The scene fades in to the OCW training facility. OCW trainees are seen in the background going through drills, others pushing weights or doing other fitness activities.
In the foreground we see one of the rings in the training centre occupied by Justin Jehst and his agent Elsa Holmberg. Both of them are sporting some athletic gear for training and have already built up a little bit of a sweat.
Jehst: “Ok, that was a good little warm up. Now, I’m gonna teach you some basic holds; we’ll start with a wristlock.”
Justin grabs Elsa by the hand and puts on the initial hold, gently bending her hand towards her forearm.
Jehst: “I’m not hurting you am I?”
Elsa: “No, is ok.”
Jehst: “Ok, well, this is a wristlock. And as you can see…”
He begins leading her around by applying a light pressure to the hold, forcing her to move around.
Jehst: “…if I push down on the top of your hand, I can lead you around the ring, forcing you to play my game.”
Elsa continues to follow Jehst’s lead until he eventually stops by the ropes and releases it.
Jehst: “You wanna give it a try?”
Elsa: “Sure.”
Justin extends his hand for her to grip. She applies the same hold Jehst had on her and begins emulating what he was doing, guiding him around the ring, eventually backing him up against the ropes.
Jehst: “Good, that’s good, you’re getting it. We’ll keep practicing that later. For now, I’m going to show you how to run the ropes.”
Justin presses his back against the ropes, gripping them with his left arm outstretched.
Jehst: “People are going to throw you against these things, so you’re going to have to know how to run in between them and use them to your advantage. Watch what I do.”
He begins with both feet on the ground, taking 1, 2, 3 strides before turning and bouncing against the opposite side, using the rope to propel him as hard as he could. He repeats this again a couple of times to show the movement.
Jehst: “Now you try.”
Elsa puts her back against the ropes, and again, repeats the motion of Jehst, bouncing off the ropes, however, a bit tentatively.
Jehst: “How’d that feel?”
Elsa: “My back is hurting.”
Jehst: “You’ll get over it, trust me. It only gets easier. I’ve gotta make a call real quick; run the ropes 20 times, I should be done by then.”
Elsa: “Ok, I practice this.”
Justin rolls out of the ring and grabs his cell phone from his duffle bag and dials a number.
Jehst: “Heyyyy, Mickey! Capo said you’d be on call. I need a favour. I’ve got a movie premier coming up and I need a suit. I know you’re the man for the job.”
Justin listens to the response for a moment before replying.
Jehst: “Alright, I’ll see you tonight to give you the measurements. Thanks again, Mickey.”
As he ends the call and slides his phone into his bag, the camera pans back to the ring as Elsa is leaning over the ropes.
Elsa: “You must be very excite about the premier, Mr. Justin.”
Jehst: “You can drop the “Mr.” now, Elsa; please, just call me Justin”, he says with a smile.
Elsa: She responds playfully, “Ok, ‘Justin’.”
Jehst: “Well that’s gonna have to do for today, but at least you’ve had a taste of being in the ring now.”
Elsa: “I like it, Justin.”
Jehst: “I see potential in you, Elsa. I think that you can have both the eye for talent and be a star yourself.”
Elsa: “I would like that. It may be a good change for me.”
Jehst: “How about you accompany me to some of my matches and sit in the front row to see some in-ring action up close?”
Elsa: “Are you buying me front row tickets to Turmoil, Justin?”
Jehst: “I think I can wrangle a ticket for you, if you want it?”
Elsa: “Yes! I want front row seat to see you have your butts kicked!”
Jehst: “Oooof. Well, if you’re gonna be like that, I think I rescind that ticket offer”, crossing his arms and quickly poking his tongue out in jest.
Jehst: “I’ve gotta go; you need a ride downtown?”
Elsa: “Like I will turn down a ride in a muscle car!”, she says as she squeezes Justin’s bicep.
Jehst: Alrighty then, let’s head off.
The scene fades out as the pair grab their duffle bags and exit stage right.
The camera pans to the announce team.
And just like that!
Away they go!
Jacob Trance vs Damian Bourne
The camera pans to the announce team.
