Post by Steve Orbit on Mar 30, 2013 22:26:03 GMT -5
The following video package was put together by Freddy Whoa:
[Scene opens on a street corner. We cycle through a series of short clips. The first one finds Freddy Whoa standing on a street corner, looking sharp in a white shirt and a tan sports coat, mic in hand. He stops a random young lady walking down the street.]
Freddy Whoa: Excuse me, miss-- I'm Freddy Whoa with the Wrestling Championship Federation, can I ask you a quick question?
Young Lady: ... Ok?
Freddy Whoa: Who is the best wrestler alive?
[She thinks for about a half second.]
Young Lady: Jonny Fly.
[Next clip, it's an older man.]
Older Man: I would have to say Jonny Fly. When I think of professional wrestling, I think of Jonny Fly.
[Next clip, it's a group of college-aged kids. They say it together--]
College Kids: JONNY FUCKIN' FLY! WHOOO!
[Next clip, it's a guy in his 20's, wearing some indie wrestler t-shirt in public-- obviously a smark.]
Smark: Well... I mean, technically, overall, Jonny Fly is probably the greatest wrestler alive. Yeah. I'd say Jonny Fly, easily.
[Next clip, it's a young kid with his father. Freddy asks them both.]
Young Kid: Jonny Fly!
Father: Yeah, love him or hate him, he's the best.
[Next clip, we're at Family Feud! Steve Harvey is standing in front of some white family. He's got the cards in his hand and he's about to read the question.]
Steve Harvey: We asked one hundred men and women, who is the best professional wrestler in the business today. Jonah?
[Jonah's a middle-aged guy who's there with his wife and family. They're winning.]
Jonah: Um... Uh... I'm gonna say... Jonny Fly!
[His family jumps up and down, high-fiving and saying stuff like "good answer!" and "alright!"]
Steve Harvey: Ok, let's see if it's up there-- show me Jonny Fly!
DING!
[The number one slot in the scoreboard thing turns over and Jonny Fly's name is revealed, and worth all 100 points.]
Steve Harvey: Alright, number one answer! Actually, the only answer! I guess EVERYONE knows that Jonny Fly is the best wrestler in the world!
[The family jumps up and down some more, hugging each other. That was fun.
Now we find ourselves alone with Freddy Whoa, standing in front of a WCF backdrop. He's got a big smile on his face, as usual. Funny how Jonny Fly hired another African American right around the same time he announced his intentions to fire Steve Orbit, right? Cooincidence? Or is he trying to save face? NAACP? ACLU? LMNOP?That's right, JONNY FLY IS A RACIST! I'm pulling the race card. Pulling it big time. The gloves are off. I'll do anything to win.
What?
Where am I?
Oh.
So, here we are with Freddy Whoa, standing in front of a WCF backdrop. He's got a big smile on his face, as usual.]
Freddy Whoa: As you can see, I spent the last few days on the streets, asking for people's opinion on who's the best wrestler in the WCF. Jonny Fly was the answer, across the board, every time. Of course, Fly's greatness is no secret. His record speaks for itself-- but when it doesn't, he'll speak for his record... really, he'll tell anyone who will listen about his record. He won't stop. Anyway, you might be asking yourself why I'm talking about Mr. Fly so much-- it's not just because he's my boss... and what a wonderful, generous, beautiful boss he is... but it's because I have a special guest about to join me. A guest who will get into the ring with Jon-Jonny at Explosion. A man who is, in all likelihood and by everyone's estimation, going to become Flyjobber number one million and his special door prize is a one-way ticket to the unemployment office.
[Freddy touches his earpeice, recieving information from... you know, sound people or whatever.]
Freddy Whoa: Ok, I've just recieved word that he's here, Steve Orbit is here, and he's making his way to the set right now. So as I was saying, this is probably the Mack's last interview with the WCF, so I'm honored to be the one handling it. Hank Brown can suck a lemon.
[Freddy starts waving at Orbit, off-screen.]
Freddy Whoa: Hey, over here!
[Shortly, we see "The Mack" Steve Orbit step onto the scene, standing next to Freddy. He's wearing a zebra suit and oversized gold-framed sunglasses. The two men shake hands.]
Steve Orbit: What's up, Freddy?
Freddy Whoa: I was just talking about your match with Fly at Explosion, and the stipulation.
Steve Orbit: Yeah?
Freddy Whoa: Yeah, and I just want to take the opportunity to thank you so much for doing this interview. This will be great for my career-- I mean, great for the fans, they really wanna know what's going through your mind right now. Would you mind opening up and telling us what's going on?
Steve Orbit: Nah, I don't mind. Not at all, Freddy. You wanna know what's on my mind? Follow me.
[Orbit turns and walks away. Freddy is left standing with his jaw open. He shakes it off and waves at the camera crew to follow him as he chases behind Orbit. We make our way through the back halls of the WCF Arena, until we reach a loading dock. All of the doors are shut. Orbit goes to the overhead door in the middle, reaches for the handle at the bottom and pulls it all the way open. Behind the building, below the dock, there is a sea of people-- hundreds, maybe a thousand people, all crowded around the receiving area behind the WCF arena... but, for what reason? Have they all come to see Steve Orbit speak? Did he tell them there would be hookers? Free hookers, perhaps? We don't know, but they're here. Orbit steps through the door, onto the concrete dock, above the gathered masses. Freddy and his cameraman run to the outside, with Freddy instructing the cameraman to get a good shot from the view of the crowd.
So after some shakey-camera running around, we find ourselves in the middle of the crowd, with Steve Orbit standing alone, raised above, dead center, standing in front of a podium. The feather in his hat is abnormally large today. He looks regal. Poised. Presidential-- if his mom was white. He taps the microphone in front of him to check the PA system, which he set up earlier in the day. Everything seems good. Orbit nods his head a few times. He clears his throat, and begins to speak.]
Steve Orbit: I am happy to join with y'all today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our wrestling federation.
A few months ago at One, a great wrestler, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, won control of the WCF from Seth Lerch. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to hundreds of wrestlers who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.
