Post by victor on Jun 2, 2008 17:05:01 GMT -4
The scene cuts to outside the stadium that Overdrive is going to be filmed this week and the fans are rabid as they have turned up several hours early just to see the stars as they arrive to the arena. That Team get hardcore heat and look to be thriving on it, though again from the ladies in the audience there are pockets of support, Sabur gets moos, Jason Royce gets...whatever Jason Royce gets.
Some time after the established stars arrive, there is a stirring among the crowd and the camera pans down the aisle to see just who is coming and it takes in the form of Victor Brander, one of the débutantes who has been given a berth in the Test for the Best tournament. It was obvious that his match was the wildcard match, so to speak, being as he was placed in the ring with fellow first-timer, Austin Daniels. As Victor comes closer, we can see that he is dressed in an APW shirt, jeans and he carries an APW branded sportsbag on his shoulder.
He reaches out to tag fans' hands as he walks between the guard barriers that have been set up at this part of the arena while they wait for the doors to open. He stops for a moment, spending time to talk to a couple of kids who have been sat there for three hours with their parents and have the remnants of a picnic scattered around them. He laughs, but is still being too far away to hear, and hands a bottle of water across to the mother before ruffling the kids' hair and moving on.
The camera pans to the door where Cindy Shannon and her own cameraman were taking a breather and as Cindy sees Victor, she obviously figures what the heck, she's out there, a star is out there, they might as well see if he has a few words to say. Victor shoots Cindy a wink as he sees she and the cameraman setting up and nods his head. He reaches where Cindy had been sitting and drops the sports bag, leaning against the wall for a moment and then shooting her a trademark self-assured smile and walking back out among the fans where they can hear what is going on.
Cindy rolls her eyes good naturedly and walks out, bringing the crowd and the folks watching this in, “I am Cindy Shannon and I am here with one of Test for the Best's wildcard entries, Victor Brander. A lot has been made of the fact that you and another virtual unknown have been put together and that one of you are guaranteed a berth at the Pay Per View.”
Victor nods his head, shaking Cindy's hand “A pleasure to meet you as always Cindy and I like an interviewer that cuts to the point. Yes, it looks like Austin Daniels or myself will be the relative unknown among the established stars when it comes to the Pay Per View but then that is smart booking, the fans will be sure to be hyped up over seeing how the new guy handles himself among the established stars that will be there and as far as whichever of us gets through is concerned, it is automatic hype from the fans, but that is looking too far forward for the moment, we still have to perform to get there.”
“It seems to me that this is a clash of styles, as such, we have someone who claims to be a hybrid wrestler who can hit a guy with any style, and someone who is a specialist not just in his field when it comes to submission wrestling, but someone who works specific areas of the body. Would you say that this is a case of the old breed meeting the new breed so to speak?”
“I'm only twenty four years of age, Cindy, that is hardly old.” Victor shot the camera a wink, “But seriously, in a way it is. We have someone who epitomises exactly what I was talking about in my promo before Mayhem, a guy that will throw himself through so many different aerial moves, a man that has high impact move after high impact move but doesn't trust any of the moves that most wrestlers would consider their one key move to get the job done. In the other corner is a man who has a set gameplan, who will go into the ring with the intention of breaking his opponent down through a progressed offence and then lock in the one key move that will finish the match for him. I am someone that does not need to rely upon luck when it comes to hitting a high impact or a high pressure move because by the time I am ready to lock them in, the opponent is not in the condition to escape. In other words, unlike my opponent, it is sad to say, I am a thinking wrestler.”
“That is quite a scathing attack considering the general image you put across.”
“I am truthful, Cindy, not prone to making exaggerations and this is a simple truth. Yes, I have no doubt that Austin Daniels is a talented athlete, let it not be said that I am underestimating my opponent in terms of sheer ability, but that is something that can not completely take the place of planning, of picking apart an opponent's weakness or in creating one in the first place. I am sure that people shall say that the fact that I have one overall gameplan, however many different ways I can apply it, makes me predictable and yes, people know that I am going for the Sharpshooter, that I am not someone who has three, four, five finishers, then a desperation finisher, and this on top of having other moves that, with the proper buildup, would mean the end of the match, but do you know what negates that? Well let me tell you, the bit that people forget in that theory is that I know this, is that I state explicitly that that is what I am going to do, and if I did this without having a way to work against that, then I would be a fool. Now considering that I am a student of the sport, a fool is the last thing that I am.”
