Post by Kyle Kemp on Sept 28, 2017 3:08:56 GMT -5
A Threat
It’s the day after Slam and it is a gloomy day in Chicago as Kyle Kemp gets out of his Uber in front of his apartment building. The clouds are out and the hurricane has pushed some colder air up the rest of the country so it is a 60 degree day. The wind brings in some cold air from the lake as well and Kemp closes his eyes for a second and lets it hit him in the face, waking him up after a long plane ride home. Some of the other guys were talking about staying in Japan for the two weeks between Slam and War but Kemp did not have that luxury. He had to get home. Tomorrow is an important day for Kemp. Tomorrow is the day that the lawyers will finally read his mother’s will.
Kemp sighs as he walks around to the back of the Uber and pulls his bags from the trunk that his driver popped. He slings a black Nike duffel bag over his shoulder and grabs his suitcase as well. He pulls up the handle and wheels it behind him as he wanders up to his apartment building. Kemp is going to grab the door handle when the door is thrown open in front of him. A look of shock comes over his face as his father is standing at the door in front of him. “Dad?”
“Son.” Both men just glare at each other. Their relationship has been so contentious for so long that to see them in the same place not by force is stunning. His father extends his hand for a handshake and Kemp looks at it. He can’t decide if this is a trick or not. It feels like a situation in the ring where you’d shake a guy's hand and once you let your guard down, he’d punch you right in the mouth. Finally Kemp shakes his father’s hand.
“What are you doing here?” Kemp and his father take steps into the building and are now standing in the lobby.
His father runs his hands through his hair and Kemp knows that tell. His father is stressed and gonna ask him something that Kemp isn’t going to like. “I’m here to tell you that tomorrow is going to be stressful and I don’t want you to come.”
Kemp laughs, “Are you kidding? I just flew home from Tokyo just for this. I’m going.”
“I’d advise against it.”
Both men have lost the pleasantries and are now glaring at each other. “Why?”
“Because things are going to be said at this meeting and if you go, you aren’t going to like what you have to hear. Also if you get in my way...well you know what will happen with that.”
“What? You’re gonna cut me off again? We’ve been there and done that. I’ve shown I can make it happen without your money.”
“You may be able to “make it happen” but we both know that your little wrestling salary won’t be able to support you. That was obvious last time.”
Kemp rolls his eyes and takes a step forward. “I’m going tomorrow and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.”
Kemp’s father knows there isn’t much he can do. Kyle has made up his mind and that saddens him. He’s going to have to do things that he definitely doesn’t want to do. He walks by Kemp but not without shoulder checking him in the process. “Just remember son. I made a hotel empire by being ruthless and I ran a lot of people out of business and out of town. I won’t be afraid of doing the same to you.”
Kyle looks on as his father walks out of the building with his bags still on his shoulder. It looks like this won’t be a simple will reading after all. What does his father not want him to know?
Pictures on the Wall
We open up on Kyle Kemp standing in front of a chalkboard with pictures of every WCF wrestler that is entered into War including himself on it. Kemp is wearing a light gray dress pants, a white dress shirt, a matching gray vest over it and has his sleeves rolled up. He smiles as he begins. “Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the first day of class. I hope you all have studied the material that has been laid out before you before today because things are going to come at you quick! For those of you that don’t know, I’m Kyle Kemp and yes...I am better than you but not only that, I’m your professor here today. Welcome to War 101. This class is meant to educate each and every one of you on the competitors at War and where they stand when it comes to their odds of winning the match. Think of it as a handicap for those of you that are going to bet on one of us to win the match or a way for you to not get your hopes up if you are a fan of certain wrestlers.”
“This is going to be a long class so make sure to grab some popcorn, maybe a notepad and take a couple adderall because things are about to get real and you are going to want to pay attention. As with any class we are going to start with the easiest information to go over. When it comes to the WCF the easiest is always the newbies. That sounds like I’m just throwing a blanket wide statement out there but when it comes to this place, you get killed when you’re new. This isn’t new. This place is shark infested waters and you don’t just show up and swim your way through. You are going to get bit and that is what will happen to a bunch of these guys but I will show them the respect by going through them one by one. Well….I’ll at least say their names.”
