Post by A.C. Smith on Jan 25, 2013 18:00:26 GMT -4
We return to the film studio where, earlier this week, we saw A.C. Smith, Bobby the Bavarian Man-Bitch, and Stevie the Slovakian Slobberknocker re-enact scenes from the 1995 film “Mortal Kombat.” A.C. played both Raiden and Liu Kang, Bobby dressed in drag to portray Sonya Blade, and Stevie filled the role of much-maligned action star Johnny Cage.
Nobody's attempting to kill each other in hand-to-hand fighting now, though. Instead, everyone is out of character, dressed in their normal garb, and milling around with the crew in the best part of any movie shoot: The wrap party.
The booze is flowing in the form of beer from a giant-sized cooler, and a buffet meal is set up on tables with meats, cheeses, and breads. At the table, we see the Big Apple Asskicker, A.C. Smith, filling his plate with samples of each dish.
He's ditched the white robe he wore when addressing the camera with regard to the Survive and Conquer match, and is now clad in his usual white t-shirt and blue jeans. We see him walk over to a high-top table, where Bobby and Stevie are also sitting and conversing with each other.
Stevie: “Have to say, you made a pretty good soldier chick.”
Bobby: “Was it the wig, the gun, or the balloons under my chest?”
Stevie: “You didn't need ballons. Your man boobs did just fine.”
We see Smith smiling, though we can almost see the wheels in his head turning behind his brown eyes as he digs into his meal.
Bobby: “Ace, you were good, too.”
A.C.: “Thanks.”
Stevie: “What's up, boss?”
Bobby gives Stevie a knowing, “are you SURE you wanted to ask that question?,” look, one Smith sees and responds to with a slight smirk.
A.C.: “My mission at Survive and Conquer this weekend at Wembley Stadium is two-fold. Obviously, I want to win the 100-man battle royal. You know that. But even if I do, and even if I exit Great Britain with bragging rights and the $1 million prize, none of it means a damn thing if I don't take care of business earlier in the night against a guy who REALLY needs to be taught a lesson.”
Smith takes a bite out of the roll on his paper plate, putting it back down and swallowing it before he continues.
A.C.: “Michael Lively calls himself 'The Jesus,' but it'd be more apt to start calling him Satan. He's the scum of the earth, someone who will stoop to any low to gain any psychological advantage he can. It's served him very well in the past, but lately, everything he's tried to do has backfired, and backfired miserably.
It's tough to say where Lively crossed the line separating 'holding an advantage in mind games' and 'trying so hard it impairs your own judgment.' But that man left that line in his rear-view mirror weeks ago. It was before he got arrested last week, before I pinned him clean as a sheet to retain the APW Xtreme Championship, and hell, it may have even been before his hopes of pinning Terry Marvin went up in smoke as he crashed to the mat in pain.
At any rate, whenever it happened, it was before he and I will do battle for my title this Sunday night. And as such, he's in for a WORLD of hurt.”
Smith has a strange carriage about him, and his buddies are quick to point that out.
Bobby: “You don't sound OK with this.”
Stevie: “Yeah, man. What gives?
A.C. sighs.
A.C.: “At a certain point, a man grows tired of dealing with people that just don't get it. If nothing else, the past couple of weeks have shown that Michael Lively is part of that group.
I got tired of him mistreating his mother, so I did something about it. Oddly, that seems about when the Michael Lively Express started to go off the rails. His mom, who Lively wouldn't be in this world without, finally stood up for herself, and like any bully, Michael decided to find another target who couldn't fight back.
Well, I stopped that, too, right as I'm pretty sure he was about to rape one of our backstage interviewers. I'm pretty sure it was then he realized he had to start picking on people his own size, guys who could dish it out as well as take it. And since then, he's approached those fights with the same mindset he used to bully his mother with, and that...that just doesn't work.”
Smith reaches across the table, cracking open a can of Michelob Ultra and taking a big gulp before putting the drink down on a thin plastic coaster in front of him. He continues.
A.C.: “He thought Terry Marvin couldn't fight back when he went to the top rope for his finishing move, the Prelude. He thought I couldn't fight back in the triple threat match last week on Overdrive. He thought he'd be able to burn down my dressing room without anyone being able to take action against him. And all three times, he couldn't have been more wrong.
This isn't a one-time thing with Lively. No sir. This is a trend, an avalanche of behavior that is bound to produce nothing but negative results. Marvin moved out of the way. I shook off all the attacks he and Delikado threw my way and retained the APW Xtreme Championship. And in one of the great upsets in the history of modern technology, a video camera in the hallway at the arena last week failed to malfunction when Lively decided to unleash his inner pyromaniac.”
