JOHNNY RAIKE versus CJ O'DONNELL

“I've found myself thinking about my past as of late. They say it is ones past who shapes who he is in the present.”

[Fifteen years ago.]

[Fade in on a small country like homesite in the outskirts of Boston. A small almost lifeless town, hidden in the valley of nothingness, as if it didn't even exist. There are no children running on the streets, no fathers parading their brand new automobiles down the roads, nobody. Nobody that we can see at least.]

[We cut to pale gray single story house and roll up the grassy front yard where we move inside the cracked doorway. In the distance we hear a faint cry, a wailing voice of a disturbed little boy. Brown hair, blue eyes, a slender child is he. His knees grind into the carpet floor, his body buckles at the waist, but his eyes peer up, glaring between the fingers that cover his face.]

[Before him lies his grandfather, literally lifeless on the sofa. Blood soaks through his cotton shirt, dripping down his arm as remains motionless. Forever. The child screams as a man tramples out the front door, his mother in his arms, and suddenly the child's broken heart comes together and he storms after the man, tears trickling down his cheeks. His mother cries out to him, demanding that he stay put but a young Caleb James O’Donnell doesn't listen, he never did. Caleb charges a now attentive man whose face remains hidden underneath the black cloak and he lunges towards him with such a force that Hercules himself would be proud. But the child falls, he falls at the boot of the man who stole his father's life and now steals his mothers to take as his own.]

[Present day.]

[Black screen.]

“Growing up my grandfather demanded absolute perfection from me, he demanded I did everything the right way and then some. No matter what it was, who it was against, I always had to come out on top and I always had to leave the other children behind in their misery, defeated, and conquered.”

“He was everything I ever wanted to be. Brash, bold, intelligent, respected and unstoppable. In my eyes, he was perfect, in his eyes, I wanted to see myself. The night he passed away I looked into those same eyes that he looked at me with, and what I saw was a man who had been destroyed. I saw a man who let others be close to him, I saw a man who for one brief moment let his guard down. I realized that the only man capable of defeating my grandfather was himself. I realized that he was as weak as those that he had conquered but I was too blind to see it before.”

“The man who murdered my grandfather…"

[Pause.]

“...set me free."

[Fade in.]

[Lavish furnishings, state of the art electronic software, Piccaso's hanging from the walls. There's no need to go through this endless tirade once more, you should know the scene by now.]

“People keep telling me I've dug myself in a hole that Lady Munin herself couldn't climb out of. They say I keep digging deeper and deeper with everything I say, to a point that Redrum himself would seize to be able to exist in, even if he is trapped in that fucked up little world that Apex calls his imagination.”

“To those people I simply laugh, they don't know me. Nobody knows me but I'm sure they'll try and tell you who I am. I'm sure everyone will try and tell you who Caleb James is and what he is and isn't capable of doing. Again, I laugh.”

[The voice is familiar by now, at least it should be. Though at this time its dry, as bland as you'll ever hear it though somehow, some way, it still bares that ruthless accent that makes you quiver, makes you fear him though your mind tells you to stand strong. It is the voice of the wealthy snot nosed bastard of a man who has taken the world by storm and lives under the burning spotlight that is Unstable.]

[We stare at him, once again looking through the ceiling-to-floor window behind him that reveals the sun gently setting on another day and falling over the neon sky. His fingers intertwine almost perfectly, meticulously, behind his neck, his face half hidden in shadows as he stares downward. His brown hair is slicked back, every strand, every thread perfectly gelled into place. But despite the clean shaven visage, the sharp suit, the spit shining clean office there is something remarkably predatory about him. Something unreal; possibly from his raw features, maybe it's that dagger's slash of a smile, maybe it's the gleam in his eyes, his steel blue eyes.]

“This week I get to face a man, a champion, who will tell me 1000 different ways as to how he's going to save the world. He'll probably list his entire resume as if he's applying for a new job at the local mom and pop diner. He'll tell us again and again how he's on his way up the ranks of place that has long since been flushed down the toilet after a promising start. However, what he won't do is impress me.”

[O’Donnell spares a sharp smile, showing any real emotion for the first time.]

“I'm sure he'll sit in his little locker room and think of ways to take me down, I'm sure he'll continue to play the roll of the savior who was above the likes of me only to turn around and have his feelings crushed by nothing more then a few words. Suddenly I have given the Titan of Midway champion a reason to fight, a reason to live, a reason to want to kick my ass.”

