Look What You Made Me Do (XIII vs Gravedigger)
Oct 12, 2017 18:47:25 GMT -5
Joey Flash, God King Dune, and 1 more like this
Post by Corey Black on Oct 12, 2017 18:47:25 GMT -5
Tijuana, Mexico is a strange place this time of year. It’s almost like everyone within the town decides to celebrate Halloween all month long. The streets are littered with people in costume, too numerous to count, let alone list off. Among the crowd is Corey Black, standing in front of the arena he is about to perform in - Auditorio Fausto Gutierrez Moreno. A strange pick, perhaps, but nobody has questioned it. Yet.
Corey Black
Why the hell are we wrestling in this dump?
Standing beside Corey Black is Nikki Venus, confidant for most of his career.
Nikki Venus
The town or the arena?
Corey Black
Fuck, I dunno, both? Price is an idiot. It’s fair game, though, I guess. Give Gravedigger the advantage of his countrymen tonight, I get the advantage of Minnesota tomorrow.
Nikki Venus
You know as well as I do this wasn’t Price’s idea.
With a smile, Corey points his head toward the door. He and Nikki enter the Auditorio and walk in to what can only be described as a shit show. There’s black-clad workers littering the whole place, unorganized chaos. Steel truss being moved and nearly slammed into Corey’s skull. He even ducks. A fire forms behind his eyes, he marches toward the backstage area and into an office marked “XIII Inch Mushroom.” Corey kicks the door down to find, what else, a drunk Jayson Price with his dick out. He’s pissing.
Jayson Price
Heeeey you fucker, my boy Gravedigger is going to kill you later ha-HA!
Corey rolls his eyes. So does Nikki, but she’s way better at it. Most women are.
Corey Black
Jesus Christ, first of all put some pants on. Secondly, you’re as wrong as it gets.
Jayson Price
Nuh-uh, I’m his bro, we brunch.
Corey Black
You brunched before Ultimate Showdown when he clotheslined your brain back to the stone-age, you mean.
Jayson Price
That was mostly Biohazard.
Corey Black
Sure, yeah, of course it was. Silly me. Anyway, when I told you that you could run night one, I did it because the fans have been asking for a two night thing for years now. It’s not an olive branch, I’m still going to decimate you at One.
Jayson Price
I heard Gravedigger isn’t even gonna let you get to tomorrow night ya poser.
Nikki Venus
Excuse me, Jayson.. can I ask you something? When you go to bed at night, wearing your Superman pajamas and your Batman sheets, do you check the closet?
Jayson Price
Nope, Logan came out of the closet years ago!
Nikki goes to talk with a contorted look on her face, but Corey puts his hand up to stop her.
Corey Black
Nah let that one go, it was actually kind of good. Thing is, I’m not afraid of Gravedigger. You know better than anyone else that when I say I’m going to do something, I’ll fucking do it. This is the same guy that peed in your..
Jayson Price
He peed in my cereal when I thought we’d win Trios but then he took a leak in my Cheerios, yep, nowhere else NOPE.
Corey Black
You’re almost as impossible to reason with than he is, you fucking idiot. Enjoy running my show again, maybe organize the troops a little bit better.
Both Corey and Nikki exit the office, slamming the door which produces an extra thud, shatter and splash behind it. From behind the door, Price can be heard yelling.
Jayson Price
FUUUUCK I THOUGHT THAT WAS EMPTY!
Corey just shakes his head and continues on down the hallway, into his locker room. Nikki follows, sitting down on a couch inside. Her legs crossed, a bit fuming.
Nikki Venus
I can’t believe you’d not only accept a match with Gravedigger, but let that fool run your show. You’re intentionally stacking the deck against yourself.
Corey Black
What’s wrong with that? I haven’t been challenged like this in years, Nikki, you know that’s what I want. I’ve slain Jonny Fly, now I want to slay Gravedigger on his land, in his element.
Nikki Venus
This isn’t just some man, Corey.
Corey Black
I know all about him, don’t you sweat it. Hang tight, I have scheduled time for a segment on dot com.
Corey stands up and walks out of the locker room, continuing down the hallway as long as the runway in Fast and Furious 6 it seems. At the end is a tattered XIII banner, with a cameraman operating a small handheld cam.
Corey Black
No expense wasted, eh tequila guy?
Cameraman
Que?
Corey points to the red record button, the cameraman obliges.
Corey Black
In WCF’s long history, no two men have dominated a company like myself and Gravedigger. We’re men cut from the same cloth, but what lies between our ears and within our chest couldn’t be any different. My path to greatness extends decades, barely taking a single shortcut or using my status within WCF to get my way, contrary to many beliefs. See, though my career I’ve taken them all down. Every last conquest has been conquered. Torture, Hellz Angel, Logan, Odin Balfore, Jayson Price, Jonny Fly, the list continues on and one and on but one name is very much absent. One man. He never ducked me, he never told anyone he wouldn’t fight me, it just never came to pass as often as others. The question has lingered for years, and we finally get the answer in Mexico. But..
Who is Gravedigger?
Well, it depends on who you ask. To many, he’s a walking, talking legend. He’s a threatening man who will do anything to get what he wants. He commands members of a feared gang, he’s achieved greatness and continues to do so by coming in second place in Trios, War and having quite the showing in Ultimate Showdown. To the majority of WCF’s roster, the man known simply as Gravedigger is someone you want to avoid unless you’re a fan of having your head taken off.
Ask someone like me, well, that all changes. Because I know the truth. I’ve seen who Gravedigger is. I’ve watched his entire career here in WCF unfold right in front of my eyes. I’ve been told I am asking for certain death by fighting Gravedigger at XIII. All I have heard from everyone I've talked to in recent weeks is why?
