Post by Deleted on Dec 14, 2020 16:53:23 GMT -5
MONDAY 12:30 PM ~ OFF CAMERA
Michael grabbed his phone from the passenger seat of his jet black Dodge Charger and pressed pause, silencing his 00’s rock anthem playlist on Spotify. As he does so he takes a left turn off an old county road outside of Reno Nevada. It’s really between Reno and Sun Valley, just about 20 minutes from the casino that hosts the Uprising shows. As he turns he pulls onto a fairly long gravel drive way. The path is surrounded by trees. As he curves around the driveway, he comes upon a house. Not just any house though. His house. He’d seen it a few times already and made an offer over the phone yesterday afternoon. The seller was eager to sell. The house was vacant. The old man that lived there had died and passed the property to his son, who had no desire to live there. So Michael was able to get a good deal and get it done quickly.
Yeah, this will do just fine.
Michael drives the length of the driveway until he gets to the parking area just outside the house. The house is on about seven acres of land, mostly wooded, and is a modest three story home with a full basement. Just outside the front of the house is a nice pond, which is supposedly fully stocked for fishing.
It’s been too long since I’ve fished. And I can do a lot with this land.
Michael gets out of the car and Stella, his German shepherd, zips out after him. He laughs a bit as the dog eagerly runs around the large property. She sees something near the wood line and chases after it, full of joy.
She has plenty of room here to run. That’s good.
He has felt bad over the last few months. When he had his apartment in LA, Stella hardly ever got to get outside. And when he started traveling to other places for work, he’d have to check her into a little “doggy daycare” while he was out of town. Now, with an actual place of residence he’ll only have to be away from the dog once a week or so.
I wonder if Logan would mind keeping an eye on her while I am out of town…
He makes a mental note to ask for that favor later. Of course it’s not her responsibility and he doesn’t want to burden Logan. But he really doesn’t want to find someone else to watch her. Otherwise he’d have to give her away and he hates the idea.
I’ll figure something out for Stella.
Michael walks around the house to check out the land. Though the property is mostly surrounded by trees, there’s a decent size yard that extends back about the length of a football field.
I could build a chicken coop over there. Maybe tear out some of these trees and get a couple horses.
The land itself offers plenty of opportunities, all which lead to Michael reminiscing about his childhood. Memories of himself and his older brother Jeramie chasing chickens and playing hide and seek in the woods.
Jeramie would have loved this place.
Growing up, Michael lived in a house pretty similar to this one in a small town outside Dallas Texas. He has endless memories of playing outside with his late brother. Maybe that’s why he’s so drawn to this house. He quickly shakes the thought from his mind, not wanting to focus too much on his brother. He walks around the house again, and heads toward the driveway. Between the house and the county road, along the bend of the gravel driveway is another building. It’s a fairly large building, originally designed to be a garage that could probably hold about five cars. The building was Michael’s biggest attraction to this house, and he has no intentions of using it as a garage.
Yeah that’s perfect. I’ll have to install a dust collection system but it’ll definitely hold all my equipment.
His thoughts drift to his tools and equipment for woodworking, a hobby he developed after his discharge from the army. Recently he’s been limited on what he could do due to the small one-car garage he had in LA. Now, he has room to set up his shop the way he’s always wanted to. Outside of wrestling, the wood work has always been a good bit of manual labor to distract Michael from the horrors of his past. It’s been great for his mental health in the past.
I need to get in touch with dad and set up a moving company to bring my shit from Dallas. And ship what little I have in LA. Man I’m glad to have this place but moving also sucks.
He strolls back toward the house. To the left of the driveway is a staircase that leads to the front porch, essentially a balcony-type porch as it hangs over a drop off with a door to the basement just below. He calls for Stella as he approaches the front door. He can hear her coming as he unlocks the front door for the first time without a real estate agent. Stella brushes past his leg, entering the house for her first time. Once inside the house, Michael finds himself in the foyer/like area. To the left is a small room, previously used as an office though Michael has no plans for it. A staircase leads upstairs, which is where Stella goes with her nose to the ground as she explores. Michael doesn’t follow, but instead heads past the staircase and finds himself in the kitchen. The living room is just to the right, with no wall separating it from the kitchen. And just to the left of the kitchen is the bathroom.
