jediPREZ
Shadowboss
Show 'em how its done boys. 
Week 2: Jonathan Marx vs. Kazuo Shizaki
- Thread starter jediPREZ
- Start date
PaulNJ21
I shunned a voodoo witch, decapitated a black cat
::Marx is sitting by his locker after his match with Southern looking out into space with vacant eyes::
JONATHAN MARX: I did it, I got my revenge against Shane Southern for costing us the Ultratitle. After what I did to him tonight. I doubt he’ll ever be able to wrestle again.
BRANDON JACOBS: You must be ecstatic.
JONATHAN MARX: Happy? I ended Shane Southern’s career. He was one of the true legends in this sport who epitomized old school in the South more than anyone. I am not happy. I just did what needed to be done. What happened with him tonight was his own damn fault, he started this war, I just made sure to end it.
BRANDON JACOBS: Well you’ve beaten both Manson and Southern, that is more than Shizaki has ever done.
JONATHAN MARX: Shizaki is one of those people who still has to pay for what he did in the playoffs. Not only did he cost me my title as the leading point scorer in all of the NFW to Mister Melton, if he had lived up to his potential and defeated Manson in the semifinals, my father might still be able to walk and Manson may have not nearly crippled you with that stunner of his.
BRANDON JACOBS: But boss, how is he supposed to beat Manson with that big oaf getting involved in his business?
JONATHAN MARX: That is poppycock, the Japanese have been fighting monsters for years and Godzilla only has a couple of inches on Ryan.
BRANDON JACOBS: Plus Godzilla throws a better dropkick.
JONATHAN MARX: By the time I get done with Shizaki, he will wish he was fighting Godzilla. I will make sure that night in the semifinals will not happen again. Win or lose, I will do anything and everyone to provoke out the old Shizaki who won the Rumble and was a dominant force in the NFW East because that is the man I want to beat. Not a man whose own native countrymen have replaced him with Doc Silver, not a man that can’t beat drugged up skinny white guy doing his best Bruce Lee impersonation… I will face the authentic Shizaki.
BRANDON JACOBS: Are you sure that Shizaki is still in there?
JONATHAN MARX: We will have to find out. But if not, I will not hesitate to add his name to Shane Southern and say sayanora to Shizaki.
FTB
JLevinson
Diva Tree
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2000
- Messages
- 707
- Points
- 0
- Age
- 43
Standing Tall
(OORP: Sorry for the delay, Mike and Katz. Things have been insanely busy with work, job interviews, etc. etc.)
(FADEIN to a quiet clearing in the forest... Kazuo Shizaki is kneeling down in the middle, quietly meditating. He speaks after a few moments, his voice quiet and faltering... )
SHIZAKI: "Perhaps you are correct, Mr. Marx. Perhaps I have lost something... some... so-called edge. Perhaps, in my quest for honor and glory, I have become weak. Malleable. Perhaps, Mr. Marx...
"... or perhaps in your hypocritical rants of old school philosophy, you are the one who has forgotten who you are. Perhaps you are the one who turned your back on honor...
"... after all, did you not participate in the very conference which celebrated all that is wrong with this sport? Were you not part of the everlasing self-glorification and instant gratification... ? The enduring soap operas and shock-value poetry... ?
"It was I who stood alone, Mr. Marx. It was I who did not flee from the North, but who stood tall. It was I who refused to turn my back on my mission... it was I who refused to lower myself to the standards of my enemies... who refused to become the filth I have come to despise.
"Has it made me weak, Mr. Marx... ? Perhaps."
(He turns and stands now, his eyes focused on the camera, and now he speaks with force and certainty.)
SHIZAKI: "Or perhaps, Mr. Marx, I refuse to be part of the problem. Perhaps I refuse to make excuses for my own losses.
"Just look at Mr. Manson and Mr. Ryan and you know this is true. Their pathetic squabbling over technicalities and tag team matches... their constant need for validation with titles and victories...