But three months later, we must face the tragic fact that the roster is still not free. Three months later, the life of the WCF wrestler is still sadly crippled by the manacles of Jonny Fly and the chains of Pantheon. Three months later, the roster lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. Three months later, the roster is still languishing in the concerns of the WCF and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appaling condition.
In a sense we have come to our federation's arena to cash a check. When Jonny Fly took over the WCF, he was signing a promissory note to which every WCF wrestler was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all wrestlers would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, libery and the pursuit of the World title.
It is obvious today that Jonny Fly has defaulted on this promissary note insofar as I am concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, Jonny Fly has given me a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds". But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity in this federation. So we have to come to cash this check-- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind Pantheon of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of injustice to the sunlit path of justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to the entire roster. Now is the time to lift our federation from the quicksands of injustice, to the solid rock of brotherhood.
[Orbit steps back from the mic, clearing his throat again. The crowd is still. Silence. Until...
A man breaks away from the crowd, pushing his way to the front. He's an older black guy. He speaks up.]
Older Black Guy: Hold up! This is bulllllllshit! This why you brought us out here? So you can plaigiarize Dr. King?
[Just then, others start to speak up.]
Crowd Members:
"Yeah!"
"What the fuck, Orbit?"
"Where's the coke and hookers?!"
"Let's get him!"
[With a roar, the crowd goes into riot mode and begins to charge the loading dock. Orbit quickly retreats inside, yelling "BUT I HAVE A DREAM!" He shuts the overhead door just in time to latch it shut, avoiding the angry mob. They continue to bang on the door. Orbit, not knowing what to do, sees Freddy Whoa enter through a side door with his cameraman. Freddy slams the door shut and locks it before anyone can get in. Orbit looks at Freddy. Freddy looks at Orbit. Freddy motions for Orbit to follow him, and they go back through the halls, into the studio room where the scene began. Remember, where I said Jonny Fly is racist. Which he totally is. I saw him slap a little black baby one time, just to get his kicks. Seriously, what a jerk. The WCF backdrop hangs on the wall, but Orbit and Freddy instead opt to sit on folding metal chairs in a corner of the room. They both are breathing heavy from their narrow escape.]
Freddy Whoa: I guess that didn't go how you planned.
Steve Orbit: Nah, not really-- but yo, I didn't even get to the best part! I was just tryin' to make a mother fuckin' comparison, you know what I'm sayin'? It's called paying homage.
Freddy Whoa: ... Yeah. Whoa. Anyway, you wanna do the interview now?
[Orbit nods.]
Steve Orbit: Aight.
[Freddy reaches inside his jacket and pulls out his notes. He reviews them quickly before he begins.]
Freddy Whoa: Ok, Mack. Let's be honest here. You're facing Jonny Fly at Explosion, your job is on the line, and... people are expecting you to lose, Steve. Out of everyone I talked to on the street, only one person said they expected you to win-- and I don't think she understood the question, she was three years old and handicapped and didn't speak English-- anyway. Now, over the course of your career, you've rarely been the underdog, so how does it feel to know that people don't think you can beat Jonny Fly, even with the most dire of stipulations?
[Orbit nods in agreement, as he is well aware of the public opinion.]
Steve Orbit: It don't feel like nothin'. I don't care. I will say this-- it's like Fly himself said, people recognize patterns. People are used to seeing things happen a certain mother fuckin' way, in this case, they're used to seeing Fly win, every time. I've accompished some great things over the past year, but my record does not stand up to Jonny Fly's record. Not at all. I can't argue with fact, Freddy, I ain't that type of pimp. But the reality is that Jonny Fly can be defeated. Jonny Fly is a man, just like me or you. He has limits, and I'ma push them. He has weaknesses, and I'ma expose them to my advantage. He'll tell you he has no limits, he'll tell you he has no weaknesses-- and most of y'all will probably believe him, but it won't be the first time that the world is shocked by the outcome of a wrestling match, you know what I'm sayin'? That being said, I will say that I believe that the public will actually be more shocked than Jonny Fly himself, when he loses. Fly knows what's comin'. He's been pushin' all the right buttons, he's turnin' all the right keys-- he's getting the mother fuckin' outcome that he wants, the reaction that he wants. That's where I'll give the mother fucker credit. When he wants somethin', he makes it happen. I respect that. In this particular situation, you know what I'm sayin', he wanted to push Steve Orbit to the point where I became hungry again, to the point where I became unstoppable-- to the point where I am better than him. And that's exactly what I am. That's exactly what he's accomplished by challenging me.
[Freddy chuckles.]
Freddy Whoa: Whoa, Steve. Whoa. Did you really just say--
Steve Orbit: Yeah, I did. I said I'm better than Jonny Fly. Right here, right now, I am better than Jonny Fly-- I'm gonna go to Explosion, beat the mother fucker, and keep movin'. My career will not end at Explosion, Freddy. My career will START at Explosion. The world has never seen what Steve Orbit is capable of. They think they know me-- all they know, is what I've chose to show them over the past year. This past year-- from my record-breaking title reign, to my top performances at every single big event that the WCF has held-- that ain't been shit but a warm-up, homie. That's where Fly is dead wrong in all this. He thinks he knows what to expect. He thinks he knows Steve Orbit. He don't know shit, Freddy. You'll see.
Freddy Whoa: Ok. Alright. Let's switch gears. Up until the point he challenged you, were you happy with the way that Pantheon has handled the company as CEO?
