Post by Jonny Cedrone on Nov 27, 2022 12:03:56 GMT -5
**--The scene opens up outside of the Cedroen residence where we see Jonny Cedrone and Tony Malato enjoying a couple of cigars after such a big Thanksgiving meal.--**
“This is what it’s all about man. Friends and family gathered around. Good food. Good times. Just enjoying life as God intended it to be.”
“I didn’t see a couple of your friends in there.”
**--Tony says with a smug look on his face. Jonny looks at him confused--**
“What do you mean?”
“Well I didn’t see your new friends, King Shits in there. Where are they? If they’re ‘such good friends’ then they shoulda been here celebrating with the rest of your friends.”
**--Jonny turns all of his attention towards Malato. Visibly pissed off. He taps Malato on the shoulder--**
“Hey.”
**--Jonny sees the smugness in Tony’s face now and gets even more pissed off, grabs Malato by the lapels and turns him around to where they’re looking eye-to-eye now. The smugness only slightly dissipates--**
“You got somethin’ to say? Say it!”
“I ain’t sayin’ nothin’. I’m just sayin’.”
“You’re just sayin’. Well let me tell you somethin’ you miserable little prick, if it’s any of your business – which it’s not. But if it were – Gloria and I will be meeting up with CJ over at Spencer’s house tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Will that be alright with you, or do I need you to sign my permission slip?”
**--Tony just raises his hands in submission.--**
“Alright. Sorry. You’re right. It’s none of my business.”
“You’re damn right it’s none of your business.”
**--Jonny lets go of Tony’s lapels and straightens them out for him.--**
“You have had nothing but smartass things to say since they and I have been hooking up in the ring. What the hell is your problem?!”
“Nothing!”
“Bullshit!!”
“It’s just that…I don’t know. It’s just not you.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”
“It’s just not you! You’ve almost always been the loner! The big bad wolf! Now?”
“Now what?!”
“You just seem to have gotten a little soft. That’s all.”
**--Jonny’s taken aback by that. He leans against the railing of his deck – perplexed – contemplating what he means by that.--**
“Soft?”
“Yeah. I mean sure, you get those moments where you let the rage come through. You’re kinda like Kratos in God of War!”
“Who the hell is Kratos and what is God of War?!”
“You’ve never…okay nevermind. The point is that you used to be this warrior that went to the ring night in and night out and left bodies in your wake without as much as one iota of remorse or regret! Now? Well now you just do the bare minimum to get by. If you win you win. If you lose? Well that’s okay too.”
“Losing is never okay!”
“Jonny! You never listen to yourself do you?! You’ve said it yourself countless times in your promos! “It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about how you play the game.” Now I’m paraphrasing there but that’s essentially what you’ve said multiple times!”
“Noooo.”
“Yes!!”
“Now don’t get me wrong, that old Jonny Cedrone comes out every once in a while. Like during the Trios Championship Series? Chef’s kiss! You were on point each and every time! You carried your new friends to victory every time! You can’t get much better than that Jonny! The old Jonny has even come out in some of your singles matches. It wasn’t as frequent but he came out nonetheless!”
“I just never want to lose control. Do you remember what I did to that kid in Boardwalk Wrestling? I crippled him T! I ended his career! I messed up his livelihood! I’m still paying for that! Not just monetarily either. That left some damage on my psyche man.”
“That’s not the same Jonny Cedrone that pretty much ran The Family! That Jonny Cedrone was ruthless! That Jonny Cedrone did whatever it took to get the job done and felt zero remorse! Where the hell did that guy go?! When did we lose him?!”
**--Jonny hangs his head like a whipped pup--**
“I’m not saying that you have to go through everything and everyone like the Tazmanian Devil. Try to harness that rage until you absolutely need it, then leave lying in your wake whoever’s standing in front of you in that ring. You’re better than who you’ve been in Action Wrestling so far. Like I said, your greatness shines through but you hold back a lot of the time.”
**--After soaking in all those words of wisdom, Jonny finally softly responds, never looking up towards Tony.--**
“Gloria and I promised that we’d never tell a soul about this so if anybody finds out, I’ll know it was you and trust me when I tell you – I will make you pay.”
