Legacies

[TWhitefield]

(Fade in to the parking garage area. Rudy Seitzer has a camera crew standing ready to catch the wrestlers as they arrive. A black 64 Mustang convertible pulls into a slot. The door opens as Seitzer approaches.)

Seitzer: It looks like the United States Champion, Tom Adler, has arrived here at the arena. Tom, can we get a few words with you?

(Adler steps out of the car, turns and pulls his gear bag out of the back seat then proceeds to check his watch briefly)

Adler: Sure, I guess I have a few minutes.

Seitzer: A lot of people around this company have been questioning whether or not you may have bitten off more than you could chew here tonight by playing this endless barrage of mind games with the former Four-Time Champion, Hornet.

(Adler sits his bag on the hood of the car and leans up against the door)

Adler: I’ve been asked that question quite a bit myself over the last week or so. And, ya know, I started thinking about when I started in this sport. About six months after I had my first match an opportunity presented itself and I had to make a decision. I could sit comfortably in my somewhat elevated position as the AAWC Mid-West Champion, or I could take a shot and challenge Punisher for the World Heavyweight Championship. I chose the latter. And, for two weeks, I fielded phone call after phone call… from everybody from JR Steele and Maxwell Diamond to Gary Pedersen. And, they all asked me the same question. Are you SURE you wanna do this. And, I thought about it. And, after a couple of days of soul searching, I called Pedersen and said sign the match. And, again he asked if I was sure I was doing the right thing. And I said Gary, I appreciate the concern. I KNOW I’m outta my league with this. A six month rookie against the most dominant champion the company had ever seen? I gotta be nuts. But, the simple truth is, Gary… I gotta know. I gotta know where I stand among the elite of this sport.

So, the match was signed. And Punisher and I stepped into the ring… his World Title against my Mid-West title. And, thirty minutes later, I stepped out of that ring… a former Mid-West Champion. But, I learned something from that, Rudy. I learned that I was THAT close (holding up 2 fingers about an inch apart). THAT close to being among the top people in this industry. And a month later, I was the one standing there with the big gold belt around my waste, and Punisher was the one asking himself if he’d made a mistake.

And, I started to think back about two years ago. And, for one of my first matches back, I was challenged to a match by none other than Eli Flair. And, again, I found myself asking the question, are you SURE you wanna do this? Are you SURE you wanna step into the ring after more than four years away from it against a LEGEND like Eli Flair? A man who, though he’d been away for a bit himself, clearly had the momentum on his side. And, I had everybody from Nathan Storm to WJ & RJ Mills questioning it.

And, I took the match. And, I did it KNOWING that I probably wasn’t in game shape. That I probably wasn’t ready. But, I HAD to know, Rudy. I had to know where I stood in this industry.

And, the two of us stepped into the ring. And, twenty minutes later, I walked out having lost my first CSWA match because I made the classic mistake of turning my back on a woman.

But, I learned something. I learned that after being away for four years, I was STILL… Just THAT close to being among the elite of this industry.

So, we fast forward a bit and we all end up full circle, right here at Anniversary Fifteen. And, again, I have somebody asking me if I’ve made a mistake. AGAIN asking me if I really wanted to do this.

Well, Hornet, the answer today is the same as it’s been for the last twelve years. Because that same old reason keeps ringing in my head. I GOTTA know, Hornet. I GOTTA know… is Tom Adler… at his best… BETTER… than Hornet… at his best.

And, despite all the posturing that we get pushed to do for a quick sound byte or a cheap ratings pop, the fact of the matter is, Hornet, you’ve gotta know too.

I didn’t take this match because I thought it would be easy. I didn’t walk into Chad Merritt’s office and ask for it because I knew I was better or that I could beat Hornet. No. I asked for it because I didn’t.

Because, the simple fact of the matter is this, Hornet, there’s not a doubt in my mind that I can beat every other wrestler in this company. But, I honestly don’t know if I can beat you at your best.

But, what I do know is this, Hornet… I’m no longer just… this… close. No, my friend. I’m THERE. And I can point to everybody from Triple X and Shane Southern to Evan Aho and Mark Windham to prove it… because I’ve beaten ‘em all.

But, to answer the question on everybody’s lips, Hornet, you need to be there too. You can’t come into this match being just that close and put the questions to rest.

Now, Hornet, I can’t stand out here and tell you that one match with me is gonna drive all your woes away. You can wake up tomorrow… just as miserable and hollow as you’ve been virtually every day for the last two years.

But, what I can tell you is this. For one night… one… LONG… grueling night… you WILL be there, Hornet. You WILL be what everybody needs… what I need… what YOU need you to be.

Because in the end, Hornet? It’s all we REALLY know how to do out there

(Adler grabs his bag and heads into the building)

(Fade Out)

 

[Chad]

(Hornet's at his home, in the basement gym complex we've all come to know and love. He sits up on a bench and smirks into the camera.)

