[LONDON] (1) Lindsay Troy vs. (8) Ace Mason

[TH]

Second round match held the Liacouras Center on Temple's campus in Philadelphia, PA. One fall to a finish, no time limit.

No RP limit, all regular RP rules apply, deadline is Sunday, April 6 at 11:59:59 PM EDT, give or take a second.

 

[Fusenshoff]

Fade in to Ace Mason at a motel just outside Temple’s campus in Philadelphia. Ace is rummaging through his duffel bag searching for his socks. He stops and pulls out a worn-down baseball. He raises it to the light of the moon through the window. Ace inhales deeply then sets the ball on the windowsill. He crashes into a chair next to the bed and looks into the camera.

Ace Mason: “Three years ago, if you’d told me I’d be a professional wrestler, I would’ve handed you a baseball and a Sharpie. I would’ve said ‘Buddy, write down your name and number, I’ll have my widow send you an invitation to my funeral. There won’t be a funny-colored mask, but a fitted dark blue hat instead. There won’t be a red cape, but black cleats instead. There won’t be fancy tights with underwear on the outside, but pinstripes and the number 6… Six to finish the prestigious decemvirate of retired Yankee jerseys… Names like Joe DiMaggio, Lou Gehrig, someday Derek Jeter, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra and Babe Ruth.’

“It’s funny how fate is such a fickle foe.

“I shudder when pondering the lost possibilities.

“Not unlike my opponent this week, who shudders in the air-conditioned suite of her hotel suite. I’ll bring a blanket to the ring for you Troy. You’re colder than a witch’s tittie in a brass bra doing push-ups in the snow.

“Unless… you’re shuddering mockingly because you’re matched up against me this week.

Ace Mason holds his hand to his chin as he ponders this.

“After all, you knew beforehand that whoever you faced this week, you’d trounce just by showing up. So it is posterized, and so it shall come to pass. Happy LSD Man gave you a free pass in the first round, not even bothering to show up during promo week. By your insinuations, it seems by royal decree you’re entitled to the Sweet Sixteen.

“Not so fast. This time you’re going to have to work just a little harder. Maybe… just maybe… even harder than you think.

“But you’ve already sentenced me a push-over. Vegas might even agree with you. Sure it was sarcasm, but as we’ve all heard, there’s truth in such. Lucky for me, I have a say in the matter once the bell rings.

“Underestimating your opponent never helps your cause. It may not matter in the end, or rather; it may be of little consequence. I’m certain that I’m not the first adversary you’ve faced that seemed like a jester in your eyes. I won’t be juggling down the ramp or bowing before I weave between the ring ropes. Crazy as this may seem to you, I won’t be treating you any differently than any other opponent. I recognize your lack of expectations for my in-ring capabilities, but it means absolutely nothing.

“I bring it up simply as an analysis of your mental state coming into this match. My own preparation and performance is the same as it would be with any opponent. I take it with the same grain of salt as Varga lewdly announcing I’m an ass-ramming fart-face.

“I have only one motivation. It’s not revenge for a petty suggestion. It’s not validation for mockery. It’s not even to move on in the tournament. I fight to test myself against everyone this sport has to offer. I’ve had this competitive yearning all my life, and it’s the reason I came so close to becoming a professional baseball player.

“In baseball that competitive nature is defined on a pitch-by-pitch basis. There’s roughly ten seconds between each pitch where nothing eventful happens. You learn to build the competitive anticipation into those fractions of a second when the ball meets your bat or your glove.

“The difference in wrestling is that there’s absolutely no space in between. From the ding-ding-ding to the 1-2-3 there’s no pause in the action. No timeout. No moment to calmly gather your thoughts. Any drift in focus is an opportunity for your competitor to capitalize on that mistake.

“You know this as well as the next wrestler Lindsay, consciously or not. We’ve all made mistakes and our opponents failed to capitalize. But there’s so much room for error in wrestling. I feel that deeming your competitor unworthy of your graces- nobleman or peasant, champion or ring fodder- is never an ideal approach when your goal, win or lose, is to put forth the best effort you can in the time you have to shine.