**--Confused and concerned, Tony’s ears perk up as he listens intently to what Jonny has to say--**
“About three years ago Gloria suffered a miscarriage. Ya know the first so many days, weeks or months, nothing’s guaranteed. There’s this safe-range with pregnancies. Once you get there, you’re set. Well Gloria didn’t make it there so she didn’t even tell me she was pregnant until she miscarried. That was just one time, right? I mean people get pregnant after they’ve had a miscarriage, right? For some reason we’re not able to. Maybe it’s because I got my vasectomy reversed after marrying Gloria. Maybe it’s God’s way of getting back at me for having it done in the first place. Maybe it’s God’s way of getting back at me for living the life I lived before hooking up with Gloria. You remember the whore I used to be?”
“Yeah I do. Talking about a body count.”
“God blessed me with never getting an STD but I guess his blessings stopped at that. Then again maybe he’s just teaching me a lesson. I don’t know. But the thing of it is that ever since the miscarriage, ever since being THAT close to being a father, my whole outlook on life has been different. After the miscarriage I just got to thinkin’ that the way I used to act isn’t worth it. I wanted to change. I wanted to be better. I wanted to be a person that I’d want my kid to look up to. If it were a son, I’d want him to see me as the example of how to be a man; how to treat women; how to treat people and yet not be taken advantage of. If it were a daughter, I’d want her to see me as the example of how a man should treat her and to never settle for anything less.”
“Seeing that we can’t have kids of our own, I try to turn that into being a positive role model for all my fans. So yeah to say that I’m conflicted would be the understatement of the century. Do I wanna go out there and just decimate all of my opponents and leave them feelin’ like they were ran over by a Mack truck?! Absolutely! But then I get to thinking about that poor kid whose life I ruined. Stevie Dreams was just a kid that was just breaking into the business. He looked up to me.”
“Then I ruined his life.”
“I don’t want to be some pushover and I won’t be a pushover…but I don’t wanna ruin anyone’s life either.”
“Wow. Shit Jonny! I…I didn’t know.”
“Nobody did. And nobody does. Capiche?”
“Capiche. Absolutely!”
“To be fair about the whole not wanting to ruin anyone’s life…everybody that signs up to do this game knows that their careers and lives are on the line each and every night. It ain’t ballet as they say.”
“You’re not wrong…but you never saw Stevie. It messed with me big time.”
“But J, you have this fatal four way coming up at Turmoil. The winner is the number one contender to the US Title! You can’t go into it like…”
**--Jonny sternly lifts his head up and gets into Tony’s face with a few tear drops strolling down his face--**
“I can’t go into it like what? Like this?! Speaking of turmoil, my entire insides are in turmoil right now! No not because of the delicious food we just ate but because of what I just shared with you, and what I know that I have to be ready for at Turmoil! Do I keep going down the path that I’ve been going down since joining AW or do I just swallow everything that I’ve taught myself since I fucked up Stevie Dreams and just go into this match with guns-a-blazing? Do I go into this match trying to be the good role model, thinking “If I win, cool, if I lose, that’s fine too” or do I go in there with the devil may care attitude and steamroll everyone in my way – including CJ – and be damned if I’m not walking out of there as the number one contender?”
“You have no idea just how conflicted I am T! And it’s not a good feeling to have being in the sport that I’m in! Championships are the bread and butter of this sport! If you’re Champion, you’re the best of the best! Nobody can deny your abilities! Nobody can deny that you’re what you say you are! This is one of those opportunities that I’ve been begging for and now that I’ve finally got it…I can’t let it slip through my fingers!”
“And tomorrow I go and have Thanksgiving dinner with one of those people!”
“Helluva situation isn’t it?”
**--Jonny straightens up Tony’s lapels and suit then wipes the tears from his own face before straightening up his own suit and walking back inside. Tony’s left outside to soak in everything that was just laid on him as the scene fades to black. When the scene fades back in we’re faced with a desolate land with the stench of death in the air. Everything has the tinge of red to it. The camera slowly zooms out to put Jonny Cedrone into the shot as he stands there with spear in hand, surveying the Armageddon-laden land.--**
“Decimation. Annihilation. Destruction. Demolition. Obliteration. Different words meaning one thing. Devastation.”
“Four people enter. Only one person stands as victor.”
**--The camera pans around to the front of Jonny Cedrone still looking out at wake of destruction left behind by seemingly himself.--**
“In war, to survive you must do what you must do – but to win…you must do the things that you wouldn’t normally do. Too much is at stake to merely survive.”
**--Jonny looks dead into the camera--**
“This is what it’s all about man. Friends and family gathered around. Good food. Good times. Just enjoying life as God intended it to be.”
“I didn’t see a couple of your friends in there.”
