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Spirit of Competition
(Vegas- Café Wasabi)
Bryan laughed softly as he lifted up his glass of water and took a slow drink, washing down the sliver of raw fish he’d just consumed. He took a moment before responding rubbing a knuckle against his upper lip. “Well Jake, it sure wasn’t because she was smart!” The four other people besides Bryan seated around the table laughed, most of them on their third or forth booze laden concoction. Which was fine, Bryan didn’t look down on people who drank, but it dehydrates you and for someone who worked out as much as Bryan did, to the point of it nearly becoming a religion, that was a bad bad thing.
The other seated around the table with him were the winners of a contest that had recently been held on his website, ‘Payne-filled Dinner,’ an open raffle where the winners would go out on the town with him… Karen’s idea… and if Bryan did say so himself an incredibly crafty one. His webmaster turned personal assistant had been on him for months to unplug from his daily routine more… to remember that he was in his twenties, amazingly successful, and that people just… liked him. It was a somewhat sobering experience for someone with the life experience Bryan had, where his dedication to his training had been the only thing that kept him out of prison or the morgue… So here he was, sitting around a table with four fans who weren’t quite able to keep that ‘hero worship’ look out of their eyes. Now Bryan knew he was funny on occasion, but not THAT funny. But the good news was the more booze these people drank the more like themselves they seemed to become.
There was Jake, who was a twenty-six year old programmer for some company Bryan didn’t remember, he was married to Julia who was a 24 year old Kindergarden teacher who had WAY too much skin about to explode out of a dress that low cut. Then there was April, a twenty-one year old co-ed from UNLV, majoring in Communications… which was code for underachiever.. and last but not least Todd, a twenty year old seemed to have aspirations of becoming a wrestler himself and was taking every opportunity possible to plug himself in that regard… as if two words from Bryan could get him signed.
“So Bryan,” The afore mentioned Todd began wiping his mouth with the back of his napkin, “What does it really take to achieve the kind of success you have? I mean, dude, you’re living the dream! You’re twenty-two, a Global Champion… I mean most people have their eye on something like that their whole careers and never achieve it! I mean what can I do… to give myself whatever it is you’ve got?”
Bryan sobered a little bit, coming out of some of his reverie. Unless his eyes deceived him Julia was about to try to put her foot somewhere it really shouldn’t go… too much wine. He scooted back a fraction in his chair and did his best to ignore the foot that thumbed against his shin a few moments later. “Well Todd, it’s all about how much you want it, how much you’re willing to give up to get it.” He paused again, pleased when the foot vanished, that would’ve been the last thing he needed at the moment. “Take myself for example. I get up just about every day at the ass crack of dawn, do a couple sets on the weight bench at home, then go out on a two to five mile run… directly to the gym where you can expect me to spend most of the hours between then and lunch either on the weights or in the pool. For breakfast soy protein smoothies, fruit, and maybe some yogurt if I’m feeling particularly hungry for whatever reason. Lunch tends to be sushi with another smoothie wheat grass, some more fruit for flavor, and some more soy. Then it’s usually into the film room or the gym for some ring work.. making sure everything stays sharp working on my counters and escapes, or taking a look at my opponent for the next week. Then it’s usually home where I eat a salad more yogurt, and sometimes some home made trail mix. The store bought kind is shit loaded with salt, sugar, and other crap that’ll weigh you down, buy fresh ingredients individually and mix it yourself that way only what you want going into your body does.” Bryan paused for a moment taking another swig of water.
“Well… I think I can do that…”
“Good, because some people will tell you it’s not necessary, I tell you it’s the reason no one’s able to beat me. Who are you going to take diet tips from?” He waited until Todd nodded before continuing. “Now that’s just the first part of it… a lot of people can devote themselves to a freakishly tight schedule, forty hours a week in the weight room on top of running, swimming and ring work, learning not to freeze on camera or in front of ten thousand screaming fans… But the next part..” Bryan smiled a bit wolfishly, “That’s what gets them..”
