Post by Evan De Parker on Aug 24, 2013 20:59:30 GMT -4
August 24, 2013, Unknown Time
Unknown Location
Voice Recording
”There was a time when I said that I never wanted to work for another company aside from APW… And I meant it, y’know? At the time, I thought that Action Packed Wrestling was where I wanted to be for the rest of my career. I loved the rush of coming out of those curtains and seeing every single fan on their feet, screaming… That’s a high that you just don’t get doing anything else.
“Times have changed though.
“I told the world I was leaving. I let my contract expire, and now I have no obligation to wrestle under the APW banner. I don’t have a contract legally forcing me to show up at the Shockwave pay-per-view, y’know? I got my belt back from Tommy, and now I have the option of just taking my ball and going home… Or, in this case, taking my ball and going to Sin City.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t at least consider swallowing my pride, calling Jeff, and telling him that I don’t wanna go away after all. There’s something that stops me from renegotiating a contract in APW… It’s the fact that I’ve already done what I set out to do. I already made the Overdrive Championship more ICONIC than the World Heavyweight Title, and if you don’t believe me, ask any old schmuck of the street outside of Action Packed Wrestling. They know who Lady Overdrive is, and they know that I’m her man.
“There’s a guy running Overdrive right now and his name is Alexander Duvall, and he told two men that you all might’ve heard of-- Nathaniel Havok and Tommy Knox-- a blatant lie waaaaaaaaaaaaay-way-way-way back on July 11th, and it led to a little bit of drama. He told these men that Evan Envi wasn’t going to be in the building for Overdrive that night. He told these men that there would be a new APW Overdrive Champion, no matter what.
“I never got the memo. I did show up, and I stunned the entire world by pinning Nathaniel Havok and retaining my Overdrive Title. I was vilified by a majority of the APW locker-room, many of whom believed that I should’ve taken one for the team and laid down for Havok or Knox on that fateful night, but anybody that knows me know that’s not my style. I don’t just HAND OUT opportunities. I’ve sure as hell never been given any handouts in my entire professional career, and no matter how much distaste I have for Alexander Duvall and President Jeff and every rat bastard in a suit that pretends to run this company, I will not sit back and allow a championship that I helped define be TAINTED because the powers-that-be wanted it to stay on a company man.
“The reason that the Overdrive Championship is on a Sinner instead of a Megastar is because there is nobody in APW that is better than me. I’m it. There is nobody on this roster that is worthy, or capable of taking the Overdrive Title away from me in a fair fight. And sure-- there have been plenty of people who have tried, and Tommy Knox even humiliated me a few weeks ago by kidnapping Lady Overdrive, but as always, I prevailed. As always, I overcame the odds, and not only did I level Knox, but I leveled his whole crew. His boy. His old lady. And Jenny even did a number on Knox before Duvall got involved… Didn’t she, Tommy?
“I mean-- it was just ridiculous! You should’ve seen it from my point of view. I mean, you should’ve heard the roar of that audience when Jenny climbed to the top of that ladder. You should’ve seen what I saw, Tommy… You should’ve seen the electricity behind those eyes as she jumped off and sailed through the air, and sent you crashing through a table.
“It was poetic justice.
“For the past two months, you’ve done more than just harass me and Lady Overdrive, but you decided that you were gonna get Jenny involved. You and Niobe attacked her, and I was helpless as you hurt her not once-- but twice-- but I promise, Tommy; you’re never gonna be able to hurt any of my friends again. What you did to Gooch was a message to me, and there was a small, fucked up part of me that admired what you did, because that’s the kind of ruthless, merciless shit that I used to think I had to do in order to gain recognition… But then, man, there was a bigger part of me that was disgusted by it. There was a part of me that hated you for it, and still does, and Tommy, I promise you, there’s a part of me that’s never gonna let it go.
“And to put the icing on the cake, knowing that Nate and I would be separated after our argument, you ran him down in the parking lot. The man had already come within a sentence of losing his job and then you maimed him. And for what? What did you prove? That you were able to pick apart a group of emotionally and physically damaged wrestlers when they were at the lowest points of their lives, one-by-one? What did you and Niobe prove by ambushing Jenny and I after I had just wrestled and won a thirty-five minute Championship Scramble match on July 25th? Hm? That when the numbers-game was leaning in your favor, you were able to dissect a man that had just wrestled six other people for over a half hour, and his manager?