**--Tony says with a smug look on his face. Jonny looks at him confused--**
“What do you mean?”
“Well I didn’t see your new friends, King Shits in there. Where are they? If they’re ‘such good friends’ then they shoulda been here celebrating with the rest of your friends.”
**--Jonny turns all of his attention towards Malato. Visibly pissed off. He taps Malato on the shoulder--**
“Hey.”
**--Jonny sees the smugness in Tony’s face now and gets even more pissed off, grabs Malato by the lapels and turns him around to where they’re looking eye-to-eye now. The smugness only slightly dissipates--**
“You got somethin’ to say? Say it!”
“I ain’t sayin’ nothin’. I’m just sayin’.”
“You’re just sayin’. Well let me tell you somethin’ you miserable little prick, if it’s any of your business – which it’s not. But if it were – Gloria and I will be meeting up with CJ over at Spencer’s house tomorrow for Thanksgiving. Will that be alright with you, or do I need you to sign my permission slip?”
**--Tony just raises his hands in submission.--**
“Alright. Sorry. You’re right. It’s none of my business.”
“You’re damn right it’s none of your business.”
**--Jonny lets go of Tony’s lapels and straightens them out for him.--**
“You have had nothing but smartass things to say since they and I have been hooking up in the ring. What the hell is your problem?!”
“Nothing!”
“Bullshit!!”
“It’s just that…I don’t know. It’s just not you.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”
“It’s just not you! You’ve almost always been the loner! The big bad wolf! Now?”
“Now what?!”
“You just seem to have gotten a little soft. That’s all.”
**--Jonny’s taken aback by that. He leans against the railing of his deck – perplexed – contemplating what he means by that.--**
“Soft?”
“Yeah. I mean sure, you get those moments where you let the rage come through. You’re kinda like Kratos in God of War!”
“Who the hell is Kratos and what is God of War?!”
“You’ve never…okay nevermind. The point is that you used to be this warrior that went to the ring night in and night out and left bodies in your wake without as much as one iota of remorse or regret! Now? Well now you just do the bare minimum to get by. If you win you win. If you lose? Well that’s okay too.”
“Losing is never okay!”
“Jonny! You never listen to yourself do you?! You’ve said it yourself countless times in your promos! “It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about how you play the game.” Now I’m paraphrasing there but that’s essentially what you’ve said multiple times!”
“Noooo.”
“Yes!!”
“Now don’t get me wrong, that old Jonny Cedrone comes out every once in a while. Like during the Trios Championship Series? Chef’s kiss! You were on point each and every time! You carried your new friends to victory every time! You can’t get much better than that Jonny! The old Jonny has even come out in some of your singles matches. It wasn’t as frequent but he came out nonetheless!”
“I just never want to lose control. Do you remember what I did to that kid in Boardwalk Wrestling? I crippled him T! I ended his career! I messed up his livelihood! I’m still paying for that! Not just monetarily either. That left some damage on my psyche man.”
“That’s not the same Jonny Cedrone that pretty much ran The Family! That Jonny Cedrone was ruthless! That Jonny Cedrone did whatever it took to get the job done and felt zero remorse! Where the hell did that guy go?! When did we lose him?!”
**--Jonny hangs his head like a whipped pup--**
“I’m not saying that you have to go through everything and everyone like the Tazmanian Devil. Try to harness that rage until you absolutely need it, then leave lying in your wake whoever’s standing in front of you in that ring. You’re better than who you’ve been in Action Wrestling so far. Like I said, your greatness shines through but you hold back a lot of the time.”
**--After soaking in all those words of wisdom, Jonny finally softly responds, never looking up towards Tony.--**
“Gloria and I promised that we’d never tell a soul about this so if anybody finds out, I’ll know it was you and trust me when I tell you – I will make you pay.”
**--Confused and concerned, Tony’s ears perk up as he listens intently to what Jonny has to say--**
“About three years ago Gloria suffered a miscarriage. Ya know the first so many days, weeks or months, nothing’s guaranteed. There’s this safe-range with pregnancies. Once you get there, you’re set. Well Gloria didn’t make it there so she didn’t even tell me she was pregnant until she miscarried. That was just one time, right? I mean people get pregnant after they’ve had a miscarriage, right? For some reason we’re not able to. Maybe it’s because I got my vasectomy reversed after marrying Gloria. Maybe it’s God’s way of getting back at me for having it done in the first place. Maybe it’s God’s way of getting back at me for living the life I lived before hooking up with Gloria. You remember the whore I used to be?”