For once in your career, Tom, you may be right about one thing. It’s all I know how to do out there.

On the night we go out and celebrate another year of the CSWA, it’s hard not to dwell on the past. You brought up your first matches against Punisher, which, if memory serves, were over ten years ago. It’s hard not to talk about stepping into the Merritt Auditorium for the first time, or facing Degadeth or Wall for the big gold belt. It’s hard not to want to focus on the statue down in the Hall of Fame where we’ll be wrestling in a few hours, or to talk about the original Unified Title sitting in the case that you and I helped create.

But you know what surprises me, Tom? First, that I’m not focused on those things. And second, that I’m not angry with you.

That’s right… I’m not mad at the mind games. I’m not upset about the countless times you’ve used my name as a stumbling block for your success here. I can’t even be pissed about the pills thrown in my face. Even if it wasn’t as good a stunt as dragging you down the street handcuffed to a limo.

But you’re wrong about one thing, Tom. I don’t “gotta” know. Because if anything’s become clear over the last few months, it’s that I know who and what I am. I know the path in the minefield, Tom, and every day is making sure that I don’t let anything lure me one step off of it.

And I’m not just talking about the painkillers, Tom. I <b>know</b> who I am. I know that when I step in that ring, even at thirty-seven years old, that at the right moment, with the right motivation, I’m still the best in the world.

And that’s the difference, Tom. When I walked from league to league and arena to arena in 1992 and 1993, it wasn’t to <b>prove</b> to myself that I was the best, it was to demonstrate it to the world. When I won the first IRONMAN of CHAMPIONS and the Unified Title, it wasn’t a <I>surprise</I> to me, it was the outcome I expected. Not because I knew it would happen or because it was predestined, because I knew in my bones that I was the best at that given moment.

But don’t worry, Tommyboy. Just because I’m not mad at you doesn’t mean I lack motivation. If anything, the intensity has been ratcheted up a notch. And as trite and rookie as it may sound, I’ll say it anyway. Because this is the first shot fired, the first declaration of my intent to prove what I know from pillar to post, from Greensboro to L.A., Boston to Orlando… that until someone proves otherwise, I’m still the one and only… the best in the world.

 

[TWhitefield]

Posturing to the end, eh Hornet?

It's ok. While I'd honestly HOPED for something more, I didn't really expect it.

Here's the thing, though, Hornet.

I don't hate you either. Never have. For all the backstabbing, coniving, posturing and politicing that's gone on over the decades between us, I've never actually HATED you for it.

Sympathised? Perhaps. Pittied? Sure. But, never hated.

And, for the record, you don't have to prove anything to me out there. You don't need to convince me that, given a reason, Hornet can still do damn near anything he wants to do out there.

If I honestly DID question that, Hornet, you and I wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

I didn't HAVE to wrestle you at Anniversary, no matter what Merritt will tell the press sheets. I wanted to.

And, I didn't HAVE to prove to you that I'm capable of beating you. Not for you, and certainly not for me. Believe it or not, Hornet, I gave up those demons years ago.

When Merritt told me on day one you were hands off, I said fine. And, I meant it.

No, Hornet, other than the fact that nothing was ever REALLY settled between us years ago, I have no real problems with our past.

My problem in all of this really had nothing to do with you at all. Not directly, anyway.

My problem all along is that every wrestler who straps on a pair of boots in this company, Ryan, Southern, myself... we've ALL been overlooked because of somebody's bias toward you.

And, don't misunderstand what I'm saying here, Hornet. I'm no hypocrite. I know full well that the stroke you enjoy around here I had for the better part of a decade in the AAWC.

The only real difference I see here, Hornet, is that when I stepped foot into an AAWC right, I earned that spot. And I did it each and every time.

And, when the time came that I didn't think that I had the heart to give that of myself, I walked away.

I COULD have gone back to the AAWC the last couple of times. I didn't.

The simple truth is, Hornet, that your heart HASN'T been in wrestling for the CSWA. And, it hasn't been for quite a while. But, you're still sitting in that catbird seat. You're still pulling all the stroke.

Do I blame you for it? Not really. I've never really heard you ASK for it. So, I'll take you at your word when you say you don't.

But, it doesn't change the fact that the man sitting with the crown around here ISN'T one of the men who have gone out of their way to make it mean something.

And, ultimately, Hornet, THAT'S what this match is all about. Because, at the end of the night, the man in the lead car position around here WILL deserve it. And, that, my friend, is a promise that Chad Merritt can take to the bank.

 

[Chad]

So now we finally get to the heart of it.

Just to be clear, Tom, I said I wasn’t mad at you. And while I may acknowledge that technically you’re a great wrestler, when it comes to being a man, you’re a son of a (bleep).

