Post by Level-Two on Aug 22, 2013 4:19:48 GMT -4
One's Sex In the City
He rolls onto his back and pulls the bed sheets over his lower half as he smiles and relieves himself of an exasperated sigh. The bedroom old bedroom cliché may have been played out in this business but over hundreds upon hundreds of promotional videos through his storied career - it was the first time we had seen the great Level-One in this position. Pun fully intended!
''Babe, I am sorry. I am sorry that it has taken me this long to realize that you are want I want out of life. I admit, for the past year I've been jealous. I've been horribly jealous of Terry Marvin and the life he's been building for himself while I have been left to rot away on my own. As an outlet for my anger, I took out my frustrations on the one thing he cared about the most and I was wrong for it.''
He tilts his head sideways diverting his attention away from the spinning ceiling fan hovering above his head. It was his biggest fan.
''I am disgusted with myself that after all we've been through I was ever willing to throw you away for something so shallow. I know that any other man in the world wouldn't hesitate to snatch you up and make you theirs unless there's something wrong with them like CJ Gates - who rumor has it will be starring in broke back mountain part two, cowboy hat and all. The fact that you have stuck with me through these though times and have forgiven me for my mistakes tells me that I am probably not even worthy of you.''
He smiles as a bright light reflects in his eyes - as bright, as any APW championship he has ever held.
''I want to take the next step in life with you - where that takes us, I just don't know but I know that with you by my side I am just about unstoppable. Baby, no matter what challenge comes our way, I am here for you. I am your warrior sworn to serve and protect you from those who would want to take you away from me out of sheer envy and jealousy...''
It is his APW world championship.
''Baby, I love you.''
The camera pans to a shot of the APW world heavyweight championship hovering in the bed beside him...
However, a voice quickly sparks all of our interests.
''I love you too.''
Lester Only smiles as he sits upright and rips the APW world title right off the chest of his Fiancé Patricia Lewis who's now exposed for only him to see. He can barely contain himself, as he tosses the APW world title aside and pulls her on top of him.
''So, you ready for round two?'' He asked, as she bites her lip seductively.
''Ding, ding, ding...'' She sung.
Though, you should probably know that this scene is a few weeks old. It's never been seen before but it's a little something we dug out of the archives for relevance sake. Today, it's August, 21, 2013 and Level-One has met with Patricia Lewis to pick her up from a bridal shop in which she had been picking out her dress for the big day with several of her best lady friends.
''So, did you find the one you liked today?''
He asked, figuring such a question would be ideal for the occasion because otherwise he didn't actually care.
''Unfortunately not - the most expensive dress in there was only 25, 000 dollars.'' Patricia Lewis stated as an after thought.
''Since when did you become a little princess? I mean, I know we're well off but when did you become so materialistic?''
''Come on, Lester.'' Patricia Lewis squealed as she wrapped her arms around his and leaned on his shoulder. ''I don't think you understand how long I have been waiting for this special day of ours! I am not trying to be a brat but I really just want it all to be... perfect. I dreamed of something like this since I was a little girl.''
''Touching.'' Lester said, reflecting on his childhood. ''I spent my time as a kid wondering if I'd eat enough food to live through to the next day. Shit, up until I was 16 I was convinced I was going to die alone...''
''That's dark, babe...'' Patricia Lewis replied feeling the buzz kill. ''What changed?''
''I found wrestling.'' He grinned even it was for half a second. ''You know the entire underground fight club...''
''I do.'' Patricia said flatly. ''And now, in just a few months we can finally put all that behind us once and for all.''
''Yeah, about that...'' Lester started. ''I tried to give the APW world title away; god knows I did but CJ just wouldn't accept the title. I mean, I came up with this whole elaborate scheme where I hammed up the idea that I felt I didn't deserve the title and how he should take it off my hands for himself but turns out... he's actually half decent guy who would rather earn his stripes.''
''I understand.'' Patricia said pulling herself closer to Lester. ''But you know this needs to be done one way or another, Lester. As long as you hold that title the APW is going to expect the world from you and now that we're getting married and starting our family you and I both know you cannot give your all to them.''
''Yes, but there's nothing I can do in the foreseeable future. I know the life you want for us and I am going to give to you but I don't think now is the time.''
Patricia Lewis pulls away from Lester Only.
''What!?''
