Post by Tatiana on Nov 27, 2023 2:19:36 GMT -5
Prologue: The Potency of Venom (On Camera Vignette)
What makes a legend in this business?
Is it longevity?
Maybe brand loyalty?
Or perhaps one’s ability to come up clutch in the big moments?
The truth is rather more difficult to describe than with a simple epitaph. If you ask ten wrestlers what constitutes a real legend - you’ll get fifteen different answers. And for good reasons too… You see, everyone’s idea of what a real legend is varies because nobody is the same - two grapplers don’t share the same move set, merely the same philosophy. A LEGEND in one federation might only be a solid journeyman in another.
However, there are a few exceptions to this rule.
One of those is the man known by the insiders as Daniel Connor Fehl.
Or… More legendarily: Downfall
Here is a man who has held World Championships in multiple federations, he’s won hundreds of matches all over the world and sold countless millions in merchandise. Not only is Downfall a former Turmoil winner - but also a runner-up in the toughest tournament in all of pro wrestling.
And that’s just the things he’s done in the past.
It doesn’t account for all he’ll yet to accomplish in his career.
Past | Present | Future
Downfall is a good bet to be at, or near the top of any list.
We’ve all seen his transition from a death-defying high-flier into a sadistic hard-hitting brawler. Everyone knows what he’s capable of when fully motivated and just how violent he can become when in reach of his goals. We recently witnessed what he did to Teo Blaze in order to reach the finals of this year’s turmoil - and Teo Blaze is no pushover in his own right.
But is that going to be enough to overcome the Action Wrestling World Champion in this year's Turmoil Finals?
Maybe | Maybe not.
This year, Turmoil is MORE than just the right to be called the AW MVP - it’s MORE than ‘just’ winning the greatest tournament in the business. This year the winner won’t just walk away with the Superstar of the Year - but ALSO the AW World Heavyweight Champion.
HOLY SHIT | THIS TURMOIL IS A THING OF LORE!
And with good reason…
Most champions would be quaking with rage over the surprise of having to defend the belt at such an event… My predecessor would have been on her knees paying lip service to anyone and everyone backstage willing to get such a stipulation overturned. But I’m not a little bitch like Jill Park, so I welcome the opportunity to prove why I’m both the AW World Champion as well as the greatest wrestler on planet Earth today.
But before I address homeboy. I think it’s appropriate to say a few words about Gerrard Angelo in the aftermath of our grueling semi-final to get into this monumental position.
- - -
It would be easy for me to stand here and pretend that I dominated Angelo. I could puff my chest out and talk about his criminal underestimation of my abilities and make light of his unenviable position of having to defend his all-in briefcase as if it were the World Title itself.
But passive-aggressive is more of my thing, so I won’t address any of that.
-wink-
Instead, it’s only right for me to applaud Angelo for his efforts. He fought like a tiger to make it through one of the hardest-fought battles in this year's tournament, overcoming brutally tough opposition in the form of Odin Balfore to even make it into the Semi-Finals.
Don’t get me wrong… I hate Gerrard Angelo.
But I respect his ability in the ring.
And despite the fact that he’s set to defend that briefcase of his, I’m also smart enough to realize that he’s still a threat to my championship so long as he continues to hold that briefcase. And though my attention is on defeating Downfall to become the 2023 AW Superstar of the year - I also know that a cornered and injured snake is the most dangerous.
Rest assured that no matter what the outcome of Turmoil may bring to either one of us. The AW Universe has not seen the last of Angelo vs Jolee. And no matter the cause, no matter the stipulation, and no matter the prize up for grabs - That match will ALWAYS be a marquee main event.
So, until next time big guy | go fuck yourself.
- - -
Back to business…
It amuses me that there are still people out there who see me as the underdog in our Turmoil finale. Despite everything I’ve overcome this year. After dethroning the greatest champion in AW history and overcoming ‘unbeatable odds’ time after time on my way to this moment - I am still seen as the tentative champion barely clinging to her spot at the top of the mountain.
Maybe it’s because of my small stature, or my misfortune over the first 20 months of my AW career. Hell, it could be down to the unreal talent that somebody at the top of the mountain here has to contend with. But for whatever reason, many still think that I’m a fluke - that I’m a flash in the pan, destined to have her dreams shattered by a man like Downfall.