“Well, what IS the next part,” April said, leaning forward a bit. Unless Bryan missed his guess she was going home with Todd tonight… no accounting for taste…
“The pain. And no, I’m not about to give you a ring speech. But you have to get up every day, look yourself in the mirror, and do all that… and each and every day you hurt from head to toe. I mean a match is like half a dozen car wrecks on your body, you’re picked up slammed you go through tables you’re hit over the head with chairs, your bruises have bruises, you have pulled muscles, sprained joints, aches and pains that never seem to go completely away, ever. You just have to be able to push through those things day in and day out and not let them effect your in ring performance so you can go out there every night and give the people the best thing they’ve ever seen in their lives. THAT’s your job. The winning… losing… well I’m not going to sit here and tell you that winning isn’t important.. if you’re not in this business because you want to be the best… you’re probably not going to have enough of that inner fire to last very long. But it’s not your job… your job is giving the fans a good show, whatever happens.”
“Now wait though, I mean you almost never seem hurt.. there was that, what that fake injury you pulled on Doug?”
“Right, the ribs..” He paused, “We were expecting a set up, for it to become more like six on three than three on three on three. It didn’t happen that way, and we were able to gut out the win, that was important. But don’t mistake the performance you see, for a guy not being in pain? I mean take a guy like Doug, he’s been doing this so long I mean the day after a match he probably feels like he was run OVER by a truck or something. But he gets up, puts himself back together and he’s right back out there, and that’s what we all do. I mean that’s really why the vets deserve a certain level of respect because this job is not easy. It requires an insane commitment physically and psychologically to be able to push through what you’re going to go through. If you’re not willing to sign onto that bottom like Todd, I’d consider looking elsewhere for a line of work. If you are and you do want it that bad, my advise to you is to drop whatever it is you’re doing and get out there and start hitting the indy circuit because that’s where you’re going to learn the skills you need and draw the attention you need to be signed elsewhere.”
“Well I have a question Bryan… what’s up with you and Ornery Hillman?”
Bryan coughed softly holding up hand to excuse himself for a moment while he picked up his napkin and held it up to his face. Christ, he’d been sure they were too drunk to ask questions like that.. What WAS up with he and Hillman? He frankly wasn’t so sure, I mean the guy comes out signs MDK, who spent ten minutes dragging his name through the mud and then offers a contact to him? What’s that about….? Still, it was hard to argue with results… right?
*Somewhere beyond happiness and sadness.. I need to calculate, how to..*
Ah, of all the perfect times for his cell phone to ring. He ducked a hand into the pocket of his sports jacket and pulled of his iphone. “Talk to me,” He said as he stood up walking a few paces away from the group so he could talk relatively undisturbed. Bryan’s face changed after a few moments, the lines on his face hardening as he listened to the speaker. “Look, I already told you once, no, and get bent for that matter too. Lose my number alright?” He canceled the call with a resolute authority and when the person called back almost immediately he switched his phone over to mute before rejoining his dinner companions. “Ok, now where were we?... Oh yeah, Hillman. Well I haven’t exactly made a big secret of the fact that I’ve been looking for a replacement for John Henry since we parted ways, so I suppose it’s only natural that he.. threw his hat into the ring as it were.”
“Yeah, but weren’t you the guy who went after him so hardcore a couple months ago? I mean… what about the guy signing MDK?”
“I’m sorry.. who?” Bryan said a look of confusion on his face.
“MDK?”
“Yeah.. who is that?”
“Um..,” Jake looked confused for a moment looking to the other people at the table and then back to Bryan, “… MDK?... the guy who.. uh.. talked about you last week on Wildcard… and uh.. former Global Champion?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t know anyone important by that name….Oh!” Bryan snapped his fingers in recognition, “you mean the guy I eliminated at Survive and Conquer… yeah, that’s right, no one important, just some washed up hack from another fed. I mean.. I know I’m good and all, but I think I might have been selling myself short if former Champions are choosing to sign elsewhere instead of facing me in the ring.”
“Well,” Julia chimed in, “What about Pence? That whole.. thing?”