''Relax.'' He protested. ''I am not saying what you think I am saying, what I am saying is... that our honeymoon to Rook Islands can wait until our schedule slows down.''
Agitated his fiancé Patricia crossed her arms and tilted her head sideways. ''Lester, this was not the agreement we made! With the way things are in the business you may be champion for the next year or even more!''
''Oh, come on - it's not like I am Terry Marvin!'' Lester Only said dismissively. ''As if you know the landscape of the wrestling business, anyways.''
''I am a fucking aspiring sports journalist, Lester. It's my job!'' Patricia cursed out of annoyance. ''Lester, you aren't going to do this to me right now. We made an agreement and now you're starting to compromise and before we both know it, this entire wedding is going to be called off.''
''Is that what you want?''
''Is that what you THINK I want, Lester!?'' Patricia asked shaking her head back and forth in disbelief. ''I can't even believe you right now! I would have never gotten back together with you if I knew you were going to act like this over your stupid world title!''
He snarled. ''You know, maybe it's not even about the APW world title...''
''Then what the hell is it about, Lester?'' Patricia pushed on, raising her eyebrows and her voice. Lester lowered his head and slides his hands into his pockets, opting for defeat. ''Look, Lester. It's either me or the title... which one are you going to choose?''
''Can I just wrap it around your tits again and we both win?''
''Fuck you, Lester.'' Patricia said, sighing in disgust. ''You need to grow up and decide what you truly want out of life...''
As she turned to walk away, Lester Only reached out and grabbed her by her arm - short of begging her to stay with him. ''How do I fix this?''
''You have a match against CJ Gates this Sunday for the APW world title, is that really a question Lester?'' Patricia asked, clearly annoyed. ''I want you to lose. If he can't beat you, well then you need to throw it. I don't care what it takes, lay down for the count if you have to... just please, let this go so we can finally move on with our life’s.''
''Patricia, I...''
Patricia Lewis raised her hand cutting Lester Only off. ''There's nothing more that needs to be said, Lester. I'll be watching Shockwave. Good luck, I guess.''
Patricia Lewis opted to take a nearby taxi instead and she was off, leaving Level-One standing outside the bridal shop alone.
As much as it was easy to dismiss Patricia Lewis as a bitch he knew he was at fault. He understood the conditions in which Patricia Lewis was willing to take him back and he accepted them. For the past several weeks, he's been trying to live up to his end of the bargain the best way he could but now what she was asking of him felt almost impossible.
He was a warrior - he couldn't imagine just laying down for CJ Gates. Hell, he knew deep down CJ Gates wouldn't probably accept that either. In fact, he was sure CJ Gates would want to pummel him just upon the revelation that he had different motives for handing off the title and walking away from it than he portrayed to him and the rest of the world on television.
I guess some of us just never change.
A few hours later, he found himself at an apartment complex. He wasn't familiar with the building but it didn't mean he was an unwelcome visitor. He took a deep breath, knocked twice and the door swung open fairly quick presumably because on the other side the person had expected his arrival.
''Hey, Kay...''
There he stood opposite of Kaylyn James Evans who repaid him with a gently smile and stepped aside, granting him access to her place.
He grinned in return as he straightened up his tie.
It's just business.
Oh, and your remember that entire title scene we aired earlier? Well, we never really did establish whether or not he was talking to Patricia Lewis or the APW world title - perhaps time will tell. After all...
Actions, they always speak louder than words.
I didn't want to do this. You made me do this.
How long has this been CJ? How many fucking years has it been that I and you have been opposite sides in an epic battle of tug of war? I don't know. Indeed, I could very well take a look in the record books and find our first match together - a match wherein, I undoubtedly beat the piss out of you and it still wouldn't tell the full story. Our hatred for each other knew no bounds, it was never defined in the confines of a wrestling ring - the first time I laid eyes on you, I knew what this was. I knew I hated you.
But lately, I've been having these revelations. The type of revelations you get when you have one beer too many, get drunk, bang some ugly broad with low self-esteem and regret it the next morning as a strange fungus grows on the tip if your cock. Hatred? I don't want to feel that shit no more. It doesn't feel right. It weighs way too heavily on the heart. You embrace that shit and suddenly you start hating everything. Everyone. Your so called friends, your Terry freaking Marvin’s pull you deeper into that cesspool of negativity in attempt to keep you closer, like enemies often do.
