Post by Deleted on Apr 19, 2022 12:13:23 GMT -5
The camera flashes “April 16, 2022” across the screen as it fades into the backstage area of Destiny, the most recent ROA super event. The camera focuses on a back drop featuring the ROA logo and the company’s many sponsors. The slight murmur of people standing offscreen can be heard. Like a rush of wind, the energy picks up as Caleb Hart walks into frame. Still sweating from the matches from the evening, Caleb comes in carrying hardware. He gently places the Heritage Championship on the table, rapping the main plate with his knuckle. He then places the Coronation Cup down on the other side of the table, running his finger over the plate listing the previous winners. Gingerly, he makes his way around to the back of the table towards a chair placed in the middle. Someone catches Caleb’s attention from off screen and tosses him a water bottle. He tips the bottle in appreciation .
Caleb takes a sip of the bottle and puts it down. Leaning back at the chair, he takes a deep breath and shakes his head.
Caleb Hart: You know, when I walked away six years ago, I was done. Completely done. I hated wrestling, I hated everything about it. I was so angry at the company, the men and women that I called my peers. Hell, I was angry at myself for letting it all get that far. And then I went home.
Caleb smirks.
Caleb Hart: I decided to devote my life to being a family man. I watched both of my children graduate high school. I watched them go on to college, one on their way to getting their MBA, and the other becoming a PT. My life was fantastic. And then I sat there. And sat. And sat.
Caleb slightly grins, taking another sip of the bottle.
Caleb Hart: And sat and sat and sat. I tried other things, I tried to get that urge out of my system, that wrestling bug. After a while, the domestic living thing wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. It wasn’t tempering that part of myself. Many people won’t understand what it’s like going from being the pinnacle of an industry, a measuring stick, a damn standard, to becoming a pariah for absolutely no reason. But that urge to compete, that desire to prove myself was never tempered, it was just put in a pot and boiled.
Caleb points to the Coronation Cup.
Caleb Hart: In 2014, the company was in upheaval. Our illustrious leader had to take a sabbatical. The UWL board at the time allowed it and put together a committee to run the company. The 2014 Coronation Cup drew the largest crowds we had ever had at that point and I was on fire. I was so on fire, I hadn’t lost a match in over a year, and wouldn’t for a total of eighteen months. But winning that cup was the validation that we all aspire to. That cup means that you were not only the man for one night, but for the entire duration of the tournament. I won the only three way finals and felt like God. But today? I feel better than I have in years.
Caleb takes another sip of the water bottle. He looks off camera and someone drops a six pack of Miller Lite off to the table. Caleb chuckles and cracks one open, toasting the Heritage Championship and the Coronation Cup before pouring it down his gullet and all over himself in the process. He tosses the can out to the side and shakes the beer out of his eyes.
Caleb Hart: Billy Danielson, Jackson Burnside, Rock Stone…I’d be a fool to not acknowledge that all three of you put in a hell of a lot of work and kicked ass the whole time. Jackson, selflishly, I was hoping that it would be you and me in the finals, so we could give the world a preview of what I knew would happen at Grand Voyage, but instead, I got the challenge of Billy Danielson.
Caleb points at the trickling cut over his eye and gestures to the rest of himself.
Caleb Hart: Whether people want to acknowledge it or not, Billy Danielson brought the heat tonight. He proved he could beat our current World Champion, and that he could go to toe toe with me. Billy has been the best kept secret in all of wrestling, and I think after tonight, the secret is out – Billy Danielson is for real. Billy, I have a ton of respect for you and what you did tonight. But as the old saying goes, old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance. I promise you, that man will be ROA World Champion at some point in time. He’s just going to have to wait in line.
I said when I got back that I was going to shock the world. I said that I was going to prove one more time that I am not just some old timer coming back to relieve the glory days. I was a man who wanted…no, needed…to prove that he was still the best in the world. Death, taxes, and Caleb Hart are the only three constants in this world, and after tonight, I don’t think that can even be debated anymore. But…
Caleb grins as he shakes his head.
Caleb Hart: I’m not stopping here. This is only the beginning. I want it all…and I want it now. In one year, I’ve gone to the finals of the Coronation Cup, won the Coronation Cup, won the Heritage Championship, and when that bell finally rings between myself and Jackson, I’m going to take back that which is rightfully mine – the World Championship.
Caleb gestures to his seemingly broken body.
Caleb Hart: Everyone’s worst nightmare is about to come true.
Caleb laughs as do the crowd looking on as he continues.
Caleb Hart: I’m gonna beat them all and hold every title in the company. But that’s then. The work is only going to get harder. The path only gets more dangerous, and the future only gets clear on the day of…I went into the Cup with a target on my back and came out holding the gun.
