Post by biggs on Sept 18, 2013 19:45:06 GMT -4
Thursday, September 12
Shortly following Overdrive
Athens, Greece
Shortly following Overdrive
Athens, Greece
”Well, at least they were able to find you two a room together. I'm sure the healing process, as painful as it will be, will at least be more fun with a friend...”
I'm trying to look on the bright side as I see my two good friends, “Sr. Guapo” Armando Asante and “Stunning” Stan Everdeen, The Stud Muffins, laid up in the hospital. They were beaten, bruised, and otherwise roughed up by The Black Hand, Sr. Guapo so badly that they had to staple his forehead. He also suffered severely bruised ribs, a broken middle finger that is in permanent flipping the bird position thanks to the sling, and several more bruises and lacerations all over his body. Apparently they threw him through a glass table.
That's not to say that Stan got off easy, as his right arm is in a cast, and his foot is elevated due to a stress fracture in his ankle. The doctors, at least the ones that can speak English, have told me that the Studs will have to stay in the hospital for at least a week.
”Sr. Guapo wishes he had his own room, so he could spend the sexy time with the sexy nurses!” Armando pipes up, trying to lighten the mood. He tries to chuckle, but all that comes out is a grimace of pain.
”Yeah, we may be damaged goods, but those Black Hand bums didn't take out our most important assets, if you know what I mean!” Stan cheerfully chirps. He attempts to reach out towards Armando for a daps, but he barely moves his arm before wincing.
”T.M.I. guys, T.M.I! Still, I've got to getting heading out for the rest of the European tour tomorrow morning. I just wanted to let you guys know that I've hired extra security for you guys, to make sure that the Black Hand doesn't try to start anything here in the hospital. Also, you can bet that I'm going to kick their butts for you guys from pillar to post, from now til however long they decide that they want to mess with me! They crossed a freakin' line, and I'm going to make them pay on your behalves.”
”Don't worry about us, amigo. You just go out there, and show those perros who is the boss!
”We're going to be fine in no time at all, dude! Until we're well enough to do it ourselves, you go out there and kick their @$$es!”
”Will do my friends! You guys better not take your sweet time getting better, you hear!”
They seem to be in high spirits as I leave the room, or at least as high of spirits as they can be in the current situation. I walk past the two burly men I hired to watch the door, and I meet Alice out in the lobby. She's flipping through a magazine that appears to be at least three or four months old, and it's in Greek, to boot.
”I didn't know you could read Greek.”
”I can't, I'm just looking at the pictures,” she quips as she looks up at me with a concerned look on her face. ”Are Armando and Stan going to be alright?”
”It'll be slow going, but they should be able to fly home in about a week or two, the doctors said. Still, we've been spending way too much time in hospitals these last few months...”
”Tell me about it. I mean, I don't understand why those jerks would attack Armando and Stan in such a public place. I mean, I understand if it's at the arena or in the ring. Are Stan and Armando going to press charges? They should...”
I chuckle a bit at her question. It's a fairly common question asked by those not in the business. Alice is obviously not amused at my response. ”I don't see what's so funny about that.”
”Listen, Alice, I know this probably isn't going to make sense to you, seeing as how you're not a professional wrestler, but in our line of work, we tend to take care of things ourselves, rather than letting them get tied up in litigation and all that mess. It's more simple that way, more personal.”
”So you're telling me that Armando and Stan, or you for that matter, are going to just stand by and let The Black Hand get away with a crime like that, and just take care of it yourselves? They are in the hospital because of Michael Jennings and his goons did to them! Your career was almost ended because those jerks found it necessary to assault you with a Steel Chair over and over again! I don't think it's just a wrestler thing, I think it's a macho guy thing that none of you are even considering letting the authorities take care of this!” Alice is getting quite emotional, her cheeks flushed with red, and a very upset look on her face. I do know that she's probably right. But I also know that I'd be the laughingstock of the locker room if I went to the police with this.