“Austin made the point that he can match any style, that he can bring it technically, that he can brawl and that he can fly.”
“That's not quite true, Cindy, what Austin can do is imitate many styles, he can do enough to pass himself off as belonging to that particular school, and against most wrestlers, that will work just fine. What Austin is coming up against in me, however, is someone that is a master of his craft. When you try to fit yourself to so many different styles, you cannot master one, to fit other ways of fighting in, you have to sacrifice something that makes you strong elsewhere and that is where my natural advantage is. I do not split my time in training between flips, brawling and locking on holds or damaging the places that those holds affect, I focus solely upon what I know will win me matches. I admit that if it goes into other areas, I am a little out of my comfort zone, other than a basic background in kickboxing that gives me a few sharp kicks, I am not a brawler. If it is a matter of going to the air, I have nothing to offer, but that is where being a master of your style gives you the advantage, because you can force the opponent to fight your way and in this case, Austin is going to have to test his theory over being able to match me technically, I look forward to showing him just what I can do in that field. I am a student of this sport and a student of this one particular style within the sport, that is something that is important to me and I shall not let someone diminish that.”
Victor takes another bottle of water from his back and takes a sip, “I have also done research on my opponent's bio and I have to point something out right here and now. No one cares if you were trained by Buffalo Jim, The Bear, Papa Shango or Godfather. No one cares of he trains with Marcus Davies and the Cobra Kai gym. We are not going to see Buffalo Jim, Papa Shango, Godfather, Marcus Davies, Batista, John Cena or Doink the Clown in the ring, we are going to see Austin Daniels in the ring. In the same way that I could drop the names of the people that I have worked under for the past eight years, some of them legends of the sport, but we will not see those people in the ring, but Victor Brander. The card makes it clear, I am not fighting Godfather or any of the rest, I am not fighting Austin Daniels and every single person that trained him, it will be Victor Brander vs Austin Daniels and that is it. Cindy, when a man needs to drop names, that usually means that he is not quite so confident about his own skills. Again, I shall not underestimate my opponent, I am sure that I am in for a fight and this is my first test in an actual match away from training, so I am going to have to be sharp both physically and mentally. I am going to have to walk into the ring and show my opponent that it is not how many moves he can hit, but how effectively he hits them and that is a painful lesson that he will have to learn.”
“What about his claim that he has forgotten more moves than most people have ever learned?”
“That is yet another example that he is simply not a thinking wrestler. I have not forgotten a single move that I have learned, and that is because I have not learned how to hit a single move that does not add to my offence and to what I want to do in the match as a whole. Everything that I do in the ring has been thought out, analysed, weighed on its merits, and then I have worked on perfecting it not so that I can merely hit the move, but so that I can hit the move better than anyone else. Now you can say that you learn new moves all the time, that you have so many ways to hurt me, to win this match, and I will tell you that there is no one single move that you can hit to perfection, there is not one move that you can utilise to the best of your ability. It also means that there's ways out of that move because you cannot control. As I have already said, it is not how many different ways that you can hit an opponent that you should be concerned about, but how much you hurt that opponent every time you hit him. When I hit a backbreaker, any of my backbreakers, I drop the right part of the opponent's back over the right part of my knee to cause the maximum damage. The same goes with my shinbreaker, my German suplex, when I throw a kick, I won't be wasting energy but I will hit the right spots. This is what I get through not hitting just anything that comes to mind and it is something that will see me through many more wins than losses. I certainly expect that it shall see me through this match well enough.”
Victor gives a quiet chuckle as he takes another drink, “I also find it funny that Austin told me to polish up my skills when they have been polished and perfected long before I have come here. His assertions that he is great also do him no favours. I know that I have a match ahead of me and one that is going to push me, but my opponent acts as if he has already won the match and the moment that you slip into that frame of mind then you are in more trouble that you could imagine because that is when you slack up, that is when you get sloppy, that is when you let your opponent punish you. Everything about that man's promo spoke of someone that is not ready to face a wrestler at least as talented as him and indeed, someone who is better than him in certain areas. He has not entertained the thought that he may lose and so he has not thought of all the angles in which he needs to avoid in order to come up with the victory. I know where I am strong, I know where I am weak, I know what I have to do to avoid my opponents exploiting my weaknesses. Sun Tzu said something that has carried over two millennia and that is that to ensure victory, you must know your opponent and yourself. I have found everything that I can on my opponent, I have analysed it, I know how to work my gameplan, I know well enough where I am weak. I don't know what research he has done on me, but his arrogance is what is going to hurt him and badly in the long run.”
