Post by SalTal on Mar 17, 2012 2:15:06 GMT -4
Here I am again. Against the odds. Against the best. Against the tide. I’m not surprised; this is how this business works. The world turns, months go by, and matches come and go. But in the end we find ourselves back where we started.
Of course, it’s not exactly the same. This time last year, I might have been fighting Lester Only at Rasslemania the same way I’m doing it again this year. But things are different enough. The reasons, the motives, the things you can’t see - they’re different.
The reasons? I’m here to stop Lester’s maniacal assault on me, APW, on wrestling. I’m here because of his treachery. We worked together for as long as it took for him to realise that he was doing something that might help someone else out, and then he abandoned that idea.The reason we’re here is because of Lester Only’s ego. Nothing more, and nothing less. He was out-witted by me, and now he’s after revenge. He can’t handle that someone in this business might just be better than him.
The motives, though, are much bigger than that. I’m fighting for pride and honour. Not pride in myself, and not to honour myself. No, but for APW. Because I believe in APW. I believe that it should continue. That it should thrive. That it should continue to be the great place it is. Lester? He wants to ruin it. He wants to fight for the ideas of DeLoren and his hacks. Me? I’m fighting for the idea that Jeff built. That I fought for. And that others will continue to fight for long after Lester and I have left the spotlight.
And what you can’t see, what no one can see, is the giant clash that’s happening behind the match. Behind it all. If anyone though this was born of a few weeks of controversy, it’s not. Lester is still hurting from all the losses I delivered him. I’m still hurting over my loss at Rasslemania. Lester wants to destroy APW, destroy this business. I want to help APW, protect this company. What you can’t see in the ring is what makes this match the highlight that it is.
But that shouldn’t deter anyone from watching the match, because trust me, when two of the best wrestlers get into the ring you’re bound to see the type of action that puts APW on the map of wrestling. You’re bound to see a match that rivals anything else on the card for technicalities, for amazement, and for skill. And you’re bound to be sitting on the edge of your seat for every second, of every minute, of every hour that the match goes on.
Every. Single. Minute.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet Explorer-*click*-Favorites-*click*-APW.com-*click*-Survive and Conquer-*click*-Sally Talfourd-*click*-Loading...
"Sally Talfourd presents ..."
is written across the screen, fades out, then
"In association with Action Packed Wrestling..."
is next to appear, holds, then fades out for
"A special Rasslemania presentation...”
which holds and fades to
"Happy Endings T.V."
Which fades away as well to a shot the beautiful, lovable, insatiable Sally Talfourd. Darling of Wrestling. Crush of APW. And all-round great girl. You know you’re in for something special whenever Sally is making her scheduled Happy Endings. But this time? This time of the year, you can expect something extra special. An extra special Happy Ending! But anyway, enough with the word games, let’s find out what out hostess is doing. She’s dressed as any loyal APW-er should be: She’s dressed in her casuals, donning an APW shirt with her face one one side of the logo facing away from Level-One at the other end of the logo. She’s kicking it in her apartment in Seattle, looking out over that amazing skyline, looking through the glass doors that open up to the balcony. She catches the reflection of Shane and his blinking red light behind her.
[Sally] Circles.
[Shane] Circles?
[Sally] Yes, circles. Circles. That’s all this business is about, I’ve figured out. Wrestling circles around you opponent. Circling your prey. Running round in circles. Wrestling is all about circles. And no more proof is needed than this Rasslemania. Last year, who was I wrestling?
[Shane] That would be Level-One.
[Sally] And this year? Who am I wrestling?
[Shane] Level-One, again.
[Sally] Correct! I’m back exactly where I was a year ago. Albeit a few pounds of championship belt lighter, but in the same match, at the same pay per view, with the same amount of animosity and hatred boiling over between us.
[Shane] At least the lead-up has been different? Less contests involving you both beating the hell out of each other, right?
[Sally] *She lets out a stunted laugh* Yeah, I’m in a great condition right now. You know, between falling from the roof of a building, a ladder match, a tag team match, and then being beat down by Lester, I’d say I’m a fighting bill of health, would you? The message though, at least the message I’m taking out of all this, is that it’s going to take a hell of a lot for Lester to put me out of our match. I mean, look at me. I went through all that, and here I am. Still ready...no...eager to get in the ring with Lester.
[Shane] Eager? Why eager?
[Sally] Because I’ve got something to prove to him this time around. It’s about my character. My reputation. He’s going around, saying to anyone who will bother to listen to him that I screwed him out of escaping DeLoren. That I sold him down the river. Nothing, and I mean nothing could be further from the truth. You know, I like to think I’m pretty cluey. That I can pick up on things. So I’m ashamed to have not realised that Lester was probably with the Sindicate this whole time. He’s probably the one that broke in and stole the contracts, who compromised APW, who wants to ruin everything the APW roster has worked so hard for.
[Shane] Why would he take part in your little manhunt if he was involved?
[Sally] To throw me off his scent? To make sure I never discovered the truth? Because he’s deluded? I don’t know. Well, I do know he’s deluded, but that’s beside the point. Whatever his reason was, all we know is that the end result was probably the worst thing that could have eventuated: Level-One is now out there, on his own, fighting to destroy APW. And his first target?
[Shane] You?
[Sally] *With a solemn nod* Yep. Me. This is the Lester Only that I remember seeing when I first came to APW. It’s not the Lester Only that was so easy to beat because he was all over the place, completely unfocused and mishandling his own affairs. This time, he’s focused in on doing what he’s set out to do: Destroy APW for the Sindicate. And he’s going to make an example of me...
The scene fades to a close as Sally turns in her seat with a look of deep thought and determination to gaze out at the skyline. It’s been a while since she’s been home, and now that she’s here she’s not exactly sure this is where she wants to be. There’s a hold on the pause between scenes, and we come back in to the insides of the Sea-Tac airport and...Biggs? What’s he doing there. He’s sitting there, head burried in a book: “The 12 Essential Steps to Funk”. Strange reading for our former GM-turned world champion-turned manager. Then, suddenly, Sally collapses into the seat next to him. Biggs is startled, sits up, nearly drops his book.
[Sally] I hate the wait. It’s worse than the flight. There’s literally nothing to do.
[Biggs] Sally! What are you doing here?
[Sally] Going on a cruise...why do you think I’m at the airport, Biggs!?
[Biggs] Yes yes, but what are you doing...*Biggs gestures to the seat she’s in*...right here?
[Sally] Biggs, is it so hard to imagine that two people from Washington would be getting the same flight to Indianapolis, especially when both people have been summoned for publicity duties before the biggest pay per view of the year?
[Biggs] I guess.
Biggs tries to go back to reading his book, but Sally is intent on keeping herself amused.
[Sally] So I guess you heard about my match at Rasslemania, right?