”Listen, babe, when you travel the world like we do, sometimes, it's just not worth the effort to go to the authorities with these kind of things. After all, you've got to deal with paperwork in a language you may or may not know, then you have to fly back for court dates, and all that jazz. I mean consider the financial crisis Greece is in right now. We'd be a burden on the system if we went to the authorities. I can accomplish just as much, if not more, by dealing with this myself...”
”But that's the things, with Armando and Stan hurt, you are dealing with this by yourself. Now, I still don't know that much about wrestling, but I do know that no matter how good you are, one-on-five is not going to be a fight that you can win! I'm worried about you...”
”I know, Alice. I know that the Black Hand has the odds against me, that they're trying to back me into a wall, that they're tying to take me out, and not for a steak dinner, but I can't just stand by and let them exercise their will over the APW locker room! Action Packed Wrestling is not their playground! Sure, I may be up against long odds. Sure, this may be a fight that I cannot win, but for the sake of APW, I cannot just sit around and let THEM happen. It's the right thing to do, regardless of the personal risks, regardless of how high the odds are stacked against me. If it makes you feel any better, I know that C.J. has my back. I mean, the two of us are former APW Undisputed Champions...”
”But that's still only two against five. I love you, you know that, but when I agreed to travel with you on this European tour, I didn't sign up to see you get your butt handed to you week in and week out over an issue of pride! I didn't sign up to see Armando and Stan beat up to within an inch of their lives! If the Black Hand went for them out in public, what's stopping them from going after me!?”
I pull Alice in tight, hugging her as tight as I can. I look away so she doesn't see the look of anguish on my face. ”You don't think that I haven't thought about that. I don't want to see you get hurt...”
We stand there for a few moments in the tense embrace. Once I've composed myself, I pull back, keeping both of my hands on her shoulders, looking her directly in the eyes as I speak.
”Alice, it would absolutely destroy me if anything happened to you at the hands of The Black Hand. But when I was with Ellie, I made the mistake of deciding things for her too many times to count. I'm not asking you to go home, and I'm not asking you to stay with me on the rest of the tour. I'm just going to tell you that should you decide that this is too much for you to take at this time, I can get you on the next flight back to Seattle, no questions asked. But if you decide to stay on this tour with me, I can guarantee that I will do everything in my power to protect you. As much as it pains me to say this, I've got to warn you, my best might not be good enough to keep you safe.”
I can feel myself losing it again, just thinking about what if the worst were to happen. I can't bear the thought. Alice responds almost immediately.
”Your best is good enough for me. If I were to leave now, then you really would be alone against the Black Hand. I'm here to support you in any way that I can. But with one condition...” She holds her finger up to emphasize the 'one.' ”If the Black Hand does come after me, I get to deal with it my way, going to the authorities. But you'd better deal with them your way as well, and kick their ever-loving butts!”
”Well, that's actually two conditions, but I'll take them! Have I ever told you how much I love it when you get feisty?”
Alice lets out a sly smirk, ”Yep.”
***
”Another week, another match with The Black Hand.”
“Not that I'm complaining. Sure, dealing with the lot of you outside of the ring is annoying at best, and hazardous to my health at worst, but any chance I have to put one, two, maybe even three of you bums in your place, well, I've found that I enjoy that quite a bit. And considering the number you did on my friends last week, let's just say that I'm in the mood for revenge and leave it at that.”
“This week, I'm facing arguably the most successful member of your little posse, the APW Overdrive Champion, Tommy Knox. And let's face it, Tommy, the only reason you can be described as successful is because you're holding their title. As a Three-Time Overdrive Champion myself, I know they aren't just handing that title out at the corner store for a nickel. You have to earn it, and you did, defeating that egotistic bum Evan Envi.”
“Now earning the title is one thing, keeping it is another. You're lucky that our match this week is a non-title bout, because there's no doubt in my mind that I'd be a Four-Time Overdrive Champion following this Thursday. Granted, even if it were up to you, I don't think you'd have the guts to defend your belt against me!”
