Post by Blake Archer on Jan 20, 2018 2:26:17 GMT -5
Title:The Year of the Dog is Coming | A Union Battleground Debut Info: L!GHTS OUT #17 / Blake Archer vs. Joe Stanton _____________________________________________
[Opening, black. I want this to feel important and to get your heart pumping so we start this on black, and edgy scary movie that makes the big wigs and patents nervous. Just for some motivational direction let's toss out a quote.]
"Where have all the good men gone and where are all the Gods? Where's the street-wise Hercules to fight the rising odds? Isn't there a white knight upon a fiery steed? Late at night I toss and I turn and I dream of what I need."
Bonnie Tyler - "I Need A Hero"
[There is a rhyme and a reason to why Blake was brought to Union battleground. Rumors say this is a place where fighting champions come to duke it out. This king without a kingdom he needs a place to battle. The small boy inside me can't resist this urge any longer. Blake has a title defense against Brody Johnson for a special event, at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. Emery Layton has accepted him as her first challenger, what else can we possibly dip his Jack plum thumb into?! Anyone that has been following him knows he is in prime fighting form. His wife Mary-Jane has taken to managing his career from home. While I and my best friend Alex have been having the time of our lives (and most stressful!) following the King of Canines around the world. She schedules dates and we keep him up to date on bookings. Over the weekend he spent time at home even played in the snow with his eldest and youngest daughters. I caught up on sleep and Alex went home to visit his girlfriend. While Blake has bigger bookings and by that I mean ones worth more money there are some smaller with his marksman like scope on. One of them with this attention is this debut for Union Battleground. The opening match for the first Lights Out of 2018. His chest is tight, his hair tucked into his jacket and hidden under his hood. Every hero needs a villain and that is what has drawn him here. Where he is the air is cold, it brings him even more to life to feel the fridge wind against his body. The wind carries two fighting cats fury through the air and the small Welsh Corgi he is walking starts to shake.]
Blake: "Stop being such a coward. I get the girl a dog and I end up with a dog. Conclusion, no more dogs, or any animals."
[The mutt looks at him with the most pathetic of looks and Blake leans down picking him up out of the snow and away from the scary sounding cat fight. Once inside the dog returns to his bed next to the little girl that had fallen asleep next to it. He circles and curls up next to her, the only highlight that he has to being here. Blake can tell he is old and doesn't like the change of scenery he was taken from when his old master was evicted. The young girl might be too energetic for him and he is sure that the twenty or so felines Mary-Jane has scattered through the property and cabins on it is overwhelming for him as well. Blake walks away from this sad but somewhat heartfelt scene down the hall. He goes down some steps as we follow him. Championship belts, picture stills of him in the ring dating back to age thirteen, some celebrity photos with him even one of the President. He grabs a remote and clicks on a television with a recording of a fireplace. He sits down in a large leather chair and we pan around to see him sitting there thinking seriously over something. His eyes peek in our direction and his posture shifts.]
Blake: "You're the camera guy right? What do you guys use now? Smartphones?"
Narrator:"Actually...It's just a digital camera. They do a lot more than just photographs now days. Smart phones are ok, but nothing that professional looking."
Blake: "Fascinating... Not. Do you stalk everyone?"
Narrator:"Um... Well I am..."
Blake: "I don't care. You've been taping me for awhile now. I've seen you. One week it is because the GM for a high school gymnasium named Zach Zmiz decided that he was going to host Blake Archer versus Brody Johnson chapter two on his measly little origination. The week after that it is all about XWA because I challenged Emery Layton for her Supreme Championship. I'm also fighting one of my arch nemesis Micheal Everett, and somewhere between all that I have to show up to defeat Joe Stanton. The Scarlet Speedster, that is what Union Battleground has chosen for me. I've asked my daughter Rain and my wife Mary-Jane to look up stuff, perhaps they are not tech savvy or perhaps they just rather not dedicate the time needed. Either way I have found out what I need to know. He debuted about nine years after I did. He has some nice looking finishing maneuvers, and he comes from Chicago, Illinois the place where I will dethrone what I consider the biggest Cinderella story of this era. I'm not in this industry to be the good guy. I am in this business because I want to be the top dog. After years of being the underdog and having heartbreak after heartbreak I finally seen the light. I realized this is not a place where the blue chipper is going to succeed. I became what I had to not only in order to survive, but to rule. I can't begin to express to you people the joy that fills my heart knowing I will be opening the show for the first Lights Out of 2018. I am not over looking Joe at all. I'm just thinking about all the disappointment I will be leaving in Chicago to start off this year. It is suiting that I start that with this opening match up."