But I’m glad you’ve been able to repeat everything I’ve heard for the last fifteen years. From Ray S. Cornette to Wall to GUNS to Jim Williams. We’ve heard about all the ‘stroke’ I have around here, as if I’m running around wearing glittery suspenders and a curly mullet.

Any issue you have with Merritt… take up with him. But let’s be honest, Tom, this all goes back twelve years to when you had a chance to step into the spot, and you couldn’t do it. You can blame it on Merritt or me, you can blame it on the CSWA or the AAWC, but sorry for you, history can’t be changed.

But that’s what you’re hoping for, isn’t it? For all your posturing, for all your contract signing BS and your hope that I’d beat Ryan and put you in the Main Event. That one thrilling moment in your mind where you pin my shoulders to the mat and win the World Title so that you can finally have some claim to the ‘best wrestler in the world’ moniker you’ve tried to hang around your next for twelve years. So that you can rewrite history the way you want it.

Sorry, can’t help you there. Stroke or not, I can’t help you become more than just old “Mr. Magnificent.” I can’t help that I was a part of taking the CSWA to the national and international stage, or that I helped create the Unified Title. I can’t help that your desire to be a bigger name led to whatever problems you have as legacies with the AAWC and UWA. Hell… nobody would even know what either of those are without the CSWA’s video archives or an exploding cage in the NFW.

If you think I’m in the “catbird seat” and don’t deserve it, then KNOCK ME THE HELL OUT OF IT. Last I saw, neither Chad Merritt or anybody else in the CSWA has been running to my rescue in matches. My bank book is still lighter by the reimbursement for the refunds I had to pay out for BATTLE of the BELTS.

What it all boils down to is that you’re trying to prove that you’re still something… that you never were.

 

[TWhitefield]

Oh, come on, Hornet, for one second in your miserable life, be MAN enough to admit the truth.

Come on. Just say the words. They're not that hard.

"I'm Hornet. And Hornet ALWYAS gets the lucky breaks"

Come on, Hornet. If I can be man enough to come clean out here, you certainly can be.

What's it gonna cost you... your identity?

According to you, Windham did that when he made the startling revalation to the world that you WEREN'T born named after a bug. Somebody stop the friggin presses.

Why is it so hard for you to admit that you DIDN'T deserve the shot at Windham at Battle of the Belts?

Why is it so hard for you to admit that you DIDN'T deserve the shot at Ryan?

Why is it so hard for you to admit that you DIDN'T deserve THIS shot when all this started?

Let me answer that question for you because I know you never will.

"I can't admit it because if people realize I'm human I may not be needed."

For all your constant claims that you don't ask for the big brass ring, Hornet, you can't deny for one second that you LIKE getting it. And, you like it whether you deserve it or not.

And, once again, Hornet, that's what this comes down to. The fact that Merritt will still slight somebody like Triple X or Evan Aho to throw you a bone. Hell, even Mark Windham had to go to another league to get his rematch.

And he'll do it all... despite the drug problems... the no shows... the lackluster performances... the endless barrage of losses... he'll do it all... because Chad Merritt still sees Hornet for what he USED to be. Not for what he is.

Which really gets down to the core difference between you and I, Hornet.

Am I a nice guy? Nope. If you or any other wrestler fell off the earth tomorrow would I shed a tear? Probably not.

When it comes to most things in life I really don't care about much of anything or anybody but myself.

I have very few friends in life and I live it quite easily knowing that fact.

Here's the thing, though, Hornet. That's the part of you that's EXACTLY alike.

The difference, though, is that I have NO problems admitting it. You? You either won't or can't.

When it became clear to me that my personal problems were interfering with my career and the direction of the AAWC, I walked away. I walked away because I was man enough to admit that as long as I was there people who were STILL EARNING their spots weren't getting their due.

I was man enough to admit that guys like Gary Pedersen and Kevin Schmid were too big of Adler marks to see what they were doing to the company and their workers.

I was man enough to admit that MY legacy didn't mean jack squat if it cost the company that gave me the chance to build it everything.

You? Apparently you can't admit that. You can't admit that your own little prime-time soap opera has affected you... and affected this company.. and NEITHER in a positive way.

You can't admit that you've become SO wrapped up in your little bone dance with Miss Jugs and some dweeb who died years ago that you can barely wrestle your way through a mid-card match without missing spots.

Why? Because you're too damned afraid that if you do it'll all come to an end.

Too damned afraid to admit that Windham is irrelavent in all of this... YOU showed yourself to be Paul, not Hornet.

And too damned afraid to admit that maybe, just maybe, Merritt was talking about YOU when he said it may be time for some of the "old blood" to step aside.

I may be a bastard of a man, Hornet, but if there's one thing I'm not, it's afraid.

