Post by Corey Black on Jan 6, 2019 20:15:51 GMT -5
Perception of Wade Moor Level:
This time of year is a magical time in the land or professional wrestling. There’s a certain glow happening around the sport when One comes around. For most, anyway, it’s a time of year where legends are born and legends come out from the woodwork to once again show the world what they can do. For the few, this is the busiest time of year trying to get this show off without a hitch. That’s the situation we find Corey Black in.
Three phones inside Corey’s WCF HQ office in Oley, PA are ringing off the hook. He’s just sitting there in his high back business chair looking at them. The walls of the office are decorated with old WCF memorabilia, old photos of Hall of Famers and various knick knacks. Three phones, all ringing at once, and a guy that is supposed to answer them looking dead ahead with little more than a blank expression. When one caller gives up, another is trying to get through. A never ending cycle of people trying to get ahold of Corey Black. Moments turn into minutes; minutes turn into hours. It seems like everyone on planet Earth needs something right now. Of course they do, WCF’s big one is on the horizon. It’s a mere day away. Soon enough the door to Corey’s office swings open and an army of faceless ghouls pour in asking for this and that. Corey doesn’t ignore them, instead he stands up and simply points to the door. They don’t really get the hint. A man in front has a contract he’s screaming about, the concessions guy isn’t available right now so he was directed here. The guy that had to make a new ring is asking about color scheme, he only has twelve hours to figure it out. Corey doesn’t give a shit about any of this, he sits back down and literally turns his back on the entire mob.
Corey Black
Figure it out.
Among the rabble Corey’s booming voice echoes throughout the office even though he barely whispered. They get it now. The crowd understands that this isn’t WCF’s owner right now. There’s other people that they can ask. They all file out and the phones stop ringing. A sudden silence comes over the office of the boss. He slowly turns back around and places his hands on his desk, surveying the trees upon trees worth of paperwork left. Stacks and stacks of sign here, initial there. A deep breath in, then out – Corey tries his best to relax but this is overwhelming. His eyes dart around the room and land on his sweatshirt, fuck this, he’s out of here.
Corey stands up and marches out the door, swinging his hoodie on as he does. People in the building try to greet him but he’s laser focused on getting the hell out of dodge. He makes it to the lobby and nearly breaks the door down leaving the building into the crisp Pennsylvania air. Now, Oley is a tiny town of less than 1500 people, but it seems like most of those people are out and about. The sidewalks and streets are flooded with folks going about their day, shopping, lunch, whatever it may be. Corey throws the hood over his head and starts walking, doing his best to ignore everyone around him. He walks by historical buildings, museums, bars, the whole gamut of what Oley has to offer until he reaches where he was going – the WCF Performance Center.
Inside the facility many hopefuls mill around lifting weights and hitting ropes. Just a quick train ride from Philly, the WCF Performance Center is the premier training grounds in the Northeast. Corey Black is still actively head trainer, but his duties as owner have forced him to assign an interim coach for the students here. Up walks coach “The Vagrant” Danny Vice.
Danny Vice
Well well well, what brings you back here to this neck of the woods?
Corey Black
Looking to lay low, actually. The room still available?
Danny Vice
Sure is, boss. Head on over.
Corey nods and smiles, Danny heads back to his group of students hoping to be WCF’s next big star. Corey walks to the far wall, passes a couple rings along the way and enters a door that seems to be masked by a poster. Corey slips in and breathes a sigh of relief. Tucked away is a solitary ring with one light hanging overhead. No windows, no phones, no paperwork – just four hundred square feet of professional wrestling squared circle. Corey drops his hoodie to the floor and slides into the ring, testing out the ropes. The secret door opens, breaking all illusion of finally getting away from the hustle and bustle of running a company. Danny Vice pokes his head in and motions, Nikki Venus enters the secret room. Corey’s annoyed stance eases.
Nikki Venus
I mean of course you had this put in. Thanks Danny.
Vice retreats back to his work, Nikki saunters over to the ring and takes a seat on the apron.
Nikki Venus
You know if it wasn’t for that guy we wouldn’t have met.
Corey Black
I know it, that’s why I keep him around.
Nikki Venus
How’s the schedule? Fitting time in for a little ringwork?
Corey Black
Ignoring everyone and everything so I can do it, actually.
Nikki Venus
Well Wade Moor is a little more of a challenge than your usual 2018 opponents of James Wolf and L Verez.
Corey Black
Hey, both of those were little more than a favor. Wolf was because we needed to honor Stan Lee, and I created a main event star in L Verez.
