"...Get along?"
"Nope...."
-------------------------
Simple fade in from a black screen.....boring ass black leather couch and a BORED Dan Ryan sitting in the middle....
Ryan: "Well isn't this just the most fan-damn-tastic couple weeks of preparation for a match ever? I mean, what can beat coming out and and saying a few words to nobody?"
"I've reached that point where I no longer give a rat's ass about this s**tpile of a match. It pretty much comes down to where I'm gonna stand in the battle royal because quite frankly I don't see this joke of a six man match causing me very much trouble."
"So where does that leave me? Who gets to join in that little party with me?"
"What are the options? Let's see here.....GUNS?"
"Well good ol' GUNS doesn't care about titles, doesn't care about anything except 'tearing the CSWA down brick by brick and then rebuilding it again'. Assumedly that would make him care again, make him regain his smile but who knows? Either way, he's hellbent on losing this match in favor of his little Intruder-mates on the other side."
"How about those Professionals, hmm? The most dominant CSWA tag team in recent memory? The ONLY CSWA tag team in recent memory?"
"I'll tell ya, if things go down as you plan in that little elimination match of yours...we're gonna have a sad sad sight of a battle royal on our hands. The wonder twin duo of Craig and Eddie in a match for a shot at the World title? 'FORM OF...COMPETITION FOR ONCE!!'"
"You boys might wanna rethink that strategy."
"But hey, if wasting your time is the flavor of the month then go for it. Whatever brings that little flutter of excitement back to ya."
"The truth of the matter is beyond all of the talk of being tired of the same old rhetoric.....being tired of the belt being the top prize, the aimed for goal in this company....all the talk about changing the rules...it all comes down to simply rhetoric of another form...."
"The 'I Don't Care' rhetoric."
"Which brings me to my only observation....."
"I don't care if you don't care."
Smile....
"So you might wonder why I even bother sayin' a word about it..."
"Well..."
"If you were stuck in a match where no one had said a word since the match was announced....you'd be looking for something to do, also..."
"So who else is on the list here....hmm....let's see...."
"Tom Adler?"
"Tom Adler....well I can't say I know enough to comment on you first hand. I know of you, know your past to a degree. But we've never met in a ring...never come close to this point. But if you manage to foil the happy little midget's plan at Battle of the Belts, we most likely will...."
"So here's what I'm thinkin'. You seem like a reasonable enough man...close enough to my own way of thinking to be able to respect the policy of being your own man in that ring and in this business. So that leads me to ask you..."
"Why the hell are you even BOTHERING trading little witticisms over such nonsense? Letting GUNS drag you into a 'you never won that belt, no actually I did' conversation? Making statements on winning streaks that have lasted over a year??"
"What was that....five shows?"
"This company hasn't exactly been putting the production team through any mandatory overtime lately. Every company goes through these little dry spells, but claiming a winning streak over periods as such is nothing short of ridiculous."
"Maybe you just got caught up in the moment. I've seen lesser men thrown off their game by the little Oompa Loompa Three....or maybe you're as bored as I am. And most likely, in a grand tradition that would make all Gunsian followers everywhere proud..."
"You most likely ...don't care."
"That's alright too. Just so you know, I haven't been to that mountaintop...not here anyway. And to me, that mountaintop...no matter how useless a big leather and gold strap may be in the long run...still represents being the best in a business we all call our own. It's our livelihood, our careers, our very lives. Anything short of being called the best is unacceptable."
"Whatever I need to do to stake my claim in history, I will do. Some men may have lost that fire...but I have not."
"So who's left? Troy Windham? Shane Southern?"
"Troy...."
smirk...
"Troy, Troy Troy....I've been meaning to throw a few words your way. In fact, throwing more than a few words might be fun sometime. But in light of the fact you've managed to entertain me this week, and in light of the fact that you managed to work the lyrical stylings of Mr. Byrne into your promo I'll keep it relatively short."
"You're the story, right? The one who would apparently bring the storyline element of excitement into a title shot. Your brother holds the belt, so that makes the situation pretty obvious."
