Post by A.C. Smith on Dec 4, 2012 23:06:49 GMT -4
Our scene opens today with the pandemonium we all expect at this point in the year. We’re not in a bar room brawl, but a shopping mall, where hundreds of people are trying to go about their holiday shopping while acting like they’re the only ones in the store.
A logo on the wall shows we’re at a Macy’s, but despite the brand’s appeal as a classy establishment, the behavior we’re seeing is anything but. Forty-something mothers with babies in their shopping carts ram the metal objects into tight spaces, sometimes butting up against other carts, and those controlling the wheeled contraptions are oblivious to their children crying as they grab the last item on the closest shelf.
The camera zooms out, and we see three recognizable men standing by an empty white wall with their eyebrows halfway up their foreheads in shock. The man in the middle is A.C. Smith, and he’s flanked by his two closest confidants, Bobby the Bavarian Man-Bitch to our left and Stevie the Slovakian Slobberknocker on the right.
They all have shopping carts in front of them, but they’re all empty, and the three men appear lost in thought. Finally, Smith opens his mouth and speaks above the volume of the elevator music we hear in the background.
A.C.: “So where exactly do we start?”
Stevie: “Yeah, Bobby. It was YOUR idea to come here.”
Bobby: “How was I supposed to know that everyone and their mother would be here acting like maniacs? Figured this’d be a nice, quick trip.”
As Bobby finishes his sentence, we see a well-dressed store employee, wearing a black button-down, a matching tie, and a name tag that reads, ‘Carl,’ step into the frame. Smiling, he approaches our favorite trio.
Carl: “Welcome to Macy’s! Can I help you find something?”
Bobby: “Actually, yes, you CAN help me with something.”
A.C.: (with a knowing smile) “Oh, here we go.”
Bobby: “Why is it that one display says ‘Happy Hannukah,’ another says, ‘Happy Holidays,’ but NOTHING says ‘Merry Christmas?’”
Carl: (visibly taken aback) “Well, sir, we embrace all faiths here at Macy’s.”
Bobby: “Except the Christians and Catholics who built this country and celebrated Christmas!”
Stevie: (whispering to A.C.) “Quick, let’s bail.”
Smith nods, and as Bobby continues his pro-Christmas, anti-PC rant, he and Stevie grab their carts and slip away from the argument. They stop about thirty yards away, still on the wall but now in front of a display advertising Christmas wreaths.
Stevie: “Phew. Close one…HEY!”
The camera jerks left, and suddenly, we see a short, stout woman with a shopping cart barge into the frame. In fact, she steers her cart directly into Stevie’s side, and we see a front wheel actually come to a stop on Stevie’s right foot.
Stevie: “Lady, what do you think you’re doing?”
Woman: “Get out of my way! You’re blocking the wreaths!”
Stevie: “You want one? Here, catch!”
In one fluid, athletic motion, Stevie grabs a wreath with his right arm and wings it at the woman. However, since the 6’6” Stevie towers over his target, it goes clear over the woman’s frizzy black hair.
Woman: “SECURITY!!!”
Taking the hint, Smith jogs out of the frame once again, this time ducking into the store’s photo department, one of the few parts of Macy’s that isn’t jam-packed. Far from it, in fact, as there isn’t even an employee manning the booth, which doesn’t get much business with the advances in digital camera technology.
Smith sits on a plush red couch and shakes his head while rent-a-cops bumble around looking for Stevie and the angry woman who drove her cart into him. Once the coast clears, A.C. sits up a bit straighter, turns his shoulders towards the camera in his presence, and opens his mouth to speak.
A.C.: “Good lord. Should’ve just done all our shopping online like we always do, but it’s not like we’ve gotta travel for Overdrive this week, so we had the time. It’s nice to be able to have Overdrive on my home turf as we get closer to Christmas Chaos, and with APW in the New York City area for the next couple of weeks, you’ll see the best fans in the world at their most vocal whenever I walk down the aisle.
I’ve finally got some momentum on my side after last week. John Dionysus gave me a fight, like I knew he would. But as I said all week long leading up to the match, he’d been conditioned to lose, the ‘lumberjack’ syndrome, he called it. He did the same thing he’d been doing for weeks while expecting a different result, and in the most predictable outcome you can imagine, he didn’t get it.
