Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2016 13:56:16 GMT -5
09.22.2016
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
//Off-Camera//
Two weeks had passed since NOAH MCKNIGHT's father, Scott, died unexpectedly. In the days following, Noah's life became a living nightmare. The McKnight family turned on Noah as the newly widowed matriarch, Angela, directed her grief and sorrow towards her only son for 'breaking' his father's heart (Scott died of a massive heart attack in his sleep). Noah's older sister, Katie, followed her mother's actions and ceased communication with her brother. The reason? Noah had betrayed the family.
Scott was a respected forensic psychologist in the Los Angeles area. Angela was a highly sought-after marriage and family therapist. Katie was a child psychologist. And it was expected that Noah would follow in the family career path in the study of psychology when he went to college. Although he graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology, Noah was a student-athlete at the University of La Verne and he was the NCAA Division III Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. One hundred practicum hours short of his doctorate in forensic psychology, Noah dropped out of school and enrolled at the Santino Brothers Wrestling Academy. Scott was livid. He threatened to cut Noah off if he pursued a career in professional wrestling (once calling it a glorified circus act). Noah defied his family and followed his dream. Three years passed and now Scott was dead.
A week ago, Noah attended his father's wake and he was unceremoniously escorted from the funeral home by several uncles and cousins. He watched his father's burial from a distance as the family did not welcome the family 'circus clown' at the funeral. Noah went home and went on a multiple-day drinking binge that ended with him tattooed, hair cut short, living out of his car, and released from his 3GW wrestling contract. Thankfully, before he did anymore damage, a new friend entered his life that stopped the downward spiral. Claire Franco was his angel of light. The former (and beautiful) Army Sergeant opened her home with her two young daughters to him as Noah had no place else to go as his Redemption Wrestling debut loomed close.
Noah tossed and turned in his bed. He banged his hand on the headboard which made a loud thud on the wall between his room and Claire's master bedroom. It didn't wake him but it woke her up. She shot up on the bed, alert at first, and then she heard Noah growl and moan through the wall. With a sigh, Claire slowly slid out of her bed, donned in a green tank top and loose-fitting black shorts, and quietly walked out of her room. She knocked softly on Noah's door and slowly opened it. Noah was asleep but shivering in a fetal position. The blankets of the bed were thrown on the floor despite the cold desert night.
There was a moment of hesitation, but Claire slid herself next to Noah, trying to let him know that he wasn't alone. She placed her chin on Noah's side and tried to help him get warm. Miraculously, Noah settled down as he felt her warmth. Claire’s eyes softened before they lulled shut with a sigh.
09.23.2016
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
//On-Camera//
NOAH MCKNIGHT is sitting on the worn wooden bench of a dingy fighting gym. He is dressed only in gym shorts and wrestling boots and his body glistens with sweat. He looks down at the floor as he runs his hand through his matted short hair; a reminder of his recent turmoil. As he looks up at the camera, the light above him flickers.
“In a perfect world I would be training in a state-of-the-art facility suitable for a man of my caliber. My parents would be watching back at home on FXXTV as their son prepares to take his first steps into professional wrestling greatness. My big sister would be in the Zero Hour live audience at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse ready to cheer me to victory. I would have the best coaches, trainers, doctors, specialists, and wrestling experts feeding me the information needed to dissect my opponent’s arsenal. As a former NCAA Division III Wrestling Champion and top prospect, I would counter Dick Devereaux’s undisciplined and unorthodox wrestling style with precise strategy and easily dispatch of him in short order. And with these Redemption Wrestling cameras rolling, I would be guaranteeing my advancement into the next round of the Redemption Championship tournament.”
Noah stares at the camera with scowl.
“But this isn’t a perfect world. There is no such thing as a perfect world! You can have the best things in life in the palms of your hands only to have them ripped away from you by someone who disagrees with your dream. One moment you are eating at the best restaurants, hanging with socialites, and living in a 7-digit condominium and the next you’re eating out of garbage cans, alone, and living in your car with all your belongings in the backseat. A drunken mess, you can balk at a lucrative contract with one of the newest wrestling promotions in the country as you down another bottle of tequila with your last twenty dollars. And then you can sit here…”
Noah motions to his surroundings.
“... in the makeshift locker room of a rundown gym, hoping to prepare for a wrestling debut that is only a couple days away. And you can bum money off your friend so you can buy an airline ticket to get to Indianapolis so you can make match.”