Caleb points an imaginary gun towards the crowd.
Caleb Hart: And in my sights, the ROA World Championship. Jackson, you knew I was coming all along. You knew that you couldn’t validate your reign until you were in the ring with me…the wait is almost over. May 28th, the worst nightmare of every Reddit wrestling fan comes true…the king has come back to reclaim his throne. Long live the king…
The camera fades to black.
Caleb takes a sip of the bottle and puts it down. Leaning back at the chair, he takes a deep breath and shakes his head.
Caleb Hart: You know, when I walked away six years ago, I was done. Completely done. I hated wrestling, I hated everything about it. I was so angry at the company, the men and women that I called my peers. Hell, I was angry at myself for letting it all get that far. And then I went home.
Caleb smirks.
Caleb Hart: I decided to devote my life to being a family man. I watched both of my children graduate high school. I watched them go on to college, one on their way to getting their MBA, and the other becoming a PT. My life was fantastic. And then I sat there. And sat. And sat.
Caleb slightly grins, taking another sip of the bottle.
Caleb Hart: And sat and sat and sat. I tried other things, I tried to get that urge out of my system, that wrestling bug. After a while, the domestic living thing wasn’t doing what it was supposed to do. It wasn’t tempering that part of myself. Many people won’t understand what it’s like going from being the pinnacle of an industry, a measuring stick, a damn standard, to becoming a pariah for absolutely no reason. But that urge to compete, that desire to prove myself was never tempered, it was just put in a pot and boiled.
Caleb points to the Coronation Cup.
Caleb Hart: In 2014, the company was in upheaval. Our illustrious leader had to take a sabbatical. The UWL board at the time allowed it and put together a committee to run the company. The 2014 Coronation Cup drew the largest crowds we had ever had at that point and I was on fire. I was so on fire, I hadn’t lost a match in over a year, and wouldn’t for a total of eighteen months. But winning that cup was the validation that we all aspire to. That cup means that you were not only the man for one night, but for the entire duration of the tournament. I won the only three way finals and felt like God. But today? I feel better than I have in years.
Caleb takes another sip of the water bottle. He looks off camera and someone drops a six pack of Miller Lite off to the table. Caleb chuckles and cracks one open, toasting the Heritage Championship and the Coronation Cup before pouring it down his gullet and all over himself in the process. He tosses the can out to the side and shakes the beer out of his eyes.
Caleb Hart: Billy Danielson, Jackson Burnside, Rock Stone…I’d be a fool to not acknowledge that all three of you put in a hell of a lot of work and kicked ass the whole time. Jackson, selflishly, I was hoping that it would be you and me in the finals, so we could give the world a preview of what I knew would happen at Grand Voyage, but instead, I got the challenge of Billy Danielson.
Caleb points at the trickling cut over his eye and gestures to the rest of himself.
Caleb Hart: Whether people want to acknowledge it or not, Billy Danielson brought the heat tonight. He proved he could beat our current World Champion, and that he could go to toe toe with me. Billy has been the best kept secret in all of wrestling, and I think after tonight, the secret is out – Billy Danielson is for real. Billy, I have a ton of respect for you and what you did tonight. But as the old saying goes, old age and treachery will always beat youth and exuberance. I promise you, that man will be ROA World Champion at some point in time. He’s just going to have to wait in line.
I said when I got back that I was going to shock the world. I said that I was going to prove one more time that I am not just some old timer coming back to relieve the glory days. I was a man who wanted…no, needed…to prove that he was still the best in the world. Death, taxes, and Caleb Hart are the only three constants in this world, and after tonight, I don’t think that can even be debated anymore. But…
Caleb grins as he shakes his head.
Caleb Hart: I’m not stopping here. This is only the beginning. I want it all…and I want it now. In one year, I’ve gone to the finals of the Coronation Cup, won the Coronation Cup, won the Heritage Championship, and when that bell finally rings between myself and Jackson, I’m going to take back that which is rightfully mine – the World Championship.
Caleb gestures to his seemingly broken body.
Caleb Hart: Everyone’s worst nightmare is about to come true.
Caleb laughs as do the crowd looking on as he continues.
Caleb Hart: I’m gonna beat them all and hold every title in the company. But that’s then. The work is only going to get harder. The path only gets more dangerous, and the future only gets clear on the day of…I went into the Cup with a target on my back and came out holding the gun.
Caleb points an imaginary gun towards the crowd.
Caleb Hart: And in my sights, the ROA World Championship. Jackson, you knew I was coming all along. You knew that you couldn’t validate your reign until you were in the ring with me…the wait is almost over. May 28th, the worst nightmare of every Reddit wrestling fan comes true…the king has come back to reclaim his throne. Long live the king…
The camera fades to black.