[Biggs] Yep.
[Sally] What do you think?
[Biggs] I think it will sell a few tickets.
[Sally] But what do you think about it all? I mean, Lester is working for DeLoren now. He’s openly working for him. And we know that DeLoren wants to destroy APW. All he’s been is trouble for us since he got here. Now he’s got the biggest name APW has working for him? Someone’s got to stop him?
[Biggs] And that’ll you be you?
[Sally] Someone’s got to do it, Biggs. I love APW. APW made me such more more in the business than I could have done anywhere else. It pushed me further, made me a better fighter than I could have ever been. I have to save APW from this, Biggs. I have to pay back APW everything it’s given me.
Biggs finally looks up from his book to catch Sally in this most honest moment of hers.
[Biggs] You think this is a serious thing? Lester and DeLoren?
[Sally] I know I’m prone to a little exaggeration, but Biggs...I think this might be the biggest threat APW has right now. APW has climbed to the top of the business. The talent we’ve got? The matches we put on? The crowds we draw in? We’re the best in the business right now. And Lester wants to destroy it. And he’s rotten enough to go through with it. After everything APW has done for him, you’d think he’d respect it some more. Even if he’s unhappy with something I did to him, any decent human being wouldn’t try and destroy the company that made him bigger than anyone else.
[Biggs] You think APW made Lester? *Biggs laughs, turns back to his book* Good luck getting him to believe that.
[Sally] He won’t, I know. But maybe he’ll realise that APW isn’t the problem. He’ll say that he fought his way to the top, and he did. And he’ll say that he was the one that earned those titles, and he did. And he’ll say that he was the person pinning the rest of the business, and he was. But he can’t see past the stars in his eyes. APW was the company that tolerated him, that allowed him to grow, that gave him the opportunities to be the best! APW is the place with the talent that he deserves! Don’t get me wrong, he’s one of the best. But the best need to face the best to stay the best. APW had him face Pence, face Payne, face me, face you! *Biggs attention is drawn for a slight second* APW gave him what he needed. It mattered where he was working. APW mattered.
[Biggs] And you’re going to knock that into him at Mania?
[Sally] Well, I’ll try. You know, he’s not much for talking. And even when people actually prove themselves better than him he’s not much for recognition. But, maybe this once he’ll realise that he’s on the wrong side. I don’t want Lester to walk away converted to the Sally Talfourd School of Love, but I don’t want to see him destroy our company, Biggs. I don’t want him to go round hugging the roster, but I don’t want him fighting for the likes of DeLoren and the Sindicate. They’re the worst reason to be in this business. They’re the wrong side, and APW is the right side. I’m on the right side. And wouldn’t you rather Lester be on our side, rather than the other side?
[Biggs] I’d rather get on a different flight if you’re going to be on mine too.
Sally glares at Biggs, then spots his ticket sticking out his top pocket. She snatches it away before he can stop her. She reads it over, then looks at hers.
[Sally] Don’t worry, we’re not even sitting near each other. On a completely unrelated note, who bought you this seat?
[Biggs] The boss arranged it for me.
[Sally] Hmmm, well, you enjoy your rear-end toilet seat. I’ll be thinking of you way up in first class! *Sally goes to run off, but quickly turns back* Oh, by the way, do you think I’d be able to drop by your hotel tomorrow and ask you a question?
[Biggs] What question?
[Sally] Oh, you know, something. Yes or no?
[Biggs] Ok, fine. Just call ahead.
[Sally] Great! Thanks cutie!
Sally slides his ticket back into his pocket as a keenly interested Biggs looks all...interested. Then, before he can do anything, she plants a quick kiss on his cheek and stands up from her seat, hoping to stretch her legs before the long-short flight. The scene fades out on Biggs looking incredulous at his ticket and cursing the day he ever crossed Jeff! There’s another pause and then we’re backstage of some curtain. There’s yelling and cheering and, from the looks of things, this is the pre-Rasslemania press conference that APW innovated! There’s cheering and yelling going on from the crowds that have assembled, all the while the megastars are waiting backstage. Sally has found what would seemingly be an unlikely duo catch up in conversation, and head heads on over to them: Sally, standing there, talking with Keaton Saint.
[Sally]...so then I told the police why I was really there, and they were fine.
[Saint] Lucky escape then?
[Sally] I’d say so! *Awkward silence, Sally grins a smile at Saint* Anyway, I bet you’re used to this sort of stuff? The great Keaton Saint, glad-handing the press and the fans?
[Saint] I enjoy these for what they’re worth. But I’m not bigger than it all, certainly not bigger than the business or the company. I’m here for APW. It’s my home now, so I do what I can to make sure it’s a good home.
[Sally] Making it a good home...I like that. I hope no one is making your home difficult to live in?
[Saint] Ignoring the obvious? It’s pretty alright to live in.
Sally and Keaton have a little laugh. Then, over the PA, Keaton’s name gets called out to make his appearance. He gives Sally a pat on the shoulder, then heads off to do his publicity duties. Duties that he no doubt loves because, after all, he’s all about the APW now. Shane moves in to get Sally back into the spotlight. She notices him and, with dreamy eyes, squares up with the camera as she leans up against the wall.
[Sally] I bet you saw that.
[Shane] Got the tail end, yeah.
[Sally] That’s what this match is about for me.
[Shane] You’re wrestling for Keaton Saint?
[Sally] Ugh, no. I’m wrestling for that. For moments like that. You find me a company that brings a legend of the industry and a person like me together? That can make a moment like that possible. APW is more than wrestling. It’s about people, Shane. People. I’m not just a name. Keaton isn’t just a name. Lester isn’t just a name. We’re all people, in a business made for even more people. The fans are people, and they’re the ones I wrestle for. The talent here are people, and they’re the ones I’m fighting for. Lester wants to think of us all as names. As nothing. As less than dirt. He wants to treat us like a business. because that’s who he’s fighting for: A business. The Sindicate isn’t a company about people. It’s a business about money. That’s Lester’s motive now: Ruining APW, making money, and being the last man standing.
I’ve never been about that; not while I’ve been, you know, doing this for all the right reasons. I’ve not been about being the last one standing. I’ve always relished competition for the sake of putting on a great match. For the sake of pushing myself. For the sake of giving APW the chance to have a better megastar. Anything, really, just so long as it’s not me left over at the end of it all. What’s the point of that? Really, where’s the sense of logic behind that? Destroying everyone? Ruining careers? What’s the point? You don’t earn respect doing that. You don’t earn a good reputation doing that. You don’t earn the fans doing that. So what’s the point? You look at Lester and you know exactly why: He just wants to destroy. Destroy the people around him, destroy the company he has had a hand in building, destroy this business. Why? Because if he’s the last one left then he’s done everything he wants. He has nothing else in his life except...