“I mean, all you have to do is look at the methodology of The Black Hand to understand immediately that each and everyone of you are cowards! The Black Hand has never met a fair fight that it liked! You always try to have the numbers advantage, you always try to use outside implements like the Steel Chair or Garbage Can, two things I've gotten very well acquainted with over recent weeks. The fact is, Tommy Knox, as a member of the Black Hand, you open yourself up for a whole host of criticisms about your general bravery and manhood, because there's no honor in the way the Black Hand conducts itself.”
“You may try to justify your actions by saying that it's smarter for you to band with others who share a similar philosophy to you, that it will not only protect you from those that would mean to do you harm, but also help you to inflict more harm upon those that you mean to. And there's no doubt that all of you in the Black Hand have been afforded a bit more visibility, a bit more notoriety together than you did apart, but just because people know who you are now, it doesn't make you any better. If anything, the increased attention you all have been receiving has hindered you more than it has helped.”
“Because let's face it, Knox, any time a member of the Black Hand is on their own, there's real and legitimate doubt that they can get the job done without the help of their friends! I mean look at what went down at Shockwave! You were the only member of the Black Hand to leave victorious. I beat Michael Jennings, Chris Madison and Niobe Martin lost their Tag Team #1 Contenders Match, and Stefan Raab lost control of Asylum! I mean just look at last week! C.J. Gates and I were able to beat you and Martin in the middle of the ring! Take away the numbers advantage, strip away the guerrilla tactics, and it's plain to see that The Black Hand is truly, sincerely weak.”
“Now that being said, Tommy, I know for a fact that even though we may be scheduled for a one-on-one match tomorrow night, I know darn well that when I step between those ropes, I'm not going to be in for a one-on-one match. Because even if your friends don't physically insert themselves into the match, the threat, the specter of their potential interference, and the ensuing beat down that comes with said interference, well, it does give you an advantage. Because I won't have the luxury of being able to focus solely on you during our bout, and I've been in this business long enough to know that if you aren't completely focused on your opponent, well, that's when you start making mistakes. That's when you fall for tricks or create openings that you otherwise would not afford your opponent. I'm going to have to have my head on a swivel tomorrow night, and that will play to your favor.”
“However, it will play to my favor that you'll probably be inebriated during the match anyways! Whether it's drugs, tobacco, alcohol, whatever it is you decide to do with your hippie friends before the show, a guy doesn't just call his web-cast 'American Highlife' without having a drug of choice.”
“I'll be honest, when I first watched your little show, I found it amusing. Granted, that's because it reminded me of that commercial that Miller Brewing ran during the Super Bowl a few years back that was a half-a-second, with the guy just yelling 'HIGH-LIFE!' But when I actually paid attention to the content, well, let's just say my amusement ended. Really, all I saw was a bunch of posturing, and statements like 'I'm Tommy Knox, and I'm going to Knox you out!'”
“Okay, maybe they weren't quite that cheesy, maybe I just wanted an excuse to throw that horrible pun out there, but I'll be honest, Knox, what I saw was just the normal 'I'm better than you and here's why,' kind of talk that so prevalent in professional wrestling. Now I'll be the first to admit that I can sometimes fall into that trap myself, but I've got to be honest with you, Knox, I thought when somebody took the copious amounts of drugs that you obviously do, I thought it was supposed to help you to be more creative. I'm just saying...”
“But let's be honest here, we're not stepping into the ring tomorrow night to show who has the sharper wit, or who can make the crowd laugh more. And we're most certainly not going in to see who can consume more destructive substances in their body than the other, because you've already got that won, hands down. No, we are going to Overdrive to fight. And fight we will, Tommy Knox, because as I've said before, I don't like the Black Hand, and by extension, I don't like you.”
“Now I don't know exactly what role you played in beating down my good friends Armando Asante and Stan Everdeen. I don't know which injuries you are directly responsible for. But I do know that you were party to it, you did participate in the all out mugging of two of my best friends.”
“I know the official stance of The Black Hand is that it is merely an example of divide and conquer. That you're merely thinning out the resistance against the dirty, smelly lot of y'all. Just know this, Knox, that since I cannot be sure what to hold you accountable for in the assault on my friends last week, I'm just gong to go ahead and hold you accountable for everything that you and your friends did to Stan and Armando!”