Contrary to what some people believe, I know my stuff when it comes to this business. I’ve been around for over 10 years, and at times I can see situations unfolding before they actually happen. When you do things for that long, it just comes naturally. It’s how I’ve been so successful in my career, it’s how I’ll continue to be successful in Action Packed Wrestling going forward, and that’s a lesson my opponent this week, Mac Bane, should take to heart.”
We knew Mac Bane’s name was going to come up. It was just a matter of when. Now that Smith’s gotten that out of the way, he swipes part of his dark brown hair off of his forehead and refocuses his eyes on the camera.
A.C.: “First of all, credit to him and his buddies for getting drafted to Overdrive. Meltdown’s provided Action Packed Wrestling with a lot of talent, and Monday nights have become really entertaining with all the young guys scratching and clawing their way to the top. To get noticed and to move to the flagship brand as quickly as they did deserves a tip of the cap.
I never had to do that when I signed with Action Packed Wrestling in April. Word was that the way I came in rubbed some people the wrong way. But once I showed up and proved that, after a decade of kicking ass and taking names, I still had what it takes to succeed, those naysayers went away for a while. They stayed quiet when I beat Biggs, C.J. Gates, John Dionysus, and Keaton Saint, and while they’ve been looking and praying for an opportunity to resurface, I haven’t given it to them, and I never will.
Contrary to what my opponent last week had to say about my first eight months or so in APW, my time here has been far from average. I’ve emerged as one of the few guys here that the fans can get behind with all their hearts, and as a guy who’s always going to leave everything he has in the ring every time he goes out to wrestle. I’m proud of what I’ve done so far, I’m proud of how I’ve done it, and I have no doubt in my mind that it’s going to lead to more success. And that includes this Thursday’s matchup at the Coliseum.
Mac Bane’s a hot shot who’s bound to have plenty of success here, especially if he and his buddies get some momentum in the tag team ranks. But this Thursday night, in my backyard, with my fans hanging from the rafters, he’s going to be up against it. He’s not tested in singles competition on this brand yet, and his boys won’t be anywhere close by to help him when I take the upper hand.
When you’re down, in an unfriendly environment, against someone miles better than anyone you’ve ever beaten before, it’s a daunting task. But hey, some lessons are best learned the hard way, I suppose.”
Smith allows himself a slight chuckle and a shrug of his broad shoulders before moving on.
A.C.: “Make no mistake, I’m not disrespecting anything Mac Bane has done or will do when I say what I say. But unlike plenty of people Mac Bane will encounter here in Action Packed Wrestling, I don’t deal in lies, half-truths, and rhetorical garbage. To some, that’s what makes the world go round, and some of those people have had plenty of success here. But that’s not my game. Never has been, never will be, and while it may wind up working against me sometimes, I don’t regret it for a second.
But last week, truth be told, Mac Bane got his ass kicked by Evan Harrison and Delikado. Maybe Bane does have a bright future in front of him, but he’s got a lot of explaining to do after last week. The Sons of the South didn’t just lose that tag match. They got, to quote the ever-classic Nickelodeon sitcom ‘Salute Your Shorts,’ roasted, toasted, and burnt to a crisp.
I’ve been stabbed and shot at in the line of duty as a police officer. I’ve had an SUV driven by an ex-love interest try and kill me in a parking lot. I’ve had over 2,000 stitches all over my body, and I’ve taken beatings from New York to New Delhi and back again. But I never wavered in how I do business, how I conduct myself, and how resilient I can be when all the chips are on the line. I simply won’t allow myself to function any other way.
Mac Bane? Well, he’s a largely-unknown quantity in that regard. He could be like so many other fine talents that have passed through. They come in, win a couple of matches, but get hit in the teeth, never recover, and leave APW with their tails between their legs just as quickly as they came. It’s like Mike Tyson once said. Everyone’s got a plan until they get hit.
What’s his, and what happens when I inevitably catch him with a clean shot?”