Why Gravedigger?
Why sign up to get your shit pushed in by an overgrown gang banger and his band of merry gentlemen? I say back; why the hell wouldn't it be Gravedigger? You look at the track record for him and I, you see a stable outline of WCF's rise to prominence. Two of the most accomplished to ever lace them up and compete for WCF. Well, the very best, and a guy that’s like eighth best. Maybe. 2003 was a great year for you, wasn’t it? Won the title twice, retired, left. Wow. Incredible. 2010 rolls around and the whole Hector Rodriguez saga takes place, whoaaaa. Then what? For 7 years it has been nothing but disappointment. A week long TV Title reign, an uninspired and forgettable Hardcore Title reign ended by Oblivion of all people and then toiling around with belts nobody gives a fuck about in the Internet and People’s Title.
Therein lies the problem. He can’t handle being anything but the best. This is the guy that touts about how he’s won War, and he’s won championships, and he’s done this and that and whatever. You know what big man? Logan has done each and every single thing you have – and he’s done it better. He’s won more Wars. He’s won more championships. He was a better bad owner of the company. Shit even Eric Price did it better than you did. Logan even did the Hector Rodriguez thing better as Sarah Twilight. The fact remains, Logan himself is still just second best. I don’t see either one of you bitches having more titles wins than I do. I don’t see you out there winning WCF Classics, or Trios Tournaments, or King of the Deathmatch – fuck I don’t even see you competing in two of those. The only reason you mean anything to Trios is because management screwed us over and gave Zero Tolerance a bye. They rightfully lose to us, we mop up the Three Kings without having to watch our backs for when the clowns jump us from behind. I was World Champion LAST YEAR you fucking jealous prick. My career comes to an end with me on top, and you can’t handle the fact that you continue to come up short in every facet of WCF for the better part of the last decade.
But nah, none of this means anything to the mighty Gravedigger. Ya can’t talk sense to this doorknob, so I decided to finally beat the sense into him. Everything he says about me, how I’m nobody anymore is even more true about himself. I’m out here actually getting shit done, while Gravedigger simply loses every big match he’s in. Is it personal? You could say yes, an argument could be made for no as well. Our career paths have paralleled, but they’ve rarely crossed. It isn’t an everyday thing to see us in the ring together. Maybe that’s part of the issue, he’s been watching from afar – whether not involved with me or WCF as a whole. In and out of the company, never really committing for any worthwhile amount of time. Attention span of a gopher, that dipshit.
It’s not personal in that sense, I’ve never once felt threatened by Gravedigger. Not even when he ran the show. He wouldn’t sneak attack me, he wouldn’t do anything to put me in harms way. He stayed away like a scared little puppy dog trying to scrap together enough accolades to finally become anything more than ‘that guy.’ His mission from day one was to stand out, and he did. He was the owner of a nightclub who wrestled, how much more could a guy need? We’d have a tag match against each other, we’d be involved in a triple threat, a one on one match but that was it. Nothing more than another face among the many. We’d branch off, go our separate ways. Our philosophy when it came to WCF differed immensely. I wanted competition, he wanted accolades. But now we came back together for Trios and we come back to end it once and for all at XIII. Who truly is the best? One of the most anticipated matches of my tour is Gravedigger. Smacktalk supreme, the guy that runs his mouth better than he wrestles. He tries to get under the skin of his opponents before he wrestles them, a failing strategy at best, mistake at worst. He can’t handle his role within WCF, so he runs around trying to find a place to hide. Worm into the Ultimate Showdown to try to move up and take gold above his head, take a couple of guys that mean nothing to him to a Trios win, prove his last War win wasn’t a farce filled with the worst wrestlers WCF has seen – none of it worked. Gravedigger is regulated to a role he doesn’t want to accept. The final pillar of those who held WCF up through the years. Pressure you just can’t fucking handle, Digger. You can’t run away for a year and come back as a threat anymore, you’re exposed and about to be beaten within an inch of your second-place life.
You’re a one trick pony. I got your bases covered and anyone that sees this will know. “Corey Black can’t win War.” Your driving argument for your career, War. A War that had such tough competition as Hellz Angel, Epic, Mace and AJ Jam. Also Matthew Steele? And Blaze? Kreptian? The Creeper? Fucking Joltman? This is the best argument you have against anyone of worth you step into the ring with. You won a War that was ninety percent Adam Young’s trainees. It was as funny in May as it is now, how you continue to wave it over everyone’s head. Wooo look at you, you won, everyone suck Gravedigger’s dick now! Any time I have had any interaction with you, you swing that War win around like it means something. Shit isn’t my bag. I’ll be the first person to admit that every year I’m relieved when I don’t have to be in War. How is that any more prestigious than winning any of WCF’s other events? Because it was the first? I’m not fuckin’ impressed and I never will be. I obviously didn’t need a win in War to cement my legacy, did I? I’m going to retire a Hall of Fame wrestler that did everything else there is to do, where everyone else has multiple boxes to check before they’ve run the gamut. It’s weird though, because even without winning War, I’ve got myself to the main event of One. Odd how that works, almost like War is a waste of time. Eighty percent lucky, twenty percent being in the right place at the right time. You got to second place, you eliminated a bunch of dudes. Awesome. Great. …anybody gonna give a shit about that next month? Nah, people still going to sit there and be like “fuckin’ damn remember that time Corey Black put Jonny Fly down for the second time in a row? Crap. SJW going for the belt at One, that’s cool. Wonder what UCI’s announcer is doing.”