“You sound as if you are ready for this match.”
“I know I sound ready Cindy, but have a good look too.” Victor rips his shirt off and throws it into the crowd, showing his toned physique as he spreads his arms, “I did not spend eight years training, keeping myself away from the scene, to start my career with a loss, but then this isn't just for me.” Victor raises his voice to make sure that is is heard by the APW faithful, “This isn't about me, this is about you, this is about the A...P...W. This is about walking into the ring with the crowd behind me and giving them the best technical display that they have seen. This is about showing that wrestling isn't all about who can do the most flips and who can hit hardest with a chair, but about actual wrestling. This is about showing my passion for the sport, this company and these fans. And I am going to go in there and I will win, for these fans, for the sport and for the APW as a whole. I take one match at a time, so I am looking no further than tonight whatever the stakes may be. I am ready, I am focussed and Austin, there is no way that any flash is going to distract me from achieving my first win as an APW superstar. I am not bluffing, Austin, I very simply have the better hand and that is something that you are going to have to come to terms with, that is something that you can reflect upon when you have been locked in the Sharpshooter and given no choice at all but to tap out.”
Victor steps back and grabs his bag, “Austin Daniels, I am a nice guy. I am also a no flash kind of guy and when you step into the ring with me, you are not going to be able to rest, you are not going to be given the time or space to take this match away from the technical wrestling that I excel at, and when you are forced to wrestle my style, there will be no way out. This is a Test for the Best, this is something that will say that I am simply a better wrestler than you, so bring your aerial play, bring your brawling and please, test your technical game against mine, because to beat me, you are going to have to outwrestle me and that is never going to happen. It's as simple as that.”
Cindy watches as Victor flashes her another smile, turns and heads into the building, leaving the screaming of the fans behind him, “Victor Brander looks as if he is ready to go out there and fight, we shall see just how ready both he and our other new star, Austin Daniels, are tonight. This is Cindy Shannon and now we take you to a break.”
Fade to black.
Some time after the established stars arrive, there is a stirring among the crowd and the camera pans down the aisle to see just who is coming and it takes in the form of Victor Brander, one of the débutantes who has been given a berth in the Test for the Best tournament. It was obvious that his match was the wildcard match, so to speak, being as he was placed in the ring with fellow first-timer, Austin Daniels. As Victor comes closer, we can see that he is dressed in an APW shirt, jeans and he carries an APW branded sportsbag on his shoulder.
He reaches out to tag fans' hands as he walks between the guard barriers that have been set up at this part of the arena while they wait for the doors to open. He stops for a moment, spending time to talk to a couple of kids who have been sat there for three hours with their parents and have the remnants of a picnic scattered around them. He laughs, but is still being too far away to hear, and hands a bottle of water across to the mother before ruffling the kids' hair and moving on.
The camera pans to the door where Cindy Shannon and her own cameraman were taking a breather and as Cindy sees Victor, she obviously figures what the heck, she's out there, a star is out there, they might as well see if he has a few words to say. Victor shoots Cindy a wink as he sees she and the cameraman setting up and nods his head. He reaches where Cindy had been sitting and drops the sports bag, leaning against the wall for a moment and then shooting her a trademark self-assured smile and walking back out among the fans where they can hear what is going on.
Cindy rolls her eyes good naturedly and walks out, bringing the crowd and the folks watching this in, “I am Cindy Shannon and I am here with one of Test for the Best's wildcard entries, Victor Brander. A lot has been made of the fact that you and another virtual unknown have been put together and that one of you are guaranteed a berth at the Pay Per View.”
Victor nods his head, shaking Cindy's hand “A pleasure to meet you as always Cindy and I like an interviewer that cuts to the point. Yes, it looks like Austin Daniels or myself will be the relative unknown among the established stars when it comes to the Pay Per View but then that is smart booking, the fans will be sure to be hyped up over seeing how the new guy handles himself among the established stars that will be there and as far as whichever of us gets through is concerned, it is automatic hype from the fans, but that is looking too far forward for the moment, we still have to perform to get there.”