As Smith lets his two-part question resonate around the empty room, we hear background noise escalate off-screen. A spraying noise is heard, as is a security guard yelling, “We need more backup over here!”
Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, Smith turns back towards us.
A.C.: “It’s no secret what I’m going to do this Thursday night. I’m going to walk down the aisle as the crowd of the best fans on God’s green earth cheer for me. I’m going to wrestle my ass off against Mac Bane, using the crowd as my motivation and my 10-plus years of experience as preparation. And when the dust settles and the final bell rings, it’s going to be the hometown boy, the Big Apple Asskicker, A.C. Smith, getting his hand raised as those fans keep cheering.
Nights like Thursday night are why I do what I do, even though I don’t need to anymore. I don’t wrestle for the money, I’ve got plenty of that. I don’t need the fame, that’s just not who I am. But the rush of going out there, in front of a home crowd that’s seen me win some of the biggest matches of my career? THAT gets me going. THAT is what gets me fired up at an age when plenty of former wrestlers are doing the autograph circuit. And THAT’S what’s going to make the difference.
I won my most recent world title last fall in New York City. I ended Mark Cross’s wrestling career in New York City at one of the AWA’s biggest events, WrestleFest 2007 in Madison Square Garden, after he made the mistake of crossing me to try to further his career. This area, and the atmosphere it brings to big matches, brings out the best in me. And this Thursday night on Overdrive, Mac Bane will find that out first-hand.”
A rent-a-cop appears in the background.
RAC: “Hey, you A.C. Smith?!”
A.C.: “Who wants to know?”
RAC: “Your buddy’s OK.”
A.C.: “What happened?”
RAC: “The bitch who almost ran him over with the cart sprayed him with mace.”
It takes all he’s got for Smith not to burst out laughing at the thought of the 6’6” Stevie losing a fight to a little old lady. A broad smile comes onto his face, but largely, the stifling of the laugh is successful.
A.C.: “Where is he now?”
RAC: “In the bathroom washing his eyes out. Your other pal’s in there with him.”
A.C.: “God, the holidays bring out the worst in people. Thanks for your help.”
Smith walks away from the camera and out of the room. He pats the rent-a-cop on his shoulder as he walks by, and our scene fades to black.
A logo on the wall shows we’re at a Macy’s, but despite the brand’s appeal as a classy establishment, the behavior we’re seeing is anything but. Forty-something mothers with babies in their shopping carts ram the metal objects into tight spaces, sometimes butting up against other carts, and those controlling the wheeled contraptions are oblivious to their children crying as they grab the last item on the closest shelf.
The camera zooms out, and we see three recognizable men standing by an empty white wall with their eyebrows halfway up their foreheads in shock. The man in the middle is A.C. Smith, and he’s flanked by his two closest confidants, Bobby the Bavarian Man-Bitch to our left and Stevie the Slovakian Slobberknocker on the right.
They all have shopping carts in front of them, but they’re all empty, and the three men appear lost in thought. Finally, Smith opens his mouth and speaks above the volume of the elevator music we hear in the background.
A.C.: “So where exactly do we start?”
Stevie: “Yeah, Bobby. It was YOUR idea to come here.”
Bobby: “How was I supposed to know that everyone and their mother would be here acting like maniacs? Figured this’d be a nice, quick trip.”
As Bobby finishes his sentence, we see a well-dressed store employee, wearing a black button-down, a matching tie, and a name tag that reads, ‘Carl,’ step into the frame. Smiling, he approaches our favorite trio.
Carl: “Welcome to Macy’s! Can I help you find something?”
Bobby: “Actually, yes, you CAN help me with something.”
A.C.: (with a knowing smile) “Oh, here we go.”
Bobby: “Why is it that one display says ‘Happy Hannukah,’ another says, ‘Happy Holidays,’ but NOTHING says ‘Merry Christmas?’”
Carl: (visibly taken aback) “Well, sir, we embrace all faiths here at Macy’s.”
Bobby: “Except the Christians and Catholics who built this country and celebrated Christmas!”
Stevie: (whispering to A.C.) “Quick, let’s bail.”
