Post by gzavadak on Jul 14, 2013 20:59:30 GMT -4
The time had finally come. After five proud years of running, the final edition of APW Monday Night Meltdown was due to air from Biloxi, Mississippi on Monday night. Over those five years, Meltdown had served as the proving ground for many of the biggest names in Action Packed Wrestling’s history. “The Evangelist” Jerry Matthews had all of the intentions on being the next on that list of iconic names, and for one last time, he’d make an appearance, ready to save whatever wayward soul that had the misfortune of being booked against him.
And, when the bookings were announced, it couldn’t be doubted that the Lord had provided one of his favorite servants with an opportunity he had been craving. A chance to avenge what he felt was upper management’s continued slights against him for his beliefs. A man that had been his newest convert’s choice to take down her arch-nemesis, APW North American Champion The Guv’nor himself. And that man was Victor Hades. He had leveraged his impressive resume and past accomplishments to cut to the front of the line like a Chinese fire drill to get a title shot. A man who had spent the majority of his time on a psychiatrist’s couch, a man so mentally unstable that The Guv’nor wouldn’t be able to overcome like he had against Robina Hood, Niobe “Nightmare” Martin, and Jace Savage so many times in the past. But, in a cruel twist of fate, Hades dropped the ball, and The Guv’nor escaped Test for the Best with his championship.
But, now, the shoe was on the other foot. Matthews had buried his frustration with Sienna Harrison’s choice for far too long. Now was the time he could finally exact some payback, to show the entire company that the raving lunatic that was Hades was nowhere near deserving of having any amount of faith placed in him. Instead, on the final edition of Meltdown, Biloxi had the chance to become just like all of the religious tent revivals the good Reverend had presided over all the years. July 15 was a chance to put the APW universe through a mass conversion, to give them a new savior, someone who was worthy of their admiration and faith. And that man was the Reverend Jerry Matthews.
Scene 1 – University of Alabama, Classics Department, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
The scene opens to a very well-kept office in the School of Liberal Arts of the University of Alabama. Behind his desk sits a short, portly man with a long, flowing white beard. He is wearing a black argyle sweater, and he is enjoying a small pleasure in his daily cigar. His rest and relaxation are interrupted by the ring of his telephone. The man sets down his cigar in an ash tray, and answers reluctantly.
Man: Yes? I see. Well, send him in.
The man hangs up the phone and a few moments later, none other than “The Evangelist” Jerry Matthews walks into the man’s office. He is wearing a white cotton suit, and has his facial mask on. He cops a smile and bids the man greeting.
Jerry Matthews: Dr. Hopkins, I presume?
Dr. Hopkins: Yes, and I assume that you are Reverend….Matthews was it?
Jerry Matthews: Of course, pleasure to make your acquaintance. And thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to see me on such short notice. I hope that it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience.
Dr. Hopkins picks up his cigar and continues where he left off. He reaches into his top desk drawer and pulls out a humidor. He opens it, and offers his visitor a cigar. The pastor politely declines, and he takes a seat.
Jerry Matthews: Now, it’s my understanding that you have quite the background in ancient Greece. Not only the history and its religion, but more of the civilization as a whole.
Dr. Hopkins takes another puff of his cigar, and blows a few smoke rings in the air.
Dr. Hopkins: I see that somebody took the time to read the university website. But, yes, I’ve published any number of papers and even a few books on the subject. If you don’t mind me asking, what does this have to do with our little appointment here?
The good Reverend smiles sheepishly to himself.
Jerry Matthews: I was hoping that you might be able to tell me a bit about how the ancient Greeks viewed the afterlife. I’ve done a little reading on the subject, but I know that it could only provide me a crude understanding at best. I was hoping you might be able to fill in some of the blanks.
Dr. Hopkins: I’m not in the business of judging, but what kind of a holy man are you that you haven’t properly studied ancient religions? Don’t they cover that in seminary.