[Shane] What? Except what?
Sally looks down to her feet. Maybe at herself. Maybe in her tired hands. It’s hard to tell. But, in her mind, the memories are racing. Those memories of when she faced him for the first time, and the utter disregard Lester had for this new-comer. The title matches, all four of them, and the disrespect he had for the place that she had earned against him. The beat-downs and the attacks that came monthly for her, and the complete lack of empathy that he had for her. Each time, she learned something about Lester - about the man inside, behind those dark eyes and in the darker mind.
[Sally] He has nothing else except hatred. Hatred for anyone who succeeds. Hatred for anyone who dares to rival him. Hatred for everything, Shane. *Sally looks up at her cameraman* He only has hatred in his life. That’s all that drives him. It drove him from APW to the Sindicate, and now it drives him to try and destroy APW. Destroy me. Destroy Rasslemania. All he has is hatred in his life, and that drives him to do whatever he can to destroy everything around him. Look at 2010; his life was a mess - personally and professionally. You think that all happened because he was enjoying life for all it was? That he wasn’t filled with hate? Then look at 2011? He fought so hard to destroy Biggs. And when Biggs did the unthinkable? Lester destroyed his own career. He is just full of hatred. And it drives everything he does.
This time around? He hated being subject to the Sindicate, so he did everything he could to get out of it. He tried to destroy Survive and Conquer by winning it separate from APW. Then, when that failed, he tried to destroy the people he thought were responsible for it all: The Sindicate. Then, when it turned out that wouldn’t satisfy him, he joined with the Sindicate just so he could destroy the ultimate symbol of this business: APW. He wanted to destroy APW because he didn’t win Survive and Conquer. Because they had a champion that wasn’t him. Because APW had moved on. It didn’t have to be one reason. He didn’t even need a reason. He’s never been reasonable, Lester. He’s just been driven by hatred, and you don’t need reasons or logic or justifications to do anything when you’re trying to destroy the world around you.
There’s a rising round of applause from behind the curtains, and, after it starts to die down, Keaton Saint is quick to walk back. His part in all of this is done, at least for now. There is that little ‘match’ thing to worry about.
[Sally] Seems to have gone well.
[Saint] Things usually do when I’m involved. You remember Survive and Conquer?
[Sally] And the Experts Tournament.
[Saint] Do we have a little bit of a history going here?
[Sally] Depends. I mean, if by ‘history’ you mean ‘a history where I have always out-performed you whenever we’ve been in the same match’ then...yes, we have a history.
A smirk crosses Sally’s face, Keaton can’t help but let out a laugh.
[Saint] I’m sure I’ll see you before we’re both done.
[Sally] Can’t wait for it.
Before much else can be done, Sally’s name is heard across the PA. The applause starts up, and starts up in a big way. There’s cheering and yelling and all sorts of things.
[Saint] Mine was louder.
[Sally] Hahaha, get out of here!
Sally playfully shoves Saint out of her way as she heads for the curtains. She steps through them, but it isn’t a second before she pops her head back through them.
[Sally] By the way, Keaton...could you hang around until I get back?
[Saint] Why?
[Sally] I have to ask you a question, is all. Is that ok?
Keaton nods with a curious look. Sally smiles, gives him a cute wave, then pulls back through the curtains. There’s a hold on the curtains as they close behind her, then the scene fades to a close. Another stark contrast. Not between Sally and Saint. No. Between this week and the last. Here we follow Sally around enjoying her time in APW. The times she has with the people that respect her are the contrast. Because the time she’s about to spend with Lester? Where there’s no love, no respect, no like? Things are about to be very different. But it doesn’t matter to Sally. She takes the good and tolerates the bad. Why? Because that’s APW. That’s what it takes to be in APW. The good always outweighs the bad in APW. Always. Anyway, the shot fades back in on something far more...appealing. Far more interesting. The body of a man in peak physical condition. A man working out, sweating out all the anxiety and the stress and the anger that’s been bled into his feud. A man called CJ Gates. He’s building up his upper-body strength, doing upright rows to get those shoulders strong enough to carry three me through a main event.
[Sally] Looking good CJ.
Sally can’t help but comment as she passes him by in the gym. CJ has to crack a smile but whether it’s at the humour behind it all, or the irony that less than a year ago Sally was trying to run CJ out of APW, well it’s hard to tell. Anyway, after a few more, CJ is about done, leaves the machine and grabs his towel, which Sally is loitering around.
[Sally] So, Mr. Undisputed Champion, how does it feel to be the face of APW?
[CJ] I could get used to it.
[Sally] You should already be used to it! You’ve been champion for months and months now.
[CJ] A win at Rasslemania would help.
[Sally] I hope you win. But it better not go to your head! Some people can’t handle all the fame...
[CJ] Yes. I can think of one...
The two laugh a little, then there’s that awkward silence popping up. Cj is the one to crack.
[CJ] So, Level-One? Can’t say I envy you.
[Sally] Please, a four-way title match? You’ve got the bigger meal.
[CJ] Maybe. But you know how hard Level-One will be going for you.
[Sally] Mmhm. I’m everything he hates right now. Someone fighting for the fans. For APW. For what’s right. He wants to take his name and make it bigger - as if it’s not enough being a legend. He thinks that by defeating me, by humiliating me at Rasslemania VIII, he’ll take himself past legend status. To that place in everyone’s mind that when they think of wrestling, they think of him. That’s what he’s trying to do, and that’s why I can’t rely on him stopping at all. This match, my match, isn’t going to have a rest point. It isn’t going to have an opening. It isn’t going to be hard. It’s going to be near impossible.
[CJ] But if anyone could do it, Sally...
[Sally] CJ, I don’t even know if I can. There’s only going to be one chance to win this match. Once chance. Lester Only doesn’t make mistakes. Lester Only doesn’t let the competition in. Lester Only doesn’t make a choice that will lose him a match. I have to get ahead of him this time, CJ. I have to get ahead and stay head. I have you out-wrestle, out-plan, out-think him. You say that I might be the only person who can do it...but what if no one can?
[CJ] Woah, Sally. What’s all this crap? This doubting and this questioning? Where’s that former APW champion? The woman who beat Lester when no one else could? Where’s the megastar that never backed down from a fight, who took it to everyone with everything she had?
[Sally] She’s here. She’s just, you know, waiting to come out.
[CJ] Well, I’d suggest give up on the wait and bring her to the party.
CJ grins at Sally, then takes up his towel, his bottle, and heads off to go about his training minus the distraction that Sally brings to the table. Before he can go through...
[Sally] CJ, can I ask you a question?