Kemp walks up to the table and picks up a sharpie. “As I talk about each guy and their deficiencies I will put an x through their picture. We will continue this until we get all the way through. If you don’t like that then turn off your TV and get your hopes up that the wrong person will win. Get your hopes up that some undeserving chump will come through and go on to One. If you want to hear from someone that isn’t going to sugarcoat this shit than go ahead and listen up. The first person is Hajeet. Hajeet is first because he is nothing more than a pity signing by Seth. I think he and whichever jack off is running UCI these days went out on the town one night and chugged a cheap beer, because that’s all he’s worth, got to have Hajeet. To bad for us Seth has the drinking skills of a 12 year old tasting his first beer. Now we’re stuck with a supposed royal prince of India.”
“Notice how I roll my eyes when I say royal prince. Hajeet may be a big deal in whatever dumpy town in India he is a prince of but here he is nothing. When I say here I don’t mean just the WCF but I mean the United States of America. He has that aura to him that he thought if he just got here that everything would be like India. This isn’t India. There’s actual talent here and you are going to have to work to earn your spot. Until you do that, people will continue to think you are a joke. Just look at when he walks down to the ring. He’s giving thumbs up and big smiles. It’s like he is a prince in an animated Disney movie! The worst part is that he thinks that because people are laughing when he comes out that they like him. Hello! They’re laughing at you! For that reason alone we are putting an X through Hajeet. Nobody that’s a joke is going to win War.” Kemp walks over and puts an X through Hajeet’s face.
“Moving on to Greg St. Matthews. Yes that’s a real name. He’s not a rich kid character in CW drama. He’s real! Not only is he real but he is nothing as his name sounds. You’d expect it to be that rich kid with a cardigan and his dad’s credit card in hand but instead it’s just another guy that is trying to be a video game character. Seriously. What the hell is with these new guys? We’ve got a prince and we’ve got a guy that is like he was created in 10 minutes from a 2K video game. It’s sad. There’s no individuality and there’s nothing that if I were sitting in your shoes would give me confidence to follow him.”
“Would you have confidence in a guy whose bio on the WCF website literally just says he’s an “unruly renegade” and has no concern for anyone but himself. Oooo I’m shaking. Greg St. Matthews gets an X for being an unimaginative douche.”
“Through two guys the contestants at War look pathetic but it only gets worse. That’s because Hank Herron is next. The supposed Backwoods Berserker. Yep….I’ll let that set in for a second.” Kemp waits and just stares blankly in the camera with an are you kidding me stare. “Backwoods Berseker.” Kemp keeps staring into the camera. “Yep. That’s real. Just another redneck who waltzes up here and thinks he can chomp on his dip as he gets in the ring and beat someone down because he can knock a couple of guys out in the local bar. I know guys like this. I’ve seen them in every backwater town we have been in when we go on the road. These are the same types of guys that talk shit to us as we grab a beer after we are done wrestling but once we step into their face, they back down. That is what I expect when one of us steps up to Herron. I expect him to back down like a little bitch!”
“Now I know that I’m gonna catch some heat from the back office for this but I don’t care. I understand he’s a veteran and I understand he’s a recovering alcoholic. I get it. He’s a hero but he’s a hero that has bitten off more than he can chew. He’s a hero that has chosen to come into the wrong profession. There’s no guns here boy. There’s just fists and feet and I’m the best at using them. I’m going to use my expertise to make you climb back into that bottle of moonshine Herron and I won’t think twice about it. This is War and this is for a chance at One. Nothing else matters. You’re in over your head and you will also get an X.”
“Now this is the point where I start to lose some of you because your mind wanders because I’m up here running my mouth and it can get boring. Well let me bring you all back. I want all of you to close your eyes and I want you to imagine this guy. You’re sitting at a casual place for dinner and are with your family. Let’s say it’s Applebees. You and the rest of your family are waiting for your food as you sit and have a conversation about your days. You seem to be having a nice time when suddenly an odor hits your nose. It’s that scent of weed and homeless man mixed together. You dart your head around, looking to see where the scent is coming from when you see an older man, let’s say he’s 40, at the bar and asking for a glass of water and some spinach and artichoke dip. Now I want you to take your thoughts of that and how annoyed that makes you and take that feeling and apply it to Leon Hayze.”
