Billy "All There Is" Moser (BACKSTORY)

[themikeyp]

(OORP: This first post is basically a recap of a storyline that I ran in Paul's TCW as well as the CSWA with "Wicked Sight" Mike Plett and the only other character I've ever really ran with - Billy "All There Is" Moser. The second post is going to be vital to Plett's development as he returns to action after so long.)

"I'm greatest wrestler on God's green earth, PERIOD!"

On the road five or six years ago, Mike Plett could hear those words echo faintly in his ears as he'd fall asleep. They weren't his words, or those of a rival in the CSWA-GXW feud. They were the words of Billy "All There Is" Moser.

Fresh out of high school, Plett moved back to Washington where he'd went to junior high. He got a small apartment in Medical Lake and began training for the professional wrestling business at a wrestling/MMA camp in Colville. There, he met a guy around his age named Tommy. Flowing blonde hair, a perfect tan, washboard abs - this guy was Plett's age but had the body of an adonis. They both quickly found how much alike they were - both the kids of military families, both with an amateur wrestling background, both wanting to be the best at any costs to their body. Just as sudden, Mike and Tommy were the focal point of the camp's instructors, and both were groomed for success.

Their friendship bloomed, and they would help get each other breaks in the business. A promoter named Paul Brisbin gave Tommy his wrestling "gimmick": Billy "All There Is" Moser. Billy and Moser were both names of Tommy's maternal side of the family. "All There Is", unbeknownst to Plett, was a pseudonym for Albert Thomas Ingalls, Tommy's birth name.

Time passed, and as friends often do Mike and Tommy lost touch for a while. "Wicked Sight" Mike Plett began a huge singles run in the CSWA, while Billy "All There Is" Moser began moving toward the world heavyweight title of the TCW. CSWA had a three month off-season in 2000 and during that time, Plett gave Tommy a call... Tommy talked Plett into wrestling for the summer in the TCW. They instantly became the best of friends again, traveling the road and doing everything they could to one-up each other every night. "Wicked Sight" and "All There Is" did anything within their power to steal the show every night of the week.

Sight actually stuck around for most of the year - until the company closed it's doors. Neither him, nor Moser, knew that the night of TCW Doomsday would be the final show broadcast by the TCW. And during the summer, a strange offer came to Plett. Gabriel Poe (The Apocalypse) and Kevin Powers approached Plett about forming a stable, with them holding the tag championships, a wrestler monikered "The Black Plague" carrying the television title and Sight with the heavyweight title. Brisbin got excited about marketing the stable, and a plan was set into place for them to form "The Perfect Element" at Doomsday. The problem? He'd have to turn on his friend, his running buddy, his roots... Plett had to "screw" Moser.

It was a mistake Plett would never be able to get over. In this industry, so many people talk about "blood on their hands". Sight and Moser were to team against Powers and Poe, and when Billy reached out for a tag...

Sight leveled him with a chair. It caused a concussion that caused his friend problems the rest of his life. The payoff of the show, the formation of a superstable, the impact it would have made on the industry... it was all for naught. Paul Brisbin closed the TCW down that night.

Months passed, and Plett tried to check on Tommy. Not Billy "All There Is" Moser, but the friend he made in Colville. And sometimes, in this business, good men do evil by the people they care about. The persona of a professional wrestler, and the alliances and lines in the sand, are always so blurred with the athletes' personal lives. Tommy never returned his calls, answered the door, or accepted contact from Mike.

When Plett joined the EWI later in the year, he found quick success. Things were going great until he got a call from Chad Merritt in the CSWA. Merritt let his wrestlers work for the competition - at the time, the CSWA was the largest promotion in North America and he wasn't worried about losing fans to anyone else. Merritt was actually letting him know that he had leased Plett's services to a manager named Albert Thomas Ingalls. Anytime Plett stepped foot into an EWI arena, his matches, payoffs, marketing - the whole nine yards - were setup by Ingalls.

Plett had no clue that it was Tommy. The man only called, and sometimes Plett would recognize the voice... but it would come and go so quickly, he never put two and two together. It ended up serving as a driver for Plett... his performances became so much better that Tommy realized he was only helping Plett and discontinued Plett's service in the EWI.

When Plett demanded answers, when Plett fought to keep competing in EWI, all he received was a note:

I regret to inform you that your services are no longer needed -

Albert Thomas Ingalls
Your former partner, Billy "All There Is" Moser

Mike realized he had burnt a bridge, and lost a friend. A man who normally considers himself good and kind, Plett was disgusted with what he had done to Albert "Tommy" Ingalls... his friend.

 

[themikeyp]

May 19th, 2007

May 19th, 2007... Mike Plett feeling better than he's felt in many moons. When he looks in his wife's eyes, he falls in love all over again. When he looks at his little girl, the wonder and awe of the world seems so vibrant. Money? Better than when he was on the road for the TCW *and* the CSWA ... he played his cards right, he scrimped and he saved and he sacrificed so much more than his body - he and his wife did without for the day he would eventually retire. Damn good, too, because he was forced out of the business too quick.

There was one exception to this rule... it started with prescriptions and it snowballed from there. From the nagging shoulder pains to the ankle surgeries to the average wear and tear put on one's body by this industry, it started so innocent. And like many good men, he gave in to the demons of the road. It didn't help make his situation in the GXW-CSWA war any better - in fact, it caused the paranoia that tore his professional relationships with so many apart. Gabriel Poe, Evan Aho, Lawrence Stanley, Kendall Codine, Xavier Mason... men he called brothers.