“So unsheathe your tongue. Gracefully exit your chambers. Prove to your kingdom, once again, why you’re deemed worthy of the crown you’ve earned.”

Fade out as Ace Mason stares down in thought at the hotel room’s carpet. He looks again at the baseball in the window as the full moon illuminates the room. Without remorse, he shuffles to his duffel bad and holds a wrestling boot in his hand, inspecting it.

 

[QueenOfTheRing]

Take Me Out To The Ballgame...

"Allow me to tell you the story of James Varga, as I can see that the Colbert-aided point I was trying to make just went right over your head."

Fade-in: Lindsay Troy, in a living-room of sorts in what could potentially be attributed to a rather nice hotel suite. If we really want to get technical, she's in Wichita, Kansas: site of PRIME's ReVolution 156, where she hopes to murderdeathkill a certain masquerading cipher known as Cozen. She's decked out in a non-nondescript long-sleeved T-shirt, jeans and heavy combat boots.

"I know that in your little secluded hole in the world, you really have no idea who James Varga is. He was just some dude who you got thrown into a match with and who you, not so surprisingly, beat. But let me lay down the law here: if a question on PTI's 'Oddsmakers' was 'Chances of James Varga winning a TEAM match', Kornheiser would have said zero percent and Wilbon would have said negative one-hundred percent.

"And Reali would have given Wilbon the win because of his MEDIA BIAS~!

"The only person who thought James Varga was going to win that match was James Varga. And that's cute and all if you're the plucky greenhorn with your 'gee whiz'es and your 'golly gee's, but Varga's been around the block quite a few times and lost his mind somewhere on the first trip.

"This is a guy who trots out a one-trick pony of wackiness and expects people to think he's CONNTROVERSIAL. In reality, he's a draggletooth guttersnipe whose claim to fame is losing about eight-thousand matches in a row.

"He'll tell you that himself.

"And I shuddered to think what would have happened if you didn't beat him. If you actually, somehow, inconceivably lost to that guy, what the world of professional wrestling would have done. It being turned on its ear wasn't going to be bad enough. It was going to announce his date of death as the night our match took place.

"Premature? Maybe. But call the veterans in this business the Harbingers of Truth, because they actually have a finger on the pulse when it comes to me, whereas yours is shoved somewhere up your ass.

The Queen smirks; it's as razor sharp as her words.

"The shuddering had less to do with you than it had to do with me actually having to face up to the possibility of having to touch that little greaseball. So sorry if big, mean, sarcastic Lindz hurt your feelings. I'm sure that you're just great and wonderful and the kids all mimic your moves when they play 'Wrestling' in their backyards. And I'm sure if you really put your mind to it, you'll have just as successful a career spewing baseball analogies like a fourth-rate Tim McCarver with all of the annoyance and about an eight of the experience.

"Maybe I'll just do you the favor and send you off on the injury list with your boy Jeter. It's early in the tournament, I know, but I'm sure you'll bounce back in time for whenever the next one is that Chapel decides to hype up. And then, like your boys in pinstripes, you'll just choke when it matters the most.

"Kind of like what you're doing now.

"You have a certain charm about you though, what with your cookie-cutter analysis and your down-home naivety. I don't need to make you believe that I see you as anything less than just one more person who decided to come to an abrupt halt on my road through this Invitational. On my road, there are no rest areas. No scenic points of interest. Little time for photo ops.

"If you were to ask me before today to pick you out of a line-up of all the other wrestlers who have said the exact same things to me at different points in my life, I probably couldn't do it because all of your faces just seem to blend together now. It's not enough that I have to beat you, LaLoosh, I have to just replace you completely. If that means that Ms. Troy must inspire the masses one more time to rally behind my cause and bear witness to your complete and utter humiliation then, dagnabbit, that's exactly what I'm going to do.

"Because, Nuke, that's exactly what I do best:

"Not giving it the good ol' college try.

"But actually coming through in the clutch and winning, when it absolutely matters the most."

Fade...