and the two keep walking forward.
[Sally] Progress, Shane. This is progress. It once was horrible, and now it’s good. And soon? Soon it will be great. When all the last details fall into place, it will be great. Something like this, it’s not done by one person. It’s a team effort. A group thing. A collective decision. A decision made by enough people to get better. And that’s what I’m starting with Asylum. But, I don’t want Asylum to settle on the good. I want Asylum to settle on the greatest.
Sally and Shane come to a stop, setting the backdrop for the rest of the episode as our megastar stops with the city skyline running behind her. Sally takes a seat down on the grass, shedding her jacket to look out over the city for the moment. Then, as Shane breaks the silence, she looks over her shoulder, back to the camera with all the seriousness of a world heavyweight champion.
[Shane] Well, greatness should be something easy to achieve with your main event match this week, right?
[Sally] It’s achievable, but it won’t just be me. You see, I’ve got Mr. Bailey with me. And while he was the champion before me, there’s a reason he lost the belt. It’s not because he’s bad. If he was bad, he wouldn’t have lost it. He lost it because he wasn’t great. He wasn’t at the level that others were. Whether he slipped or whether he was never there in the first place, it doesn’t matter. He lost it to someone who is able to take it to the next level, and isn’t afraid to - or left wondering if she can - do it.
[Shane] I’m guessing you don’t want to partner with him then?
[Sally] Are you kidding? Of course I do! You see, in Bailey is that drive. That something. That desire to be better than the best that surround him. I’ve been up against him and...and he’s got what it takes to be great. To be on the level that I and people like me want to put Asylum on. Bailey has it in him, but he needs to bring it out.
[Shane] How does one do that?
[Sally] Well Shane, one watches. One learns. One strives. This match, Bailey and I are going to work as a team. We’re going to work with one-another, not against. It’s a give and take relationship tonight, but Bailey should do more taking. He should watch me, learn from me, take the experience from me. You know, leading up to Shockwave, I was trying to get something out of him that was just waiting to burst out. And I was ready to do anything it took to get him to step up to another level. Even if it meant taking his belt. And now that I have it...I want to see him fight to get it back.
[Shane] And he’ll do that this week?
[Sally] Of course he will! Reginald called him boring. He got looked over for his rematch. And now he has to be the under-name to the champion in the main event? You’re damn right he’s going to step it up a level this week! He is going to fight hard. Harder than any of us have. And he’s going to learn more, more than he ever knew before. And, by the end of it all, he’s going to be just about ready to take Asylum in the direction we want it to go.
[Shane] So Bailey...he’s in your group?
[Sally] I didn’t say that.
Sally turns back to look over the park and the city. The sign of renewal, of a better future, of progress.
[Sally] What I will say is that Bailey and I are fighting the same fight as my “group” as you put it. We’re fighting to make Asylum better, not worse. Bailey is taking it to Callahan - a man that epitomizes a past where we should be walking away from. And me? I’m taking the fight to Atken - the man that represents a wrong...completely wrong future. One is a direction to a much maligned, much feared future. The other is a direction backwards. It’s like watching that two-fronted horse from Doctor Dolittle. You know, where the horse has two fronts, attached at the middle, and no behind. They are both pulling in different directions, and Asylum is in the middle of these two going no where because they can’t decide which way is the right way.
[Shane] And you know which was is the right way?
[Sally] Of course I do, Shane. I know that the right way is forward, not backwards. That to be the best, we all have to be the best. And if you can’t be the best...well...Meltdown always has room for more. But that doesn’t mean everyone gets a lead and everyone gets a say. Take, for instance, this week. Callahan thinks he knows what to do, so he will lead. And then Atken...Atken thinks because he’s on the best purple patch of his life that he knows what to do, so he will lead. But neither of them will take the time to listen and talk, and neither of them are prepared to even think about following the other, such are their respective egos.
Then you look and me and Bailey. We know when is the time to follow and when is the time to lead. I know that my experience and my knowledge is going to help us greatly in this match. But I also know that Bailey and his strength and his youth is going to play a big part in getting a win for us too. I know that Bailey can do things I can’t, and he knows that I can do things he can’t. We respect each other for our strengths and, yes, for our weaknesses. But we try to cover each other’s over, rather than trying to expose each other to prove that, yeah, one of us is the better.
[Shane] But at the end of the day, one of you two is better than the other.
[Sally] What do you mean?
