Chris Kaladaro vs Jesse Durant

[Ryan Cooke]

Good luck to both!

[headliner]

[Fade.]

[The scene starts in a dark room, there is a camera positioned inside of it but nothing can be seen it is only pitch-black darkness. There is a sudden flash of light, as there appears to be someone else in the room with the cameraman, the light was of a cigarette lighter to light a cigarette that the man in the room is now smoking.]

Man: “Isn’t it quite odd that we are in the darkness, where I can’t see my own hand in front of my face and anyone who sees this won’t be able to identify me unless I were to give them my identity.”

[The man pauses and takes a drag off of his cigarette.]

Man: “All I will tell you for now is that I am indeed someone from the PPW roster but it will be your job to try and figure out who I am. You know at the first supercard for this company back in March titled Redemption I was set to make an impact and end the man who is known as JJ Halme but that didn’t happen as he left me in a mess on the canvas after he pinned me 1-2-3. Have you figured it out yet because I guarantee you will soon enough even before I reveal who I am.”

[The man pauses to take another drag from the only source of light in the room.]

Man: “You know ever since Redemption and my match with Halme I haven’t been the same, everyone witnessed me snap after I beat Big Bad Cortez and people were wondering if that was only a one time thing or if it was going to keep on occurring. The truth is that only time will tell regarding that, I have managed to keep my head on straight in matches for the most part, but what is that to say about my next match coming up?”

[The man pauses once again and takes another drag off the cigarette.]

Man: “My opponent is a guy who goes by the name of Jesse Durant, the fact of the matter is that Jesse Durant has nothing on me. I am someone who as of late has had a change in both attitude and some would even go as far to say that I have had a change of heart. Not about my relationships with people that I am close to but my relationship with the fans of Pure Pro Wrestling has changed. You see I once thought that I needed the people to like me that I some how needed them in order to win matches. The honest to god truth is that even though the fact that the fans seem to take a liking to me doesn’t matter to me one bit. I go into all my matches with the same focus and that is on beating the man or men in some cases in front of me, and proving to both them, myself, and I guess you could say to the fans. That I am the very best that this business and most importantly this company has to offer.”

[The man takes his cigarette, and puts it in an ashtray to get rid of the excess ash on the end of it before putting it back into his mouth and continuing to speak.]

Man: “Jesse Durant you are my opponent this week on Sunday Night Showdown and make no mistake I am going to do to you what I have done to each and every one of my opponents since Halme and that is beat you and win the match. You can do all you want to try and win but the fact remains that at the end of our match I will remain standing with my hand held high by the referee as the announcer announces my name as the winner."

[The man puts the cigarette out in the ashtray just before he concludes what he has to say regarding the subject of his opponent at Showdown Jesse Durant.]

Man: “So Jesse I wish you the best in your match with me because believe me when I tell you, you’ll need it. When I first came to this company I was all-serious and in want of one thing and recently I have lost sight of that, but because I am on such a roll as of late, I plan on adding one more name to my recent list of casualties. That is where you come in, because you will have the distinct honor of being the latest name on the list of the guys who have fallen at the hands of me. The Headliner Chris Kaladaro.”

[Fade.]

[jesse]

I’ve been keeping myself hidden and silent, I don’t have much to say. Some might say its because things aren’t really going well, I disagree, but that’s just me, I’m the only one who can say for sure how good things are going or not. So far the leg is holding up, some days it’s iffy, some days I don’t want to train. I know that I need to, I know that I have to, but sometimes, it is difficult to drag myself out of bed.

Ty should be happy to know that I’m no gym rat anymore.

I decided I needed something to fall back on, something to make of myself if wrestling doesn’t turn out for me, the odds are high that it won’t, and I’m finally able to accept those odds. So I enrolled in college, taking a few courses here and there when I have time. I find myself having a great deal of time, actually, now that I cannot push myself as hard as I once did. Its nice to have something to do after dinner rather than sitting around and watching TV, I’ve watched a lot of TV during the past few years, couldn’t tell you what all the shows were though, I think more often then not I just fall asleep in the chair and let the TV watch me.

Apathy

I guess I have become a bit apathetic about things.

Maybe I didn’t think things through as well as I should have, maybe I should have taken more time before pushing to come back. But I had something to prove to myself, something that I proved to myself in that first month. I can take the pain, I can take the punishment. I am proud of the fact that I have not resorted back to the pain pills and beer. At least that’s an accomplishment of sorts.

So now here I am, the first super card has rolled around and I’m booked against some guy named Chris Kaladaro who seems to think I present nothing more than an easy victory for him, a quick step up the ladder, another rung in the climb he’s trying to make. Frankly, I don’t even know who the hell this guy is, don’t know much about the roster, don’t know much about the place. Again its back to the apathy, back to the silence of this room that is slowly becoming my tomb.

I feel like I’m losing myself, losing everything that I ever was.

Kaladaro says the same things everyone else around this place says. That nothing I do will matter, that they are going to walk in and win. Its getting cliché and generic, its getting boring at times. Everyone talks and everyone says the same things, all of us broken records, all of us making claims but only the time between the bells really matters. Words, words are just printing on pages, sewage spewed from the mouths of those who would be better off not talking.

