Post by A.C. Smith on Aug 20, 2013 22:39:07 GMT -4
“...A.C.? It's me.”
We fade in from black to a room that is also unlit. However, in the murky, pre-dawn haze, we see that the Big Apple Asskicker, A.C. Smith, is lying in his king-size bed, with the covers and sheets strewn about as he holds his iPhone to his left ear, all the while trying to stay awake.
A.C.: “Roxie, it's not even five in the morning...”
Roxanne: “I know. And I'm sorry. But I needed to tell you something.”
Hearing the truth in her voice, Smith's attention is focused entirely on what next comes out of the small speaker on the top of the phone.
Roxanne: “Your dad is in town.”
Silence.
A.C.: “...and you know this HOW?”
Roxanne: “He came up to me. He saw me out with my cousin, and he came up to us. We didn't have any idea who he was, but he said, 'You're Andrew's girlfriend.'”
Smith doesn't get shocked much, which is what makes his expression so fascinating. The APW Xtreme Champion's eyebrows are halfway up his forehead, and his jaw, while not totally dropped to his chin, hangs down, opening his mouth slightly.
Roxanne: “He said he wanted to see you.”
A.C.: “Horseshit. Never gonna happen.”
Silence again.
Roxanne: “...you should see him.”
A.C.: “Give me one reason.”
Roxanne: “All I can say is that, I don't know...he seems different than those stories you told me, the ones you said you heard from your mom.”
A.C.: “He always WAS able to fool everyone else.”
Roxanne: (with anger in her voice) “A.C., how do you know that? He left when you were three months old. Christ, you haven't SEEN him in over 30 years!”
A.C.: “And that's the way I like it.”
A pause, and we hear Roxanne sigh over the phone.
Roxanne: “I can't tell you you HAVE to see him. But we WERE going to meet in the hotel lobby for breakfast at 7, and my guess is he'll be there, too. You can't just duck him, and you can't force my cousin and I to alter our plans just because you don't want to see him.”
A.C.: “Why are you so insistent that I see a man who did nothing for me when I DESPERATELY needed a father?”
Roxanne: “Because if what he's saying is true, you don't know the whole story.”
Another pause.
Roxanne: “Look, I don't want to fight with you, and I need to get my morning run in. I'm sorry I woke you. I'll see you later. I love you.”
A.C.: “I...I love you, too. Bye.”
Smith brings the phone down, still struggling to comprehend the phone call he just received. He plugs his iPhone back into a charger that's plugged into the wall, but any hope he has of getting back to sleep before his 6:15 a.m. alarm goes off has gone up in smoke. Still trying to doze off, and failing miserably, he rolls over, and our scene fades to black.
---
It's later that morning. We see Smith get out of his red Lamborghini Diablo in front of a large brick building in New York City. He hands the keys to a valet, who eyes the car with a “kid in a candy store” look before getting in and driving it to a nearby garage.
Smirking, Smith goes through the revolving door, which spills him out into the lobby. Immediately, he sees Roxanne, who somehow looks absolutely ravishing even at 7 a.m., and the two hug as a blonde approaches the duo.
Roxanne: “A.C., this is my cousin Claire.”
A.C.: “Pleasure to meet you, Claire.”
Claire: “My cousin speaks very highly of you.”
A.C.: “Her check is in the mail.”
The three laugh heartily, and none notice an older gentleman of maybe 60 years old walk up to them. Wearing a black, collared shirt and matching black slacks and standing about 6'3” or 6'4”, he nervously struts over.
Man: “Excuse me...”
Immediately, Roxanne and Claire bolt. Smith's head turns, eying a man whose face, while weathered and wrinkled, looks vaguely familiar. His hair is gray, but he's barrel-chested, with a stout jaw and a nose that looks like it's been broken, reset, and broken again.
Man: “...Andrew?”
Knowing immediately that this man is his father, Smith takes a step back.
A.C.: “I'm sorry, I don't know you. Nor do I want to. Excuse me.”