Oh fuck, did I… yeah. I did. I’m not here to play games, Gravey. You’re at your best behind the announcer’s table. As great as you are, all the accomplishments, your legacy is one liners. You’re basically Zach Davis with a better wrestling career, you fucking goof. God, I wish you were this big menacing beast that would look great above my fireplace, instead you’re tall Kyle Steel with a worse hair line. I’m over there taking belts, you’re announcing it to the world as I do it. Choke on that for a second. Goddamn WCF-lite has the mighty Gravedigger, one of the guys dork-face Spencer Adams tries to use against Lerch, running his mouth about how he can’t believe his upcoming opponent just won gold and doesn’t even give a shit about it. While you show up week in and week out taking that paycheck, I show up, win, leave. Don’t come back until I have to defend the belt, win, leave. Then, in a shocking turn of events, I show YOU exactly the guy I am. I put my fist through your face on your own turf, because UCI is yours, bud. WCF is mine. You ain’t doing shit to me in my home, so I walked to yours and disrespected you. I showed the world that I’m not afraid of you, and nobody else should be. Gravedigger can be beat. Hell, I can be beat, but it’ll take a lot more than you or your posse to do it.
You’re a farce. A tall tale that grew from legend generations ago. As much as everyone says my best days are a few years behind me, your best days have been gone for nearly a decade. It’s a role reversal I never knew I wanted, I get to be the young gun telling the old guy that his generation is dying.. and I know it because I’m the one killing it! When I am gone, you’re the last of us left, Digger. You’re the last dinosaur, the dying breed of legends in WCF’s lore. You’ll stand proud until it’s time for you to show up and compete in a match bigger than anything you’ve been in before. That’s when the real Gravedigger steps forward and this charade you’ve been executing for the last year fades. You USED to get it done, there’s no taking that from you. In this day, you can see it. You’re slipping. The cracks in your armor are more obvious than ever. Your crutches are slowly breaking, soon you’ll have nothing to stand on but your own two feet, and when that happens, you’re doomed.
You can’t hold the torch of the old era. You’re not the kind of guy that would even want it, but you have no choice. It’s up to you to represent what WCF once was, Gravedigger. My legacy is set in stone, now you’re the man that has to put down all these new kids coming in if you think you’ll survive. Every guy that comes through the doors and laughs as he has to go against a legend of WCF is your responsibility. You have to get your shit together and start winning things again, or you get out of the way just as I am. I’ve been about building the future for years now, man. I’ve known this was coming. I thought I’d be the last, but clearly you have different plans. And that’s fine, but the legacy dies with me. You can’t keep up with the future of WCF. Look at the facts, I’ve helped Jonny Fly, Jay Omega and John Rabid become household names in one way or another. Their skill alone wasn’t enough, they needed something to kickstart their journey to the promised land, and that kickstart was me. You’d never allow anyone else around you the glory, as evidence by every single person you’ve been in contact with never showing their face again. Dark Arts Wizard, the fuck is he? Troy Malenko? Oh no, I got this.
Let’s dive in deep. Like real fucking deep. Let’s talk about The Graveyard or Penn State Wrestling Federation. A couple of failed Gravedigger ventures, akin to Chester and Dobbie, or the Dark Side, or basically anything else. But no, I want to talk about The Epitome’s lack of commitment. For years at time, this man would fuck off to fuckville without a trace. Nowhere to be found until it was beneficial for him to come back, which is the mantra of this guy from day one. He won’t do it unless he gets something out of it. A real Thomas Bates kind of guy, all these people he supposedly mentored, but nobody hears from them once he gives them the boot. Once nobody cares, Gravedigger goes missing. Nobody asks about him and when he comes back, there’s a halfhearted ‘woo’ before everyone goes back to not really giving a shit. Unless you’re Jayson Price and you can piggyback off yet another Hall of Fame wrestler, I’ll get to that in two seconds.
For all the talk of me using Pantheon as a way to stay relevant, why has nobody pointed out Gravedigger using my ‘sloppy seconds’ to get one of his career achievements; second place in Trios? I’ve chewed up and spit out Jayson Price and Kevin Bishop more times than I care to admit, yet ol’ Digger’s idea light pops off and poof, Three Kings ride! Until they aren’t needed anymore, and there’s two guys once again back to obscurity. Chester, Dobbie, Graveyard, an entire promotion, Dark Side, Jayson Price and Kevin Bishop – all casualties of Gravedigger’s arrogance, attention issues and instability. I’d say it was unfortunate if I gave a shit about any of them. Gravedigger had the audacity to claim I was his sloppy seconds, winning belts after him, being in the Hall of Fame after him. Laughable claims. Unfounded fake news as I have already proven. People may remember who was first, they only care who was best and usually regret the first. Though, to be sloppy seconds, one must first make the prize ‘sloppy’ – you’re not big enough for that, you little bitch.
I’ve stuck it out through thick and thin. I’ve endured the lows, and I’ve fought back to receive a grand exit from the company I built. Let’s get that through your fucking head, DIGGER. I built WCF, you are simply living in my world. You’re walking into XIII a marked man. Mexico or not, these are my people. My rules. MY. FUCKING. WORLD. But it isn’t personal, right? Just a couple of professionals at the top of their game, the world wants to know who would win this clash of titans. That’s how it started, simply as a way to find out who is the best of the final two living legends in this company. The two guys that everyone always wondered what if? What would happen if Corey Black and Gravedigger went balls to the wall and finally decided who is the better of the two? Going into this, I was dead set on finding out who it was, man. I was a willing participant in what could be WCF’s biggest match of all time, it was going to be absolutely legendary.
Until this happened.
Corey pulls something out of his pocket and shows it to the camera.