Nikki Venus
By losing to her. Three times.
Corey Black
Sometimes it isn’t about winning and losing, it’s about ensuring the future can handle the ups and downs of the trade.
Nikki Venus
You’ve been saying that for more than six years now, first it was with Pantheon – they’re all gone now. Then it was The Pack, which to be fair I suppose, most of them are on the One card one way or another – and it’s now moved to L Verez who isn’t even wrestling for the downgraded WCF anymore.
Corey Black
I’ve known for that long that the current guard wouldn’t last – and I think I was right. Who from even five years ago is even around anymore? Me, Odin, and Price. That is about it. People come in waves, Nikki. Recently we had potentials like Abraxas and Debonair, they have gone by the wayside. Noble Savage has proven to be the best newcomer in ages but how long does she have? How long until she’s moving on? It’s my job to make sure whomever does have potential sees WCF as their home. Whether that be putting my name behind them in a stable or as a stepping stone.
Nikki Venus
And people take that for granted.
Corey Black
Right, like Wade. He can’t see the bigger picture because his eyes only see himself and his pockets. His ego is far beyond saving at this point, he’ll never be about anything than himself. Which is unfortunate because he’s always played second fiddle to people in WCF. Always the stable guy, never the leader. Good tag team wrestler, broke out on a singles run which was squandered and squashed by Jayson Price of all people. Off he goes to be a big fish in a small Action Wrestling where he finally breaks the mold and is a top guy – with Roy fuckin’ Speede. See, that’s the kicker in the whole thing. Wade Moor has everything he ever wanted in AW, he’s the main event, he’s the Wrestler of the Year and yet he’s crawling back to WCF to wrestle me because he’s finally going to end WCF once and for all.
Sucks to be someone that can’t see the whole picture.
There’s a hundred guys like me waiting for me to step down. Actual literal hundreds of men that would fill the gap I’d leave. It would take them all, though. Every last one of them could step up and run this place, wrestle in my absence. And they would. Taking me out doesn’t kill WCF. It changes WCF, but it doesn’t kill the company. He can tussle with staff and light a ring on fire, but when we get right down to it, even if Wade Moor ends up putting me down, the green and black spirit will rise from my corpse and inhabit men like Steve Orbit, men like Odin Bafore and Steven Singh, hell even women like Bonnie Blue – WCF will live forever and I’ll be goddamned if Wade fuckin’ Moor of all people will put it down. Gravedigger and Torture couldn’t do it, Mexico couldn’t do it, Seth Lerch himself could not kill this company – why in the deep blue hell does Wade Moor think he can? Why does he WANT to?
Nikki Venus
Jealousy?
Corey Black
Bingo. Wade is the man elsewhere. His career is set after less than a year. They’re on TV, they have their talent. Wade Moor is a fixture in Action Wrestling and helped put them on the map, and yet here he is in WCF. He’s on XIII. He’s on One. Not because he has to be, not because he’s paid well, but because he knows deep down that his one chance at being the man here in WCF went down in flames faster than my ring did on Slam. He has all the potential in the world, he’ll probably go down as one of the best we’ve seen, but he’s little more than a footnote in the history books. That eats at him. Someone that uses biblical terms to describe himself cannot fathom being just another guy wherever he is. Who is the mythical King of All Wrestlers standing head and shoulders above everyone else in the place the Godnilla himself can’t even attend every Monday anymore? The guy that laid down an open challenge for a match at One. Even Wade couldn’t pass up the opportunity to finally – FINALLY - cement his legacy here once and for all. No more doubt, send me packing and Wade Moor has done something literally nobody else has.
Corey leans forward on the top rope looking down at Nikki who is still sitting on the apron.
Corey Black
But the picture is too large to fit in Wade’s frame. He sees this as a chance to make everyone forget he had a stupid love interest with a timewitch that ended abruptly and she continued on with another directionless sucker. He wants everyone to forget he’s nothing more than a Twitter meme provider for months on end while he’s over in Action Wrestling beating cuckolded job-guys that can’t get it done in WCF proper anymore. He wants us to gloss over Odin Balfore destroying this cunt in like eight seconds at XIII. He wants us to shield our eyes from the fact that Dune carried his ass the first part of the year and claiming literally anyone else was carried by literally anyone else. Pot, kettle. Remember when WMD was nominated for Tag Team of the Year and Dune was nominated for literally everything else while Wade didn’t even get honorable mention? Puddin’, that’s proof. He wanted everyone to forget when he was a fuckin’ Corey Black fanboy. He doesn’t want anyone to remember he was a proud member of Pantheon under my rule, well under Jared Holmes and I’s rule, and he was perfectly okay with it. He doesn’t want anybody to remember when he and #beachkrew tried to take down XIII only to get slaughtered and run out of the building because that isn’t the Wade Moor anyone should remember. He thinks it would be disastrous if people realized Scott Slayer does his gimmick better than he ever did.