The smile that Matthews had previously has been replaced by an angry scowl. He rises and stands directly in front of the professor’s desk, towering over him. The professor looks a bit shocked at the Southern Baptist’s attempt at intimidation.
Jerry Matthews: Doctor, let’s just say that I don’t take too kindly to people doubting my credentials, just as I’m sure that you don’t. Now, please, I insist that you oblige me in my request for information.
Dr. Hopkins: I say nothing until you retake your seat.
Jerry Matthews: As you wish.
The preacher retakes his seat, and allows the professor.
Dr. Hopkins: Well, Hades was one of most heavily venerated of the Greek gods, and he played a very prominent role as the Lord of the Underworld. It was said that when one died, they would have to transported via ferry to Hades by crossing the River Styx. They also had to pay a fee of two gold coins to the ferryman, otherwise, it was said that their soul would never be at peace. This was an idea that was shared by the Romans as well.
Matthews nods as he listens attentively.
Dr. Hopkins: In the underworld, you were forced to engage in the most strenuous and grueling physical labor imaginable, to the point where your body was always overcome with pain so intense you could barely continue. And, while you were fed and watered, the food always made you hungrier and the water always made you thirstier. Needless to say, a place you wouldn’t want to be.
Jerry Matthews: I see. Tell me more about Hades the god himself.
Dr. Hopkins: As I said, Hades was the god of the dead. He presided over the underworld, and oversaw all souls once they passed. He was also known as being quite a devious planner as well. Especially when he claimed Persephone as his wife. She fell down a pit that he created, and she ate a piece of fruit from a tree. Because she did so, she was longer able to leave the underworld. She was among the most beautiful of the gods, and it would’ve been quite the coup for Hades to pull such a move so defiantly against his brother Zeus.
Matthews: One last question, professor.
Matthews rises again and slams his fists down hard on Hopkins’ desk. The professor nearly falls out of his chair, and Matthews has veins popping out of his neck.
Jerry Matthews: Why did you choose to spit on God the Father when you chose to study and make a living off of these pagan beliefs and traditions?!?!?!? You know more than any by now that these people bathed in hedonism and sin for far too long before the birth of Christ saved mankind. Homosexual love ran quite common, they enslaved others, and venerated so many false idols and gods they are nearly countless!
Matthews picks up the cigar Hopkins was smoking and holds it in his hand, twirling it as he examines it closely. Hopkins is blushing in fear, and he is breathing heavily.
Dr. Hopkins: Security is only a phone call away, Reverend.
Jerry Matthews: Spare me your threats, my son. Unfortunately, I must confess that there was a bit of deception involved here. I know far too much about Greek mythology, and I know a little about you as well. I’ve read a few of your papers, and even a portion of your book. I came to you today because I think that your soul could use a little assistance if you ever hope to make it into paradise. Matthews walks around the desk and brings the cigar down towards the professor’s cheek. The professor brings both arms up in an attempt to stave off this harm, but it is of no use as the professor begins to scream as the scene fades to black.
The scene opens to the locker room of “The Evangelist” Jerry Matthews. He is standing behind his pulpit, and looks ready to give his weekly message. He is wearing his facial mask and a white cotton suit, and he has a copy of the Good Book open as he begins to speak.
Jerry Matthews: Brothers and sisters of the faithful, it is with a heavy heart that I took the news that APW had chosen to discontinue the Meltdown brand. It was not an easy thing to hear, especially with the increasing success rate my ministry has had during my two months with the company. The loss of Meltdown is most unfortunate because I was unable to make it into the paradise that it could’ve been. A place that the ranks of the saved could look upon with no shortage of approval, a program that would finally provide good, family-friendly content that children wouldn’t have to avert their eyes from. But, alas, this will never come to pass.
Matthews makes the sign of the cross with his left hand.