Steve Orbit: Sure. I mean, I wouldn't say I was unhappy with it. The thing that burns me the most though, is that I was one of the main supporters of Fly becoming CEO. I stood up for that mother fucker. People in the locker room-- shit, my own brothers in Genesis, specifically Roy Speede-- they all predicted some shit like this, and I said, "nah, Fly ain't like that." Fly's a businessman, and this is the business he loves-- surely, he'll run the company the right way, you know what I'm sayin'. He's a wrestler, so he'll run it FOR the wrestlers-- not like Seth Lerch, who ran it for himself. But looking at it now, from my point of view, Jonny Fly is making the same mistake that Seth made. He thinks HE is what is gonna make this company great, he thinks HE is the one who has the mother fuckin' answer. Let me tell you what makes this company great, Freddy-- the roster. Every mother fucker who shows up week after week, living and breathing the sport of professional wrestling twenty-four seven. Not Pantheon, not Jonny Fly, but the entire roster, from our spineless coward World champion to the most newest mother fucker who's ink ain't even dry on the contract-- to a dude like me, who has been around WEEK IN and WEEK OUT for the entire year. No part-time bullshit comin' from the Mack. So yeah, when I said I didn't perform at a hundred percent every week, can you blame me? I've never taken no break. I've never gotten myself locked up or disappeared for whatever reason, you know what I'm sayin'? I've been tired, I've wanted to disappear, but I pushed through that shit. I fought through that shit. I've been here EVERY WEEK since I signed my fuckin' contract, and I've been giving stellar performances on a regular mother fuckin' basis. Listen, it's easy to perform at a hundred percent level every time-- if you only show up when you fuckin' feel like it. Bottom line is this, I'm the LAST mother fucker that Fly should be singling out as an underachiever. I'm a fuckin' workhorse for this company, I'm a brand mother fuckin' household name. And for him to belittle my accomplishments, and criticize my career-- it's not only insulting to me, but to every single mother fucker tryin' to make a name for theyself out here. If anything, Fly should be pointing to me as an example of a success story for the new guys. I'm a guy who came from absolutely nothing, but I put in work and dedicated my life to this sport, becoming one of the most well-known and accomplished professional wrestlers in the mother fuckin' world today. I've represented for the WCF since the day I walked in the door, Freddy.
[Freddy flips through his notes.]
Freddy Whoa: I see your point. So what about Pantheon's "mission", to save professional wrestling? Do you feel that Fly is geniunely trying to save the sport?
Steve Orbit: Let me tell you somethin', Freddy. Kid... rather, Polar Phantasm, he's the one who came up with Pantheon. Saving the sport was his thing, and he believed in it with his entire heart and soul, straight up. He was geniune. Fly's using it as a bullshit catchphrase, as propaganda to run the company the way he sees fit, and to make power moves that he ain't got no business making. Phantasm, wherever he is, and God bless him-- he would be a hundred percent against what Fly is doing with me. Phantasm believed in good wrestling, he believed in giving the fans what they deserve. They don't deserve to be put in the middle of Jonny Fly's agenda, forced to pick a side between two of the greatest and most beloved men on the roster today. That ain't what fans wanna see, you know what I'm sayin'? Don't get me wrong-- competitively, this is a match from heaven, but that's all it should be about. It should be about the competition, not about my career, or sending a message, or whatever. It should be about the competition alone, homie. I love the WCF. This place has given me the life that I always dreamed of-- and the point is, it wasn't handed to me. I worked for it, and I fuckin' deserve it.
Freddy Whoa: So let's get right to the bottom of this, let's get it straight for everyone. Going into Explosion, what is driving you to succeed? Is it purely to save your job? Is it to settle a personal score with Jonny Fly? Or is it something else?
Steve Orbit: Freddy, I'ma tell you like this-- it's bigger than all that. It's bigger than my career, it's bigger than any personal beef that I could ever have with Fly. This is truly about the future of this mother fuckin' company. The future of the WCF, and the direction of the WCF, rests on the outcome of this mother fucker. Are we gonna be a roster filled with men and women who are pushed around and dictated by an overzealous fuckin' egomaniac? I say no. That's why I'm pickin' up the entire roster on my shoulders. I'm pickin' up all the fans on my shoulders. I'm pickin' up the future and the very SOUL of wrestling and puttin' it on my mother fuckin' back, and I'm goin' into Explosion to tell Jonny Fly, in front of the world, that NO. We won't be pushed around. We won't be dictated. Nobody is gonna have to worry about gettin' fired if they have an off week or somethin' like that. I believe that this company is better than that. I believe that every wrestler in the locker room, and every fan, THEY are the WCF. NOT Pantheon, and certainly not Jonny Fly. They only supposed to steer the ship-- they ain't supposed to be throwin' mother fuckers overboard without a life jacket. I hope that answers your question, Freddy.
Freddy Whoa: Yeah, it does. One more thing before I go, Mack-- what do you think of Corey Black's, uh... new "look"?
[Orbit screws his face up.]
Steve Orbit: What the fuck that suppose to mean?
[Freddy laughs.]
Freddy Whoa: Steve, I'm sure you noticed that Corey has been actin' like he's black--
Steve Orbit: Freddy, I ain't gonna sit here and listen to that kinda bullshit, homie. That's fuckin' racist. Why you gotta say some shit like that?
[Freddy laughs some more.]
Freddy Whoa: Racist? If anything's racist, it's Corey Black's portrayal of African Americans.
[Orbit looks dumbfounded.]
Steve Orbit: Man, I dunno what the fuck you talkin' about right now. Corey Black is my nigga, straight up and down, all day. "Actin' black", hah. I dunno where you would come up with some shit like that.
[Freddy smiles, shaking his head.]
Freddy Whoa: Well, Mack, I'll let you go, and I appreciate you takin' the time to speak with me. What are your plans for the rest of the week?
Steve Orbit: No problem, my brother. After Explosion, we'll talk again. 'Cause I ain't go no mother fuckin' where, homie. As for the rest of the week, I'm goin' home-- I'm goin' back to Oakland to get my mind right.
[Orbit and Freddy stand up, with a handshake and a lean-in hug. The camera fades out.
Fade in. We find ourselves in a small, hole in the wall restaurant-- we're in Oakland, at the Irie Vibes Jamaican spot, a favorite of Steve Orbit and Golden Joey. Sitting at a small table in the corner, we find the two men in front of two white styrofoam boxes filled with steaming hot food. Next to each plate is a bottle of Red Stripe. Orbit is dressed casually, a pink and white Polo shirt, jeans and 'gator shoes. Joey is wearing one of his signiture Nike track suits, baby blue in color, with a matching wave cap tied around his head. They're in the middle of conversation.]
