Post by dylanblack on Aug 5, 2023 14:29:50 GMT -6
19th October, 2019, Bristol
We walked along the harbour front, Tammy and I, the wind gently blowing through our hair as autumn really settles in here in the UK. As the sun begins to come down we take time to stop and observe the goings on around the harbour, and for Tammy to observe the SS Great Britain, moored in Bristol for a number of years. We lean on railings looking out over the old steamship.
“So we head to London tomorrow?”
“We do. We’re there all week so I can focus on Lay Rest to the Wicked, I’ve got a few things to do as well as train.”
“Oh? Is that an excuse I can hear?” She teases.
“It’s fact, Tamara.” I opt to shut her down.
“Ooooh, Tamara, you only say that when you start getting ultra serious!” She inches close enough to gently nudge me, grinning.
“Yeah well, this is where it gets serious. You’re going to see it first hand for a change as well.”
“Oh please.” She waves a hand dismissively. “I saw the worst of you when you were fighting back at the bar, this ain’t gonna worry me.”
I say nothing, and she sighs.
“I am worried about something else though. You after the show, what happens next?”
I tilt my head to the left to look at her inquisitively.
“I know you brushed it off, but the last time you came back for a one off match you left everybody, you left Sharon, and some years later you wound up in my bar-”
“Not true, I wound up in Kyle’s bar, you just happened to be working that night” I smirk.
“Don’t get clever with me, you know what I’m talking about. What happens next Rob?”
I pause and look back out at the harbour. She’s got a fair point, I left my wife, my son, and disappeared off the face of the earth as far as a lot of people were concerned. I did feel though that this was different.
“This business I’ve been a part of for such a long time, it’s pretty unique. We are to a certain degree, authors, authors who get to tell their stories, every single one of us, we get to share with others parts of our lives, our personalities, and oddities, whatever we choose. These stories, as you move along your career, they become different chapters, volumes, books, whatever metaphor you want to use that suits.
For me? When I fought Myron Fox and then went missing, that was really the start of a new book. A new story that explored who I really was, and what I really wanted and needed in life. As we get towards Lay Rest to the Wicked I realise that the we are in the last chapter of this story, I don’t know if I’ll be the hero in the end or if ultimately I’ll fall short against Caffrey and Draven. No matter what happens though, the story will be over, the book will be written...and if I’m honest I’m not sure I want to write another book after this.”
I step back and take another deep breath.
“I guess for the time being I’d like to see what else I can do. I’m in a good place with a lot of things now. We have the brewery project. Sharon and I are in a place where she doesn’t want to murder me-”
“And me? You better be leading onto me or I swear to God-”
"You? Oh yeah, and that.” I wink, and consequentially I receive a large slap to the arm for it.
“Honestly you are so infuriating! Giving all this big speech and all you have to do is pay me a small compliment but you won’t!” No words, I simply place an arm around her in a playful hug.
“Ugh!” She gives up and moves the conversation on. “So that’s it then? You’re actually giving it all up this time then? Is that what you’re saying? Or is this all a big smokescreen and you’re going to suddenly go hunt down James, V and that damn bear?”
“No smokescreen, no charming bears, no more fighting, certainly for a while anyway. I’ve been writing these stories for almost eighteen years now, and if I’m honest? I’m getting a bit tired of it. I need to invest my time elsewhere, I need to spend more time with people I care about and doing other things I love.”
Tammy is rendered quite speechless at this point, and places a caring hand on my shoulder.
“So this metaphorical book, you’re happy with how it turned out then?”
“I am, and look, I’m no fool, I know not every story is perfect. We all set out to write the masterpiece but somebody will always criticise. Even when I look back at what I’ve said and what I’ve done, even I would re-write some of it but it’s done now, and you simply have to own it.
I know too that I’m lucky, I’ve had success, I’ve had a lot of success, enough to be considered overrated by some. Others aren’t so lucky, they’ll forever be underrated, they fall short just as they seem to be on to success. We all have one thing in common though, just want that chance to tell these stories, AXW has been the home of some great stories these last few years, and with it coming to an end I think it is definitely the time to end this story.”
“Even if you don’t win?”
"Not every story should finish with a happy ending. Saying that, would it really be a sad one? I think I’m way better off than where it started.”
“I agree, but I’m biased!” Tammy giggles, and I nod. “So, if this is a story, what have you learned most about yourself? And don’t just say that you’re Rob Fucking Arnold, that’s too obvious!” She folds her arms, unimpressed.
“Well it’s the truth, at the end of the day, I am Rob Fucking Arnold!”
