Post by Johnny Reb on Dec 16, 2011 13:46:26 GMT -5
Reb (Voiceover): For a long time, I sought redemption.
The blank screen is replaced with images: another company, another time. Johnny Reb is in a ring with other men, some familiar, some not so much. One clip rolls smoothly into the next, showing a different Reb; a more aggressive Reb. The footage grows progressively more brutal, until, at last, we are greeted with a scene of absolute chaos. Nearly a dozen men in the ring, all engaged in what appears to be a life-and-death struggle – which isn’t that far from the truth.
Reb (V.O.): Redemption for all the evils I wrought.
The footage ends with an image of Johnny wrapping a chain around another wrestler’s neck in an apparent attempt to garrote him, before a squad of men in security uniforms rush the ring and pry the chain from his hands. The scene goes black again, then opens up once more on Reb’s face, his expression one of shame and remorse. Illumination seems to be coming only from the camera itself; everything around him is dark.
Reb: An’ then I realized that redemption isn’t somethin’ one simply seeks. Ya gotta work for it. Unwillin’ as I may be to admit it, Doc Henry is right – I have a dark side. Everyone does. Some never realize it, never confront it. I have – an’ for a time, I was lost to it. I let myself be led astray by empty promises. Ironically, it was Mr. Henry himself who tried to pull me back from that precipice. An’ how did I repay him?
Johnny sighs and shakes his head.
Reb: I started a personal war. No one was safe, not even his lady. I knew it was wrong, even then; but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. All I saw was Doc Henry, standin’ between me an’ my aspirations for a title. An’ now… Now the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak. But there’s a difference. I was blinded by ambition; driven by a need to prove myself. I knew what I was doin’ was wrong, but I was too wrapped up in everythin’ that was goin’ on at the time. From my personal war on Mr. Henry, I was drawn into a larger war between two factions – a war that ultimately destroyed the company. It wasn’t until I signed with the WCF that I began to understand the error of my ways, an’ even that progress was slow. I wanted to be the top dog – an’ I still do, for that matter – but I thought the way to do it was by bein’ an evil, backstabbin’ bastard. That’s the example that had been set for me from the beginnin’ of my career.
Doc Henry, on the other hand… He knows better, yet he embraces that wickedness anyway. He revels in it. Once again, I have been blind to the needs of the situation, this time by my own stubborn pride. I understand, now, what I gotta do. It ain’t pride or stubbornness that is called for now, but compassion. So, Mr. Henry, I make you this offer – for the sake of our partnership, for the sake of our respective careers. Turn aside from the dark path, Mr. Henry. It ain’t too late, not yet. Renounce your immoral ways, walk in the light, an’ I will walk by your side. The New Confederacy will be tag team champions once again. Otherwise…
Johnny looks away from the camera, leaving the ultimatum unspoken. His next words are less impassioned than reflective.
Reb: Come to think of it, I gotta wonder why all of a sudden Lerch has decided to return the tag belts to prominence. Why this week? Why not save it for One? An’ why, in God’s name, against the very same mismatched pairin’ we faced last week? Mr. Deruty an’ Miss Evans are certainly worthy competitors, but the two of them are like oil an’ water. Granted, y’all two won last week – congratulations on that, by the way. I knew that you would give me a run for my money, D-Day; but Kaylyn, your performance impressed me all the more. It’s rare enough that a woman is willin’ to step into a traditionally masculine sport; rarer still when she’s got the skill, talent, an’ just plain guts to be not only proficient but actually good at it. Now I know ya got the fortitude to stand up to any onslaught. An’ with that in mind, I ain’t gonna hesitate this time to unload both barrels. Take that as ya will, though I hope you consider it a compliment.
Things are tenser than ever before, an’ I am sorry the two of y’all are caught in the middle of it. All else bein’ equal, though, there’s gold on the line this week. It ain’t exactly a rematch against Odin Balfore for the World Title – a rematch, I might add, that I have been consistently denied since Helloween – though it is a step in the right direction. Only one thing stands between me an’ them belts, an’ it ain’t the opposin’ team… it’s my own partner.
The Inveterate Confederate looks at the camera again, his face a mask of resolve and purpose.
Reb: Now, y’all won last week, an’ that’s admirable. Just don’t forget that things coulda gone very differently, had I chosen to intervene there at the end. Y’all might be askin’ yourselves why I didn’t. Hell, I’m sure Doc is just as curious. The answer is simple. I was makin’ a point – that Doc Henry does not determine my fate, not by word or action. You may have locked me into a contract against my will, Mr. Henry, but you got no control over what I do – or don’t do – in that ring. The ball is in your court, an’ you got a choice to make. If ya want my cooperation, you’ll play by my rules from now on.