“What did you prove to me, Tommy? What the fuck has Evan Harrison learned from your Iron Nightmare and your Black Hand and your Nomad? Huh? TELL ME, Tommy Knox, because clearly I’m missing a bigger picture here-- tell me how you’re going to defeat me in that ring on Sunday night when the only thing that has your back is a 15-foot steel ladder, and trust me-- they aren’t the most dependable partners.
“Every time we’ve faced each other in the ring, Tommy, I’ve beaten you. Even when your whole crew was out there, I beat every single one of you. You have only been the last man standing when somebody else beat you to the punch and the dirty work for you. Hell-- on Overdrive, CHRIS MADISON, with a damn-near broken nose was able to outlast you and take me to my limit while you were sitting in the back with your thumbs up your ass, invisible for the remainder of the night, probably because you finally realized that on August 25th, you have no chance in HELL of defeating me unless the heavens open up, the locker room empties out, and the cavalry comes to save you from the most malicious fucking assault in the history of professional wrestling.
“I will whoop your ass like you are my own child. I will take you over my knee, and I will hurt you in front of all these people, and in front of all your friends, Tommy.
“This is supposed to be the rise of the Black Hand, and this is supposed to be when you guys gain momentum, and you start taking everything in sight-- from the Tag Team Championships, the Overdrive Championship, to the Suicidal… You want everything, and that’s something that I can respect, because I want everything too. I want to be the best that the world has ever seen, and I want every title, every accolade-- everything I can get my hands on that cements my legacy.
“All you wanna do is make history.
“And we’re gonna do that tomorrow night, boy. We’re gonna get in that ring, and we’re gonna look up at Lady Overdrive as she sways and dances in the lights above us, and we’re gonna look back at each other and in that moment, we’re going to learn more about each other than we have over the past two months. I’m going to be able to see in your eyes how much you truly want to be the APW Overdrive Champion. I’m gonna see how much you wanna be king.
“And then you’re gonna look into my eyes and you’re gonna see that every warning that I’ve given you, and every opportunity that I’ve given you to back out of this fight with a sense of dignity and pride left, had merit. You’re going to suddenly understand why Jason Kash didn’t have the same faith in you that Jenny Knite, Jace Savage, Brian Hollywood, and millions of people around the world have faith in me. The Black Hand-- you guys have destroyed everything your path and you’ve capitalized on every chance you’ve had to make a true statement, but not against me.
“You argue that NewGen Rising and Jenny Knite had major roles in my victory over the Black Hand in an Elimination Tables’ Match a few weeks ago on Overdrive, and I wouldn’t tell you otherwise. I’m fully aware that I had people watching my back during that match, and I’m thankful for it, because the Black Hand wasn’t just there to win a Tag Team Tables’ match that Thursday night. You guys were there to cause damage… And you were there to make sure that somebody didn’t make it to Shockwave. I have no shame in winning the way that I did, because in the record books, the simple fact remains: even backed into a corner, the Black Hand was unable to defeat Evan Envi.
“But you think you’ll be able to do it one-on-one.
“I like that about you, Tommy. You’ve always thought incredibly highly of yourself. I mean-- nevermind the fact that you were never able to attain the North American Championship, and let’s just ignore the fact that every time you’ve had the chance to even come close to Tag Team Title gold, you found a way to completely screw that up-- you’re a pretty damned good wrestler and you have every right to be confident in yourself.
“But-- wait. Pretty damned good doesn’t even compare to great.
“That’s me, Tom. That’s who I am. I’m great, and in order to take Lady Overdrive away from me on Sunday, you’re gonna have to do something that you’ve absolutely NEVER done in Action Packed Wrestling, and you’re gonna have to be great.
“It was just two months ago that I was in one of the most brutal matches of my career against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at Test for the Best. He took me to my limit, and it took everything short of a shotgun shell to put him down, but I did it. Now that match? That was great. For ONE NIGHT, that guy was great.
“Chris Madison on Overdrive? That was a great battle. Madison had me on the edge, and at the end of the night, regardless of which team emerged victorious, Madison and I were able to take a great fight away from that, and that’s something that I’ll never forget.
“How about you, huh?
“When’s the last time you’ve done something in that ring that’s made people sit back and drop their collective jaws? How many of your matches do we see featured in our weekly highlight reels, Tommy? What have you REALLY DONE in the confines of a wrestling match that has ever warranted the position you’re in now?! You couldn’t even hold onto a championship belt that you stole. Raab is a champion. Madison and Voldemort? They might be better wrestlers than you. And Niobe is improving more and more each week… It’s only a matter of time before she’s put in a position where she has to show you up-- and she will show you up.
