Post by Lord Hastings on Apr 27, 2019 17:49:03 GMT -5
We fade in on the image of UGWC reporter and interviewer Grey Coppi, seated on a stool on the set of his underappreciated and often ignored weekly webshow.
Coppi: Hello, and welcome to Making Coppis. This coming Monday night marks the Seven Deadly Sins event, headlined by the World Title Match between Angie Vaughn and Kenzi Grey-Lacklan. As exciting as that main event is going to be, Seven Deadly Sins is also bringing us a match that UGWC fans have been waiting a very long time to see, as two icons of the industry, I dare say two quarters of the Mount Rushmore, finally step in the ring together for a one on one match on Pay-Per-View. I’m here today with the Sports Entertainment Executive of UGWC, Donovan Hastings.
The camera pulls back to show Donovan standing with his back to Grey, gesturing to someone who is off the camera.
Coppi: Oh...this again?
Hastings: You have nobody to blame but yourself.
Grey sighs.
Coppi: Some things never change.
Peterson: Was the throne really necessary?
Hastings: I feel like we both know that’s a ridiculous question.
Peterson: You do understand how long it takes me to have these made and bling them out.
Hastings: Not really.
Peterson: You don’t think it’s time we could dispense with this stuff?
Hastings: Perish the thought.
Donovan stands by his desk and turns to the window, gazing out it with his arms folded behind his back.
Hastings: I have a reputation to uphold. To re-establish, really. I sat out of action for over a year, and in that time the landscape of UGWC was flipped on its head. These kids that have taken hold, they don’t know me. They know the Lord-Creative Director, who had taken his foot off the gas and was enjoying his time in a different role. They never met the Immortal Lord of Pain. They are aware of a legend that exists in days gone, and every true competitor believes they are superior to a challenge they have never faced. I need to sit the throne, Owen, not because I need it, but because they need to see me on it. They need to see the legend for yourself.
Peterson: I think we both know you aren’t that person anymore.
Donovan glances back at him.
Hastings: Maybe.
Seated on his throne, Donovan pulls a side lever, adjusting the height of the throne so that he is two inches higher than Grey.
Coppi: So let’s begin-
Donovan holds up a finger to stop him, and adjusts the height of his seat one inch higher.
Hastings: Proceed.
Coppi: Ahem. In a few days at Seven Deadly Sins, you are scheduled to go one on one with ‘Vain’ Alan Wallace, a match we’ve all wanted to see for a very long time. This is, of course, the second singles match you’ve had since your return to action, your return match being your victory over Sarah Lacklan on the Chill brand.
Hastings: Who?
Coppi: You-
Hastings: You mean the monkey on Kenzi’s back?
Peterson: Do you really think that you should be poking this bear?
Hastings: Which one?
Peterson: I think your partnership with Kenzi is tenuous enough without you rubbing salt in wounds.
Hastings: Why? Because I expect her to be her own person?
Peterson: You’re practically begging Sarah to retaliate.
Hastings: Fairly certain if that was going to happen it would have already. I mean, let’s face it, Owen. We know who she is, we always have. We engaged with her before Outlast last year because we knew what she is capable of. Setting a “Main Event of Horizons” caliber match for the World Title Match at Battleground was a highlight of my tenure as Creative Director. I beat her at Chill because she made a mistake, not because I proved anything about myself. If she ever finishes licking her wounds it could prove problematic.
Peterson: You don’t think you could beat her again?
Hastings: I think that she would be ready.
Peterson: But the point is that you were ready then, just like you’re going to be ready for Monday.
Donovan folds his arms.
Hastings: If only it was that simple.
Coppi: Once again, we remind our younger viewers that you should probably not look up the phrases our guest has been using on Urban Dictionary, and that, Lord Hastings, perhaps you should.
Hastings: I’m paid to lead this company, not read internet drivel.
Coppi: Regardless, your partnership with Kenzi Grey-Lacklan has-
Hastings: Kenzi Grey. Don’t use her slave name, Grey, you’re better than that.
Coppi: ...in any case, your partnership has proven to be successful, having not only captured the Cooperative Championship but also already successfully defend them. Can you speak to what you feel drives this success?
Peterson: She doesn’t trust you.