It definitely needs some work. But nothing I can’t do myself.
The hardwood floors are scratched badly, the wallpaper is shredded (as if a cat clawed at it) and the baseboards are all dented with paint chipping. Cosmetically most of the house was in the same condition. One of the bedrooms upstairs even has a huge hole in the wall.
No clue what the hell happened with that.
He shrugs it off, knowing it’s a mystery that will never have an answer. He stands in the middle of the room, looking around at how bare everything is. Upstairs there are three bedrooms and another bathroom, all just as bare as what he’s looking at now.
it’s going to take a lot of work to get things how I want them. But it’s manageable. First things first, I need to get a bed and some dishes and shit here. And clothes, toothbrush and all that. The rest of it can wait a bit.
“Stella!”
He calls out for the German shepherd and he immediately hears the thunking of her large feet against the wooden floors. She descends the stair case quickly and runs to Michael, sitting in front of him. He crouched down and scratches the back of her ears.
“Daddy has to go get some stuff for us. You be good! I’ll be back soon and maybe you can meet someone!”
The dogs tail wags excitedly as Michael speaks to her. As Michael stands back up straight, Stella nudges him a bit, wanting more scratches. He assures her once more that he’ll be back as he turns around and exits the house. His house.
Home
MONDAY 3:30 PM ~ ON CAMERA
“It seems there has been a bit of a misunderstanding between myself and Mr. and Mrs. Thunder. So I want to take this time to clarify a bit.”
Michael sits inside of his Charger with his phone on the dash, camera facing him. Obviously he’s being safe, parked in some parking lot somewhere rather than filming while driving.
“The two of you seem to believe that I disrespected Luthie. You think my words from the other day were a bit more venomous than necessary. Let me assure you, no disrespect was intended. Ya see, what I did was simply… speak truth.”
Michael grins, knowing that’s not going to go over well with the Thunders.
“And if you find the truth to be disrespectful… perhaps it’s time for you to re-evaluate things. But see, the truth I spoke was not the truth you heard. If I recall, you claimed that I called you washed up, a has been. I never said that. What I said is that your career will soon be knocking on deaths door.”
It may be a bit of an exaggeration but Michael doubles down on it for the sake of the promo.
“I even admitted that this match will be my most difficult match since the birth of Uprising. See, I have nothing but respect for you, Luthie. You’re a motherfuckin beast! Yeah, you’re a veteran in the ring, a goddamn stud between those ropes. You’ve fought hard for thirteen goddamn years proving everyone that’s ever said they’ll put you down wrong.”
Michael smirks as he looks directly at the lens. This is the fun part.
“But here’s where things get tricky. Because while I know who you are and what you can do… I know what I can do too. I don’t claim victory prematurely for any talent or skill that you lack. I claim victory because I’ve already won.”
He taps the top of his head with his index finger, that cocky smirk still spread over his face.
“In my head, I’ve already won. And I know. What happens in my head doesn’t really matter, does it? But let me ask you this. If i stepped into that ring thinking anything other then ‘I’m winning this’ would there be any reason for me to compete? If I don’t think I’m the absolute best to ever step into a ring, haven’t I already lost? If I don’t claim to be and strive to be the greatest, why am I even here?”
The smirk fades away as Michael takes a moment to run his fingers through his hair. He takes his hand and places it over his chin, lightly brushing the stubble from his 5 o’clock shadow.
“That’s the conundrum of wrestling, right? Every man woman or dragon thinks they are the best. But any of us could lose on any given night. One slip up. One anomaly of a mistake. Hell, maybe even an overzealous or inexperienced referee counting a bit faster than usual. But i can promise you this, Luther.”
Michael lowers his hand from his chin and leans forward in the seat of his car. He places his arms over the steering wheel as he stares intently into the lens.
“If you do beat me… it won’t be because of a mistake of mine. If you beat me, it will be because I gave you no choice except to beat the living dog shit out of me so badly that I can’t walk backstage without some sort of assistance. Are you capable of that?”
