Post by dylanblack on Aug 5, 2023 14:27:15 GMT -6
Holiday Inn Convention Centre
Hartford, OH
8/02/19
Hartford, OH
8/02/19
The three men stare at one another to a mix of cheers and boos from the crowd, depending on their levels of sympathy towards Natasha who is quite visibly in a mix of rage and even distress. Suddenly and in familiar fashion, James Dragon raises his fist up to the sky.
Fargo does the same, touching knuckles with his partner.
As does Anomoly, the three men stand with their fists pointed to the heavens together, as Prestige Twenty-Eight fades to black.
Hartford, OH
20/09/19
James Dragon sits alone amongst a sea of folding chairs, looking toward an empty arena devoid of any indication that a wrestling show was held here at one point. Empty until the next event to be held here, whatever it may be. Dragon wears his routine get-up of a black jacket, black and white ZDS shirt and accompanying black ZDS ball-cap, alongside a pair of cargo shorts and nondescript sneakers.
James Dragon had come to be known as a man who truly had stopped giving a shit, in his mind, owing it to his treatment from the fans, the AWF and his fellow workers. He had willfully embraced that perception as a way to show his own disdain for all those listed, a persona he had carried up to and including his departure from the AWF. Yet, sat here amongst a sea of memories everyone else had already discarded, he couldn’t help but feel the nostalgia worming its way into his normally bored headspace.
Dragon:
Ever since I left the AWF back in early June, I’ve had this nagging feeling in my head. It wasn’t regret, or anger, at least I didn’t think it to be that. I didn’t come back to any of the perceived injustices that befell me, I just kept reflecting on this one moment…
Dragon stands, studying the empty room as though it was still brimming with life.
Dragon:
A fact of life is that we attach significance to events that don’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. See, a fair time ago, myself, Scott Fargo and The Anomoly stood in the middle of this location and broke a woman’s ankle before beating her husband to unconsciousness. I said to myself that this system is going to change or we’re gonna break it. I lauded that philosophy every single time I had a chance to do so. Because of that one night in Ohio where I thought that an event had transpired that was going to shake the world of professional wrestling to its core.
Dragon begins walking, taking care as he moves through the rows of empty seats not to trip.
Dragon:
The story has an ironic twist in that, we made a faction comprised of the men we believed to be overlooked and underutilised on this network, to make a statement. Yet, that moment in time that seemed so important to us, it really just became another note in history, another thing to add in the yearly wrap-up. We were popular and sold more merch than I knew what to do with, but we didn’t really accomplish what I set out to try and achieve.
Dragon stops at the stairs, leading down into the empty centre of the venue.
Dragon:
Anomoly, I saw, as a man being forcibly left behind by a new wave in his company’s history. Former AXW Champion, beloved and hated by the crowd, at the time he was having his likeness parodied and mocked by who later turned out to be Stormcrow. I took a look at this man still putting his body on the line despite it all, I saw a kindred spirit under the mask. It’s easy to forget yourself in the pursuit of what you want, so I told Anomoly he could respond with apathy, to take the people’s approval or vitriol and respond with the same enthusiasm this network had shown to people like us. It’s a soulless machine and a faceless crowd that doesn’t care about us, why should we care about anything? Is that an oversimplification? Maybe, but it put the power into our hands, it put a name and a logo and a movement to what we wanted to make happen. Yet…
Dragon looks off into the arena, smile appearing faintly on his lips as he basks in the silence.
Dragon:
Here we remain.
The Scorpion Classic, 2018
Derrick Donovan:
Oh no! This could be it for Anomoly! Caffrey has already gone after the left leg of Anomoly and now he has it sinched in!
Anomoly fights the hold as the shot switches to Steele on the outside. Steele is mouthing that he didn't mean for Anomoly to end up like that, but business is business. Anomoly fights the pain more and more as he claws towards the ropes. He makes it to within inches of the ropes before his hand falls limp onto the canvas and the Referee calls for the bell!
“The winner of the match as a result of stoppage and advancing to the finals of the Classic...Anthony Caffrey!!”
The Avalon Inn
Hartford OH
05/02/19
Scott Fargo continues to tape his fists as he watches the television set with as much confusion as his usual stoicism can muster. He looks over at his partner and now, something close to resembling friend, James Dragon. Sat at the edge of his bed watching the T.V intently, fingers pressed thoughtfully against his lips. His newly won Midwest Championship laying in a heap behind him on the covers, Fargo eventually has to say something.
Fargo:
You really think he’s who we should bring in?
Dragon picks up the remote and pauses the recording, he looks over at Fargo quizzically.
Dragon:
Not impressed?
Fargo scoffs and picks his bag up off of his own bed, checking his bottle of water is full as he sets out on an undoubtedly intense training regime for the day.
Fargo:
I don’t think we need him, but I’ll go with whatever you decide to do. Seems like you’re convinced there’s something about him anyway.
Fargo slings his bag over his shoulder as Dragon un-pauses the footage again.
Dragon:
Are you kidding me? Absolutely…
Dragon’s frowns slightly, he watches The Anomoly slink out of the ring clutching his leg, while Anthony Caffrey and Jackson Steele begin trading barbs to the crowd’s delight. Going unnoticed is Anomoly’s painful departure to the bowels of the arena. Dragon narrows his eyes, a million thoughts racing through his head at once.