Steve Orbit: So I'm sittin' there with this mother fucker. And I'm thinkin' it's all good. I had Havana make some calls, you know-- that private investigator that Rose hooked me up with, and a couple other mother fuckin' resources that I got. So she gets the call back while we're at the house, she knocks my dad's bitch the fuck out, and she comes and tells me the deal. I get heated, kick a mother fuckin' chair over, and my dad realized that I knew. He just knew that I found out somehow by the look on my face, you know what I'm sayin'? So I run at him and I swing hard-- but I'm goin' on emotion, you know what I'm sayin'? Blind rage. So the mother fucker ducks, hits me with a left-right, and I'm on my back. The nigga hit me HARD too, for an old ass mother fucker. But I got him in the end, me and 'Vana got his ass. It was some wild shit, homie.
Golden Joey: God damn, Steve. I wish you'da told me you was goin', I woulda told you to stay the fuck away.
Steve Orbit: I know, man-- the whole thing never felt right. I was suspicious the whole time, but I think I was just... part of me wanted to believe what he was sayin'. Part of me wanted to believe that my dad... you know, that he loved me and shit.
Golden Joey: Yeah, I hear that, dogg.
Steve Orbit: At the end of the day though, it just made me appreciate everything that you did for me growin' up. Wasn't for you, who knows where the fuck I would be. Probably dead or locked up, or stickin' a fuckin' needle in my arm or some shit.
Golden Joey: It's all good. You like a son to me, baby, you know that shit.
Steve Orbit: I know, and I love you for it, homie. Straight up.
[They start eating their meals.]
Steve Orbit: I'm trippin' off this match with Fly, though.
Golden Joey: You know your opponent. You know what he capable of, dogg. You know everything there is to know. Physically, you ain't never looked better, you ain't never performed better. All that's left for you to do, is to get your mind ready for the psychological war that you about to get yo'self into. Feel what I'm sayin'?
Steve Orbit: I feel you, Joey, I do. I know this ain't gonna be no Pimp Slap, Oakland Splash, call it a day type of mother fucker.
Golden Joey: You gon' have to go to that place, home boy. That mother fuckin' place inside you where limits don't exist, that place where the impossible becomes possible. It's inside of you, Steve, you just have to be mother fuckin' ready to go there, you dig what I'm sayin'?
Steve Orbit: Homie, I'm there already. It's all on the line, it's all out in the open. I'm goin' in and I'm goin' in hard. I mean, shit-- I done put in so much work over the past year, but in this past week, and right now, this is the hardest I've ever gone. This is the hardest I can possibly go, Joey. I'ma tell you like this-- if I can't win now-- as hard as I'm workin', and with my mother fuckin' entire career on the line-- shit, maybe I don't deserve my place in the WCF. Maybe I deserve to be fired if I can't win this one.
Golden Joey: You can win, and you will win-- listen, when I was an active wrestler, I learned somethin' about this business. You have guys like Jonny Fly... they're the best of the best. They set the mother fuckin' bar. They're the ones who everybody look up to-- who everybody wanna be like. As a professional, you learn from mother fuckers like him, because if he's doin' so damn good for himself, and runnin' through mother fucker who gets put in his path, than he must be doin' somethin' right. But these guys... they come and they go. They have their time, and then it's somebody else's time. Sure, they'll always be great, but there becomes a time where the next man stands up and takes that spot, and becomes the new myth-- the myth being the mortal, regular man who is unstoppable, who is seemingly superhuman. It's a myth, Steve, and can't no man ever live up to his own hype, and that's why the man changes, but the myth don't change. There's always a top dog in the wrestling biz-- the name of the guy may change, but the myth don't change. You have to see through that-- you have to fight through that. You have to understand that Jonny Fly is not unstoppable, and most importantly, understand that part of his power lies in the fact that mother fuckers believe that he cannot be beat. If you step into the ring with a man who you believe cannot be beat-- then you've lost before the bell even rings, dogg.
Steve Orbit: I hear that, homie, I believe that. You know I believe that shit. And you know what else, homie? I'm tired of this fuckin' attitude towards Jonny Fly. People turnin' into damn fools when they hear his name, people thinkin' he's the mother fuckin'... God of wrestling or some shit. I'm not sayin' that to take anything away from what he's accomplished, or his skill level-- I will be the first to admit, he is fuckin' brilliant in the ring. But I'm tired of this fuckin' illusion... this fuckin' delusion that everyone has. He's put on a fuckin' pedestal and he don't belong there. No one belongs there. We all show up, we all do what we do-- we all win, we all lose. I've seen Jonny Fly lose. I've seen him slip. And I don't believe, not for one second do I believe that I can't be the mother fucker to beat him again. That's not blind confidence, that's not an emotional reaction-- that's Steve Orbit gettin' ready to do what I was born to do. It's been a slow climb to the top, but I ain't racin' nobody. This is the opportunity I've been sittin' back and waitin' for. I'm tellin' you man, I'm goin' to Explosion with a brand new attitude-- a brand new motivation. And I'm leavin' a brand new mother fucker. A different man. A different pimp... the new king of the WCF, with the most important victory of not only my life-- but the most important victory of the current era in wrestling.
I'm changin' the direction of the WCF.
I'm drawin' a mother fuckin' line for Jonny Fly-- he WON'T beat me, he WON'T fire me, and he WON'T be able to get away with shit like this EVER... again.
I will NOT lose.
[After some rather intense eye contact between the two men, Orbit takes a sip of his Red Stripe and they both go back to eating their food. With that... there it is. The time for talking is over. Explosion WILL be the biggest night of Orbit's career. If he wins, he's proved himself to the world, he's stopped Jonny Fly's heavy-handed rule before it even begins. If he loses... well, Jonny Fly is right. He's right about everything. And if "The Mack" Steve Orbit at his very best can't stop him, then NO ONE can... and I fear for the future of this company, and the wrestling industry as a whole. Fade out.]
