Nova
Just Like Law-Jesus
(FADE IN: Nova sits in a grey folding chair, one hand on his knee a la Honest Abe and the other holding a cigarette.) Tufts of wild blonde hair are pushed up above a black rolled bandanna around his forehead, and he’s sporting a black shirt with “The West Is the Best” on the front in large lettering above “Nova vs. Eli Flair – Hell’s Kitchen - Western Conference Finals – Frontier Days Arena, Cheyenne, Wyoming, March 15th, 2007.” He takes a last drag and puts his cigarette out in the ashtray next to his chair before leaning forward.
NOVA: There’s no one I’ve come to admire more in this business than Eli Flair. Accomplishments aside, he expected something out of me when we came face-to-face the first time in the Divisional Round, expected a challenge and didn’t assume that his name would be called at the end of the match because he was the Man in the West and I was a relative unknown…although that night, sure enough, it was his name called.
The Eagle Star gives his beard a scratch.
NOVA: And when it was my name called after the dust settled in Cheyenne, when it was me clutching the golden ticket as the Western Conference Champion and not his, he allowed the proverbial passing of the torch with as much grace as I’ve ever seen, even though he had claimed that when his own road to the ULTRATITLE met its end, be it inside the West or at Wrestlebowl 2 as winner or loser, it would be his final match in the world of professional wrestling.
Nova pauses to light another cigarette.
NOVA: And even afterwards, when the hype towards my showdown with Yori was building and the final battle of East vs. West was shaping up, Flair had nothing but good things to say about me, about how I was going to win and prove…(looking down at his shirt)…that the West truly was the Best, just like he had been saying all along. (Taking a drag) What a gift to give someone, to exhibit that kind of willingness to let whatever feelings of disappointment or jealousy festering within – and I’m sorry, we all have them when we fall short of a goal – dissipate so that another person can truly take the reins…I dunno, it still blows me away, and probably always will. I had the honor of wrestling Eli in his last match, inside Hell’s Kitchen, in a display of guts and heart that will go down as one of – sh*t, maybe THE – finest moment of my career.
Here Nova pauses, his eyes narrowing a ways.
NOVA: But then…I didn’t, actually. The first night of Wrestlebowl 2 rolled around, and whoa, suddenly Eli’s not hanging ‘em up, suddenly there’s one last match. Now don’t get me wrong, I can’t hate on that at all…every man has to choose when he takes his leave, and if you don’t do it when the timing is really right, you’ll either drive yourself mad or eventually return, and I don’t think Flair wanted either. But still, in my drive to be the best, the absolute BEST, I must confess that there is a part of me that is jealous that Flair’s swan song in a world he contributed so much to reached its end in defeat…
Another drag from the cigarette. Ohhh, you know it adds to the effect, so shut up!
NOVA: …at the hands of the “Ego Buster” Dan Ryan. Dan, I got nothin’ against ya. Congratulations on making lemonade out of lemons and getting on the card at Wrestlebowl 2, and then making good on it. Lord knows it probably didn’t come as a heart-attack to many people that you got the ‘dub-ya,’ given your pedigree. But I gotta know for myself just how good you are, and I won’t get it from watching old tapes…
The resident ULTRATITLE Champion pops his hands and neck before grinning mischievously into the camera.
NOVA: ...I’ll get it in the ring, hopefully, if you accept my challenge for a match at NFW’s first show, whenever that might be. I want to see what it is in you that made Eli agree to one final showdown, after practically bleeding out on the mat in Wyoming next to me. I want to continue on strong towards Wrestlestock 2, and my next objective…the World Heavyweight Title. But I can’t do that resting on my laurels or picking off the sickly baby wildebeests from the back of the pack like some lame-ass hyena. I’m beginning to understand what your name means around these parts, and I want to pit myself, and the legacy I’m in the midst of creating, against that.
Nova exhales smoke into the air.
