Jake Rockwell(c) vs Chris Kaladaro vs Jesse Durant

[Ryan Cooke]

Good luck to all!

[headliner]

[Fade.]

[The scene starts in a hotel just minutes away from the arena in which the next edition of Sunday Night Showdown is set to take place. The camera goes into the hotel and asks the front desk for some information. The camera man gets the information he is looking for and goes up to the second floor of the hotel as the camera cuts to the second floor where the camera man comes out of an elevator and makes his way towards the room he was told to go to. The camera man gets to the room and knocks and waits for a response.]

Voice: “What?”

Camera Man: “Sir, I was wondering if I could get a word with you about your huge upcoming match at the next edition of Sunday Night Showdown.”

Voice: “Yeah hold on.”

[There is a bit of a pause as the cameraman is waiting for a response. Just then the door opens and standing there is the one and only Headliner Chris Kaladaro who invites the camera man to come into his hotel room. Chris walks into the hotel room and sits down he then grabs a nearby tin of Grizzly Wintergreen, opens it, and puts a huge plug in his mouth right before grabbing an empty nearby water bottle.]

Chris: “So once again after a short hiatus PPW is back and better than ever, and what a better way to start by crowning a new PPW World Heavyweight Champion in Jake Rockwell. Rockwell even though Burell is some one whom I hold in high regards that doesn’t stop me from congratulating you on your victory. It must be a big thing for you I mean you are only now the third man to hold the title. I mean first there was CJ Rowell, then there was the man whom I just spoke of Demetrius Burrell who you beat for the belt that is now around your waist. However if I were you I wouldn’t get to used to having that belt in your possession, because you see I have my shot at the next PPW Sunday Night Showdown. Now unfortunately I am not the only one in the match because my opponent from the last show Jesse Durant is also in the match. Now Durrant the only reason you are in this match is because Shanahan feels bad for you I mean yeah we might have had a time limit draw but he should have done the right thing and just gave me a shot one on one against Rockwell.

[With that said Chris Kaladaro pauses long enough to spit some juice into his bottle before continuing to speak.]

Chris: “You know Jake Rockwell and Jesse Durrant I have been in this situation before against the first ever PPW World Champion in CJ Rowell. In that match I did whatever it was that I could and brought everything I had for that match. I trained harder for that match than any other match that I have had, but being that this is my second shot at the PPW title I refuse to lose this time. I have a lot to prove not only to the fans whom have supported me though everything in my PPW career but also to myself. Jake Rockwell you are on a roll right now you’re fresh off of winning the PPW World Heavyweight Championship a belt that I have high respect for. However at the next edition of Sunday Night Showdown I am going to prove what everyone except for you already knows and that is that you are nothing but a flash in the pan paper champion. Sure you won the title but now you have to hang onto it and I don’t think that you can, and trust me when I tell you this I am going to walk out of this match as the new PPW World Heavyweight Champion.

[Kaladaro pauses one final time in order to spit some tobacco juice into his bottle before concluding what he has to say regarding his next match.]

Chris: “So Jesse Durrant and Jake Rockwell I will see the two of you in the ring at Showdown and you both better get a good look at me before the bell even rings. The reason being because the last thing you will both remember is me hitting both of you with the PainKiller and being declared the new PPW World Heavyweight Champion. It is my destiny to become Champion and at Showdown my destiny will be fulfilled. That’s all I have to say get the hell out of my face.”

[With that said Chris takes out his huge wad of chewing tobacco that he had in his mouth out and puts it in his bottle and wipes his hands off before getting up and leaving his hotel room.]

[Fade.]

[rockwell]

[Jake Rockwell stands in a dimly lit garage. The lid of a flat black tool box is flopped open onto the surface of a work bench, which is coarse and worn from errant hammer strikes and calculations written in carpenter's pencil. A few tools--a wrench, pliers, a tub of varnish--are scattered within arms reach, although, judging by the row of empty Alaskan Smoked Porter bottles, Jakes seems to be using the bottle opener along the rim of the bench more frequently than any of them.]

Rockwell: I know everybody has been expecting a state of the union address from the new champion.

[Rockwell takes a swig from a half-empty bottle, reducing it to a quarter-full.]

Rockwell: But first thing's first.

[He's hunched over the PPW Heavyweight Championship belt. He's picking through a screwdriver set, trying to match the right size screwdriver to the screws holding on the nameplate. Gauging by the way he wobbles when he's not steadying himself with both hands, Rockwell lost the ability to discern between sixteenths of an inch two beers ago.]

Rockwell: Screw it.

