Cut to the inside of a limo. Dan Ryan is looking out a side window and relaxing on the short drive from Atlantic City to Philadelphia. Ryan sees the sign for Berlin and Siclerville and glances at his watch....not much longer now....Ryan rubs his head and ruffles through a few papers before stopping and leaning forward to hit the 'record' button on his in-limo camera equipment.
Ryan: "Still on that kick about my supposed twisting of your words are we, Stevens? If you wish to call it that, then by all means go right ahead. The more you dwell on it the more obvious it becomes that you feel like the idiot you are for being caught in such humorous lies and backwards logic. But that's ok. Call me pathetic if you want. I find that hilarious as well coming from a man who is so attached at Eli Flair's hip that you can't tell where his ass ends and your mouth begins. Maybe I'll call you what I hear they call you backstage over in CSWA. Flair Jr. is it? Eli's little 'mini-me'. Come on, raise the pinky up to the mouth just one time for me."
Ryan goes into a mock Dr. Evil accent..
"I shall call him...mini Eli.."
"Honestly Stevens, while you fumble around for the answer like Ivy in the backseat on prom night...I'm enjoying life on the road..just watching as you and buggy boy go round and round in circles in your head trying to convince yourselves and everyone else around here that I'm a solitary man walking into a trap. I thought when I came around here that in the very least there might be some logical reasoning afoot. But alas, I have been disappointed once again. Because no matter how much I spell it out for you...you're like the retarded kid in a spelling bee. 'How do you spell Arkansas?' 'JELLO!!'."
"I'll reiterate for you. As you repeated for me, it was not our time. Why waste the effort? Ah, you see...that's where you're wrong. It wasn't wasted effort at all. And as I've said before, it won't be long before the fruits of that effort come to pass. I don't think you'll enjoy it as much as I will...and I know... (Ryan laughs) ...I KNOW your fans won't like it. But I daresay you won't call it wasted effort again. I do intend on backing my talking up my good friend, Mr. Stevens. But I don't recall telling you it would be at Primetime. It will be at a time of my own choosing. Trust me, when the time comes...you'll be the first to know."
"Something that warms my heart though...oh yeah, just makes me feel nice and cozy is the dropping of that big wall you've got over your personal feelings for Ivy McGinniss. Not that her promiscuity has ever been anything but common knowledge, but it's good to see you drop the pretense. See Stevens, we had two different roads to go down when we first crossed paths. It could have been a warmup match for each of us...to prepare us for Fish Fund. But you chose the path of a feeble attempt to get under my skin. Something you're gonna learn very soon is that you don't want to get into mind games with me, Mini-Eli. I guarantee that the moment that you give me an opening, like you did with Ivy.....SNAP..."
Ryan snaps his fingers
"It's all over. So I would suggest to you..if you want your little Ivy to be safe...that you re-think your position. Don't underestimate me, or overestimate any sense of fairness or compassion that you may assume that I have. I'm the kinda guy...if you get on my bad side...that will punch your grandma in the throat....if my sole reasoning is to piss you off. None of your physical threats will ever...and I repeat...WILL EVER....intimidate me. So I'll say it one more time. Re-think your position, Stevens. Maybe Ms. McGinniss will still be able to walk when we're done..."
Ryan goes from a look of dead seriousness to one of light humor..
"I'm glad that you were able to catch Global Warfare. I hope you enjoyed yourself. It's nice to see you taking things more seriously. You know, maybe I'm not quite the talentless hack you may think. (chuckles) I'm glad you're acquainted with Kendall Codine. You guys are good friends, best buddies, whatever. Doesn't matter. I whipped the man's ass and enjoyed it. See, Kendall did the smart thing. He did something he obviously didn't learn from you. He didn't make it personal. Kendall took it to me, I'll give him that much. But in the end it was my hand held high after a hard fought, cleanly decided contest. Our business is finished, and I gained a heavy dose of respect for Kendall Codine. He still doesn't mean s**t to me, just like you don't. But unlike you, he let his ring work do the talking. He's an up and comer in this industry. You, however are a child. I don't care about 1996 or 1998 or what you were doing in any damn year of your life. You are a child in this game and your words bear fruit to that fact. If there's one thing you should study, it's his actions...not mine."