“Okay fine...But what does that mean?”
With another smirk and holding my arms out to the sides.
“Whatever I want it to be.”
Welcome to the XHF Network
Your Video is Loading…
We open to a small studio, almost hiding behind the radio equipment to the left is B.B. Gunn, and more notably to the right is Rob Arnold. In the background is a wall with a well dressed sign that says ‘The Anonymous Pod’.
“Welcome back guys to the Anonymous Pod with me, B.B. Gunn, the official AXW Podcast, and sadly, what will be the penultimate podcast, I’ll be with you once last time following Lay Rest to the Wicked, but after that I’ll be signing off. That sadness aside, I’ve managed to get a man on today that I’ve wanted since he first walked through the door, but if I’m honest I’ve been almost a little to scared to ask him. I’m talking about Rob Fucking Arnold. Rob, thanks for coming on my man!”
“Hey it’s a pleasure Gunn, and you didn’t need to be afraid, I’d have probably said no before anyway!” Rob leans back in his chair, getting comfy.
“I uh- you know what never mind!” Gunn opts to move on, knowing that not only is time limited, but Rob’s capacity for not kicking off is also limited. “So look, I gotta ask you man, how are you feeling about this Friday?”
“I’ll be honest with you Gunn, I’ve made my peace with it, what’s happening, the fact that it’s the last time we get to all do this under the AXW flag, and I’m now really excited. Excited to be testing myself once again, excited to be performing, and most importantly excited to be beating the crap out of not one, but two people. Not just that, but I get to close out the show, why wouldn’t I be excited?”
“I getcha, but dude...you’ve taken quite a bit of heat for this, how do you feel about that?”
“I get it, I abused the remaining power I had to insert myself into the main event. Let’s bring it back a few steps though Gunn, look at it from a wider perspective. Who was the first man through the door when Anonymous Underground was born? Who was the first name on the sign up sheet? Me. Who then led from the front for this company? Who competed in the Scorpion Classic? Who brought the fight to RWA in the Xtraction match? Who went on to take the X*Crown and represent this company for almost half a year? Then, when there was a clear vacuum of power when V went missing, who came back to enforce order? Me again! So Gunn, honestly, if there is one person who should be in the main event of AXW’s swan song, surely based off all these facts it should be me!”
“Well when you put it that way it gets hard to deny.”
“Exactly! The issue was who would I fight? Scorpion? Done that. Anonomy? He wanted James Dragon. I could have brought a random legend from XHF history but that lacks purpose. That left only one thing, well, three in fact...Vincent Draven, Anthony Caffrey, and the AXW Title.”
“Look Rob, I follow the logic, but as many, including both your opponents have said is that you’ve just shouldered your way into a title match you had no business being near. How does that make you feel?”
“I get it.” Arnold shrugs. “The thing is though, what they all forget is that honestly I just don’t give a fuck. I mean, you’ve watched me during the AXW experience Gunn, you know this by now.”
Gunn nods, almost out of embarrassment.
“Exactly. Thing is though, what I’ve said before still rings true. These two boys want to play for the X*Crown, Caffrey has admitted it. Draven is looking at it too, so let them see what it’s like at the top table, against me. This is a solution to so many problems, but just because the medicine tastes a bit sour, people wanna cry about it, so let them Gunn, I’ll still go to sleep tonight knowing I made the right decision.”
“Alright, alright, well let’s move this on, as we head towards the end, what has been your favourite memory of AXW in the last few years?”
Rob smiles.
“The first night. You knew then, being there, what this place could have been, and what it could have achieved. For a time it did, for a time we showed the world that we were the best, AWF gets the consistency, but when we shone bright, we shone like a sun, and that first show, I knew I was home. Not on the XHF Network, but in AXW. I know there’s been so many people lately trying to point fingers abut why this is all coming to an end, is it Caffrey’s fault? My fault? V’s fault? Mongo’s fault? The point is it doesn’t matter any more, it’s going to be over come Friday night. Nothing can change that.”
“Speaking of Friday once again, both Caffrey and Draven have had a fair bit to say about you, and you’ve not been afraid to drop some bars their way either, but how do you feel about your opponents?” Gunn swiftly moves on.
“Let me start off by saying that both of these guys deserve the shot at being the last AXW champion, of course they do. Let me also say that I don’t try and get too caught up in these games of ‘he said she said’, because I’ve got better things to be doing. That said, my ears have been burning, at times they have been red hot Gunn, I’m not ignorant to it all.