Wade Moor is a dancing fuckin’ clown people better than him used as fodder. Pantheon did it, #beachkrew did it, Dune did it, Action Wrestling is currently doing it. He’s the hype then fall guy, he isn’t the rocket-strapped-to-the-back-guy. He’s there to make others look good. Jaice Wilds somehow is more enticing to WCF than Wade Moor is, he’s got more shit going on in his career. How pathetic do you have to be to have another failed Championship reign, result as 2018 Wrestler of the Year, and then have it all taken away by latching on to a failed stable in a different company? He does his little jaw-flapping shit for us, then turns around and does it for them – because he knows deep down WCF is the big leagues and he’s simply spinnin’ those tires. He can win the Havoc Rumble but he can’t win War. He thinks he can take down the big league WseaF and his small Action Wrestling pond becomes his ocean, well that’s sadly mistaken. The picture here goes beyond the borders. It takes up the entire fuckin’ wall.
It didn’t have to be about this, it really didn’t. This could have been two guys that think they’re the best and why not prove it on the biggest stage of them all? But we both know Wade, he isn’t the ‘wrestle to wrestle’ kind of guy. So he turns this into assaulting stagehands and trying to burn my company to the ground. He’s a very calculated guy, he knew what he was doing the second he saw the chance to have the match. Instinct kicked in and his shortcomings truly had a chance to be put to rest.
Nikki Venus
It’s a sad reality, even sadder when you realize he’s trying to pass the buck onto you.
Corey Black
There’s no buck to pass. He has no legs on anything because he doesn’t understand the business like I do. I’ve done this for how long now? He’s nothing more a baby in my world. He cannot get it done in my WCF, he’s trying to destroy my WCF by taking me out. It’s clear as day what his intentions are and the reasons behind it. I’m fighting to defend my company and my employees from this bully fuccboi. Simple as that. He was born in the water; molded by it. What he really means is his mom is a fuckin’ hippie and had a waterbirth, thought about letting this abomination that came from her infected snapper drown but Papa Wade couldn’t bear to dig a hole the lazy fuck, so they raised him to be a discount Aquaman, you know, for a joke. But to Wade it isn’t a joke, Aquaman is cool, he can talk to sealife. That’s cool. Right? Seahorses? Clams? Cool? Throughout school he’s show up in his orange and green pajamas, all the other kids had Superman or Batman sweatshirts – Wade came from filth and is nothing but. His wit and edge were sharpened in his formative years because they had to be, without he’d be living under a dock for the remainder of his existence. UNLEASH THE LEVIATHAIN all over this unwilling participant, #metoo right, because the only weirdo attracted to him is now attracted to an 80s neopunk egomaniac. I’m sure life is hard for the guy, but ask me after One and I’ll say the same; don’t give a fuck. He’s not my employee, he’s a menace to actual employees and crowds alike, and frankly, I’m barely worried about the match. Look into my eyes – I’ve been beat before and I’ll be beat again, what does it grant? There’s nothing on the line here. Wade thinks he can destroy me; I’ll be back to work Tuesday morning. Bigger picture, it’s beyond winning and losing. What do I get if I win? Nothing. Satisfaction? I haven’t been satisfied with something like that in years. Did I pop champagne bottles when I beat James Wolf? Lord no. I went back to work and the whole thing was forgotten about. Even after my retirement from full-time competition, no glitz, no glamor, I just went to a fucking desk job and got over it because I was still moving WCF forward. Always moving forward. No matter how fast or slow.
This year alone I have created the Infinity Championship, the ALTimate Showdown, and trimmed all the gold fat that plagued us for years. Wade Moor has tried to undermine everything I’ve done at every turn. He can’t be happy with successful moves because he doesn’t get to be a part of them anymore. He’s a brat, an entitled one at that, and when I elbow his fucking head off he’ll just have to come to terms with his standing in Action Wrestling because as far as I’m concerned, he’ll never wrestle for WCF again. He’s probably looking past me anyway, he’s got a big cage match coming up. It would be a shame if he were to be put out of action.