“Hahaha, how are you gonna HANDLE that, bro? Are you gonna punch her in her face? Are you gonna kick her and drive her head into the mat, or throw her through a table like you did to Jenny when she embarrassed you in the middle of the ring? I guess what I’m trying to ask is-- who the fuck educated you on how to lose, because whoever it is? They sucked at it.
“When you lose, people get hurt, but why is it always after the fact? Why aren’t you able to break through the glass ceiling like I have and reach your full potential, Tommy? Is it because you’re forever living in the shadow of people like Jason Kash, and EVEN people like Buckson Gooch? I mean-- you’re pound-for-pound, one of the best wrestlers, and one of the best talkers on the Overdrive roster, but you’ve never been the guy to be afraid of.
“You could be. You should be. But as long as I’m here, you’re just not that guy.
“As long as I’m around, Tommy, you’ll never have a chance. You’re a prisoner in this three-star world that you’ve built around yourself, and I’m the barbwire fence that’s keeping you in. You’re not meee... You’ll never be me. You’ll never know what it’s like to truly be a Megastar. You’ll never know what it’s like to be a champion. I won’t let you-- and it’s about a hell of a lot more than hindering you. Somewhere down the line, this became about stopping Alexander Duvall. It became about stopping the Black Hand.
“I was told two weeks ago that if-- if Lady Overdrive and I were separated at Shockwave, then I was banned from any and all participation in any APW-related events. That… Haha… That kinda messed with me a bit, because I have friends here, y’know? I’d like to be able to come to these events and support the people that have supported me throughout my entire career. I’d like to be around when Amy Zing wins her first championship, or when Savage and Hollywood beat the brakes off Niobe and Madison and then go onto win the Tag Team Titles. I wanna see A.C. Smith capture the World Championship. I wanna see Logan Alexander get his revenge on Aubrey J. Parker. I wanna see Blade come back. I wanna see Sally Talfourd win Survive and Conquer. I wanna be there for that shit.
“And I wanna be there when the Black Hand finally dies.
“...I’m fighting you on Sunday for a lot of reasons. I’m fighting because of what you’ve done to me, and what you’ve done to my best friend. I’m going to show that I can protect those that are closest to me, and you’ll regret every decision you made. I’m fighting for Buck. For Nate. For Jenny. And for all those people that you guys never appreciated, and you hurt to get where you are. I’m not going to just roll over and die for you.
“If this is how I have to go out, then please believe I’m going out fighting, and I’m gonna go out leaving a burning trail behind me. I’m not the kind of guy that you wanna target. I’m not the person that you want to back into a corner. Maybe you haven’t seen my work, and maybe you think that this is all fun and games come Shockwave, Tommy, but I assure you, brother, that what’s going to happen to you is going to be the most unsettling, traumatic, life-changing experience of your life. You’re going to find out exactly who Evan Envi is. You understand that I’m some kind of a big deal around these parts, Tommy, and you claim to get it, but I don’t think you do… I don’t think you reeeeally understand why I’ve never been a victim.
“I don’t think you’ve gotten your ass beat up on enough throughout your career.
“At Shockwave, I’m going to treat you to an old-school ass-whoopin’, courtesy of the League. I’m gonna find new, creative ways to hurt you with every ladder that you think is your friend. I’m going make you fear the ring, Tommy. You’ll fear wrestling.
“If I’m going out, then I’m taking you with me.”
August 23, 2013 (Morning)
Ocean City, Maryland
Harrison Residence
If you were to ask Evan Envi to describe the current scene to you, he probably wouldn’t even know where to begin. He would tell you that the wrestling ring had been set up in the place of his trampoline in the backyard of his Ocean City property. He would tell you how Jenny Knite, wearing elbow pads and knee pads would climb about half-way up the twelve-foot ladder set up in the center of the ring… And squeal, bracing herself, as Jeremy Knite-- who groaned every time-- rushed into the ladder, causing it to collapse and send Jenny falling to the ground.
With every fall, she got right back up. She would swear, and hold her back, but she would climb back to her feet, and she would set that ladder up… And sometimes she would scale it even faster than the time before that, but every time, Jeremy would be there, ready to swipe the ladder from beneath her. At one point, Evan turns his head as he watches the ladder swept out from beneath her body and spirals downward, careening with the ladder. He silently decides he’s had enough as he hears the desperate squeak of pain escape his best friend’s mouth.