“Does that feeling that you now have instill any confidence in him winning this match? Do any of you feel like picking him? Exactly. He’s a bum and a bum will never win War. Plain and simple! You are weak and with every puff of weed you get worse. I won’t be surprised if you show up with a clouded mind and I will be happy to take advantage of that. These are just some of the reasons why you will lose but we have to move on.”
“With that said, let’s take a break before we get back to the newbies. Take some time to grab a drink and let’s reconvene in a few minutes.”
The Reading
It’s the next day and Kemp and his business team are sitting at a long table in the conference room of his mother’s lawyers office. The room has a glass table and is 10 feet long and 8 men surround it. Kemp has his accountant, Wyatt Johnson, at the table next to him and his lawyer Doug Spilner next to him. They are all staring across the table at his father and his own legal team. There is no love loss here as Wyatt used to be his father’s accountant until he fired him a few years back and Kemp subsequently hired him to the same position for myself. If there is anyone that hates Kemp’s father more than Kemp it is Wyatt.
Wyatt was blamed by his father for some missing money in his company and his father told anyone and everyone that Wyatt was the culprit but Wyatt and Kemp knew better. Wyatt couldn’t prove it but they both knew it was his father. He always loved to have his hand in the cookie jar and plus taking money from the company was a way to have separate money that Kemp’s mom didn’t know about. Wyatt was always destined to be the fall guy because it was only a matter of time till the board of directors figured out there were irregularities. Now here they are staring back at his father. The tension is high and no one is saying anything until my mother’s lawyer, Roberta Gonzalez, comes in.
Everyone stands up and Kemp reaches out to her and shakes her hand. “Roberta, good to see you,”
Roberta looks at Kemp and smiles but that smile fades when Kemp’s father extends his hand to her. She shakes his hand but just stares a hole in him. Roberta saw everything that Kemp’s father Steven did to his wife and she hates him for it. “Steven.”
“Roberta.”
“Everyone have a seat. Well here we are. It’s been a couple of months but we are finally here. I know that many of you have been anticipating this moment but we had some people contest the will.” Roberta turns and stares at Steven. “That says to me that Steven you already know the contents of this will. I also know that you are unhappy with what I am about to say and I have to say that I couldn’t be happier.”
“Just get on with it. You and I both know that the war on this is just beginning.”
Roberta smiles and turns to Kyle who looks perplexed at what is going on. “Kyle, your mother didn’t own a lot and since your father is a surviving spouse he gets everything that wasn’t listed in the will. In fact there was only one thing listed in the will and that is the Kemp Foundation. Your mother was the sole owner of the foundation.”
Kyle’s eyes widen. “Wait...what?” He turns to his father. “I thought you owned the Kemp foundation!”
Steven looks at Kyle with his lips pursed. “We got a tax break and some other perks with it in your mother’s name.”
“But you weren’t. That is why your mother has left you the Kemp foundation and has named you not only the owner but the President of the foundation. It is all yours!”
Kemp leans back in his seat and places his hands on the top of his head. Owner and President of the foundation? That’s a lot of pressure and that’s something that he would never expect. Why would his mother leave him the foundation?
“With that said I will send all over the necessary paperwork to you Mr. Spilner. Make sure you look it over and then have Kyle sign it and get it back to me. As for you Steven.”
“Yeah what about me? Why the hell am I here if he’s getting the foundation?”
“Easy. Your wife wanted you to be here for this and she wanted me to tell you that it’s only a matter of time.”
“Only a matter of time?”
“That’s all she said.” Roberta nods to both parties and walks out of the room.
Kyle stands up and smiles at his father. “I guess this is why you didn’t want me to show up today.”
“You're damn right but now do the right thing Kyle. Sign over the foundation to me.”