"No, Mr. Marx... it is you who has forgotten my face. The Black Rose has forgotten nothing, and retribution will come in the ring, as it always has. For I claimed victory from Mr. Manson, even in defeat. For I showed him... and the entire world... that Mr. Manson was not man enough to pin me himself. I showed him that Mr. Manson would not make me a martyr, and he would leave that ring showing his true colors... showing him for the coward he has always been. And Mr. Ryan... whose cowardice knows no bounds... now makes excuses.
"There will be no excuses on my part, Mr. Marx. I fought Mr. Red, with honor and decency, and though I may have lost... lessons were learned. Knowledge is gained. I become stronger. I gain something even when I lose.
"For this is my victory... my ability to know when I have been beaten, and to pick myself up, and to triumph nonetheless. And that is what my enemies, even you, can never understand. For you make pathetic excuses... you rationalize your own shortcomings and tell me why it is not your fault that you failed...
"... I will make no excuses. I was defeated in the ring, but I still stand. I was pinned, but not destroyed.
"You may believe I have lost my edge, Mr. Marx... but the truth is, I am stronger now than I ever have been. And you shall know this is the truth when you feel the cold embrace of Tsume Mahi... you will know that there is no hope for your weakness when you stare up at the lights, knowing your body cannot respond to your will to stand...
"... so let them come, Mr. Marx. Let the pathetic, squabbling children with their excuses and braggery come... and let them know that the Black Rose still stands.
"Let them know that destiny awaits."
(FADEOUT.)
(OORP: Sorry for the delay, Mike and Katz. Things have been insanely busy with work, job interviews, etc. etc.)
(FADEIN to a quiet clearing in the forest... Kazuo Shizaki is kneeling down in the middle, quietly meditating. He speaks after a few moments, his voice quiet and faltering... )
SHIZAKI: "Perhaps you are correct, Mr. Marx. Perhaps I have lost something... some... so-called edge. Perhaps, in my quest for honor and glory, I have become weak. Malleable. Perhaps, Mr. Marx...
"... or perhaps in your hypocritical rants of old school philosophy, you are the one who has forgotten who you are. Perhaps you are the one who turned your back on honor...
"... after all, did you not participate in the very conference which celebrated all that is wrong with this sport? Were you not part of the everlasing self-glorification and instant gratification... ? The enduring soap operas and shock-value poetry... ?
"It was I who stood alone, Mr. Marx. It was I who did not flee from the North, but who stood tall. It was I who refused to turn my back on my mission... it was I who refused to lower myself to the standards of my enemies... who refused to become the filth I have come to despise.
"Has it made me weak, Mr. Marx... ? Perhaps."
(He turns and stands now, his eyes focused on the camera, and now he speaks with force and certainty.)
SHIZAKI: "Or perhaps, Mr. Marx, I refuse to be part of the problem. Perhaps I refuse to make excuses for my own losses.
"Just look at Mr. Manson and Mr. Ryan and you know this is true. Their pathetic squabbling over technicalities and tag team matches... their constant need for validation with titles and victories...
"No, Mr. Marx... it is you who has forgotten my face. The Black Rose has forgotten nothing, and retribution will come in the ring, as it always has. For I claimed victory from Mr. Manson, even in defeat. For I showed him... and the entire world... that Mr. Manson was not man enough to pin me himself. I showed him that Mr. Manson would not make me a martyr, and he would leave that ring showing his true colors... showing him for the coward he has always been. And Mr. Ryan... whose cowardice knows no bounds... now makes excuses.
"There will be no excuses on my part, Mr. Marx. I fought Mr. Red, with honor and decency, and though I may have lost... lessons were learned. Knowledge is gained. I become stronger. I gain something even when I lose.
"For this is my victory... my ability to know when I have been beaten, and to pick myself up, and to triumph nonetheless. And that is what my enemies, even you, can never understand. For you make pathetic excuses... you rationalize your own shortcomings and tell me why it is not your fault that you failed...
"... I will make no excuses. I was defeated in the ring, but I still stand. I was pinned, but not destroyed.
"You may believe I have lost my edge, Mr. Marx... but the truth is, I am stronger now than I ever have been. And you shall know this is the truth when you feel the cold embrace of Tsume Mahi... you will know that there is no hope for your weakness when you stare up at the lights, knowing your body cannot respond to your will to stand...