Michael shrugs a bit, leaning back in the seat once more.
“Time will tell. Remember, that’s how I beat Kross. I whooped him so badly the referee had to stop the match. Can you do that to me? Or beat me so badly that I lay there and allow you to pin me for the three? And you asked me, after the words I spoke last week, what happens if I lose? That’s where you put words in my mouth and claimed that i called you a washed up old man. Again, I never said that. But I’ll answer the question nonetheless. If I lose… if you are able to beat me so badly that I can’t stop you from pinning me, then I get up, work harder and try again. Maybe I am a ‘young, dumb, and full of cum’ youngster, but I’m not inclined to think that I’m invincible.”
Michael can’t help but chuckle at the ‘full of cum’ line that Luther threw at him.
“But then again, I do claim to be the Ironman of wrestling. Fitting, now that I think of it. If I’m the invincible Ironman and you’re the god of Thunder… what happens when Ironman battles Thor? The question has been asked for years amongst comic book fans but we’ve yet to see the battle play out. But I can tell you this ain’t Batman vs Superman and I won’t go easy on you if I find out our mommas have the same name.”
He chuckles again. He really wasn’t trying to make light of the match, or make cheesey jokes. He just can’t help himself.
“Rest assured, I know this isn’t a fuckin comic book. It’s a semifinal match to determine who gets to fight for the Uprising Title. I have no false notions that this will be easy. I’m not ignorant enough to think there’s no chance of me being knocked out of this. I know how hard the both of us have worked to get to this round. And I know if you plan on advancing to the next round, you’re going to have to take every ounce of fight out of me. I will leave it all in that ring, and win or lose, you’ll come to respect me. I truly hope I don’t disappoint you, Thor.”
He says the last line with thick sarcasm, as Luthers last line of his promo was a plea that Michael doesn’t disappoint him. He reaches forward, hitting the button on his phone to end the video. As he sends the video to uprisings website, he mulls over the promo in his head.
I really have to win this… no way I can lose after saying all that… I cannot lose.
The stress of being unsure is new. Michael is always confident on and off camera. But Ironman has never truly faced Thor.
Michael grabbed his phone from the passenger seat of his jet black Dodge Charger and pressed pause, silencing his 00’s rock anthem playlist on Spotify. As he does so he takes a left turn off an old county road outside of Reno Nevada. It’s really between Reno and Sun Valley, just about 20 minutes from the casino that hosts the Uprising shows. As he turns he pulls onto a fairly long gravel drive way. The path is surrounded by trees. As he curves around the driveway, he comes upon a house. Not just any house though. His house. He’d seen it a few times already and made an offer over the phone yesterday afternoon. The seller was eager to sell. The house was vacant. The old man that lived there had died and passed the property to his son, who had no desire to live there. So Michael was able to get a good deal and get it done quickly.
Yeah, this will do just fine.
Michael drives the length of the driveway until he gets to the parking area just outside the house. The house is on about seven acres of land, mostly wooded, and is a modest three story home with a full basement. Just outside the front of the house is a nice pond, which is supposedly fully stocked for fishing.
It’s been too long since I’ve fished. And I can do a lot with this land.
Michael gets out of the car and Stella, his German shepherd, zips out after him. He laughs a bit as the dog eagerly runs around the large property. She sees something near the wood line and chases after it, full of joy.
She has plenty of room here to run. That’s good.
He has felt bad over the last few months. When he had his apartment in LA, Stella hardly ever got to get outside. And when he started traveling to other places for work, he’d have to check her into a little “doggy daycare” while he was out of town. Now, with an actual place of residence he’ll only have to be away from the dog once a week or so.
I wonder if Logan would mind keeping an eye on her while I am out of town…
He makes a mental note to ask for that favor later. Of course it’s not her responsibility and he doesn’t want to burden Logan. But he really doesn’t want to find someone else to watch her. Otherwise he’d have to give her away and he hates the idea.
I’ll figure something out for Stella.
Michael walks around the house to check out the land. Though the property is mostly surrounded by trees, there’s a decent size yard that extends back about the length of a football field.