Corey Black
A bunch of fucking horseshit. You sat there in that bed and said you respect me more than anyone in WCF, and at that time, I likely would have said the same back to you. I could overlook all the other shortcomings, but then you pull that. It was that fateful day that you earned your fate at XIII. You EARNED this destruction I’m going to reign down upon you. I don’t have to play mindgames to beat you, Digger. At War, you saw what I did to a man that tried to fuck with me and the people I keep close. The charade you pulled in May caused a media storm. Do you think for one second that anyone has any idea what actually happened? Like Twitter believed that was just a look alike? People still think it’s her in the Kanye video, shit. You’re lucky it didn’t make it to court, she’d have taken one whole dollar from you, but every ounce of dignity. And you fucking laaaaugh about it like you’re the smartest man that ever lived. All you did was piss off the most patient and calculating motherfucker WCF has to offer. I waited MONTHS to get my hands on you, and you took the bait. You took it at face value, of course Gravedigger would be on the list of men I’d fight. But why XIII? Why not Helloween? Because, Digger, this is bigger than you ever imagined. When May came and went, you went from being a fabled conquest to the focal point. FPV, Bishop, Fly, they’re achievements. Jonny made the mistake you made long before. Weird how XIII was in Las Vegas and it moved, right? How strange. A terror attack didn’t cause the venue shift. I caused it. I convinced Price that he should move it south of the border so he could wine and dine with tequila all show long, when in actuality, I knew the move would make it easier for you to bring your family and those MS-13 shitbags. Huh. Almost like.. I’m banking on it. I BEG you to try any of your shit in this Street Fight. I don’t need Creeping Death to get crazy. You’ve succeeded in bringing out the worst in me. There’s a machete with your name on it and an elbow for everyone you bring.
Surely I’m not that cunning though, right? I’m just that guy that comes in for a match a month, it’s not like I could really put together something so unequivocally sinister. I put on the Hector Rodriguez mask and played you for a fucking fool. What began as simply a contest between immortals has changed into calling for blood, Gravedigger. I want your head on a pike, surrounded by the heads of everyone else you hold close to you. All your brothers, Dobbie, Juanita, Adrian, even your precious mother Maria. The pain, the anguish, I can’t even put it into words. The only way I can describe it is if every last person I just listed decided your life wasn’t worth their time anymore. That is the feeling you put in me all because you know you can’t beat me without my emotions taking over. I’m coming for your fucking head, JOHN, there’s no other way about it.
You made the mistake of screwing with people you had no business corrupting. In a stunning turn of events, you have dug your own grave this time.
Who is Gravedigger?
A false prophet, a legend that deserves nothing more than an early death. Devoid of conscious, a husk of a man that should be put down rather than celebrated. Undeserving of a grand send off, has no business standing face to face with anyone without bars between them, let alone allowed to compete against the likes of me. Every accolade, every compliment, every dollar earned through treachery and deceit. I once thought of Gravedigger as an equal, I now know he is scum.
Why Gravedigger?
Because I can’t just shake it off.
Corey nods to the cameraman who ends the video and gives a thumbs up. Corey doesn’t show any emotion, containing the fury within himself as he heads back toward his locker room. But the door is closed. And gigglig is heard from behind it. As fast as he can, he bursts through the door to find complete darkness. He reaches out to turn the lights on but before he can, purple Christmas lights turn on and illuminate the room. They circle around the entire place. Standing there is Nikki Venus and Taylor Swift, with congratulation banners and streamers and a everything else strewn about.
Nikki Venus
You’ve worked so hard for the last fifteen years, we thought we’d start the retirement party early!
Corey takes a step back, a bit wary but still smiling. He points to Taylor Swift.
Corey Black
I haven’t seen you in weeks, Miss.
Taylor Swift
Takes a bit to clean up, once the authorities got Fly in Tokyo I had to tie all the loose ends that left. Nikki and I planned this a few days ago. Congrats!
Nikki Venus
I know what you’re thinking, and yes, security will be outside. They won’t let anyone in. Gravedigger, MS-13, Price, anybody.
Corey Black
Sounds like you two have everything handled. This party goes for three months?
Taylor Swift
You hit the jackpot, tiger, this party goes for the rest of your life!
Nikki and Taylor unleash confetti poppers, sending bits of glitter and paper through the air. Cold bottles of Diet Coke line the table, with nachos and pizza, it’s wonderful.
Except within Corey’s mind and heart. He can’t focus on this and he knows it. There’s a six foot six inch tank that wants to destroy him waiting around any one of the corners of this place, and likely armed gang members around every other one. He puts his hand up to stop the ladies as they start some music. They turn it off.
Corey Black
Thanks, I really mean it, but can we maybe put this on pause for.. like.. thirty six hours? It’s going to be a bit of a struggle here for that amount of time. Surely you understand.
Nikki walks over and turns the lights all the way on, Corey can see full scale the effort they went through. They packed as many decorations as they possibly could into this decent sized locker room.
Corey Black
Gravedigger is a dangerous guy, and if I make it through him I have Joey Flash. This is XIII, this is my show, I can’t have any distractions. I promise you though, as soon as the bell rings tomorrow night – assuming I can still stand – we’ll continue this. Hell, you guys can if you want.
Taylor Swift
That’s fine – you’ll be okay. We believe in you. Unlike that dirty son of a bitch Gravedigger, you’ll always have your biggest fans beside you.
Nikki Venus
Yeah.
Corey Black
Thanks ladies. Turn the music back on, I’m going to take a walk.
Corey turns and exits the room, heading back down the never-ending hallway from Poltergeist. He finds a quiet room and goes inside, sitting against the wall and letting his hair hang over his face. Corey breathes deliberately, slowing his heart rate and calming his nerves. In a life that is nine times out of ten go-go-go, even the King of All Wrestlers needs a quiet moment of reflection. He pulls the photo out of his pocket once again, looking at it in disgust. Corey crumples it up and tosses it aside, standing up and taking one last deep breath. He whispers to himself, nobody else around.