Bryan laughed softly, “Not really a thing, the guy ran his mouth and I took care of it. It’s really kind of touching that the guy thinks he can plagiarize one of my promos from the Ruckus feud and try to use it to psyche me out.” He chuckled a little bit to himself, “Pence found out the hard way that the more you run your mouth against me, the more the SCW fans turn on you, and more I’m going to be motivated to kick your ass.” Bryan waved off the waitress who was coming by to refill drinks, any more water and was going to grow gills and swim away, “Bottom line is, he came up short, and there are people who will say it was close and who might want a rematch, but they’ve said that about every opponent I’ve faced since I got here. And when every match is close and time and time again you pull out the win, that’s no longer luck, that’s a pattern, that’s a design, that… is what being the best is. Wanting it more than the other guy, and putting in the work inside and outside the ring to turn that want into reality. Still, got nothing personal against the guy, I do think he needs to grow up a bit and stop taking himself so seriously,” He laughed a little bit, “I mean you’d have thought I told him his mama couldn’t cook or something the way he reacted,”
Bryan shook his head a moment and ate another couple bites of fish, “Bottom line, no one who lets me that far inside their head is going to be the first to win. He let me set the pace, and I let him wear himself out thinking he was hurting me while I took his knee apart. He kicked out of the Payne Killer, I will give him that, but if he wants to seriously take me on he’s going to have to find another gear and kick it up a notch.” He shrugged a bit, “Until then I wish him good luck in his title match against Valerie.”
“And how about Defiance Reborn?” April asked this time, “are you guys really going to break up?”
“Friends argue, friends have disagreements… it’s not always a smooth past. You have three of the most talented and energetic personalities in this business in one locker room.. oh you can bet there are going to be some disagreements. Does that mean we’re breaking up?” Bryan gave a shake of his head, “I don’t see any reason for us to at this time. Together there are no three people, not just in SCW, but in the Experts who can touch us. And we can bring respect back into this business.. and take the fight to people like Doug, and Darksky and Pence, who think they can tell the fans what they want, or what to think, or just don’t respect the very business that made them great or the fans that pay their checks.” He nodded a bit, “No, Defiance Reborn isn’t done April, we’re just barely warming up.”
(******)
(12-hours later, the Gym)
“So, are you done dodging my phone calls?” Georgie asked, her arms crossed and a little look of irritation plastered across her face as she looked at Bryan still in the water of the pool rubbing his wet black hair backwards out of his face.
“Maybe,” Bryan said, and without another word kicked off against the pool wall and began swimming the other way. Of course, one of the things about Georgie that Bryan had come to cure and appreciate in equal measures was stubbornness. She strode along beside him while he swam and just continued to talk. If you’ve never had that experience you’ll quickly find it’s hard to ignore someone when every second turn of your head surprise! There they are.
“That’s not good enough Bryan. So is that just it then? One argument and now we’re just not going to talk to each other anymore?”
Bryan sighed as he finally reached the other wall, hauling himself halfway out of the pool supported by his arms and elbows and left his lower half still dangling inside it. “Look fine fine, we’ll talk if it’ll let me get back to my morning swim, shit..”
“Oh thank oh so much for your generosity,” Bryan yelped as Georgie kicked him right in the shoulder. He gave her a baleful look and rubbed the appendage.
“One more of those and you’re going headfirst into the deep end see if I don’t.”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“Try me!” Bryan hissed back in reply. Georgie huffed again and plopped down onto one of the poolside chairs while Bryan hauled himself the rest of the way out of the pool, leaving about a gallon of water draining off of him and his Speedos as he made his way over to an opposite chair that he sat down on with another small huff. “Alright, you want to talk so talk!”
“Thank you for the flowers you sent my Dad.”
Well, that had caught Bryan off guard a bit. He fumbled for a few moments to figure out what to say exactly and then just nodded. “Well, that’s what friends are for right? I’d have come by but…” Bryan shrugged and waved his hand as if trying to change the subject.
“And like I texted you five times already, I’m sorry… for.. the whole… drama thing at the gym..”
“Yeah well…” Bryan said, a little embarrassed by the memory of THAT incident. “You’re not the one who had to replace a wall mirror… I think I got ripped off with that too I mean you wouldn’t believe…. The mirror over my bed didn’t even co -“
“TMI!” Georgie almost shouted, which brought a moment of silence followed by a long shared laugh. “Alright, ok, so friend again?” Georgie asked sticking her hand out leaving it there for several moments and just before it became an awkward moment Bryan took it with a firm shake.