”Yo. Guys!”
Jeremy Knite, who-- to Jenny and Evan’s mutual amusement-- is dressed in full amateur wrestling garb, kneels down next to Jenny and they both turn toward Evan, casting a gaze in his direction as he approaches the apron of the wrestling ring. Leaning forward, he rests his forehead against the bottom rope and looks at Jenny as she climbs to her feet.
”What are you doing?”
Jeremy’s eyes widen as he senses the seriousness in Evan’s tone. He steps in front of Jenny and quickly tries to offer an explanation.
”We were just--”
”Preparing for the worst.”
Evan’s face falls a bit at Jenny’s words. She walks toward the corner of the ring and retrieves a towel while Evan maintains his position from the outside, following her with his eyes, shaking his head in disapproval.
”You’re not going out there with me on Sunday, Jenny.”
She mops sweat from her brows with the towel and turns, shooting Evan an amused half-smirk.
”You’re gonna have a hell of a time trying to keep me in the back.”
”I don’t want you out there. You’ll… You’ll just get in the way.”
Jeremy winces at the comment, still kneeling as he looks between the two, but Jenny hardly seems fazed by it. Again, her face reflects nothing but amusement and she responds to Evan in a delicate tone.
”You don’t wanna be responsible for what happens if the Black Hand get their hands on me. Yeah?”
Evan shrugs.
”I can’t see you get hurt again, Jenny. I can’t take that anymore, alright?”
”I can handle it, Evan. You guys have been training me for this shit since I was like, sixteen.”
”Jenny-- you KNOW it’s different. We weren’t throwing you full-speed through tables and slamming your head into the mat during practice.”
He gestures toward the ladder which lies idly in the center of the ring.
”We weren’t teaching you how to fall off of ladders, either. Hah, not that I could remember.”
”It’s just a start.”
For a few seconds, standing there in the backyard in the warm, golden morning sunlight, Evan Envi is able to confuse the silence as a moment of serenity. There is the faintest chirping and chanting of the birds, and the slight rustle of the leaves as a nearly excusable gust of wind drifts through the neighborhood, but there is complete silence. There’s not a single human voice-- nor is there a groan or a roar from an engine. Nothing.
”I’m not going to let them take Lady Overdrive away from us.”
...And if you were to ask Evan Envi, he would tell you that this was the death of serenity. He climbs up onto the apron, feeling the frustration building from the pit of his stomach, up to his chest, until it finally becomes visible on his face. Jeremy looks up at Evan and slowly pushes himself back into the ropes as the Overdrive Champion approaches Jenny.
”This isn’t your fight. You got to put Knox through a table. You got your revenge on Niobe… And what Knox did to you last week, after he got eliminated from that match, was horrible, and I understand that you’re still mad-- alright? But I need you to let me do my job. I need you to let me go out there and defend you, for once. Let me defend Lady Overdrive. Hell-- let me DEFEND all of those people that the Black Hand talk down to, and insult every single week.”
Jenny smiles faintly and moves some strands of hair out of her face.
”How am I supposed to be your Knite in shining armor if I’m watching from the back?”
Evan’s face softens. He crosses his arms and looks over at Jeremy, for a moment. One could possibly describe the look that Jeremy is giving him as “hopeful.” It’s at that moment that Evan looks at the cuts, and the bruises on Jeremy’s arms and legs, courtesy of that ladder-- courtesy of helping Jenny “prepare for the worst.” His eyes drift over the ladder, and then back over toward Jenny. Evan takes one of her wrists in his hand and observes her fair skin, looking at the imperfections that decorate her body from her hands and her wrists up to her arms.
”How long have you guys been at this?”
”Weeks. We usually don’t do it when you’re home, because… Well… We figured you’d react the way you did.”
She shrugs and pulls her arm free, crossing them uncomfortably over her midsection.
”I trust you, and I know you can defend us-- but like you said, this could be it.”
Evan just gives a single nod and turns, looking downward. His eyes travel up, into the distance where Lady Overdrive sits on her proverbial throne, staring back at Evan, glimmering, radiating beauty.
”It could be.”
”No one hurts my friends.”
Evan smirks and looks back up at Jenny.
”No one hurts my friends…”
”So I guess we both know what we need to do on Sunday.”
Evan sighs. He wants to protest, but he stops himself. He nods, and Jeremy climbs to his feet, joining the two in the corner. Jenny smiles up at Evan.
"We're gonna save the world, right?"
"That's right."
Dark.