I'm not afraid of losing to you, Hornet. Can it happen? Sure. It's happened before. The reasons at this juncture are irrelavent. It's enough to say it happened. And my career survived and thrived through it. If it happens tonight, it'll survive again.

I'm not afraid of the notion that it could be ME Merritt was talking about. There are other offers on the table. And, if they suddenly dry up? Well, they've dried up before. I survived that too.

The thing is, Hornet, it doesn't need to come to that. All you and I gotta do is the same thing we did when we EARNED our legacies.

And, in the end, Hornet, the only thing left to say in all of this is the same thing I said at the beginning of this night.

We WILL earn our legacies tonight. You and I ARE gonna fill our shoes, pal.

Both me... AND you.

And, I feel confident that I CAN speak for you in this. Because if I'm wrong? And you DON'T live up to it?

Well, it's enough to say that the problem of unearned stroke will be resolved tonight... one way... or another.

See ya in a bit.

 

[jediPREZ]

Last I saw, neither Chad Merritt or anybody else in the CSWA has been running to my rescue in matches. My bank book is still lighter by the reimbursement for the refunds I had to pay out for BATTLE of the BELTS.

No, but you've been running to Merritt to save your ass from 8 weeks of a brutal whipping, haven't you?

Hypocrite.

-You know Who

 

[Chad]

You know, Tom, it all comes down to one question.
In one breath you talk about how you want to prove you cna beat me. In the other, you say I'm a paper champion with an undeserved legacy.

If that's true, then why the hell does it matter so much to beat me, Tom?

Why do you care, Tom?

And why is it that in one breath I'm a guy who can 'do almost anything,' and in another I'm a cancer to the sport.

The truth is, Tom... you're desperate to show that you still mean something to this business. You're desperate to show that you don't need Maxwell Diamond or anyone else, even though you orchestrated their return. And you're desperate to rewrite history to try and take my spot, whatever that means.

But at the end of the night, Tom. Whatever happens, you can be sure that I'll give it everything I've got...whether I'm just a paper champion and cancer, or the man who can do anything in the ring.

 

[TWhitefield]

Hornet, if you think questioning my logic or credibility will get you anywhere in this match I'm sorry to say that it won't.

I'm not G. W. Adler and you're not John F. Hornet.

But, I'll respond to it anyway, because you're looking to make a distinction where there isn't any.

Hornet, there will always be a part of me that doesn't like that you're one of a SMALL handfull of people that can say I haven't beaten them in a one on one match. It has nothing to do with wanting your spot. It has nothing to do with desperation.

Call it pride. Call it competitiveness. Call it blatant ego stroking if you want. They're all valid to one extent or another. I don't have any problems admitting any of that.

The truth is, Hornet, that you and I share that desire, whether you care to admit it or not. Because, while you may have the public bragging rights when it comes to our past, as sparse as it's been, you and I both know that when that little red light goes out and we're all alone in the dark you know you've never proven anything against me.

And, if that's NOT the truth, Hornet, then you aren't half the man I give you credit for.

At any rate... that's me. That's personal.

But then, there's the other part of this. The part that you either want to ignore or simply don't get.

I've never once suggested your legacy is undeserved. People can talk about the politics, protectionism, favortism and loaded dice from now until the day we die... and they WILL. But, your record is what it is. And I gain nothing by trying to diminish it.

No, Hornet. It has nothing to do with what you've done in this sport. No, it has everything to do with what you've done in this sport LATELY.

Ya see, Hornet, the problem is this. For the last couple of years, one wrestler after another has done what SHOULD have been enough to move up on this company... beat you. It used to be that wins and losses meant something.

But, the problem for all of those that have come before me is that it doesn't MATTER that they beat you. Because beating YOU wasn't the key. No, they were wrestling somebody that wasn't even in the ring... the LEGEND of Hornet.

Unfortunately for them, the Legend never bothered to show up.

And all they got in return was a pat on the back and further lip service for you from Merritt and Buckley saying "Well, yeah, it was a good win but Hornet's had issues lately so we need to take that into consideration."

Sorry, Hornet, but I'm not playing that game. I've got better things to do than waste my time with Hollow Paul while the Ghost of Hornet Past gets to thumb his nose at every wrestler in this company.

This company has suffered while Merritt sits back and waits for his Franchise to return. I know it. Windham knows it. Randalls knows it. Even Ivy knows it.

I suspect, deep down inside, you know it too.

Whether or not I want your spot, Hornet, is irrelavent. I'll ALWAYS want to be the top dog and believe I have a divine right to be there.

The fact is, Hornet, one of two things needs to happen... and WILL happen tonight.

Either the spectre of Hornet will FINALLY show up and take his place at the top of the food chain, or the imposter he sends in his place will cease to exist.

Because, if it doesn't? Well, it won't matter who does or doesn't want your spot. Because this company will DIE waiting for YOU to fill it.

The choice is ALL yours.