RP#72

Saturday Night...........

Backstage at the UWL Arena Joe Jones is walking along in the back with his two championship titles draped over his shoulder when he walks up to his cousin Steve Sinclair. Steve just finished his deal with Alan Christopher. Steve looks down on Joe as he slides his hands in his pockets.

SS "If you come here to throw those pieces of tin in my face like it means something then I suggest you just keep walking."

Joe chuckles and smirks. "You know Steve, somehow I'm not surprised you showed up with that Direct TV title trying to get me jealous and everything."

"Nah" Steve says. "It was only to remind you what you couldn't be. Irrelevant."

"Says the guy who threw cash at a half ass run company in Canada. Where did Angelo run off to this time? What was his excuse now? Got canceled from the public access channel?"

Steve takes a step closer to Joe. He reaches out and adjusts the Heritage title on Joe's shoulder and wipes a smudge from the face of the title. "I'll see you when that Karma guy.....lays you out and takes this thing right here."

"I hear Alan calling your name. Better go hold his hand. Cuz."

"Did you ever settle that lawsuit with my employer? You know, when you dropped the ball on them." Steve goes.

"Does your parole officer know your here?"

Steve grins. "Yeah something like that. See you soon Joe."

Fade out.



"I am sick of watching you make history in the UWL, while I am a sitting duck. Sure I have been going through people left and right to try and make a difference." - Karma

The Rock at the University of Tennessee, this huge rock where the students paint messages on the rock now and then. Wanna know what is going on the football team? Check the rock. The basketball team? Look at the rock. The rock allows the student body the freedom to express themselves, a right that is given to them because this is the greatest nation in the world.....this is where Joe Jones is on this partial cloudy day. He walks up the lawn that is around the rock and stops some 10 feet before the rock and checks it out.

"I have to admit there is a ton of stuff to check out in eastern Tennessee. The Smokey Mountains. The Titanic museum which was pretty dang awesome. Tons of go cart racing tracks. There is no way you can be bored around here and if I wasn't so dang busy with my training I would check out some of this stuff and have a good time. Billy dragged me to Denny's where his girlfriend works after the show Saturday. The stuff they serve there doesn't really fits my diet but I think Billy wanted to get me out and just relax and forget about Saturday night for a while. The kid sometimes surprises me. He said "Come on Joe! We have to get out and forget that crap! It'll eat you alive man!" I think he was right."

Joe slides his hands in pockets and takes in the rock.

"While at Denny's there was a bunch of collage kids who came in and we got talking. These kids are right around Billy's age so they clicked you know. They thought he was a cool dude for doing what he does and of course he couldn't stop checking out their lady friends. They told me about this rock here. Big rock that everyone paints up and whatnot. I was like, What? Really? Why? To express ourselves and because we can. I guess to just about everyone, something like this is nothing really. But to me. Where I came from. Something like this."

Joe slowly shakes his head.

"You would get shot if you even attempted something like this prior to the wall coming down. If you were to paint a message, especially anything political on a rock when I was a kid, oh man you would need balls the size of watermelons man. There is no way you could get away with this when I was growing up. I really don't like to talk about my childhood. I just...don't want to relive those days. You know that feeling you would get on Christmas day when you were a kid, wide awake all night long wondering if Santa showed up and if he did what did he bring you? That was the feeling I had in 1989 when Reagan stood up and said "Knock this wall down!" I couldn't WAIT for a opening in that wall so I could run through it and feel what it felt like to be free for the first time in my young life. When your 9 years old I don't think you truly know what it means to be free until you get older, but I knew at that time in my life, the life we were living wasn't right. We had no freedoms. You did what they said, no question asked and god help you if you did question them."

Joe turns and starts to walk away from the rock.

"I left home in '90 and have not been back since. Mom put me on a plane and sent me to my Dad's and told me to go live where you can be free and do what you want to do. Reach for your dreams. Go be someone. Why Mom never came with me I'll never know. I think she was afraid they would put the wall back up or something and she took what money she had and got me and my brother the hell out of there. I have been in the US now for 24 years now and from time to time I am reminded of what it means to be free. The land of the brave and the home of the free. The land of opportunity. Here you can chase the American dream and all you have to do is work and with enough hard work you can achieve that dream."

Joe is slowly making his way back to his BMW.