Smith takes a few steps toward Roxanne and Claire, who are sitting at a table in the corner of the breakfast buffet.
Man: “I deserve that, you know. But I hope you'll give me five minutes.”
Smith stops, not bothering to turn around as he responds.
A.C.: “Why would I do that?”
Man: “To give a dying man the chance he deserves to make things right with his son.”
This grabs Smith's attention. He turns around, tilting his head.
A.C.: “You never wanted ANYTHING to do with me.”
Man: “That wasn't my call.”
A.C.: “How could that NOT be your call? All I knew growing up was that my father, Andrew Smith Sr., bolted when I was three months old. Sounds an awful lot like your call.”
Andrew: “Your mother lied to you. And this might be my last chance to set things right before I take the old dirt nap. Come on, I got the four of us a table.”
Not facing much of a choice at this point, A.C. follows his dad, and the two sit across from Roxanne and Claire.
Andrew: “Ladies, can you two please give us a moment to talk?”
Nodding, Roxanne and Claire get up.
Andrew: “I've got cancer. Pancreatic cancer. The doctors say I might not make it to Christmas.”
A.C.: “I'm not sure what you want me to say to that. I'm...sorry, I guess.”
Andrew: “The idea you have of who I am is wrong. Your mother, she was a hell of a woman. It's been, what, six years since she passed?”
A.C.: “Six years, five months, and 10 days, but who's counting?”
The Big Apple Asskicker sneers, shaking his head once more.
Andrew: “I was arrested right after you were born. There were armed robberies in the neighborhood, and they needed a fall guy. One of the victims gave a bad description, and they decided I was the guy. Son, I've never committed a crime in my life...”
The old man's eyes are welling up with tears, but A.C. is emotionless, instead sipping on a glass of orange juice.
Andrew: “...but none of that mattered. They offered me a joke of a deal. Something like three years for each of the three robberies to be served consecutively. I knew I was innocent, so I didn't take it. Well, the frame job that D.A. did worked perfectly. They sent me away for eight to ten for each robbery, and I wasn't let out until about five years ago.”
A.C.: “That's a heck of a story. But tell me this. Why would my mom lie to me for over 20 years?”
Andrew: “Because she didn't want to ruin your dreams of being a cop. Think about it, kid. If the NYPD knew your dad was a convicted felon, do you REALLY think you'd have been bumped all the way up to homicide as quickly as you were?”
A pause.
Andrew: “Yeah, I did my research. And when I got out, I reached out to your mom. But she wanted no part of me, and to be fair, I totally understood. But she also wanted no part of me talking to you. I guess she'd convinced herself I was no good and didn't think I deserved a son. So off I went. I took a job driving a cab, and I kept my distance.
“Kid, I don't have much time left. So it was important to me to tell you the truth before nobody else could. You can believe me, or not believe me. That's up to you. But I couldn't have rested peacefully knowing you didn't have any idea of what really happened.”
Another pause, and Smith finally looks his dad in the eye.
A.C.: “I don't know what you expect me to do.”
Andrew: “I don't expect anything. You're a grown man, and it looks like you've got a good head on your shoulders, which makes me proud. But I needed to give you this.”
The father hands his son a thick manila folder.
Andrew: “I know you're no cop anymore, and I know you keep yourself busy with the wrestling thing. You're doing well, and I'm happy for you. Whether you want to admit it or not, whether you like it or not, you'll always be my son.
“All I'm asking is for you to read this at some point. Take a look, see all the discrepancies. What's in here should let you know that I'm telling the truth.
“I'll never be able to make up for the time that I wasn't around. I never got to see you grow up, and I never got to be a dad. But what I'm able to do now is tell you that none of this was me abandoning my wife and my newborn son. I got taken away from you and your mother, and not a day goes by where I don't ask myself how it was allowed to happen.
“Son, I'm sorry. It might not mean much to you to hear that, but it means EVERYTHING to me to say it to your face.”