"... so let them come, Mr. Marx. Let the pathetic, squabbling children with their excuses and braggery come... and let them know that the Black Rose still stands.
"Let them know that destiny awaits."
(FADEOUT.)
PaulNJ21
I shunned a voodoo witch, decapitated a black cat
::Jacobs walks into the room and Marx is sitting in a chair in the study, looking out into the fire::
BRANDON JACOBS: Excellent news, Shizaki is alive.
::Marx bolts up out of his chair and raises his arms up in the air::
JONATHAN MARX: Thank heavens, these days I’d sell my soul for an audience.
BRANDON JACOBS: Lately you’ve been more of a fulltime commentator and a part time wrestler.
JONATHAN MARX: It is so very hard to find an opponent these days. Southern was so very disappointing. I thought I would get more of a fight out of him, but a crossword puzzle in the TV Guide was more challenging that he was.
BRANDON JACOBS: Yet Manson struggled to put him away…
JONATHAN MARX: Southern knew what he was doing when he kept me out of the ultratitle match. Manson is a legend and he may be the best of alltime, but Southern knew I wanted it more and would have done anything to win for the cause of old school wrestling.
BRANDON JACOBS: Shizaki in his interview was trashing your integrity, saying that you should have never joined the NFW East.
JONATHAN MARX: But I did compromise myself by being in the NFW East, I am not going to stand here and deny that I didn’t. But I did it because I thought Manson had to pay for his betrayal to the East, he didn’t stand with us when Prosser was trying to destroy our world. He went off onto his own little island waiting for the fallout to settle with the destruction and chaos all around us. Was I supposed to simply let Manson get away with it like he always does?
BRANDON JACOBS: Everyone else has given up the fight.
JONATHAN MARX: I wrestled two matches a night for what I believed in and I don’t think I ever let down the NFW East because of it. I didn’t lose that match against Manson in the playoff because I was tired, I lost it because Southern put his nose where it didn’t belong and because of that, he is no longer in this business.
BRANDON JACOBS: Shizaki seems to have taken the words you said to heart. He says that he is a stronger person for his own failures and he is going to prove that when he gets into the ring with you.
JONATHAN MARX: I hope he is right. These Japanese people need a hero and Doc Silver is not the man. It is disgraceful Motoko pushes that foreigner over his own native son Shizaki after what he did last year to prove himself as one of the best wrestlers in this company. Where has Doc been? Off hosting some Survivor show, resting on his laurels until someone met his demands to comeback to the ring? Yet he got the first shot at Manson ahead of Shizaki or myself… I shouldn’t be surprised. That is the way wrestling is and the way it has always been.
BRANDON JACOBS: Hey, there is nothing wrong with Survivor…
JONATHAN MARX: Unfortunately for Shizaki, he can show all the fighting spirit he wants against me, but I am not going to let his comeback start with me without a fight. This is a bigger match than Doc putting his “title” up against Cameron Cruise or Manson going on one with Dan Ryan, because this is about WRESTLING and HISTORY … Shizaki and myself were the dominate forces to come out of the NFW East and we are going to show the world what we are all about as long as Shizaki doesn’t let me down.
BRANDON JACOBS: Shizaki is no Southern though…
JONATHAN MARX: No, he is better and that is why I like the challenge.
FTB
JLevinson
Diva Tree
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2000
- Messages
- 707
- Points
- 0
- Age
- 43
Revitalized
(FADEIN to a quiet shrine... seemingly hundreds of candles are lit across the sides of the room... Shizaki is kneeling before a small Japanese flag... he raises his head and speaks, his back to the camera, the imprinted black rose on his gi barely illuminated by the candlelight.)
SHIZAKI: "Long have I waited for some answer... some reason for the things I have endured. To have worked so long and hard... to have fought against the very best NFW had to offer... only to be cast aside by Mr. Ryan... only to have everything I worked for turn to nothing... so I could fall to Mr. Manson in a most dishonorable fashion.
"I sought answers, and in you, Mr. Marx, I find them. I find them in your petty rationalizations. I find them in the way you somehow find a way to make excuses for your behavior.