“Yeah Georgie, it’s all good. So how are you holding up post-Invitational?” Bryan asked reaching over to grab one of his towels to dry off a little bit while the two spoke.
“Win some…. Lose some… “
“Get some stolen from you….”
“I…” Georgie shook her head for a moment, “I already had a huge ‘not your fault, yes it is’ drama with AC, I really don’t want to go down that road again.”
“Fair enough,” Bryan nodded a bit and leaned back in his chair. “Now, why else did you come out here?”
“W-what do you mean?”
“Oh come on, you and I both know you wouldn’t be caught dead in this gym if thanking me for the flowers I sent your father were the only reason you came down here… so out with it.”
“About this Ornery Hillman thing….”
Bryan opened one of his eyes that he’d let drift shut while they were speaking and focused it on her for a moment, “Didn’t we just have the argument where I said you weren’t DR’s den mother… and that I could make my own decisions?”
“But come on Bryan this is HILLMAN we’re talking about here!”
“Yeah… and? He’s a Manager Georgie and not a bad one either. He’s a total and complete bastard sure, but… well I haven’t exactly done a bang up job replacing John to this point, and Karen won’t take the job… so, I’m thinking maybe…”
“Be serious!”
“I am serious damnit!” Bryan sighed and sat up on the chair throwing his legs over to one side of it to look at Georgie a bit closer, “The fact of the matter is I need someone doing that shit for me so I can stay completely and totally focused on my training, it’s what keeps me from spinning off the deep end. I went dangerously close to that with Robb and that damn Survive and Conquer mess… and if I hadn’t been so focused on him… I might have won the damn thing. Now I did well enough to be content, I exceeded everyone’s expectations but my own. But you saw me leading up to that match, I was not myself. That can’t happen again.” He shook his head. “Maybe having Hillman taking care of the day to day can fix that…”
“I…” Georgie huffed, realizing nothing she said was going to change his mind, “stubborn bastard… but I still think this is a BAD idea.”
“So noted. Now, can I convince you to get into the pool and swim off a few of those cheeseburgers?”
“You son of a bitch!” Bryan laughed as Georgie swatted at him several times about the head and shoulders.
(********)
(The camera comes up to show Bryan sitting on the State of Sin set, with a DR logo in the background. He’s dressed in street clothes, his t-shirt tucked into his jeans, and his ever present shades pressed tightly against his face.)
“So, little Dougie is on a kick of pitting friends and partners against each other… yeah ok,” Bryan shrugged his shoulders a bit, “OH GOD! I can’t take it anymore! I’m going to kill myself!... No I’m just going to fake it to make a scene!” Bryan turned his head and then smirked as he turned back around. “I mean putting me against my best friend and tag partner… I-I.. I can’t hit him!!”
“What?... isn’t that the way I’m supposed to react?” Bryan took a moment to stroke his chin and jaw-line and then withdrew his hand with a snap of the fingers, “No, that’s right, because I’m a wrestler, a competitor…. Not an emo attention starved-“
“Bryan!” Came the cry from off camera.
“Moving right along,” he paused to clear his throat motioning his apology off camera to wherever Karen was standing, “Well, if Doug thinks that I’m going to fall to pieces like other people I could mention because you put me in the ring with another member of Defiance Reborn… he’s got another thing coming. You see, because I LOVE this booking, me in the ring with AC Thunder?! That’s gold, that’s magic… that my friends is putting two of the most entertaining…dare I say it? I think I shall electrifying individuals in this company in the same ring. Two men who don’t know when to quit, who never have enough, never back down, and always, ALWAYS bring every ounce of guts, heart, and effort to the ring each and every night. I couldn’t think of a better guy to get into the ring with to help me get ready for my first Cancun Clash here in SCW, I couldn’t think of a member of this roster more deserving of a shot to prove they deserve consideration as a contender for the top belt in this company.”