In attempt to escape these feelings of hatred, I have made some great strides. I donated my last pay cheque to a sick children’s hospital and I spent two hours last week feeding the homeless. I'm aware that I am by no means a humanitarian but I even offered my title to you CJ Gates multiple times in an attempt to squash this feud. To end this hatred between us once and for all...
But you can’t for you hate me too much.
Now it is YOU who is fueled by hatred. You can't do anything without looking over your head and seeing the dark cloud raining shit upon your head. You can't even look at the damn clouds without thinking it resembles my face in some way. You are consumed by your hatred, CJ. You associate your inability to be seen as the number one guy, the head honcho, the champion every knows and loves with me. But CJ...
It's not ME, it's YOU!
You're the reason why you aren't APW world champion! After every loss, after every shortcoming you always concern yourself about what I did to secure a victory rather than looking in the mirror and coming to grips with what YOU did not do! Rather than hating yourself for not putting forth the effort that it takes to be a champion, you hate me for being one! The thing about is CJ, I understand it. I was there. I was just like you until I grew up and accepted things for what they were, CJ.
By giving you my title I was only trying to help you. Help me. I was trying to free us both from our hatred and end this blood feud between us once and for all. However, you couldn't let it go - for the hate was simply too strong.
You hate the fact that one day, I may be the biggest fan favorite you always strive to be. You hate the idea of me becoming a good guy because you will always look better going up against the demon you've for so long created out of me! After all, what would Spider Man be without his Venom? What would Super Man be without Lex Luther? What would fucking Batman be without The Joker!?
Certainly not heroes....
Gates, I am not much of a changed man. Rather, I am a 28 year old father who's finally coming into his own. The Less and Less I care about this business the more and more I start to become comfortable with who I am. I am sick of being pushed into these bullshit archetypes, yeah? Aren't you, CJ!? Don't you just wish you could be more like a HUMAN being than a card board cut out, a self-described white night - someone forced to abide by some bullshit morale code another flawed human has come up with? Don't you wish that you could have been the one to bash me, Terry Marvin or even Kurt Noble with a steel chair to face when we all decided to disrespect you?
Fact is, 99% of this world’s population would like do it - but only one percent weren't born certified pussies.
Read the internet blogs, read the countless reviews - CJ. Indeed, I know you have. You know what they're saying about me, don't you? These intellectual dimwits holding onto their false image of what this sport is about. Countless APW Mega Stars complaining about how I have carried my title and how you and I have chosen to go on about our feud with class. We went over a month without exchanging blows and cheap backstage attacks and suddenly, they're at a loss that they are actually seeing something they haven't ever saw before. That's how fucking trivial this sport of ours has been, never mind become.
I'm here to revolutionize this shit, CJ... not here to repeat the same bullshit melo dramatic soap opera trash everyone has come to accept. They think that I am just supposed to bow down to this APW world title and worship its strap, as if it wasn't made from a cow’s ass. It's bullshit. They want you to march around and play a confidence game as if you didn't lose to me countless times before! To your credit, unlike them - you seem to be apt to living in reality, rather than choosing to live in a sad state of delusion.
However, despite your honest interpretation of these events - you seem to be under the impression that I somehow believe that you are fit to hold this APW world title. Well, I don't. I didn't offer you the title because I thought you deserved it, I offered you the title because I thought you'd be one of the first people desperate enough to accept it and take it off my hands. Perhaps, I should've handed it off to the likes of Michael Jennings - who would just about spread his butt cheeks and sacrifice his asshole to the dick with the APW world title. I digress.
As much as I would like to commend you for wanting to win the APW world title the traditional way - unfortunately, I will not stand idly by and allow it to happen. I don't know if along the way something was lost in translation but I can't help but think I lead you to believe that I am some bitch! Is that it? Do you take me for some kind of BITCH, CJ!? You think you can choose your fate!? You think you're just going to walk over me and CHOOSE the manner in which you will beat me!? What. The. Fuck. You are not in control, I am. I gave you your out and you stuck around. Why? I gave you your win and you chose to lose. Why? And now, it's too late. This match is nothing more than a formality, a nice ride on the little red wagon that will take you through the motions of pain, misery and despair and you ASKED for it! I'm your fucking tour guide, CJ!