Dragon:
Absolutely.
Holiday Inn Convention Centre
Hartford, OH
20/09/19
Dragon places his hands in his pockets as he slowly paces back and forth in the centre of the venue, rows of chairs pointed directly at him, almost deafening in its silence. With no ring or any kind of construct in the middle, there is only a vast empty space lit up by an overhead spotlight, even Dragon quietly admires the dramatics of it.
Dragon:
Here we remain, two men who tried fighting an idea with apathy and instead just became a counterculture symbol for a T-shirt.
Dragon holds out a hand.
Dragon:
The Anomoly, Mr. Undisputed. A figure unknown to this day and peerless in physical destruction and high flying ability. Anomoly fights for legacy, a final chance at recognition from a company and sport that’s quick to forget.
Dragon holds out his other hand.
Dragon:
James Dragon, leader of the Zaibatsu. A slacker who is considered one of the best to never hold a world championship, peerless in technical proficiency and in-ring adaptability. Dragon fights for change, a fleeting idea in an equally fleeting game.
Dragon places his hands back into his jacket pockets.
Dragon:
The Anomoly has been a figure that’s inspired intrigue and vitriol from many, even when he doesn’t utter a word nor can his facial expressions be seen, there’s a special way about him. An aura that draws people to him like it does to any competitor that sets themselves apart from the pack. That’s something I can’t lay claim to giving him, he adopted my mind-set and my words, but there’s no changing the man under the mask.
Yet, despite this, The XHF Network, the AXW itself really, will never give Anomoly the keys. It’s never appreciated the experience of being past up in spite of your talent, this is a man that beat Price and Stormcrow at the same time to retain his belt yet was crowd surfed in that same match. I don’t like the guy but I will concede Anthony Caffrey’s reign to be impressive, his wins to be impressive. But it’s never brought up, never appreciated the experiences put down on a man who sacrificed himself to remain at the top against stiff competition, who sacrificed himself again and again trying to reach that spot when it was taken from him. That’s a common factor about our sport, there’s no denying that, but The Anomoly wasn’t just a guy trying to make his presence known, he was someone who should have been on AXW’s mount rushmore wasting away in battle royals and gimmick matches as he waited that maybe next show this would be the time he finally gets that chance at redemption.
Dragon turns to the camera.
Dragon:
Anomoly, you were one of the first champions in AXW, now here we are after all these big claims about changing things for people like us. I had to offer my services and demand to be put against you, not Price or Dreadvan or Swann or anybody else. Because we’re two threads of the same stitch. You threw everything you had at one last shot on top, me? I didn’t even get mine. So what else is there left but to go one on one. Who deserves it more?
Dragon’s bored tone and face never change, but as he extends his arms and moves backwards the belief in his words are palpable.
Dragon:
James Dragon Vs. The Anomoly. The only singles match on the card, not for a title, not for an opportunity. Not even for bragging rights. Just two men, who when they look at each other, see the personification of their failures. When you look at me like you alluded to back in that bar, you see another punk kid dragging you down into the goddamn lower tiers, taking you away from that last shot at ending AXW on top.
Me?
I look at The Anomoly and I see everything. Anomoly I don’t want to beat you because I want to fulfil some vanity project. I want to beat you because I can’t sleep at night, I can’t stop thinking about this dingy arena and an AWF ring.
I have to beat you, because when I look at you I see a man I failed. Whom I promised change and gave nothing. You can resent me for pulling you away from a chance at the world title all you want, but if I don’t fight you, here, at this moment, on the final AXW show. If you and I don’t go out there and beat the hell out of each other for what we believe in, then not only are we failures Anomoly, we are hypocrites. That, is something, I refuse to let happen.
Dragon looks down, his tone faltering slightly under his typical bored and expressionless attitude. He looks up, his face masquerading as blank but the determination and fire is unmistakable in his eyes.
Dragon:
So that’s why two ZDS members collide. You and I are going to overcome our doubts, our insecurities, our failures. Off the back of the other. Two men, peerless in their polar opposite styles and sensibilities. United only by their differing desires to win, you beat me and The Anomoly of old may well still be here, may well go on to carve his name into AWF or MCCW or anywhere he chooses to go. I beat you, I get rid of a ghost in my past, I start trying to rebuild a movement I failed to cultivate long ago. For one man, maybe by winning this, on the surface, insignificant little match on a farewell show.
Maybe all that pain will just go away.
Dragon leans his head back, staring into the lights above, watching the flecks of dust dance gently around him. He looks back, vacant, relaxed. Taking it easy.
Dragon:
Equally motivated, unwilling to give an inch and desperate to win. We know each other to a science, maybe your reckless abandon and perseverance won’t be enough. Maybe I won’t have the physical answers to whatever you throw out there. It then comes down to who wants it more, who needs it more. Who wins then? Well that’s the million dollar question isn't it.
Who moves, when the unstoppable force meets the immovable object.
A small but familiar smirk appears on Dragon’s face. He looks at the camera with his dull eyes hiding a seemingly endless amount of thoughts and strategies. He points a finger gun at the camera.
Dragon:
Take it easy.
The light above shuts off, plunging the arena into darkness.