“It seems to me that this is a clash of styles, as such, we have someone who claims to be a hybrid wrestler who can hit a guy with any style, and someone who is a specialist not just in his field when it comes to submission wrestling, but someone who works specific areas of the body. Would you say that this is a case of the old breed meeting the new breed so to speak?”
“I'm only twenty four years of age, Cindy, that is hardly old.” Victor shot the camera a wink, “But seriously, in a way it is. We have someone who epitomises exactly what I was talking about in my promo before Mayhem, a guy that will throw himself through so many different aerial moves, a man that has high impact move after high impact move but doesn't trust any of the moves that most wrestlers would consider their one key move to get the job done. In the other corner is a man who has a set gameplan, who will go into the ring with the intention of breaking his opponent down through a progressed offence and then lock in the one key move that will finish the match for him. I am someone that does not need to rely upon luck when it comes to hitting a high impact or a high pressure move because by the time I am ready to lock them in, the opponent is not in the condition to escape. In other words, unlike my opponent, it is sad to say, I am a thinking wrestler.”
“That is quite a scathing attack considering the general image you put across.”
“I am truthful, Cindy, not prone to making exaggerations and this is a simple truth. Yes, I have no doubt that Austin Daniels is a talented athlete, let it not be said that I am underestimating my opponent in terms of sheer ability, but that is something that can not completely take the place of planning, of picking apart an opponent's weakness or in creating one in the first place. I am sure that people shall say that the fact that I have one overall gameplan, however many different ways I can apply it, makes me predictable and yes, people know that I am going for the Sharpshooter, that I am not someone who has three, four, five finishers, then a desperation finisher, and this on top of having other moves that, with the proper buildup, would mean the end of the match, but do you know what negates that? Well let me tell you, the bit that people forget in that theory is that I know this, is that I state explicitly that that is what I am going to do, and if I did this without having a way to work against that, then I would be a fool. Now considering that I am a student of the sport, a fool is the last thing that I am.”
“Austin made the point that he can match any style, that he can bring it technically, that he can brawl and that he can fly.”
“That's not quite true, Cindy, what Austin can do is imitate many styles, he can do enough to pass himself off as belonging to that particular school, and against most wrestlers, that will work just fine. What Austin is coming up against in me, however, is someone that is a master of his craft. When you try to fit yourself to so many different styles, you cannot master one, to fit other ways of fighting in, you have to sacrifice something that makes you strong elsewhere and that is where my natural advantage is. I do not split my time in training between flips, brawling and locking on holds or damaging the places that those holds affect, I focus solely upon what I know will win me matches. I admit that if it goes into other areas, I am a little out of my comfort zone, other than a basic background in kickboxing that gives me a few sharp kicks, I am not a brawler. If it is a matter of going to the air, I have nothing to offer, but that is where being a master of your style gives you the advantage, because you can force the opponent to fight your way and in this case, Austin is going to have to test his theory over being able to match me technically, I look forward to showing him just what I can do in that field. I am a student of this sport and a student of this one particular style within the sport, that is something that is important to me and I shall not let someone diminish that.”
Victor takes another bottle of water from his back and takes a sip, “I have also done research on my opponent's bio and I have to point something out right here and now. No one cares if you were trained by Buffalo Jim, The Bear, Papa Shango or Godfather. No one cares of he trains with Marcus Davies and the Cobra Kai gym. We are not going to see Buffalo Jim, Papa Shango, Godfather, Marcus Davies, Batista, John Cena or Doink the Clown in the ring, we are going to see Austin Daniels in the ring. In the same way that I could drop the names of the people that I have worked under for the past eight years, some of them legends of the sport, but we will not see those people in the ring, but Victor Brander. The card makes it clear, I am not fighting Godfather or any of the rest, I am not fighting Austin Daniels and every single person that trained him, it will be Victor Brander vs Austin Daniels and that is it. Cindy, when a man needs to drop names, that usually means that he is not quite so confident about his own skills. Again, I shall not underestimate my opponent, I am sure that I am in for a fight and this is my first test in an actual match away from training, so I am going to have to be sharp both physically and mentally. I am going to have to walk into the ring and show my opponent that it is not how many moves he can hit, but how effectively he hits them and that is a painful lesson that he will have to learn.”