"Unfortunately, I've never really known Merritt to be obvious."
"I can't see you taking this one home, chief. I don't know, call it a gut feeling. Call it intuition. But you've got a hell of a lot working against you. It doesn't matter to me either way. If we end up across from each other in the battle royal, then so be it. I'll give you a free shot just to see whatcha got....then I'll kick your teeth down your throat. Should be interesting....if you get that far. Either way...I look forward to the future....one day, we're gonna have some fun..."
"And good ol' Mr. Southern. I'll tell ya Shane, you're not as bad a guy as I may have led the world to believe that I thought you were. You're a consummate professional in the ring, and I admire that. You have to understand, everyone has a role in life. I was asked to perform one upon my entrance when my only real goal lied in a debt I had to repay."
"You were placed in my way under the assumption that I was here to tear down your little company."
Smile...
"EH..."
"Like I said before...my buddies in the...FACTION...may not like me saying it, but it doesn't matter....I don't give a s**t about tearing anything down. I care about me....I care about my career and about being the best there is....and that's it."
"That about sums me up, Shane. If you feel you can't trust that, I would say to you....don't. Don't trust me. Because quite honestly, no matter who stands across the ring from me...no matter who stands beside me in the ring...I'll do whatever it takes to be the best. WHATEVER.....IT......TAKES."
"So what happens if it's you? Same thing that happens to the others....we'll have some fun...trade some holds...but in the end I'll send you flying over the top to the floor. And just like Gloria Gaynor....I will survive...."
"Because that's just what I do...."
Ryan leans back and relaxes a bit...
"Well then, there's my little diatribe of the week. If my partners-slash-opponents manage to drag themselves out of the local mall's anime shop long enough to make an appearance then I'll have a little something for em. If not, maybe I'll have a word or two for the little engines that could down in the opener. Or maybe I'll come back and just run off at the mouth for my own amusement..."
"IF NOT..."
shrug..
"I'll be waiting for whoever makes it to the match at BOB..."
"Battle of the Belts....you'll all have something new to worry about...."
fade to static.....
"Nope...."
-------------------------
Simple fade in from a black screen.....boring ass black leather couch and a BORED Dan Ryan sitting in the middle....
Ryan: "Well isn't this just the most fan-damn-tastic couple weeks of preparation for a match ever? I mean, what can beat coming out and and saying a few words to nobody?"
"I've reached that point where I no longer give a rat's ass about this s**tpile of a match. It pretty much comes down to where I'm gonna stand in the battle royal because quite frankly I don't see this joke of a six man match causing me very much trouble."
"So where does that leave me? Who gets to join in that little party with me?"
"What are the options? Let's see here.....GUNS?"
"Well good ol' GUNS doesn't care about titles, doesn't care about anything except 'tearing the CSWA down brick by brick and then rebuilding it again'. Assumedly that would make him care again, make him regain his smile but who knows? Either way, he's hellbent on losing this match in favor of his little Intruder-mates on the other side."
"How about those Professionals, hmm? The most dominant CSWA tag team in recent memory? The ONLY CSWA tag team in recent memory?"
"I'll tell ya, if things go down as you plan in that little elimination match of yours...we're gonna have a sad sad sight of a battle royal on our hands. The wonder twin duo of Craig and Eddie in a match for a shot at the World title? 'FORM OF...COMPETITION FOR ONCE!!'"
"You boys might wanna rethink that strategy."
"But hey, if wasting your time is the flavor of the month then go for it. Whatever brings that little flutter of excitement back to ya."
"The truth of the matter is beyond all of the talk of being tired of the same old rhetoric.....being tired of the belt being the top prize, the aimed for goal in this company....all the talk about changing the rules...it all comes down to simply rhetoric of another form...."
"The 'I Don't Care' rhetoric."
"Which brings me to my only observation....."
"I don't care if you don't care."
Smile....
"So you might wonder why I even bother sayin' a word about it..."
"Well..."
"If you were stuck in a match where no one had said a word since the match was announced....you'd be looking for something to do, also..."
"So who else is on the list here....hmm....let's see...."