[Shane] Well, you’re walking out of there with the world title around your waits, and Bailey isn’. Isn’t that...
Sally holds up a hand, then has to shoot a look back at her cameraman. It’s a “Why would you say that?” kind of look. The kind of look that really makes you wonder where the idea even came from because you know you’re about to be slammed by logic and reason.
[Sally] I’m stopping you right there Shane. You see, yeah, I might be better than Bailey. But the fact remains that we’re 1-for-1 when it comes to the big matches, and neither of us has the clean win. So there is that big question mark over us. But anyway, yes, I am walking out the world heavyweight champion. But that doesn’t hurt Bailey and my relationship. It makes it stronger. Bailey is young and tough and looking for his place again. He wants to show his best to the wrestling world. He want to prove himself. Callahan? He will want the world to realise that Atken was a fluke. Atken? He will want the world to think that he is still bette than all those chumps he beat out last Asylum, including Callahan. They aren’t working together; they’re working against each other. They couldn’t be more opposite unless they were polar opposites in a magnet.
Science reference for the win! Anyway, Sally turns back to scan the park and the skyline, taking it all in. The wind has picked up, forcing her to tuck her jacket in tight. The lateness of the day, the stiffness of the breeze, and we can just start to make out the faint whisper of the mist that comes with a warm breath. Despite how cold it is on the outside, Sally still burns on the inside. This close to change...to Asylum...to history. The fire in her isn’t about to die down soon.
[Sally] Change is about to come to Asylum. Like I said it started last week when I dominated Julius, I’m going to continue it with Bailey this week when we dominate Callahan and Atken. They can’t work together and they aren’t at our level. Those two things immediately disqualify them from being serious contenders. Atken is a flash in the pan as much as Callahan was a flash from earlier this year. This week, I’m making the message loud and clear: Asylum can be a better place and it will be if people start to listen to me, work with me, and follow me. Not to some deranged egotistical institute that my opponents want to take people to, but to a place of excellence.
I want to make this a place of excellence, not fight against it like Callahan and Atken. They want to stop me. I can’t be stopped. No matter whether I win or lose this match (though, I’ll be winning it if you don’t mind), my mission...my quest, it can’t be stopped. Asylum is on the rise. Asylum is getting better. Asylum is about to take off and dominate APW. Bailey and I will be continuing this revolution, but me and the group that I am assembling...we will continue this change again, and again, and again. Week after week, we are going to change Asylum bit by bit. Last week, it was Julius. This week, we’re taking it to Callahan and Atken. One by one, we’re changing Asylum. And it changes this week.
Sally looks away from the camera for the final time this episode, looking out over the park. Over the change and the progress. There’s a slight hold, and then 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 the World Heavyweight Champion. Sally, looking as glamourous as ever strolls with one of those wheelie suitcases pulled behind her and a satchel bag hanging over her shoulder. She walks towards the camera, down the aisle of a hundred other bustling people. She’s just stepped foot of the airplane, here in ..., and is ready to take this city, like Lexington, by storm with the new era of Asylum wrestling. But before she can even get to Shane to introduce herself, a flock of reporters rush her, shoving microphones and flashing cameras and all sorts of ... reporter stuff at her.
[Reporter] Sally! Sally! Can you...
[Other Reporter] Ms. Talfourd! Tell us about...
In the cacophony of attention, questions, and interest, Sally has to hold up a free hand to pause it all. When they are all obedient, quiet, attentive little journalists then she gestures to the one nearest to her, calling on her question without calling on him.
[Reporter] Sally! Atken won the title shot last week; what are your thoughts?
[Sally] My thoughts? I think it’s wonderful! He won a match, he bettered a whole bunch of others, he’s the winner of the match. It’s a new match-up between us, leaving the chamber match aside. And if this brings out a serious side to Atken, then all the better.
[Other Reporter] Ms. Talfourd! Last week you spoke about forming up some new group to take over Asylum...
[Sally] It wasn’t exactly to “take over” Asylum, but continue.
[Other Reporter] ...well, there were reports through the week that you met with Chris Strike not long after the announcement was made. Care to comment?
[Sally] I do not care to comment. All you have to...*Sally has to talk a bit louder over all the mumbling and wondering*[/b]...all you have to do is watch Asylum this week and you will get the answers that you want. [/color]
[Different Reporter] What are your plans? Are you really trying to take over Asylum?