CJ turns on the spot, looking back to Sally with a furrowed brow. Shane watches with the camera for a moment, but then the scene fades out before we’re caught up in all of this. There’s a hold, but then we’re back to a shot of Sally. We’re here, at the grand stage of it all. Rasslemania. The stadium, inside the arena, is all set up for the show The stage crew goes through their practices today so that there’s no stuff-ups on the big one. There’s a few yells and some bangs as the stage is also assembled. Sitting off to the side though is Sally and Shane: Shane capturing it all, Sally taking it all in.
[Shane] Not long now, Sally.
[Sally] Not long at all. In just a couple of days, it’s all coming to a head. Sally and Lester *Sally draws her hand across the space in front of her* - the match that everyone’s been waiting for since it was done last time. You’d like to think that it’s only a recent development, but it’s not. It starts a long time before now. All the way back to, what? My second or third match where I picked up a tag team win against Lester? I could tell he hated me for that, all the way back in 2010. He hated that me, some up-start could come in and jag a win from him. The way he wrestled that next singles match against me, I could tell. Every time since then, he’s only ever wanted to make sure that I was out of his spotlight. Out of his company. Out of his way. He’s had that complete and utter loathing of me all that time.
And that’s dictated everything he’s ever done to me since. Lying to me, tricking me, deceiving me into thinking that he actually cared about APW. That...that ruse that he put together - stealing the contracts, helping me to try and get to the bottom of it all, telling us all he wanted nothing to do with DeLoren, that’s all just so that he could set me up for this. He was always working for DeLoren, from well before Survive and Conquer. Do you think Lester is so stupid to sign a contract with such a gaping hole in it that could be swept up by the likes of DeLoren? That he’d agree to a contract like that? It was all his plan. He wanted to be signed by them so that he could wreak havoc on APW without a fear of getting any repercussions. He never wanted to get out of that deal until he’d actually done what he wanted.
[Shane] And what was that?
Sally turns to look into the camera, her face looking all determined like, but in those eyes of hers, a hint of worry. Who could possible not be looking down the barrel of this match with all that’s at stake and not be worried?
[Sally] Destroy APW. He wants to destroy it. APW has moved past him. He can’t handle it. APW used to revolve around him, but now? Now there’s bigger and better. I walk around APW now and I can see it. Biggs who put him into retirement. Saint who was the buzz-storm that overshadowed his return. CJ Gates who everyone talks about with far more regard than Lester ever got. APW has moved on. Some of us can handle that. Some of us know that APW is bigger than any one person, and that all we want to do is see APW thrive. But people like Lester? It always has to be about them. Every main event. Every title. Every show and pay-per-view. They have to be about him all the time. The world needs to rotate around Lester in his mind.
[Shane] And if it doesn’t?
[Sally] If it doesn’t then he can’t handle it. He can’t handle it when he’s not the centre of attention. That’s his only weakness. No other. He’s better than everyone else in this business, but even he has a weakness. He needs it all to be about him. All the way down to a match. I learned this when I beat him time and time again. I learned it when I lost to him each time too. He wins when the spotlight is shining on him, and he can’t handle it when the world is looking somewhere else.
[Shane] How do you us that to your advantage Sally? IN a match, how do you get the attention?
Sally turns to look at the ring that’s only part built. The canvas is loose on it and the ropes are being wound up. That’s the stage, and while there’s enough room for two, there’s not enough room in the spotlight that shines down on it.
[Sally] I have to play to my strengths. My strengths are exactly what you need to beat Lester. I have to win the heart of the match. I have to win the fans. I have to be more entertaining that Lester. I have to be the soul of the match, Shane. There’s nothing else I can do. I can’t get stronger than him. I can’t wrestling him out of the match. I can’t play the mind-games better than him. I just have to win the soul of the match.
[Shane] The soul of the match?
[Sally] It’s that essence, that spirit. That something that makes us believe in a match. That makes us want to watch it. To believe in it. The fans cheer, the talent watch from the back, the phones go unanswered and the people knocking at doors are left there while everyone is glued to their screen. They watch the unbelievable. They think they’re the luckiest people in the world to be seeing this. Everyone thinks that the match is happening for them because there’s someone...someone in it that’s speaking to them. There’s someone in the match doing what’s right, and still getting beat down. There’s someone in the match fighting by the rules, and still losing. There’s someone in the match that’s putting everything they’ve got, and still falling short. There’s someone who gets knocked down again...and again...and again.
But, damn it, they keep getting up. I keep getting up. They keep getting up because the fight needs fight. The wrong needs stopping. The good needs to win against the bad. The people are going to see me doing that, and I’m going to win them over. Because Lester is the bad, the wrong, the evil in this match. I live for APW, and APW respects me from that. The people in the past I’ve wronged, they realise that. I made CJ’s life a misery, but he never doubted my love for this company. Saint knows just how great I can be but he’ll be one of the first to tell you that I’ve only ever fought for the reputation of APW. I haven’t fought fro the reputation of Sally Talfourd. I’ve fought for APW. And Biggs, a man who has both loathed and loved me, has a begrudging respect for me because I’ve only ever done what’s right.
You go to Jason Kash, to Nathaniel Havok, to Terry Marvin and to President Jeff. They’ll agree. It won’t matter if they hate me or love me, they will all say that I do what’s right. That they hate having to go against me because they know that I won’t give up. And, for as smart as Lester is, he hasn’t yet realised this. He will go to the ring expecting the match to be about him, that Rasslemania will be about him, that APW will once again be about him. And the fight will start, and he will dominate me. He will get the attention he wants. But as it goes on, as it all drags out, I’ll keep getting back up. I’ll win the hearts of the fans, and then I’ll win the heart of this match. Lester will hear the people cheer for me, he’ll see the heads peering from out the back cheering me on, and he’ll see my name in the headlines instead of mine, and he’ll slip up. He’ll let his guard down for a moment. In a steel cage, that’s deadly. He’ll do something risky. He’ll do something crazy. He’ll try and do something so unbelievable just to get that attention back on him. He’ll try to do something that will eclipse everything that I’ve done in the night. And when he does that...that’s when I make my move.
That’s when Lester loses and I win. That’s when APW wins and his destruction ends. That’s when good wins over evil and right wins over wrong. Lester will finally realise that it’s not about insults, it’s not about beat-downs, it’s not about himself. It’s about things that are bigger than him - things that he can’t destroy. When I keep getting up, and am the last person to get up, he’ll realise that I’m not the woman he thinks I am now.
He’ll realise that I’m the woman he knows I was once before.
Sally nods a few nods to herself as she still stares at the ring. The workers are busy, the show is coming. It’s like a storm...no. No, it’s like the daybreak. The signs that the sun is about to rise on the horizon and break the darkness of a terrible night. The light streaming through the gloom and the darkness to break it up and bring hope and happiness to the world again. This is the scene that the shot fades out on. The shot fades away to a blank, black screen, on which:
‘Sally Talfourd’
is written across the screen before the episode comes to a close and it all fades away.