“So, with this booking… I think we all owe Doug and Mr. Chaos a bit of a hand, because AC and myself train together, work together… you almost couldn’t find two guys on this roster better suited to pit against each other to insure that the roof comes off this place when we both step into the ring and square off, for, I might add, the very first time.” Bryan tilted his head to the side for a moment and drew as low breath. “Ahh, that smells like a prime time occasion to me. And I don’t want anyone out there to worry, it’s not like we’re going to dance around the ring for a few minutes and then fake an injury so we can end it early either…” He coughed for a moment, “No, we’re going to get down to business and push each other. Not because we’ve got any kind of bad blood to work out, but because that’s what being one of the best in this business is about… being a competitor. And it doesn’t matter if it’s your best friend, your boyfriend, who the hell ever if you’re not prepared to go knuckle to knuckle with someone… you’re in the wrong line of work. AC and I will compete to the fullest extent of our abilities because we are competitors and when a chance comes along to push yourself to this level… to step up, rise to the occasion… when the chance comes to be part of a match that may become legendary in SCW history…. Well my friends, you make the most of that opportunity.”
“It’s been said that I don’t respect many of the people I get into the ring with. I say they take themselves too seriously. But what if I don’t respect them? Since when is respect something that should be given instead of earned? Should I respect a man who comes into a new company and sets his sights on me when he can’t even manage to beat the majority of the other competitors he steps in the ring with? Who threatens my career because I made a few jokes at his expense…” he paused shaking his head a little bit. “Should I respect people who take cheap shots, or take pleasure in thinking that they are somehow smarter than everyone, or those who have to make up fantasies to justify their actions? I don’t think so. You see because if I don’t respect you nothing you say is going to make me respect you… you have to earn my respect and you earn that not with a mic in your hand flapping your jaws with promises you can’t back up you earn that in the ring! You earn Bryan Payne’s respect in sweat and in blood, in fighting each and every moment to prove you deserve it. And until you do that… until you accept that challenge and step up to it, you might as well be ADL, or John fucking Doe for all I care.”
“There is a small list of people who have earned my respect since I’ve been here in SCW, since I left Japan. Ryan Ruckus, Doug E Fresh, Robb McBride, AC Thunder, Georgie Nickles…. These are men and women who are who and what they SAY they are, and nothing and no one is going to change of influence these people or make them some way other than being the person they want to be. Even those of them who are complete pricks make no apologies for who or what they are but stick to their guns whatever it brings them. Inside the ring they always…and I do mean always show up to play for keeps and never back down from anything or anyone…even when perhaps they ought to.” He paused for a moment with a small chuckle, “Everyone else? I don’t care who you think you are, or what you think you’re entitled to. I don’t care how much you may not like me… because the only people who it matters what they think of me are the ones selling out “Feel the Payne” T-shirts on SCW.com, the people screaming my name every Wednesday Night, those are the people who give me all the validation I need to keep on kicking your asses. And if you have a problem with me running my mouth or the things that come out of it… if you think you have what it takes to shut me up you step right up and give it your best fucking shot. Because…” he paused and took a deep breath, “You’d be the first person to EVER manage it. Man who cannot be pinned isn’t a punch line or a nickname it is a FACT. No one has ever proven they have what it takes to put me down and keep me down on American soil and no one ever
will as far as I’m concerned. So you flap your lips all you like because when you step into the ring with me I’ll smack ‘em right off.”
“Now I make it my job here to make everyone who steps in the ring with me… just a little bit better than when they left it; everyone who finds themselves across the card from me knows they are days away from finding out exactly what they are made of. They will need every ounce of courage, heart, and will to get the job done, and win or lose, they will be changed by the experience.” Bryan nodded just a little bit, pausing to remove his shades that he sets down gently on the coffee table in front of him before continuing.
“When I entered the Legacy Tournament all those months ago… there were only two people who gave me a chance in hell of earning my Global Title shot. Myself… and John Henry. And as I climbed over each and every person who was put in front of me… Gateman…flipping burgers somewhere… Extream went off the deep-end had another nervous break down… Valerie, got married grew some fangs.. It became crystal clear that part of what I am here to do, part of what being a Champion means is living with that massive bulls eye on your back that says ‘this is what you’re aiming for.’ And you can either accept that… or find yourself another line of work.”