I could build a chicken coop over there. Maybe tear out some of these trees and get a couple horses.
The land itself offers plenty of opportunities, all which lead to Michael reminiscing about his childhood. Memories of himself and his older brother Jeramie chasing chickens and playing hide and seek in the woods.
Jeramie would have loved this place.
Growing up, Michael lived in a house pretty similar to this one in a small town outside Dallas Texas. He has endless memories of playing outside with his late brother. Maybe that’s why he’s so drawn to this house. He quickly shakes the thought from his mind, not wanting to focus too much on his brother. He walks around the house again, and heads toward the driveway. Between the house and the county road, along the bend of the gravel driveway is another building. It’s a fairly large building, originally designed to be a garage that could probably hold about five cars. The building was Michael’s biggest attraction to this house, and he has no intentions of using it as a garage.
Yeah that’s perfect. I’ll have to install a dust collection system but it’ll definitely hold all my equipment.
His thoughts drift to his tools and equipment for woodworking, a hobby he developed after his discharge from the army. Recently he’s been limited on what he could do due to the small one-car garage he had in LA. Now, he has room to set up his shop the way he’s always wanted to. Outside of wrestling, the wood work has always been a good bit of manual labor to distract Michael from the horrors of his past. It’s been great for his mental health in the past.
I need to get in touch with dad and set up a moving company to bring my shit from Dallas. And ship what little I have in LA. Man I’m glad to have this place but moving also sucks.
He strolls back toward the house. To the left of the driveway is a staircase that leads to the front porch, essentially a balcony-type porch as it hangs over a drop off with a door to the basement just below. He calls for Stella as he approaches the front door. He can hear her coming as he unlocks the front door for the first time without a real estate agent. Stella brushes past his leg, entering the house for her first time. Once inside the house, Michael finds himself in the foyer/like area. To the left is a small room, previously used as an office though Michael has no plans for it. A staircase leads upstairs, which is where Stella goes with her nose to the ground as she explores. Michael doesn’t follow, but instead heads past the staircase and finds himself in the kitchen. The living room is just to the right, with no wall separating it from the kitchen. And just to the left of the kitchen is the bathroom.
It definitely needs some work. But nothing I can’t do myself.
The hardwood floors are scratched badly, the wallpaper is shredded (as if a cat clawed at it) and the baseboards are all dented with paint chipping. Cosmetically most of the house was in the same condition. One of the bedrooms upstairs even has a huge hole in the wall.
No clue what the hell happened with that.
He shrugs it off, knowing it’s a mystery that will never have an answer. He stands in the middle of the room, looking around at how bare everything is. Upstairs there are three bedrooms and another bathroom, all just as bare as what he’s looking at now.
it’s going to take a lot of work to get things how I want them. But it’s manageable. First things first, I need to get a bed and some dishes and shit here. And clothes, toothbrush and all that. The rest of it can wait a bit.
“Stella!”
He calls out for the German shepherd and he immediately hears the thunking of her large feet against the wooden floors. She descends the stair case quickly and runs to Michael, sitting in front of him. He crouched down and scratches the back of her ears.
“Daddy has to go get some stuff for us. You be good! I’ll be back soon and maybe you can meet someone!”
The dogs tail wags excitedly as Michael speaks to her. As Michael stands back up straight, Stella nudges him a bit, wanting more scratches. He assures her once more that he’ll be back as he turns around and exits the house. His house.
Home
MONDAY 3:30 PM ~ ON CAMERA
“It seems there has been a bit of a misunderstanding between myself and Mr. and Mrs. Thunder. So I want to take this time to clarify a bit.”
Michael sits inside of his Charger with his phone on the dash, camera facing him. Obviously he’s being safe, parked in some parking lot somewhere rather than filming while driving.
“The two of you seem to believe that I disrespected Luthie. You think my words from the other day were a bit more venomous than necessary. Let me assure you, no disrespect was intended. Ya see, what I did was simply… speak truth.”
Michael grins, knowing that’s not going to go over well with the Thunders.