[Sally] Look, I never said I was taking over Asylum. I’ve only ever said I want to make Asylum better. What I’m doing is bringing together the best that the show has to offer to make sure that Asylum heads in the right direction. We will be giving everyone on Asylum something to work towards, some people to look up to. And the fans? Well, they will be amply rewarded, trust me.
[Another Reporter] Is your partner this week part of your plans?
[Sally] Look, I’m neither going to confirm or deny who is in or out of the group right now. But I can say that I understand Bailey isn’t feeling up to his best at the moment, and I’m sure he has lots of things to be worrying about other than what I’m up to.
There’s a rush to ask another question, but Sally holds up her hand again, then drops her shoulders and starts to plough through the deep crowd that’s formed around her. She’s the interest of the wrestling world this week. If winning the World Heavyweight Championship wasn’t world-shaking enough, that announcement she finished up with on Asylum really woke the wrestling world up. As she gets out of the throng, she finds Shane and they make a beeline to get out of the airport.
[Sally] Wow, I guess people are interested in what I’ve got to say again, huh?
The scene fades out as Sally throws that comment out there. I guess she’s not a boring champion, right? Anyway, we hold, and then come back to a much more demure, calm, and placid scene. Though, given that we’re in Kentucky, that could be just about anywhere. Let’s get specific: We’re here in the Louisville Waterfront Park. Sally, dresses in a nice, pristine white overcoat, has her hands stuffed in her pockets as the cold has rolled into town. Though, with APW rolling in on the other front, things won’t stay cold for long!
[Sally] To think that all of this was just a baron wasteland. Just an empty lot of waste and trash and emptiness. Now, it’s a pretty awesome park. Like, with trees and grass and...stuff. It’s amazing how things can turn around, yeah?
The camera turns from Sally to take in the scene. It’s true: The Park used to be just an empty lot. Now, it’s actually a pretty enough place that you’d want to go! We come back to Sally, and the two keep walking forward.
[Sally] Progress, Shane. This is progress. It once was horrible, and now it’s good. And soon? Soon it will be great. When all the last details fall into place, it will be great. Something like this, it’s not done by one person. It’s a team effort. A group thing. A collective decision. A decision made by enough people to get better. And that’s what I’m starting with Asylum. But, I don’t want Asylum to settle on the good. I want Asylum to settle on the greatest.
Sally and Shane come to a stop, setting the backdrop for the rest of the episode as our megastar stops with the city skyline running behind her. Sally takes a seat down on the grass, shedding her jacket to look out over the city for the moment. Then, as Shane breaks the silence, she looks over her shoulder, back to the camera with all the seriousness of a world heavyweight champion.
[Shane] Well, greatness should be something easy to achieve with your main event match this week, right?
[Sally] It’s achievable, but it won’t just be me. You see, I’ve got Mr. Bailey with me. And while he was the champion before me, there’s a reason he lost the belt. It’s not because he’s bad. If he was bad, he wouldn’t have lost it. He lost it because he wasn’t great. He wasn’t at the level that others were. Whether he slipped or whether he was never there in the first place, it doesn’t matter. He lost it to someone who is able to take it to the next level, and isn’t afraid to - or left wondering if she can - do it.
[Shane] I’m guessing you don’t want to partner with him then?
[Sally] Are you kidding? Of course I do! You see, in Bailey is that drive. That something. That desire to be better than the best that surround him. I’ve been up against him and...and he’s got what it takes to be great. To be on the level that I and people like me want to put Asylum on. Bailey has it in him, but he needs to bring it out.
[Shane] How does one do that?
[Sally] Well Shane, one watches. One learns. One strives. This match, Bailey and I are going to work as a team. We’re going to work with one-another, not against. It’s a give and take relationship tonight, but Bailey should do more taking. He should watch me, learn from me, take the experience from me. You know, leading up to Shockwave, I was trying to get something out of him that was just waiting to burst out. And I was ready to do anything it took to get him to step up to another level. Even if it meant taking his belt. And now that I have it...I want to see him fight to get it back.
[Shane] And he’ll do that this week?
[Sally] Of course he will! Reginald called him boring. He got looked over for his rematch. And now he has to be the under-name to the champion in the main event? You’re damn right he’s going to step it up a level this week! He is going to fight hard. Harder than any of us have. And he’s going to learn more, more than he ever knew before. And, by the end of it all, he’s going to be just about ready to take Asylum in the direction we want it to go.
[Shane] So Bailey...he’s in your group?
[Sally] I didn’t say that.