Of course, it’s not exactly the same. This time last year, I might have been fighting Lester Only at Rasslemania the same way I’m doing it again this year. But things are different enough. The reasons, the motives, the things you can’t see - they’re different.
The reasons? I’m here to stop Lester’s maniacal assault on me, APW, on wrestling. I’m here because of his treachery. We worked together for as long as it took for him to realise that he was doing something that might help someone else out, and then he abandoned that idea.The reason we’re here is because of Lester Only’s ego. Nothing more, and nothing less. He was out-witted by me, and now he’s after revenge. He can’t handle that someone in this business might just be better than him.
The motives, though, are much bigger than that. I’m fighting for pride and honour. Not pride in myself, and not to honour myself. No, but for APW. Because I believe in APW. I believe that it should continue. That it should thrive. That it should continue to be the great place it is. Lester? He wants to ruin it. He wants to fight for the ideas of DeLoren and his hacks. Me? I’m fighting for the idea that Jeff built. That I fought for. And that others will continue to fight for long after Lester and I have left the spotlight.
And what you can’t see, what no one can see, is the giant clash that’s happening behind the match. Behind it all. If anyone though this was born of a few weeks of controversy, it’s not. Lester is still hurting from all the losses I delivered him. I’m still hurting over my loss at Rasslemania. Lester wants to destroy APW, destroy this business. I want to help APW, protect this company. What you can’t see in the ring is what makes this match the highlight that it is.
But that shouldn’t deter anyone from watching the match, because trust me, when two of the best wrestlers get into the ring you’re bound to see the type of action that puts APW on the map of wrestling. You’re bound to see a match that rivals anything else on the card for technicalities, for amazement, and for skill. And you’re bound to be sitting on the edge of your seat for every second, of every minute, of every hour that the match goes on.
Every. Single. Minute.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet Explorer-*click*-Favorites-*click*-APW.com-*click*-Survive and Conquer-*click*-Sally Talfourd-*click*-Loading...
"Sally Talfourd presents ..."
is written across the screen, fades out, then
"In association with Action Packed Wrestling..."
is next to appear, holds, then fades out for
"A special Rasslemania presentation...”
which holds and fades to
"Happy Endings T.V."
Which fades away as well to a shot the beautiful, lovable, insatiable Sally Talfourd. Darling of Wrestling. Crush of APW. And all-round great girl. You know you’re in for something special whenever Sally is making her scheduled Happy Endings. But this time? This time of the year, you can expect something extra special. An extra special Happy Ending! But anyway, enough with the word games, let’s find out what out hostess is doing. She’s dressed as any loyal APW-er should be: She’s dressed in her casuals, donning an APW shirt with her face one one side of the logo facing away from Level-One at the other end of the logo. She’s kicking it in her apartment in Seattle, looking out over that amazing skyline, looking through the glass doors that open up to the balcony. She catches the reflection of Shane and his blinking red light behind her.
[Sally] Circles.
[Shane] Circles?
[Sally] Yes, circles. Circles. That’s all this business is about, I’ve figured out. Wrestling circles around you opponent. Circling your prey. Running round in circles. Wrestling is all about circles. And no more proof is needed than this Rasslemania. Last year, who was I wrestling?
[Shane] That would be Level-One.
[Sally] And this year? Who am I wrestling?
[Shane] Level-One, again.
[Sally] Correct! I’m back exactly where I was a year ago. Albeit a few pounds of championship belt lighter, but in the same match, at the same pay per view, with the same amount of animosity and hatred boiling over between us.
[Shane] At least the lead-up has been different? Less contests involving you both beating the hell out of each other, right?
[Sally] *She lets out a stunted laugh* Yeah, I’m in a great condition right now. You know, between falling from the roof of a building, a ladder match, a tag team match, and then being beat down by Lester, I’d say I’m a fighting bill of health, would you? The message though, at least the message I’m taking out of all this, is that it’s going to take a hell of a lot for Lester to put me out of our match. I mean, look at me. I went through all that, and here I am. Still ready...no...eager to get in the ring with Lester.
[Shane] Eager? Why eager?
[Sally] Because I’ve got something to prove to him this time around. It’s about my character. My reputation. He’s going around, saying to anyone who will bother to listen to him that I screwed him out of escaping DeLoren. That I sold him down the river. Nothing, and I mean nothing could be further from the truth. You know, I like to think I’m pretty cluey. That I can pick up on things. So I’m ashamed to have not realised that Lester was probably with the Sindicate this whole time. He’s probably the one that broke in and stole the contracts, who compromised APW, who wants to ruin everything the APW roster has worked so hard for.
[Shane] Why would he take part in your little manhunt if he was involved?
[Sally] To throw me off his scent? To make sure I never discovered the truth? Because he’s deluded? I don’t know. Well, I do know he’s deluded, but that’s beside the point. Whatever his reason was, all we know is that the end result was probably the worst thing that could have eventuated: Level-One is now out there, on his own, fighting to destroy APW. And his first target?
[Shane] You?
[Sally] *With a solemn nod* Yep. Me. This is the Lester Only that I remember seeing when I first came to APW. It’s not the Lester Only that was so easy to beat because he was all over the place, completely unfocused and mishandling his own affairs. This time, he’s focused in on doing what he’s set out to do: Destroy APW for the Sindicate. And he’s going to make an example of me...
The scene fades to a close as Sally turns in her seat with a look of deep thought and determination to gaze out at the skyline. It’s been a while since she’s been home, and now that she’s here she’s not exactly sure this is where she wants to be. There’s a hold on the pause between scenes, and we come back in to the insides of the Sea-Tac airport and...Biggs? What’s he doing there. He’s sitting there, head burried in a book: “The 12 Essential Steps to Funk”. Strange reading for our former GM-turned world champion-turned manager. Then, suddenly, Sally collapses into the seat next to him. Biggs is startled, sits up, nearly drops his book.
[Sally] I hate the wait. It’s worse than the flight. There’s literally nothing to do.
[Biggs] Sally! What are you doing here?
[Sally] Going on a cruise...why do you think I’m at the airport, Biggs!?
[Biggs] Yes yes, but what are you doing...*Biggs gestures to the seat she’s in*...right here?
[Sally] Biggs, is it so hard to imagine that two people from Washington would be getting the same flight to Indianapolis, especially when both people have been summoned for publicity duties before the biggest pay per view of the year?
[Biggs] I guess.
Biggs tries to go back to reading his book, but Sally is intent on keeping herself amused.
[Sally] So I guess you heard about my match at Rasslemania, right?
[Biggs] Yep.
[Sally] What do you think?
[Biggs] I think it will sell a few tickets.