That last sentence, of course, was said with more than a fair dose of sarcasm. Smith accentuates the delivery with a timely roll of the eyes.
A.C.: “None of those actions indicate a one-time behavior, and that behavior can't simply be stopped before one big night. If Lively wants to be the man he thinks he is, the guy who won more titles than he could count, it's going to take time. More time than he has heading into Survive and Conquer, and more time than he has heading into our match at Wembley Stadium for a title I hold very close to my heart.
I challenged Lively to a match at this pay-per-view because it's time somebody drilled the lessons he needs to learn through his thick skull by any means necessary. Last week was merely a sample of things to come. Lively found out that, regardless of the pedestal he puts himself on week in and week out, he's no longer the smartest, most cunning man in the room.”
Stevie: “So you want to teach Lively a lesson. What's the big deal?
Bobby: “You've done that dozens of times with a bunch of bums. How's this any different?”
A.C. gives both of his friends quick looks, looks that make it seem like he's gazing right through them and into the wall behind the trio.
A.C.: “It's not. But this goes beyond one match, beyond me settling some score with some son of a bitch that pissed me off once or twice.
I've heard people insult my intelligence. I've heard people insult what I stand for. Hell, I've heard Tracy...”
All three, in unison, disgusted at the mere mention of A.C.’s ex: “That BITCH.”
A.C., Bobby, and Stevie all glug gulps of beer from the cans in front of them before slamming them down on their coasters.
A.C.: “...run me down after faking her death so many years before. But I've never had someone take me for THIS much of a fool. Did he REALLY think I didn't have people watching my locker room last week? Did he REALLY think I was going to be intimidated by him and Delikado on Overdrive last week, and did he REALLY think he had a psychological edge over me in any way, shape or form, at ANY point in the last month?
Action Packed Wrestling is full of the best wrestlers in the world. The title I won last month against Nick Watson shows I'm one of them. The fact that I made the Test for the Best tournament, pinned C.J. Gates, knocked out Biggs, and established myself as one of the few guys APW fans can rally behind unconditionally shows I'm one of them. And the fact that people see me as a threat in the Survive and Conquer match? That shows it, too.
I'm many things, boys. The defenseless fool Michael Lively takes me for isn't one of them. When I challenged him to this match as he was getting dragged away in handcuffs, I wasn't giving him a reprieve. No. By entering this match, he opened himself up to even more punishment than anyone in that jail's general population could have ever inflicted upon him.
He may have salivated at the thought of having to face me instead of an arson trial, one he and all the lawyers he could afford never, EVER could have won. But in doing so, he displayed the exact same behavior that's done him wrong in everything he's tried to do these past couple of weeks. He thinks he's the bully, he thinks he's the one with the upper hand, and he's dead wrong.”
Smith pounds his fist on the table in front of him, nearly spilling his drink in the process. However, his quick hands grab the can as it approaches a 45-degree angle with the surface, and only barely saves the booze inside from splashing out of it as he brings it to his lips for a quick sip.
A.C.: “Clearly, I meant to do that.”
Bobby and Stevie laugh as Smith allows himself a quick, barely-perceptible smile.
A.C.: “Meanwhile, while Lively’s been busy doing…whatever it is that he does…I’ve thrived. I’d never beaten Delikado before last week, but I never let it deter me, and I took care of business exactly the way I said I was going to. I’d never faced Level-One before, and in my lone meeting with one of the best to ever step into an APW ring, I gave him one of the toughest fights he’s had in months, a challenge that very few active wrestlers could have ever given him.
In being myself, the same man I’ve always been, I’ve finally been able to restore a little bit of dignity to one of the top prizes on Overdrive, the APW Xtreme Championship. Evan Harrison couldn’t do that, he was too busy convincing himself his shit didn’t stink. Nick Watson couldn’t do that, he won the title in large part due to Sienna Harrison’s interference at One Night in Hell and was never able to defend it on his own against anyone of any substance.”
Smith drinks the last of his beer, pitching the empty Michelob Ultra can in a nearby waste basket as he refocuses on Bobby and Stevie.
A.C.: “I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it again and again until people understand me. I long ago came to terms with the fact that very few men in Action Packed Wrestling approach this business the way that I do. Everyone else is trying so hard to get a leg up by any means necessary that they forget the principles the business was founded upon, and more importantly, they forget the fans, people professional wrestling wouldn’t exist without.