Unknown Location
Voice Recording
”There was a time when I said that I never wanted to work for another company aside from APW… And I meant it, y’know? At the time, I thought that Action Packed Wrestling was where I wanted to be for the rest of my career. I loved the rush of coming out of those curtains and seeing every single fan on their feet, screaming… That’s a high that you just don’t get doing anything else.
“Times have changed though.
“I told the world I was leaving. I let my contract expire, and now I have no obligation to wrestle under the APW banner. I don’t have a contract legally forcing me to show up at the Shockwave pay-per-view, y’know? I got my belt back from Tommy, and now I have the option of just taking my ball and going home… Or, in this case, taking my ball and going to Sin City.
“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t at least consider swallowing my pride, calling Jeff, and telling him that I don’t wanna go away after all. There’s something that stops me from renegotiating a contract in APW… It’s the fact that I’ve already done what I set out to do. I already made the Overdrive Championship more ICONIC than the World Heavyweight Title, and if you don’t believe me, ask any old schmuck of the street outside of Action Packed Wrestling. They know who Lady Overdrive is, and they know that I’m her man.
“There’s a guy running Overdrive right now and his name is Alexander Duvall, and he told two men that you all might’ve heard of-- Nathaniel Havok and Tommy Knox-- a blatant lie waaaaaaaaaaaaay-way-way-way back on July 11th, and it led to a little bit of drama. He told these men that Evan Envi wasn’t going to be in the building for Overdrive that night. He told these men that there would be a new APW Overdrive Champion, no matter what.
“I never got the memo. I did show up, and I stunned the entire world by pinning Nathaniel Havok and retaining my Overdrive Title. I was vilified by a majority of the APW locker-room, many of whom believed that I should’ve taken one for the team and laid down for Havok or Knox on that fateful night, but anybody that knows me know that’s not my style. I don’t just HAND OUT opportunities. I’ve sure as hell never been given any handouts in my entire professional career, and no matter how much distaste I have for Alexander Duvall and President Jeff and every rat bastard in a suit that pretends to run this company, I will not sit back and allow a championship that I helped define be TAINTED because the powers-that-be wanted it to stay on a company man.
“The reason that the Overdrive Championship is on a Sinner instead of a Megastar is because there is nobody in APW that is better than me. I’m it. There is nobody on this roster that is worthy, or capable of taking the Overdrive Title away from me in a fair fight. And sure-- there have been plenty of people who have tried, and Tommy Knox even humiliated me a few weeks ago by kidnapping Lady Overdrive, but as always, I prevailed. As always, I overcame the odds, and not only did I level Knox, but I leveled his whole crew. His boy. His old lady. And Jenny even did a number on Knox before Duvall got involved… Didn’t she, Tommy?
“I mean-- it was just ridiculous! You should’ve seen it from my point of view. I mean, you should’ve heard the roar of that audience when Jenny climbed to the top of that ladder. You should’ve seen what I saw, Tommy… You should’ve seen the electricity behind those eyes as she jumped off and sailed through the air, and sent you crashing through a table.
“It was poetic justice.
“For the past two months, you’ve done more than just harass me and Lady Overdrive, but you decided that you were gonna get Jenny involved. You and Niobe attacked her, and I was helpless as you hurt her not once-- but twice-- but I promise, Tommy; you’re never gonna be able to hurt any of my friends again. What you did to Gooch was a message to me, and there was a small, fucked up part of me that admired what you did, because that’s the kind of ruthless, merciless shit that I used to think I had to do in order to gain recognition… But then, man, there was a bigger part of me that was disgusted by it. There was a part of me that hated you for it, and still does, and Tommy, I promise you, there’s a part of me that’s never gonna let it go.
“And to put the icing on the cake, knowing that Nate and I would be separated after our argument, you ran him down in the parking lot. The man had already come within a sentence of losing his job and then you maimed him. And for what? What did you prove? That you were able to pick apart a group of emotionally and physically damaged wrestlers when they were at the lowest points of their lives, one-by-one? What did you and Niobe prove by ambushing Jenny and I after I had just wrestled and won a thirty-five minute Championship Scramble match on July 25th? Hm? That when the numbers-game was leaning in your favor, you were able to dissect a man that had just wrestled six other people for over a half hour, and his manager?
“What did you prove to me, Tommy? What the fuck has Evan Harrison learned from your Iron Nightmare and your Black Hand and your Nomad? Huh? TELL ME, Tommy Knox, because clearly I’m missing a bigger picture here-- tell me how you’re going to defeat me in that ring on Sunday night when the only thing that has your back is a 15-foot steel ladder, and trust me-- they aren’t the most dependable partners.
