{Cut to a panning show of a packed house of cheering fans as "Taking
You Down" by Egypt Central plays in the background}
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[Parsons]
Welcome one and all to TOTAL JAPAN WRESTLING! I'm Doug Parsons, and
with me is Ray Jones. Tonight, on the debut of Total Japan Presents,
we're here in a packed house ready for some action, and tonight we have
it in spades!
[Jones]
"We have it in spades?" Any more cliches you want to pull out?
[Parsons](ignoring Jones0
Tonight we'll see Theresa Desmond in action against the rookie Mike
Snider. A HUGE three-way elimination contest with Kimo 'Samurai'
Tazura, former amateur wrestler Thomas Moss and the massive wrestler
The Hunter.
[Jones]
First time we get to see Thomas Moss. Short guy, but MASSIVE build. He
calls himself the "Suplex Master" --
[Parsons]
I'm sure "Master of the Suplex" Cameron Strong might have something to
say about that.
[Jones]
Is that before or after Moss tosses him around 10 or 20 times?
[Parsons]
We're also see tonight three TJUS Championship ... er .. "tourney"
matches, as the Japanese great Masato Kismet takes on 'Young Dragon'
Kevin Nakamura, one half of the Storm Truppas, Lightning Truppa takes
on Rictor Showtime, and finally in our main event, "Nero" Byron Miles
takes on tourney favorite Vic Vasser.
[Jones]
What do you mean, "tourney"?
[Parsons]
It's not quite a tournament in the classic sense, but more on that later
in the show. Before the first match of the night, let's hear from one
of the competitors ...
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{Cut to the locker rooms, where Theresa Desmond is tying the final
knot in her shoes.}
[Desmond]
There are some advantages to being the only woman in a man's fed.
Getting the entire women's locker room to yourself, for example.
{Theresa finishes tying and faces the camera.}
[Desmond]
Still, there are a lot of questions. Most people look at my background
and pick up on the fact I do modern dance. That raises some eyebrows. How
do you go from being a dancer to kicking people in the face?
Well, there's an answer to that, but it doesn't make sense if your only
image of dancing school is a lot of little girls in ballet costumes
posing in front of mirrors. I went to a school with name, a school that tried
to produce dancers who would go on to make names of their own. It's the
difference between getting taught to wrestle by a washed up ex-wrestler
at you local gym and going to AWI's Launchpad or Cut n' Shoot, where they
practically fit you for a belt after you graduate.
So first day at the school they grouped us up by category, ballet over
here, modern interpretive dance over there, and told us to look around
at our group. They made is clear that these were the people we would
hate by the end of the year. Because they didn't grade us, they ranked us.
Being good wasn't enough, you had to be better than everyone else in
your group. Let the backstabbing begin.
That was the first time in my life I ever experienced pure competition
to see who was the best. Half the dancers dropped out within the first
three months. I survived. I thrived. I beat out everyone else in every
showing. It almost didn't matter what I was doing. I expanded into
martial arts, same thing. I pushed myself to the top. It's what I
do. Because competition is how I measure myself.
{Theresa stands up, tests the fit of her shoes, turns back to the
camera.}
[Desmond]
So that's it. Bottom line. Competition. That's what I want, that's
why I'm here. Which doesn't explain why I have a match with Mike Snider. An
eighteen year old with an immortality complex and delusions of
competence.
{Theresa shakes her head and casts her eyes upward.}
[Desmond]
Oh, I know why. Snider, he's a type, you see. I've seen carbon copies
of him at my self defense school dozens of times. Young, cocky, convinced
that he knows everything he needs to know to get to the top. Never,
never listens to the instructor. Never. Not until you knock him around a
bit, kick some of the arrogance out of him.
Normally, first thing I would do is get him away from his friends. Take
him off somewhere. Once he's not in front of people he feels he has to
impress, he stops posing and strutting. Starts to remember what
humility is. Then, you kick his legs out from under him. Scoop him up, send him
down again. Repeat until he finally realizes that he DOESN'T know
everything. Until he understands that people over twenty five might
still have something they can teach him. Until he understands his proper
place in the universe.
So, I'm thinking that Total Japan has tapped me to be the one to take
Snider down a few pegs. Lucky me. Well, Snider, if you're listening, I
don't have the option of taking you back to the woodshed. I'm afraid
I'm just going to have to humiliate you in front of everyone in the arena.
Once you've scraped up what's left of your ego, you'll thank me.
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[Parsons]
Earlier in the week, on
http://www.TotalJapan.us, the Storm Truppas made a
challenge to the youngster Snider, and Snider responded that he could
beat the Truppas in the tag match even if the Truppas chose his
partner. So sometime tonight, the Truppas have said they will announce
who they have chosen to tag with Snider on next week's Total Japan
Presents.
[Jones]
A rookie mistake, allowing your opponents to choose your partner. You
can't trust the people you know to tag with you half the time, much
less a complete stranger, or even worse, an enemy. The only thing
Snider has going for him is that he's new, so he hasn't had a chance to
make a real enemy yet.
[Parsons]
Let's head to the ring for the introductions for the first match here in
TJUS!
{Cut to the ring, and the ring announcer}
[Announcer]
WELCOME TO TOTAL JAPAN PRESENTS!!!! Tonight, our first match of the
evening is a one fall contest with a 30 minute time limit. Introducing
first ...