I’m a simple man. I believe that the people you wouldn’t exist without need to be treated with the utmost respect. That’s why I take so much pride in being a beloved champion on Overdrive. In a day and age where it’s suddenly OK for Kurt Noble to hit his ex-wife, for the Sindicate to move the APW roster around like pawns in a chess game, for Michael Lively to be…Michael Lively, I’m a rare sign that you can be a decent guy AND be successful.”
Smith rises from his chair to his 6’8” height briefly, but is instead content to bend over to the table and finish off one of the rolls on his plate as he talks to his friends at a volume just above a whisper.
A.C.: “I’m going into Survive and Conquer looking to retain my Xtreme Championship AND win the 100-man battle royal. Not or, and. Unlike the rest of the roster, which is booked in the battle royal and probably ignoring the matches they have before it, I’m giving my title match with Michael Lively equal billing, and there’s a damn good reason for it.
Lively needs to get hurt. Badly. He needs to have some comprehension of what he put his mother and Cindy Shannon through, situations where neither woman could fight back on their own. For some reason, nobody else on the roster seems to find his conduct reprehensible enough to teach him a lesson. Nobody except someone who’s made a living doing that for almost 11 years now, and someone who can keep doing it every week until the day he calls it a career.
When Lively accepted this match last week, he was probably licking his chops. He didn’t have to go to trial for arson and destruction of property, he didn’t have to go to jail, and he got a shot at the APW Xtreme Championship. But whether he wants to admit it or not, he’s been going down a bad, bad path as of late, and it’s not as simple as taking a quick U-turn to get back on track.
No. I hold all the cards here, boys. And this Sunday night at Survive and Conquer, in front of one of the biggest crowds we’ll see all year at Wembley Stadium, I get what I want, not Lively. On one of APW’s most well-renowned events of the pay-per-view schedule, I’m not just going to beat Michael Lively. I’m going to turn him into the defenseless, whimpering object he’s tried to beat up for weeks. Maybe THEN, he’ll realize that he needs to change.”
Smith sits back down, but is approached by a production worker with the straw hat he wore earlier in the week in addressing the Survive and Conquer battle royal.
Man: “Mr. Smith? Your people said you wanted to sign this for charity?”
A.C.: “Yes, yes I did. Here, give me a second.”
Smith pulls out a black Sharpie and delicately signs the pointed hat before giving it back to the worker.
Man: “Thanks. Sorry to interrupt!”
Smith nods, and refocuses on the food in front of him and the company in his presence. Our camera zooms out to once again show the entire part, and after a few seconds, the scene fades to black.
Nobody's attempting to kill each other in hand-to-hand fighting now, though. Instead, everyone is out of character, dressed in their normal garb, and milling around with the crew in the best part of any movie shoot: The wrap party.
The booze is flowing in the form of beer from a giant-sized cooler, and a buffet meal is set up on tables with meats, cheeses, and breads. At the table, we see the Big Apple Asskicker, A.C. Smith, filling his plate with samples of each dish.
He's ditched the white robe he wore when addressing the camera with regard to the Survive and Conquer match, and is now clad in his usual white t-shirt and blue jeans. We see him walk over to a high-top table, where Bobby and Stevie are also sitting and conversing with each other.
Stevie: “Have to say, you made a pretty good soldier chick.”
Bobby: “Was it the wig, the gun, or the balloons under my chest?”
Stevie: “You didn't need ballons. Your man boobs did just fine.”
We see Smith smiling, though we can almost see the wheels in his head turning behind his brown eyes as he digs into his meal.
Bobby: “Ace, you were good, too.”
A.C.: “Thanks.”
Stevie: “What's up, boss?”
Bobby gives Stevie a knowing, “are you SURE you wanted to ask that question?,” look, one Smith sees and responds to with a slight smirk.
A.C.: “My mission at Survive and Conquer this weekend at Wembley Stadium is two-fold. Obviously, I want to win the 100-man battle royal. You know that. But even if I do, and even if I exit Great Britain with bragging rights and the $1 million prize, none of it means a damn thing if I don't take care of business earlier in the night against a guy who REALLY needs to be taught a lesson.”
Smith takes a bite out of the roll on his paper plate, putting it back down and swallowing it before he continues.
A.C.: “Michael Lively calls himself 'The Jesus,' but it'd be more apt to start calling him Satan. He's the scum of the earth, someone who will stoop to any low to gain any psychological advantage he can. It's served him very well in the past, but lately, everything he's tried to do has backfired, and backfired miserably.
