Post by Cross Recoba on Nov 16, 2022 14:58:19 GMT
THE SANDS, LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
[ 23:52; NOVEMBER 13TH, 2022 ]
CROSS RECOBA
Is that the last of them, Laura?
Flipping over the lockbox, Cross started to count the money.
LAURA MESSIER
That’s it. You’ve got the contactless payments I presume?
Placing a finger between the bills to ‘bookmark’ the amount, Cross looks up.
CROSS RECOBA
I have and each month the percentage it makes up rises.
LAURA MESSIER
Well, if that’s everything, I’ll be calling it a night.
The Sands’ hostess turned Tap Out Wrestling Ring Announcer headed towards the office door.
CROSS RECOBA
Wait. Do you think the right result happened tonight? We couldn’t change it then any more than we can now but would it have been better if Diamond won?
Laura pondered the question for a few moments.
LAURA MESSIER
I don’t think we can lose, really. Whoever wins out of Poena and Collins gets to go up against Diamond and maybe avenge their loss. After that, if Diamond wins we get another Battle of the Icons…
CROSS RECOBA
Endgame…
LAURA MESSIER
If Close Collins wins, it’s a rematch from our first official show that crowns our first champion. If Poena wins? Well, at least he’s made a lot of enemies for us to match up against him.
CROSS RECOBA
And if Long wins?
LAURA MESSIER
Then we enter the era of The Last True Icon.
Recoba’s face grew neutral as he mulled over what that could mean for his company.
The video clip comes to life with Cross still in the same office we saw previously.
CROSS RECOBA
So it seems that this time out at Adrenaline, I’m back in the main-event and this time it’s to become the Number One Contender for IPW’s highest pride. Not just back where I belong but in a match where I can’t help feeling that I’ve successfully failed upwards. Then again, so has my opponent.
He moves magnetic strips with the names of the Tap Out Roster across a planning board as talks.
CROSS RECOBA
Gunner, anyone who watched you hype your match up against Roxie would be forgiven for thinking that you might know what you’re doing. That those words you had for her would be backed up as soon as the bell rang. If you only saw the viral clip of you powerbombing Gearhart onto the steel steps, you’d assume that the person standing was who ultimately came out with the win but what happened?
Smiling to himself as he settles on two names, he continues.
CROSS RECOBA
Here’s my theory, Gunner. Despite the fact that you’re only a few months younger than me you lack the most important thing a wrestler has, a brain inside the ring. You look at any of your matches and it’s always the same - you’ve got no rhyme or reason to why you hit the moves you do, nothing connects one move to another. That’s why you lost against Roxie and yet it’s you I face. Perhaps this match will be the one where we see you back up your twenty-dollar words with more than a nickel and dime offense?
Recoba reaches to grab his notepad and checks something before another flash of a smile is seen to accompany him placing two more names adjacent to each other.
CROSS RECOBA
You might wonder what qualifies me to be in the match, after all since I lost the Openweight title three months ago? Aubrey Mack, who has since never shown his face again. But you want to know my pedigree? Go ask Judith, try and find Reckless Jack or Liz Karlson and ask them if they’d want to step in the ring with me again!
The difference is, Gunner, that I actually look like I know what I’m doing inside that ring! When that bell rings, I know exactly what my main plan is as well as having a couple of adjustments up my sleeve if I need them. You on the other hand couldn’t turn an advantage like weighing twice as much as your opponent into a winning effort.
Recoba’s words become imbued with disdain for his opponent.
CROSS RECOBA
When I lift you up in a crucifix and deliver a neckbreaker, when I drop you on your head with a Saito Suplex or when I hit my Osaka Stunner - you’ll realize what I’m building up to. You’ll realize that if they haven’t done the trick, I can drop you with a lifting DDT on the apron and follow it up with a German suplex. What they all lead to is choices…
He puts aside the rest of the magnetic nameplates.
CROSS RECOBA
Choice is knowing that I can spike you on your head with Up All Night in Dakota or further stretch your neck and back with Garibaldi’s Guillotine. Choice is knowing that whatever move I pick, I’ve got it down to a fine art…I don’t hesitate when it matters most, and when it’s just an opponent and myself in the ring? I leave people with no doubt as to who the better wrestler is, who’s the bigger star…
The smile now becomes wider.
CROSS RECOBA
I’m not the IPW Box Office Smash for no good reason, Gunner. They call me that because I can make any match a can’t miss spectacle, I can make people care about anyone even if it’s just for one match and I can guarantee that when the match is over, the fans won’t talk about any other match than mine on the drive home. We’re not fighting for bragging rights in Wales, Gunner, this is to take down MYŌJIN and if I’m being brutally honest, you’d be wasting his time, the announcers’ time, and everyone who went to see the show or watched it at home if you faced him.
The camera zooms in to frame Cross’ face.
CROSS RECOBA
The only thing deceptive about you, Gunner, is your ability to disappoint when that bell rings.