The king of pain, himself…
I can say that the more people doubt me, the harder I fight to prove them wrong. They said I could never be the champion |yet I’m at the top. They all said I could never overcome Jill Park | and now she’s in PT while I’m the World Champion. And they said that I’d never reach the finals of Turmoil, much less by defeating BOTH The Sitcom and Gerard Angelo.
Again… Here we are.
Now they say that there’s no way I’ll overcome the most driven, sadistic, and vile motherfucker in wrestling today. That Downfall is going to put his foot on my throat and snuff out this ‘pipe dream’ ending in 2023.
Even Vegas has me at a 2:1 disadvantage.
That’s just the thing, though… None of this plays out on paper.
Statistics are just a list of things you did yesterday.
And the whole metric can change in a matter of seconds.
Downfall is undeniably a bad motherfucker | An actual living Legend.
Every legend has to start somewhere, and every icon will have his inevitable downfall. For him, it could be argued that his ascension to immortality came when he defeated Regan Vorhees in 2021 to win Turmoil. And despite falling in the finals last year to Spencer Adams - he’s remained one of the most feared wrestlers in AW.
His ascension is undeniable.
But what of his downfall?
They all act like the pressure is on me. Yes, I have to defend the World Championship in the finals of Turmoil - but what happens after he comes up short two years in a row? Has the downfall already begun for the king of pain? And if so - what comes next if he fails to dethrone the ‘plucky underdog’ and winds up second best once again?
I guess that’s the whole gambit, isn’t it?
Winning is a drug.
And like any drug… The potency of its venom decreases with every HIGH | until one day you CRASH back down to earth and are left with nothing more than a faded legacy and a lot of scars.
- - - - - -
ACT I | The art of hubris (on camera)
| NOT |
Honestly, being Champion was about the only positive thing going for her at the moment. Her personal life was starting to spiral into the abyss, her relationship was on the verge of falling apart after allegations of infidelity on behalf of her fiancée, and now she’s left with the prospect of defending the AW Championship in the main event of Turmoil against a fucking psychopath.
|deep breath / exhale|
Not only was all of that going on, but she also had the lurking prospect of whoever ends up with that all-in briefcase cashing in on her at any moment… And this god-damned camera crew following her around like Lissie Hope on Big Brother.
“You seem tense.”
Jolee’s eyes lifted out of deep thought and onto her friend and manager Ruby Goldhirsh. Few have been as supportive of TJ as Ruby, and nobody has worked harder to get her into this position. They have been a fixture in Action Wrestling since TJ was signed as her first-ever wrestling client. And together they’ve gone through the ups and downs of stardom here in AW.
“Is it that obvious?”
TJ responded with a half-cocked grin, sipping on her decaf iced coffee. The two of them were hanging around catering awaiting the start of the big turmoil fan-fest/press day - Jolee, dressed in her street clothes had the AW Championship folded neatly on the table between them while Goldhirsch took a drag from her lit cigarette.
Was that even allowed here?
Eh, she was the champion’s manager.
She can do whatever she wants.
“Are you nervous about Turmoil?”
“I’m anxious. But that’s true of every match… I don’t care if it’s against Downfall, Jill Park, or a broomstick. The day I stop being anxious is the day I retire.”
As stated above | the business is like a drug.
It’s time to quit once you stop getting that high from it.
And for TJ… After 25 years - she was still as obsessed, anxious, and driven as when she was a no-name 17-year-old kid at ringside for the first time. All that’s changed is the pitch of her voice and the nature of her body aches in the morning.
“There’s no shame in being worried about Turmoil. You’re one of the best in the world - and you’ve overcome so much to get here. But Downfall is a different animal than anyone else we’ve come up against. Only an idiot would shrug off the potential threat he poses.”
That was an understatement, though TJ had to try and play it cool as they were being filmed for posterity.
“He should be worried about me. I’m the Action Wrestling World Champion, and I’ve beaten the whole world in order to get here.”
She quips between sips of her beverage.
“He’s a tough bastard, no doubting that. But this is my match to lose, and I don’t intend on losing it.”
Frankly stated. Ruby chuckles, exhaling a plume of cigarette smoke into the air as she eyes the illustrious World title on the table between them. To say that TJ has had to beat the world to get here was no hyperbole - there were no duds on the AW roster, and she’s had to overcome the best of the best to become champion.
Dake Ken Jr. - despite being a blowhard, is a hell of an athlete.
The Sitcom - United States Champion and fastest rising star here.
Gerard Angelo - Former World Champ, current asshole of the year.