Hastings: She shouldn’t. I dodged a bullet on Chill. You and I both know that, whatever colorful way we’ve chosen to spin it since. Teaming with Kenzi was certainly never the plan, but it’s bought me time. I’ve been able to re-acclimate to in-ring competition without carrying the burden on my own. Now I’ve won a tournament and a championship, and I’ve been able to do it without ever truly putting myself at risk.
Peterson: I have to admit I was surprised you didn’t try to take one of these pins for yourself.
Donovan deeply sighs.
Hastings: I get to compete without Consortium interference because it was Ichabod that created the situation to begin with, and I’m able to still bide my time and prepare as I do it. Let’s face it, I need Kenzi right now.
Peterson: And what if she beats Vaughn and decides she doesn’t need you?
Hastings: Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
Coppi: It sounds like you are pretty confident of your partner’s chances on Monday.
Hastings: How could she fail, Grey? The success stories of the original Dungeon of Pain is well-documented. I plucked the likes of Chris Peterson, Paul Cockatoo, and Ezekiel Pax from obscurity and ascended their careers into relevancy, in Zeke’s case I led him to the World Heavyweight Title. Kenzi is a superior talent than all of them combined.
Coppi: Let’s talk about your own match at Seven Deadly Sins, against ‘Vain’ Alan Wallace. You faced off in one of your final matches on Synergy in the week before your historic Horizons match against Jet Somers and came away with the victory, but fans have still always wanted to see this match on a grand stage. Things really heated up when you viciously attacked Vain after his Chairs Match with Kenzi a few weeks ago.
Hastings: Is it vicious to protect someone you care about? Kenzi was at-risk to fall under the influence of a dangerous individual once again in her life, and I refused to let that cycle repeat itself.
Hastings: Do you realize what might have happened if I let Alan team with Raab? We saw how dominant he was last year. I was the person who had to figure out ways to challenge him. I know I accomplished a lot when I carried the likes of Dredd and Rydell to cooperative gold, but Alan was able to do that with Killian.
Peterson: Killian King was a World Champion.
Hastings: And he was British! Point is, he’s been on his game and we know how good that game is, and we’re still figuring out what I have left in the tank. It’s entirely plausible that Alan could find a way to make the most of Raab, and that made him a threat to the concrete thing that binds Kenzi and I presently. I couldn’t allow Alan Wallace to take Kenzi away from me.
Peterson: You mean the Co-Op Titles.
Hastings: I mean the golden goose.
Coppi: Your attack on Vain led to NBK teaming with Konrad Raab to challenge you and Kenzi for the Cooperative Titles. In the aftermath of your successful title defense, is it over between you and Raab?
Hastings: Were we in a relationship?
Coppi: Raab’s original challenge was to face you one on one.
Hastings: I’ll remind you what I told him, that I’m strictly a cooperative competitor now.
Coppi: And you’re facing Vain one on one on Monday.
Hastings: And what a match that is going to be! The UGWC faithful are receiving a match that could headline Horizons in the middle of the year, it’s practically a late Easter present, or an early Cinco of Mayday present, or a super early Father’s Day present.
Coppi: And what should our fans expect of that match?
Hastings: Of course, Grey, they know the result is simply...inevitable.
Coppi: You have beaten Alan before.
Hastings: When I was a desperate man with nothing left to lose. A lot has changed since then. I’m not the same person I was.
Coppi: Neither is he. You’re the five-time UGWC World Heavyweight Champion, and you beat the best in the world for that title time and again.
Hastings: I never beat him.
Coppi: Donovan, what are you worried about?
Donovan is quiet for a few moments.
Hastings: When I do things like what I did at the end of that Chairs Match, I used to be able to let it go. It never fazed me, and I only answered to myself. That isn’t the case anymore. I have to go home, and I’m waiting for the day that two little girls look at me and ask me some really hard questions, or worse...that they never see a need to ask them.
Coppi: The twins are going to be okay.
Hastings: They need to be better than that. I need to be better...to deserve them.
Coppi: What does any of this have to do with beating Vain?
Hastings: I worry that what I have left, what I’m willing and able to do, that it won’t be enough to beat him, to beat the best that UGWC has to offer. I wonder, as I’m sitting here contemplating and planning a return to past glory, if I even deserve it. I worry that I’m going to go to Indiana, and that I’m going to face ‘Vain’ Alan Wallace and I’m not going to be good enough. What happens after that, it’s just…
Donovan sighs.
