Post by Scruffy Dog on Jan 9, 2008 22:31:15 GMT 10
The crowd in the Las Vegas arena is growing at a steady pace as Resolution draws near. Such a steady pace, that there are in fact enough people to form three small groups, all gathered around playing hopscotch. They've somehow managed to turn the game into a gambling event, and this being Las Vegas, they've also managed to ensure that eventually everyone somehow loses. The excitement is interrupted however, as the AWOTron flares to life, showing Scruffy Dog sitting in an office wearing glasses on the tip of his nose and looking down at a big book. He looks up, startled, at the camera and closes the book. It has no label on the leathery front cover. Scruffy Dog smiles, and removes the glasses.
Scruffy Dog: "Some of you are probably wondering where I am right now. Well I am in fact in the AWO hall of records..."
As soon as he's said this, he turns as a door swings open and President Shay Semmens steps into the room. The camera pans out to show Scruffy Dog is actually in an office, and not much of a hall at all.
Prez Shay: "What the hell are you doing in my... oh bloody hell. Forget it."
Prez Shay sighs and leaves the room again. Scruffy Dog turns back to the camera and shrugs.
Scruffy Dog: "Well, the mystique is ruined. The AWO doesn't HAVE a hall of records... at least not in the Vegas arena. However I did manage to track down some AWO history books in Shay's office. And the reason for this? Well, I want to go over some of the brilliant moments in the AWO's history, of course."
Scruffy Dog opens to a page he's bookmarked and sighs lovingly.
Scruffy Dog: "This one here isn't so much of a moment as it is an entire legacy. Cheap Shot and I, the ultimate tag team. The tag team that no one could beat... until we lost all interest in holding the tag titles and basically gave them away. But still, while the AWO stood so did Cheap Shot and I. We truly were the World's Greatest Tag Team..."
Suddenly the door swings open again and the room swarms with fast-talking midgets wearing suits and holding clipboards and briefcases. Quickly after entering the room though, they realise who's sitting in the chair, apologise, and quickly disappear again. Scruffy Dog ignores them and turns the page.
Scruffy Dog: "Here's the time I held the AWO World Title, Survivor Title, Extreme Title, and Tag Title all at the same time. I remember trying to figure out how the hell to carry them all down to the ring. Hah, good times..."
He turns to the next bookmarked page. A theme becomes apparent.
Scruffy Dog: "And here's the time I came to the AWO under the XFL and single-handedly defeated AWO's then champion Fonzieca and his tag partner in what was essentially a handicap match, restoring the faith and hope of all the entire XFL roster."
Scruffy Dog looks up from the book and into the camera.
Scruffy Dog: "Oh but Ice Rock, you should remember that one. After all, it's your beloved XFL. And surely, for that reason, you were a huge part of the XFL invasion."
Scruffy Dog pauses, thinking.
Scruffy Dog: "Oh no, wait a minute. You weren't. Typical Ice Rock. One of the biggest things ever to happen to the AWO, and certainly the biggest event in XFL's short history, and you weren't even remotely a part of it. The perfect chance to rise to brilliance and become something of a legend - something that all the competitors in the match achieved, especially myself who battled off the entire XFL contingent for a short time, and for Spaz, who ended up winning the match itself. But where were you? I can only assume you were off hiding from glory."
Scruffy Dog closes the book.
Scruffy Dog: "I hope my message is clear already Ice Rock... but being that it is YOU I'm talking to, I'd best spell it out. Over the past ten years with the AWO I have become a legend. An icon. A hero to the masses. I've fought in the biggest matches the world has ever seen. I've defended AWO's honour against several invasions, and I've won every single time. I've held the AWO World Title only twice, but the length of time I've held the title collectively has got to be amongst the longest the AWO has seen. And then we come... to you."
Scruffy Dog shakes his head, with a smug smirk on his lips.