Anthony Caffrey, the man who seems obsessed with playing on Siri since he got past three minutes of being AXW Champion. Caffrey wants to deflect everything he can back onto me, or onto Draven, he is the human embodiment of the kids retort ‘I know you are but what am I?’ or as the kids say nowadays... ‘no you’. Vincent Draven, the man who wants you to believe that he’s some dark presence but aligns himself with others in order to give him a bigger shadow. Both of these men would have you believe that my past accomplishments mean nothing, that they’re worthless yet they haven’t achieved anything I have...Yet they call me a hypocrite.”
Rob laughs.
“Here’s the real hypocrisy Gunn. You listened and agreed when I listed out my contributions to this company. Now I’m not doing to downplay either of theirs, but one thing I can’t understand is that both of them have stood in front of a camera and lamented the fact that come Saturday morning we all wake up and there will be no more Anonymous Xtreme Wrestling, yet both of them seemingly cannot get out of here quickly enough! Anthony Caffrey decided to go to AWF to tell everybody how much of an asshole I am, and Vincent Draven has been playing with a strongly AWF based faction, The Cure.
So after all those crocodile tears they’ll seemingly be off elsewhere, likely the AWF. Yet have the gall to point fingers like their family member has been murdered. How dare they? It’s this B.B, this is what makes me want to win the AXW Title the most, because I’ll be going down with the ship Friday. You won’t see me turn up next week at AWF, or MCCW, or DW. You know why? Because AXW is the first place I’ve been able to call home in a long, long time and it’ll be soon gone. This has been like a family home to me, whereas these boys want to act like they are just going to move on like they’ve gone from one rental property to another, hoping for a better landlord than before.”
Rob shakes his head.
“They are not what AXW is about. They don’t represent the company I signed up to. Me? I’ll go ahead and say it, I’m AXW, I embody it, it’s spirit, it’s chaos, it’s heart. I’m not the only one, Scorpion, Anomoly, Dreadvan, those guys too. We’re the one’s who will feel it the most.
As for Caffrey and Draven, what they’re going to feel is a lot of pain, because B.B, for one last time, I’m Rob Arnold, and that...that’s what I fucking do.”
And with that, Rob stands up and walks off, Gunn sits back in his chair, slightly blown away.
“Well folks, I’ll be honest I think that went about as well as I could have hoped for, I stayed out of the firing line and nothing got broken, so with that I’ll sign off, I’ll see you this Friday for our final show, AXW Lay Rest to the Wicked!”
We walked along the harbour front, Tammy and I, the wind gently blowing through our hair as autumn really settles in here in the UK. As the sun begins to come down we take time to stop and observe the goings on around the harbour, and for Tammy to observe the SS Great Britain, moored in Bristol for a number of years. We lean on railings looking out over the old steamship.
“So we head to London tomorrow?”
“We do. We’re there all week so I can focus on Lay Rest to the Wicked, I’ve got a few things to do as well as train.”
“Oh? Is that an excuse I can hear?” She teases.
“It’s fact, Tamara.” I opt to shut her down.
“Ooooh, Tamara, you only say that when you start getting ultra serious!” She inches close enough to gently nudge me, grinning.
“Yeah well, this is where it gets serious. You’re going to see it first hand for a change as well.”
“Oh please.” She waves a hand dismissively. “I saw the worst of you when you were fighting back at the bar, this ain’t gonna worry me.”
I say nothing, and she sighs.
“I am worried about something else though. You after the show, what happens next?”
I tilt my head to the left to look at her inquisitively.
“I know you brushed it off, but the last time you came back for a one off match you left everybody, you left Sharon, and some years later you wound up in my bar-”
“Not true, I wound up in Kyle’s bar, you just happened to be working that night” I smirk.
“Don’t get clever with me, you know what I’m talking about. What happens next Rob?”
I pause and look back out at the harbour. She’s got a fair point, I left my wife, my son, and disappeared off the face of the earth as far as a lot of people were concerned. I did feel though that this was different.
“This business I’ve been a part of for such a long time, it’s pretty unique. We are to a certain degree, authors, authors who get to tell their stories, every single one of us, we get to share with others parts of our lives, our personalities, and oddities, whatever we choose. These stories, as you move along your career, they become different chapters, volumes, books, whatever metaphor you want to use that suits.
For me? When I fought Myron Fox and then went missing, that was really the start of a new book. A new story that explored who I really was, and what I really wanted and needed in life. As we get towards Lay Rest to the Wicked I realise that the we are in the last chapter of this story, I don’t know if I’ll be the hero in the end or if ultimately I’ll fall short against Caffrey and Draven. No matter what happens though, the story will be over, the book will be written...and if I’m honest I’m not sure I want to write another book after this.”