Its not as through many of us are educated me. We have little in the way of the ability to make intelligent conversation, we just go round and round on the merry go round that is promoting ourselves, fighting, and promoting ourselves again. Where is the drive, the desire to strive for something more? Where is the willingness to go the extra mile, where is the heart that once drove so many to be memorable.

There’s nothing memorable about me. There’s nothing memorable about any of us. We are the dogs in the yard, all having rolled around in the mud and the dirt, dusty and battered and frayed, looking the same no matter our shape and size.

Apathy,

Yeah, its raining apathy today.

[jesse]

It’s late and I can’t sleep. I flip the channels randomly, pausing here and there to look at the screen, ignoring the pleas sent out all through the night for people to call and order a million and one things they really don’t need. A couple channels have movies on, but I’ve seen them before. Everything goes off at 2 except the movies and those damn infomercials, one of these days I’m going to buy something out of sheer boredom, just so I can see if its everything its advertised to be.

Nothing ever is though

Nothing

Yesterday was apathy, today is disillusionment, tomorrow, who knows, maybe I’ll wake up and get real brave, pick up the phone and call for help.

Or maybe I’ll be a coward

Tie a rope around my neck, step off the couch and hope the god damn ceiling fan holds.

Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, trapped in dreams so vividly real I writhe in pain upon my bed and wish to god that my life was over. I tell no one about the dreams, they couldn’t understand, sometimes I don’t even understand. Not the way that they come and go and not the way that there seems to be no rhyme or reason in relation to them or when they strike.

Its not the anniversary of the little incident.

Hell

Tonight is nothing special, like most other nights. I’m alone flipping channels, staring half at the screen and half out the window, searching for something.

I always seem to be searching for something. I don’t think I’ll ever find it though, cause I sure as hell don’t know what the hell it is.

Maybe it’s the fact that I’ve been alone in this place for too long. My family is hundreds of miles away, I see them sporadically. I don’t remember the last time I picked up a chick. Chick’s dig scars huh? Maybe, I know they sure as hell can’t help but ask about them. Long, detailed, drawn out questions. Wanting to know the who, what, when, where and how of it all.

Its not worth the trip. It just isn’t.

Sometimes I feel like I’m a sham, a fraud. I don’t know how long I can suppress the impulses I feel, missing the rush, grounded.

I want so badly to fly again. I feel like I’m crawling along the ground every time I get in that ring.

Maybe it won’t hurt to go to the top again.

Maybe I can get away with it.

Maybe I should try.

Its not like I can fall any further.

Its not like I really care anymore.

[headliner]

[Fade.]

[The scene starts in a well-lit area different from what was seen the last time with Chris Kaladaro. Chris is in the backstage area of the arena just a few hours prior to the event starting for tonight. Chris is sitting on a crate in the back with a huge plug of Kodiak Mint in his mouth. He is wearing his street clothes, blue jeans and a black T-shirt and he seems to be deep in thought.]

Chris Kaladaro: “You know In just a few short hours I will step into the ring with a man by the name of Jesse Durrant. You know over the past week I have watched and stood by in order to listen to what he has to say about our upcoming match but the fact is that this Jesse Durrant Character seems a little bit confused. He went on and on about not knowing much about the roster and most importantly not knowing a lot about his opponent at Validation, which is yours truly Chris Kaladaro.

[Kaladaro pauses for a quick second to spit some tobacco juice into a clear plastic bottle that he is holding in his right hand.]

Chris Kaladaro: “You know Jesse you may say that I have said everything that you have already heard from everyone else in this business, but the fact is that when I say it I mean it. If I say I am going to beat you in our match then you should bet your life that it will happen, I may have a big mouth when I am talking but when I get into the ring that all goes away and I get right down to business. My business this week is making sure you don’t walk out of this match on your own two feet, and that I Chris Kaladaro am the victor in our match. In your second interview you said you couldn’t sleep is that because you know that you can’t beat me? Time will only tell I guess but I know that I will be able to beat you.”

[Kaladaro pauses once again to spit some more juice into his bottle before he continues on his rant about Durrant.]

Chris Kaladaro: “You wanna talk about being a coward then go right ahead be my guest, I for one am not a coward yeah maybe in my past I was but the fact is that I am a changed man. You went on and on about picking up chicks, boy if you were a little smarter I would think that that would be the last thing on your mind at this very moment. I should be your one and only focus but instead you talk about picking up chicks blah, blah, blah who cares about the rest.”

[Kaladaro pauses one final time before spitting into his bottle again and taking out the huge wad of chewing tobacco that was in his mouth.]

Chris Kaladaro: “You know you sound like you want people to feel sorry for you and if that is the case then that is fine but I don’t feel sorry for you. No not today, not ever, you think chicks dig scars well that’s not true in fact they are repulsed by them. If that were the case I would be a chick magnet because of all the scars I have acquired over my time in this business. So Jesse I will see you in the ring at Validation and when it comes time you will fall prey just like everyone else and become one more victim of not only myself but of the PainKiller. That’s all I have to say get that camera out of my face.”

[Fade.]