Concerns

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Off Camera

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The bar is full of overpowering laughter, laughter that overpowers the juke box, at least.   The stagnant stench of cigarettes hides within the collaboration of mephitic odors pervade the atmosphere of this dive in Charlotte, North Carolina.  There are hundreds of conversations told in loud voices, all of them competing with the rock music that dominates the atmosphere. The crowd is young, students from the nearby University of North Carolina in Charlotte for the most part.  Wrestling journalist Dexter Russell winds his way through the warm bodies to order a drink - the dark local beer. Before the drink is poured he feels someone melting their body to his from behind and he knows Aubrianna Powers has arrived.

“Did you miss me, babe?”

Aubrianna plants a kiss on Dexter’s lips as she takes a seat next to him at the bar.  Powers is wearing a greenish-blue gown made of soft, satiny fabric, long and loose. A semicircular, high collar made of silk-like materials headed the ankle-length robe.  The bar itself curves into the room, dark in the barely lit room. Through the windows, the diamonds of lead panes, trickles the sallow light of street-lamps.  There are establishments that are more like restaurants now - all clean with waiting staff. Not here. But despite its run down appearance, Aubrianna still likes to come here to get away from it all, to go somewhere she may not be recognized as quickly or as easily.

This place was always a den of debauchery, alcoholism and the great unwashed of the town. It still is. No-one comes here with anything wholesome in mind.  But Aubrianna Powers has never been intimidated by it and she certainly isn’t going to be intimidated by it with her boyfriend, Dexter Russell, by her side.

“I’m lonely anytime when you’re not by my side.” Dexter says with a wink that causes a blush from Aubrianna. “But seriously, this place does seem kind of…um…”

“Dangerous?”

“A smidge.” Dexter remarks with a chuckle. “Definitely not for the upper crust.”

“Well I never considered myself upper crust. But don’t you worry, Dex, I won’t let anything happen to you!”

“I know, babe, and you know that I’ll follow you to hell and back, but come on, can’t I treat you to somewhere nice once in awhile?  Can’t I treat you like the princess that you are?”

“Dex, I know what you want to do, but I…” she pauses and sighs “…I just don’t like attracting too much attention to myself whenever I’m on my own time, you know?”

“But I like to show you off.” He leans over and kisses her on the cheek.

The bartender arrives and shoves drinks in front of Dexter and Aubrianna.  Dexter, being the polite gentleman that he is, pays for both with a wad of cash.  Aubrianna and Dexter each take a sip of their beers before continuing the conversation, Dexter breaking the ice.

“How has your family been holding up?”

“Steve and Derek?” She scoffs. “Same as usual.  Still bickering like little children and yet I’m the youngest and still more mature than both of them.”

“Any idea what got under their skin this time?”

“My guess is that they’re just frustrated with the fact that they keep on losing all the time.  And you know, I can understand that.  Actually, no I can’t understand that.  I’m a winner.  Not my fault those two are losers.”

Dexter chuckles lightly as he takes another sip of his beer. “Not the right attitude if you want to endear yourself to them.”

“I don’t need to endear myself to them, Dex.  I have new friends.”

“Oh, right.  Monarchy.”

It’s no secret that Dexter isn’t a big fan of Aubrianna Powers’s association with Monarchy.  Dexter Russell doesn’t trust Trinity Street or anyone in that group for that matter.  More than that, he feels that Monarchy could be a bad influence upon his girlfriend.  Powers is already one of the most reviled women in MCW and she isn’t liked much better in GCW.  He knows deep down inside that Aubrianna is a good person.  Associating with Monarchy surely will not help her in any way.

Aubrianna, though, has never cared much for her public relations.  She has never cared what other people thought about her.  Her primary focus has been on her career and getting ahead in the industry of professional wrestling.  Monarchy, she feels, is her ticket to bigger and better things in Motor City Wrestling.  She’s already on the precipice of greatness as she is set to face Kirsta Lewis at Shattered Dreams in what is being billed as a past versus the future match.

Powers wants to make sure that the future reigns supreme.

“Dex, babe, listen, I know you don’t trust them, but…”

“You’re right, I don’t trust them.  I spent the first eleven years of my career as a journalist being pushed around, bullied, and in some cases beat up by people like them.  I know how scummy they can be, Aubrey.  They’re not any good.”

“I love you, Dex, but in all fairness that was GDW. This is MCW.  Different place, different people; people you do not even know, by the way.”

He nods his head in agreement. “True enough, I do not know them, but I know their type.  Monarchy is all about power.  That’s all they crave; power.”