NOVA: Accept the challenge, Dan. Prove that it should be you doing it doggy-style on all eight tiers of the ULTRATITLE trophy with a different girl every night, patiently waiting for the World Heavyweight Title shot that you know no one can take away from you. Derail me, Mr. Ryan, if you can…
The Eagle Star leans in closer to the camera and blows smoke at the lens.
NOVA: …but I don’t think you can.
(FTB)
NOVA: There’s no one I’ve come to admire more in this business than Eli Flair. Accomplishments aside, he expected something out of me when we came face-to-face the first time in the Divisional Round, expected a challenge and didn’t assume that his name would be called at the end of the match because he was the Man in the West and I was a relative unknown…although that night, sure enough, it was his name called.
The Eagle Star gives his beard a scratch.
NOVA: And when it was my name called after the dust settled in Cheyenne, when it was me clutching the golden ticket as the Western Conference Champion and not his, he allowed the proverbial passing of the torch with as much grace as I’ve ever seen, even though he had claimed that when his own road to the ULTRATITLE met its end, be it inside the West or at Wrestlebowl 2 as winner or loser, it would be his final match in the world of professional wrestling.
Nova pauses to light another cigarette.
NOVA: And even afterwards, when the hype towards my showdown with Yori was building and the final battle of East vs. West was shaping up, Flair had nothing but good things to say about me, about how I was going to win and prove…(looking down at his shirt)…that the West truly was the Best, just like he had been saying all along. (Taking a drag) What a gift to give someone, to exhibit that kind of willingness to let whatever feelings of disappointment or jealousy festering within – and I’m sorry, we all have them when we fall short of a goal – dissipate so that another person can truly take the reins…I dunno, it still blows me away, and probably always will. I had the honor of wrestling Eli in his last match, inside Hell’s Kitchen, in a display of guts and heart that will go down as one of – sh*t, maybe THE – finest moment of my career.
Here Nova pauses, his eyes narrowing a ways.
NOVA: But then…I didn’t, actually. The first night of Wrestlebowl 2 rolled around, and whoa, suddenly Eli’s not hanging ‘em up, suddenly there’s one last match. Now don’t get me wrong, I can’t hate on that at all…every man has to choose when he takes his leave, and if you don’t do it when the timing is really right, you’ll either drive yourself mad or eventually return, and I don’t think Flair wanted either. But still, in my drive to be the best, the absolute BEST, I must confess that there is a part of me that is jealous that Flair’s swan song in a world he contributed so much to reached its end in defeat…
Another drag from the cigarette. Ohhh, you know it adds to the effect, so shut up!
NOVA: …at the hands of the “Ego Buster” Dan Ryan. Dan, I got nothin’ against ya. Congratulations on making lemonade out of lemons and getting on the card at Wrestlebowl 2, and then making good on it. Lord knows it probably didn’t come as a heart-attack to many people that you got the ‘dub-ya,’ given your pedigree. But I gotta know for myself just how good you are, and I won’t get it from watching old tapes…
The resident ULTRATITLE Champion pops his hands and neck before grinning mischievously into the camera.
NOVA: ...I’ll get it in the ring, hopefully, if you accept my challenge for a match at NFW’s first show, whenever that might be. I want to see what it is in you that made Eli agree to one final showdown, after practically bleeding out on the mat in Wyoming next to me. I want to continue on strong towards Wrestlestock 2, and my next objective…the World Heavyweight Title. But I can’t do that resting on my laurels or picking off the sickly baby wildebeests from the back of the pack like some lame-ass hyena. I’m beginning to understand what your name means around these parts, and I want to pit myself, and the legacy I’m in the midst of creating, against that.
Nova exhales smoke into the air.
NOVA: Accept the challenge, Dan. Prove that it should be you doing it doggy-style on all eight tiers of the ULTRATITLE trophy with a different girl every night, patiently waiting for the World Heavyweight Title shot that you know no one can take away from you. Derail me, Mr. Ryan, if you can…
The Eagle Star leans in closer to the camera and blows smoke at the lens.
NOVA: …but I don’t think you can.
(FTB)