At this point, the water streaming down the older man's face resembles Niagara Falls. A.C. keeps his composure, but it's clear that the revelations have moved him, and he's clutching the manila folder with all his might.
A.C.: “I'll...I'll take a look. I'm not sure what I can do beyond that, but...”
Andrew: “Kid, that's all I ask. I know you don't exactly think highly of me. Christ, I'm probably the only person that's called you Andrew since your mom passed away.”
A.C.: “Roxanne does when she's angry.”
Andrew smiles, putting his hand on his son's broad shoulder as Roxanne and Claire come back with plates pull of pancakes, waffles, and French toast.
Andrew: “Roxie's a good girl. Don't blow it.”
A.C.: “I'll try not to, Dad.”
Just hearing his son call him Dad makes the older man start crying again. Claire reaches across, dabbing his face with a napkin as A.C. looks at Roxanne, mouthing only the words, “thank you,” before digging into his breakfast.
The group of four begins eating, and we hear the squeaks of knives and forks against the plates as our scene fades to black.
---
We fade back to Smith, who is sitting in a black recliner in the living room of his New York City penthouse. Next to the chair, on a long, black coffee table, are the files from the manila folder he received from his father earlier that day. Pictures, documents, diagrams, and other pieces of information are strewn about in a formation only a former cop would understand, and it's clear that the Big Apple Asskicker has been studying all of this for hours on end.
However, at this point, he's sipping a bottle of Michelob Ultra with the APW Xtreme Championship slung over his left shoulder. Smith is taking a rare break, and after putting the blue bottle down in a cup holder at the end of one of the chair's arms, he locks his brown eyes on the camera and opens his mouth to speak.
A.C.: “You get a bomb dropped on you like the one I had dropped on me today, and it affects you. There's no avoiding that. The question is, how do you take what happens to you and move forward, as opposed to letting it knock you on your ass?
“That's the question facing everyone from all walks of life. Everyone has their issues to work through, everyone has certain obstacles to overcome, and everyone's lives are altered by them in some way, shape, or form. As Rocky Balboa once said, it's not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward.
“No bones about it, my time outside the ring, over the next few weeks, is going to be devoted to finding out what really happened with regard to my father going away for a while. However, right now, with regard to Shockwave, my focus is squarely on Leon Roberts, someone who's gotten hit pretty hard several times over the past few weeks and shown ZERO ability to learn from his mistakes and bounce back.”
Smith turns from the camera for a moment, eying his Xtreme Championship and using his right hand to shine it a bit before refocusing on the camera.
A.C.: “Leon Roberts has had several chances to gain momentum going into what is, inarguably, the biggest match of his APW career. And both times, he couldn't have failed much more miserably. This wasn't a case of him doing OK for a while, making a misstep that he could potentially learn from, and falling just short. No, this was a case of him fighting as hard as he could, only to find out that his best, contrary to all the rhetoric he's been spewing over the past few weeks, just isn't enough.
“Here are just some of the gems he's come up with over the last few weeks. 'You couldn't truly defeat me last week, and with the way your gums keep flapping, you won't ever be able to.' 'You're as delusional as you are pathetic.' 'Nobody is safe from me, and I like to show off all that I do, proudly on display.'
“Oh, and it gets better. There were also lines like, 'breath, if you can. Surrender, if you will. Survive, if I let you.' Outside of the fact that I'm sure someone else in the wrestling world is going nuts over another man stealing his catchphrase and so mercilessly butchering it beyond recognition, that very statement is just...wrong.”
Smith lets the last word resonate for just a moment, and it echoes around the room before he continues.
A.C.: “Leon Roberts isn't some human submission machine. And unlike the impression he'd like to think he makes when he opens his mouth, he's not some sadist whose visions make him an unstoppable force. He's a man, the same as anyone else on the APW roster, and like everyone else, he's got his strengths and his weaknesses.