[He lets out a chuckle his eyes drifting off into a different story for a different time, but than they peer back up at us and he realizes there is still more to say here. He lets out a sigh like this is too much of a bother for him.]
Blake: "I'm dreaming day and night of the bells, each one. I am a veteran though and I know each time just who's eyes will be looking at me from across that ring. I know who I am and what I have done in the last year. While sometimes things seems to hold me back, I still just keep trucking through it. Just like i used to on the football field way back in the day, I am always chasing something down. I keep my eyes on the prize and wait for my chance to grab that interception. From the looks of your resume looks good Joe, but so does mine. Most importantly my resume includes this right here."
[He says lifting up one of his most prized possessions, all the framed titles on the wall with plagues about their history. All the pictures of his amazing feats and spots from matches, not even the Autographed pictures of himself and various celebrities wishing him luck chasing down his dream seem to compare to being the GWP Heavyweight Champion of the world. His perfect smile reflects back at him from the diamonds and gold and he turns his jubilant face back to us while placing the championship over his right shoulder.]
Blake: "I won this title in just one night when I debuted for GWP on this show Inception. Everyone had such high hopes and they came crashing down hard. I refuse to give up this title just because the owner has lost his way. Inside that ring I can go just as hard as a man half my size and with the force of a freight train. I have all the talent in the world and deserve to be featured with the best of the best. So I signed to Union Battleground to showcase just why I am hold this title. Therefore I can only assume that Joe Stanton is one of the best, he represents his hometown with a tenacity that might not be matched? I've said this before, but allow me to tell Union Battleground for the first time. This world is dog eat dog, and I'm not one of the big dogs anymore, I am the top dog. I am going to prove that this year starting off with Lights Out against Joe. You all will bend your knee to the King of Canines. Pay attention Union Battleground, the Year of the Dog is coming."
[He shoos us away waving his hands at her and sitting back in his chair returning to his contemplating. We back away from him slowly and out of his room fading away while exiting the scene.]
Edit: I had forgotten to add my image. Apologies.
Last Edit: Jan 20, 2018 2:52:56 GMT -5 by Blake Archer
Post by Joe Stanton on Jan 21, 2018 19:27:53 GMT -5
The scene opens on the locker room area of Limitless Wrestling Academy, where Joe is competing tonight at their Ground Zero show and hosting a seminar for the students as a favor to his colleague Michael Hayden. Stanton sits on a bench, methodically taping up his right hand as through the open doorway he can watch the "ringside area" be set-up for tonight's show by the students and those most trusted by Hayden to help operate this showcase of his students. The ring's already set-up for tonight, Stanton having helped set it up with some of the students earlier despite Hayden's protests that he didn't need to do something like that, and Joe watches the younger talent go through drills in the ring to pass the time till the doors open up. All of the thoughts usually crawling through Stanton's head start creeping into the recesses of his brain as they do as bell time grows closer, his frame of mind being solely on the fight ahead by the time the fans will start making their way to their seats.
"Union Battleground."
The Scarlet Speedster says with a grin forming, wetting his lips before he continues.
"For a while now that name just kept popping up on social media, it had a buzz to it among the fans, and I would hear things about it like any athlete in this sport does about a promotion with some hype if you're the type to pay attention to that sort of thing. I am because I'm always looking for new opportunities, new challenges, new fights, looking for another platform to represent my craft on and to draw in new fans, looking for that avenue to prove myself as one of the best talents that's ever laced up their boots in this sport. Looking to give the fans' their money's worth and looking to get what's been hyped to me."
Stanton surveys the imaginary landscape before him when referring to Union Battleground's online presence, he thumbs his chest when he mentions he's the type to take notice of that sort of thing. Explaining why, there's a light in Joe's eyes at the thought of what he's looking for, of the possibility of it.