"In going to the NFW East last season, Mr. Marx, you served only to legitimize a process that never deserved it. You became part of Mr. Manson's traveling sideshow... and glorification of the self.
"Perhaps there is some honor in fighting twice an evening... perhaps there is some glory in bringing the fight to Mr. Manson... the one who betrayed both you and I...
"... but no, Mr. Marx. This is not the case. All you managed to do was bring more legitimacy to the East... all you did was bring disgrace upon us by surrounding yourself with men like Mr. Michaels and Mr. Strife.
"For that, Mr. Marx, you must be punished."
(He stands up and turns around... his eyes focused on the camera... for a moment, he almost seems lost.)
SHIZAKI: "It was *I* who stood alone. It was *I* who refused to follow Mr. Manson's bait and disgrace my name and my legacy.
"It was *I* who refused to go after Mr. Ryan for what he has done, just as I have allowed Mr. Manson to roam freely. These things... I never could have done before. For my vengeance knows no limits.
"Yet if I must disgrace myself to find vengeance... if I must end careers, as you have, Mr. Marx, then I am unworthy to be called a Champion at all, as Mr. Manson or Mr. Silver are now.
"Instead, Mr. Marx... you will know who I am in the ring. You shall know that you will pay for your transgressions. Perhaps it is not too late for you... for us. Perhaps we can change things this time.
"Things have changed now, Mr. Marx. I am not the man I was last match... nor am I the same man who wrestled last year.
"I do not need your compliments or your respect... for I am the one that stands alone. I am the one who refuses to go quietly into the night.
"I shall fight... I shall stand.
"And you shall know that you have met your match, Mr. Marx. You shall know that the Black Rose is not dead, but tired of excuses... tired of lies and dispersions...
"... let the pathetic cowards make excuses... let them feed their egos with validation through trinkets or gold and silver...
"... for in the end, they must all face their demons. In the end...
"... they must all taste the Black Rose."
(FADEOUT.)
(FADEIN to a quiet shrine... seemingly hundreds of candles are lit across the sides of the room... Shizaki is kneeling before a small Japanese flag... he raises his head and speaks, his back to the camera, the imprinted black rose on his gi barely illuminated by the candlelight.)
SHIZAKI: "Long have I waited for some answer... some reason for the things I have endured. To have worked so long and hard... to have fought against the very best NFW had to offer... only to be cast aside by Mr. Ryan... only to have everything I worked for turn to nothing... so I could fall to Mr. Manson in a most dishonorable fashion.
"I sought answers, and in you, Mr. Marx, I find them. I find them in your petty rationalizations. I find them in the way you somehow find a way to make excuses for your behavior.
"In going to the NFW East last season, Mr. Marx, you served only to legitimize a process that never deserved it. You became part of Mr. Manson's traveling sideshow... and glorification of the self.
"Perhaps there is some honor in fighting twice an evening... perhaps there is some glory in bringing the fight to Mr. Manson... the one who betrayed both you and I...
"... but no, Mr. Marx. This is not the case. All you managed to do was bring more legitimacy to the East... all you did was bring disgrace upon us by surrounding yourself with men like Mr. Michaels and Mr. Strife.
"For that, Mr. Marx, you must be punished."
(He stands up and turns around... his eyes focused on the camera... for a moment, he almost seems lost.)
SHIZAKI: "It was *I* who stood alone. It was *I* who refused to follow Mr. Manson's bait and disgrace my name and my legacy.
"It was *I* who refused to go after Mr. Ryan for what he has done, just as I have allowed Mr. Manson to roam freely. These things... I never could have done before. For my vengeance knows no limits.
"Yet if I must disgrace myself to find vengeance... if I must end careers, as you have, Mr. Marx, then I am unworthy to be called a Champion at all, as Mr. Manson or Mr. Silver are now.
"Instead, Mr. Marx... you will know who I am in the ring. You shall know that you will pay for your transgressions. Perhaps it is not too late for you... for us. Perhaps we can change things this time.
"Things have changed now, Mr. Marx. I am not the man I was last match... nor am I the same man who wrestled last year.