“I make no secret of the fact that I carry my share of baggage. I've gone through a number of things that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, things I'd give everything up to make sure my friends never had to endure. But as much as Leon Roberts taunts me with my ex-love interest faking her death and with everything else that's happened to me in my lifetime, none of it affects me. I won't allow it to, and that's what's made me such a successful wrestler over the last 11 years.
“You don't hang around as long as I have with thin skin. When you've been in this business for 11 years, you get a sense of what should affect you and what shouldn't. Some people never learn that lesson, and as a result, they either don't last long or have careers that fall way short of the public's general expectations.
“Mine, which has included six World Championships, several other title reigns, and becoming arguably the greatest APW Xtreme Champion in history, is far from a disappointment. Leon Roberts, though? Here's a guy who was thought to be a hot prospect. He got his break on APW's flagship brand, has had several chances to knock off the longest-reigning champion on Overdrive, and what's he done with them?”
Smith shakes his head.
A.C.: “Absolutely nothing. Leon Roberts can say whatever he wants about the two times where he had every chance to beat me and didn't do so. In fact, quite the opposite happened. One time, I pinned him as cleanly as humanly possible, and the next, with him insisting I was suffering from some sort of brain damage that doctors at Temple University said didn't exist, he was powerless to stop me from pinning Robina Hood, herself a champion.
“I'll ask one question, a question that I guarantee you my opponent this week doesn't have a rational answer for. What could Leon Roberts possibly do this week that he WASN'T able to do on the last two broadcasts of Overdrive?
“It's a very fair, very rational question. Two weeks in a row, he gave everything he had, and two weeks in a row, he came up short, not by inches, but by miles. By now, I know Leon Roberts and what he brings to the table. I know his strengths, I know his weaknesses, and most importantly, I know how to beat him, because I've done it twice already.
“Does Leon Roberts know how to beat me? Absolutely not. He can try and attempt to capture whatever momentum he once had, but at this point, I'm not exaggerating when I say he's fighting an uphill battle. I have all the momentum in the world, I'm as sharp as I've ever been in that ring, I'm one of the best Xtreme Champions in APW history, and I have no intentions of dropping my title, at Shockwave or any time after that.”
Smith picks up his Michelob Ultra bottle once more, drinking the last of its contents before flinging it into a trash can several feet out of our view. The sound of it clinking into the can draws a smile from the APW Xtreme Champion, one that's present on his face when he opens his mouth to speak for the final time.
A.C.: “I haven't backed down from anything here in Action Packed Wrestling, or, for that matter, in my entire wrestling career. When I say I'm going to do something, it gets done, and I'd like to think I've proven that in my time as the APW Xtreme Champion.
“I said I was going to beat Michael Lively, even when almost everyone else out there thought otherwise. I did it. I said I was going to beat Nathaniel Havok, one of the best Xtreme Champions ever who said he was going to beat me to reclaim a title that was rightfully his, and I did it. All along, I've never shied away from a fight, all the while never writing checks I couldn't cash.
“Leon Roberts? That concept is totally lost on him. For weeks, he's been spouting off at every opportunity about how I'm some sort of sitting duck when the facts don't match up with the way he views the world. Those facts say that he's never come close to beating me in the squared circle, and those facts also say that he has not adjusted his approach at all despite coming up short over and over again.
“I'm looking forward to Shockwave, where I once again put my Xtreme Championship on the line against someone who'd like nothing more than to go down as the man who ended my reign atop the division. Unfortunately for Leon Roberts, he doesn't have what it takes to do that. Once again, he'll ramble on and on about how evil a man he is, and once again, he'll be exposed by a man he can't beat.
“I respect his guts. I respect the fact that he's going after what he wants. But what I'm going off of isn't some baseless philosophy. It's the truth, and the truth is that Leon Roberts just isn't good enough to be the APW Xtreme Champion.
“I look forward to proving that once and for all this weekend. And speaking of proving things...”
Smith spins his chair around to look at the coffee table and his diagrams. Roxanne walks in with two cups of coffee, one in each hand, and the duo begin investigating Smith Sr.'s file as our scene fades to black one final time.