Jerry Matthews: Thankfully, I will get one last chance to make Meltdown the mass conversion experience it was always meant to be when I get the chance to put down one of this company’s fiercest demons in Victor Hades. A former Survive and Conquer winner and two time Xtreme Champion. Credentials that only a few, like maybe Terry Marvin, can even hope to match. But, it isn’t his past accomplishments that have stirred up the Lord’s fury. Instead, it was his more recent Meltdown tenure that has done so.
Matthews begins to shake his head in disgust.
Jerry Matthews: Victor Hades must be a practitioner of the dark arts, I’m sure that he’d at least profess himself as one anyways. How else would he have been able to blind Sienna Harrison of the fact that he had no realistic chance of finally ridding her of The Guv’nor? Granted, Sienna herself can’t escape without at least a portion of the blame for this. Surely, she was frustrated by the repeated failures of Jace Savage, Niobe Martin and Robina Hood in doing the same thing.
Sienna Harrison placed her complete trust into this raving, drooling lunatic. To say that this damaged my professional relationship with her would be nothing but absolute truth. To be undermined in such a fashion, when she had publicly endorsed my ministry and proclaimed me as the next North American Champion was utterly humiliating. But, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t take delight in his failure.
Hades, I’ve watched you closely since you made your much anticipated return. But, you are nowhere close to the god you’ve fashioned yourself after. You have failed to even win a match since you walked back through those doors, and you have only your own wicked ways to blame. Just the way you have failed to conquer your own battles fighting for your own sanity. God the Father has chosen to punish you for your sins by placing you on the couches of so many psychiatrists over the years.
In an ironic twist of fate though, Victor, the Lord has come to me and filled me in on his plan for you. My son, you have the unfortunate task of being the final victim of my ministry on Meltdown. Our match provides me with one last chance to save as many souls as I can before the brand is finished. And, with your resume, a victory over you will launch my ministry to heights never before seen in my APW career.
You are no Achilles, Victor. If you are any part of Achilles, it would be the very heel that wasn’t dipped into the River Styx by his mother. The very place where an arrow struck him and ended his life during the Trojan War. You may hide behind the veil of insanity all you’d like, but it will do you no good when the Lord God unleashes me against you in Biloxi. You will be cleaved by God’s Broadsword, and there will be blood. The Word of the Lord, Thanks Be to God.
Matthews crosses himself, and bows his head for a moment of prayer as the scene fades to black.
And, when the bookings were announced, it couldn’t be doubted that the Lord had provided one of his favorite servants with an opportunity he had been craving. A chance to avenge what he felt was upper management’s continued slights against him for his beliefs. A man that had been his newest convert’s choice to take down her arch-nemesis, APW North American Champion The Guv’nor himself. And that man was Victor Hades. He had leveraged his impressive resume and past accomplishments to cut to the front of the line like a Chinese fire drill to get a title shot. A man who had spent the majority of his time on a psychiatrist’s couch, a man so mentally unstable that The Guv’nor wouldn’t be able to overcome like he had against Robina Hood, Niobe “Nightmare” Martin, and Jace Savage so many times in the past. But, in a cruel twist of fate, Hades dropped the ball, and The Guv’nor escaped Test for the Best with his championship.
But, now, the shoe was on the other foot. Matthews had buried his frustration with Sienna Harrison’s choice for far too long. Now was the time he could finally exact some payback, to show the entire company that the raving lunatic that was Hades was nowhere near deserving of having any amount of faith placed in him. Instead, on the final edition of Meltdown, Biloxi had the chance to become just like all of the religious tent revivals the good Reverend had presided over all the years. July 15 was a chance to put the APW universe through a mass conversion, to give them a new savior, someone who was worthy of their admiration and faith. And that man was the Reverend Jerry Matthews.
Scene 1 – University of Alabama, Classics Department, Tuscaloosa, Alabama
The scene opens to a very well-kept office in the School of Liberal Arts of the University of Alabama. Behind his desk sits a short, portly man with a long, flowing white beard. He is wearing a black argyle sweater, and he is enjoying a small pleasure in his daily cigar. His rest and relaxation are interrupted by the ring of his telephone. The man sets down his cigar in an ash tray, and answers reluctantly.