[ 23:52; NOVEMBER 13TH, 2022 ]
CROSS RECOBA
Is that the last of them, Laura?
Flipping over the lockbox, Cross started to count the money.
LAURA MESSIER
That’s it. You’ve got the contactless payments I presume?
Placing a finger between the bills to ‘bookmark’ the amount, Cross looks up.
CROSS RECOBA
I have and each month the percentage it makes up rises.
LAURA MESSIER
Well, if that’s everything, I’ll be calling it a night.
The Sands’ hostess turned Tap Out Wrestling Ring Announcer headed towards the office door.
CROSS RECOBA
Wait. Do you think the right result happened tonight? We couldn’t change it then any more than we can now but would it have been better if Diamond won?
Laura pondered the question for a few moments.
LAURA MESSIER
I don’t think we can lose, really. Whoever wins out of Poena and Collins gets to go up against Diamond and maybe avenge their loss. After that, if Diamond wins we get another Battle of the Icons…
CROSS RECOBA
Endgame…
LAURA MESSIER
If Close Collins wins, it’s a rematch from our first official show that crowns our first champion. If Poena wins? Well, at least he’s made a lot of enemies for us to match up against him.
CROSS RECOBA
And if Long wins?
LAURA MESSIER
Then we enter the era of The Last True Icon.
Recoba’s face grew neutral as he mulled over what that could mean for his company.
***
The video clip comes to life with Cross still in the same office we saw previously.
CROSS RECOBA
So it seems that this time out at Adrenaline, I’m back in the main-event and this time it’s to become the Number One Contender for IPW’s highest pride. Not just back where I belong but in a match where I can’t help feeling that I’ve successfully failed upwards. Then again, so has my opponent.
He moves magnetic strips with the names of the Tap Out Roster across a planning board as talks.
CROSS RECOBA
Gunner, anyone who watched you hype your match up against Roxie would be forgiven for thinking that you might know what you’re doing. That those words you had for her would be backed up as soon as the bell rang. If you only saw the viral clip of you powerbombing Gearhart onto the steel steps, you’d assume that the person standing was who ultimately came out with the win but what happened?
Smiling to himself as he settles on two names, he continues.
CROSS RECOBA
Here’s my theory, Gunner. Despite the fact that you’re only a few months younger than me you lack the most important thing a wrestler has, a brain inside the ring. You look at any of your matches and it’s always the same - you’ve got no rhyme or reason to why you hit the moves you do, nothing connects one move to another. That’s why you lost against Roxie and yet it’s you I face. Perhaps this match will be the one where we see you back up your twenty-dollar words with more than a nickel and dime offense?
Recoba reaches to grab his notepad and checks something before another flash of a smile is seen to accompany him placing two more names adjacent to each other.
CROSS RECOBA
You might wonder what qualifies me to be in the match, after all since I lost the Openweight title three months ago? Aubrey Mack, who has since never shown his face again. But you want to know my pedigree? Go ask Judith, try and find Reckless Jack or Liz Karlson and ask them if they’d want to step in the ring with me again!
The difference is, Gunner, that I actually look like I know what I’m doing inside that ring! When that bell rings, I know exactly what my main plan is as well as having a couple of adjustments up my sleeve if I need them. You on the other hand couldn’t turn an advantage like weighing twice as much as your opponent into a winning effort.
Recoba’s words become imbued with disdain for his opponent.
CROSS RECOBA
When I lift you up in a crucifix and deliver a neckbreaker, when I drop you on your head with a Saito Suplex or when I hit my Osaka Stunner - you’ll realize what I’m building up to. You’ll realize that if they haven’t done the trick, I can drop you with a lifting DDT on the apron and follow it up with a German suplex. What they all lead to is choices…
He puts aside the rest of the magnetic nameplates.
CROSS RECOBA
Choice is knowing that I can spike you on your head with Up All Night in Dakota or further stretch your neck and back with Garibaldi’s Guillotine. Choice is knowing that whatever move I pick, I’ve got it down to a fine art…I don’t hesitate when it matters most, and when it’s just an opponent and myself in the ring? I leave people with no doubt as to who the better wrestler is, who’s the bigger star…
The smile now becomes wider.
CROSS RECOBA
I’m not the IPW Box Office Smash for no good reason, Gunner. They call me that because I can make any match a can’t miss spectacle, I can make people care about anyone even if it’s just for one match and I can guarantee that when the match is over, the fans won’t talk about any other match than mine on the drive home. We’re not fighting for bragging rights in Wales, Gunner, this is to take down MYŌJIN and if I’m being brutally honest, you’d be wasting his time, the announcers’ time, and everyone who went to see the show or watched it at home if you faced him.
The camera zooms in to frame Cross’ face.
CROSS RECOBA
The only thing deceptive about you, Gunner, is your ability to disappoint when that bell rings.