And that’s to say nothing of Jill Park, Torture, Jake Paul, and the rest of the stooges she’s had to conquer to get to the top.
“You keep talking about Downfall being a Legend in the business. It’s a shame for him to be coming up against the Legend Killer.”
“Ha… Love it. We need to get that on a T-Shirt someday.”
“Deal… But only after we win this tournament. It pairs well with Wrestler of the Year.”
It was easy to talk the talk, but walking the walk was going to be a different animal altogether. She and Downfall both needed this for different (and yet the same) reasons - championships aside, this was a crossroads for both of them. And they both have more than something to prove.
“I’ve been watching a lot of his work on tape. He doesn’t have a lot of weakness in his game, but there are a few points worth exploiting.”
Ruby added to the conversation - she was big on ring psychology and trying to pinpoint weaknesses in TJ’s opponents in an effort to help her client gain some advantage.
“And?”
“And he’s aggressive… Maybe to a fault. I think we can take advantage of that and use it to our advantage.”
“Fools rush in…”
“Exactly.”
There was a lot of truth in that… Downfall was an ultra-aggressive fighter with an offensive mindset. He doesn’t believe in playing defense and wants to batter the shit out of his opponents to both destroy and demoralize them. To this point, it’s proven a winning strategy - but he’s never come up against somebody like her before.
In many ways, they were polar opposites. She uses defense to set up her offense wearing her opponents down while Downfall wears them out with unrelenting attack. It was a clash of philosophy and styles that would see one of them victorious at the end of the night.
“It’s going to be hell for both of us. Either he’ll kick my head into the 3rd row, or I’ll twist him into a pretzel, dip him in honey mustard, and serve him to the wrestling gods on a pretty platter.”
“Oooh… I’m kinda hungry. I’m going to go get a pretzel.”
Ruby announced with excitement, however as she stood from the table - one of the agents called out to them.
“TJ, Ruby… You’re up!”
They’re up… Was it really time to go in front of the press?
“Ugh… Fiiiine” she said with a sigh “I’ll get a pretzel after we’re done.”
Tatiana couldn’t help but chuckle as she stood up and gathered the title up onto her shoulder. Ruby snuffed out the cigarette and the two of them headed toward the agent and onto the stage to meet the press.
- - - - - -
ACT II | Dissident of love (Off Camera)
Did that make any sense at all? No. But it’s the painful and often jumbled mess that has been my life over the past several months. I had climbed the ladder many times over before finally reaching the zenith and becoming the AW World Champion - and just when things were starting to look up, I got news that my fiancée had been unfaithful…
And worse yet, she was unfaithful when I was at my lowest and in desperate need of somebody to help me stand on my own two feet.
Thank God this hasn’t gotten out…
It was both a blessing and a curse - having to keep quiet on this whole mess just to preserve my professional dignity ahead of the biggest challenge of my whole life. And why? All so my opponents wouldn’t take the low road and drag my personal life into the circus?
Or was it because I was afraid to confront the possibilities of my own failings in my personal life?
Was I not good enough for her?
Was I too old for her?
Was I not attractive enough for her?
Was I just a fun little fling that went too far?
All these doubts crept in and kept me awake at night. It was hard to lay next to her in bed at night and not obsess over the fact that she was a fucking hoe. | You can’t spell Hope without hoe. | The fact that she could sleep so peacefully in her selfishness while I writhed with anguish was evident to me, and me only. I had become complacent, trustworthy, and too eager to turn a blind eye to these things.
But who was I really protecting?
Myself, or her?
I sighed softly, easing myself out of bed so as not to wake her. Quietly, I gathered some things and made my way through the darkness of our bedroom and into the living room. The door creaked ever so lightly as I shut it behind me - thankfully she remained asleep as I passed through the living room and into the kitchen.
“Sometimes life really sucks…”
I whispered to myself as I retrieved a pad of paper and a pen before sitting down at the kitchen table. Quietly, I stared down at it - almost expecting that it’d somehow fill itself with words.
This whole mess was so surreal - almost like a story I’d have to write about a fictional character instead of my actual reality.
I chuckled to myself… Who was I kidding? I was living in a world of fiction by pretending everything was fine - and it was tearing me apart inside. This whole ordeal was actually making me look forward to getting in the ring with a lunatic like Downfall just to distract me from the selfish girl sleeping in the other room.
“At least I can still escape into my work.”