We fade in from black to a room that is also unlit. However, in the murky, pre-dawn haze, we see that the Big Apple Asskicker, A.C. Smith, is lying in his king-size bed, with the covers and sheets strewn about as he holds his iPhone to his left ear, all the while trying to stay awake.
A.C.: “Roxie, it's not even five in the morning...”
Roxanne: “I know. And I'm sorry. But I needed to tell you something.”
Hearing the truth in her voice, Smith's attention is focused entirely on what next comes out of the small speaker on the top of the phone.
Roxanne: “Your dad is in town.”
Silence.
A.C.: “...and you know this HOW?”
Roxanne: “He came up to me. He saw me out with my cousin, and he came up to us. We didn't have any idea who he was, but he said, 'You're Andrew's girlfriend.'”
Smith doesn't get shocked much, which is what makes his expression so fascinating. The APW Xtreme Champion's eyebrows are halfway up his forehead, and his jaw, while not totally dropped to his chin, hangs down, opening his mouth slightly.
Roxanne: “He said he wanted to see you.”
A.C.: “Horseshit. Never gonna happen.”
Silence again.
Roxanne: “...you should see him.”
A.C.: “Give me one reason.”
Roxanne: “All I can say is that, I don't know...he seems different than those stories you told me, the ones you said you heard from your mom.”
A.C.: “He always WAS able to fool everyone else.”
Roxanne: (with anger in her voice) “A.C., how do you know that? He left when you were three months old. Christ, you haven't SEEN him in over 30 years!”
A.C.: “And that's the way I like it.”
A pause, and we hear Roxanne sigh over the phone.
Roxanne: “I can't tell you you HAVE to see him. But we WERE going to meet in the hotel lobby for breakfast at 7, and my guess is he'll be there, too. You can't just duck him, and you can't force my cousin and I to alter our plans just because you don't want to see him.”
A.C.: “Why are you so insistent that I see a man who did nothing for me when I DESPERATELY needed a father?”
Roxanne: “Because if what he's saying is true, you don't know the whole story.”
Another pause.
Roxanne: “Look, I don't want to fight with you, and I need to get my morning run in. I'm sorry I woke you. I'll see you later. I love you.”
A.C.: “I...I love you, too. Bye.”
Smith brings the phone down, still struggling to comprehend the phone call he just received. He plugs his iPhone back into a charger that's plugged into the wall, but any hope he has of getting back to sleep before his 6:15 a.m. alarm goes off has gone up in smoke. Still trying to doze off, and failing miserably, he rolls over, and our scene fades to black.
---
It's later that morning. We see Smith get out of his red Lamborghini Diablo in front of a large brick building in New York City. He hands the keys to a valet, who eyes the car with a “kid in a candy store” look before getting in and driving it to a nearby garage.
Smirking, Smith goes through the revolving door, which spills him out into the lobby. Immediately, he sees Roxanne, who somehow looks absolutely ravishing even at 7 a.m., and the two hug as a blonde approaches the duo.
Roxanne: “A.C., this is my cousin Claire.”
A.C.: “Pleasure to meet you, Claire.”
Claire: “My cousin speaks very highly of you.”
A.C.: “Her check is in the mail.”
The three laugh heartily, and none notice an older gentleman of maybe 60 years old walk up to them. Wearing a black, collared shirt and matching black slacks and standing about 6'3” or 6'4”, he nervously struts over.
Man: “Excuse me...”
Immediately, Roxanne and Claire bolt. Smith's head turns, eying a man whose face, while weathered and wrinkled, looks vaguely familiar. His hair is gray, but he's barrel-chested, with a stout jaw and a nose that looks like it's been broken, reset, and broken again.
Man: “...Andrew?”
Knowing immediately that this man is his father, Smith takes a step back.
A.C.: “I'm sorry, I don't know you. Nor do I want to. Excuse me.”
Smith takes a few steps toward Roxanne and Claire, who are sitting at a table in the corner of the breakfast buffet.