[Sally] But what do you think about it all? I mean, Lester is working for DeLoren now. He’s openly working for him. And we know that DeLoren wants to destroy APW. All he’s been is trouble for us since he got here. Now he’s got the biggest name APW has working for him? Someone’s got to stop him?
[Biggs] And that’ll you be you?
[Sally] Someone’s got to do it, Biggs. I love APW. APW made me such more more in the business than I could have done anywhere else. It pushed me further, made me a better fighter than I could have ever been. I have to save APW from this, Biggs. I have to pay back APW everything it’s given me.
Biggs finally looks up from his book to catch Sally in this most honest moment of hers.
[Biggs] You think this is a serious thing? Lester and DeLoren?
[Sally] I know I’m prone to a little exaggeration, but Biggs...I think this might be the biggest threat APW has right now. APW has climbed to the top of the business. The talent we’ve got? The matches we put on? The crowds we draw in? We’re the best in the business right now. And Lester wants to destroy it. And he’s rotten enough to go through with it. After everything APW has done for him, you’d think he’d respect it some more. Even if he’s unhappy with something I did to him, any decent human being wouldn’t try and destroy the company that made him bigger than anyone else.
[Biggs] You think APW made Lester? *Biggs laughs, turns back to his book* Good luck getting him to believe that.
[Sally] He won’t, I know. But maybe he’ll realise that APW isn’t the problem. He’ll say that he fought his way to the top, and he did. And he’ll say that he was the one that earned those titles, and he did. And he’ll say that he was the person pinning the rest of the business, and he was. But he can’t see past the stars in his eyes. APW was the company that tolerated him, that allowed him to grow, that gave him the opportunities to be the best! APW is the place with the talent that he deserves! Don’t get me wrong, he’s one of the best. But the best need to face the best to stay the best. APW had him face Pence, face Payne, face me, face you! *Biggs attention is drawn for a slight second* APW gave him what he needed. It mattered where he was working. APW mattered.
[Biggs] And you’re going to knock that into him at Mania?
[Sally] Well, I’ll try. You know, he’s not much for talking. And even when people actually prove themselves better than him he’s not much for recognition. But, maybe this once he’ll realise that he’s on the wrong side. I don’t want Lester to walk away converted to the Sally Talfourd School of Love, but I don’t want to see him destroy our company, Biggs. I don’t want him to go round hugging the roster, but I don’t want him fighting for the likes of DeLoren and the Sindicate. They’re the worst reason to be in this business. They’re the wrong side, and APW is the right side. I’m on the right side. And wouldn’t you rather Lester be on our side, rather than the other side?
[Biggs] I’d rather get on a different flight if you’re going to be on mine too.
Sally glares at Biggs, then spots his ticket sticking out his top pocket. She snatches it away before he can stop her. She reads it over, then looks at hers.
[Sally] Don’t worry, we’re not even sitting near each other. On a completely unrelated note, who bought you this seat?
[Biggs] The boss arranged it for me.
[Sally] Hmmm, well, you enjoy your rear-end toilet seat. I’ll be thinking of you way up in first class! *Sally goes to run off, but quickly turns back* Oh, by the way, do you think I’d be able to drop by your hotel tomorrow and ask you a question?
[Biggs] What question?
[Sally] Oh, you know, something. Yes or no?
[Biggs] Ok, fine. Just call ahead.
[Sally] Great! Thanks cutie!
Sally slides his ticket back into his pocket as a keenly interested Biggs looks all...interested. Then, before he can do anything, she plants a quick kiss on his cheek and stands up from her seat, hoping to stretch her legs before the long-short flight. The scene fades out on Biggs looking incredulous at his ticket and cursing the day he ever crossed Jeff! There’s another pause and then we’re backstage of some curtain. There’s yelling and cheering and, from the looks of things, this is the pre-Rasslemania press conference that APW innovated! There’s cheering and yelling going on from the crowds that have assembled, all the while the megastars are waiting backstage. Sally has found what would seemingly be an unlikely duo catch up in conversation, and head heads on over to them: Sally, standing there, talking with Keaton Saint.
[Sally]...so then I told the police why I was really there, and they were fine.
[Saint] Lucky escape then?
[Sally] I’d say so! *Awkward silence, Sally grins a smile at Saint* Anyway, I bet you’re used to this sort of stuff? The great Keaton Saint, glad-handing the press and the fans?
[Saint] I enjoy these for what they’re worth. But I’m not bigger than it all, certainly not bigger than the business or the company. I’m here for APW. It’s my home now, so I do what I can to make sure it’s a good home.
[Sally] Making it a good home...I like that. I hope no one is making your home difficult to live in?
[Saint] Ignoring the obvious? It’s pretty alright to live in.
Sally and Keaton have a little laugh. Then, over the PA, Keaton’s name gets called out to make his appearance. He gives Sally a pat on the shoulder, then heads off to do his publicity duties. Duties that he no doubt loves because, after all, he’s all about the APW now. Shane moves in to get Sally back into the spotlight. She notices him and, with dreamy eyes, squares up with the camera as she leans up against the wall.
[Sally] I bet you saw that.
[Shane] Got the tail end, yeah.
[Sally] That’s what this match is about for me.
[Shane] You’re wrestling for Keaton Saint?
[Sally] Ugh, no. I’m wrestling for that. For moments like that. You find me a company that brings a legend of the industry and a person like me together? That can make a moment like that possible. APW is more than wrestling. It’s about people, Shane. People. I’m not just a name. Keaton isn’t just a name. Lester isn’t just a name. We’re all people, in a business made for even more people. The fans are people, and they’re the ones I wrestle for. The talent here are people, and they’re the ones I’m fighting for. Lester wants to think of us all as names. As nothing. As less than dirt. He wants to treat us like a business. because that’s who he’s fighting for: A business. The Sindicate isn’t a company about people. It’s a business about money. That’s Lester’s motive now: Ruining APW, making money, and being the last man standing.
I’ve never been about that; not while I’ve been, you know, doing this for all the right reasons. I’ve not been about being the last one standing. I’ve always relished competition for the sake of putting on a great match. For the sake of pushing myself. For the sake of giving APW the chance to have a better megastar. Anything, really, just so long as it’s not me left over at the end of it all. What’s the point of that? Really, where’s the sense of logic behind that? Destroying everyone? Ruining careers? What’s the point? You don’t earn respect doing that. You don’t earn a good reputation doing that. You don’t earn the fans doing that. So what’s the point? You look at Lester and you know exactly why: He just wants to destroy. Destroy the people around him, destroy the company he has had a hand in building, destroy this business. Why? Because if he’s the last one left then he’s done everything he wants. He has nothing else in his life except...
[Shane] What? Except what?