“What about his claim that he has forgotten more moves than most people have ever learned?”
“That is yet another example that he is simply not a thinking wrestler. I have not forgotten a single move that I have learned, and that is because I have not learned how to hit a single move that does not add to my offence and to what I want to do in the match as a whole. Everything that I do in the ring has been thought out, analysed, weighed on its merits, and then I have worked on perfecting it not so that I can merely hit the move, but so that I can hit the move better than anyone else. Now you can say that you learn new moves all the time, that you have so many ways to hurt me, to win this match, and I will tell you that there is no one single move that you can hit to perfection, there is not one move that you can utilise to the best of your ability. It also means that there's ways out of that move because you cannot control. As I have already said, it is not how many different ways that you can hit an opponent that you should be concerned about, but how much you hurt that opponent every time you hit him. When I hit a backbreaker, any of my backbreakers, I drop the right part of the opponent's back over the right part of my knee to cause the maximum damage. The same goes with my shinbreaker, my German suplex, when I throw a kick, I won't be wasting energy but I will hit the right spots. This is what I get through not hitting just anything that comes to mind and it is something that will see me through many more wins than losses. I certainly expect that it shall see me through this match well enough.”
Victor gives a quiet chuckle as he takes another drink, “I also find it funny that Austin told me to polish up my skills when they have been polished and perfected long before I have come here. His assertions that he is great also do him no favours. I know that I have a match ahead of me and one that is going to push me, but my opponent acts as if he has already won the match and the moment that you slip into that frame of mind then you are in more trouble that you could imagine because that is when you slack up, that is when you get sloppy, that is when you let your opponent punish you. Everything about that man's promo spoke of someone that is not ready to face a wrestler at least as talented as him and indeed, someone who is better than him in certain areas. He has not entertained the thought that he may lose and so he has not thought of all the angles in which he needs to avoid in order to come up with the victory. I know where I am strong, I know where I am weak, I know what I have to do to avoid my opponents exploiting my weaknesses. Sun Tzu said something that has carried over two millennia and that is that to ensure victory, you must know your opponent and yourself. I have found everything that I can on my opponent, I have analysed it, I know how to work my gameplan, I know well enough where I am weak. I don't know what research he has done on me, but his arrogance is what is going to hurt him and badly in the long run.”
“You sound as if you are ready for this match.”
“I know I sound ready Cindy, but have a good look too.” Victor rips his shirt off and throws it into the crowd, showing his toned physique as he spreads his arms, “I did not spend eight years training, keeping myself away from the scene, to start my career with a loss, but then this isn't just for me.” Victor raises his voice to make sure that is is heard by the APW faithful, “This isn't about me, this is about you, this is about the A...P...W. This is about walking into the ring with the crowd behind me and giving them the best technical display that they have seen. This is about showing that wrestling isn't all about who can do the most flips and who can hit hardest with a chair, but about actual wrestling. This is about showing my passion for the sport, this company and these fans. And I am going to go in there and I will win, for these fans, for the sport and for the APW as a whole. I take one match at a time, so I am looking no further than tonight whatever the stakes may be. I am ready, I am focussed and Austin, there is no way that any flash is going to distract me from achieving my first win as an APW superstar. I am not bluffing, Austin, I very simply have the better hand and that is something that you are going to have to come to terms with, that is something that you can reflect upon when you have been locked in the Sharpshooter and given no choice at all but to tap out.”
Victor steps back and grabs his bag, “Austin Daniels, I am a nice guy. I am also a no flash kind of guy and when you step into the ring with me, you are not going to be able to rest, you are not going to be given the time or space to take this match away from the technical wrestling that I excel at, and when you are forced to wrestle my style, there will be no way out. This is a Test for the Best, this is something that will say that I am simply a better wrestler than you, so bring your aerial play, bring your brawling and please, test your technical game against mine, because to beat me, you are going to have to outwrestle me and that is never going to happen. It's as simple as that.”
Cindy watches as Victor flashes her another smile, turns and heads into the building, leaving the screaming of the fans behind him, “Victor Brander looks as if he is ready to go out there and fight, we shall see just how ready both he and our other new star, Austin Daniels, are tonight. This is Cindy Shannon and now we take you to a break.”
Fade to black.