{Quick-paced generic techno music plays over the loudspeaker}
[Announcer]
From Winston-Salem, North Carolina, standing 5'8" and coming in at 150
pounds ....
TERESA DESMOND!!!!!
{Crowd cheers for the lithe Desmond as she enters the ring. She
looks determined and focused.}
[Announcer]
And her opponent ...
{"White and Nerdy" by Wierd Al blasts over the loudspeaker}
[Announcer]
From Blacksburg, Virginia, standing 6'3" and 230 pounds .... introducing
MIKE SNIDER!!!!!
{Mixed crowd response for the rookie as he enters the ring}
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Theresa Desmond vs. Mike Snider -->
http://www.totaljapan.us/videos/DesmondSnider.wmv
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[Parsons]
Rather than go for a cheap shot when time was running out, Mike Snider
chose to clap for his opponent and help her to her feet. That is a
class act from the newcomer.
[Jones]
He'll learn. When you have your opponent down, whether it be in the
opening part of the match or at the very end, you try to end it.
[Parsons]
He knew he wasn't gonna get a pin off, especially with "Sir Fozzie" as
the ref. Slowest man in existance.
[Jones]
So? You get another kick in, or do something to end the match so she'll
remember you. Get in her head that you're in it to the very end.
[Parsons]
I still think it was a classy move and one that shows respect to your
opponent.
[Jones]
Respect is TAKEN, not given.
{The crowd reacts as Lightning Truppa makes his way down the aisle,
his brother Thunder Truppa right behind him. Lightning has microphone
in hand.}
[Lightning]
Congratulations Snider, you tied with a girl.
{Snider grabs a mic}
[Snider]
Listen, you little punk, I ought to come down there right now and beat
your
head in.
[Lightning]
Come on down. I'm right here.
[Snider just smiles]
Yeah, you'd like that. Both of you against me. Although as I said
before, I could beat both of you.
[Lightning]
That's why we are out here. We have decided who your partner is.
{Snider waits and Lightning doesn't say anything.}
[Snider]
Well, are you going to tell me or keep wasting my time?
[Lightning]
She's standing in the ring next to you. We'll see you at the next event.
Chump.
{With that, Lightning and Thunder exit to the back. Snider, stunned,
just watches them leave. Finally, after they've disappeared behind the
curtain, he turns to Desmond. She is clutching her head and glaring at him
hatefully. Snider give his head a final shake before leaving the arena.}
[Parsons]
DESMOND is his partner?
[Jones]
That's what happens when you don't take respect. And the rookie learns
his first lesson.
[Parsons]
So next week, the Storm Truppas face off against the tag team of Mike
Snider and Theresa Desmond. Should be an interesting one. We'll be
right back after these prerecorded words from one of tonight's three
way elimination contestants, The Hunter ...
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{We cut to a gym. A single figure sits on the edge of the mat,
currently unwrapping tape from his hands. The sweat dripping from his
dark hair and covering his body speaks to the workout he just endured.}
[Man]
Who's afraid of the dark?
{The man doesn't look up as he speaks, but his rich baritone cuts the
quiet scene mercilessly. Continuing to unwrap his other hand, the man
known as The Hunter continues.}
[Hunter]:
It's been a long time since I had reason to ask that question, and to be
brutally honest about it, I'm not sure it's a question that's ever been
properly interpreted by the fans or the viewing public.
{Finished with his hands, he looks up, his dark gaze now directly
focused on the camera. A grim expression on his face, matching his
tone.}
[Hunter]
When the lights go out and my introduction is made, that line hangs in
the air like a warning shot, amping up the fans, and every now and
then, leading to the first surprise of the match.
(He pauses, a sly grin capturing his features.)
[Hunter]
Whether I'm already in the ring when the lights come back up, still up
in the entrance way or nowhere to be seen, that's never really been the
point to the question.
{Absently wiping away some of the sweat on his face, the Hunter's
expressions is back to one of pure seriousness.}
[Hunter]
It isn't about the mind games that I like to play, to see whether I can
win the match before the bell has even rung, because once you start
talking about the truly elite in the sport, those cat and mouse games
go out the window, and that sort of intimidation doesn't have the same
sort of effect.
{Even more of an edge has crept into his voice. There is no
resignation in his tone, just hard promise.}
[Hunter]
No, the darkness that question has always referred to is the kind that
happens at the end of the match. Whether it's the look in their eyes
when we're on the top rope and they know the Death Plunge is coming,
or the moment before I turn them over into the Death Grip at the middle
of the ring, it's that darkness that even the savviest, especially the
savviest of veterans fears. Falling into that darkness during a match
means defeat, complete and utter no matter who you are, what you've
done or who you've done it to.
{He pushes off the apron and begins to make his way towards the door,
the camera stays in place, but follows him, still capturing every word
even though you can no longer see his face.}
[Hunter]
But now it all starts over. Words are only words and reputations are
only stories told as much to convince the teller as as it is those
that'll listen. For me, it starts with two and spreads from there.
{We fade to black, even as the last of his words fade with us.}
[Hunter]
Because in the end, there is only you and the darkness, I'm just here to
help you get there