The shoulder healed within a year of his last professional wrestling match. Yet, by May of 2007 he still had not returned to active competition and he'd been gone from the CSWA for four plus years. He had his moments of sobriety... he'd get back with Rose... he'd fall off the wagon... she'd leave... he'd get worse... he'd get better... he'd get back with Rose... and so on.

But a year ago, things were as good as they'd been for Mike. Their child was six months old, she had his hair and her smile - and she caused him to stay relatively clean. Rose left her job, Mike continued with investments... they weren't filthy rich but they were making it in suburbian America. Rose knew how bad Mike wanted to get back in the ring. She was scared. He'd just gotten decently clean again - no binges, no depressive cycles... and he was in great health. She knew what the business was about and knew what it could do to a wild-eyed man like her husband.

They talked, and they talked, and after months they had finally come to an agreement. He couldn't go back to the CSWA - the pay just wouldn't be worth it, with what they were going through, and the history there might just be too much. She wanted him, more than anything, to not let the mental abuse get to him again. No invasions, no backstabbing, no stables... God, why couldn't he be like Evan Aho?

Aho only wanted to compete. Rose could hear Evan's words to Mike before their championship bout in her head at night when she'd go to sleep:

"This... (The CSWA title)... is nothing more than a big fishing lure to me. The belt isn't about being the best of the best. I know who the best is. It's a great symbol to a lot of people, maybe even to you, but not to me. I'm not trying to destroy the CSWA. I'm not trying to belittle anyone's accomplishments. But a crucifix doesn't mean a whole hell of a lot to an atheist."

It wasn't the physical toll that Plett's runs in EWI, TCW, GXW, CSWA took on him... it was the emotions that amplified everything so much. Mike loves his child, and he did then... but he was born to be in that ring, in front of the world, and she knew he would never really be himself without a big run... without being able to retire on his own terms. Without ever holding the most important belt in the world, she knew Mike would never be satisfied. What type of dad would he ever be if he couldn't overcome this insatiable craving to get the job done? What type of father could the man, Mike Plett, be to his child if he was always angry at the world for his own failures as a man?

So, she gave him the piece of mind he was looking for - the unspoken "go ahead" to start training. On May 18th of last year, he'd been training with the camp in Colville - the camp he started in as a rookie. Mike got to his home outside Spokane around eight that night, Rose had cooked a meal fit for a king, and everything was as perfect as he could ask for. He held his daughter, he kept the shop talk to a minimum, they sat down afterward to watch TV. It's something a lot of married men at 26 would take for granted - but for Mike, he would be no other place in the world at this moment.

He even knew that his love for professional wrestling would take him away from these moments... that on a full schedule, he'd get this opportunity once a month instead of twice a week. As the years made Mike wiser, he appreciated quiet moments like this more than ever before.

May 19th of 2007, the phone rang while Rose was changing a diaper. The caller ID had no name, just a number from Colville. Surely, it was someone from the camp - maybe he left some gear, maybe training tomorrow was going to be earlier or later, maybe they wanted to ask how he was feeling. He'd call them back in a little bit... after the show they were watching was over, after his girl went to sleep.

May 19th of 2007, Plett's life changed forever. The machine took the call, and it was an unfamiliar female voice. On the surface, she sounded calm, but as her words continued you could tell that something was desperately wrong.

"My name's Clarissa Ingalls... we've never met, but I have something I need to tell you. You can call back at..."

He knew.

He knew, and he tuned the rest of the words out... and he couldn't bring himself to call her back. And, somehow, Rose knew too. He broke down, and the fear she had of him falling off the wagon again grew... but she chose her words carefully, and she offered her love - the only thing she ever had to give him.

In the blink of an eye, the peace and serenity he had found was in danger of falling completely apart. They cried, and he made promises he wasn't sure he could keep... and a few hours later... he found the courage to pull up a computer, to go to the internet dirtsheet of his choice... he could barely see the screen through the tears. In the front of his mind, he didn't know how bad it would be, but deep in his heart he always knew that if it wasn't him, it'd be Billy.

The headline Rose read from over his shoulder:

Billy Moser Passes Away At 26
Another star lost far too young
​

The details didn't matter... it was drug-related, whether it was addiction or performance-enhancing, and it was his friend. It was his comrade, and it was someone he never made amends with...

She watched in disbelief and fear as Mike headed toward the bedroom. She followed, seeing him rip open a drawer, pulling out a pair of socks, undoing them and finally... finally revealing a bag of pills. Her worst fears looked to be true, she tried to reach for the bag ... he grabbed her wrist, moved her away... he opened the bag as he headed toward the half-bathroom. Breaking down and crying, she could barely peak her head around the corner as he did something she'd never quit being proud of.

He flushed every last one down the toilet.

Mike clutched his wife, they cried, they laid down... and while there was a grieving process, it helped fuel his training every day. While there was a period of mourning, it reaffirmed how precious life is. Being stone-cold sober and recuperating from a blow far worse than the 2x4 Dan Ryan swung at him four years earlier... it was enough to clean up for the last time. Just months later, for the first time in his whole life, Mike Plett not only knew what he was meant to do - but he knew how to do it. And underneath his gym bag at night, here a year after Billy's death he has two clippings.

The first, a picture of Billy, the day they left wrestling school - a constant reminder to do right by those you hold close. The other, a quote from Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, who is also an accomplished martial artist:

"Just because I'm a Christian doesn't mean I've lost my black belt. It just means that it's galvanized."