“Yeah I do. Talking about a body count.”
“God blessed me with never getting an STD but I guess his blessings stopped at that. Then again maybe he’s just teaching me a lesson. I don’t know. But the thing of it is that ever since the miscarriage, ever since being THAT close to being a father, my whole outlook on life has been different. After the miscarriage I just got to thinkin’ that the way I used to act isn’t worth it. I wanted to change. I wanted to be better. I wanted to be a person that I’d want my kid to look up to. If it were a son, I’d want him to see me as the example of how to be a man; how to treat women; how to treat people and yet not be taken advantage of. If it were a daughter, I’d want her to see me as the example of how a man should treat her and to never settle for anything less.”
“Seeing that we can’t have kids of our own, I try to turn that into being a positive role model for all my fans. So yeah to say that I’m conflicted would be the understatement of the century. Do I wanna go out there and just decimate all of my opponents and leave them feelin’ like they were ran over by a Mack truck?! Absolutely! But then I get to thinking about that poor kid whose life I ruined. Stevie Dreams was just a kid that was just breaking into the business. He looked up to me.”
“Then I ruined his life.”
“I don’t want to be some pushover and I won’t be a pushover…but I don’t wanna ruin anyone’s life either.”
“Wow. Shit Jonny! I…I didn’t know.”
“Nobody did. And nobody does. Capiche?”
“Capiche. Absolutely!”
“To be fair about the whole not wanting to ruin anyone’s life…everybody that signs up to do this game knows that their careers and lives are on the line each and every night. It ain’t ballet as they say.”
“You’re not wrong…but you never saw Stevie. It messed with me big time.”
“But J, you have this fatal four way coming up at Turmoil. The winner is the number one contender to the US Title! You can’t go into it like…”
**--Jonny sternly lifts his head up and gets into Tony’s face with a few tear drops strolling down his face--**
“I can’t go into it like what? Like this?! Speaking of turmoil, my entire insides are in turmoil right now! No not because of the delicious food we just ate but because of what I just shared with you, and what I know that I have to be ready for at Turmoil! Do I keep going down the path that I’ve been going down since joining AW or do I just swallow everything that I’ve taught myself since I fucked up Stevie Dreams and just go into this match with guns-a-blazing? Do I go into this match trying to be the good role model, thinking “If I win, cool, if I lose, that’s fine too” or do I go in there with the devil may care attitude and steamroll everyone in my way – including CJ – and be damned if I’m not walking out of there as the number one contender?”
“You have no idea just how conflicted I am T! And it’s not a good feeling to have being in the sport that I’m in! Championships are the bread and butter of this sport! If you’re Champion, you’re the best of the best! Nobody can deny your abilities! Nobody can deny that you’re what you say you are! This is one of those opportunities that I’ve been begging for and now that I’ve finally got it…I can’t let it slip through my fingers!”
“And tomorrow I go and have Thanksgiving dinner with one of those people!”
“Helluva situation isn’t it?”
**--Jonny straightens up Tony’s lapels and suit then wipes the tears from his own face before straightening up his own suit and walking back inside. Tony’s left outside to soak in everything that was just laid on him as the scene fades to black. When the scene fades back in we’re faced with a desolate land with the stench of death in the air. Everything has the tinge of red to it. The camera slowly zooms out to put Jonny Cedrone into the shot as he stands there with spear in hand, surveying the Armageddon-laden land.--**
“Decimation. Annihilation. Destruction. Demolition. Obliteration. Different words meaning one thing. Devastation.”
“Four people enter. Only one person stands as victor.”
**--The camera pans around to the front of Jonny Cedrone still looking out at wake of destruction left behind by seemingly himself.--**
“In war, to survive you must do what you must do – but to win…you must do the things that you wouldn’t normally do. Too much is at stake to merely survive.”
**--Jonny looks dead into the camera--**
“I. Must. Win!”
**--The scene cuts to black. The scene now cuts to in front of the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania! In front of the arena stands Jonny Cedrone. He opens the doors and walks in. The scene cuts to the inside of the arena. Now we’re set up at the ring as we see our warrior make his way down the ramp as they’re still setting everything up for the big Turmoil pay-per-view. He goes over to a seat at ringside takes everything in. The camera comes up to him and he begins to speak--**
“In just a few short hours one of the biggest events in wrestling today kicks off. It’s aptly named Turmoil. Because with everything going on in this company it can all be summed up with one word: turmoil.”