Corey Black
The bells toll tonight.. for Gravedigger.
Corey Black
Why the hell are we wrestling in this dump?
Standing beside Corey Black is Nikki Venus, confidant for most of his career.
Nikki Venus
The town or the arena?
Corey Black
Fuck, I dunno, both? Price is an idiot. It’s fair game, though, I guess. Give Gravedigger the advantage of his countrymen tonight, I get the advantage of Minnesota tomorrow.
Nikki Venus
You know as well as I do this wasn’t Price’s idea.
With a smile, Corey points his head toward the door. He and Nikki enter the Auditorio and walk in to what can only be described as a shit show. There’s black-clad workers littering the whole place, unorganized chaos. Steel truss being moved and nearly slammed into Corey’s skull. He even ducks. A fire forms behind his eyes, he marches toward the backstage area and into an office marked “XIII Inch Mushroom.” Corey kicks the door down to find, what else, a drunk Jayson Price with his dick out. He’s pissing.
Jayson Price
Heeeey you fucker, my boy Gravedigger is going to kill you later ha-HA!
Corey rolls his eyes. So does Nikki, but she’s way better at it. Most women are.
Corey Black
Jesus Christ, first of all put some pants on. Secondly, you’re as wrong as it gets.
Jayson Price
Nuh-uh, I’m his bro, we brunch.
Corey Black
You brunched before Ultimate Showdown when he clotheslined your brain back to the stone-age, you mean.
Jayson Price
That was mostly Biohazard.
Corey Black
Sure, yeah, of course it was. Silly me. Anyway, when I told you that you could run night one, I did it because the fans have been asking for a two night thing for years now. It’s not an olive branch, I’m still going to decimate you at One.
Jayson Price
I heard Gravedigger isn’t even gonna let you get to tomorrow night ya poser.
Nikki Venus
Excuse me, Jayson.. can I ask you something? When you go to bed at night, wearing your Superman pajamas and your Batman sheets, do you check the closet?
Jayson Price
Nope, Logan came out of the closet years ago!
Nikki goes to talk with a contorted look on her face, but Corey puts his hand up to stop her.
Corey Black
Nah let that one go, it was actually kind of good. Thing is, I’m not afraid of Gravedigger. You know better than anyone else that when I say I’m going to do something, I’ll fucking do it. This is the same guy that peed in your..
Jayson Price
He peed in my cereal when I thought we’d win Trios but then he took a leak in my Cheerios, yep, nowhere else NOPE.
Corey Black
You’re almost as impossible to reason with than he is, you fucking idiot. Enjoy running my show again, maybe organize the troops a little bit better.
Both Corey and Nikki exit the office, slamming the door which produces an extra thud, shatter and splash behind it. From behind the door, Price can be heard yelling.
Jayson Price
FUUUUCK I THOUGHT THAT WAS EMPTY!
Corey just shakes his head and continues on down the hallway, into his locker room. Nikki follows, sitting down on a couch inside. Her legs crossed, a bit fuming.
Nikki Venus
I can’t believe you’d not only accept a match with Gravedigger, but let that fool run your show. You’re intentionally stacking the deck against yourself.
Corey Black
What’s wrong with that? I haven’t been challenged like this in years, Nikki, you know that’s what I want. I’ve slain Jonny Fly, now I want to slay Gravedigger on his land, in his element.
Nikki Venus
This isn’t just some man, Corey.
Corey Black
I know all about him, don’t you sweat it. Hang tight, I have scheduled time for a segment on dot com.
Corey stands up and walks out of the locker room, continuing down the hallway as long as the runway in Fast and Furious 6 it seems. At the end is a tattered XIII banner, with a cameraman operating a small handheld cam.
Corey Black
No expense wasted, eh tequila guy?
Cameraman
Que?
Corey points to the red record button, the cameraman obliges.
Corey Black
In WCF’s long history, no two men have dominated a company like myself and Gravedigger. We’re men cut from the same cloth, but what lies between our ears and within our chest couldn’t be any different. My path to greatness extends decades, barely taking a single shortcut or using my status within WCF to get my way, contrary to many beliefs. See, though my career I’ve taken them all down. Every last conquest has been conquered. Torture, Hellz Angel, Logan, Odin Balfore, Jayson Price, Jonny Fly, the list continues on and one and on but one name is very much absent. One man. He never ducked me, he never told anyone he wouldn’t fight me, it just never came to pass as often as others. The question has lingered for years, and we finally get the answer in Mexico. But..
Who is Gravedigger?
Well, it depends on who you ask. To many, he’s a walking, talking legend. He’s a threatening man who will do anything to get what he wants. He commands members of a feared gang, he’s achieved greatness and continues to do so by coming in second place in Trios, War and having quite the showing in Ultimate Showdown. To the majority of WCF’s roster, the man known simply as Gravedigger is someone you want to avoid unless you’re a fan of having your head taken off.
Ask someone like me, well, that all changes. Because I know the truth. I’ve seen who Gravedigger is. I’ve watched his entire career here in WCF unfold right in front of my eyes. I’ve been told I am asking for certain death by fighting Gravedigger at XIII. All I have heard from everyone I've talked to in recent weeks is why?
Why Gravedigger?