"I do not need your compliments or your respect... for I am the one that stands alone. I am the one who refuses to go quietly into the night.
"I shall fight... I shall stand.
"And you shall know that you have met your match, Mr. Marx. You shall know that the Black Rose is not dead, but tired of excuses... tired of lies and dispersions...
"... let the pathetic cowards make excuses... let them feed their egos with validation through trinkets or gold and silver...
"... for in the end, they must all face their demons. In the end...
"... they must all taste the Black Rose."
(FADEOUT.)
PaulNJ21
I shunned a voodoo witch, decapitated a black cat
::Jacobs and Marx are sitting in their corner booth on a cool summer day at the Starbucks in Princeton, New Jersey::
JONATHAN MARX: How do we go from the depths of hell to weather like this without even some rain?
BRANDON JACOBS: It is as cold out there as Cruise’s shot of winning the title from Doc.
JONATHAN MARX: Well, it isn’t that cold, but it is getting there.
BRANDON JACOBS: What are we doing here today?
JONATHAN MARX: Some days I wish I knew. But until then, getting our coffee fix…
BRANDON JACOBS: Did you hear what Shizaki said? He said that by simply being in the NFW East that you legitimized it and that is why we are going through the hell that we are today.
JONATHAN MARX: We’ve gone from a collection of senior citizens making big money who mail it in more than the Yankees to a collection of guttersluts, druggies, and hentai boys like Beau Michaels. Is this season any worse than last? Personally, I like that this group has a pulse and doesn’t need oxygen tanks after their matches in order to avoiding keeling over and dying.
BRANDON JACOBS: They aren’t old school though.
JONATHAN MARX: The real old school guys wouldn’t have made a commitment for a whole entire season and flaked out but I can’t blame them, they are by products of the soulless CSWA who taught them that being lazy was not only acceptable but was encouraged. Let that history be damned, it is reason that wrestling is in the crapper as much as it is.
BRANDON JACOBS: I sense you are a tad agitated today.
JONATHAN MARX: This isn’t how I envisioned it all. This isn’t what I was raised on. Shizaki is right about that. This place needs a change. It needs Shizaki or myself to raise up to a position of power and make things right. They don’t understand it though because they are so engulfed in the system which repeats the same mistakes over and over. I really hate the fact that except for a few stragglers, I am all alone in this fight. The sheep either don’t care, are too ignorant to care, or buy the propaganda they have been repeatedly fed since birth.
BRANDON JACOBS: You can’t give up though, if you don’t fight this battle, no one else will. If you give up, there is no hope for things ever improving and do you want that on your conscious?
JONATHAN MARX: I am not giving up. I just have to make sure that I don’t let it get to me. I have to suppress all the crap they are trying to do this sport which I love so dearly and somehow stay optimistic. Life would be so much better if I was simply some soulless bastard who only cared about myself. I’d be able to finally achieve peace.
BRANDON JACOBS: What is peace without victory?
JONATHAN MARX: Sadly they are one in the same for me and I will have my peace.
FTB
JLevinson
Diva Tree
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2000
- Messages
- 707
- Points
- 0
- Age
- 43
Phoenix Rising
(FADEIN to an old-school promo setting... Kazuo Shizaki stands in front of an NFW East backdrop... nothing else.)
SHIZAKI: "Is this what you imagined, Mr. Marx? Is this the old school you speak so longingly of? Prerendered logo backgrounds... ?
"Sometimes, Mr. Marx, I can't help but believe that you hark back to a more innocent moral past that never existed... for villains were always villains, and heroes were always there to stop them.
"One can never be sure, though, Mr. Marx, for often, you seem incapable of truly articulating your dream for this league. I wonder, then, if perhaps you have the same dream as everyone else... of self-gratification... of glory for yourself and yourself alone.
"Yet these are assumptions, are they not, Mr. Marx... ? For you have said no such thing. I fear, as you do, that I have come to this alone... that with no allies, I am incapable.
"Fear drives us, Mr. Marx... fear makes us greater. A simple concept to understand, yet one that escapes the legendary genius of men such as Mr. Manson or even Mr. Ryan.