I step back and take another deep breath.
“I guess for the time being I’d like to see what else I can do. I’m in a good place with a lot of things now. We have the brewery project. Sharon and I are in a place where she doesn’t want to murder me-”
“And me? You better be leading onto me or I swear to God-”
"You? Oh yeah, and that.” I wink, and consequentially I receive a large slap to the arm for it.
“Honestly you are so infuriating! Giving all this big speech and all you have to do is pay me a small compliment but you won’t!” No words, I simply place an arm around her in a playful hug.
“Ugh!” She gives up and moves the conversation on. “So that’s it then? You’re actually giving it all up this time then? Is that what you’re saying? Or is this all a big smokescreen and you’re going to suddenly go hunt down James, V and that damn bear?”
“No smokescreen, no charming bears, no more fighting, certainly for a while anyway. I’ve been writing these stories for almost eighteen years now, and if I’m honest? I’m getting a bit tired of it. I need to invest my time elsewhere, I need to spend more time with people I care about and doing other things I love.”
Tammy is rendered quite speechless at this point, and places a caring hand on my shoulder.
“So this metaphorical book, you’re happy with how it turned out then?”
“I am, and look, I’m no fool, I know not every story is perfect. We all set out to write the masterpiece but somebody will always criticise. Even when I look back at what I’ve said and what I’ve done, even I would re-write some of it but it’s done now, and you simply have to own it.
I know too that I’m lucky, I’ve had success, I’ve had a lot of success, enough to be considered overrated by some. Others aren’t so lucky, they’ll forever be underrated, they fall short just as they seem to be on to success. We all have one thing in common though, just want that chance to tell these stories, AXW has been the home of some great stories these last few years, and with it coming to an end I think it is definitely the time to end this story.”
“Even if you don’t win?”
"Not every story should finish with a happy ending. Saying that, would it really be a sad one? I think I’m way better off than where it started.”
“I agree, but I’m biased!” Tammy giggles, and I nod. “So, if this is a story, what have you learned most about yourself? And don’t just say that you’re Rob Fucking Arnold, that’s too obvious!” She folds her arms, unimpressed.
“Well it’s the truth, at the end of the day, I am Rob Fucking Arnold!”
“Okay fine...But what does that mean?”
With another smirk and holding my arms out to the sides.
“Whatever I want it to be.”
Welcome to the XHF Network
Your Video is Loading…
We open to a small studio, almost hiding behind the radio equipment to the left is B.B. Gunn, and more notably to the right is Rob Arnold. In the background is a wall with a well dressed sign that says ‘The Anonymous Pod’.
“Welcome back guys to the Anonymous Pod with me, B.B. Gunn, the official AXW Podcast, and sadly, what will be the penultimate podcast, I’ll be with you once last time following Lay Rest to the Wicked, but after that I’ll be signing off. That sadness aside, I’ve managed to get a man on today that I’ve wanted since he first walked through the door, but if I’m honest I’ve been almost a little to scared to ask him. I’m talking about Rob Fucking Arnold. Rob, thanks for coming on my man!”
“Hey it’s a pleasure Gunn, and you didn’t need to be afraid, I’d have probably said no before anyway!” Rob leans back in his chair, getting comfy.
“I uh- you know what never mind!” Gunn opts to move on, knowing that not only is time limited, but Rob’s capacity for not kicking off is also limited. “So look, I gotta ask you man, how are you feeling about this Friday?”
“I’ll be honest with you Gunn, I’ve made my peace with it, what’s happening, the fact that it’s the last time we get to all do this under the AXW flag, and I’m now really excited. Excited to be testing myself once again, excited to be performing, and most importantly excited to be beating the crap out of not one, but two people. Not just that, but I get to close out the show, why wouldn’t I be excited?”
“I getcha, but dude...you’ve taken quite a bit of heat for this, how do you feel about that?”
“I get it, I abused the remaining power I had to insert myself into the main event. Let’s bring it back a few steps though Gunn, look at it from a wider perspective. Who was the first man through the door when Anonymous Underground was born? Who was the first name on the sign up sheet? Me. Who then led from the front for this company? Who competed in the Scorpion Classic? Who brought the fight to RWA in the Xtraction match? Who went on to take the X*Crown and represent this company for almost half a year? Then, when there was a clear vacuum of power when V went missing, who came back to enforce order? Me again! So Gunn, honestly, if there is one person who should be in the main event of AXW’s swan song, surely based off all these facts it should be me!”
“Well when you put it that way it gets hard to deny.”