“Make me an offer.”
“It’s a non-profit! No way!”
Kyle stands up and smiles at his father who returns the smile with anger. “Well I guess I’ll be keeping the foundation then.” Kemp nods at his father and walks out of the room with his Wyatt and Spilner. They walk through the office to the elevator and get inside. Once the door shuts Kemp just simply says, “look through the books. Find me the reason my father doesn’t want me to have the foundation. There’s gotta be something.”
Wyatt just nods at Kyle and smiles. This is the moment he’s been waiting for.
Newbies Don't Matter
“Welcome back class! Good to see that everyone made it back. Please take your seats. We still have so much to get through. We have so many curtain jerkers and weak players to get through that we must get started. The next wrestler that we have to talk about is Bomber. I would love to say that we know a lot more about this guy but he seems to want to remain a secret. I can tell that he either works out or does a lot of steroids. Either way I saw some social media posts and he was doing squats and he was talking about being a champion in companies that I didn’t even know existed. Now with guys like this that claim to be champions you have to factor in a couple of things. They are either telling the truth but aren’t as good as they think they are because they are used to facing inferior competition or they are lying. This guy could be either but let’s guess that he is telling the truth. If that’s the case then Bomber you are about to get a rude wake up call. To quote Kurt Russell in Miracle, you aren’t talented enough to get by on talent alone.”
“This is something you are going to have to get through your head pretty quickly man. It’s time to get back in the gym and for God sakes get back in the creative lab. Figure out who you are because do you know what else you can’t get by here? You can’t get by on looks and you can’t get by on a lack of a gimmick. With that and the talent issues you are screwed my friend. Completely screwed. Also saying that you know how to wrestle a lot of different styles just because you’ve seen them all doesn’t mean you know them. That’s like me saying I can cook every style of food because I saw them on a plate once. You are way behind the 8 ball my friend and that is why you are getting an X.”
“Now we have a guy that has actually had a match here and that man is Agimat. I was lucky enough to be standing right by the curtain for his match at Slam since mine was after his and I was thoroughly unimpressed. He looked awful and I think I know at least a small reason why. It’s because Agimat is way into the way he looks when he heads down to the ring. Part of that is because he wants to make sure all of his Filipino Pride stuff is just perfect. I kept seeing him adjust it as the match went on and I can understand wanting everyone to know where you’re from and having pride but in the end, does losing still make the people of the Philippines have pride in you?”
“That’s a big question that you have to ask yourself after your first match where you tapped out. Wait let me make it even worse. You and one other guy tapped out at the same time. At the same time! That means he used half the force that he usually would and you still tapped out. I’d like to think that you’ve learned from this and you went home and got in the gym but the more likely story is that you went home and listened to Green Day and Fall Out Boy, had a pop tart and cried yourself to sleep. I have no sympathy for you Agimat. Get your shit together or the next time you pull that terrible mask on, I’m gonna punt it off your face!.”
“The smooth transition is to go to Bryan Devlin. He was the other loser in that match with Agimat that tapped out. Normally I would just go by him because I feel like the same things I said about Agimat applies to Devlin but I actually have a vested interest in Devlin. Why is that? Because Devlin is a knock off version of myself. Devlin is Seth trying to catch lightning in a bottle twice. There’s only one diamond in the rough and that’s me. It’s like Seth heard his background and said, “Hey….that’s Kyle Kemp with a beard. Sign him!” It is a complete joke.”
“The other thing is that Devlin tapped out last week in that match. I wouldn’t have tapped out but that is besides the point. The true point on why he tapped out is because he’s too small and that is going to hurt him in the long run. You can’t be 5’5 and 145 lbs and make it in this business. You just can’t. I’m sorry but no one at that size has ever succeeded here and that won’t start now. You tapped out last week and you will tap out this week as well. You obviously get an X.”