“That’s what this industry is all about, babe.” Aubrianna counters.

“Yes but consider when Glory Braddock thinks that it’s your time and that you deserve a shot at The Elite Championship.  Monarchy thinks that spot belongs to Trinity.  Are you expected to step aside and let Trinity have it?  Or consider this, what if Trinity IS The Elite Champion when you’ve earned that shot?”

Aubrianna doesn’t answer right away.  Instead she takes another sip of her beer.  Dexter, though, is persistent.

“Don’t have an answer, do you?”

“I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.” She answers back. “I’m more focused on Kirsta Lewis right now.”

“And she is a former MCW World Champion.  She is a member of the MCW Hall of Fame.  Where do you think that puts you if you beat her?”

“In line for a title shot?”

“Yeah, right in your new bestie’s way.”

Ok, everyone!  Gather around while Auntie Aubrey tells you a little story…

Brett Favre was a Green Bay Packer quarter back and he retired from active play.  Only to change his mind and try to return, after the team had already moved on.  Favre tried a few new teams.  He joined the New York Jets and later the Minnesota Vikings but neither time he was quite as good as he was in the prime of his life.  Each and every time he stepped out onto the field he just kept looking worse and worse and made himself into a joke.

Tiger Woods thought his golf career was over after a major scandal hit America’s golden boy was determined to make a comeback in the pro-golf circuits but, much like Favre, he failed miserably each and every time he set foot out on those links.  Now the name “Tiger Woods” evokes laughter from anyone who hears.  He’s a joke and nothing more.

Both of these men should’ve stayed away from their respective sport and maybe, just maybe, their careers wouldn’t have been as tarnished as they turned out to be.  But they aren’t the only ones who don’t know when to quit.  NFL Quarterback Aaron Rodgers suffered a fractured right collarbone this year.  He had major surgery to repair it and any smart individual would have just stayed out the rest of the season and recovered but not him.  He had to come back early and play hero.  He had to try and save Green Bay’s season.  What happened?

The Carolina Panthers destroyed his dreams.  You could say that they shattered the dreams of Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers as they humiliated him all throughout the game.  The Packers already had a backup quarterback, the future of the team, that had lead them to this situation where they could save the season, and how do they reward him?  By sitting his ass and letting Rodgers fuck everything up.

The lesson, ladies and gentlemen, is that the old pieces of shit need to sit their broken asses down in the rocking chairs and watch as the future take over.  The past needs to realize that their time has come and gone.  The future is ready to pass them by.

Kirsta Lewis, you are the past.  You need to step aside as I pass you by, because I am the future of Motor City Wrestling.

You and the rest of your loser friends who represent MCW’s past have just made an absolute mockery of yourselves ever since the re-launch of this place.  Rayne Young was put in his place by Trinity Street and Monarchy and soon Jacob Laymon will be put in his place too.  As for the rest?

Mya Denton?  I whipped her ass.

Jessica Jones may not be a MCW alum specifically but her family helped build this place.  What did I do to her?  I whipped her ass, too.

Jackie Daniels?  Yep, you guessed it, I whipped her ass and sent her packing back to her double wide so she can get drunk on the same Jack Daniels that ripped her name off of.

That just leaves you, Kirsta.  And you’re just like the rest of them.  You don’t know when to quit.  You haven’t figured out that your time is over.   You still think that you can make another run.  You listen to the leaches in the audience chanting “You still got it”…

…they’re wrong, Kirsta.  You do not have it.  You lost it a long time ago, you fake-ass granny cat reject.  You’re not The Hell Cat anymore, Kirsta.  You never were.  That title belongs to one person and it sure as hell isn’t you, granny bitch.

It didn’t have to be this way, Kirsta.  Had you just stayed away from MCW, had you stayed retired and stayed away from this ring, you would’ve been fondly remembered for your accomplishments as a former MCW World Champion and MCW Hall of Famer.  But you had to drag your broken ass out of the nursing home and try to make one last run.

It didn’t work out for Brett Favre.  He tried to drag his broken ass back to the football field but he didn’t get the job done.  Now instead of remembering him for his super bowl win, people remember him for making a complete fool of himself.

I’m going to do the same to you, Kirsta.  I’m going to humiliate you and make you into a joke.  People will no longer remember you for your world title wins or for your hall of fame accomplishment but instead they’ll remember you who got bitch slapped by Monarchy’s Most Valuable Powers.

You shouldn’t have come back, Kirsta.  You’re going to learn the hard way this isn’t your MCW anymore, this is Monarchy’s MCW.  And I’m taking your spot, right after I take you out back and put your ass out of its damn misery.