“The Biggs that you'll be stepping into the ring with tomorrow night is not the normal, calm, collected Biggs that is thinking two or three moves ahead of you. No, you're stepping in the ring with the pissed off, ready to kick some butt Biggs who is still thinking two or three moves ahead of you!”
“I know that you're going to try and get to fight on my emotions, rather than my logic. I know that you're going to be looking for me to get too caught up in the moment and give you that one opening you need to come out in top in our match tomorrow night. I'm going to tell you right now, Tommy Knox, that even though I'm going into our match as mad as the devil himself, I'm too smart to lower myself to your level.”
“Even though C.J. and I defeated you and Niobe last week, don't you dare think that I've worked some of the rage, some of the pissed-off-ness out of my system. No, not a chance! This issue between me and The Black Hand, well, it goes a bit too deep for it to be resolved in a week. I know that I'm facing incredible odds. I know that I cannot win this crusade on my own. But it's the right thing to do.”
“Somebody has to stand up to the lot of you, and if nobody else is going to do it, than why not me! Somebody has to show you punks, you cowards, that your bully tactics and cheap threats will not win you the day here in APW! Somebody needs to show you that The Black Hand's modus operandi simply won't be accepted! That somebody is me!”
“Listen, you can bring up the fact that I used to operate like that all you want, the fact of the matter is that I am a changed man! I know first hand that bully tactics and unevened odds will come back to bite you in butt sooner rather than later! Because while things may be going reasonably well for The Black Hand right now, when push comes to shove, when you need them the most, Tommy Knox, I can guarantee you that they will not be there for you!”
“Now before I start turning this into some sort of intervention, let me be clear, Knox, I don't care what happens to you in terms of the inner workings of your little group. I don't care what happens to you. After what you did to my buddies, you don't get that right.”
“What I do care about is putting The Black Hand in their place, and showing them that they do not control APW! You don't! You simply don't!”
“The fact is, The Black Hand will not be a permanent thing. It will come and go, like every other big group filled with egocentric maniacs that think they're so much cooler than they actually are. Eventually, The Black Hand will explode. It may be tomorrow night, it might be years from now, but it will happen. And tomorrow night, I'm looking to be that spark that ignites the whole thing into motion. Sooner or later, whether it's by my hand or not, The Black Hand will be going down!”
“Like I said ealier, Knox, you are probably the most successful loser in the bunch, being the Overdrive Champion and all. Believe me, it pains me very much to see you walking around with that title, as I kind of consider it my title here in APW. It was the first championship I won here. It's the only championship I won multiple times! And not to brag, but in many circles, I am considered to be the greatest Overdrive Champion of all time. What I'm saying is this, Knox, if you're too chicken to put the belt on the line against me, at least try to put up a performance tomorrow night worthy of that belt you're carrying. Show me that you take the Overdrive Championship seriously, prove to me that you deserve that title! I know that you love the benefits that come with being a champion, the money, the fame, the discount that you get with your male bath-houses. Listen, I'm not judging, I just wouldn't go to those places myself.”
“I'm challenging you to show up sober, focused, and ready for a fight. I probably can't count on the first two, but even if you're as high as a kite tomorrow night, I implore you to bring your very best. Because I will prove to you and the world that your best isn't good enough to defeat me!”
“Tommy Knox, you may be living the Highlife associated with being the Overdrive Champ, but I've got you beat. Because even though you're higher than a kite, I'm quite simply OUT OF THIS WORLD! See you in Stockholm, butthead!”
”Another week, another match with The Black Hand.”
“Not that I'm complaining. Sure, dealing with the lot of you outside of the ring is annoying at best, and hazardous to my health at worst, but any chance I have to put one, two, maybe even three of you bums in your place, well, I've found that I enjoy that quite a bit. And considering the number you did on my friends last week, let's just say that I'm in the mood for revenge and leave it at that.”
“This week, I'm facing arguably the most successful member of your little posse, the APW Overdrive Champion, Tommy Knox. And let's face it, Tommy, the only reason you can be described as successful is because you're holding their title. As a Three-Time Overdrive Champion myself, I know they aren't just handing that title out at the corner store for a nickel. You have to earn it, and you did, defeating that egotistic bum Evan Envi.”