[Rockwell turns to the wall of his garage and plucks a crowbar off a shelf. He turns around, sizes up the nameplate, then bashes at it a few times to loosen it up. He slides the thin end of the crowbar beneath the plate and prys it off, sending it flying into the air. Rockwell grabs the bent nameplate, straightens it out, then holds it to the camera. It still reads "Demetrius Burrell."]

Rockwell: Out with the old...

[The nameplate dangles from the champion's fingers for a few moments longer, then falls into a nearby trash can.]

Rockwell: ...and in with the new.

[Rockwell hooks the belt around his waist, though the surface now bears a few scuff marks from the crowbar assault.]

Rockwell: It's funny, kid. I was watching your pity party the other day, crying to your woman about feeling betrayed and losing the title and this and that. But there were two words I didn't hear come out of your mouth: "Jake Rockwell."

[He rubs the surface of the belt around the darkened section where the name plate had been.]

Rockwell: Now, I can predict what you'll say--something about taking things one match a time, about not looking ahead until you've actually got a rematch with me. But that's exactly why you're bawling to some broad while I'm polishing a title, kid.

[Rockwell smiles, loosens the belt, and flops it over his left shoulder, occasionally gazing at it and rubbing it with a polishing cloth as he speaks.]

Rockwell: Champions always look ahead. Champions always watch their back. I've been saying you're a fluke from the beginning, and this just proves me right. If you had the heart of a champion, you'd be punching Shanny's desk to splinters begging for a rematch. If you'd lost a belt you'd deserved, you'd be shouting my name from the rooftops. If you weren't a coward, you'd be kicking in the doors in every bar from Anchorage to Nome, slamming guys against walls and asking if they've heard of "Jake Rockwell."

[As he wipes the title, Rockwell notices a stubborn scuff mark. He applies a little polish.]

Rockwell: So go play with Calib--oh, by the way, Mr. Wallace, Mr. Cooke, cheers...

[Rockwell tips a bottle to the camera.]

Rockwell: ...but even if you could beat Calib, kid, that's not going to get the title back around your waist. There's no asterisk next to my name in the title history, just the cold, hard fact that I'm the champion and you're not. I don't blame you for not calling me out, though. If I was down 0-2, I'd think about keeping mouth shut, too.

[Rockwell takes a sip of the beer. Then he notices the polish hasn't been working, and trickles a little porter on the belt to see if that helps with the stains.]

Rockwell: I'd rather turn my attention to my first title defense. The fact that Chris Kaladaro actually thinks he can win is just adorable--he's like a little kid who thinks he's tough because his dad let him win a few play matches on the living room floor. You couldn't even beat Jesse Durant when you knew a title shot was on the line. You're so cute, talking tough and chewing tobacco. Don't you know athletes should stay away from that stuff?

[Rockwell kills the beer.]

Rockwell: But, by the grace of Shanahan, you're in this triple threat match. I wonder how that one went: "Well, neither of these guys was good enough to win a title shot--so let's give them both a chance!" Jesus, maybe I oughta come to the locker room before the match, holds your hands and tell you you're special whether or not you win the match, since that's apparently the way we baby our talent in PPW. Disgusting.

[He grabs a fresh beer, and drags the bottle along the belt, popping the cap off.]

Rockwell: Durant, I see, is taking the Burrell approach and keeping his mouth shut. You won't win a title that way, but at least you won't get your hopes up. But, hey, here's a free suggestion for the new Showdown: a Kaladaro/Durant rematch, so we can officially name a runner-up after I win the triple threat match. We can bring out a medal stand. I'll be on top, with the title, whoever wins your little match can stand below me and get a blue ribbon, and the loser will get an honorable mention for participation.

[Rockwell laughs.]

Rockwell: Maybe we can get Burrell the job handing out the awards. I hear he's hurting for cash after losing his position as champ.

[Rockwell continues to laugh as he flops the belt back onto the work bench, and goes about affixing a new name plate as the camera fades to black.]

[headliner]

[As the cameras last caught up with the Headliner Chris Kaladaro he was in his hotel room and had quite a bit to say about both Jake Rockwell who is the current PPW World Heavyweight Champion, and Jesse Durrant. The man with whom he went to a draw with in a number one contendership match for the PPW World Heavyweight Championship. Since neither man was able to win the match Derek Shanahan decided to make the match a triple threat match and that brings us to the present time.

[Fade.]