WHAT THE HELL!
AHAHAHAHAHHA
Cort Marshall and Christian Shepherd stand with interviewer Jim Black, who introduces them before handing Cort the mic.
Cort: Jim, I’ll cut straight to the chase; I’m here for two reasons. One, the main event tonight. I’m doing my best to become a good sport. To leave the past behind. In that vein, I wish both teams good luck.
Cort: But.
Cort: Don’t let it get to your heads just because you got a main event slot and we ain’t even on the show. B2O, you’ve got skills, but you’ve also got the kind of attitudes I don’t like. CQC, same goes for you--except you act more like bickering housewives than a team. Enjoy the limelight while it lasts, boys, because at Savage Lands, reality sets in.
Cort: I know many people in OCW like to think of that as a dirty word, reality. They’d rather spend their time going on fantasy adventures or living in their own deluded dome instead of facing the cold light of day. And when you’re coming off a hangover… damn does that light hurt.
Cort: Because that’s its job. To remind you that you’re here, and not there. H2O thinks he knows what the light is. What it represents. To blind you so that you can make up your own way. He uses the light as a distraction. As a shield.
Cort: But that’s not what light is for. Light is for illuminating all the dark corners of the things you’ve done; to show you just when and where and how you failed as a man. I’ve come to terms with some of the things I’ve done. Not all of them. But at least I acknowledge them. H2O is just another moth smacking against the glass of a lightbulb, and we…
Cort: AWOL…
Cort: Are the rolled up newspaper. We have the unenviable job of being the Riot tag division’s dose of reality. We’re just two men who know how to brawl. No gimmicks, no bullspit, no ducking. At Savage Lands, CQC will have to face reality. The reality that their team unity is subpar. The reality that their mouths outstrip their skills. Boy, did the light show me a thing or two about that.
Cort: Heh.
Cort: And after Savage Lands, who knows? Will it be B2O who face the REAL good light? Or will it be Bunny and Liger, our seemingly absentee tag champions?
Cort: That’s number two. I’ve got a thing or two to say about them. Listen up and listen good, cause I’m only gonna say this once. Do you know how much the belts you carry are worth?
Cort:
Do you know what they mean? Do you really? They meant so much to me that I gave them up because I didn’t consider myself worthy to hold them with tainted hands.
Cort:
And what do you do, once you’ve won them? You split. You disappear. You take your gold and you go home.
Cort:
That is not the conduct of a champion. Those titles are the culmination, the PEAK of many a man’s career. Oh, you scoff. Well they aren’t world titles. They’re just the tag belts. They’re low rung.
Cort steps forward, more passion in his voice.
Cort: You don’t know what low rung means. A hundred thousand wrestlers live and work and die without even getting to OCW. A thousand of them wrestle here and never even sniff a title.
Cort:
A hundred manage, finally, to justify their careers. Their blood, their sweat, their broken bones and split lips and trips to the doctor only for him to say, sorry kid, you better hang up your boots before LIFE hangs them up for you.
Cort: Not everyone can be a world champ. Not many people ever get to BE a champ. For some of us, that is the furthest we get in this bitch of a business.
Cort:
We hold onto any accomplishment we can get. Because they mean the goddamn world to us. The ordinary joes who were told we’d never even get this far. And here we are. With our chance to finally put all the doubt, all the fear that you’ve wasted your entire life… to rest.
Cort: And there you are. With that gold. That glory. That which rests only in the dreams of those hundred thousand retired wrestlers. And you don’t even care.
Cort:
You should be out here every WEEK. You should be out here making the legacy of those belts proud. You aren’t giving them the proper respect.
Cort:
You aren’t giving your opponents the proper respect. Not B2O, not CQC, not us. I don’t know if it’s laziness, or cowardice, or what. All I know is, you may have won those titles fair and square… but you’re a far cry from deserving them.
Cort:
So sit there and eat those chips and watch that TV. And get ready. Because in every paradise… there must be thunder, brother.
Cort stares into the camera, fire in his eyes. Shep nods, patting him on the back. The camera fades off to the next scene...