[Scene opens on a street corner. We cycle through a series of short clips. The first one finds Freddy Whoa standing on a street corner, looking sharp in a white shirt and a tan sports coat, mic in hand. He stops a random young lady walking down the street.]
Freddy Whoa: Excuse me, miss-- I'm Freddy Whoa with the Wrestling Championship Federation, can I ask you a quick question?
Young Lady: ... Ok?
Freddy Whoa: Who is the best wrestler alive?
[She thinks for about a half second.]
Young Lady: Jonny Fly.
[Next clip, it's an older man.]
Older Man: I would have to say Jonny Fly. When I think of professional wrestling, I think of Jonny Fly.
[Next clip, it's a group of college-aged kids. They say it together--]
College Kids: JONNY FUCKIN' FLY! WHOOO!
[Next clip, it's a guy in his 20's, wearing some indie wrestler t-shirt in public-- obviously a smark.]
Smark: Well... I mean, technically, overall, Jonny Fly is probably the greatest wrestler alive. Yeah. I'd say Jonny Fly, easily.
[Next clip, it's a young kid with his father. Freddy asks them both.]
Young Kid: Jonny Fly!
Father: Yeah, love him or hate him, he's the best.
[Next clip, we're at Family Feud! Steve Harvey is standing in front of some white family. He's got the cards in his hand and he's about to read the question.]
Steve Harvey: We asked one hundred men and women, who is the best professional wrestler in the business today. Jonah?
[Jonah's a middle-aged guy who's there with his wife and family. They're winning.]
Jonah: Um... Uh... I'm gonna say... Jonny Fly!
[His family jumps up and down, high-fiving and saying stuff like "good answer!" and "alright!"]
Steve Harvey: Ok, let's see if it's up there-- show me Jonny Fly!
DING!
[The number one slot in the scoreboard thing turns over and Jonny Fly's name is revealed, and worth all 100 points.]
Steve Harvey: Alright, number one answer! Actually, the only answer! I guess EVERYONE knows that Jonny Fly is the best wrestler in the world!
[The family jumps up and down some more, hugging each other. That was fun.
Now we find ourselves alone with Freddy Whoa, standing in front of a WCF backdrop. He's got a big smile on his face, as usual. Funny how Jonny Fly hired another African American right around the same time he announced his intentions to fire Steve Orbit, right? Cooincidence? Or is he trying to save face? NAACP? ACLU? LMNOP?That's right, JONNY FLY IS A RACIST! I'm pulling the race card. Pulling it big time. The gloves are off. I'll do anything to win.
What?
Where am I?
Oh.
So, here we are with Freddy Whoa, standing in front of a WCF backdrop. He's got a big smile on his face, as usual.]
Freddy Whoa: As you can see, I spent the last few days on the streets, asking for people's opinion on who's the best wrestler in the WCF. Jonny Fly was the answer, across the board, every time. Of course, Fly's greatness is no secret. His record speaks for itself-- but when it doesn't, he'll speak for his record... really, he'll tell anyone who will listen about his record. He won't stop. Anyway, you might be asking yourself why I'm talking about Mr. Fly so much-- it's not just because he's my boss... and what a wonderful, generous, beautiful boss he is... but it's because I have a special guest about to join me. A guest who will get into the ring with Jon-Jonny at Explosion. A man who is, in all likelihood and by everyone's estimation, going to become Flyjobber number one million and his special door prize is a one-way ticket to the unemployment office.
[Freddy touches his earpeice, recieving information from... you know, sound people or whatever.]
Freddy Whoa: Ok, I've just recieved word that he's here, Steve Orbit is here, and he's making his way to the set right now. So as I was saying, this is probably the Mack's last interview with the WCF, so I'm honored to be the one handling it. Hank Brown can suck a lemon.
[Freddy starts waving at Orbit, off-screen.]
Freddy Whoa: Hey, over here!
[Shortly, we see "The Mack" Steve Orbit step onto the scene, standing next to Freddy. He's wearing a zebra suit and oversized gold-framed sunglasses. The two men shake hands.]
Steve Orbit: What's up, Freddy?
Freddy Whoa: I was just talking about your match with Fly at Explosion, and the stipulation.
Steve Orbit: Yeah?
Freddy Whoa: Yeah, and I just want to take the opportunity to thank you so much for doing this interview. This will be great for my career-- I mean, great for the fans, they really wanna know what's going through your mind right now. Would you mind opening up and telling us what's going on?
Steve Orbit: Nah, I don't mind. Not at all, Freddy. You wanna know what's on my mind? Follow me.
[Orbit turns and walks away. Freddy is left standing with his jaw open. He shakes it off and waves at the camera crew to follow him as he chases behind Orbit. We make our way through the back halls of the WCF Arena, until we reach a loading dock. All of the doors are shut. Orbit goes to the overhead door in the middle, reaches for the handle at the bottom and pulls it all the way open. Behind the building, below the dock, there is a sea of people-- hundreds, maybe a thousand people, all crowded around the receiving area behind the WCF arena... but, for what reason? Have they all come to see Steve Orbit speak? Did he tell them there would be hookers? Free hookers, perhaps? We don't know, but they're here. Orbit steps through the door, onto the concrete dock, above the gathered masses. Freddy and his cameraman run to the outside, with Freddy instructing the cameraman to get a good shot from the view of the crowd.
So after some shakey-camera running around, we find ourselves in the middle of the crowd, with Steve Orbit standing alone, raised above, dead center, standing in front of a podium. The feather in his hat is abnormally large today. He looks regal. Poised. Presidential-- if his mom was white. He taps the microphone in front of him to check the PA system, which he set up earlier in the day. Everything seems good. Orbit nods his head a few times. He clears his throat, and begins to speak.]
Steve Orbit: I am happy to join with y'all today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our wrestling federation.
A few months ago at One, a great wrestler, in whose symbolic shadow we stand, won control of the WCF from Seth Lerch. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to hundreds of wrestlers who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.