Why sign up to get your shit pushed in by an overgrown gang banger and his band of merry gentlemen? I say back; why the hell wouldn't it be Gravedigger? You look at the track record for him and I, you see a stable outline of WCF's rise to prominence. Two of the most accomplished to ever lace them up and compete for WCF. Well, the very best, and a guy that’s like eighth best. Maybe. 2003 was a great year for you, wasn’t it? Won the title twice, retired, left. Wow. Incredible. 2010 rolls around and the whole Hector Rodriguez saga takes place, whoaaaa. Then what? For 7 years it has been nothing but disappointment. A week long TV Title reign, an uninspired and forgettable Hardcore Title reign ended by Oblivion of all people and then toiling around with belts nobody gives a fuck about in the Internet and People’s Title.
Therein lies the problem. He can’t handle being anything but the best. This is the guy that touts about how he’s won War, and he’s won championships, and he’s done this and that and whatever. You know what big man? Logan has done each and every single thing you have – and he’s done it better. He’s won more Wars. He’s won more championships. He was a better bad owner of the company. Shit even Eric Price did it better than you did. Logan even did the Hector Rodriguez thing better as Sarah Twilight. The fact remains, Logan himself is still just second best. I don’t see either one of you bitches having more titles wins than I do. I don’t see you out there winning WCF Classics, or Trios Tournaments, or King of the Deathmatch – fuck I don’t even see you competing in two of those. The only reason you mean anything to Trios is because management screwed us over and gave Zero Tolerance a bye. They rightfully lose to us, we mop up the Three Kings without having to watch our backs for when the clowns jump us from behind. I was World Champion LAST YEAR you fucking jealous prick. My career comes to an end with me on top, and you can’t handle the fact that you continue to come up short in every facet of WCF for the better part of the last decade.
But nah, none of this means anything to the mighty Gravedigger. Ya can’t talk sense to this doorknob, so I decided to finally beat the sense into him. Everything he says about me, how I’m nobody anymore is even more true about himself. I’m out here actually getting shit done, while Gravedigger simply loses every big match he’s in. Is it personal? You could say yes, an argument could be made for no as well. Our career paths have paralleled, but they’ve rarely crossed. It isn’t an everyday thing to see us in the ring together. Maybe that’s part of the issue, he’s been watching from afar – whether not involved with me or WCF as a whole. In and out of the company, never really committing for any worthwhile amount of time. Attention span of a gopher, that dipshit.
It’s not personal in that sense, I’ve never once felt threatened by Gravedigger. Not even when he ran the show. He wouldn’t sneak attack me, he wouldn’t do anything to put me in harms way. He stayed away like a scared little puppy dog trying to scrap together enough accolades to finally become anything more than ‘that guy.’ His mission from day one was to stand out, and he did. He was the owner of a nightclub who wrestled, how much more could a guy need? We’d have a tag match against each other, we’d be involved in a triple threat, a one on one match but that was it. Nothing more than another face among the many. We’d branch off, go our separate ways. Our philosophy when it came to WCF differed immensely. I wanted competition, he wanted accolades. But now we came back together for Trios and we come back to end it once and for all at XIII. Who truly is the best? One of the most anticipated matches of my tour is Gravedigger. Smacktalk supreme, the guy that runs his mouth better than he wrestles. He tries to get under the skin of his opponents before he wrestles them, a failing strategy at best, mistake at worst. He can’t handle his role within WCF, so he runs around trying to find a place to hide. Worm into the Ultimate Showdown to try to move up and take gold above his head, take a couple of guys that mean nothing to him to a Trios win, prove his last War win wasn’t a farce filled with the worst wrestlers WCF has seen – none of it worked. Gravedigger is regulated to a role he doesn’t want to accept. The final pillar of those who held WCF up through the years. Pressure you just can’t fucking handle, Digger. You can’t run away for a year and come back as a threat anymore, you’re exposed and about to be beaten within an inch of your second-place life.
You’re a one trick pony. I got your bases covered and anyone that sees this will know. “Corey Black can’t win War.” Your driving argument for your career, War. A War that had such tough competition as Hellz Angel, Epic, Mace and AJ Jam. Also Matthew Steele? And Blaze? Kreptian? The Creeper? Fucking Joltman? This is the best argument you have against anyone of worth you step into the ring with. You won a War that was ninety percent Adam Young’s trainees. It was as funny in May as it is now, how you continue to wave it over everyone’s head. Wooo look at you, you won, everyone suck Gravedigger’s dick now! Any time I have had any interaction with you, you swing that War win around like it means something. Shit isn’t my bag. I’ll be the first person to admit that every year I’m relieved when I don’t have to be in War. How is that any more prestigious than winning any of WCF’s other events? Because it was the first? I’m not fuckin’ impressed and I never will be. I obviously didn’t need a win in War to cement my legacy, did I? I’m going to retire a Hall of Fame wrestler that did everything else there is to do, where everyone else has multiple boxes to check before they’ve run the gamut. It’s weird though, because even without winning War, I’ve got myself to the main event of One. Odd how that works, almost like War is a waste of time. Eighty percent lucky, twenty percent being in the right place at the right time. You got to second place, you eliminated a bunch of dudes. Awesome. Great. …anybody gonna give a shit about that next month? Nah, people still going to sit there and be like “fuckin’ damn remember that time Corey Black put Jonny Fly down for the second time in a row? Crap. SJW going for the belt at One, that’s cool. Wonder what UCI’s announcer is doing.”