“Every time we’ve faced each other in the ring, Tommy, I’ve beaten you. Even when your whole crew was out there, I beat every single one of you. You have only been the last man standing when somebody else beat you to the punch and the dirty work for you. Hell-- on Overdrive, CHRIS MADISON, with a damn-near broken nose was able to outlast you and take me to my limit while you were sitting in the back with your thumbs up your ass, invisible for the remainder of the night, probably because you finally realized that on August 25th, you have no chance in HELL of defeating me unless the heavens open up, the locker room empties out, and the cavalry comes to save you from the most malicious fucking assault in the history of professional wrestling.
“I will whoop your ass like you are my own child. I will take you over my knee, and I will hurt you in front of all these people, and in front of all your friends, Tommy.
“This is supposed to be the rise of the Black Hand, and this is supposed to be when you guys gain momentum, and you start taking everything in sight-- from the Tag Team Championships, the Overdrive Championship, to the Suicidal… You want everything, and that’s something that I can respect, because I want everything too. I want to be the best that the world has ever seen, and I want every title, every accolade-- everything I can get my hands on that cements my legacy.
“All you wanna do is make history.
“And we’re gonna do that tomorrow night, boy. We’re gonna get in that ring, and we’re gonna look up at Lady Overdrive as she sways and dances in the lights above us, and we’re gonna look back at each other and in that moment, we’re going to learn more about each other than we have over the past two months. I’m going to be able to see in your eyes how much you truly want to be the APW Overdrive Champion. I’m gonna see how much you wanna be king.
“And then you’re gonna look into my eyes and you’re gonna see that every warning that I’ve given you, and every opportunity that I’ve given you to back out of this fight with a sense of dignity and pride left, had merit. You’re going to suddenly understand why Jason Kash didn’t have the same faith in you that Jenny Knite, Jace Savage, Brian Hollywood, and millions of people around the world have faith in me. The Black Hand-- you guys have destroyed everything your path and you’ve capitalized on every chance you’ve had to make a true statement, but not against me.
“You argue that NewGen Rising and Jenny Knite had major roles in my victory over the Black Hand in an Elimination Tables’ Match a few weeks ago on Overdrive, and I wouldn’t tell you otherwise. I’m fully aware that I had people watching my back during that match, and I’m thankful for it, because the Black Hand wasn’t just there to win a Tag Team Tables’ match that Thursday night. You guys were there to cause damage… And you were there to make sure that somebody didn’t make it to Shockwave. I have no shame in winning the way that I did, because in the record books, the simple fact remains: even backed into a corner, the Black Hand was unable to defeat Evan Envi.
“But you think you’ll be able to do it one-on-one.
“I like that about you, Tommy. You’ve always thought incredibly highly of yourself. I mean-- nevermind the fact that you were never able to attain the North American Championship, and let’s just ignore the fact that every time you’ve had the chance to even come close to Tag Team Title gold, you found a way to completely screw that up-- you’re a pretty damned good wrestler and you have every right to be confident in yourself.
“But-- wait. Pretty damned good doesn’t even compare to great.
“That’s me, Tom. That’s who I am. I’m great, and in order to take Lady Overdrive away from me on Sunday, you’re gonna have to do something that you’ve absolutely NEVER done in Action Packed Wrestling, and you’re gonna have to be great.
“It was just two months ago that I was in one of the most brutal matches of my career against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at Test for the Best. He took me to my limit, and it took everything short of a shotgun shell to put him down, but I did it. Now that match? That was great. For ONE NIGHT, that guy was great.
“Chris Madison on Overdrive? That was a great battle. Madison had me on the edge, and at the end of the night, regardless of which team emerged victorious, Madison and I were able to take a great fight away from that, and that’s something that I’ll never forget.
“How about you, huh?
“When’s the last time you’ve done something in that ring that’s made people sit back and drop their collective jaws? How many of your matches do we see featured in our weekly highlight reels, Tommy? What have you REALLY DONE in the confines of a wrestling match that has ever warranted the position you’re in now?! You couldn’t even hold onto a championship belt that you stole. Raab is a champion. Madison and Voldemort? They might be better wrestlers than you. And Niobe is improving more and more each week… It’s only a matter of time before she’s put in a position where she has to show you up-- and she will show you up.