Hastings: ...inevitable.
Coppi: Hello, and welcome to Making Coppis. This coming Monday night marks the Seven Deadly Sins event, headlined by the World Title Match between Angie Vaughn and Kenzi Grey-Lacklan. As exciting as that main event is going to be, Seven Deadly Sins is also bringing us a match that UGWC fans have been waiting a very long time to see, as two icons of the industry, I dare say two quarters of the Mount Rushmore, finally step in the ring together for a one on one match on Pay-Per-View. I’m here today with the Sports Entertainment Executive of UGWC, Donovan Hastings.
The camera pulls back to show Donovan standing with his back to Grey, gesturing to someone who is off the camera.
Coppi: Oh...this again?
Hastings: You have nobody to blame but yourself.
Grey sighs.
Coppi: Some things never change.
Peterson: Was the throne really necessary?
Hastings: I feel like we both know that’s a ridiculous question.
Peterson: You do understand how long it takes me to have these made and bling them out.
Hastings: Not really.
Peterson: You don’t think it’s time we could dispense with this stuff?
Hastings: Perish the thought.
Donovan stands by his desk and turns to the window, gazing out it with his arms folded behind his back.
Hastings: I have a reputation to uphold. To re-establish, really. I sat out of action for over a year, and in that time the landscape of UGWC was flipped on its head. These kids that have taken hold, they don’t know me. They know the Lord-Creative Director, who had taken his foot off the gas and was enjoying his time in a different role. They never met the Immortal Lord of Pain. They are aware of a legend that exists in days gone, and every true competitor believes they are superior to a challenge they have never faced. I need to sit the throne, Owen, not because I need it, but because they need to see me on it. They need to see the legend for yourself.
Peterson: I think we both know you aren’t that person anymore.
Donovan glances back at him.
Hastings: Maybe.
Seated on his throne, Donovan pulls a side lever, adjusting the height of the throne so that he is two inches higher than Grey.
Coppi: So let’s begin-
Donovan holds up a finger to stop him, and adjusts the height of his seat one inch higher.
Hastings: Proceed.
Coppi: Ahem. In a few days at Seven Deadly Sins, you are scheduled to go one on one with ‘Vain’ Alan Wallace, a match we’ve all wanted to see for a very long time. This is, of course, the second singles match you’ve had since your return to action, your return match being your victory over Sarah Lacklan on the Chill brand.
Hastings: Who?
Coppi: You-
Hastings: You mean the monkey on Kenzi’s back?
Peterson: Do you really think that you should be poking this bear?
Hastings: Which one?
Peterson: I think your partnership with Kenzi is tenuous enough without you rubbing salt in wounds.
Hastings: Why? Because I expect her to be her own person?
Peterson: You’re practically begging Sarah to retaliate.
Hastings: Fairly certain if that was going to happen it would have already. I mean, let’s face it, Owen. We know who she is, we always have. We engaged with her before Outlast last year because we knew what she is capable of. Setting a “Main Event of Horizons” caliber match for the World Title Match at Battleground was a highlight of my tenure as Creative Director. I beat her at Chill because she made a mistake, not because I proved anything about myself. If she ever finishes licking her wounds it could prove problematic.
Peterson: You don’t think you could beat her again?
Hastings: I think that she would be ready.
Peterson: But the point is that you were ready then, just like you’re going to be ready for Monday.
Donovan folds his arms.
Hastings: If only it was that simple.
Coppi: Once again, we remind our younger viewers that you should probably not look up the phrases our guest has been using on Urban Dictionary, and that, Lord Hastings, perhaps you should.
Hastings: I’m paid to lead this company, not read internet drivel.
Coppi: Regardless, your partnership with Kenzi Grey-Lacklan has-
Hastings: Kenzi Grey. Don’t use her slave name, Grey, you’re better than that.
Coppi: ...in any case, your partnership has proven to be successful, having not only captured the Cooperative Championship but also already successfully defend them. Can you speak to what you feel drives this success?
Peterson: She doesn’t trust you.
Hastings: She shouldn’t. I dodged a bullet on Chill. You and I both know that, whatever colorful way we’ve chosen to spin it since. Teaming with Kenzi was certainly never the plan, but it’s bought me time. I’ve been able to re-acclimate to in-ring competition without carrying the burden on my own. Now I’ve won a tournament and a championship, and I’ve been able to do it without ever truly putting myself at risk.