“I'm so glad I could inspire you Maxwell, really, I'm honored that your fuses are about as long and thick as the blue balls you had while lusting over midgets at the local Gentlemen's club.”

[Caleb sneers as he reaches down to his oak desk, scooping up a glass of wine with his fingertips.]

“I'm sure Johnny Raike will insult me, where I'm from, and tell me I do not understand the true meaning of Unstable as often as he can. If he doesn't, someone else will. But really Raike, your creativity amazes me that much. You'll snarl, you'll snap, and you'll preach to me about the lifestyle I live. My response? I'll wonder what I could have possibly said to upset you and then wonder if this is a wrestling intervention or a roast. Whether I should offer you the number of a psychiatrist, or simply laugh at your piss poor verbal delivery. I'm not going to sit here and tell the world that I will beat you to a bloody pulp, I could, but I won't. I'm not a pretender Raike, I'm not a disturbed individual who carries around a title as reassurance to his manhood. Unlike the rest of these little inbreeds, I make but one guarantee.”

[Caleb sips from his wine.]

“I fully realize that some of you don't see the pointlessness of arguing with one another about who'd beat whose ass, who kisses whose ass, and whose so hard-core that they would eat their own ass if meant their survival. To each one of you, I look forward to you all mumbling these mouthed threats about being the biggest, baddest, most under rated, under appreciated, I've got four arms dislocated son of a bitch to ever grace a wrestling ring.”

“And I can see it now. Now that the Mastermind of Unstable has released another promotional video Johnny Raike will raise his title, claim how he defeated two men to be a champion, and he'll probably say how he should be the first one to face Press for the PAW Heavyweight Champion. Sorry to burst that bubble Johnny but only one man gets that first shot and that man is … ME!”

“One begins to wonder if Johnny Raike is indeed a wrestler, or merely an actor dressed up as one. I wish I could say I understand it, however I've never been low enough on the ladder to feel the need to chase anyone around.”

[He sets the glass down, running his devious tongue along his lower lip, licking the wine from it.]

“But that is neither here nor there. Raike can fight the good fight it's truly no concern of mine, hardly any of my business. It's not something I feel the need to watch over with binoculars and a tape recorder because quite frankly I don't care and only a spineless coward would ever resort to measures that extreme. So if you are asking yourself why am I bringing this up? It's simple. 'Cuz before Johnny goes off on his ill advised tirade about conquering NEW and his meteoric rise to the top of it by defeating men but let me tell you something Raike. I want you to think back to over a month ago when I defeated you in that three way tag team match. That was the same match where I showed I belonged in PAW. Where I would do anything to prove I have not hit a sophomore slump. Raike sure you may be a champion but I am undefeated against you. I know what you bring inside that ring once that bell rings. ”

“So while you bore the world from your little house on the prairie don't forget for a damn second just who exactly it is you are facing. What we did against others in fact has no baring at all on what I'll do against you. All we have is the future, that's ALL we have.”

“But from the looks of things, your future is headed straight down the toilet with NEW to a whirl pool of shit. And while your down there kiddo, pulling the logs of crap off of your skin, tell Trixie that Caleb says hello."

[It's quite awkward seeing a cold hearted man such as O’Donnell batting his fingers into the camera but that is in fact what he is doing, mockingly saying hello to his former partner in PAW.]

“Cuz I'm not a believer in fate, I don't need to make up little fairy tells about race car drivers and god knows what to tell myself I'm going to come out on top. So if you didn't learn anything from me over these past few minutes then stick the wooden corndog sticks in your ears and clean out that wax 'cuz if you only remember one thing I say then let it be this.”

[Zoom in on the face of The Distinguished, baring the most infamous facial expression to ever exist, the famous "smirk you wanna smack." His jaded lips pressed together, his steel blue eyes barreling down upon you. The man is in his element and when Caleb is on, nothing can touch him.]

"I KNOW I will walk away from Wicked as a winner. You see if Raike was such a great champion and actually believed in himself he would of had this been a title match. I know he is scared and that is fine. Pretend not to be scared Johnny but the truth will come out soon enough.”

[O’Donnell wrenches back, arrogant smile across his face.]

“Winning this match is not the ONLY guarantee I will give you this week! It's not for the people, it's not for the little starving children in Ethiopia. Eh-eh. This one folks….”

[Pause.]

“...This one's for me.”

[Darkness.]