Man: “I deserve that, you know. But I hope you'll give me five minutes.”
Smith stops, not bothering to turn around as he responds.
A.C.: “Why would I do that?”
Man: “To give a dying man the chance he deserves to make things right with his son.”
This grabs Smith's attention. He turns around, tilting his head.
A.C.: “You never wanted ANYTHING to do with me.”
Man: “That wasn't my call.”
A.C.: “How could that NOT be your call? All I knew growing up was that my father, Andrew Smith Sr., bolted when I was three months old. Sounds an awful lot like your call.”
Andrew: “Your mother lied to you. And this might be my last chance to set things right before I take the old dirt nap. Come on, I got the four of us a table.”
Not facing much of a choice at this point, A.C. follows his dad, and the two sit across from Roxanne and Claire.
Andrew: “Ladies, can you two please give us a moment to talk?”
Nodding, Roxanne and Claire get up.
Andrew: “I've got cancer. Pancreatic cancer. The doctors say I might not make it to Christmas.”
A.C.: “I'm not sure what you want me to say to that. I'm...sorry, I guess.”
Andrew: “The idea you have of who I am is wrong. Your mother, she was a hell of a woman. It's been, what, six years since she passed?”
A.C.: “Six years, five months, and 10 days, but who's counting?”
The Big Apple Asskicker sneers, shaking his head once more.
Andrew: “I was arrested right after you were born. There were armed robberies in the neighborhood, and they needed a fall guy. One of the victims gave a bad description, and they decided I was the guy. Son, I've never committed a crime in my life...”
The old man's eyes are welling up with tears, but A.C. is emotionless, instead sipping on a glass of orange juice.
Andrew: “...but none of that mattered. They offered me a joke of a deal. Something like three years for each of the three robberies to be served consecutively. I knew I was innocent, so I didn't take it. Well, the frame job that D.A. did worked perfectly. They sent me away for eight to ten for each robbery, and I wasn't let out until about five years ago.”
A.C.: “That's a heck of a story. But tell me this. Why would my mom lie to me for over 20 years?”
Andrew: “Because she didn't want to ruin your dreams of being a cop. Think about it, kid. If the NYPD knew your dad was a convicted felon, do you REALLY think you'd have been bumped all the way up to homicide as quickly as you were?”
A pause.
Andrew: “Yeah, I did my research. And when I got out, I reached out to your mom. But she wanted no part of me, and to be fair, I totally understood. But she also wanted no part of me talking to you. I guess she'd convinced herself I was no good and didn't think I deserved a son. So off I went. I took a job driving a cab, and I kept my distance.
“Kid, I don't have much time left. So it was important to me to tell you the truth before nobody else could. You can believe me, or not believe me. That's up to you. But I couldn't have rested peacefully knowing you didn't have any idea of what really happened.”
Another pause, and Smith finally looks his dad in the eye.
A.C.: “I don't know what you expect me to do.”
Andrew: “I don't expect anything. You're a grown man, and it looks like you've got a good head on your shoulders, which makes me proud. But I needed to give you this.”
The father hands his son a thick manila folder.
Andrew: “I know you're no cop anymore, and I know you keep yourself busy with the wrestling thing. You're doing well, and I'm happy for you. Whether you want to admit it or not, whether you like it or not, you'll always be my son.
“All I'm asking is for you to read this at some point. Take a look, see all the discrepancies. What's in here should let you know that I'm telling the truth.
“I'll never be able to make up for the time that I wasn't around. I never got to see you grow up, and I never got to be a dad. But what I'm able to do now is tell you that none of this was me abandoning my wife and my newborn son. I got taken away from you and your mother, and not a day goes by where I don't ask myself how it was allowed to happen.
“Son, I'm sorry. It might not mean much to you to hear that, but it means EVERYTHING to me to say it to your face.”
At this point, the water streaming down the older man's face resembles Niagara Falls. A.C. keeps his composure, but it's clear that the revelations have moved him, and he's clutching the manila folder with all his might.