[The scene starts in a local gym just a few minutes away from where the triple threat PPW World Championship match is set to take place this Sunday Night as the main event of PPW’s Sunday Night Showdown. It is quite a busy day for this particular gym, a lot of business is coming though the doors and leaving in a sweat. The camera pans over to the front desk which is positioned in front of the door where people enter the gym, a few regular looking guys enter the gym, followed by Chris Kaladaro some of you might know him as the Headliner. He walks up to the front desk.

Chris Kaladaro: “Hey, how much is it to work out for one session here.”

Man at Front Desk: “For you it will be just ten dollars.”

[Upon hearing the mans response Chris gets out his wallet and pulls out a ten dollar bill and gives it to the man.]

Man: “Alright thanks a lot and it is a pleasure to do business with you.”

Chris: “Yeah thanks to you as well.”

[With that said Chris who is already ready to work out goes to a shoulder press machine and sits on it for a minute before beginning his workout. He starts lifting and does about eight reps before stopping and lets his arms rest before his next set of reps begins.]

Chris: “Alright so the last time you saw me I was in my hotel room, and had quite a bit to say about Jake Rockwell, not so much Jesse Durant. You know after what Jake Rockwell said about yours truly that made me really care less about the fact that Durant is even in this match. However I would like to bring up something that Jake Rockwell himself said, you see he said that the fact that I think I can actually win this match is adorable. Well Rockwell Mr. Champ if I were you I would smarten up because you shouldn’t take me to lightly or that might cost you, hell you might even lose your title in your first defense. Oh who the hell am I kidding because you are going to loose the title in your first defense, no not to Jesse Durant, but to the man whom you are looking at right now me, The Headliner Chris Kaladaro.”

[Kaladaro pauses for a bit and pumps his second of three sets on the shoulder press machine, he gets to rep ten and then slams the weights down and again takes another breather.]

Chris: “You know Rockwell you claim that I am like a little kid you think that I think that I am tough because my dad let me win a few matches on the living room floor as a little kid. Who the hell are you kidding boy, because that never happened in fact it is well known that both my parents did not want me to pursue this line of work. They both thought that it was barbaric and just to risky of a task to really make it a line of work but not only have I done that I have made it a craft. You went on to say that I couldn’t beat Jesse Durant knowing that there was a title shot on the line well that doesn’t matter because although there was a title shot on the line the match went to a draw. Now being that Shanahan wouldn’t have had a match for tomorrow night for you he made it a triple threat match. You know if you do the math in a regular one on one match there is a fifty-percent chance that you could win or loose. However in a triple threat match that number decreases to only thirty three percent. Which is still enough of a chance for me to walk away the victor.

[Kaladaro stops talking for a moment while he pumps out his third set of reps, he gets to ten and then slams down the weights and wipes the sweat off of his forehead before getting up and moving to some free weights.]

Kaladaro: “You know Rockwell you say that Chewing Tobacco is bad for athletes and that I should stay away from that stuff. Isn’t that the pot calling the kettle black because you yourself are an alcoholic and that is worse than what I do. You see Tobacco doesn’t impair my judgement but that is what Alcohol does to you. You know what why don’t you drink a few beers before our match and see what happens hell you would probably be so drunk that you wouldn’t even remember losing your championship. However I am asking you please don’t do that because I want you at the top of your game when I beat you. You know I saw that whole bit where you took the PPW Championship belt and pried off Demetrius’ name with a crowbar only to replace it with a nameplate that had your name on it. Now don’t you think that that was a waist of time considering that I am going to beat you on Sunday and you will be just a flash in the pan champion who couldn’t even make it past your first title defense.

[Kaladaro pauses for a moment and picks up a fifty pound dumbbell and starts doing curls. He does about eight reps before setting the dumbbell down and continuing to speak.

“Well get used to that story because it is exactly what is going to happen, I am going to end your pathetic excuse that you call a championship reign faster than it started. However don’t worry I am sure that there are plenty of things you could do after you lose the PPW Championship hell you could be my manager, you know what no I don’t think so. I wouldn’t want to hang around with someone whom I beat so easily for the PPW title. I would almost feel bad, and it would give you a chance to ride my coattails. Truth is Rockwell you better bring everything you got because I know I will and I am sure Durant will do the same. No matter what happens the fans will be in for one hell of main event come this Sunday and at the end of the match when all the smoke settles and the dust clears I will be standing tall. The ring announcer will announce my name as the new PPW World Heavyweight Champion and Jake you my friend will be back to being a nobody. That’s all I have to say get that thing out of my face.”

[Chris Kaladaro gets up off of the bench from which he was lifting weights and grabs his bags and leaves the gym as the scene fades out.]

[Fade.]