Oh fuck, did I… yeah. I did. I’m not here to play games, Gravey. You’re at your best behind the announcer’s table. As great as you are, all the accomplishments, your legacy is one liners. You’re basically Zach Davis with a better wrestling career, you fucking goof. God, I wish you were this big menacing beast that would look great above my fireplace, instead you’re tall Kyle Steel with a worse hair line. I’m over there taking belts, you’re announcing it to the world as I do it. Choke on that for a second. Goddamn WCF-lite has the mighty Gravedigger, one of the guys dork-face Spencer Adams tries to use against Lerch, running his mouth about how he can’t believe his upcoming opponent just won gold and doesn’t even give a shit about it. While you show up week in and week out taking that paycheck, I show up, win, leave. Don’t come back until I have to defend the belt, win, leave. Then, in a shocking turn of events, I show YOU exactly the guy I am. I put my fist through your face on your own turf, because UCI is yours, bud. WCF is mine. You ain’t doing shit to me in my home, so I walked to yours and disrespected you. I showed the world that I’m not afraid of you, and nobody else should be. Gravedigger can be beat. Hell, I can be beat, but it’ll take a lot more than you or your posse to do it.
You’re a farce. A tall tale that grew from legend generations ago. As much as everyone says my best days are a few years behind me, your best days have been gone for nearly a decade. It’s a role reversal I never knew I wanted, I get to be the young gun telling the old guy that his generation is dying.. and I know it because I’m the one killing it! When I am gone, you’re the last of us left, Digger. You’re the last dinosaur, the dying breed of legends in WCF’s lore. You’ll stand proud until it’s time for you to show up and compete in a match bigger than anything you’ve been in before. That’s when the real Gravedigger steps forward and this charade you’ve been executing for the last year fades. You USED to get it done, there’s no taking that from you. In this day, you can see it. You’re slipping. The cracks in your armor are more obvious than ever. Your crutches are slowly breaking, soon you’ll have nothing to stand on but your own two feet, and when that happens, you’re doomed.
You can’t hold the torch of the old era. You’re not the kind of guy that would even want it, but you have no choice. It’s up to you to represent what WCF once was, Gravedigger. My legacy is set in stone, now you’re the man that has to put down all these new kids coming in if you think you’ll survive. Every guy that comes through the doors and laughs as he has to go against a legend of WCF is your responsibility. You have to get your shit together and start winning things again, or you get out of the way just as I am. I’ve been about building the future for years now, man. I’ve known this was coming. I thought I’d be the last, but clearly you have different plans. And that’s fine, but the legacy dies with me. You can’t keep up with the future of WCF. Look at the facts, I’ve helped Jonny Fly, Jay Omega and John Rabid become household names in one way or another. Their skill alone wasn’t enough, they needed something to kickstart their journey to the promised land, and that kickstart was me. You’d never allow anyone else around you the glory, as evidence by every single person you’ve been in contact with never showing their face again. Dark Arts Wizard, the fuck is he? Troy Malenko? Oh no, I got this.
Let’s dive in deep. Like real fucking deep. Let’s talk about The Graveyard or Penn State Wrestling Federation. A couple of failed Gravedigger ventures, akin to Chester and Dobbie, or the Dark Side, or basically anything else. But no, I want to talk about The Epitome’s lack of commitment. For years at time, this man would fuck off to fuckville without a trace. Nowhere to be found until it was beneficial for him to come back, which is the mantra of this guy from day one. He won’t do it unless he gets something out of it. A real Thomas Bates kind of guy, all these people he supposedly mentored, but nobody hears from them once he gives them the boot. Once nobody cares, Gravedigger goes missing. Nobody asks about him and when he comes back, there’s a halfhearted ‘woo’ before everyone goes back to not really giving a shit. Unless you’re Jayson Price and you can piggyback off yet another Hall of Fame wrestler, I’ll get to that in two seconds.
For all the talk of me using Pantheon as a way to stay relevant, why has nobody pointed out Gravedigger using my ‘sloppy seconds’ to get one of his career achievements; second place in Trios? I’ve chewed up and spit out Jayson Price and Kevin Bishop more times than I care to admit, yet ol’ Digger’s idea light pops off and poof, Three Kings ride! Until they aren’t needed anymore, and there’s two guys once again back to obscurity. Chester, Dobbie, Graveyard, an entire promotion, Dark Side, Jayson Price and Kevin Bishop – all casualties of Gravedigger’s arrogance, attention issues and instability. I’d say it was unfortunate if I gave a shit about any of them. Gravedigger had the audacity to claim I was his sloppy seconds, winning belts after him, being in the Hall of Fame after him. Laughable claims. Unfounded fake news as I have already proven. People may remember who was first, they only care who was best and usually regret the first. Though, to be sloppy seconds, one must first make the prize ‘sloppy’ – you’re not big enough for that, you little bitch.
I’ve stuck it out through thick and thin. I’ve endured the lows, and I’ve fought back to receive a grand exit from the company I built. Let’s get that through your fucking head, DIGGER. I built WCF, you are simply living in my world. You’re walking into XIII a marked man. Mexico or not, these are my people. My rules. MY. FUCKING. WORLD. But it isn’t personal, right? Just a couple of professionals at the top of their game, the world wants to know who would win this clash of titans. That’s how it started, simply as a way to find out who is the best of the final two living legends in this company. The two guys that everyone always wondered what if? What would happen if Corey Black and Gravedigger went balls to the wall and finally decided who is the better of the two? Going into this, I was dead set on finding out who it was, man. I was a willing participant in what could be WCF’s biggest match of all time, it was going to be absolutely legendary.
Until this happened.
Corey pulls something out of his pocket and shows it to the camera.