Man: Yes? I see. Well, send him in.
The man hangs up the phone and a few moments later, none other than “The Evangelist” Jerry Matthews walks into the man’s office. He is wearing a white cotton suit, and has his facial mask on. He cops a smile and bids the man greeting.
Jerry Matthews: Dr. Hopkins, I presume?
Dr. Hopkins: Yes, and I assume that you are Reverend….Matthews was it?
Jerry Matthews: Of course, pleasure to make your acquaintance. And thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to see me on such short notice. I hope that it wasn’t too much of an inconvenience.
Dr. Hopkins picks up his cigar and continues where he left off. He reaches into his top desk drawer and pulls out a humidor. He opens it, and offers his visitor a cigar. The pastor politely declines, and he takes a seat.
Jerry Matthews: Now, it’s my understanding that you have quite the background in ancient Greece. Not only the history and its religion, but more of the civilization as a whole.
Dr. Hopkins takes another puff of his cigar, and blows a few smoke rings in the air.
Dr. Hopkins: I see that somebody took the time to read the university website. But, yes, I’ve published any number of papers and even a few books on the subject. If you don’t mind me asking, what does this have to do with our little appointment here?
The good Reverend smiles sheepishly to himself.
Jerry Matthews: I was hoping that you might be able to tell me a bit about how the ancient Greeks viewed the afterlife. I’ve done a little reading on the subject, but I know that it could only provide me a crude understanding at best. I was hoping you might be able to fill in some of the blanks.
Dr. Hopkins: I’m not in the business of judging, but what kind of a holy man are you that you haven’t properly studied ancient religions? Don’t they cover that in seminary.
The smile that Matthews had previously has been replaced by an angry scowl. He rises and stands directly in front of the professor’s desk, towering over him. The professor looks a bit shocked at the Southern Baptist’s attempt at intimidation.
Jerry Matthews: Doctor, let’s just say that I don’t take too kindly to people doubting my credentials, just as I’m sure that you don’t. Now, please, I insist that you oblige me in my request for information.
Dr. Hopkins: I say nothing until you retake your seat.
Jerry Matthews: As you wish.
The preacher retakes his seat, and allows the professor.
Dr. Hopkins: Well, Hades was one of most heavily venerated of the Greek gods, and he played a very prominent role as the Lord of the Underworld. It was said that when one died, they would have to transported via ferry to Hades by crossing the River Styx. They also had to pay a fee of two gold coins to the ferryman, otherwise, it was said that their soul would never be at peace. This was an idea that was shared by the Romans as well.
Matthews nods as he listens attentively.
Dr. Hopkins: In the underworld, you were forced to engage in the most strenuous and grueling physical labor imaginable, to the point where your body was always overcome with pain so intense you could barely continue. And, while you were fed and watered, the food always made you hungrier and the water always made you thirstier. Needless to say, a place you wouldn’t want to be.
Jerry Matthews: I see. Tell me more about Hades the god himself.
Dr. Hopkins: As I said, Hades was the god of the dead. He presided over the underworld, and oversaw all souls once they passed. He was also known as being quite a devious planner as well. Especially when he claimed Persephone as his wife. She fell down a pit that he created, and she ate a piece of fruit from a tree. Because she did so, she was longer able to leave the underworld. She was among the most beautiful of the gods, and it would’ve been quite the coup for Hades to pull such a move so defiantly against his brother Zeus.
Matthews: One last question, professor.
Matthews rises again and slams his fists down hard on Hopkins’ desk. The professor nearly falls out of his chair, and Matthews has veins popping out of his neck.
Jerry Matthews: Why did you choose to spit on God the Father when you chose to study and make a living off of these pagan beliefs and traditions?!?!?!? You know more than any by now that these people bathed in hedonism and sin for far too long before the birth of Christ saved mankind. Homosexual love ran quite common, they enslaved others, and venerated so many false idols and gods they are nearly countless!
