ESEN Presents: FIVE MINUTES OF FAME feat. CASTOR STRIFE
(FADEIN: ESEN logo – WOOSH! – appears on screen for a moment, before simultaneously cueing up
“Splitting The Atom” by Massive Attack and cutting to the “FIVE MINUTES OF FAME w/Devin Millwood” logo placed over the scene. The logo disappears, and we are left with a black and white camera view of DEVIN MILLWOOD sitting with CASTOR STRIFE on couches in the Courtyard Marriott’s lobby in Lowell, MA. Millwood is a young guy, skinny, shaved head, dark features, wearing a stylish gray sports coat with a skinny black tie over white shirt, and dress pants juxtaposed with retro-style marine-titanium colored ECCO mesh tennis sneakers. Castor is wearing expensive Euro denim and an old-school green-camouflage UWA t-shirt circa 1998. The Philly-based pre-cursor to NFW was not home to Castor, but the men who trained him. Defunct for years, it is now a locally-run training ground for NFW stars. Speaking of which, the NFW WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP is folded nicely, displayed on the coffee table in front of both men. Millwood holds an ESEN microphone to his mouth)
MILLWOOD: “Devin Millwood for Five Minutes of Fame, here with a man who’s fame has lasted more than a little while, in fact. I believe it was 2001 that Castor Strife debuted in New Frontier Wrestling, was Chairman of NFW East during Ultratitle Season 1,
left the industry for a long stint, only to re-emerge in 2009 to kick off what has been, really, an amazing run to this point.”
CASTOR: “You missed something.”
MILLWOOD: “What was that?”
CASTOR: “You forgot to let me threaten you, and finally relent when you beg me for just five minutes of my time.”
MILLWOOD: (grinning) “We can start over if you want.”
CASTOR: “No thanks, you already screwed it up. My M.O. is to feign shock and anger when the media bothers me for interviews, then proceed with a list of prepared talking points. Come on, they didn’t teach you this in school?”
MILLWOOD: “It is very possible I overslept that class.”
CASTOR: “The ULTRATITLE field is very good at threatening the media, I’m starting to develop a complex about it.”
MILLWOOD: “Let’s
talk about the tournament. We haven’t heard much from your opponent, but tell us your early impressions about Jaguar and some of the other competitors. We know you’ve had extensive experience with some of them…”
CASTOR: “Jaguar isn’t well-known on the circuit, but I want him and the rest of my bracket to think on something. Look at the names of the men I’ve injured, and put out of the business either for good or for long. Can you tell me who they are? You should, because for the life of me I can’t remember.”
MILLWOOD: “Brock Alyas, Buddy Saxon, Orlando Grant…”
CASTOR: “I would never have remembered if you didn’t tell me just now, and that’s really my point. I put Impulse and Troy Windham on the shelf too, but there’s no denying I hit hardest against the men I’m “supposed to beat”. You will never, ever see a man make a name off me. Jaguar isn’t setting the world on fire, but I have to assume he’s prepared for the match of his life against. That’s my attitude every round, for every opponent. Sleep on a man when the stakes are this high, and you might never wake up.”
MILLWOOD: “Who do you see as the biggest threats in this tournament? Who do you expect to meet in the later rounds?”
CASTOR: “Devin, I could care less. I really, really could. Nobody impresses me so much that I would ever have them on my mind beyond what’s standing in front of me. Some of the usual suspects will be around, no doubt, but some are going to be in for a rude awakening. I can tell you that Blaine Hollywood has come to play. Joe The Plumber claims he’s going to meet me in the finals, and I hope he’s right. I firmly believe that Dan Ryan is the number two wrestler in the world behind myself, but I heard he’s getting drunk off moonshine on his porch in Houston. (shrugs) Whatever, whoever,
whenever. There is one road that runs to the trophy, and that’s
my road. Nothing, Devin –
no one can deny me.”
MILLWOOD: “Speaking of Dan Ryan, his opponent, Cobra, has sort of criticized him for going to two draws with you. Did you see that, and if so, what was your take?”
CASTOR: (squints eyes, laughs, shakes head) “That’s some line of attack. Maybe I should send him a postcard with some of Ryan’s greatest losses on them so he won’t have to buy a clue. I mean, if
that’s the angle you want to take. Truthfully, if Cobra could last 30 seconds in the ring with me I would
give him the win. So Dan, take it from your friend The Director – stay off the bottle and take care of this guy inside a minute like I know you can. Perhaps your rematch won’t be too far off.”
MILLWOOD: “Let’s take it back to 2003, ULTRATITLE Season 1. NFW North, which became the East, features two athletes: Sean Stevens and Castor Strife. By mid-season, Stevens quits, and you leave the active roster for a titular role. Almost 10 years later, the trophy has been brought back, and both of you are among the favorites to win and could, in fact, meet each other in the bracket. How important is it for you to bring your career full circle and win ULTRATITLE?”
CASTOR: “I’ve always felt my career was one marked and constantly impacted by fate. Certainly the very tournament that led to my downfall all those years ago would be a fitting monument to my rise and conquer in 2012. They say this is the year of Apocalypto, but the Mayans projected no such thing. 2012 marks a new age – antiquated institutions the world over will fall, and greatness will emerge. This, Devin, will be an age of stars – GOLDEN YEARS, understand? Filled with golden men…and golden things.”
MILLWOOD: “Some say you suffer from delusions of grandeur…”
CASTOR: “
Suffering. (smiles, grabs belt off table) Look how I suffer. The pain, the AGONY. We should all be so lucky to suffer as I do.”
MILLWOOD: “You know what I mean. They say you have an inflated ego, and you’re setting yourself up for a huge fall…”
CASTOR: “I’ve heard it; needs no repeating. It’s an amazingly short-sighted criticism from men with limited scope. When you seek great heights, you risk a great fall. That risk never bothered me, and if it bothers you, then you’ve no business competing in this tournament. Get the [BLEEP] out. Stop wasting everybody’s time. Or you might be unlucky enough to run into me. And Devin…going to battle with me is like dancing on a razor blade. Keep a lock-step or you
will get cut.”
MILLWOOD: “Last question: who’s your team in the NBA playoffs?”
CASTOR: “Years ago I bought Clippers season tickets to piss off Lamont Hollywood. (smiles) The only thing that would make him more upset than me eliminating his son from the tournament, is if the Clip beat the Lakers in
that tournament. And if you know Lamont, you know that’s not a joke.”
(CUTTO: ESEN logo flashes over black screen. Copyright 2012)
(FADEOUT)