“Tonight there will be chaos and destruction and mayhem and havoc and decimation and so much turmoil that when everything’s said and done, the Wells Fargo Arena will be a bedlam! Nothing will be left of anything or anybody. It will just be a desolate, apocalyptic scene out of a science fiction movie! And one such war that will leave this place in such a state will be the Number One Contendership match for the US Title!”
“Tonight there will be chaos and destruction and mayhem and havoc and decimation and so much turmoil that when everything’s said and done, the Wells Fargo Arena will be a bedlam! Nothing will be left of anything or anybody. It will just be a desolate, apocalyptic scene out of a science fiction movie! And one such war that will leave this place in such a state will be the Number One Contendership match for the US Title!”
**--Jonny takes a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing--**
“In this war four people will enter but only one will stand as victor. We will have four of the greatest athletes this business has to offer going to war to proclaim themselves as the number one contender to the United States Championship! The question is: who will it be?”
“Will it be Allister McKissick? A man who has done nothing but good things since joining this company. A man who won the World Cup and hasn’t looked back since. His trajectory here in Action Wrestling just keeps going higher and higher! He’s good, but is he good enough? He’s strong, but is he strong enough? Does he possess that fire – that passion that it takes to be Championship material here in Action Wrestling? Will he go that extra mile? Will he drive that stake through each of our hearts to achieve the goal and win the war?”
“Will it be Alice Gemini? We all know her impressive resume. We know the wake of destruction she’s left along her way in Action Wrestling! She’s a Pure Cup winner. I’ve been to battle with her so I know that she has no qualms with driving a stake through her own mother in order to obtain victory in anything she’s involved in. But what is she like when she has someone standing across the ring just as hungry as she is? What is she like when she’s standing across the ring from someone that wants that win just as badly as she does? Will she pull out all of the stops and stop at nothing until she gets what she went to battle for? I mean, I’m sure she will but will it be enough?”
“Will it be CJ Phoenix? A newfound friend of mine. One-third of the Trios Cup Champions. He’s one helluva wrestler and an even better fighter! I just spent Thanksgiving with him and Spencer a couple of days ago. What will this war do to our friendship? Those two wonderful men have been nothing but amazing to me and have wanted me to join King Shit with them. I’ve been putting it off because it’s a big decision. When you’re a lone wolf like I am, you can’t just change in a snap of your fingers. On that front you two will get my answer very soon! Sooner than you think! CJ has been to war many times and he’s come out as victor in some and victim in others. Much like all of us the times he’s lost is weighing heavily on his mind and heart. So tonight the man is fighting two battles. One with the rest of us and the other with himself. So will he be able to fight both battles and come out victorious in both?”
“The simple answer to all of those questions, with much love and respect due to CJ is no. The answer to who will win this war is: Me!”
“For far too long I’ve pussyfooted during my time here in Action Wrestling. That time has come to a close. Ever since I signed my name on the dotted line my number one goal has been winning the World Championship and having been in the ring with the reigning World Champion and losing, that has only lit a fire under my ass hotter and higher than it’s ever been before!”
**--Jonny stands up and puts his fists on top of the barricade and leans his weight onto them--**
“This war tonight will not be for the weak, it won’t be for the squeamish and it won’t be for the faint of heart! In war, to survive you must do what you must do – but to win…you must do the things that you wouldn’t normally do. Too much is at stake to merely survive. I’m in this to thrive and to move up in the rankings! For too long I’ve been content with where I’m at. Only doing my complaining in secret. Tonight I do something about it! Tonight actions speak louder than words! People have found too much solace in the fact that I’m this nice guy and have used me as a punching bag.”
“Tonight it ends!”
“Destruction and devastation will lie in my wake and so will three souls of the victims laid in front of me like lambs to slaughter. Blood and tears will be shed. Bones will be broken. Then, and only then, will I find solace in your pain. Okay, let’s be honest here, the only person’s pain that I will find solace in will be Gemini’s but make no mistake about it – if you’re put in front of me, I will go beyond what I’ll have to do in order to win. It doesn’t matter if it’s Mr. McKissick or CJ. In war there are no friends, there are no acquaintances…only winners and losers and tonight I’m walking out as the winner and I’ll be challenging for the United States Championship!”
“Tonight I take my destiny into my own hands. Losing is not an option. I’m coming for blood. I’m coming for gold!”
**--The camera zooms in on a very determined look on Jonny Cedrone as we fade to black--**