Corey Black
A bunch of fucking horseshit. You sat there in that bed and said you respect me more than anyone in WCF, and at that time, I likely would have said the same back to you. I could overlook all the other shortcomings, but then you pull that. It was that fateful day that you earned your fate at XIII. You EARNED this destruction I’m going to reign down upon you. I don’t have to play mindgames to beat you, Digger. At War, you saw what I did to a man that tried to fuck with me and the people I keep close. The charade you pulled in May caused a media storm. Do you think for one second that anyone has any idea what actually happened? Like Twitter believed that was just a look alike? People still think it’s her in the Kanye video, shit. You’re lucky it didn’t make it to court, she’d have taken one whole dollar from you, but every ounce of dignity. And you fucking laaaaugh about it like you’re the smartest man that ever lived. All you did was piss off the most patient and calculating motherfucker WCF has to offer. I waited MONTHS to get my hands on you, and you took the bait. You took it at face value, of course Gravedigger would be on the list of men I’d fight. But why XIII? Why not Helloween? Because, Digger, this is bigger than you ever imagined. When May came and went, you went from being a fabled conquest to the focal point. FPV, Bishop, Fly, they’re achievements. Jonny made the mistake you made long before. Weird how XIII was in Las Vegas and it moved, right? How strange. A terror attack didn’t cause the venue shift. I caused it. I convinced Price that he should move it south of the border so he could wine and dine with tequila all show long, when in actuality, I knew the move would make it easier for you to bring your family and those MS-13 shitbags. Huh. Almost like.. I’m banking on it. I BEG you to try any of your shit in this Street Fight. I don’t need Creeping Death to get crazy. You’ve succeeded in bringing out the worst in me. There’s a machete with your name on it and an elbow for everyone you bring.
Surely I’m not that cunning though, right? I’m just that guy that comes in for a match a month, it’s not like I could really put together something so unequivocally sinister. I put on the Hector Rodriguez mask and played you for a fucking fool. What began as simply a contest between immortals has changed into calling for blood, Gravedigger. I want your head on a pike, surrounded by the heads of everyone else you hold close to you. All your brothers, Dobbie, Juanita, Adrian, even your precious mother Maria. The pain, the anguish, I can’t even put it into words. The only way I can describe it is if every last person I just listed decided your life wasn’t worth their time anymore. That is the feeling you put in me all because you know you can’t beat me without my emotions taking over. I’m coming for your fucking head, JOHN, there’s no other way about it.
You made the mistake of screwing with people you had no business corrupting. In a stunning turn of events, you have dug your own grave this time.
Who is Gravedigger?
A false prophet, a legend that deserves nothing more than an early death. Devoid of conscious, a husk of a man that should be put down rather than celebrated. Undeserving of a grand send off, has no business standing face to face with anyone without bars between them, let alone allowed to compete against the likes of me. Every accolade, every compliment, every dollar earned through treachery and deceit. I once thought of Gravedigger as an equal, I now know he is scum.
Why Gravedigger?
Because I can’t just shake it off.
Corey nods to the cameraman who ends the video and gives a thumbs up. Corey doesn’t show any emotion, containing the fury within himself as he heads back toward his locker room. But the door is closed. And gigglig is heard from behind it. As fast as he can, he bursts through the door to find complete darkness. He reaches out to turn the lights on but before he can, purple Christmas lights turn on and illuminate the room. They circle around the entire place. Standing there is Nikki Venus and Taylor Swift, with congratulation banners and streamers and a everything else strewn about.
Nikki Venus
You’ve worked so hard for the last fifteen years, we thought we’d start the retirement party early!
Corey takes a step back, a bit wary but still smiling. He points to Taylor Swift.
Corey Black
I haven’t seen you in weeks, Miss.
Taylor Swift
Takes a bit to clean up, once the authorities got Fly in Tokyo I had to tie all the loose ends that left. Nikki and I planned this a few days ago. Congrats!
Nikki Venus
I know what you’re thinking, and yes, security will be outside. They won’t let anyone in. Gravedigger, MS-13, Price, anybody.
Corey Black
Sounds like you two have everything handled. This party goes for three months?
Taylor Swift
You hit the jackpot, tiger, this party goes for the rest of your life!
Nikki and Taylor unleash confetti poppers, sending bits of glitter and paper through the air. Cold bottles of Diet Coke line the table, with nachos and pizza, it’s wonderful.
Except within Corey’s mind and heart. He can’t focus on this and he knows it. There’s a six foot six inch tank that wants to destroy him waiting around any one of the corners of this place, and likely armed gang members around every other one. He puts his hand up to stop the ladies as they start some music. They turn it off.
Corey Black
Thanks, I really mean it, but can we maybe put this on pause for.. like.. thirty six hours? It’s going to be a bit of a struggle here for that amount of time. Surely you understand.
Nikki walks over and turns the lights all the way on, Corey can see full scale the effort they went through. They packed as many decorations as they possibly could into this decent sized locker room.
Corey Black
Gravedigger is a dangerous guy, and if I make it through him I have Joey Flash. This is XIII, this is my show, I can’t have any distractions. I promise you though, as soon as the bell rings tomorrow night – assuming I can still stand – we’ll continue this. Hell, you guys can if you want.
Taylor Swift
That’s fine – you’ll be okay. We believe in you. Unlike that dirty son of a bitch Gravedigger, you’ll always have your biggest fans beside you.
Nikki Venus
Yeah.
Corey Black
Thanks ladies. Turn the music back on, I’m going to take a walk.
Corey turns and exits the room, heading back down the never-ending hallway from Poltergeist. He finds a quiet room and goes inside, sitting against the wall and letting his hair hang over his face. Corey breathes deliberately, slowing his heart rate and calming his nerves. In a life that is nine times out of ten go-go-go, even the King of All Wrestlers needs a quiet moment of reflection. He pulls the photo out of his pocket once again, looking at it in disgust. Corey crumples it up and tosses it aside, standing up and taking one last deep breath. He whispers to himself, nobody else around.
Corey Black
The bells toll tonight.. for Gravedigger.