"As for other real challenges...well...We'll see what the road ahead leads me to. (smile) It's about time you saw the whole picture. Something I will never do..is admit anything that's going on in this calculating head of mine. You won't know what I'm thinking until it's way way too late. But just stick around...maybe get that popcorn you talked about when we first met. Things are gonna get good really soon.."
"Well then, let me turn my attention to Mr. Shane Southern. I gotta tell you something, big DAWG. I ain't done seen no one like you! (Ryan makes a fake spitting noise) Where in tarnation did you come from, boy?! A hyuk hyuk."
"Tell you what, Southern. Why don't you use a little something we call...English..when you talk to me. Because while I may be a proud resident of Houston, TX born and raised, I made a decision a long time ago to talk...you know...not like a moron. I don't give a rat s**t whether you liked me getting involved in your little title matches with Hornet and A-Hole or not. Also, thank you so much for letting us all know about your..NFW championship. No one gives a rat s**t about that either, least of all me. You should know by now that you aren't any sort of Wild Card, Southern. That's just a nice way of them telling you there's no other place for you on the show. You've never been 'the other guy' truly...more accurately you were 'the guy no one gives two s**ts about but he has a contract so we have to put him somewhere.' But you know that already. You don't need me here to tell you. And contrary to popular belief, I'm not coming to Sweetwater emptyhanded, and I guarantee you I won't be leaving emptyhanded. If that's something you can't comprehend, go ask Aunt Wilma, or cousin Bertha or whoever the hell else you want to ask. Hell, they're probably all one in the same anyway. But be clear on this, Hillbilly Jim. I'm not the one that doesn't belong. You stick out like a sore thumb...or like Ivy McGinniss in a convent. Go throw your horseshoes somewhere else. The rest of us have a real game to play..."
"And last but not least of them all, Mr. CSWA himself...the almighty Hornet. First off, don't demean your own mental faculties by sitting there straight faced and telling me about any Evan Aho one night return. Walking into GXW like he did, he's either the biggest jackass on the planet or the dumbest son of a bi!ch I've ever seen in my entire life. He ##### hard on my company when he left, and I never forgot it. But you know what? I was content to let it be. I was just fine with never bringing the subject up again...until...UNTIL I caught word that Evan Aho wanted to make a one night return at the request of Kin Hiroshi. And yeah, it was all smiles backstage before the event. Evan went around shaking hands and getting reacquainted with the boys. It was all good times and fun. But you see, I've never been one to forgive and forget. You have to understand that I didn't pull some cheap stunt in GXW. You'd like people to believe that, but you know the truth. You know that Evan Aho walked into MY ring of his own volition...under his own power...and of his own choosing. And like I said before...that either makes him the biggest jackass in the world or stupid as s**t, because I can guarantee you...you could've expected the sun to go black or the roof to fall in before you could've expected me to stand in the back and watch that clown spit in the face of GXW. You see, that wasn't some stand-in clone lookalike of Evan Aho. It wasn't some midget in Evan Aho attire to amuse the fans. No, my friend...it was Evan f**king Aho live and in living color...and I beat his ass down like the b**ch that he is. I can admit, I get a little emotional when I'm talking about a company that made it's name on the back of my accomplishments and you're damned right I ran down the CSWA. But it doesn't matter. Bottom line is your World Champion was lying on his face with drool pouring out of his mouth like an eight year old asleep on his desk. And I can promise you something else. He won't make that same mistake twice."
"But then, you couldn't care less about my problems with Evan Aho right? You only care about the glorious CSWA. Well, you damned well better believe I care about my company. And I won't let anyone's champion...CSWA or not...disrespect it like Evan Aho tried to. GXW doesn't have the history of CSWA, that's nothing I can argue about. But two years into the CSWA what were you doing, Hornet? Hmm? Tell me, what were you doing? I'll spare you the trip to the Hornet family media room. You were defending your company's World Title. You were facing the likes of Mike Randalls, Bonecrusher and 'Antichrist' Jim Williams...teaming with Timmy Windham. You were, by your own admission...going to every bingo hall in the country to defend the honor of your company. Tell me something, big man? What do you think it is that I've been doing? Hmm? It doesn't matter if it's 1996 or 2002, if you want to bring up Greensboro in '98, that's fine by me. I offer up no excuse. But I made a conscious decision to build a company from the ground up and make sure that no matter where it is that I have to go, no one will drive my company into the ground...and no one will disrespect my ring while I still have breath in my body."