“Now earning the title is one thing, keeping it is another. You're lucky that our match this week is a non-title bout, because there's no doubt in my mind that I'd be a Four-Time Overdrive Champion following this Thursday. Granted, even if it were up to you, I don't think you'd have the guts to defend your belt against me!”
“I mean, all you have to do is look at the methodology of The Black Hand to understand immediately that each and everyone of you are cowards! The Black Hand has never met a fair fight that it liked! You always try to have the numbers advantage, you always try to use outside implements like the Steel Chair or Garbage Can, two things I've gotten very well acquainted with over recent weeks. The fact is, Tommy Knox, as a member of the Black Hand, you open yourself up for a whole host of criticisms about your general bravery and manhood, because there's no honor in the way the Black Hand conducts itself.”
“You may try to justify your actions by saying that it's smarter for you to band with others who share a similar philosophy to you, that it will not only protect you from those that would mean to do you harm, but also help you to inflict more harm upon those that you mean to. And there's no doubt that all of you in the Black Hand have been afforded a bit more visibility, a bit more notoriety together than you did apart, but just because people know who you are now, it doesn't make you any better. If anything, the increased attention you all have been receiving has hindered you more than it has helped.”
“Because let's face it, Knox, any time a member of the Black Hand is on their own, there's real and legitimate doubt that they can get the job done without the help of their friends! I mean look at what went down at Shockwave! You were the only member of the Black Hand to leave victorious. I beat Michael Jennings, Chris Madison and Niobe Martin lost their Tag Team #1 Contenders Match, and Stefan Raab lost control of Asylum! I mean just look at last week! C.J. Gates and I were able to beat you and Martin in the middle of the ring! Take away the numbers advantage, strip away the guerrilla tactics, and it's plain to see that The Black Hand is truly, sincerely weak.”
“Now that being said, Tommy, I know for a fact that even though we may be scheduled for a one-on-one match tomorrow night, I know darn well that when I step between those ropes, I'm not going to be in for a one-on-one match. Because even if your friends don't physically insert themselves into the match, the threat, the specter of their potential interference, and the ensuing beat down that comes with said interference, well, it does give you an advantage. Because I won't have the luxury of being able to focus solely on you during our bout, and I've been in this business long enough to know that if you aren't completely focused on your opponent, well, that's when you start making mistakes. That's when you fall for tricks or create openings that you otherwise would not afford your opponent. I'm going to have to have my head on a swivel tomorrow night, and that will play to your favor.”
“However, it will play to my favor that you'll probably be inebriated during the match anyways! Whether it's drugs, tobacco, alcohol, whatever it is you decide to do with your hippie friends before the show, a guy doesn't just call his web-cast 'American Highlife' without having a drug of choice.”
“I'll be honest, when I first watched your little show, I found it amusing. Granted, that's because it reminded me of that commercial that Miller Brewing ran during the Super Bowl a few years back that was a half-a-second, with the guy just yelling 'HIGH-LIFE!' But when I actually paid attention to the content, well, let's just say my amusement ended. Really, all I saw was a bunch of posturing, and statements like 'I'm Tommy Knox, and I'm going to Knox you out!'”
“Okay, maybe they weren't quite that cheesy, maybe I just wanted an excuse to throw that horrible pun out there, but I'll be honest, Knox, what I saw was just the normal 'I'm better than you and here's why,' kind of talk that so prevalent in professional wrestling. Now I'll be the first to admit that I can sometimes fall into that trap myself, but I've got to be honest with you, Knox, I thought when somebody took the copious amounts of drugs that you obviously do, I thought it was supposed to help you to be more creative. I'm just saying...”
“But let's be honest here, we're not stepping into the ring tomorrow night to show who has the sharper wit, or who can make the crowd laugh more. And we're most certainly not going in to see who can consume more destructive substances in their body than the other, because you've already got that won, hands down. No, we are going to Overdrive to fight. And fight we will, Tommy Knox, because as I've said before, I don't like the Black Hand, and by extension, I don't like you.”