A.C.: “I'll...I'll take a look. I'm not sure what I can do beyond that, but...”
Andrew: “Kid, that's all I ask. I know you don't exactly think highly of me. Christ, I'm probably the only person that's called you Andrew since your mom passed away.”
A.C.: “Roxanne does when she's angry.”
Andrew smiles, putting his hand on his son's broad shoulder as Roxanne and Claire come back with plates pull of pancakes, waffles, and French toast.
Andrew: “Roxie's a good girl. Don't blow it.”
A.C.: “I'll try not to, Dad.”
Just hearing his son call him Dad makes the older man start crying again. Claire reaches across, dabbing his face with a napkin as A.C. looks at Roxanne, mouthing only the words, “thank you,” before digging into his breakfast.
The group of four begins eating, and we hear the squeaks of knives and forks against the plates as our scene fades to black.
---
We fade back to Smith, who is sitting in a black recliner in the living room of his New York City penthouse. Next to the chair, on a long, black coffee table, are the files from the manila folder he received from his father earlier that day. Pictures, documents, diagrams, and other pieces of information are strewn about in a formation only a former cop would understand, and it's clear that the Big Apple Asskicker has been studying all of this for hours on end.
However, at this point, he's sipping a bottle of Michelob Ultra with the APW Xtreme Championship slung over his left shoulder. Smith is taking a rare break, and after putting the blue bottle down in a cup holder at the end of one of the chair's arms, he locks his brown eyes on the camera and opens his mouth to speak.
A.C.: “You get a bomb dropped on you like the one I had dropped on me today, and it affects you. There's no avoiding that. The question is, how do you take what happens to you and move forward, as opposed to letting it knock you on your ass?
“That's the question facing everyone from all walks of life. Everyone has their issues to work through, everyone has certain obstacles to overcome, and everyone's lives are altered by them in some way, shape, or form. As Rocky Balboa once said, it's not about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can GET hit and keep moving forward.
“No bones about it, my time outside the ring, over the next few weeks, is going to be devoted to finding out what really happened with regard to my father going away for a while. However, right now, with regard to Shockwave, my focus is squarely on Leon Roberts, someone who's gotten hit pretty hard several times over the past few weeks and shown ZERO ability to learn from his mistakes and bounce back.”
Smith turns from the camera for a moment, eying his Xtreme Championship and using his right hand to shine it a bit before refocusing on the camera.
A.C.: “Leon Roberts has had several chances to gain momentum going into what is, inarguably, the biggest match of his APW career. And both times, he couldn't have failed much more miserably. This wasn't a case of him doing OK for a while, making a misstep that he could potentially learn from, and falling just short. No, this was a case of him fighting as hard as he could, only to find out that his best, contrary to all the rhetoric he's been spewing over the past few weeks, just isn't enough.
“Here are just some of the gems he's come up with over the last few weeks. 'You couldn't truly defeat me last week, and with the way your gums keep flapping, you won't ever be able to.' 'You're as delusional as you are pathetic.' 'Nobody is safe from me, and I like to show off all that I do, proudly on display.'
“Oh, and it gets better. There were also lines like, 'breath, if you can. Surrender, if you will. Survive, if I let you.' Outside of the fact that I'm sure someone else in the wrestling world is going nuts over another man stealing his catchphrase and so mercilessly butchering it beyond recognition, that very statement is just...wrong.”
Smith lets the last word resonate for just a moment, and it echoes around the room before he continues.
A.C.: “Leon Roberts isn't some human submission machine. And unlike the impression he'd like to think he makes when he opens his mouth, he's not some sadist whose visions make him an unstoppable force. He's a man, the same as anyone else on the APW roster, and like everyone else, he's got his strengths and his weaknesses.