But three months later, we must face the tragic fact that the roster is still not free. Three months later, the life of the WCF wrestler is still sadly crippled by the manacles of Jonny Fly and the chains of Pantheon. Three months later, the roster lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. Three months later, the roster is still languishing in the concerns of the WCF and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appaling condition.
In a sense we have come to our federation's arena to cash a check. When Jonny Fly took over the WCF, he was signing a promissory note to which every WCF wrestler was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all wrestlers would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, libery and the pursuit of the World title.
It is obvious today that Jonny Fly has defaulted on this promissary note insofar as I am concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, Jonny Fly has given me a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds". But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity in this federation. So we have to come to cash this check-- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind Pantheon of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of injustice to the sunlit path of justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to the entire roster. Now is the time to lift our federation from the quicksands of injustice, to the solid rock of brotherhood.
[Orbit steps back from the mic, clearing his throat again. The crowd is still. Silence. Until...
A man breaks away from the crowd, pushing his way to the front. He's an older black guy. He speaks up.]
Older Black Guy: Hold up! This is bulllllllshit! This why you brought us out here? So you can plaigiarize Dr. King?
[Just then, others start to speak up.]
Crowd Members:
"Yeah!"
"What the fuck, Orbit?"
"Where's the coke and hookers?!"
"Let's get him!"
[With a roar, the crowd goes into riot mode and begins to charge the loading dock. Orbit quickly retreats inside, yelling "BUT I HAVE A DREAM!" He shuts the overhead door just in time to latch it shut, avoiding the angry mob. They continue to bang on the door. Orbit, not knowing what to do, sees Freddy Whoa enter through a side door with his cameraman. Freddy slams the door shut and locks it before anyone can get in. Orbit looks at Freddy. Freddy looks at Orbit. Freddy motions for Orbit to follow him, and they go back through the halls, into the studio room where the scene began. Remember, where I said Jonny Fly is racist. Which he totally is. I saw him slap a little black baby one time, just to get his kicks. Seriously, what a jerk. The WCF backdrop hangs on the wall, but Orbit and Freddy instead opt to sit on folding metal chairs in a corner of the room. They both are breathing heavy from their narrow escape.]
Freddy Whoa: I guess that didn't go how you planned.
Steve Orbit: Nah, not really-- but yo, I didn't even get to the best part! I was just tryin' to make a mother fuckin' comparison, you know what I'm sayin'? It's called paying homage.
Freddy Whoa: ... Yeah. Whoa. Anyway, you wanna do the interview now?
[Orbit nods.]
Steve Orbit: Aight.
[Freddy reaches inside his jacket and pulls out his notes. He reviews them quickly before he begins.]
Freddy Whoa: Ok, Mack. Let's be honest here. You're facing Jonny Fly at Explosion, your job is on the line, and... people are expecting you to lose, Steve. Out of everyone I talked to on the street, only one person said they expected you to win-- and I don't think she understood the question, she was three years old and handicapped and didn't speak English-- anyway. Now, over the course of your career, you've rarely been the underdog, so how does it feel to know that people don't think you can beat Jonny Fly, even with the most dire of stipulations?
[Orbit nods in agreement, as he is well aware of the public opinion.]
Steve Orbit: It don't feel like nothin'. I don't care. I will say this-- it's like Fly himself said, people recognize patterns. People are used to seeing things happen a certain mother fuckin' way, in this case, they're used to seeing Fly win, every time. I've accompished some great things over the past year, but my record does not stand up to Jonny Fly's record. Not at all. I can't argue with fact, Freddy, I ain't that type of pimp. But the reality is that Jonny Fly can be defeated. Jonny Fly is a man, just like me or you. He has limits, and I'ma push them. He has weaknesses, and I'ma expose them to my advantage. He'll tell you he has no limits, he'll tell you he has no weaknesses-- and most of y'all will probably believe him, but it won't be the first time that the world is shocked by the outcome of a wrestling match, you know what I'm sayin'? That being said, I will say that I believe that the public will actually be more shocked than Jonny Fly himself, when he loses. Fly knows what's comin'. He's been pushin' all the right buttons, he's turnin' all the right keys-- he's getting the mother fuckin' outcome that he wants, the reaction that he wants. That's where I'll give the mother fucker credit. When he wants somethin', he makes it happen. I respect that. In this particular situation, you know what I'm sayin', he wanted to push Steve Orbit to the point where I became hungry again, to the point where I became unstoppable-- to the point where I am better than him. And that's exactly what I am. That's exactly what he's accomplished by challenging me.
[Freddy chuckles.]
Freddy Whoa: Whoa, Steve. Whoa. Did you really just say--
Steve Orbit: Yeah, I did. I said I'm better than Jonny Fly. Right here, right now, I am better than Jonny Fly-- I'm gonna go to Explosion, beat the mother fucker, and keep movin'. My career will not end at Explosion, Freddy. My career will START at Explosion. The world has never seen what Steve Orbit is capable of. They think they know me-- all they know, is what I've chose to show them over the past year. This past year-- from my record-breaking title reign, to my top performances at every single big event that the WCF has held-- that ain't been shit but a warm-up, homie. That's where Fly is dead wrong in all this. He thinks he knows what to expect. He thinks he knows Steve Orbit. He don't know shit, Freddy. You'll see.
Freddy Whoa: Ok. Alright. Let's switch gears. Up until the point he challenged you, were you happy with the way that Pantheon has handled the company as CEO?