It's tough to say where Lively crossed the line separating 'holding an advantage in mind games' and 'trying so hard it impairs your own judgment.' But that man left that line in his rear-view mirror weeks ago. It was before he got arrested last week, before I pinned him clean as a sheet to retain the APW Xtreme Championship, and hell, it may have even been before his hopes of pinning Terry Marvin went up in smoke as he crashed to the mat in pain.
At any rate, whenever it happened, it was before he and I will do battle for my title this Sunday night. And as such, he's in for a WORLD of hurt.”
Smith has a strange carriage about him, and his buddies are quick to point that out.
Bobby: “You don't sound OK with this.”
Stevie: “Yeah, man. What gives?
A.C. sighs.
A.C.: “At a certain point, a man grows tired of dealing with people that just don't get it. If nothing else, the past couple of weeks have shown that Michael Lively is part of that group.
I got tired of him mistreating his mother, so I did something about it. Oddly, that seems about when the Michael Lively Express started to go off the rails. His mom, who Lively wouldn't be in this world without, finally stood up for herself, and like any bully, Michael decided to find another target who couldn't fight back.
Well, I stopped that, too, right as I'm pretty sure he was about to rape one of our backstage interviewers. I'm pretty sure it was then he realized he had to start picking on people his own size, guys who could dish it out as well as take it. And since then, he's approached those fights with the same mindset he used to bully his mother with, and that...that just doesn't work.”
Smith reaches across the table, cracking open a can of Michelob Ultra and taking a big gulp before putting the drink down on a thin plastic coaster in front of him. He continues.
A.C.: “He thought Terry Marvin couldn't fight back when he went to the top rope for his finishing move, the Prelude. He thought I couldn't fight back in the triple threat match last week on Overdrive. He thought he'd be able to burn down my dressing room without anyone being able to take action against him. And all three times, he couldn't have been more wrong.
This isn't a one-time thing with Lively. No sir. This is a trend, an avalanche of behavior that is bound to produce nothing but negative results. Marvin moved out of the way. I shook off all the attacks he and Delikado threw my way and retained the APW Xtreme Championship. And in one of the great upsets in the history of modern technology, a video camera in the hallway at the arena last week failed to malfunction when Lively decided to unleash his inner pyromaniac.”
That last sentence, of course, was said with more than a fair dose of sarcasm. Smith accentuates the delivery with a timely roll of the eyes.
A.C.: “None of those actions indicate a one-time behavior, and that behavior can't simply be stopped before one big night. If Lively wants to be the man he thinks he is, the guy who won more titles than he could count, it's going to take time. More time than he has heading into Survive and Conquer, and more time than he has heading into our match at Wembley Stadium for a title I hold very close to my heart.
I challenged Lively to a match at this pay-per-view because it's time somebody drilled the lessons he needs to learn through his thick skull by any means necessary. Last week was merely a sample of things to come. Lively found out that, regardless of the pedestal he puts himself on week in and week out, he's no longer the smartest, most cunning man in the room.”
Stevie: “So you want to teach Lively a lesson. What's the big deal?
Bobby: “You've done that dozens of times with a bunch of bums. How's this any different?”
A.C. gives both of his friends quick looks, looks that make it seem like he's gazing right through them and into the wall behind the trio.
A.C.: “It's not. But this goes beyond one match, beyond me settling some score with some son of a bitch that pissed me off once or twice.
I've heard people insult my intelligence. I've heard people insult what I stand for. Hell, I've heard Tracy...”
All three, in unison, disgusted at the mere mention of A.C.’s ex: “That BITCH.”
A.C., Bobby, and Stevie all glug gulps of beer from the cans in front of them before slamming them down on their coasters.
A.C.: “...run me down after faking her death so many years before. But I've never had someone take me for THIS much of a fool. Did he REALLY think I didn't have people watching my locker room last week? Did he REALLY think I was going to be intimidated by him and Delikado on Overdrive last week, and did he REALLY think he had a psychological edge over me in any way, shape or form, at ANY point in the last month?
Action Packed Wrestling is full of the best wrestlers in the world. The title I won last month against Nick Watson shows I'm one of them. The fact that I made the Test for the Best tournament, pinned C.J. Gates, knocked out Biggs, and established myself as one of the few guys APW fans can rally behind unconditionally shows I'm one of them. And the fact that people see me as a threat in the Survive and Conquer match? That shows it, too.
I'm many things, boys. The defenseless fool Michael Lively takes me for isn't one of them. When I challenged him to this match as he was getting dragged away in handcuffs, I wasn't giving him a reprieve. No. By entering this match, he opened himself up to even more punishment than anyone in that jail's general population could have ever inflicted upon him.