"But then, you already knew that didn't you? You're so smart, you know."
Ryan takes a breath and reaches into the limo refrigerator and pulls out a bottle of water and takes a drink..
"I like how you follow along the lines of the Sean Stevens school of approaching the big bad meanie coming to take down the CSWA. Always a variation on 'whatever you do, you don't have what it takes to get the job done.' Right? Same song, different verse. Same dance, different dancer. I've got to go through you...then Trips...then Southern...then blah blah blah blah blah. Trust me, buggy boy. If I wanted to get my hands on Aho right away, I would have done so. But you provided such a tempting target that I simply couldn't pass it up. Aho is the champion, it's true. But somehow your legacy overshadows that doesn't it? And you bit hook, line..and sinker. Perhaps the bait I set out wasn't for Aho at all. But I'll leave it to you to chew on. Like I said, you're so smart."
"And of course, any discussion to either you or Stevens wouldn't be complete without a short discussion about Ivy McGinnis. And lately we've added that new twist. The good ol...'touch her and I'll kill you' speech. Whatever, man. If I wanna throw her through a window, I'll do it. If I want to kick her teeth down her throat, I will. Or I might not. Who knows, it depends on my mood. But trust me, I won't have any difficulty getting out of the arena under my own power. I've made sure of that. I don't need to do any research on you, big man. I know all about you. I'm simply not impressed with your threat. Idle? Nah, I doubt it. I just don't care. I couldn't give two s**ts about your threats because I've gone to great lengths to make sure that....well...you'll see."
Smiles
Ryan looks and sees the exit toward his hotel in Philly for the evening.
"Well fellas, I'd love to stay and chat...but I've got a triple threat match with Kendall Codine and John Miller for the GXW Unified World Title. See ya next week in Sweetwater..."
F2B
Ryan: "Still on that kick about my supposed twisting of your words are we, Stevens? If you wish to call it that, then by all means go right ahead. The more you dwell on it the more obvious it becomes that you feel like the idiot you are for being caught in such humorous lies and backwards logic. But that's ok. Call me pathetic if you want. I find that hilarious as well coming from a man who is so attached at Eli Flair's hip that you can't tell where his ass ends and your mouth begins. Maybe I'll call you what I hear they call you backstage over in CSWA. Flair Jr. is it? Eli's little 'mini-me'. Come on, raise the pinky up to the mouth just one time for me."
Ryan goes into a mock Dr. Evil accent..
"I shall call him...mini Eli.."
"Honestly Stevens, while you fumble around for the answer like Ivy in the backseat on prom night...I'm enjoying life on the road..just watching as you and buggy boy go round and round in circles in your head trying to convince yourselves and everyone else around here that I'm a solitary man walking into a trap. I thought when I came around here that in the very least there might be some logical reasoning afoot. But alas, I have been disappointed once again. Because no matter how much I spell it out for you...you're like the retarded kid in a spelling bee. 'How do you spell Arkansas?' 'JELLO!!'."
"I'll reiterate for you. As you repeated for me, it was not our time. Why waste the effort? Ah, you see...that's where you're wrong. It wasn't wasted effort at all. And as I've said before, it won't be long before the fruits of that effort come to pass. I don't think you'll enjoy it as much as I will...and I know... (Ryan laughs) ...I KNOW your fans won't like it. But I daresay you won't call it wasted effort again. I do intend on backing my talking up my good friend, Mr. Stevens. But I don't recall telling you it would be at Primetime. It will be at a time of my own choosing. Trust me, when the time comes...you'll be the first to know."