Nikki Venus
Really though?
Corey Black
Of course not. Look, I’m not going to murder this dude. I have no reason to do anything beyond making sure I win the match. I wouldn’t do that to Tort and GD, as much as the dirtsheets want to make this feud real, it just isn’t. They’re them, we’re us. We’re big brother, they’re little sister, that’s just how it’s going to be for the rest of time. I wish them all the best – fuck I’ve wrestled for them like five times already, can’t anyone see..
Nikki Venus
The big picture?
Corey Black
Fuck, yes.
Nikki Venus
You’ve said some mean things about them.
Corey Black
I’ve said some mean things about Wade Moor. It’s coincidence that he wrestles full time for AW.
Nikki Venus
Small pond?
Corey Black
They might not thing they are, but everyone else knows it. Look, Nikki, it’s not meant to be mean. We have the history; they have the heart. I hope they kick ass for years to come. Competition is never a bad thing.
Nikki Venus
That’s why you did it, isn’t it? That’s why you took over WCF. Competition.
Corey Black
I’ve said it since day one, if it weren’t for competition, I’d be someone else entirely. That’s where Wade Moor stumbles. He does it because his ego won’t allow him to do anything else. He couldn’t sit behind a desk all day doing paperwork. He needs the glory. He needs to feel important because if he doesn’t, he slips and stops caring, like when Odin destroyed him at XIII. He wasn’t ready for Ragnarok because he wasn’t main event. That’s what makes AW so appealing, he’s the megalodon there. In WCF, he’s fuckin’ Flounder. Cucked by Sebastian the crab. Ariel’s off getting crabs from the crab and Flounder is stuck milking his own seed. So this schmuck loses his bitch to another bitch and somehow finds the time to not only totally brush that off, but formulate a plan to overthrow the King. I’m totally flabbergasted at this point, Nikki, like I don’t even know what to fuckin’ do with myself anymore. Each and every time I step into the ring it’s met with “your time was up a decade ago” or “you’re too old to do this” like that’s even remotely original. I have done nothing but add value to WCF, to the wrestlers of WCF and to wrestling as a whole for eighteen years. I debuted in WCF seventeen years ago – to the day. My career has been the shit of legend. And Wade Moor wants to end it all – because he’s a jealous twit with a superiority complex.
Tell ya what. When this doofus loses fifty pounds and isn’t a heart attack risk, offer him a legends deal so he can work the convention circuit, he’ll bring in the ‘bro’ demographic we “SOOO DESPERATELY” need to have back around here. I’ll break his fucking spirit so much that he’ll quit wrestling - again – and we can pay him to be a mouthpiece for dorks around the country, maybe even Mexico since he did such a bang-up job there. He’ll do Q and As where the questions will be ‘how do you feel about Corey Black and the snuff film that was One’ and he’ll respond ‘Corey Black is a wonderful boss, he owned me then and he owns me now.’ I’m going to beat Wade Moor, and I’m going to do it without destroying the man’s body – just his will to continue.
That’s what this has become, he doesn’t want to destroy me at all. He wants to prove once and for all that he can do the big one. He can come in, no contract, beat the bonafide legend on the biggest stage and waltz back to the B show like anybody even cares. Tuesday morning, the sun is going to come up, and I’m going to be sitting behind a desk here in Oley, PA. Wade Moor will be on a flight to his next contractually obligated pro wrestling match, head a little lower. Heart totally stomped on. He thought losing the WCF Title to Price was bad enough to leave over? Wait until he gets a load of this fuckin’ elbow. He’ll have no choice but to apply for a job delivering pizzas, that way the only time he’ll be let down is when the rich people in the neighborhood don’t give him a tip.
Perception of Wade Moor Level:
Nikki Venus
Well, you’ve got me there. Maybe you should knock some ring rust off and get back to the grind, eh?
Corey steps back into the ring, shakes his head and gives a halfhearted thumbs up. Nikki exits the hidden ring room and leaves Corey to himself. He hits the ropes a couple times, does a few rolls, and his cell phone rings from the pocket of his hoodie. He tries to ignore it, but when it stops, a few message notifications come through. Angrily, he throws himself to the mat and rolls out of the ring, looking at the phone.
Message from: TS <3
Message body: Where the heck do I park? Oley is a goshdarn maze.
Sent: Today, one minute ago.
