Post by Bryan Williams on Oct 3, 2021 4:53:11 GMT -5
“Action Wrestling.”
His voice is the first thing we hear, we don’t see him. There is nothing to see at this point, it’s just darkness. A blank screen leading us in.
His silence grows as the darkness begins to sink away, slipping out of sight as the scene begins to play out before us. A light shines from behind the camera, filling our point of view with everything we need to witness. What could have been an old area to shoot promos is now just concrete meeting concrete.
Nothing about this place is familiar, and yet - we’ve been here before.
We’ve seen this before. Just a week ago.
A dark and empty place, one that belongs to Bryan Williams. A place to fill his thoughts, and anything else he would have in mind. A spot against the wall has been set up for this shot, like last time, only there’s a theme now. An old logo that would come from a different time, a different era (and a different universe) of Action Wrestling. It looks nostalgic, probably on purpose, in its design.
There isn’t enough light to showcase the once brilliant neon tubes that make it up, they barely glint and glow in the light provided. Bryan stands there in front of the camera, with a mannequin next to him. All dressed up, professionally. Bryan looks the same as ever, maybe a little dirtier and with a little more sweat on his forehead.
This is the same broken man as from before.
The mannequin holds a microphone, pointed in Bryan’s direction. Bryan keeps his focus on the camera, not acknowledging the object standing next to him.
It turns its head towards him as he begins to speak. “Well let me tell you something, Action Wrestling!”
Bryan grins.
“I’ve always been about bucking the norm, doing things outside of the box. And when it came to this company I promised myself that I wasn’t going to do things differently. I was going to stand out, I was going to speak up, and I was going to get noticed.”
“I hope you noticed last week because I know all eyes were on me. They were watching, waiting to see what I was going to do.”
The mannequin turns back towards the camera, as the scene glitches. We lose the vertical hold, just for a moment.
“I delivered, I took what was in front of me, and in my design, I created something worthwhile. I used my mantra and made my statement to all of Action Wrestling. And now - they pair me with a man who seems to be set in his ways. A man that’s by definition always ready to brawl and throw hands. Something that I need to witness first hand if I’m going to be honest.”
“Markus Michael.” Bryan says, pointing to the camera and his opponent.
“You carry yourself in a way that meets all expectations, just one look at you, and I see everything I need to know about the man that will stand across the ring from me. There’s nothing about you that surprises me, and watching your past work in this company leaves me …”
He shrugs.
“Well, you know.”
“Being myself, I know that I have to come in and shake things up here. It’s why I’ve been so outspoken on social media, it’s why I’ve been looking to make my mark here. But watching you, I just see somebody going through the motions. I see somebody that’s content with doing it the same way over and over again, stuck in their own routine. I see a waste of a person before me, Markus. Someone with your size and ability, even at your age, could do a whole lot here if they just subverted everyone’s expectations. If they did something just a bit different, it would shake this whole place up. Instead, you’re spending week after week being attacked, harassed by a man who calls himself Hippo.”
Even the mannequin shakes its head, just briefly. The scene glitches once more, when it fixes itself Bryan is standing there by himself. The Action Wrestling logo behind him is now restored to its former glory.
“That couldn’t be me, it wouldn’t be me.” Bryan says with such desperation in his voice.
“I wouldn’t allow myself to rot like that, I would take the time to put myself away for good the moment I found myself slipping down that path. I plan on not living in mediocrity, I don’t plan on settling for my spot like you have. From promotion to promotion I have found success, and Action Wrestling will be no different in that regard. So take from me, even at your place in this business you can learn something you haven’t learned before. I plan on opening your eyes, just be grateful for it when everything is said and done. Markus, what I plan to accomplish at Clash won’t be surprising to those who know me. And for a brief moment, I will be just like you, set in my ways without changing. A man set on hurting you, and continuing his success in every promotion he’s set foot in before. This is the routine that I follow.”
“I don’t plan on breaking that tradition, Markus.”
Like before, Bryan grows silent. His words finished, the light in front of him shuts off. Leaving the Action Wrestling logo to glow brightly behind him.
The scene glitches again, and we see Bryan wearing the mask. He stands there, silent, as the scene cuts to black.