Noah gives another blank stare at the camera.
“Welcome to my KNIGHTMARE!”
His voice doesn’t echo far in the musty walls of the locker room.
“Dick Devereaux… can I call you Dick? It is the name you prefer over Richard. Anyway, Dick, do you have any dreams? You must have one dream after years in the business. Perhaps the Redemption Heavyweight Championship? I saw you are the undefeated Engage Wrestling Fusion X Champion. Excellent accomplishment. I bet you’re foaming at the mouth ready to tear this young buck a new one and continue your undefeated streak here in Redemption! Well, I’m not going sit here and rattle off why you’re going to fail at Zero Hour. Stranger things have happened in the wrestling ring and I’ve recently learned the hard way that life can be cruel. I don’t know if I’m going to beat you on Sunday night. But I do know that I’m going to give you hell inside the squared circle.”
“Why?”
“Because my illusions of grandeur were buried with my father. My dreams of championship gold are as cold as my father’s remains. I don’t have dreams anymore. I have Knightmares. And it’s time I share my Knightmare with Redemption Wrestling, beginning with you. It’s time I share the chill and darkness of my miserable nights with you so maybe, just maybe, I can purge my soul of these horrible waking dreams. So at Zero Hour, Dick, we are going to have a therapy session inside the ring. You can even be my psychologist! I will give you my problems and you will solve them for me. Okay?”
Noah gives the camera a look of desperation.
“This is Redemption Wrestling, right? Redemption is what is offered here, right? I want to be redeemed of my cold, dark dreams. I don’t want anymore Knightmares. But if Dick Devereaux can’t help me, who will? We’ll just have to find out after Zero Hour, won’t we?”
Noah gives a slight sinister smile.
“Dick Devereaux, welcome to my Knightmare. I hope you’re not afraid of the dark.”
The camera slowly fades to black.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
//Off-Camera//
Two weeks had passed since NOAH MCKNIGHT's father, Scott, died unexpectedly. In the days following, Noah's life became a living nightmare. The McKnight family turned on Noah as the newly widowed matriarch, Angela, directed her grief and sorrow towards her only son for 'breaking' his father's heart (Scott died of a massive heart attack in his sleep). Noah's older sister, Katie, followed her mother's actions and ceased communication with her brother. The reason? Noah had betrayed the family.
Scott was a respected forensic psychologist in the Los Angeles area. Angela was a highly sought-after marriage and family therapist. Katie was a child psychologist. And it was expected that Noah would follow in the family career path in the study of psychology when he went to college. Although he graduated with a bachelor's degree in psychology, Noah was a student-athlete at the University of La Verne and he was the NCAA Division III Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. One hundred practicum hours short of his doctorate in forensic psychology, Noah dropped out of school and enrolled at the Santino Brothers Wrestling Academy. Scott was livid. He threatened to cut Noah off if he pursued a career in professional wrestling (once calling it a glorified circus act). Noah defied his family and followed his dream. Three years passed and now Scott was dead.
A week ago, Noah attended his father's wake and he was unceremoniously escorted from the funeral home by several uncles and cousins. He watched his father's burial from a distance as the family did not welcome the family 'circus clown' at the funeral. Noah went home and went on a multiple-day drinking binge that ended with him tattooed, hair cut short, living out of his car, and released from his 3GW wrestling contract. Thankfully, before he did anymore damage, a new friend entered his life that stopped the downward spiral. Claire Franco was his angel of light. The former (and beautiful) Army Sergeant opened her home with her two young daughters to him as Noah had no place else to go as his Redemption Wrestling debut loomed close.
Noah tossed and turned in his bed. He banged his hand on the headboard which made a loud thud on the wall between his room and Claire's master bedroom. It didn't wake him but it woke her up. She shot up on the bed, alert at first, and then she heard Noah growl and moan through the wall. With a sigh, Claire slowly slid out of her bed, donned in a green tank top and loose-fitting black shorts, and quietly walked out of her room. She knocked softly on Noah's door and slowly opened it. Noah was asleep but shivering in a fetal position. The blankets of the bed were thrown on the floor despite the cold desert night.
Everywhere Noah looked was darkness. He shivered as a chill slid up and down his spine like someone running an ice cube down his back. He slowly walked through the nothingness. The only thing he heard were sounds of a howling wind. But in the wind he heard the voices of his father, mother, and sister. There were faint sounds of sobs that haunted him. He heard his father's angry voice. He tried to pick up his pace to get away from the voices but the more he tried to walk the slower his steps. He wasn't getting anywhere. He couldn't escape the wind. And his feet felt like anvils. Noah came to a complete stop.