Sally looks down to her feet. Maybe at herself. Maybe in her tired hands. It’s hard to tell. But, in her mind, the memories are racing. Those memories of when she faced him for the first time, and the utter disregard Lester had for this new-comer. The title matches, all four of them, and the disrespect he had for the place that she had earned against him. The beat-downs and the attacks that came monthly for her, and the complete lack of empathy that he had for her. Each time, she learned something about Lester - about the man inside, behind those dark eyes and in the darker mind.
[Sally] He has nothing else except hatred. Hatred for anyone who succeeds. Hatred for anyone who dares to rival him. Hatred for everything, Shane. *Sally looks up at her cameraman* He only has hatred in his life. That’s all that drives him. It drove him from APW to the Sindicate, and now it drives him to try and destroy APW. Destroy me. Destroy Rasslemania. All he has is hatred in his life, and that drives him to do whatever he can to destroy everything around him. Look at 2010; his life was a mess - personally and professionally. You think that all happened because he was enjoying life for all it was? That he wasn’t filled with hate? Then look at 2011? He fought so hard to destroy Biggs. And when Biggs did the unthinkable? Lester destroyed his own career. He is just full of hatred. And it drives everything he does.
This time around? He hated being subject to the Sindicate, so he did everything he could to get out of it. He tried to destroy Survive and Conquer by winning it separate from APW. Then, when that failed, he tried to destroy the people he thought were responsible for it all: The Sindicate. Then, when it turned out that wouldn’t satisfy him, he joined with the Sindicate just so he could destroy the ultimate symbol of this business: APW. He wanted to destroy APW because he didn’t win Survive and Conquer. Because they had a champion that wasn’t him. Because APW had moved on. It didn’t have to be one reason. He didn’t even need a reason. He’s never been reasonable, Lester. He’s just been driven by hatred, and you don’t need reasons or logic or justifications to do anything when you’re trying to destroy the world around you.
There’s a rising round of applause from behind the curtains, and, after it starts to die down, Keaton Saint is quick to walk back. His part in all of this is done, at least for now. There is that little ‘match’ thing to worry about.
[Sally] Seems to have gone well.
[Saint] Things usually do when I’m involved. You remember Survive and Conquer?
[Sally] And the Experts Tournament.
[Saint] Do we have a little bit of a history going here?
[Sally] Depends. I mean, if by ‘history’ you mean ‘a history where I have always out-performed you whenever we’ve been in the same match’ then...yes, we have a history.
A smirk crosses Sally’s face, Keaton can’t help but let out a laugh.
[Saint] I’m sure I’ll see you before we’re both done.
[Sally] Can’t wait for it.
Before much else can be done, Sally’s name is heard across the PA. The applause starts up, and starts up in a big way. There’s cheering and yelling and all sorts of things.
[Saint] Mine was louder.
[Sally] Hahaha, get out of here!
Sally playfully shoves Saint out of her way as she heads for the curtains. She steps through them, but it isn’t a second before she pops her head back through them.
[Sally] By the way, Keaton...could you hang around until I get back?
[Saint] Why?
[Sally] I have to ask you a question, is all. Is that ok?
Keaton nods with a curious look. Sally smiles, gives him a cute wave, then pulls back through the curtains. There’s a hold on the curtains as they close behind her, then the scene fades to a close. Another stark contrast. Not between Sally and Saint. No. Between this week and the last. Here we follow Sally around enjoying her time in APW. The times she has with the people that respect her are the contrast. Because the time she’s about to spend with Lester? Where there’s no love, no respect, no like? Things are about to be very different. But it doesn’t matter to Sally. She takes the good and tolerates the bad. Why? Because that’s APW. That’s what it takes to be in APW. The good always outweighs the bad in APW. Always. Anyway, the shot fades back in on something far more...appealing. Far more interesting. The body of a man in peak physical condition. A man working out, sweating out all the anxiety and the stress and the anger that’s been bled into his feud. A man called CJ Gates. He’s building up his upper-body strength, doing upright rows to get those shoulders strong enough to carry three me through a main event.
[Sally] Looking good CJ.
Sally can’t help but comment as she passes him by in the gym. CJ has to crack a smile but whether it’s at the humour behind it all, or the irony that less than a year ago Sally was trying to run CJ out of APW, well it’s hard to tell. Anyway, after a few more, CJ is about done, leaves the machine and grabs his towel, which Sally is loitering around.
[Sally] So, Mr. Undisputed Champion, how does it feel to be the face of APW?
[CJ] I could get used to it.
[Sally] You should already be used to it! You’ve been champion for months and months now.
[CJ] A win at Rasslemania would help.
[Sally] I hope you win. But it better not go to your head! Some people can’t handle all the fame...
[CJ] Yes. I can think of one...
The two laugh a little, then there’s that awkward silence popping up. Cj is the one to crack.
[CJ] So, Level-One? Can’t say I envy you.
[Sally] Please, a four-way title match? You’ve got the bigger meal.
[CJ] Maybe. But you know how hard Level-One will be going for you.
[Sally] Mmhm. I’m everything he hates right now. Someone fighting for the fans. For APW. For what’s right. He wants to take his name and make it bigger - as if it’s not enough being a legend. He thinks that by defeating me, by humiliating me at Rasslemania VIII, he’ll take himself past legend status. To that place in everyone’s mind that when they think of wrestling, they think of him. That’s what he’s trying to do, and that’s why I can’t rely on him stopping at all. This match, my match, isn’t going to have a rest point. It isn’t going to have an opening. It isn’t going to be hard. It’s going to be near impossible.
[CJ] But if anyone could do it, Sally...
[Sally] CJ, I don’t even know if I can. There’s only going to be one chance to win this match. Once chance. Lester Only doesn’t make mistakes. Lester Only doesn’t let the competition in. Lester Only doesn’t make a choice that will lose him a match. I have to get ahead of him this time, CJ. I have to get ahead and stay head. I have you out-wrestle, out-plan, out-think him. You say that I might be the only person who can do it...but what if no one can?
[CJ] Woah, Sally. What’s all this crap? This doubting and this questioning? Where’s that former APW champion? The woman who beat Lester when no one else could? Where’s the megastar that never backed down from a fight, who took it to everyone with everything she had?
[Sally] She’s here. She’s just, you know, waiting to come out.
[CJ] Well, I’d suggest give up on the wait and bring her to the party.
CJ grins at Sally, then takes up his towel, his bottle, and heads off to go about his training minus the distraction that Sally brings to the table. Before he can go through...
[Sally] CJ, can I ask you a question?