“Exactly! The issue was who would I fight? Scorpion? Done that. Anonomy? He wanted James Dragon. I could have brought a random legend from XHF history but that lacks purpose. That left only one thing, well, three in fact...Vincent Draven, Anthony Caffrey, and the AXW Title.”
“Look Rob, I follow the logic, but as many, including both your opponents have said is that you’ve just shouldered your way into a title match you had no business being near. How does that make you feel?”
“I get it.” Arnold shrugs. “The thing is though, what they all forget is that honestly I just don’t give a fuck. I mean, you’ve watched me during the AXW experience Gunn, you know this by now.”
Gunn nods, almost out of embarrassment.
“Exactly. Thing is though, what I’ve said before still rings true. These two boys want to play for the X*Crown, Caffrey has admitted it. Draven is looking at it too, so let them see what it’s like at the top table, against me. This is a solution to so many problems, but just because the medicine tastes a bit sour, people wanna cry about it, so let them Gunn, I’ll still go to sleep tonight knowing I made the right decision.”
“Alright, alright, well let’s move this on, as we head towards the end, what has been your favourite memory of AXW in the last few years?”
Rob smiles.
“The first night. You knew then, being there, what this place could have been, and what it could have achieved. For a time it did, for a time we showed the world that we were the best, AWF gets the consistency, but when we shone bright, we shone like a sun, and that first show, I knew I was home. Not on the XHF Network, but in AXW. I know there’s been so many people lately trying to point fingers abut why this is all coming to an end, is it Caffrey’s fault? My fault? V’s fault? Mongo’s fault? The point is it doesn’t matter any more, it’s going to be over come Friday night. Nothing can change that.”
“Speaking of Friday once again, both Caffrey and Draven have had a fair bit to say about you, and you’ve not been afraid to drop some bars their way either, but how do you feel about your opponents?” Gunn swiftly moves on.
“Let me start off by saying that both of these guys deserve the shot at being the last AXW champion, of course they do. Let me also say that I don’t try and get too caught up in these games of ‘he said she said’, because I’ve got better things to be doing. That said, my ears have been burning, at times they have been red hot Gunn, I’m not ignorant to it all.
Anthony Caffrey, the man who seems obsessed with playing on Siri since he got past three minutes of being AXW Champion. Caffrey wants to deflect everything he can back onto me, or onto Draven, he is the human embodiment of the kids retort ‘I know you are but what am I?’ or as the kids say nowadays... ‘no you’. Vincent Draven, the man who wants you to believe that he’s some dark presence but aligns himself with others in order to give him a bigger shadow. Both of these men would have you believe that my past accomplishments mean nothing, that they’re worthless yet they haven’t achieved anything I have...Yet they call me a hypocrite.”
Rob laughs.
“Here’s the real hypocrisy Gunn. You listened and agreed when I listed out my contributions to this company. Now I’m not doing to downplay either of theirs, but one thing I can’t understand is that both of them have stood in front of a camera and lamented the fact that come Saturday morning we all wake up and there will be no more Anonymous Xtreme Wrestling, yet both of them seemingly cannot get out of here quickly enough! Anthony Caffrey decided to go to AWF to tell everybody how much of an asshole I am, and Vincent Draven has been playing with a strongly AWF based faction, The Cure.
So after all those crocodile tears they’ll seemingly be off elsewhere, likely the AWF. Yet have the gall to point fingers like their family member has been murdered. How dare they? It’s this B.B, this is what makes me want to win the AXW Title the most, because I’ll be going down with the ship Friday. You won’t see me turn up next week at AWF, or MCCW, or DW. You know why? Because AXW is the first place I’ve been able to call home in a long, long time and it’ll be soon gone. This has been like a family home to me, whereas these boys want to act like they are just going to move on like they’ve gone from one rental property to another, hoping for a better landlord than before.”
Rob shakes his head.
“They are not what AXW is about. They don’t represent the company I signed up to. Me? I’ll go ahead and say it, I’m AXW, I embody it, it’s spirit, it’s chaos, it’s heart. I’m not the only one, Scorpion, Anomoly, Dreadvan, those guys too. We’re the one’s who will feel it the most.
As for Caffrey and Draven, what they’re going to feel is a lot of pain, because B.B, for one last time, I’m Rob Arnold, and that...that’s what I fucking do.”
And with that, Rob stands up and walks off, Gunn sits back in his chair, slightly blown away.
“Well folks, I’ll be honest I think that went about as well as I could have hoped for, I stayed out of the firing line and nothing got broken, so with that I’ll sign off, I’ll see you this Friday for our final show, AXW Lay Rest to the Wicked!”