Sally turns back to look over the park and the city. The sign of renewal, of a better future, of progress.
[Sally] What I will say is that Bailey and I are fighting the same fight as my “group” as you put it. We’re fighting to make Asylum better, not worse. Bailey is taking it to Callahan - a man that epitomizes a past where we should be walking away from. And me? I’m taking the fight to Atken - the man that represents a wrong...completely wrong future. One is a direction to a much maligned, much feared future. The other is a direction backwards. It’s like watching that two-fronted horse from Doctor Dolittle. You know, where the horse has two fronts, attached at the middle, and no behind. They are both pulling in different directions, and Asylum is in the middle of these two going no where because they can’t decide which way is the right way.
[Shane] And you know which was is the right way?
[Sally] Of course I do, Shane. I know that the right way is forward, not backwards. That to be the best, we all have to be the best. And if you can’t be the best...well...Meltdown always has room for more. But that doesn’t mean everyone gets a lead and everyone gets a say. Take, for instance, this week. Callahan thinks he knows what to do, so he will lead. And then Atken...Atken thinks because he’s on the best purple patch of his life that he knows what to do, so he will lead. But neither of them will take the time to listen and talk, and neither of them are prepared to even think about following the other, such are their respective egos.
Then you look and me and Bailey. We know when is the time to follow and when is the time to lead. I know that my experience and my knowledge is going to help us greatly in this match. But I also know that Bailey and his strength and his youth is going to play a big part in getting a win for us too. I know that Bailey can do things I can’t, and he knows that I can do things he can’t. We respect each other for our strengths and, yes, for our weaknesses. But we try to cover each other’s over, rather than trying to expose each other to prove that, yeah, one of us is the better.
[Shane] But at the end of the day, one of you two is better than the other.
[Sally] What do you mean?
[Shane] Well, you’re walking out of there with the world title around your waits, and Bailey isn’. Isn’t that...
Sally holds up a hand, then has to shoot a look back at her cameraman. It’s a “Why would you say that?” kind of look. The kind of look that really makes you wonder where the idea even came from because you know you’re about to be slammed by logic and reason.
[Sally] I’m stopping you right there Shane. You see, yeah, I might be better than Bailey. But the fact remains that we’re 1-for-1 when it comes to the big matches, and neither of us has the clean win. So there is that big question mark over us. But anyway, yes, I am walking out the world heavyweight champion. But that doesn’t hurt Bailey and my relationship. It makes it stronger. Bailey is young and tough and looking for his place again. He wants to show his best to the wrestling world. He want to prove himself. Callahan? He will want the world to realise that Atken was a fluke. Atken? He will want the world to think that he is still bette than all those chumps he beat out last Asylum, including Callahan. They aren’t working together; they’re working against each other. They couldn’t be more opposite unless they were polar opposites in a magnet.
Science reference for the win! Anyway, Sally turns back to scan the park and the skyline, taking it all in. The wind has picked up, forcing her to tuck her jacket in tight. The lateness of the day, the stiffness of the breeze, and we can just start to make out the faint whisper of the mist that comes with a warm breath. Despite how cold it is on the outside, Sally still burns on the inside. This close to change...to Asylum...to history. The fire in her isn’t about to die down soon.
[Sally] Change is about to come to Asylum. Like I said it started last week when I dominated Julius, I’m going to continue it with Bailey this week when we dominate Callahan and Atken. They can’t work together and they aren’t at our level. Those two things immediately disqualify them from being serious contenders. Atken is a flash in the pan as much as Callahan was a flash from earlier this year. This week, I’m making the message loud and clear: Asylum can be a better place and it will be if people start to listen to me, work with me, and follow me. Not to some deranged egotistical institute that my opponents want to take people to, but to a place of excellence.
I want to make this a place of excellence, not fight against it like Callahan and Atken. They want to stop me. I can’t be stopped. No matter whether I win or lose this match (though, I’ll be winning it if you don’t mind), my mission...my quest, it can’t be stopped. Asylum is on the rise. Asylum is getting better. Asylum is about to take off and dominate APW. Bailey and I will be continuing this revolution, but me and the group that I am assembling...we will continue this change again, and again, and again. Week after week, we are going to change Asylum bit by bit. Last week, it was Julius. This week, we’re taking it to Callahan and Atken. One by one, we’re changing Asylum. And it changes this week.
Sally looks away from the camera for the final time this episode, looking out over the park. Over the change and the progress. There’s a slight hold, and then 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.