Oh, I know... once it gets moving, once that little red wagon hits that proverbial bump in the road you're going to want to get off. Maybe you're feeling hungry, maybe you want to throw up or need to take a massive shit - whatever your reasoning for wanting to get out of this little ride will be ignored. See, you're in it for the long haul. I am going to beat you down not out of hatred but rather out compassion. Tough love. And by the end of it? You'll have no excuses. Johnny Chase, who? You're never going to want to do this again. You will live the rest of your life wishing that you spent your breath uttering the word, yes - rather than whatever garbled inaudible animal noises you'll be making in the ring as you struggle for what might as well be your last breath.
Do you know what the funny thing about that is? I could have ended this thing between us a long time ago. Hell, I could have beat you at Christmas Chaos if I took our match as half as seriously as I should have! The truth is, we're in the entertainment industry, CJ. I'm not here to break your neck and watch you die. No, I'm here to build us both up to sell more tickets at the front gate. It's all one big fucking production, you see? Magic. It's the reason why we have Thursday Night Overdrive’s and our RassleMania's. It's the reason why I can beat the piss out of you inside the arena and be charged with assault for beating you with a bag of feathers outside of it.
CJ, I want you to think of me as a crazed killer who sends his victim several death threats before the eventual kill. I left my message at the end of the beep. Beep! The only reason I have let you hang around for this long is for my entertainment, for the well-being of the big production!
You're understanding this now, aren't you CJ?
However, now the audience has seen all it needs and has no more use for you. BOOM. Just like that, Viola, production over! Roll the credits Skippy, we all know someone else wants their due...
So ask yourself, why do you even concern yourself with these people? I mean, I guess I kind of understand it, you know... the cheering, the chanting, all the emotion you get from those people it gives you strength and turns out to be nice feel good moment, the type you get watching one of those godfather movies, I get that CJ. What I don't get is, why do you care so much if you let them down? See, you lose here and suddenly those ''CJ Gates'' chants are little quieter than they were the last time were out there but yet your apologies to them... those only get louder.
It fucking hurts my head, man! It's a lot easier to be like me. One day, I can do something to make them cheer and in the next breath, boo. That's what makes this thing between us so fun, huh CJ!? We're just days out from our match and you don't know what you're going to get from me, do you? I love it. I fucking love it. I think that's what this business has been missing, that element of surprise. That guy who carries that big colorful bag of tricks that you don't know if it’s half full, or half empty...
...or nothing in it at all.
These people they think they've seen it all. They think that if I beat you now - Overdrive has nothing more to see. Are you kidding me!? They don't know what's next. Shit, a part of me doesn't know what's next. What I do know is, I won't be giving my title away anymore. No, no, no... I'd sooner melt this thing into twelve gold bars and then trade it in for fiat!
When I beat you CJ, I can finally start being the champion I was meant to be!
Let me clue you in, alright? I'm not the mythical creature with three heads this industry once I thought I was, I'm real and in the flesh. It is because I am real that I have hung my head low in defeat after losing to Terry Marvin rather than play the role of some bullshit caricature that isn't deep enough to embrace and accept their losses for what they are. So, I took this title - this second rate piece of shit and I held it up in front of the world to see it for what it is. It hurt, I know it did.
It hurt because the WORLD didn't like seeing the image of what reflected right back at them.
That image was of every sorry goddamned champion to have ever held it before me starting from James Chambers, to the mediocre run of Jason Kash up until the disgusting disappointment and bust Michael Callahan turned out to be. Somewhere along the lines, Sally held it for a month or two and even that wasn't enough to elevate it past the jagged edges of rock bottom.
I was only ever paying those motherfuckers HOMAGE.
But as I sat back to truly reflect I realized something else - the APW world title is still only second rate because of me! I may have not MADE it that way but I KEPT it that way. However, if I can beat CJ Gates - I can begin to move forward in repairing the unimaginable damage done by the former champions who stained this belt with their names prior to my rule. More importantly, and here's the kicker...
I am the REASON why the Undisputed Championship meant a damn thing in the first place. I am only a VICTIM of my own SUCCESS!
If I built that title up to being the most prestigious title in professional wrestling than your damn right I can pimp this fucking ride! It's not going to come overnight, it's going to take a lot of work and it’s going to have to be executed in a way the world has never seen but I promise you this, it will be done!
And if I have anyone to thank for making it ALL possible, it is you...
CJ Gates.