"It's why when I heard the Union Battleground was returning for a second season? Shiiiiiit, it didn't take long for me to figure out the paperwork needed to make sure my name was signed on the dotted line and I was apart of their roster proper. That I would get the opportunity to get a taste of what I kept hearing about, to experience what I had seen in clips on Youtube fans had shot my way occasionally. Main event, middle of the card, opening match, it didn't matter to me as long as I was afforded the chance to perform in this ring, with this talent, for this promotion. Hell, they could've stuck me in some outhouse deathmatch against The Masked Superstar XXXV and I would've put on the best damn possible fight of that man's career."
Waving off the notion he even had to think about signing on for this new season, Stanton shakes his head and he motions in a signing gesture in the air to emphasize his point. He is quick to disregard where he's put on the card or against who as long as he's put in there by Union Battleground. Scoffing at his own ridiculous concept when he talks of an outhouse deathmatch.
"Why I feel like Archer and I have been given a special moment with our match, because we'll be the first two faces that fans new and old will see on the very first two thousand and eighteen edition of Lights Out when we meet in that ring. We have the ability to not only set the tone for the rest of the show, but for the rest of the season, we can raise the bar of quality that's already become known for being high here by simply being the opening match of the night and by leaving everything we have inside that ring. We will determine what kind of mood the crowd is in and make sure they're not sitting on their hands or too busy on their phones tweeting about being at the show to actually enjoy the show. And, the one that walks away the winner with their arm raised will be given a means to catapult themselves into something greater the further we go into the season."
With his left hand Joe holds up two fingers to illustrate Archer and himself, sounding deadly serious when he talks about the importance of their roles in this match.
"Archer, you're a big boy there's no doubt about that, you got eight inches of height on me and you're a solid sixty pounds heavier than me and if this was eighteen year old Joe Stanton, maybe I'd be a little bit more concerned about those facts than I am. You've got scary power to your name, you're clearly a man that knows a thing or two about the technical game of this craft, and somehow you're able to do things smaller guys like me can't even do by taking to the air like you're that hundred pound spot monkey on some Philly spot show thinking if you can get a nine hundred degree rotation moonsault pulled off you'll get the call to the big leagues. Yeah, yeah, eighteen year old Joe Stanton would be sweating bullets and thinking that you look like an insurmountable hurtle, a hill that he'd have to die on to maybe prove that he can hang with the upper crust of the professional wrestling world. But thirty one year old Joe Stanton?"
The analysis of Blake Archer has Joe sound like the information is staggering though there's a certain something to his tone the entire time. A knowing feeling.
"Am I going to feel like road kill the morning after whether I win or lose? Probably, yeah, going to need some comfort food like burger and fries, and a shake to make me feel better. But for as good as you are, for as much as your record and your performances back up your moniker of The Top Dog, are you impossible to topple?"
Stanton wets his lips again and he shakes his head.
"I've fought and beaten bigger boys than you, Archer. Thirty one year old Joe Stanton isn't concerned or nervous, he's excited for the challenge that you present him with. Because here's a guy that can out-wrestle me on the mat, is more aerially inclined and maybe has more of a power game than me? How thehell am I supposed to beat you?! How am I going to pull this one out of my ass, if I win?!"
The Guy in Shades finishes taping up his right hand and throws up his arms, both in a shrugging gesture and almost in a asking the audience how is he going to possibly beat this guy way. Stanton's grin widens and his voice becomes rushed, excited, his features become thrilled at the prospect of how he's going to potentially think up a winning strategy.
"I don't even know! And, that's half the fun! Being put in there with a talent that pushes me to my limits, that tests me and forces me to go outside my comfort zone is exactly why I wanted to be apart of Union Battleground! You are the living, breathing, live and in color definition of my desire! So, thank you, Archer!"
Throwing up his arms in disbelief, Joe has to stifle a laugh when he exclaims he doesn't even know yet how he's going to beat Archer if he does! He points at the camera and explains himself further, jabbing at the camera with his index finger a few times during his tirade. He outstretches his hand and lays his palm flat when he thanks Archer. The Scarlet Speedster bounces up to his feet, he's suddenly feeling very lively.
"And, hey, nothing personal when I try to knock your block off."
Quickly he adds with a finger gun and a wink that closes out this piece.