“Hahaha, how are you gonna HANDLE that, bro? Are you gonna punch her in her face? Are you gonna kick her and drive her head into the mat, or throw her through a table like you did to Jenny when she embarrassed you in the middle of the ring? I guess what I’m trying to ask is-- who the fuck educated you on how to lose, because whoever it is? They sucked at it.
“When you lose, people get hurt, but why is it always after the fact? Why aren’t you able to break through the glass ceiling like I have and reach your full potential, Tommy? Is it because you’re forever living in the shadow of people like Jason Kash, and EVEN people like Buckson Gooch? I mean-- you’re pound-for-pound, one of the best wrestlers, and one of the best talkers on the Overdrive roster, but you’ve never been the guy to be afraid of.
“You could be. You should be. But as long as I’m here, you’re just not that guy.
“As long as I’m around, Tommy, you’ll never have a chance. You’re a prisoner in this three-star world that you’ve built around yourself, and I’m the barbwire fence that’s keeping you in. You’re not meee... You’ll never be me. You’ll never know what it’s like to truly be a Megastar. You’ll never know what it’s like to be a champion. I won’t let you-- and it’s about a hell of a lot more than hindering you. Somewhere down the line, this became about stopping Alexander Duvall. It became about stopping the Black Hand.
“I was told two weeks ago that if-- if Lady Overdrive and I were separated at Shockwave, then I was banned from any and all participation in any APW-related events. That… Haha… That kinda messed with me a bit, because I have friends here, y’know? I’d like to be able to come to these events and support the people that have supported me throughout my entire career. I’d like to be around when Amy Zing wins her first championship, or when Savage and Hollywood beat the brakes off Niobe and Madison and then go onto win the Tag Team Titles. I wanna see A.C. Smith capture the World Championship. I wanna see Logan Alexander get his revenge on Aubrey J. Parker. I wanna see Blade come back. I wanna see Sally Talfourd win Survive and Conquer. I wanna be there for that shit.
“And I wanna be there when the Black Hand finally dies.
“...I’m fighting you on Sunday for a lot of reasons. I’m fighting because of what you’ve done to me, and what you’ve done to my best friend. I’m going to show that I can protect those that are closest to me, and you’ll regret every decision you made. I’m fighting for Buck. For Nate. For Jenny. And for all those people that you guys never appreciated, and you hurt to get where you are. I’m not going to just roll over and die for you.
“If this is how I have to go out, then please believe I’m going out fighting, and I’m gonna go out leaving a burning trail behind me. I’m not the kind of guy that you wanna target. I’m not the person that you want to back into a corner. Maybe you haven’t seen my work, and maybe you think that this is all fun and games come Shockwave, Tommy, but I assure you, brother, that what’s going to happen to you is going to be the most unsettling, traumatic, life-changing experience of your life. You’re going to find out exactly who Evan Envi is. You understand that I’m some kind of a big deal around these parts, Tommy, and you claim to get it, but I don’t think you do… I don’t think you reeeeally understand why I’ve never been a victim.
“I don’t think you’ve gotten your ass beat up on enough throughout your career.
“At Shockwave, I’m going to treat you to an old-school ass-whoopin’, courtesy of the League. I’m gonna find new, creative ways to hurt you with every ladder that you think is your friend. I’m going make you fear the ring, Tommy. You’ll fear wrestling.
“If I’m going out, then I’m taking you with me.”
They throw dirt on my name…
WELL, THAT’S WHY THEY STILL DIG ME
WELL, THAT’S WHY THEY STILL DIG ME
August 23, 2013 (Morning)
Ocean City, Maryland
Harrison Residence
If you were to ask Evan Envi to describe the current scene to you, he probably wouldn’t even know where to begin. He would tell you that the wrestling ring had been set up in the place of his trampoline in the backyard of his Ocean City property. He would tell you how Jenny Knite, wearing elbow pads and knee pads would climb about half-way up the twelve-foot ladder set up in the center of the ring… And squeal, bracing herself, as Jeremy Knite-- who groaned every time-- rushed into the ladder, causing it to collapse and send Jenny falling to the ground.
With every fall, she got right back up. She would swear, and hold her back, but she would climb back to her feet, and she would set that ladder up… And sometimes she would scale it even faster than the time before that, but every time, Jeremy would be there, ready to swipe the ladder from beneath her. At one point, Evan turns his head as he watches the ladder swept out from beneath her body and spirals downward, careening with the ladder. He silently decides he’s had enough as he hears the desperate squeak of pain escape his best friend’s mouth.
