I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

[JST 0]

Tuesday, January 9th, 2009.

 

Nottingham, England.

 

Backstage at the Trent FM Arena.

 

11:03PM - GMT

 

"That's what I'm talkin' about!"

"Who's the fuckin' man!"

"HE'S the fuckin' man!"

 

Amidst the sounds of cheering and celebration, the intrepid SWF cameraman frays his way through a hallway and through a door sporting a royal blue and white logo, along with the letters "G.T.A.". We see a hand push the door open, revealing five individuals surrounding the new #1 contender for the World Heavyweight championship, who has just been the recipient of several Gatorade bottles emptied on the back on his head. Tod James Stuart is surrounded by his tag team partner Daniel Smith, and his students at the Wrestling Clinic.

 

[The Wrestling Clinic]

Antonio Carson, 23, stocky build, Italian descent.

Michael Jones, 25, muscular build, long straight hair.

Matthew Jones, 21, Michael's younger brother.

Tara McGovney, 22, fit and cute brunette.

[/The Wrestling Clinic]

 

"Guys." says an exhausted Stuart among the chest slaps and hugs. "Guys!... Tonight was another step in the right direction."

 

"More like a Superman leap!" replies Tara.

 

"Heh, you could say that... But remember, the battle is far from over. I went through two grueling nights of competition, and Taiga just gave me a hell of a match out there. But I'm not done. It's like I always said: you don't light up till the fat lady sings. I--..."

 

"Um, that line's from Independence Day." says Matthew. "Me and the girl rented it this weekend, and well... Just sayin'. I'll shut up now."

 

"The line still works! And Bill Paxton's performance as the president was severely underrated." says Stuart.

 

"The president was played by Bill Pullman, bro." says Antonio.

 

"Shyeah. Right. Anyways, I just came back from Landon's office to sign the contract, and I got Va'aiga next. And--Oh good, you're here."

 

Stuart's gaze has fallen right on the camera's POV. With a wave of the hand, Stuart beckons the cameraman to approach.

 

"Call it posterity, call it what you want." continues Stuart. "But I've asked Gus here for a reason."

 

"To get a shot of the new champ!" shouts Matthew.

"Yeah!"

 

"We'll see about that." replies a calm Stuart. He hasn't crossed that bridge yet. "But actually, I couldn't have been happier to see you guys out there tonight. That support meant a lot. And you can thank Dan for flying you in out of his own pocket."

 

"Yeah, Dan!"

"Dan The Man!"

 

"But! I've also got a bit of good news. For you guys." says Stuart, who's then met with four puzzled glances. "See, for the past couple of weeks, Daniel's been working on a little something involving all of you. And I, being your trainer, had to sign off on it. And we both agreed, you guys are ready. There's no more we can show you. Daniel's gotten all of you developmental deals. Guys? Welcome to the SWF."

 

The four young hopefuls send their glances towards the largest Canadian in the room, who merely responds with a smirk and a nod.

 

"No way!!"

"Sweet!"

"All right!"

 

"But get this in your heads right now: It will NOT be easy. The bottom of the ladder always is. You will suffer. You will get beat up. You will get treated like shit. You'll be told you can't make it." says Stuart, that last one while looking at the only girl in the room.

 

"I don't care. Bring it on." says Tara quietly, her resolve begging to come out.

 

"Some nights you won't even get to wrestle at all! But let me ask you this: did I train a bunch of quitters?"

 

"No!"

"Fuck no!"

 

"If you want a wrestling career, it's not just about winning a title belt at the end. It's also about getting there. The journey in and of itself! So go out there, take your lumps, and don't make ME proud. Make yourselves proud. You've earned this."

 

"Right on."

"Thanks man."

 

"Which brings me to the other reason why Gus is gracing us with his presence. This is going on the website, right?" asks Stuart.

 

"Yep." replies Gus.

 

"So apparently with this tournament win came this option of me getting to choose which stipulation I wanted in my championship match. Va'aiga, I hope you're watching this. I had to admit I didn't care much for that at first. What kind of satisfaction do I get from winning a match, knowing I had an advantage? If this were anyone else, they'd have probably made this a No DQ match. Or a "one arm behind your back" match. Va'aiga, what kind of satisfaction would I get from defeating you, knowing I had that certain edge? You're the biggest mountain I have to climb so far! But then, something came to mind. Dan, remember that big poster on the dressing room wall at the Clinic? What's it say?"

 

"Bring out your best, and then some." recalls Smith.

 

"So incredibly cheesy, but it works." continues Stuart. "And then it all came together. These people around me, I pushed them to the absolute limit and they came back for more. I rode them to the ground and made them find out things about them that they didn't even know about. This is a little something that came to be known as 'Wrestling Clinic Rules'. We don't need things like disqualifications or count-outs. The only ways to win are by submission or pinfall. Simple enough, but here's the twist: Va'aiga, now pay attention... You can only win by submission. And me? Well... All I have to do to win, is to pin those shoulders to the mat. Submission versus pinfall. Anything else goes. That way, we both get to write a new page for the playbook, so to speak. So cut out this picture," he says, framing his own face to the camera. "Tape it to your mirror. Drink plenty of egg yolks, do morning jogs..."

 

"Does he always quote movies like that?" asks Tara.

 

"All the time." replies Daniel. "Especially Rocky."

 

"Think of nothing but me, champ. I like you. And I respect what you stand for. But on February 10th, all the hand signals in the world won't help when you're facing THE most determined competitor in the SWF today. Let's push ourselves to the limit and give these people a match they'll remember... You game? I'll see you in Memphis."

 

...

 

"Thanks, Tod. I'll get this to Landon ASAP." says Gus, slowly retreating from the dressing room.

 

"I do NOT quote movies all the time!" says Stuart

 

"There's a Jake Taylor poster in the Clinic's hall!" retorts Daniel. "You're the only one who still watches 'Major League'!"

 

"He's inspirational!!...Kinda."

 

Among the sounds of harmless debating, the cameraman slowly pulls away from the dressing room, pulling the door shut in the process.

 

Fade.

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