Matthews picks up the cigar Hopkins was smoking and holds it in his hand, twirling it as he examines it closely. Hopkins is blushing in fear, and he is breathing heavily.
Dr. Hopkins: Security is only a phone call away, Reverend.
Jerry Matthews: Spare me your threats, my son. Unfortunately, I must confess that there was a bit of deception involved here. I know far too much about Greek mythology, and I know a little about you as well. I’ve read a few of your papers, and even a portion of your book. I came to you today because I think that your soul could use a little assistance if you ever hope to make it into paradise. Matthews walks around the desk and brings the cigar down towards the professor’s cheek. The professor brings both arms up in an attempt to stave off this harm, but it is of no use as the professor begins to scream as the scene fades to black.
The scene opens to the locker room of “The Evangelist” Jerry Matthews. He is standing behind his pulpit, and looks ready to give his weekly message. He is wearing his facial mask and a white cotton suit, and he has a copy of the Good Book open as he begins to speak.
Jerry Matthews: Brothers and sisters of the faithful, it is with a heavy heart that I took the news that APW had chosen to discontinue the Meltdown brand. It was not an easy thing to hear, especially with the increasing success rate my ministry has had during my two months with the company. The loss of Meltdown is most unfortunate because I was unable to make it into the paradise that it could’ve been. A place that the ranks of the saved could look upon with no shortage of approval, a program that would finally provide good, family-friendly content that children wouldn’t have to avert their eyes from. But, alas, this will never come to pass.
Matthews makes the sign of the cross with his left hand.
Jerry Matthews: Thankfully, I will get one last chance to make Meltdown the mass conversion experience it was always meant to be when I get the chance to put down one of this company’s fiercest demons in Victor Hades. A former Survive and Conquer winner and two time Xtreme Champion. Credentials that only a few, like maybe Terry Marvin, can even hope to match. But, it isn’t his past accomplishments that have stirred up the Lord’s fury. Instead, it was his more recent Meltdown tenure that has done so.
Matthews begins to shake his head in disgust.
Jerry Matthews: Victor Hades must be a practitioner of the dark arts, I’m sure that he’d at least profess himself as one anyways. How else would he have been able to blind Sienna Harrison of the fact that he had no realistic chance of finally ridding her of The Guv’nor? Granted, Sienna herself can’t escape without at least a portion of the blame for this. Surely, she was frustrated by the repeated failures of Jace Savage, Niobe Martin and Robina Hood in doing the same thing.
Sienna Harrison placed her complete trust into this raving, drooling lunatic. To say that this damaged my professional relationship with her would be nothing but absolute truth. To be undermined in such a fashion, when she had publicly endorsed my ministry and proclaimed me as the next North American Champion was utterly humiliating. But, that doesn’t mean that I didn’t take delight in his failure.
Hades, I’ve watched you closely since you made your much anticipated return. But, you are nowhere close to the god you’ve fashioned yourself after. You have failed to even win a match since you walked back through those doors, and you have only your own wicked ways to blame. Just the way you have failed to conquer your own battles fighting for your own sanity. God the Father has chosen to punish you for your sins by placing you on the couches of so many psychiatrists over the years.
In an ironic twist of fate though, Victor, the Lord has come to me and filled me in on his plan for you. My son, you have the unfortunate task of being the final victim of my ministry on Meltdown. Our match provides me with one last chance to save as many souls as I can before the brand is finished. And, with your resume, a victory over you will launch my ministry to heights never before seen in my APW career.
You are no Achilles, Victor. If you are any part of Achilles, it would be the very heel that wasn’t dipped into the River Styx by his mother. The very place where an arrow struck him and ended his life during the Trojan War. You may hide behind the veil of insanity all you’d like, but it will do you no good when the Lord God unleashes me against you in Biloxi. You will be cleaved by God’s Broadsword, and there will be blood. The Word of the Lord, Thanks Be to God.
Matthews crosses himself, and bows his head for a moment of prayer as the scene fades to black.