"Tom Adler?"
"Tom Adler....well I can't say I know enough to comment on you first hand. I know of you, know your past to a degree. But we've never met in a ring...never come close to this point. But if you manage to foil the happy little midget's plan at Battle of the Belts, we most likely will...."
"So here's what I'm thinkin'. You seem like a reasonable enough man...close enough to my own way of thinking to be able to respect the policy of being your own man in that ring and in this business. So that leads me to ask you..."
"Why the hell are you even BOTHERING trading little witticisms over such nonsense? Letting GUNS drag you into a 'you never won that belt, no actually I did' conversation? Making statements on winning streaks that have lasted over a year??"
"What was that....five shows?"
"This company hasn't exactly been putting the production team through any mandatory overtime lately. Every company goes through these little dry spells, but claiming a winning streak over periods as such is nothing short of ridiculous."
"Maybe you just got caught up in the moment. I've seen lesser men thrown off their game by the little Oompa Loompa Three....or maybe you're as bored as I am. And most likely, in a grand tradition that would make all Gunsian followers everywhere proud..."
"You most likely ...don't care."
"That's alright too. Just so you know, I haven't been to that mountaintop...not here anyway. And to me, that mountaintop...no matter how useless a big leather and gold strap may be in the long run...still represents being the best in a business we all call our own. It's our livelihood, our careers, our very lives. Anything short of being called the best is unacceptable."
"Whatever I need to do to stake my claim in history, I will do. Some men may have lost that fire...but I have not."
"So who's left? Troy Windham? Shane Southern?"
"Troy...."
smirk...
"Troy, Troy Troy....I've been meaning to throw a few words your way. In fact, throwing more than a few words might be fun sometime. But in light of the fact you've managed to entertain me this week, and in light of the fact that you managed to work the lyrical stylings of Mr. Byrne into your promo I'll keep it relatively short."
"You're the story, right? The one who would apparently bring the storyline element of excitement into a title shot. Your brother holds the belt, so that makes the situation pretty obvious."
"Unfortunately, I've never really known Merritt to be obvious."
"I can't see you taking this one home, chief. I don't know, call it a gut feeling. Call it intuition. But you've got a hell of a lot working against you. It doesn't matter to me either way. If we end up across from each other in the battle royal, then so be it. I'll give you a free shot just to see whatcha got....then I'll kick your teeth down your throat. Should be interesting....if you get that far. Either way...I look forward to the future....one day, we're gonna have some fun..."
"And good ol' Mr. Southern. I'll tell ya Shane, you're not as bad a guy as I may have led the world to believe that I thought you were. You're a consummate professional in the ring, and I admire that. You have to understand, everyone has a role in life. I was asked to perform one upon my entrance when my only real goal lied in a debt I had to repay."
"You were placed in my way under the assumption that I was here to tear down your little company."
Smile...
"EH..."
"Like I said before...my buddies in the...FACTION...may not like me saying it, but it doesn't matter....I don't give a s**t about tearing anything down. I care about me....I care about my career and about being the best there is....and that's it."
"That about sums me up, Shane. If you feel you can't trust that, I would say to you....don't. Don't trust me. Because quite honestly, no matter who stands across the ring from me...no matter who stands beside me in the ring...I'll do whatever it takes to be the best. WHATEVER.....IT......TAKES."
"So what happens if it's you? Same thing that happens to the others....we'll have some fun...trade some holds...but in the end I'll send you flying over the top to the floor. And just like Gloria Gaynor....I will survive...."
"Because that's just what I do...."
Ryan leans back and relaxes a bit...
"Well then, there's my little diatribe of the week. If my partners-slash-opponents manage to drag themselves out of the local mall's anime shop long enough to make an appearance then I'll have a little something for em. If not, maybe I'll have a word or two for the little engines that could down in the opener. Or maybe I'll come back and just run off at the mouth for my own amusement..."
"IF NOT..."
shrug..
"I'll be waiting for whoever makes it to the match at BOB..."
"Battle of the Belts....you'll all have something new to worry about...."
fade to static.....