"Something that warms my heart though...oh yeah, just makes me feel nice and cozy is the dropping of that big wall you've got over your personal feelings for Ivy McGinniss. Not that her promiscuity has ever been anything but common knowledge, but it's good to see you drop the pretense. See Stevens, we had two different roads to go down when we first crossed paths. It could have been a warmup match for each of us...to prepare us for Fish Fund. But you chose the path of a feeble attempt to get under my skin. Something you're gonna learn very soon is that you don't want to get into mind games with me, Mini-Eli. I guarantee that the moment that you give me an opening, like you did with Ivy.....SNAP..."
Ryan snaps his fingers
"It's all over. So I would suggest to you..if you want your little Ivy to be safe...that you re-think your position. Don't underestimate me, or overestimate any sense of fairness or compassion that you may assume that I have. I'm the kinda guy...if you get on my bad side...that will punch your grandma in the throat....if my sole reasoning is to piss you off. None of your physical threats will ever...and I repeat...WILL EVER....intimidate me. So I'll say it one more time. Re-think your position, Stevens. Maybe Ms. McGinniss will still be able to walk when we're done..."
Ryan goes from a look of dead seriousness to one of light humor..
"I'm glad that you were able to catch Global Warfare. I hope you enjoyed yourself. It's nice to see you taking things more seriously. You know, maybe I'm not quite the talentless hack you may think. (chuckles) I'm glad you're acquainted with Kendall Codine. You guys are good friends, best buddies, whatever. Doesn't matter. I whipped the man's ass and enjoyed it. See, Kendall did the smart thing. He did something he obviously didn't learn from you. He didn't make it personal. Kendall took it to me, I'll give him that much. But in the end it was my hand held high after a hard fought, cleanly decided contest. Our business is finished, and I gained a heavy dose of respect for Kendall Codine. He still doesn't mean s**t to me, just like you don't. But unlike you, he let his ring work do the talking. He's an up and comer in this industry. You, however are a child. I don't care about 1996 or 1998 or what you were doing in any damn year of your life. You are a child in this game and your words bear fruit to that fact. If there's one thing you should study, it's his actions...not mine."
"As for other real challenges...well...We'll see what the road ahead leads me to. (smile) It's about time you saw the whole picture. Something I will never do..is admit anything that's going on in this calculating head of mine. You won't know what I'm thinking until it's way way too late. But just stick around...maybe get that popcorn you talked about when we first met. Things are gonna get good really soon.."
"Well then, let me turn my attention to Mr. Shane Southern. I gotta tell you something, big DAWG. I ain't done seen no one like you! (Ryan makes a fake spitting noise) Where in tarnation did you come from, boy?! A hyuk hyuk."
"Tell you what, Southern. Why don't you use a little something we call...English..when you talk to me. Because while I may be a proud resident of Houston, TX born and raised, I made a decision a long time ago to talk...you know...not like a moron. I don't give a rat s**t whether you liked me getting involved in your little title matches with Hornet and A-Hole or not. Also, thank you so much for letting us all know about your..NFW championship. No one gives a rat s**t about that either, least of all me. You should know by now that you aren't any sort of Wild Card, Southern. That's just a nice way of them telling you there's no other place for you on the show. You've never been 'the other guy' truly...more accurately you were 'the guy no one gives two s**ts about but he has a contract so we have to put him somewhere.' But you know that already. You don't need me here to tell you. And contrary to popular belief, I'm not coming to Sweetwater emptyhanded, and I guarantee you I won't be leaving emptyhanded. If that's something you can't comprehend, go ask Aunt Wilma, or cousin Bertha or whoever the hell else you want to ask. Hell, they're probably all one in the same anyway. But be clear on this, Hillbilly Jim. I'm not the one that doesn't belong. You stick out like a sore thumb...or like Ivy McGinniss in a convent. Go throw your horseshoes somewhere else. The rest of us have a real game to play..."