CJ turns on the spot, looking back to Sally with a furrowed brow. Shane watches with the camera for a moment, but then the scene fades out before we’re caught up in all of this. There’s a hold, but then we’re back to a shot of Sally. We’re here, at the grand stage of it all. Rasslemania. The stadium, inside the arena, is all set up for the show The stage crew goes through their practices today so that there’s no stuff-ups on the big one. There’s a few yells and some bangs as the stage is also assembled. Sitting off to the side though is Sally and Shane: Shane capturing it all, Sally taking it all in.
[Shane] Not long now, Sally.
[Sally] Not long at all. In just a couple of days, it’s all coming to a head. Sally and Lester *Sally draws her hand across the space in front of her* - the match that everyone’s been waiting for since it was done last time. You’d like to think that it’s only a recent development, but it’s not. It starts a long time before now. All the way back to, what? My second or third match where I picked up a tag team win against Lester? I could tell he hated me for that, all the way back in 2010. He hated that me, some up-start could come in and jag a win from him. The way he wrestled that next singles match against me, I could tell. Every time since then, he’s only ever wanted to make sure that I was out of his spotlight. Out of his company. Out of his way. He’s had that complete and utter loathing of me all that time.
And that’s dictated everything he’s ever done to me since. Lying to me, tricking me, deceiving me into thinking that he actually cared about APW. That...that ruse that he put together - stealing the contracts, helping me to try and get to the bottom of it all, telling us all he wanted nothing to do with DeLoren, that’s all just so that he could set me up for this. He was always working for DeLoren, from well before Survive and Conquer. Do you think Lester is so stupid to sign a contract with such a gaping hole in it that could be swept up by the likes of DeLoren? That he’d agree to a contract like that? It was all his plan. He wanted to be signed by them so that he could wreak havoc on APW without a fear of getting any repercussions. He never wanted to get out of that deal until he’d actually done what he wanted.
[Shane] And what was that?
Sally turns to look into the camera, her face looking all determined like, but in those eyes of hers, a hint of worry. Who could possible not be looking down the barrel of this match with all that’s at stake and not be worried?
[Sally] Destroy APW. He wants to destroy it. APW has moved past him. He can’t handle it. APW used to revolve around him, but now? Now there’s bigger and better. I walk around APW now and I can see it. Biggs who put him into retirement. Saint who was the buzz-storm that overshadowed his return. CJ Gates who everyone talks about with far more regard than Lester ever got. APW has moved on. Some of us can handle that. Some of us know that APW is bigger than any one person, and that all we want to do is see APW thrive. But people like Lester? It always has to be about them. Every main event. Every title. Every show and pay-per-view. They have to be about him all the time. The world needs to rotate around Lester in his mind.
[Shane] And if it doesn’t?
[Sally] If it doesn’t then he can’t handle it. He can’t handle it when he’s not the centre of attention. That’s his only weakness. No other. He’s better than everyone else in this business, but even he has a weakness. He needs it all to be about him. All the way down to a match. I learned this when I beat him time and time again. I learned it when I lost to him each time too. He wins when the spotlight is shining on him, and he can’t handle it when the world is looking somewhere else.
[Shane] How do you us that to your advantage Sally? IN a match, how do you get the attention?
Sally turns to look at the ring that’s only part built. The canvas is loose on it and the ropes are being wound up. That’s the stage, and while there’s enough room for two, there’s not enough room in the spotlight that shines down on it.
[Sally] I have to play to my strengths. My strengths are exactly what you need to beat Lester. I have to win the heart of the match. I have to win the fans. I have to be more entertaining that Lester. I have to be the soul of the match, Shane. There’s nothing else I can do. I can’t get stronger than him. I can’t wrestling him out of the match. I can’t play the mind-games better than him. I just have to win the soul of the match.
[Shane] The soul of the match?
[Sally] It’s that essence, that spirit. That something that makes us believe in a match. That makes us want to watch it. To believe in it. The fans cheer, the talent watch from the back, the phones go unanswered and the people knocking at doors are left there while everyone is glued to their screen. They watch the unbelievable. They think they’re the luckiest people in the world to be seeing this. Everyone thinks that the match is happening for them because there’s someone...someone in it that’s speaking to them. There’s someone in the match doing what’s right, and still getting beat down. There’s someone in the match fighting by the rules, and still losing. There’s someone in the match that’s putting everything they’ve got, and still falling short. There’s someone who gets knocked down again...and again...and again.
But, damn it, they keep getting up. I keep getting up. They keep getting up because the fight needs fight. The wrong needs stopping. The good needs to win against the bad. The people are going to see me doing that, and I’m going to win them over. Because Lester is the bad, the wrong, the evil in this match. I live for APW, and APW respects me from that. The people in the past I’ve wronged, they realise that. I made CJ’s life a misery, but he never doubted my love for this company. Saint knows just how great I can be but he’ll be one of the first to tell you that I’ve only ever fought for the reputation of APW. I haven’t fought fro the reputation of Sally Talfourd. I’ve fought for APW. And Biggs, a man who has both loathed and loved me, has a begrudging respect for me because I’ve only ever done what’s right.
You go to Jason Kash, to Nathaniel Havok, to Terry Marvin and to President Jeff. They’ll agree. It won’t matter if they hate me or love me, they will all say that I do what’s right. That they hate having to go against me because they know that I won’t give up. And, for as smart as Lester is, he hasn’t yet realised this. He will go to the ring expecting the match to be about him, that Rasslemania will be about him, that APW will once again be about him. And the fight will start, and he will dominate me. He will get the attention he wants. But as it goes on, as it all drags out, I’ll keep getting back up. I’ll win the hearts of the fans, and then I’ll win the heart of this match. Lester will hear the people cheer for me, he’ll see the heads peering from out the back cheering me on, and he’ll see my name in the headlines instead of mine, and he’ll slip up. He’ll let his guard down for a moment. In a steel cage, that’s deadly. He’ll do something risky. He’ll do something crazy. He’ll try and do something so unbelievable just to get that attention back on him. He’ll try to do something that will eclipse everything that I’ve done in the night. And when he does that...that’s when I make my move.
That’s when Lester loses and I win. That’s when APW wins and his destruction ends. That’s when good wins over evil and right wins over wrong. Lester will finally realise that it’s not about insults, it’s not about beat-downs, it’s not about himself. It’s about things that are bigger than him - things that he can’t destroy. When I keep getting up, and am the last person to get up, he’ll realise that I’m not the woman he thinks I am now.
He’ll realise that I’m the woman he knows I was once before.
Sally nods a few nods to herself as she still stares at the ring. The workers are busy, the show is coming. It’s like a storm...no. No, it’s like the daybreak. The signs that the sun is about to rise on the horizon and break the darkness of a terrible night. The light streaming through the gloom and the darkness to break it up and bring hope and happiness to the world again. This is the scene that the shot fades out on. The shot fades away to a blank, black screen, on which:
‘Sally Talfourd’
is written across the screen before the episode comes to a close and it all fades away.