“So now that brings us to Red Dragon, the winner of that lame triple threat match last week. Now he is the first guy we’ve talked about that has a win under his belt here and he’s also the first guy that showed maybe he won’t be at the bottom of the card forever. Well….he kind of showed us why. I mean he did beat these two guys but they as I’ve pointed out aren’t the kind of guys that will show Red Dragon what the WCF is all about. That is left for the rest of us veterans at War and I personally want a shot at this guy. I mean how often do you get to fight a guy with two nicknames!? And what awesome nicknames they are. I mean Red Dragon is the Minister of Evil and the Minister of Darkness! I’ve got to know man….could you not decide between the two and just had to have them both? Were you sitting at home and going back and forth and just finally said….fuck it, I’m both the Minister of Evil and Minister of Darkness.”
“Now as someone that considers himself a minister you have a weird way of dressing for it. I mean I can understand your reasoning for wanting to be both and the Red Dragon but it’s like you decided to push two gimmicks into one. I’ve been making fun of all of these other guys for not being creative enough but you are on the other end of the spectrum bro. I mean look at you when you go to the ring. You extend your wings out and you look like a giant bat! A fucking bat. Are you trying to add Batman to your gimmick and we just don’t know it? All of this together and throw in a few pentagrams and I’ve got to wonder how you passed the psych exam here. There’s just so much going on here and with that in mind I have to say that with so many thoughts going through your mind, it’ll be easy to take advantage and pin you. You’re special kind of crazy gets an X.”
“The next of the newbies that is going to get owned is Tanner Tall. I mean….cmon….really? The guy isn’t even tall! When it comes to wrestling he is average! Everyone’s 6’4. I’m 6’4! How can you proclaim to be this stud athlete with a name that is so contradicting? What’s even funnier is that this guy team’s with Derrick Tuff. Both of these guys have to steal other tag team’s gimmicks just to get on tv and have something to do. I know that some people have done this as a gimmick before but these guys can’t do just singles people that they have to come together, pick a tag team and work together just to emulate both of them because they can’t do it themselves. This in itself is a reason to give them both X’s.”
“Now I know it’s been a long session so we are only gonna cover two more guys. The first is Johnny Alpha. Johnny has been around for a bit now and there is nothing Alpha about him. Just look at Slam. It was a chance for him to put himself on the map and take the Alpha Title. How fitting would that have been with his last name being what it is? It would’ve been absolutely perfect. Instead he let it slip right through his hands. He had the chance to become champion and instead he let Luke Force toss him over the top rope. Alpha all I have seen you do for weeks is lose. You lost to all of those guys in the battle royal for the Alpha Title. You lost the battle royal on Slam before that. You also lost at Revenge to Trey Carter. Guess what I just did to Trey Carter last week Johnny? I smoked him. A shot at the Omega Title was on the line and I took care of business. Go back and take notes. Learn something. Instead you aren’t an alpha. You’re just a Joe somebody. You obviously are getting crossed out.
Finally is Matthew Drake. Drake is a guy that has proven himself to a point. Which sucks to be honest. Drake is just successful enough that he believes that he is somebody but when you really look at his results you realize he’s only slightly better than these other guys. He had a tag team match with Gravedigger where they fought Bishop and Damian Simmons. That’s pretty sweet getting to tag with Gravedigger but it also skews the results because Gravedigger was so much better than everyone else in that match. He carried you to a win and you shamelessly thought you had something to do with it. That’s cute. Let’s look at your other matches during the last couple of weeks, the most prominent being your Hardcore Title match with Ethan King. King took you to school man and he proved why he’s in Everest and you are not. He proved why the veterans like me are better than you. Hell Damian Simmons proved where you really belong at Revenge. That is in the Alpha Title championship scene. You are good enough you can hold down the fort in that division until a blue chip prospect comes in and takes your title and once they cash it in for a shot at what will be my Omega Championship, you can take it back. That’s your ceiling Drake and you need to accept that. Do you know what’s abvoe that ceiling? Winning War which is why you are screwed as well.” Kemp puts an X through Matthew Drake’s face.
“Now that is all I have for today but I do have a little homework for all of you. Go ahead and research all these “legends” who are coming back and returning to War. I want you fans to see how good these guys were and we can compare notes. Until then just remember that I am Kyle Kemp and I’m better than you!