"And last but not least of them all, Mr. CSWA himself...the almighty Hornet. First off, don't demean your own mental faculties by sitting there straight faced and telling me about any Evan Aho one night return. Walking into GXW like he did, he's either the biggest jackass on the planet or the dumbest son of a bi!ch I've ever seen in my entire life. He ##### hard on my company when he left, and I never forgot it. But you know what? I was content to let it be. I was just fine with never bringing the subject up again...until...UNTIL I caught word that Evan Aho wanted to make a one night return at the request of Kin Hiroshi. And yeah, it was all smiles backstage before the event. Evan went around shaking hands and getting reacquainted with the boys. It was all good times and fun. But you see, I've never been one to forgive and forget. You have to understand that I didn't pull some cheap stunt in GXW. You'd like people to believe that, but you know the truth. You know that Evan Aho walked into MY ring of his own volition...under his own power...and of his own choosing. And like I said before...that either makes him the biggest jackass in the world or stupid as s**t, because I can guarantee you...you could've expected the sun to go black or the roof to fall in before you could've expected me to stand in the back and watch that clown spit in the face of GXW. You see, that wasn't some stand-in clone lookalike of Evan Aho. It wasn't some midget in Evan Aho attire to amuse the fans. No, my friend...it was Evan f**king Aho live and in living color...and I beat his ass down like the b**ch that he is. I can admit, I get a little emotional when I'm talking about a company that made it's name on the back of my accomplishments and you're damned right I ran down the CSWA. But it doesn't matter. Bottom line is your World Champion was lying on his face with drool pouring out of his mouth like an eight year old asleep on his desk. And I can promise you something else. He won't make that same mistake twice."
"But then, you couldn't care less about my problems with Evan Aho right? You only care about the glorious CSWA. Well, you damned well better believe I care about my company. And I won't let anyone's champion...CSWA or not...disrespect it like Evan Aho tried to. GXW doesn't have the history of CSWA, that's nothing I can argue about. But two years into the CSWA what were you doing, Hornet? Hmm? Tell me, what were you doing? I'll spare you the trip to the Hornet family media room. You were defending your company's World Title. You were facing the likes of Mike Randalls, Bonecrusher and 'Antichrist' Jim Williams...teaming with Timmy Windham. You were, by your own admission...going to every bingo hall in the country to defend the honor of your company. Tell me something, big man? What do you think it is that I've been doing? Hmm? It doesn't matter if it's 1996 or 2002, if you want to bring up Greensboro in '98, that's fine by me. I offer up no excuse. But I made a conscious decision to build a company from the ground up and make sure that no matter where it is that I have to go, no one will drive my company into the ground...and no one will disrespect my ring while I still have breath in my body."
"But then, you already knew that didn't you? You're so smart, you know."
Ryan takes a breath and reaches into the limo refrigerator and pulls out a bottle of water and takes a drink..
"I like how you follow along the lines of the Sean Stevens school of approaching the big bad meanie coming to take down the CSWA. Always a variation on 'whatever you do, you don't have what it takes to get the job done.' Right? Same song, different verse. Same dance, different dancer. I've got to go through you...then Trips...then Southern...then blah blah blah blah blah. Trust me, buggy boy. If I wanted to get my hands on Aho right away, I would have done so. But you provided such a tempting target that I simply couldn't pass it up. Aho is the champion, it's true. But somehow your legacy overshadows that doesn't it? And you bit hook, line..and sinker. Perhaps the bait I set out wasn't for Aho at all. But I'll leave it to you to chew on. Like I said, you're so smart."
"And of course, any discussion to either you or Stevens wouldn't be complete without a short discussion about Ivy McGinnis. And lately we've added that new twist. The good ol...'touch her and I'll kill you' speech. Whatever, man. If I wanna throw her through a window, I'll do it. If I want to kick her teeth down her throat, I will. Or I might not. Who knows, it depends on my mood. But trust me, I won't have any difficulty getting out of the arena under my own power. I've made sure of that. I don't need to do any research on you, big man. I know all about you. I'm simply not impressed with your threat. Idle? Nah, I doubt it. I just don't care. I couldn't give two s**ts about your threats because I've gone to great lengths to make sure that....well...you'll see."
Smiles
Ryan looks and sees the exit toward his hotel in Philly for the evening.
"Well fellas, I'd love to stay and chat...but I've got a triple threat match with Kendall Codine and John Miller for the GXW Unified World Title. See ya next week in Sweetwater..."
F2B