Peterson: I have to admit I was surprised you didn’t try to take one of these pins for yourself.
Donovan deeply sighs.
Hastings: I get to compete without Consortium interference because it was Ichabod that created the situation to begin with, and I’m able to still bide my time and prepare as I do it. Let’s face it, I need Kenzi right now.
Peterson: And what if she beats Vaughn and decides she doesn’t need you?
Hastings: Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.
Coppi: It sounds like you are pretty confident of your partner’s chances on Monday.
Hastings: How could she fail, Grey? The success stories of the original Dungeon of Pain is well-documented. I plucked the likes of Chris Peterson, Paul Cockatoo, and Ezekiel Pax from obscurity and ascended their careers into relevancy, in Zeke’s case I led him to the World Heavyweight Title. Kenzi is a superior talent than all of them combined.
Coppi: Let’s talk about your own match at Seven Deadly Sins, against ‘Vain’ Alan Wallace. You faced off in one of your final matches on Synergy in the week before your historic Horizons match against Jet Somers and came away with the victory, but fans have still always wanted to see this match on a grand stage. Things really heated up when you viciously attacked Vain after his Chairs Match with Kenzi a few weeks ago.
Hastings: Is it vicious to protect someone you care about? Kenzi was at-risk to fall under the influence of a dangerous individual once again in her life, and I refused to let that cycle repeat itself.
Hastings: Do you realize what might have happened if I let Alan team with Raab? We saw how dominant he was last year. I was the person who had to figure out ways to challenge him. I know I accomplished a lot when I carried the likes of Dredd and Rydell to cooperative gold, but Alan was able to do that with Killian.
Peterson: Killian King was a World Champion.
Hastings: And he was British! Point is, he’s been on his game and we know how good that game is, and we’re still figuring out what I have left in the tank. It’s entirely plausible that Alan could find a way to make the most of Raab, and that made him a threat to the concrete thing that binds Kenzi and I presently. I couldn’t allow Alan Wallace to take Kenzi away from me.
Peterson: You mean the Co-Op Titles.
Hastings: I mean the golden goose.
Coppi: Your attack on Vain led to NBK teaming with Konrad Raab to challenge you and Kenzi for the Cooperative Titles. In the aftermath of your successful title defense, is it over between you and Raab?
Hastings: Were we in a relationship?
Coppi: Raab’s original challenge was to face you one on one.
Hastings: I’ll remind you what I told him, that I’m strictly a cooperative competitor now.
Coppi: And you’re facing Vain one on one on Monday.
Hastings: And what a match that is going to be! The UGWC faithful are receiving a match that could headline Horizons in the middle of the year, it’s practically a late Easter present, or an early Cinco of Mayday present, or a super early Father’s Day present.
Coppi: And what should our fans expect of that match?
Hastings: Of course, Grey, they know the result is simply...inevitable.
Coppi: You have beaten Alan before.
Hastings: When I was a desperate man with nothing left to lose. A lot has changed since then. I’m not the same person I was.
Coppi: Neither is he. You’re the five-time UGWC World Heavyweight Champion, and you beat the best in the world for that title time and again.
Hastings: I never beat him.
Coppi: Donovan, what are you worried about?
Donovan is quiet for a few moments.
Hastings: When I do things like what I did at the end of that Chairs Match, I used to be able to let it go. It never fazed me, and I only answered to myself. That isn’t the case anymore. I have to go home, and I’m waiting for the day that two little girls look at me and ask me some really hard questions, or worse...that they never see a need to ask them.
Coppi: The twins are going to be okay.
Hastings: They need to be better than that. I need to be better...to deserve them.
Coppi: What does any of this have to do with beating Vain?
Hastings: I worry that what I have left, what I’m willing and able to do, that it won’t be enough to beat him, to beat the best that UGWC has to offer. I wonder, as I’m sitting here contemplating and planning a return to past glory, if I even deserve it. I worry that I’m going to go to Indiana, and that I’m going to face ‘Vain’ Alan Wallace and I’m not going to be good enough. What happens after that, it’s just…
Donovan sighs.
Hastings: ...inevitable.