"Unless your name is Karma. I'm sorry but this whole "I deserve a Heritage title shot" nonsense makes my stomach turn. Who exactly has Karma beaten to think he has earned a shot at the Heritage title? What has Karma done exactly to quote unquote earn a title shot? Oh so he beat three no bodies to open the show Saturday night? Big deal! Am I suppose to go "Whoah! Look out! Karma beat up some dude named Finch?" What? Do you want to nail his mom or something? Rich Hamilton who? And let's be honest, Jay Scarlett is a shell, a SHELL of himself since the cage match with Arch Stanton. Talk about being knocked into next week, he got knocked into the next universe! I don't know what message you think you sent in that "beat down" Karma but I'm not impressed. You beat up 3 guys who stood in the ring like they just had a lobotomy. So what? Where were you in the match that mattered? You know the match that ended up putting a mark on my record. What did you do against Arch Stanton and Justin Brooks? Did you even show up for that match? Against two guys who didn't want to be there, who had no interest in the match and all they wanted to do was tear into each other! I even SAVED your dumb slow ass from getting pinned once! I showed that I cared! I showed that I WANTED to be there! Hell man! You were mum all week long! You couldn't even take 10 seconds out of your week to even acknowledge the match was going to take place last week. You do know part of your JOB is to hype the match right? Give the fans a reason to tune in on Fox Sports One to watch the show, to give the fans a reason to buy tickets and show up for the show and you want to be a Champion? You can't even get the basics right! There is more to be a champion than just putting that title around that waist and show up once a week for your match. You have to represent the company! You have to as they say shake hands and kiss babies! I'm not just the Heritage Champion. Justin Brooks just isn't the World Heavyweight Champion! WE'RE THE FACE OF THE COMPANY!!!"

Joe stops and takes a deep breath. He gathers himself.

"Do you really think I want to spend all of my time in front of the camera Karma? Do you think I want to spend time with Kip Anderson, Gene Anderson and every Tom Dick and Harry from XYZ Web site doing interviews all day, EVERY day? Nope. I want to be in the gym, training, working on my craft getting better. But I have to do what I have to do and I'm not making this a pity party either. I signed up for this. I WANTED this. I'm out there making sure the fans, the people who hand over their hard earned money for tickets and t-shirts and what not come out to the shows to see your LAZY ASS! You want this, you want that, yet you no showed last week. Not one interview, not one tweet, nothing to promote the show, the match or in the very least, to look out for yourself and to promote your quest to get the Heritage title. You're just..."

Joe puts his hands on his hips and looks down at the ground for a second. He then slowly looks up.

"You remind me of one of those people who suck the system. You are one of those guys who feel they are entitled to their "benefits" that they feel they "earned" for just being an American. Never worked a day in their lives just because the government will hand them a check every month and give em free healthcare because they suffer from headaches or something. Buy a cart full of name brand groceries with a swipe of a card. That's what you are Karma. You think just because you showed up, had like 10 matches under your belt in your whole damn career you think you have done enough to earn a shot at the Heritage title. Then you got all defensive when I put a simple challenge in front of you. You huffed and buffed and acted like I was unfair. How DARE I?"

Joe is starting to let it flow.

"I told you to work a little bit. I told you to earn this damn shot! You had ZERO interest in this! It took me 9 months Karma, 9 damn months to get that shot against Caleb Hart! And that's after I failed to win a 4 way match against Frank Washington, Alan Christopher and Scotty Addams to be named #1 Contender to the Heritage title. Yeah I know! What was the UWL thinking! Making me fight 3 other guys to be crowned the #1 Contender? You named your self the #1 Contender yet you did nothing to earn that title. Hell I don't hear anyone else, not even the UWL itself calling you the #1 contender to MY title. Again just showing that you have no interest in earned a damn thing in the UWL. You just want it handed to you on a silver government funded platter!"

Joe shakes his head and takes a couple more steps and reaches his car in the parking lot.

"About the only thing you got right Karma was when you said I was making history in the UWL. You wanna know why I have been making history in the UWL? It's because I have been busting my ass, earning my spot in the history books and writing my own damn chapter in that big UWL book. Hell word has it that the reason that Robb Daniels is leaving the UWL is so he can dedicated time to writing the chapter about me! No one is ever going to write a chapter let alone a book about you Karma. As much as I can't stand Emma Douglas and Archer, at least they bustin' their asses in getting a shot at the UWL Tag Team titles. At least they are showing the fans of the UWL that they want it! They will bleed for it! They will kill themselves for it! You don't see Emma or Archer laying down and allowing a fat bloated Arch Stanton lay on top of them for the pin! You have this false notion that some how Saturday night was your coming out party. You tried to paint a picture that because you and two knuckleheads power bomb me through a table that it means something. That it tells the rest of the UWL that you are some big powerful up and comer but it doesn't Karma!"

Joe opens the door to his BMW.

"The world saw you, lose to a dysfunctional team. The world saw me, bitch slap you. The world saw Justin Brooks pick you up and slam you to the mat and then set aside his difference with Arch long enough to work together and win that match. If you think teaming up with Archer after he beat me senseless with a kendo stick and putting me through a table is going to change the tide in the UWL than you are sadly mistaken. All we saw was you taking another hand out. Another freebie. Archer started the job, did most of the heavy lifting and you came in at the end and did the bare minimum. I'm not handing you this title Karma. I'm not the Department of Social Services cutting you a check and making sure you have money on your benefits card. You want this title, get ready to bleed for it. Get ready to WORK for it. Even then, don't you ever think you EARNED this title. Shit is about to get real Karma Saturday night and when I put you on the mat, when I have your shoulders on the mat and the referee is counting three and I have my hand raised in victory. You can't say I didn't warn you. Hell your too lazy to get your own catchphrase and you want to be the Heritage champion? Over my dead body."

Joe climbs in his BMW and slams the door closed and starts the car and drives off.

FTB