With that final statement, the scene fades to black.
The blank screen is replaced with images: another company, another time. Johnny Reb is in a ring with other men, some familiar, some not so much. One clip rolls smoothly into the next, showing a different Reb; a more aggressive Reb. The footage grows progressively more brutal, until, at last, we are greeted with a scene of absolute chaos. Nearly a dozen men in the ring, all engaged in what appears to be a life-and-death struggle – which isn’t that far from the truth.
Reb (V.O.): Redemption for all the evils I wrought.
The footage ends with an image of Johnny wrapping a chain around another wrestler’s neck in an apparent attempt to garrote him, before a squad of men in security uniforms rush the ring and pry the chain from his hands. The scene goes black again, then opens up once more on Reb’s face, his expression one of shame and remorse. Illumination seems to be coming only from the camera itself; everything around him is dark.
Reb: An’ then I realized that redemption isn’t somethin’ one simply seeks. Ya gotta work for it. Unwillin’ as I may be to admit it, Doc Henry is right – I have a dark side. Everyone does. Some never realize it, never confront it. I have – an’ for a time, I was lost to it. I let myself be led astray by empty promises. Ironically, it was Mr. Henry himself who tried to pull me back from that precipice. An’ how did I repay him?
Johnny sighs and shakes his head.
Reb: I started a personal war. No one was safe, not even his lady. I knew it was wrong, even then; but I couldn’t seem to stop myself. All I saw was Doc Henry, standin’ between me an’ my aspirations for a title. An’ now… Now the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak. But there’s a difference. I was blinded by ambition; driven by a need to prove myself. I knew what I was doin’ was wrong, but I was too wrapped up in everythin’ that was goin’ on at the time. From my personal war on Mr. Henry, I was drawn into a larger war between two factions – a war that ultimately destroyed the company. It wasn’t until I signed with the WCF that I began to understand the error of my ways, an’ even that progress was slow. I wanted to be the top dog – an’ I still do, for that matter – but I thought the way to do it was by bein’ an evil, backstabbin’ bastard. That’s the example that had been set for me from the beginnin’ of my career.
Doc Henry, on the other hand… He knows better, yet he embraces that wickedness anyway. He revels in it. Once again, I have been blind to the needs of the situation, this time by my own stubborn pride. I understand, now, what I gotta do. It ain’t pride or stubbornness that is called for now, but compassion. So, Mr. Henry, I make you this offer – for the sake of our partnership, for the sake of our respective careers. Turn aside from the dark path, Mr. Henry. It ain’t too late, not yet. Renounce your immoral ways, walk in the light, an’ I will walk by your side. The New Confederacy will be tag team champions once again. Otherwise…
Johnny looks away from the camera, leaving the ultimatum unspoken. His next words are less impassioned than reflective.
Reb: Come to think of it, I gotta wonder why all of a sudden Lerch has decided to return the tag belts to prominence. Why this week? Why not save it for One? An’ why, in God’s name, against the very same mismatched pairin’ we faced last week? Mr. Deruty an’ Miss Evans are certainly worthy competitors, but the two of them are like oil an’ water. Granted, y’all two won last week – congratulations on that, by the way. I knew that you would give me a run for my money, D-Day; but Kaylyn, your performance impressed me all the more. It’s rare enough that a woman is willin’ to step into a traditionally masculine sport; rarer still when she’s got the skill, talent, an’ just plain guts to be not only proficient but actually good at it. Now I know ya got the fortitude to stand up to any onslaught. An’ with that in mind, I ain’t gonna hesitate this time to unload both barrels. Take that as ya will, though I hope you consider it a compliment.
Things are tenser than ever before, an’ I am sorry the two of y’all are caught in the middle of it. All else bein’ equal, though, there’s gold on the line this week. It ain’t exactly a rematch against Odin Balfore for the World Title – a rematch, I might add, that I have been consistently denied since Helloween – though it is a step in the right direction. Only one thing stands between me an’ them belts, an’ it ain’t the opposin’ team… it’s my own partner.
The Inveterate Confederate looks at the camera again, his face a mask of resolve and purpose.
Reb: Now, y’all won last week, an’ that’s admirable. Just don’t forget that things coulda gone very differently, had I chosen to intervene there at the end. Y’all might be askin’ yourselves why I didn’t. Hell, I’m sure Doc is just as curious. The answer is simple. I was makin’ a point – that Doc Henry does not determine my fate, not by word or action. You may have locked me into a contract against my will, Mr. Henry, but you got no control over what I do – or don’t do – in that ring. The ball is in your court, an’ you got a choice to make. If ya want my cooperation, you’ll play by my rules from now on.
With that final statement, the scene fades to black.