"They speak with such confidence... they forget that complacancy has its weakness as well. With no fear... there is no drive to succeed... no need to further one's self. If Mr. Manson or Mr. Silver are, indeed, God, then there is nowhere to go...
"... or perhaps I have considered this all at face value. Perhaps these men are driven by subconscious fears... fears of failure... of irrelevance... and perhaps, worst of all... invalidation.
"Last year... I was hired to do a job, and attempt to do the job I did. My failure is my own, and I let it drive me now.
"Now, however, the game is different. Faces have changed... and so has the scenery, thanks, in part, to myself. In this case, maybe I have found some small shred of victory.
"But it is not enough. I may have been betrayed... dishonored... beaten...
"... but these petty things are not what drive me. Vengeance can only bring a man so far, Mr. Marx. Anger... hatred... these are, ultimately, weak things.
"For now I fight for one thing... and one thing only.
"Honor.
"Let Mr. Manson attain victory by interference... let Mr. Ryan take credit for his own cowardice... let Mr. Silver and his defradulent title and false meaning...
"... they can have these things, for they can never... take my honor. It belongs to me. And it gives me strength beyond their imagination.
"Last year... Mr. Manson... the man himself... the so-called legend... he could not stand and face the Black Rose. Nor could you, Mr. Marx. Nor could any who stood against me.
"I have faltered already... I have allowed myself to be beaten by someone such as Mr. Red, but even in this... I showed what even Mr. Red is capable of some honor... for he hardly need cheat at all... instead, he rose... like the Phoenix... and he became something greater.
"This is my gift to NFW. To show them that honor means something. To show them that the glory of battle is, in itself, a form of validation and honor.
"Now, Mr. Marx... there is nowhere to go but up. Nothing left to do but achieve retribution in the only place that matters...
"... the ring...
"... where Champions are made...
"... where honor is gained and lost...
"... where the Black Rose is born again."
(FADEOUT.)
(FADEIN to an old-school promo setting... Kazuo Shizaki stands in front of an NFW East backdrop... nothing else.)
SHIZAKI: "Is this what you imagined, Mr. Marx? Is this the old school you speak so longingly of? Prerendered logo backgrounds... ?
"Sometimes, Mr. Marx, I can't help but believe that you hark back to a more innocent moral past that never existed... for villains were always villains, and heroes were always there to stop them.
"One can never be sure, though, Mr. Marx, for often, you seem incapable of truly articulating your dream for this league. I wonder, then, if perhaps you have the same dream as everyone else... of self-gratification... of glory for yourself and yourself alone.
"Yet these are assumptions, are they not, Mr. Marx... ? For you have said no such thing. I fear, as you do, that I have come to this alone... that with no allies, I am incapable.
"Fear drives us, Mr. Marx... fear makes us greater. A simple concept to understand, yet one that escapes the legendary genius of men such as Mr. Manson or even Mr. Ryan.
"They speak with such confidence... they forget that complacancy has its weakness as well. With no fear... there is no drive to succeed... no need to further one's self. If Mr. Manson or Mr. Silver are, indeed, God, then there is nowhere to go...
"... or perhaps I have considered this all at face value. Perhaps these men are driven by subconscious fears... fears of failure... of irrelevance... and perhaps, worst of all... invalidation.
"Last year... I was hired to do a job, and attempt to do the job I did. My failure is my own, and I let it drive me now.
"Now, however, the game is different. Faces have changed... and so has the scenery, thanks, in part, to myself. In this case, maybe I have found some small shred of victory.
"But it is not enough. I may have been betrayed... dishonored... beaten...
"... but these petty things are not what drive me. Vengeance can only bring a man so far, Mr. Marx. Anger... hatred... these are, ultimately, weak things.
"For now I fight for one thing... and one thing only.
"Honor.
"Let Mr. Manson attain victory by interference... let Mr. Ryan take credit for his own cowardice... let Mr. Silver and his defradulent title and false meaning...
"... they can have these things, for they can never... take my honor. It belongs to me. And it gives me strength beyond their imagination.
"Last year... Mr. Manson... the man himself... the so-called legend... he could not stand and face the Black Rose. Nor could you, Mr. Marx. Nor could any who stood against me.