He tried to catch his breath but the chill of the darkness made it hard for him to breath. He placed his hands on his arms and rubbed them back and forth to try to keep warm. Nothing seemed to help him. He slowly slumped to his knees and the cold darkness tried to consume him. The voices in the wind only grew louder in his ears as he felt helpless. He tried to swat the voices away...
There was a moment of hesitation, but Claire slid herself next to Noah, trying to let him know that he wasn't alone. She placed her chin on Noah's side and tried to help him get warm. Miraculously, Noah settled down as he felt her warmth. Claire’s eyes softened before they lulled shut with a sigh.
09.23.2016
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA
//On-Camera//
NOAH MCKNIGHT is sitting on the worn wooden bench of a dingy fighting gym. He is dressed only in gym shorts and wrestling boots and his body glistens with sweat. He looks down at the floor as he runs his hand through his matted short hair; a reminder of his recent turmoil. As he looks up at the camera, the light above him flickers.
“In a perfect world I would be training in a state-of-the-art facility suitable for a man of my caliber. My parents would be watching back at home on FXXTV as their son prepares to take his first steps into professional wrestling greatness. My big sister would be in the Zero Hour live audience at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse ready to cheer me to victory. I would have the best coaches, trainers, doctors, specialists, and wrestling experts feeding me the information needed to dissect my opponent’s arsenal. As a former NCAA Division III Wrestling Champion and top prospect, I would counter Dick Devereaux’s undisciplined and unorthodox wrestling style with precise strategy and easily dispatch of him in short order. And with these Redemption Wrestling cameras rolling, I would be guaranteeing my advancement into the next round of the Redemption Championship tournament.”
Noah stares at the camera with scowl.
“But this isn’t a perfect world. There is no such thing as a perfect world! You can have the best things in life in the palms of your hands only to have them ripped away from you by someone who disagrees with your dream. One moment you are eating at the best restaurants, hanging with socialites, and living in a 7-digit condominium and the next you’re eating out of garbage cans, alone, and living in your car with all your belongings in the backseat. A drunken mess, you can balk at a lucrative contract with one of the newest wrestling promotions in the country as you down another bottle of tequila with your last twenty dollars. And then you can sit here…”
Noah motions to his surroundings.
“... in the makeshift locker room of a rundown gym, hoping to prepare for a wrestling debut that is only a couple days away. And you can bum money off your friend so you can buy an airline ticket to get to Indianapolis so you can make match.”
Noah gives another blank stare at the camera.
“Welcome to my KNIGHTMARE!”
His voice doesn’t echo far in the musty walls of the locker room.
“Dick Devereaux… can I call you Dick? It is the name you prefer over Richard. Anyway, Dick, do you have any dreams? You must have one dream after years in the business. Perhaps the Redemption Heavyweight Championship? I saw you are the undefeated Engage Wrestling Fusion X Champion. Excellent accomplishment. I bet you’re foaming at the mouth ready to tear this young buck a new one and continue your undefeated streak here in Redemption! Well, I’m not going sit here and rattle off why you’re going to fail at Zero Hour. Stranger things have happened in the wrestling ring and I’ve recently learned the hard way that life can be cruel. I don’t know if I’m going to beat you on Sunday night. But I do know that I’m going to give you hell inside the squared circle.”
“Why?”
“Because my illusions of grandeur were buried with my father. My dreams of championship gold are as cold as my father’s remains. I don’t have dreams anymore. I have Knightmares. And it’s time I share my Knightmare with Redemption Wrestling, beginning with you. It’s time I share the chill and darkness of my miserable nights with you so maybe, just maybe, I can purge my soul of these horrible waking dreams. So at Zero Hour, Dick, we are going to have a therapy session inside the ring. You can even be my psychologist! I will give you my problems and you will solve them for me. Okay?”
Noah gives the camera a look of desperation.
“This is Redemption Wrestling, right? Redemption is what is offered here, right? I want to be redeemed of my cold, dark dreams. I don’t want anymore Knightmares. But if Dick Devereaux can’t help me, who will? We’ll just have to find out after Zero Hour, won’t we?”
Noah gives a slight sinister smile.
“Dick Devereaux, welcome to my Knightmare. I hope you’re not afraid of the dark.”
The camera slowly fades to black.