Scruffy Dog: "I dare say Ice Rock, you've been in this business longer than me. Hell, my very first match was against a friend of yours, Skarz - and he was already pretty established at the time. Of course, being one of the Cry Wolf gang, he never managed to amount to anything. Much like yourself. I've done all these things Ice Rock, all these wonderful things, and you've done... what? I mean, there's only so many times you can use 'crowd pops' and conveniently unprovable formulas to explain what you've been doing. At some point you still have to take a step back and actually look at what you've accomplished in a real, literal, sense. And I'm hoping you can shed some light for me, because I have to tell you Ice Rock, I've been scouring the AWO history books and I've seen absolutely nothing worth mentioning about you at all. Maybe there's something great about you written in the XFL history books, but considering XFL lost that battle and confirmed AWO's superiority, I can't see any of that as an accomplishment either."
Scruffy Dog rolls his eyes.
Scruffy Dog: "There's several words for people like me, Ice. Champion is as good as any. But for you, only one immediately springs to mind. Mediocre. It's funny too, because when I looked the word up in the dictionary to see how I could best use it to describe you, I noticed an example it gave, which read 'a team of aging second-raters.' Now, you're no team, but I think you fit the rest quite nicely. Not only are you past your prime, but you were never first rate to begin with. And look at me, I'm the AWO World Champion without needing to get a replica belt made up. And word to the wise Ice Rock, while our belts might look similar, you forgot to take the 'AWO Merchandise' tag off yours, along with the $5.99 price tag."
Scruffy Dog, again, shakes his head.
Ice Rock: "But it's not just your current state that's mediocre Ice Rock. It's your entire history. It's your entire life. From the fact that you've never achieved anything in the wrestling world - despite being around forever - to the fact that you've got a kid and a girlfriend, but haven't found the time or effort to actually marry the poor girl. You can deny your mediocrity all you want Ice, but one glaring face pretty much sums it up..."
Scruffy Dog pauses, entirely for effect.
Scruffy Dog: "At Independence Day, you had the greatest match of your life. You can deny it, but I know it's true. The shining moment of your career took place on July 4th 2007, in the Detroit AWO arena when you faced me for the AWO World Championship. And you didn't even win. Your greatest moment was a match that you walked away from without a victory. But more important than that Ice... is the fact that while this was your moment of glory, and the match you'll no doubt be remembered most for... for me, it was just another match. One of the hundreds of things I'll be remembered for, and not even in the top ten. That's what makes the difference between brilliance and mediocrity Ice Rock. That's what makes the difference between me... and you."
Scruffy Dog smiles and leans back in his chair. He looks up at the ceiling, still smiling and probably thinking of the glory days, as the AWOTron fades to black and the crowd goes back to gamble-hopscotch.
Scruffy Dog: "Some of you are probably wondering where I am right now. Well I am in fact in the AWO hall of records..."
As soon as he's said this, he turns as a door swings open and President Shay Semmens steps into the room. The camera pans out to show Scruffy Dog is actually in an office, and not much of a hall at all.
Prez Shay: "What the hell are you doing in my... oh bloody hell. Forget it."
Prez Shay sighs and leaves the room again. Scruffy Dog turns back to the camera and shrugs.
Scruffy Dog: "Well, the mystique is ruined. The AWO doesn't HAVE a hall of records... at least not in the Vegas arena. However I did manage to track down some AWO history books in Shay's office. And the reason for this? Well, I want to go over some of the brilliant moments in the AWO's history, of course."
Scruffy Dog opens to a page he's bookmarked and sighs lovingly.
Scruffy Dog: "This one here isn't so much of a moment as it is an entire legacy. Cheap Shot and I, the ultimate tag team. The tag team that no one could beat... until we lost all interest in holding the tag titles and basically gave them away. But still, while the AWO stood so did Cheap Shot and I. We truly were the World's Greatest Tag Team..."
Suddenly the door swings open again and the room swarms with fast-talking midgets wearing suits and holding clipboards and briefcases. Quickly after entering the room though, they realise who's sitting in the chair, apologise, and quickly disappear again. Scruffy Dog ignores them and turns the page.
Scruffy Dog: "Here's the time I held the AWO World Title, Survivor Title, Extreme Title, and Tag Title all at the same time. I remember trying to figure out how the hell to carry them all down to the ring. Hah, good times..."
He turns to the next bookmarked page. A theme becomes apparent.