And escape is what she was planning to do. By focusing solely on the coming battle against a living legend with the honor of being crowned AW Wrestler of the Year up for grabs - the combat and strife of professional wrestling was a means to an end. An escape from the trials of reality - and like many of her peers… A means by which to cope with real-life trauma.
This is why so many of us are alcoholics and/or drug addicts.
“Focus on the fight. On beating that asshole Downfall into a pulp and cementing myself into the upper echelon of the wrestling industry. I’m the world champion - I’ve been doing this since most of our peers were children. He should be worried about me, not the other way around.”
Despite many pundits painting me into a corner, I was far from the underdog in this match. It’s true that winning Turmoil was never going to be easy, but neither was beating The Sitcom and Angelo to get into the finals. You would have to be daft beyond comprehension to consider yourself crowned before the thing ever kicked off.
He and I are literally going to tear the building down in an effort to stand alone at the proverbial mountaintop. And I was here for it - the fight, the pain, the psychological chess match. All of it would provide both an outlet to vent the frustrations in my personal life as well as an offer of distraction to what was becoming an all-consuming anxiety.
“Kill or be killed. Win, or let win. These are the moments all of us get into this business for. The thrill of the hunt, the spectacle of the battle… The euphoria of victory and the crippling depression of the loss. It makes this sport both poetic and tragic all at the same time.”
It was all a distraction…
I knew it… And that’s why I was so absorbed into it.
“Fucksake… Why does this bullshit always have to happen to me?”
I sat back in the chair, pen in hand and my soul twisting into an awful knot. Maybe I was the idiot? Maybe I picked Hope for all the wrong reasons? Any fool could see that she was absolutely gorgeous. I could get lost in those blue eyes - her body was as if sculpted from marble and she was a fucking stallion in bed.
But she was also selfish, spoiled, and often self-serving.
Did I make the wrong decision only to have it literally blow up in my face like a priority mailing from the Unabomber?
“What is life?”
I wiped the corner of my eyes as they became salty with tears.
“Get your shit together… This isn’t the first time you’ve been brokenhearted.”
I straightened up and focused on the pad of paper. It was time to write my feelings down and then slip out of here. It would be best for me to check into a hotel and be alone where I could focus on Turmoil as opposed to this toxic relationship.
It’s the only thing I could do…
- - - -
Epilogue: Dear John (A private letter to Hope Russo)
Hope,
I’m writing you because I’m afraid of the pain this conversation will bring me. Maybe it’s a mark of cowardice, or maybe I don’t want to let you see me cry? But it’s better than just getting up and leaving without a word otherwise.
Recently, it has been brought to my attention that you have not been entirely faithful in our relationship, and while the aim of this letter isn’t to attack you. It may come off as somewhat abrasive due to the pain that you’ve caused me over the past couple of weeks.
In truth, I’ve been living a lie, trying to pretend everything was fine. I tried to ignore the revelations and convince myself that the tryst with one of your former Valkyrie tag partners in September was just gossip. But the more I dug, the more I saw the truth.
You lied to me. You deceived me.
And honestly… You broke my heart.
I love you, Hope… You can’t even comprehend how much I love you. I can’t put into words the way I felt every time I got to see you. The butterflies in my stomach - the adoration - the admiration… I was so in love with you that I was prepared to swear off all the other girls and spend the rest of my life with you.
And though I always suspected that you were having an affair when you disappeared on me for two months, I let it go because we were just dating then, and not set to be married. I realize now that I was just as unfaithful to myself as you were to me.
We made a vow to one another… You were my ride-or-die girl, and I wanted nothing else in the world except to be at your side.
And you jumped to break that vow at the first opportunity.
I wonder how many other girls you’ve managed to convince that we’re in an open relationship? And the fact that you told me this same thing about your previous relationship gives me pause to wonder if I was nothing but a trophy for you to claim.
I think it’s better if I didn’t know… I’m already broken as it is.
There’s no need to kick a dead woman.
I really thought that you were going to be the person I spent the rest of my life with. And now, I see that I was in love with someone incapable of really loving anyone other than herself.
This hurts me more than I can even put into words. And so, I’ve decided to leave in order to try and save myself from the pain this has brought me. I never wanted things to end this way - and I hate to be the person writing a Dear John letter.
But it was this or just ghosting you altogether…
I don’t hate you, Hope. In fact, I love you… And like a fool, I will always love you in some way. But you broke my heart, trampled on my trust, and left me to pick up the pieces.
This hurts… Bad… And I’ll cry over you for days. But there was no other way to cross this broken bridge.
Yours,
TJ