“I make no secret of the fact that I carry my share of baggage. I've gone through a number of things that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, things I'd give everything up to make sure my friends never had to endure. But as much as Leon Roberts taunts me with my ex-love interest faking her death and with everything else that's happened to me in my lifetime, none of it affects me. I won't allow it to, and that's what's made me such a successful wrestler over the last 11 years.
“You don't hang around as long as I have with thin skin. When you've been in this business for 11 years, you get a sense of what should affect you and what shouldn't. Some people never learn that lesson, and as a result, they either don't last long or have careers that fall way short of the public's general expectations.
“Mine, which has included six World Championships, several other title reigns, and becoming arguably the greatest APW Xtreme Champion in history, is far from a disappointment. Leon Roberts, though? Here's a guy who was thought to be a hot prospect. He got his break on APW's flagship brand, has had several chances to knock off the longest-reigning champion on Overdrive, and what's he done with them?”
Smith shakes his head.
A.C.: “Absolutely nothing. Leon Roberts can say whatever he wants about the two times where he had every chance to beat me and didn't do so. In fact, quite the opposite happened. One time, I pinned him as cleanly as humanly possible, and the next, with him insisting I was suffering from some sort of brain damage that doctors at Temple University said didn't exist, he was powerless to stop me from pinning Robina Hood, herself a champion.
“I'll ask one question, a question that I guarantee you my opponent this week doesn't have a rational answer for. What could Leon Roberts possibly do this week that he WASN'T able to do on the last two broadcasts of Overdrive?
“It's a very fair, very rational question. Two weeks in a row, he gave everything he had, and two weeks in a row, he came up short, not by inches, but by miles. By now, I know Leon Roberts and what he brings to the table. I know his strengths, I know his weaknesses, and most importantly, I know how to beat him, because I've done it twice already.
“Does Leon Roberts know how to beat me? Absolutely not. He can try and attempt to capture whatever momentum he once had, but at this point, I'm not exaggerating when I say he's fighting an uphill battle. I have all the momentum in the world, I'm as sharp as I've ever been in that ring, I'm one of the best Xtreme Champions in APW history, and I have no intentions of dropping my title, at Shockwave or any time after that.”
Smith picks up his Michelob Ultra bottle once more, drinking the last of its contents before flinging it into a trash can several feet out of our view. The sound of it clinking into the can draws a smile from the APW Xtreme Champion, one that's present on his face when he opens his mouth to speak for the final time.
A.C.: “I haven't backed down from anything here in Action Packed Wrestling, or, for that matter, in my entire wrestling career. When I say I'm going to do something, it gets done, and I'd like to think I've proven that in my time as the APW Xtreme Champion.
“I said I was going to beat Michael Lively, even when almost everyone else out there thought otherwise. I did it. I said I was going to beat Nathaniel Havok, one of the best Xtreme Champions ever who said he was going to beat me to reclaim a title that was rightfully his, and I did it. All along, I've never shied away from a fight, all the while never writing checks I couldn't cash.
“Leon Roberts? That concept is totally lost on him. For weeks, he's been spouting off at every opportunity about how I'm some sort of sitting duck when the facts don't match up with the way he views the world. Those facts say that he's never come close to beating me in the squared circle, and those facts also say that he has not adjusted his approach at all despite coming up short over and over again.
“I'm looking forward to Shockwave, where I once again put my Xtreme Championship on the line against someone who'd like nothing more than to go down as the man who ended my reign atop the division. Unfortunately for Leon Roberts, he doesn't have what it takes to do that. Once again, he'll ramble on and on about how evil a man he is, and once again, he'll be exposed by a man he can't beat.
“I respect his guts. I respect the fact that he's going after what he wants. But what I'm going off of isn't some baseless philosophy. It's the truth, and the truth is that Leon Roberts just isn't good enough to be the APW Xtreme Champion.
“I look forward to proving that once and for all this weekend. And speaking of proving things...”
Smith spins his chair around to look at the coffee table and his diagrams. Roxanne walks in with two cups of coffee, one in each hand, and the duo begin investigating Smith Sr.'s file as our scene fades to black one final time.
