Calamity Jon
League Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2000
- Messages
- 52
- Points
- 0
(FADEIN to the interior of the Paul Tsongas Arena's backstage area, where JUST MARK is bearing down with a camera crew on THE POLISH PRINCE, RICK RYCONIK, who's halfway dressed is sneakers and sweatpants, a towel over his shoulder. He's fussing over the reddened mosquito bite where Montezuma's dart struck him during the earlier match, as his daughter VIVIAN and a backstage medical personnel are nearby, helping him tend the minor wound...)
RR: "I swear, I hate shots worse'n anything. You remember if I'm up on my tetanus shots, sweetheart?" (Vivian shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head apologetically)
Mark: "Prince! Congratulations on your win tonight!"
RR: "Tol'ya you'd have another chance t'talk t'me, goin' inta Crash, didn't I? Here, this look infected t'you? (shows Mark his mosquito-bite wound)"
Mark: "Aah ... Prince ... I guess. Listen, more to the point, you've guaranteed a shot at the title at Crash against Shane Southern! What's your strategy here? Any good match is fifty percent made of the mind games PRECEDING the match, but what are you going to say to a man whose praises you've been singing all these months now that you're opponents?"
RR: "Kid, goin' inta a match against Shane Southern don't mean my opinion of him has changed inna slightest. It don't mean we're enemies now, it don't make one'a us the good guy and th'other th'bad, it just means we're what we've always been - competitors. There's never been a SECOND that either've us have been inna same Fed where we AIN'T been at odds, deep down, because there IS only ONE top spot in any Fed, and EVERYONE inna locker room - friends, family, enemies, strangers - they're ALL competin' against one another, alla time."
RR: "So that hasn't changed. I still respect th'hell outta Shane Southern, I sure as hell always will, providin' he keeps bein' the stand-up guy he's always been. I'm thankful he granted me th'opportunity t'challenge f'r this belt, and I'm proud a'the way he's carried th'championship. Still, we're gonna go one-on-one at Crash, and I'm gonna do everything in my power t'come away with that gold around my waist. I got ... (Ryconik pauses, smilling grimly) I got a lot ridin' on this challenge, don't you forget it, Mark."
Mark: "And how do you figure your chances?"
RR: "Shane's gotta lotta strengths I ain't, I'll admit that now, and he's got some weaknesses I got covered. T'be honest, I think of us as fairly even. But what I got ... (he pauses again, looking over his shoulder at his daughter, who's putting a band-aid on his dart wound and smiling, struck by a bout of silliness) Y'see that? Spent twenty-five years'a my life bleeding from damn near every inch a'my body, and I never before got a band-aid for my boo-boo (laughs, and kisses his daughter on the cheek) Thanks honey. (turns back to Mark) Kid, what I got is something Shane Southern just don't expect. No one does, trust me ..."
Mark: "How do you mean, Prince?"
RR: (silent, for a moment) "Just tune inta Crash, that's all I got ta say. There'll be a soo-prise waitin' (the Prince chuckles to himself)."
Mark: "Oh ... kay. Prince, word is ALSO already out that you want to challenge Gladiator at the upcoming House Show in Connecticut ..."
RR: "Glad's the LAST member of th'ATC I ain't had a chance t'meet inna ring, and even if he's left that company behind, that bizness is still unfinished. Now that he's running around wit' that Doc Silver type, he may not be interested - or allowed, f'r all I know - t'get in th' ring wit' me. We'll see if he cares t'shake the dust from his sandals, but me, I like t'have all my ducks inna row. (smiles) Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna grab a shower and then it's a celebratory dinner - last chance for a good, greasy Polish meal before I'm back in trainin' for Crash. So long Kid."
Mark: "Good luck, and thanks Prince." (Turns to the camera and signals for a cut...) "A soo-prise, hey?" (Mark shrugs as the camera FTB ...)
RR: "I swear, I hate shots worse'n anything. You remember if I'm up on my tetanus shots, sweetheart?" (Vivian shrugs her shoulders and shakes her head apologetically)
Mark: "Prince! Congratulations on your win tonight!"
RR: "Tol'ya you'd have another chance t'talk t'me, goin' inta Crash, didn't I? Here, this look infected t'you? (shows Mark his mosquito-bite wound)"
Mark: "Aah ... Prince ... I guess. Listen, more to the point, you've guaranteed a shot at the title at Crash against Shane Southern! What's your strategy here? Any good match is fifty percent made of the mind games PRECEDING the match, but what are you going to say to a man whose praises you've been singing all these months now that you're opponents?"
RR: "Kid, goin' inta a match against Shane Southern don't mean my opinion of him has changed inna slightest. It don't mean we're enemies now, it don't make one'a us the good guy and th'other th'bad, it just means we're what we've always been - competitors. There's never been a SECOND that either've us have been inna same Fed where we AIN'T been at odds, deep down, because there IS only ONE top spot in any Fed, and EVERYONE inna locker room - friends, family, enemies, strangers - they're ALL competin' against one another, alla time."
RR: "So that hasn't changed. I still respect th'hell outta Shane Southern, I sure as hell always will, providin' he keeps bein' the stand-up guy he's always been. I'm thankful he granted me th'opportunity t'challenge f'r this belt, and I'm proud a'the way he's carried th'championship. Still, we're gonna go one-on-one at Crash, and I'm gonna do everything in my power t'come away with that gold around my waist. I got ... (Ryconik pauses, smilling grimly) I got a lot ridin' on this challenge, don't you forget it, Mark."
Mark: "And how do you figure your chances?"
RR: "Shane's gotta lotta strengths I ain't, I'll admit that now, and he's got some weaknesses I got covered. T'be honest, I think of us as fairly even. But what I got ... (he pauses again, looking over his shoulder at his daughter, who's putting a band-aid on his dart wound and smiling, struck by a bout of silliness) Y'see that? Spent twenty-five years'a my life bleeding from damn near every inch a'my body, and I never before got a band-aid for my boo-boo (laughs, and kisses his daughter on the cheek) Thanks honey. (turns back to Mark) Kid, what I got is something Shane Southern just don't expect. No one does, trust me ..."
Mark: "How do you mean, Prince?"
RR: (silent, for a moment) "Just tune inta Crash, that's all I got ta say. There'll be a soo-prise waitin' (the Prince chuckles to himself)."
Mark: "Oh ... kay. Prince, word is ALSO already out that you want to challenge Gladiator at the upcoming House Show in Connecticut ..."
RR: "Glad's the LAST member of th'ATC I ain't had a chance t'meet inna ring, and even if he's left that company behind, that bizness is still unfinished. Now that he's running around wit' that Doc Silver type, he may not be interested - or allowed, f'r all I know - t'get in th' ring wit' me. We'll see if he cares t'shake the dust from his sandals, but me, I like t'have all my ducks inna row. (smiles) Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna grab a shower and then it's a celebratory dinner - last chance for a good, greasy Polish meal before I'm back in trainin' for Crash. So long Kid."
Mark: "Good luck, and thanks Prince." (Turns to the camera and signals for a cut...) "A soo-prise, hey?" (Mark shrugs as the camera FTB ...)