Smith nods, and as Bobby continues his pro-Christmas, anti-PC rant, he and Stevie grab their carts and slip away from the argument. They stop about thirty yards away, still on the wall but now in front of a display advertising Christmas wreaths.
Stevie: “Phew. Close one…HEY!”
The camera jerks left, and suddenly, we see a short, stout woman with a shopping cart barge into the frame. In fact, she steers her cart directly into Stevie’s side, and we see a front wheel actually come to a stop on Stevie’s right foot.
Stevie: “Lady, what do you think you’re doing?”
Woman: “Get out of my way! You’re blocking the wreaths!”
Stevie: “You want one? Here, catch!”
In one fluid, athletic motion, Stevie grabs a wreath with his right arm and wings it at the woman. However, since the 6’6” Stevie towers over his target, it goes clear over the woman’s frizzy black hair.
Woman: “SECURITY!!!”
Taking the hint, Smith jogs out of the frame once again, this time ducking into the store’s photo department, one of the few parts of Macy’s that isn’t jam-packed. Far from it, in fact, as there isn’t even an employee manning the booth, which doesn’t get much business with the advances in digital camera technology.
Smith sits on a plush red couch and shakes his head while rent-a-cops bumble around looking for Stevie and the angry woman who drove her cart into him. Once the coast clears, A.C. sits up a bit straighter, turns his shoulders towards the camera in his presence, and opens his mouth to speak.
A.C.: “Good lord. Should’ve just done all our shopping online like we always do, but it’s not like we’ve gotta travel for Overdrive this week, so we had the time. It’s nice to be able to have Overdrive on my home turf as we get closer to Christmas Chaos, and with APW in the New York City area for the next couple of weeks, you’ll see the best fans in the world at their most vocal whenever I walk down the aisle.
I’ve finally got some momentum on my side after last week. John Dionysus gave me a fight, like I knew he would. But as I said all week long leading up to the match, he’d been conditioned to lose, the ‘lumberjack’ syndrome, he called it. He did the same thing he’d been doing for weeks while expecting a different result, and in the most predictable outcome you can imagine, he didn’t get it.
Contrary to what some people believe, I know my stuff when it comes to this business. I’ve been around for over 10 years, and at times I can see situations unfolding before they actually happen. When you do things for that long, it just comes naturally. It’s how I’ve been so successful in my career, it’s how I’ll continue to be successful in Action Packed Wrestling going forward, and that’s a lesson my opponent this week, Mac Bane, should take to heart.”
We knew Mac Bane’s name was going to come up. It was just a matter of when. Now that Smith’s gotten that out of the way, he swipes part of his dark brown hair off of his forehead and refocuses his eyes on the camera.
A.C.: “First of all, credit to him and his buddies for getting drafted to Overdrive. Meltdown’s provided Action Packed Wrestling with a lot of talent, and Monday nights have become really entertaining with all the young guys scratching and clawing their way to the top. To get noticed and to move to the flagship brand as quickly as they did deserves a tip of the cap.
I never had to do that when I signed with Action Packed Wrestling in April. Word was that the way I came in rubbed some people the wrong way. But once I showed up and proved that, after a decade of kicking ass and taking names, I still had what it takes to succeed, those naysayers went away for a while. They stayed quiet when I beat Biggs, C.J. Gates, John Dionysus, and Keaton Saint, and while they’ve been looking and praying for an opportunity to resurface, I haven’t given it to them, and I never will.
Contrary to what my opponent last week had to say about my first eight months or so in APW, my time here has been far from average. I’ve emerged as one of the few guys here that the fans can get behind with all their hearts, and as a guy who’s always going to leave everything he has in the ring every time he goes out to wrestle. I’m proud of what I’ve done so far, I’m proud of how I’ve done it, and I have no doubt in my mind that it’s going to lead to more success. And that includes this Thursday’s matchup at the Coliseum.
Mac Bane’s a hot shot who’s bound to have plenty of success here, especially if he and his buddies get some momentum in the tag team ranks. But this Thursday night, in my backyard, with my fans hanging from the rafters, he’s going to be up against it. He’s not tested in singles competition on this brand yet, and his boys won’t be anywhere close by to help him when I take the upper hand.