"I have faltered already... I have allowed myself to be beaten by someone such as Mr. Red, but even in this... I showed what even Mr. Red is capable of some honor... for he hardly need cheat at all... instead, he rose... like the Phoenix... and he became something greater.
"This is my gift to NFW. To show them that honor means something. To show them that the glory of battle is, in itself, a form of validation and honor.
"Now, Mr. Marx... there is nowhere to go but up. Nothing left to do but achieve retribution in the only place that matters...
"... the ring...
"... where Champions are made...
"... where honor is gained and lost...
"... where the Black Rose is born again."
(FADEOUT.)
PaulNJ21
I shunned a voodoo witch, decapitated a black cat
::Brandon Jacobs and Jonathan Marx walk down the pathway of the historic Morven Garden in Princeton, New Jersey surrounded by the grand lawn dotted with majestic trees, beds of heirloom annuals from the 18th and 19th centuries, and a re-creation of the Colonial Revival style garden that was planted at Morven in the early 20th century.::
JONATHAN MARX: Sometimes when life has me down, I come here to lift my spirits.
BRANDON JACOBS: I see the phlox are already in bloom.
JONATHAN MARX: Nature when left to its own devices is beautiful. It is only when mankind steps in that things go awry. Wrestling is sort of that way as well. Everyone always wants to tamper with the natural essence of the sport because they think they know better. Trying to reinvent the wheel when it doesn’t need to be reinvented and then building even further upon those reinventions.
BRANDON JACOBS: I guess it is human nature to meddle.
JONATHAN MARX: Don’t get me wrong though, simply because I love the past and I feel that there is a lot that we can learn from it, it is good that people don’t do interviews in front of generic backgrounds or aren’t clear cut good guys or bad guys. That isn’t real nor does it reflect the society we live in. The world has changed and in order for progress to be made, we have to change with it or go instinct. But history tends to go in cycles just like mother nature…
BRANDON JACOBS: It is funny that you mention that, I was watching an old Saturday Night Live from the seventies and Chevy Chase was hosting the news desk and they were talking about terrorism and the crisis in the Middle East. It is amazing how history keeps on repeating itself and while most people think what is going on right now is so unique when we have been there before.
JONATHAN MARX: Most people don’t understand that. Instead of looking to the past to find a way to fix their problems, they simply repeat the same mistakes that were made countless times before them. I’ve lived long enough, studied enough, and experienced enough to understand that. Knowledge is a collective of the past, present, and future and if we ignore any part, we are short changing ourselves and I refuse to do that like so many others around me. If you look at history, there is a “right way” to do things and if you do it well, you will be successful nine times out of ten.
BRANDON JACOBS: Wouldn’t most intellectuals say though that there are millions of right ways?
JONATHAN MARX: With the “right way”, there are many paths which you can diverge to while still being on that path as long as you stick to the fundamentals truths, so there are many ways to do something within the “right way”. Every so often though history throws us for a loop however and we think the world as we know it has changed when it has really never changed so we make the exception to the rule, the rule.
BRANDON JACOBS: Sort of like Manson when he started?
JONATHAN MARX: That is a perfect example. While Manson is great, there shouldn’t be a million Manson because Manson got over because he was an individual. The same thing applies in recent years also too Rabesque, how many dry mat technicians have surfaced over the years trying the “No Gimmicks Necessary” gimmick in order to get themselves over? There are more clones around of Rabesque than in the second Stars Wars movie and personally I think one is more than enough.
BRANDON JACOBS: I hear with every membership they give you a French citizenship and a little white flag.
JONATHAN MARX: He is from Quebec, but that is another fine example of history coming back to repeat itself, you told a French joke, your grandmother probably told a French joke, and her mother probably told a French joke. Hell, even your grandchildren are going to be telling French jokes. That joke is still as relevant as it was generations ago. But Shizaki needs to realize history is no joke and that our past helps to guide our future and if he doesn’t realize that and I am left to fight this fight alone, the history of our great sport will become an even bigger joke than it is right now.
BRANDON JACOBS: And that isn’t funny…
FTB
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