Steve Orbit: Sure. I mean, I wouldn't say I was unhappy with it. The thing that burns me the most though, is that I was one of the main supporters of Fly becoming CEO. I stood up for that mother fucker. People in the locker room-- shit, my own brothers in Genesis, specifically Roy Speede-- they all predicted some shit like this, and I said, "nah, Fly ain't like that." Fly's a businessman, and this is the business he loves-- surely, he'll run the company the right way, you know what I'm sayin'. He's a wrestler, so he'll run it FOR the wrestlers-- not like Seth Lerch, who ran it for himself. But looking at it now, from my point of view, Jonny Fly is making the same mistake that Seth made. He thinks HE is what is gonna make this company great, he thinks HE is the one who has the mother fuckin' answer. Let me tell you what makes this company great, Freddy-- the roster. Every mother fucker who shows up week after week, living and breathing the sport of professional wrestling twenty-four seven. Not Pantheon, not Jonny Fly, but the entire roster, from our spineless coward World champion to the most newest mother fucker who's ink ain't even dry on the contract-- to a dude like me, who has been around WEEK IN and WEEK OUT for the entire year. No part-time bullshit comin' from the Mack. So yeah, when I said I didn't perform at a hundred percent every week, can you blame me? I've never taken no break. I've never gotten myself locked up or disappeared for whatever reason, you know what I'm sayin'? I've been tired, I've wanted to disappear, but I pushed through that shit. I fought through that shit. I've been here EVERY WEEK since I signed my fuckin' contract, and I've been giving stellar performances on a regular mother fuckin' basis. Listen, it's easy to perform at a hundred percent level every time-- if you only show up when you fuckin' feel like it. Bottom line is this, I'm the LAST mother fucker that Fly should be singling out as an underachiever. I'm a fuckin' workhorse for this company, I'm a brand mother fuckin' household name. And for him to belittle my accomplishments, and criticize my career-- it's not only insulting to me, but to every single mother fucker tryin' to make a name for theyself out here. If anything, Fly should be pointing to me as an example of a success story for the new guys. I'm a guy who came from absolutely nothing, but I put in work and dedicated my life to this sport, becoming one of the most well-known and accomplished professional wrestlers in the mother fuckin' world today. I've represented for the WCF since the day I walked in the door, Freddy.
[Freddy flips through his notes.]
Freddy Whoa: I see your point. So what about Pantheon's "mission", to save professional wrestling? Do you feel that Fly is geniunely trying to save the sport?
Steve Orbit: Let me tell you somethin', Freddy. Kid... rather, Polar Phantasm, he's the one who came up with Pantheon. Saving the sport was his thing, and he believed in it with his entire heart and soul, straight up. He was geniune. Fly's using it as a bullshit catchphrase, as propaganda to run the company the way he sees fit, and to make power moves that he ain't got no business making. Phantasm, wherever he is, and God bless him-- he would be a hundred percent against what Fly is doing with me. Phantasm believed in good wrestling, he believed in giving the fans what they deserve. They don't deserve to be put in the middle of Jonny Fly's agenda, forced to pick a side between two of the greatest and most beloved men on the roster today. That ain't what fans wanna see, you know what I'm sayin'? Don't get me wrong-- competitively, this is a match from heaven, but that's all it should be about. It should be about the competition, not about my career, or sending a message, or whatever. It should be about the competition alone, homie. I love the WCF. This place has given me the life that I always dreamed of-- and the point is, it wasn't handed to me. I worked for it, and I fuckin' deserve it.
Freddy Whoa: So let's get right to the bottom of this, let's get it straight for everyone. Going into Explosion, what is driving you to succeed? Is it purely to save your job? Is it to settle a personal score with Jonny Fly? Or is it something else?
Steve Orbit: Freddy, I'ma tell you like this-- it's bigger than all that. It's bigger than my career, it's bigger than any personal beef that I could ever have with Fly. This is truly about the future of this mother fuckin' company. The future of the WCF, and the direction of the WCF, rests on the outcome of this mother fucker. Are we gonna be a roster filled with men and women who are pushed around and dictated by an overzealous fuckin' egomaniac? I say no. That's why I'm pickin' up the entire roster on my shoulders. I'm pickin' up all the fans on my shoulders. I'm pickin' up the future and the very SOUL of wrestling and puttin' it on my mother fuckin' back, and I'm goin' into Explosion to tell Jonny Fly, in front of the world, that NO. We won't be pushed around. We won't be dictated. Nobody is gonna have to worry about gettin' fired if they have an off week or somethin' like that. I believe that this company is better than that. I believe that every wrestler in the locker room, and every fan, THEY are the WCF. NOT Pantheon, and certainly not Jonny Fly. They only supposed to steer the ship-- they ain't supposed to be throwin' mother fuckers overboard without a life jacket. I hope that answers your question, Freddy.
Freddy Whoa: Yeah, it does. One more thing before I go, Mack-- what do you think of Corey Black's, uh... new "look"?
[Orbit screws his face up.]
Steve Orbit: What the fuck that suppose to mean?
[Freddy laughs.]
Freddy Whoa: Steve, I'm sure you noticed that Corey has been actin' like he's black--
Steve Orbit: Freddy, I ain't gonna sit here and listen to that kinda bullshit, homie. That's fuckin' racist. Why you gotta say some shit like that?
[Freddy laughs some more.]
Freddy Whoa: Racist? If anything's racist, it's Corey Black's portrayal of African Americans.
[Orbit looks dumbfounded.]
Steve Orbit: Man, I dunno what the fuck you talkin' about right now. Corey Black is my nigga, straight up and down, all day. "Actin' black", hah. I dunno where you would come up with some shit like that.
[Freddy smiles, shaking his head.]
Freddy Whoa: Well, Mack, I'll let you go, and I appreciate you takin' the time to speak with me. What are your plans for the rest of the week?
Steve Orbit: No problem, my brother. After Explosion, we'll talk again. 'Cause I ain't go no mother fuckin' where, homie. As for the rest of the week, I'm goin' home-- I'm goin' back to Oakland to get my mind right.
[Orbit and Freddy stand up, with a handshake and a lean-in hug. The camera fades out.
Fade in. We find ourselves in a small, hole in the wall restaurant-- we're in Oakland, at the Irie Vibes Jamaican spot, a favorite of Steve Orbit and Golden Joey. Sitting at a small table in the corner, we find the two men in front of two white styrofoam boxes filled with steaming hot food. Next to each plate is a bottle of Red Stripe. Orbit is dressed casually, a pink and white Polo shirt, jeans and 'gator shoes. Joey is wearing one of his signiture Nike track suits, baby blue in color, with a matching wave cap tied around his head. They're in the middle of conversation.]