When you’re down, in an unfriendly environment, against someone miles better than anyone you’ve ever beaten before, it’s a daunting task. But hey, some lessons are best learned the hard way, I suppose.”
Smith allows himself a slight chuckle and a shrug of his broad shoulders before moving on.
A.C.: “Make no mistake, I’m not disrespecting anything Mac Bane has done or will do when I say what I say. But unlike plenty of people Mac Bane will encounter here in Action Packed Wrestling, I don’t deal in lies, half-truths, and rhetorical garbage. To some, that’s what makes the world go round, and some of those people have had plenty of success here. But that’s not my game. Never has been, never will be, and while it may wind up working against me sometimes, I don’t regret it for a second.
But last week, truth be told, Mac Bane got his ass kicked by Evan Harrison and Delikado. Maybe Bane does have a bright future in front of him, but he’s got a lot of explaining to do after last week. The Sons of the South didn’t just lose that tag match. They got, to quote the ever-classic Nickelodeon sitcom ‘Salute Your Shorts,’ roasted, toasted, and burnt to a crisp.
I’ve been stabbed and shot at in the line of duty as a police officer. I’ve had an SUV driven by an ex-love interest try and kill me in a parking lot. I’ve had over 2,000 stitches all over my body, and I’ve taken beatings from New York to New Delhi and back again. But I never wavered in how I do business, how I conduct myself, and how resilient I can be when all the chips are on the line. I simply won’t allow myself to function any other way.
Mac Bane? Well, he’s a largely-unknown quantity in that regard. He could be like so many other fine talents that have passed through. They come in, win a couple of matches, but get hit in the teeth, never recover, and leave APW with their tails between their legs just as quickly as they came. It’s like Mike Tyson once said. Everyone’s got a plan until they get hit.
What’s his, and what happens when I inevitably catch him with a clean shot?”
As Smith lets his two-part question resonate around the empty room, we hear background noise escalate off-screen. A spraying noise is heard, as is a security guard yelling, “We need more backup over here!”
Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, Smith turns back towards us.
A.C.: “It’s no secret what I’m going to do this Thursday night. I’m going to walk down the aisle as the crowd of the best fans on God’s green earth cheer for me. I’m going to wrestle my ass off against Mac Bane, using the crowd as my motivation and my 10-plus years of experience as preparation. And when the dust settles and the final bell rings, it’s going to be the hometown boy, the Big Apple Asskicker, A.C. Smith, getting his hand raised as those fans keep cheering.
Nights like Thursday night are why I do what I do, even though I don’t need to anymore. I don’t wrestle for the money, I’ve got plenty of that. I don’t need the fame, that’s just not who I am. But the rush of going out there, in front of a home crowd that’s seen me win some of the biggest matches of my career? THAT gets me going. THAT is what gets me fired up at an age when plenty of former wrestlers are doing the autograph circuit. And THAT’S what’s going to make the difference.
I won my most recent world title last fall in New York City. I ended Mark Cross’s wrestling career in New York City at one of the AWA’s biggest events, WrestleFest 2007 in Madison Square Garden, after he made the mistake of crossing me to try to further his career. This area, and the atmosphere it brings to big matches, brings out the best in me. And this Thursday night on Overdrive, Mac Bane will find that out first-hand.”
A rent-a-cop appears in the background.
RAC: “Hey, you A.C. Smith?!”
A.C.: “Who wants to know?”
RAC: “Your buddy’s OK.”
A.C.: “What happened?”
RAC: “The bitch who almost ran him over with the cart sprayed him with mace.”
It takes all he’s got for Smith not to burst out laughing at the thought of the 6’6” Stevie losing a fight to a little old lady. A broad smile comes onto his face, but largely, the stifling of the laugh is successful.
A.C.: “Where is he now?”
RAC: “In the bathroom washing his eyes out. Your other pal’s in there with him.”
A.C.: “God, the holidays bring out the worst in people. Thanks for your help.”
Smith walks away from the camera and out of the room. He pats the rent-a-cop on his shoulder as he walks by, and our scene fades to black.
