"So" versus Dean Wolf on Monday Night Metal
Jun 30, 2019 14:24:51 GMT -5
BonnieBlue, Braxton Locus, and 1 more like this
Post by Smith Jones on Jun 30, 2019 14:24:51 GMT -5
~
CROWD: “SMITTY!!! SMITTY!!! SMITTY!!! SMITTY!!!”
Fade up on a shot of a black curtain. The ripples in the fabric can just barely be seen. Smith Jones’ back sidles in from the edge of frame. He is wearing a dark coloured blazer.
PRINCIPAL WILLIAMSTON: “Settle down! Attention. It’s time to welcome our guest of honour today as he brings words of encouragement and motivation all across North America with the…” She refers to her notes. “Smith Jones Cross-Continental Motivational Speaking Tour Bus. Please welcome APW Superstar… the incredible Smith Jones!”
'Waiting For The End' by Linkin Park rocks the high school cafeteria! The documentary camera remains directly behind Jones as he confidently flings open the black curtain to reveal a room filled with about 2000 students. The room is packed. SRO. Smitty's stomach plunges to the basement. His heart skills a beat and he stops breathing altogether. Time stands still… wait, no it doesn't. Smith tries to retreat into a moment of chronological stasis that does not exist. Everyone is watching. Smith rushes back behind the curtain.
SMITH JONES: “I can’t do this anymore.”
Amélie puts a hand on Smith’s shoulder.
SMITH JONES: “I’m not going to do this anymore.”
AMÉLIE DAVENPORT: “What are you talking about?”
SMITH JONES: “Those kids out there...”
CROWD: “Smitty!! Smitty!! Smitty!!”
SMITH JONES: “I need to get real with them. I need to get real with myself.”
Jones flings the curtain open again only to shut it instantly, holding it tight with both hands.
AMÉLIE DAVENPORT: “Just say what you’re thinking. You’ll be great.”
Smith pulls her in close and kisses her passionately. Smith and Amélie stare into each other’s eyes for a moment before Smith steps through the curtain and out onto the stage. He steps directly up to the lectern and leans in close to the microphone. He takes a deep breath and he speaks.
SMITH JONES: “I hate life sometimes. Sometimes, I just wish the ground would open up and swallow me. Sometimes, I wish I had died from that overdose. I came so damned close. I could have been GONE. But, I’m still here. I’m right here proving that I am stronger than I ever thought I was. Kicked in the teeth. Left for dead and forgotten so many times over. There is a dark core within me that will always feel alone. I have tried and tried to fill the bottomless cavity within me and have FAILED so many times. No matter how much Amélie tries to help me; no matter how many fans chant my name, I am NOT SATISFIED. I’m so tired of feeling like an alien. I’m so damned tired of feeling so alone in this world. I didn’t mean to be so different from the rest of you. I am what I am. That has to be good enough! That’s all anyone has in life. I feel like so much of my world around me has crumbled into the frigid waters below. I am still sorrowful for the loss of many of my hopes and dreams even after all this time.”
Jones removes the wireless hand mic from the lectern and he hops down off the front of the stage. Smith looks into the eyes of the captivated crowd around him.
SMITH JONES: “Life is a long journey. Not all of us are supposed to be the very best. Only one person can be the very best. Aside from that one person, everyone else is split into two categories: people who want to be the best and people who don’t. Most of you assembled in this cafeteria today are going to start off trying to be the best. Even believing that you really are the best. Until… there comes a day for every person who wants to change the world when they realize that they are not big enough to make the changes they want to make. Most of you will meet a day when you… resign yourself to accept the fact that you are not what you want to be. You are what you are. Just be what you are!!! I have always had trouble with that. Being what I’m expected to be? That is not my forté. So… when I lost to Braxton Locus in that super close mat classic on the debut episode of Monday Night Metal... I had trouble accepting that I failed to establish myself as the Alpha early on. Then… when I lost to Steven Osbourne just last week… that was a shocker to me. I did not see that coming at all. I had… trouble...”
Jones crushes his own head, pressing the heels of both palms into his temples and groaning with inner agony. Jones notices a female student with dark hair nearby wearing a Smith Jones T-shirt and thick glasses. He steps right up close to her and presses his forehead against hers. She stares him in the eye with a smile. Jones does not smile at all. He hisses his words into her face.
SMITH JONES: “No one is ever going to wipe your ass for you. You are the only one who will be there for you every second of every moment of every day of your putrid human life. So… when you start to feel like you are always LOSING…”
Smith walks through the rows again with renewed life and vigour.
SMITH JONES: “...there is only one person who can dig down deep inside you and force you to put one foot in front of the other and step out into your spotlight. This deep ache in my chest, this lump in my throat, these reddening eyes have seen strong examples of the darkness that this life can thrust upon you! Beware of life. It’s the leading cause of death in one hundred percent of human beings.”
Jones looks into the documentary camera that has been following him through the aisles of cafeteria tables. He begins to focus in on his opponent for Monday Night.
SMITH JONES: “Dean Wolf. You are one hell of a competitor, just like all of my opponents have been on Monday Night Metal. Promo of the Week may not make it into your trophy case, but it still says something about the calibre of competitor that you are. You’re a real fighter and you are going to make the most of this run. You are off to an amazing start, despite your loss to Lucy Sixx last week. You and I are both trying to come back from the failures of our past and build something new to be proud of. I have a list of accomplishments long enough that I’m not just in it to pad the list. I’m here to prove that I can still go! Nothing has been harder than trying to get mentally prepared for this week. I’ve talked a big game. I’ve come up a little short on my words.”
Jones removes his jacket and throws it on the floor. He loosens his tie as quickly as he can, panting and grunting like he can’t breathe. He throws that on the floor too before unbuttoning the top three buttons on his shirt.
SMITH JONES: “You really wanna meet my wolf within? Someone ring a damned bell! I want to do great harm to good people again. I haven’t spent the week studying tape like I’d planned to. I haven’t been perfecting hurricanranas or tweaking my landing from The Crestfall. I’ve been daydreaming-- I mean, I’ve been envisioning just how frighteningly brutal it is going to be in that ring when two men with everything to prove walk the boards and run the ropes. I keep trying to be a role model. I keep editing my words and my actions so as not to offend others. Trying to uphold some ethical code and feign consistency of character. But the fact of the matter is that all I really aim to do is spill the blood of those around me. I want to dent your cranium, Dean. I want to chip your teeth. I’m going to cave your head in and slurp up the contents with an environmentally friendly paper straw so I can absorb everything about you and be just as great a fighter as Dean Wolf.”
He walks backwards down the aisle as the camera follows, keeping a tight closeup on his signature stone scowl.
SMITH JONES: “I always talk about being a professional wrestler and how important it is to get the moves right. That’s not me this week. I want to draw blood. I want to shatter a piece of you, Dean. I want to remind you that you are a lone pack hunter and you’re surrounded by serious danger. I’m going to crush the base of your skull with the Point of Controversy and render you damaged. I’ll splinter your upper vertebrae into a fine powder. I will endanger your motor skills. This is not a game and I do NOT take it lightly. This is important to me and I’ll be damned if I’m going to stand here and watch you take my place as a top dog in APW. I am on the hunt, Wolf. But you are not the prey I am hunting. You’re in the goddam way. Watch me move you.”
Smith returns to the stage and stands in front of the lectern with a sly sneer.
SMITH JONES: “As of this moment, the Smith Jones Cross-Continental Motivational Speaking Tour is cancelled. I’m not in this for ANYONE ELSE but ME.”
Jones holds the microphone down at his side and lets it drop from there to the floor. He exits stage through the curtain. Fade to black.
~