“Now I don't know exactly what role you played in beating down my good friends Armando Asante and Stan Everdeen. I don't know which injuries you are directly responsible for. But I do know that you were party to it, you did participate in the all out mugging of two of my best friends.”
“I know the official stance of The Black Hand is that it is merely an example of divide and conquer. That you're merely thinning out the resistance against the dirty, smelly lot of y'all. Just know this, Knox, that since I cannot be sure what to hold you accountable for in the assault on my friends last week, I'm just gong to go ahead and hold you accountable for everything that you and your friends did to Stan and Armando!”
“The Biggs that you'll be stepping into the ring with tomorrow night is not the normal, calm, collected Biggs that is thinking two or three moves ahead of you. No, you're stepping in the ring with the pissed off, ready to kick some butt Biggs who is still thinking two or three moves ahead of you!”
“I know that you're going to try and get to fight on my emotions, rather than my logic. I know that you're going to be looking for me to get too caught up in the moment and give you that one opening you need to come out in top in our match tomorrow night. I'm going to tell you right now, Tommy Knox, that even though I'm going into our match as mad as the devil himself, I'm too smart to lower myself to your level.”
“Even though C.J. and I defeated you and Niobe last week, don't you dare think that I've worked some of the rage, some of the pissed-off-ness out of my system. No, not a chance! This issue between me and The Black Hand, well, it goes a bit too deep for it to be resolved in a week. I know that I'm facing incredible odds. I know that I cannot win this crusade on my own. But it's the right thing to do.”
“Somebody has to stand up to the lot of you, and if nobody else is going to do it, than why not me! Somebody has to show you punks, you cowards, that your bully tactics and cheap threats will not win you the day here in APW! Somebody needs to show you that The Black Hand's modus operandi simply won't be accepted! That somebody is me!”
“Listen, you can bring up the fact that I used to operate like that all you want, the fact of the matter is that I am a changed man! I know first hand that bully tactics and unevened odds will come back to bite you in butt sooner rather than later! Because while things may be going reasonably well for The Black Hand right now, when push comes to shove, when you need them the most, Tommy Knox, I can guarantee you that they will not be there for you!”
“Now before I start turning this into some sort of intervention, let me be clear, Knox, I don't care what happens to you in terms of the inner workings of your little group. I don't care what happens to you. After what you did to my buddies, you don't get that right.”
“What I do care about is putting The Black Hand in their place, and showing them that they do not control APW! You don't! You simply don't!”
“The fact is, The Black Hand will not be a permanent thing. It will come and go, like every other big group filled with egocentric maniacs that think they're so much cooler than they actually are. Eventually, The Black Hand will explode. It may be tomorrow night, it might be years from now, but it will happen. And tomorrow night, I'm looking to be that spark that ignites the whole thing into motion. Sooner or later, whether it's by my hand or not, The Black Hand will be going down!”
“Like I said ealier, Knox, you are probably the most successful loser in the bunch, being the Overdrive Champion and all. Believe me, it pains me very much to see you walking around with that title, as I kind of consider it my title here in APW. It was the first championship I won here. It's the only championship I won multiple times! And not to brag, but in many circles, I am considered to be the greatest Overdrive Champion of all time. What I'm saying is this, Knox, if you're too chicken to put the belt on the line against me, at least try to put up a performance tomorrow night worthy of that belt you're carrying. Show me that you take the Overdrive Championship seriously, prove to me that you deserve that title! I know that you love the benefits that come with being a champion, the money, the fame, the discount that you get with your male bath-houses. Listen, I'm not judging, I just wouldn't go to those places myself.”
“I'm challenging you to show up sober, focused, and ready for a fight. I probably can't count on the first two, but even if you're as high as a kite tomorrow night, I implore you to bring your very best. Because I will prove to you and the world that your best isn't good enough to defeat me!”
“Tommy Knox, you may be living the Highlife associated with being the Overdrive Champ, but I've got you beat. Because even though you're higher than a kite, I'm quite simply OUT OF THIS WORLD! See you in Stockholm, butthead!”