”Yo. Guys!”
Jeremy Knite, who-- to Jenny and Evan’s mutual amusement-- is dressed in full amateur wrestling garb, kneels down next to Jenny and they both turn toward Evan, casting a gaze in his direction as he approaches the apron of the wrestling ring. Leaning forward, he rests his forehead against the bottom rope and looks at Jenny as she climbs to her feet.
”What are you doing?”
Jeremy’s eyes widen as he senses the seriousness in Evan’s tone. He steps in front of Jenny and quickly tries to offer an explanation.
”We were just--”
”Preparing for the worst.”
Evan’s face falls a bit at Jenny’s words. She walks toward the corner of the ring and retrieves a towel while Evan maintains his position from the outside, following her with his eyes, shaking his head in disapproval.
”You’re not going out there with me on Sunday, Jenny.”
She mops sweat from her brows with the towel and turns, shooting Evan an amused half-smirk.
”You’re gonna have a hell of a time trying to keep me in the back.”
”I don’t want you out there. You’ll… You’ll just get in the way.”
Jeremy winces at the comment, still kneeling as he looks between the two, but Jenny hardly seems fazed by it. Again, her face reflects nothing but amusement and she responds to Evan in a delicate tone.
”You don’t wanna be responsible for what happens if the Black Hand get their hands on me. Yeah?”
Evan shrugs.
”I can’t see you get hurt again, Jenny. I can’t take that anymore, alright?”
”I can handle it, Evan. You guys have been training me for this shit since I was like, sixteen.”
”Jenny-- you KNOW it’s different. We weren’t throwing you full-speed through tables and slamming your head into the mat during practice.”
He gestures toward the ladder which lies idly in the center of the ring.
”We weren’t teaching you how to fall off of ladders, either. Hah, not that I could remember.”
”It’s just a start.”
For a few seconds, standing there in the backyard in the warm, golden morning sunlight, Evan Envi is able to confuse the silence as a moment of serenity. There is the faintest chirping and chanting of the birds, and the slight rustle of the leaves as a nearly excusable gust of wind drifts through the neighborhood, but there is complete silence. There’s not a single human voice-- nor is there a groan or a roar from an engine. Nothing.
”I’m not going to let them take Lady Overdrive away from us.”
...And if you were to ask Evan Envi, he would tell you that this was the death of serenity. He climbs up onto the apron, feeling the frustration building from the pit of his stomach, up to his chest, until it finally becomes visible on his face. Jeremy looks up at Evan and slowly pushes himself back into the ropes as the Overdrive Champion approaches Jenny.
”This isn’t your fight. You got to put Knox through a table. You got your revenge on Niobe… And what Knox did to you last week, after he got eliminated from that match, was horrible, and I understand that you’re still mad-- alright? But I need you to let me do my job. I need you to let me go out there and defend you, for once. Let me defend Lady Overdrive. Hell-- let me DEFEND all of those people that the Black Hand talk down to, and insult every single week.”
Jenny smiles faintly and moves some strands of hair out of her face.
”How am I supposed to be your Knite in shining armor if I’m watching from the back?”
Evan’s face softens. He crosses his arms and looks over at Jeremy, for a moment. One could possibly describe the look that Jeremy is giving him as “hopeful.” It’s at that moment that Evan looks at the cuts, and the bruises on Jeremy’s arms and legs, courtesy of that ladder-- courtesy of helping Jenny “prepare for the worst.” His eyes drift over the ladder, and then back over toward Jenny. Evan takes one of her wrists in his hand and observes her fair skin, looking at the imperfections that decorate her body from her hands and her wrists up to her arms.
”How long have you guys been at this?”
”Weeks. We usually don’t do it when you’re home, because… Well… We figured you’d react the way you did.”
She shrugs and pulls her arm free, crossing them uncomfortably over her midsection.
”I trust you, and I know you can defend us-- but like you said, this could be it.”
Evan just gives a single nod and turns, looking downward. His eyes travel up, into the distance where Lady Overdrive sits on her proverbial throne, staring back at Evan, glimmering, radiating beauty.
”It could be.”
”No one hurts my friends.”
Evan smirks and looks back up at Jenny.
”No one hurts my friends…”
”So I guess we both know what we need to do on Sunday.”
Evan sighs. He wants to protest, but he stops himself. He nods, and Jeremy climbs to his feet, joining the two in the corner. Jenny smiles up at Evan.
"We're gonna save the world, right?"
"That's right."
Dark.