He may have salivated at the thought of having to face me instead of an arson trial, one he and all the lawyers he could afford never, EVER could have won. But in doing so, he displayed the exact same behavior that's done him wrong in everything he's tried to do these past couple of weeks. He thinks he's the bully, he thinks he's the one with the upper hand, and he's dead wrong.”
Smith pounds his fist on the table in front of him, nearly spilling his drink in the process. However, his quick hands grab the can as it approaches a 45-degree angle with the surface, and only barely saves the booze inside from splashing out of it as he brings it to his lips for a quick sip.
A.C.: “Clearly, I meant to do that.”
Bobby and Stevie laugh as Smith allows himself a quick, barely-perceptible smile.
A.C.: “Meanwhile, while Lively’s been busy doing…whatever it is that he does…I’ve thrived. I’d never beaten Delikado before last week, but I never let it deter me, and I took care of business exactly the way I said I was going to. I’d never faced Level-One before, and in my lone meeting with one of the best to ever step into an APW ring, I gave him one of the toughest fights he’s had in months, a challenge that very few active wrestlers could have ever given him.
In being myself, the same man I’ve always been, I’ve finally been able to restore a little bit of dignity to one of the top prizes on Overdrive, the APW Xtreme Championship. Evan Harrison couldn’t do that, he was too busy convincing himself his shit didn’t stink. Nick Watson couldn’t do that, he won the title in large part due to Sienna Harrison’s interference at One Night in Hell and was never able to defend it on his own against anyone of any substance.”
Smith drinks the last of his beer, pitching the empty Michelob Ultra can in a nearby waste basket as he refocuses on Bobby and Stevie.
A.C.: “I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it again and again until people understand me. I long ago came to terms with the fact that very few men in Action Packed Wrestling approach this business the way that I do. Everyone else is trying so hard to get a leg up by any means necessary that they forget the principles the business was founded upon, and more importantly, they forget the fans, people professional wrestling wouldn’t exist without.
I’m a simple man. I believe that the people you wouldn’t exist without need to be treated with the utmost respect. That’s why I take so much pride in being a beloved champion on Overdrive. In a day and age where it’s suddenly OK for Kurt Noble to hit his ex-wife, for the Sindicate to move the APW roster around like pawns in a chess game, for Michael Lively to be…Michael Lively, I’m a rare sign that you can be a decent guy AND be successful.”
Smith rises from his chair to his 6’8” height briefly, but is instead content to bend over to the table and finish off one of the rolls on his plate as he talks to his friends at a volume just above a whisper.
A.C.: “I’m going into Survive and Conquer looking to retain my Xtreme Championship AND win the 100-man battle royal. Not or, and. Unlike the rest of the roster, which is booked in the battle royal and probably ignoring the matches they have before it, I’m giving my title match with Michael Lively equal billing, and there’s a damn good reason for it.
Lively needs to get hurt. Badly. He needs to have some comprehension of what he put his mother and Cindy Shannon through, situations where neither woman could fight back on their own. For some reason, nobody else on the roster seems to find his conduct reprehensible enough to teach him a lesson. Nobody except someone who’s made a living doing that for almost 11 years now, and someone who can keep doing it every week until the day he calls it a career.
When Lively accepted this match last week, he was probably licking his chops. He didn’t have to go to trial for arson and destruction of property, he didn’t have to go to jail, and he got a shot at the APW Xtreme Championship. But whether he wants to admit it or not, he’s been going down a bad, bad path as of late, and it’s not as simple as taking a quick U-turn to get back on track.
No. I hold all the cards here, boys. And this Sunday night at Survive and Conquer, in front of one of the biggest crowds we’ll see all year at Wembley Stadium, I get what I want, not Lively. On one of APW’s most well-renowned events of the pay-per-view schedule, I’m not just going to beat Michael Lively. I’m going to turn him into the defenseless, whimpering object he’s tried to beat up for weeks. Maybe THEN, he’ll realize that he needs to change.”
Smith sits back down, but is approached by a production worker with the straw hat he wore earlier in the week in addressing the Survive and Conquer battle royal.
Man: “Mr. Smith? Your people said you wanted to sign this for charity?”
A.C.: “Yes, yes I did. Here, give me a second.”
Smith pulls out a black Sharpie and delicately signs the pointed hat before giving it back to the worker.
Man: “Thanks. Sorry to interrupt!”
Smith nods, and refocuses on the food in front of him and the company in his presence. Our camera zooms out to once again show the entire part, and after a few seconds, the scene fades to black.