“So, I accepted it, I pulled it up onto my shoulders, and met Ryan Ruckus head on. I challenged A-A to prove they were the ‘heroes’ they said they were and each step of the way they proved to me that they weren’t. Stu… talked about giving up on making meaningful change in SCW, Ryan allied himself with Ornery Hillman… Extream took cheap shots on opponents after matches with steel chairs, because he well, was a pussy.” He waved another apology towards Karen and kept on going, leaning forward on the couch and lacing his hands together with his elbows on his knees. “For two months Ryan and I battled up one side of SCW and the other, and every week every day I inched closer to taking what my hard work and dedication, what my will to win was earning me. Then finally, days before No Limit… I won this Global Championship. I became the quickest man from his signing to ever win this belt… and I did it, buy defeating the very best this roster had to offer every step of the way.”
“Stu stepped up next, and he proved himself worthy along the way, but ultimately he fell short as well. He managed to drag kicking and screaming up some of the magic that once made him a superstar, one of the legends of this company. Now only he can decide what to make of the experience, but Stu looked in the mirror and knew he would have to find a new level within himself… and he did.” Bryan nodded then slowly. “That my friends, as I spoke to you last week, is what Feel the Payne, is all about. Stepping up to the challenges in your life and meeting them head on, pushing yourself through them and becoming a better you along the way.”
“AC Thunder has that fire too, and that is why this will be a match no one is going to forget. Because I have nothing to teach AC, he knows in his gut what he can do. He is, the conscience of Defiance Reborn, what keeps our course true to the ideals we founded this group on. Commitment, competition, and just plain beating the holy piss out of people who, quite frankly, deserve it now and again. And I know that sounds bad, but there comes a time when all the pretty speeches and long winded sermons you get from some of us from time to time don’t really mean much. When if you’re not prepared to get down in the mud, and the gutter and trade punches until they give up… that the corrupt, the twisted psychos, and the deluded wannabes win, and then the only people who lose are you the fans. So Defiance Reborn will always be there to meet those people head on, to make them show their true colors in and out of the ring, and when they get too far out of line… smack ‘em back in place. You were all warned before, and mark me well dear viewers, there are a few people who are about to learn that lesson the hard way in the coming weeks.”
“Now, in regards to Ornery Hillman. He is not now, nor are there any plans for me to sign with him. He did, however, have every right to put in an application for the job vacancy that I’ve made no secret about trying to fill for several months now..” He paused, “And I owe it to myself, my teammates… and yes to Hillman himself, to consider his offer with the same open mind that I’ve given other candidates for this position. Having said that? Me.. and Hillman? Comeon..” He barked a quick laugh and shook his head for a moment. “I mean that’s like Spiderman saying…’hey you know what, that Venom.. not such a bad-‘ oh wait.. he did do that in the movie didn’t he…”
“That being the case, there are no plans now or in the future for me to seriously consider signing a Hillman contract.” He nodded.
“But this Wednesday Night, I step into the ring with a man who sets the standard of what SCW represents. He’s competed here for years at the top levels of his company winning almost every title conceivable, represented this company in Experts events in ways almost no one else on the roster can claim to have attained. AC Thunder, IS SCW, and it is an honor, and a privilege to get into the same ring with him on Wildcard. Now I’ve only made this declaration twice before… once was last years match of the year, and the other was one of the greatest matches in the short history of Diamond Elite Wrestling. But get your DVR’s ready people, you are not going to want to miss what you’re about to see when AC Thunder and Bryan Payne go toe to toe. You’re not going to miss what happens when to competitors, two men who don’t know the meaning of quit push each other beyond human endurance… and we will. Because neither of us have it in ourselves not to.”
“And at the end of the match, we’re going to shake hands, and leave the ring together, even more confident, more assure of not only Defiance Reborn, but in ourselves. That no one can test us like each other. No one has what it takes to derail Defiance Reborn, there are not three other competitors on the planet you can pit against the three of us and have a prayer of overcoming. Because no other three people on this planet have the burning desire to compete, the inner will to never quit, or the simple respect in the knowledge that we will always be there to back each other up. Defiance Forever isn’t just a slogan people, it’s a way of life. And unlike some around here, we know how to keep our promises.”
“Tune in Wednesday Night people, buckle your seat belts, get your popcorn ready, set your DVR, because it’s Thunder vs. Payne… feel it!”
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