“And if you find the truth to be disrespectful… perhaps it’s time for you to re-evaluate things. But see, the truth I spoke was not the truth you heard. If I recall, you claimed that I called you washed up, a has been. I never said that. What I said is that your career will soon be knocking on deaths door.”
It may be a bit of an exaggeration but Michael doubles down on it for the sake of the promo.
“I even admitted that this match will be my most difficult match since the birth of Uprising. See, I have nothing but respect for you, Luthie. You’re a motherfuckin beast! Yeah, you’re a veteran in the ring, a goddamn stud between those ropes. You’ve fought hard for thirteen goddamn years proving everyone that’s ever said they’ll put you down wrong.”
Michael smirks as he looks directly at the lens. This is the fun part.
“But here’s where things get tricky. Because while I know who you are and what you can do… I know what I can do too. I don’t claim victory prematurely for any talent or skill that you lack. I claim victory because I’ve already won.”
He taps the top of his head with his index finger, that cocky smirk still spread over his face.
“In my head, I’ve already won. And I know. What happens in my head doesn’t really matter, does it? But let me ask you this. If i stepped into that ring thinking anything other then ‘I’m winning this’ would there be any reason for me to compete? If I don’t think I’m the absolute best to ever step into a ring, haven’t I already lost? If I don’t claim to be and strive to be the greatest, why am I even here?”
The smirk fades away as Michael takes a moment to run his fingers through his hair. He takes his hand and places it over his chin, lightly brushing the stubble from his 5 o’clock shadow.
“That’s the conundrum of wrestling, right? Every man woman or dragon thinks they are the best. But any of us could lose on any given night. One slip up. One anomaly of a mistake. Hell, maybe even an overzealous or inexperienced referee counting a bit faster than usual. But i can promise you this, Luther.”
Michael lowers his hand from his chin and leans forward in the seat of his car. He places his arms over the steering wheel as he stares intently into the lens.
“If you do beat me… it won’t be because of a mistake of mine. If you beat me, it will be because I gave you no choice except to beat the living dog shit out of me so badly that I can’t walk backstage without some sort of assistance. Are you capable of that?”
Michael shrugs a bit, leaning back in the seat once more.
“Time will tell. Remember, that’s how I beat Kross. I whooped him so badly the referee had to stop the match. Can you do that to me? Or beat me so badly that I lay there and allow you to pin me for the three? And you asked me, after the words I spoke last week, what happens if I lose? That’s where you put words in my mouth and claimed that i called you a washed up old man. Again, I never said that. But I’ll answer the question nonetheless. If I lose… if you are able to beat me so badly that I can’t stop you from pinning me, then I get up, work harder and try again. Maybe I am a ‘young, dumb, and full of cum’ youngster, but I’m not inclined to think that I’m invincible.”
Michael can’t help but chuckle at the ‘full of cum’ line that Luther threw at him.
“But then again, I do claim to be the Ironman of wrestling. Fitting, now that I think of it. If I’m the invincible Ironman and you’re the god of Thunder… what happens when Ironman battles Thor? The question has been asked for years amongst comic book fans but we’ve yet to see the battle play out. But I can tell you this ain’t Batman vs Superman and I won’t go easy on you if I find out our mommas have the same name.”
He chuckles again. He really wasn’t trying to make light of the match, or make cheesey jokes. He just can’t help himself.
“Rest assured, I know this isn’t a fuckin comic book. It’s a semifinal match to determine who gets to fight for the Uprising Title. I have no false notions that this will be easy. I’m not ignorant enough to think there’s no chance of me being knocked out of this. I know how hard the both of us have worked to get to this round. And I know if you plan on advancing to the next round, you’re going to have to take every ounce of fight out of me. I will leave it all in that ring, and win or lose, you’ll come to respect me. I truly hope I don’t disappoint you, Thor.”
He says the last line with thick sarcasm, as Luthers last line of his promo was a plea that Michael doesn’t disappoint him. He reaches forward, hitting the button on his phone to end the video. As he sends the video to uprisings website, he mulls over the promo in his head.
I really have to win this… no way I can lose after saying all that… I cannot lose.
The stress of being unsure is new. Michael is always confident on and off camera. But Ironman has never truly faced Thor.