An exasperated breath leaves Corey’s lungs as he swings his hoodie on and darts out the door, through the WCF PC, waves bye to Danny Vice and shoots out the door, running toward WCF HQ. It’s a short distance, the ground coverage is easy, he makes it there in no time to find a black SUV backing out of a parking spot and a multi-million-dollar pop star at the wheel very much frustrated at the parking situation. Corey stops on a spot marked “OWNER” and points toward the sign, then the empty space. She slowly eases the vehicle into the space and gets out, throwing her arms around CD as she does.
TS
I thought we were done with this stuff man, why are you doing this? You have it made right now, no sense in going out there and possibly hurting yourself.
Corey Black
You’ll know sometime, you can walk away but it always calls you. For you there will always be a crowd, for me there will always be a fuccboi looking to get stomped. It’s the way life is, may as well get used to it.
TS
But what could it cost?
Corey looks around. Wind tussles the trees, people walking by, cars fly past.. he didn’t think of this. He stands silently, the certainty of moving on slowly drifting away.
TS
You’re not guaranteed to walk out of that arena.
He had just told Nikki that Tuesday morning was business as usual because he didn’t THINK. All bravado, no brains.
TS
What would WCF be like without you?
It would cease. Everything, gone. Jobs, people, legacies, two decades of work – gone.
TS
What would happen to Nikki?
Addiction, most likely. Antidepressants, alcohol, her life would spiral out of control. She’s not the most stable as it is.
TS
What would happen to me?
Hit record at the very least. No, Corey shakes his head, he snaps out of his own mind.
Corey Black
Nothing. Nothing is going to happen to me, WCF, Nikki or you. We’ll all be fine.
TS
But you’re risking it. You were supposed to be done last year.
Corey Black
I am, that is selfish of me, I know. But this isn’t it. This can’t be it. Not him. Not someone who is so selfish in his own right.
TS
I don’t know, Corey, this is unlike anyone you’ve gone against before.
Corey Black
I’m ready for it. This is the endgame, though, I promise. No more flying off the handle and sending out open challenges. The only reason I’ll fight from now on is for something, I won’t let someone else dictate what gets me into the ring.
TS
Last one?
Corey Black
Last one.
She lunges forward with another hug, he takes her hand and leads her into the WCF HQ. People are still waiting for Corey in the lobby, but when they see TS walk in they have even more to say. Mainly questions about Netflix. The duo ignores them all, though, and head straight back to Corey’s office. She notices the mounting paperwork and phones which have gone back to ringing off the hook.
TS
Sooo.. busy day? I can go.
Corey uses his arm to toss everything onto the floor, every last leaf of paper hits the carpet and he sits in his chair, smiling.
Corey Black
Nah, my day just opened up.
TS sits down as well, they begin talking about this, that and whatever.
Later, it’s night time at the WCF HQ. The building is deserted, Corey Black remains. He has picked up his mess and is going through the paperwork. Begrudgingly, he fills out every last form, and even answers the phone when it rings.
Corey Black
Hello, Mr. Black speaking.
Voice
Exciting show you have tomorrow.
Corey Black
It certainly is, what can I do for ya?
Voice
It would be a shame if something happened.
Corey Black
A lot of things are going to happen, we’ll have an Infinity Champion, bunch of returns..
Voice
No, I mean something tragic.
Corey Black
Look fucko, I’ll tell you like I have told everyone else, you can try to do anything, but the likelihood of it happening is slim to none.
Voice
Oh I’m just fuckin’ with you man, it’s me Seth, just seeing if my old phone line worked. How’s the paperwork?
Corey Black
Oh, uh, hey. It’s almost done. How did you know..
Seth Lerch
There’s no cameras, it always gets bad around One time. Ready for Wade?
Corey Black
I’m going to destroy him faster than you destroy a five dollar Wake Up Box from Taco Bell for breakfast.
Seth Lerch
I usually eat the Volcano Box for lunch faster, try to favor the one for dinner.
Corey Black
You’re going to end up killing yourself.
Seth Lerch
Yeah but at least the Taco Bell tastes good.
Corey Black
No that’s not what I meant – fuck, goddamnit, whatever, see ya tomorrow, bye.
Corey slams the phone down, nearly in disgust. He stands up though, overlooking the massive pile of paperwork he just got through. Glancing over at the clock – 2:13am.
One day.
He walks toward the exit, running his hand up TS’ arm as he goes. She’s sleeping in the chair. She perks right up, looking around. Corey motions for the door as he turns the light off. They leave WCF HQ into the even colder night air, a new understanding. Hopefully Wade remembers this humbling moment. And for Wade himself..