Steve Orbit: So I'm sittin' there with this mother fucker. And I'm thinkin' it's all good. I had Havana make some calls, you know-- that private investigator that Rose hooked me up with, and a couple other mother fuckin' resources that I got. So she gets the call back while we're at the house, she knocks my dad's bitch the fuck out, and she comes and tells me the deal. I get heated, kick a mother fuckin' chair over, and my dad realized that I knew. He just knew that I found out somehow by the look on my face, you know what I'm sayin'? So I run at him and I swing hard-- but I'm goin' on emotion, you know what I'm sayin'? Blind rage. So the mother fucker ducks, hits me with a left-right, and I'm on my back. The nigga hit me HARD too, for an old ass mother fucker. But I got him in the end, me and 'Vana got his ass. It was some wild shit, homie.
Golden Joey: God damn, Steve. I wish you'da told me you was goin', I woulda told you to stay the fuck away.
Steve Orbit: I know, man-- the whole thing never felt right. I was suspicious the whole time, but I think I was just... part of me wanted to believe what he was sayin'. Part of me wanted to believe that my dad... you know, that he loved me and shit.
Golden Joey: Yeah, I hear that, dogg.
Steve Orbit: At the end of the day though, it just made me appreciate everything that you did for me growin' up. Wasn't for you, who knows where the fuck I would be. Probably dead or locked up, or stickin' a fuckin' needle in my arm or some shit.
Golden Joey: It's all good. You like a son to me, baby, you know that shit.
Steve Orbit: I know, and I love you for it, homie. Straight up.
[They start eating their meals.]
Steve Orbit: I'm trippin' off this match with Fly, though.
Golden Joey: You know your opponent. You know what he capable of, dogg. You know everything there is to know. Physically, you ain't never looked better, you ain't never performed better. All that's left for you to do, is to get your mind ready for the psychological war that you about to get yo'self into. Feel what I'm sayin'?
Steve Orbit: I feel you, Joey, I do. I know this ain't gonna be no Pimp Slap, Oakland Splash, call it a day type of mother fucker.
Golden Joey: You gon' have to go to that place, home boy. That mother fuckin' place inside you where limits don't exist, that place where the impossible becomes possible. It's inside of you, Steve, you just have to be mother fuckin' ready to go there, you dig what I'm sayin'?
Steve Orbit: Homie, I'm there already. It's all on the line, it's all out in the open. I'm goin' in and I'm goin' in hard. I mean, shit-- I done put in so much work over the past year, but in this past week, and right now, this is the hardest I've ever gone. This is the hardest I can possibly go, Joey. I'ma tell you like this-- if I can't win now-- as hard as I'm workin', and with my mother fuckin' entire career on the line-- shit, maybe I don't deserve my place in the WCF. Maybe I deserve to be fired if I can't win this one.
Golden Joey: You can win, and you will win-- listen, when I was an active wrestler, I learned somethin' about this business. You have guys like Jonny Fly... they're the best of the best. They set the mother fuckin' bar. They're the ones who everybody look up to-- who everybody wanna be like. As a professional, you learn from mother fuckers like him, because if he's doin' so damn good for himself, and runnin' through mother fucker who gets put in his path, than he must be doin' somethin' right. But these guys... they come and they go. They have their time, and then it's somebody else's time. Sure, they'll always be great, but there becomes a time where the next man stands up and takes that spot, and becomes the new myth-- the myth being the mortal, regular man who is unstoppable, who is seemingly superhuman. It's a myth, Steve, and can't no man ever live up to his own hype, and that's why the man changes, but the myth don't change. There's always a top dog in the wrestling biz-- the name of the guy may change, but the myth don't change. You have to see through that-- you have to fight through that. You have to understand that Jonny Fly is not unstoppable, and most importantly, understand that part of his power lies in the fact that mother fuckers believe that he cannot be beat. If you step into the ring with a man who you believe cannot be beat-- then you've lost before the bell even rings, dogg.
Steve Orbit: I hear that, homie, I believe that. You know I believe that shit. And you know what else, homie? I'm tired of this fuckin' attitude towards Jonny Fly. People turnin' into damn fools when they hear his name, people thinkin' he's the mother fuckin'... God of wrestling or some shit. I'm not sayin' that to take anything away from what he's accomplished, or his skill level-- I will be the first to admit, he is fuckin' brilliant in the ring. But I'm tired of this fuckin' illusion... this fuckin' delusion that everyone has. He's put on a fuckin' pedestal and he don't belong there. No one belongs there. We all show up, we all do what we do-- we all win, we all lose. I've seen Jonny Fly lose. I've seen him slip. And I don't believe, not for one second do I believe that I can't be the mother fucker to beat him again. That's not blind confidence, that's not an emotional reaction-- that's Steve Orbit gettin' ready to do what I was born to do. It's been a slow climb to the top, but I ain't racin' nobody. This is the opportunity I've been sittin' back and waitin' for. I'm tellin' you man, I'm goin' to Explosion with a brand new attitude-- a brand new motivation. And I'm leavin' a brand new mother fucker. A different man. A different pimp... the new king of the WCF, with the most important victory of not only my life-- but the most important victory of the current era in wrestling.
I'm changin' the direction of the WCF.
I'm drawin' a mother fuckin' line for Jonny Fly-- he WON'T beat me, he WON'T fire me, and he WON'T be able to get away with shit like this EVER... again.
I will NOT lose.
[After some rather intense eye contact between the two men, Orbit takes a sip of his Red Stripe and they both go back to eating their food. With that... there it is. The time for talking is over. Explosion WILL be the biggest night of Orbit's career. If he wins, he's proved himself to the world, he's stopped Jonny Fly's heavy-handed rule before it even begins. If he loses... well, Jonny Fly is right. He's right about everything. And if "The Mack" Steve Orbit at his very best can't stop him, then NO ONE can... and I fear for the future of this company, and the wrestling industry as a whole. Fade out.]