Scruffy Dog: "And here's the time I came to the AWO under the XFL and single-handedly defeated AWO's then champion Fonzieca and his tag partner in what was essentially a handicap match, restoring the faith and hope of all the entire XFL roster."
Scruffy Dog looks up from the book and into the camera.
Scruffy Dog: "Oh but Ice Rock, you should remember that one. After all, it's your beloved XFL. And surely, for that reason, you were a huge part of the XFL invasion."
Scruffy Dog pauses, thinking.
Scruffy Dog: "Oh no, wait a minute. You weren't. Typical Ice Rock. One of the biggest things ever to happen to the AWO, and certainly the biggest event in XFL's short history, and you weren't even remotely a part of it. The perfect chance to rise to brilliance and become something of a legend - something that all the competitors in the match achieved, especially myself who battled off the entire XFL contingent for a short time, and for Spaz, who ended up winning the match itself. But where were you? I can only assume you were off hiding from glory."
Scruffy Dog closes the book.
Scruffy Dog: "I hope my message is clear already Ice Rock... but being that it is YOU I'm talking to, I'd best spell it out. Over the past ten years with the AWO I have become a legend. An icon. A hero to the masses. I've fought in the biggest matches the world has ever seen. I've defended AWO's honour against several invasions, and I've won every single time. I've held the AWO World Title only twice, but the length of time I've held the title collectively has got to be amongst the longest the AWO has seen. And then we come... to you."
Scruffy Dog shakes his head, with a smug smirk on his lips.
Scruffy Dog: "I dare say Ice Rock, you've been in this business longer than me. Hell, my very first match was against a friend of yours, Skarz - and he was already pretty established at the time. Of course, being one of the Cry Wolf gang, he never managed to amount to anything. Much like yourself. I've done all these things Ice Rock, all these wonderful things, and you've done... what? I mean, there's only so many times you can use 'crowd pops' and conveniently unprovable formulas to explain what you've been doing. At some point you still have to take a step back and actually look at what you've accomplished in a real, literal, sense. And I'm hoping you can shed some light for me, because I have to tell you Ice Rock, I've been scouring the AWO history books and I've seen absolutely nothing worth mentioning about you at all. Maybe there's something great about you written in the XFL history books, but considering XFL lost that battle and confirmed AWO's superiority, I can't see any of that as an accomplishment either."
Scruffy Dog rolls his eyes.
Scruffy Dog: "There's several words for people like me, Ice. Champion is as good as any. But for you, only one immediately springs to mind. Mediocre. It's funny too, because when I looked the word up in the dictionary to see how I could best use it to describe you, I noticed an example it gave, which read 'a team of aging second-raters.' Now, you're no team, but I think you fit the rest quite nicely. Not only are you past your prime, but you were never first rate to begin with. And look at me, I'm the AWO World Champion without needing to get a replica belt made up. And word to the wise Ice Rock, while our belts might look similar, you forgot to take the 'AWO Merchandise' tag off yours, along with the $5.99 price tag."
Scruffy Dog, again, shakes his head.
Ice Rock: "But it's not just your current state that's mediocre Ice Rock. It's your entire history. It's your entire life. From the fact that you've never achieved anything in the wrestling world - despite being around forever - to the fact that you've got a kid and a girlfriend, but haven't found the time or effort to actually marry the poor girl. You can deny your mediocrity all you want Ice, but one glaring face pretty much sums it up..."
Scruffy Dog pauses, entirely for effect.
Scruffy Dog: "At Independence Day, you had the greatest match of your life. You can deny it, but I know it's true. The shining moment of your career took place on July 4th 2007, in the Detroit AWO arena when you faced me for the AWO World Championship. And you didn't even win. Your greatest moment was a match that you walked away from without a victory. But more important than that Ice... is the fact that while this was your moment of glory, and the match you'll no doubt be remembered most for... for me, it was just another match. One of the hundreds of things I'll be remembered for, and not even in the top ten. That's what makes the difference between brilliance and mediocrity Ice Rock. That's what makes the difference between me... and you."
Scruffy Dog smiles and leans back in his chair. He looks up at the ceiling, still smiling and probably thinking of the glory days, as the AWOTron fades to black and the crowd goes back to gamble-hopscotch.