#84

“HEY JOE! GET THEM BASTARDS!”


“JOE! DO NEW YORK PROUD!”


“TAKE EM BELTS BACK JOE!”


The sounds of New York City. The biggest city on earth where it feels like a small little village and Joe returned home to see Kenny as he hasn’t seen him in a couple of weeks now but also to drop something off.


Joe and Kenny have a place in Brooklyn, a brownstone that they call home and we spot Joe coming out of the stop and shop at the end of the block walking out with a bottle of water in one hand and the old ESW tag team title over his shoulder.


”As you can clearly see, I am fine. I’m sure Durrican’t was all proud of himself after slamming me through that table the other night seeing how that has so far been his biggest accomplishment in the UWL but you know, getting dropped through a table was a small price to pay when you look at the bigger picture.”


Joe cracks open the top of the water bottle and takes a quick drink.


”It feels good to be back home. Every time I am away from here it hits me how much I miss this place. The hustle and bustle, the sounds of the city, some might look at this like some backcountry backwoods bumpkin who’s initials are the same as mine and see nothing but a crazy loud city but I have to tell ya, after a while it grows on you. It becomes the soundtrack of your life and you can feel the electric in the air. Around every corner on every block something is going on. Some of it good some of it shady and yeah sure there are some parts that you should just avoid but then again how many horror movies have been made about that creepy house out in the woods. I’d rather live here than anywhere else. There is more good going on here than anywhere else I know. And.”


“GO GET EM JOE!”


Joe waves to a passing car as the driver yelled out the window at him.


”The people here. They support you. You are one of them and they are one of you. You don’t get this anywhere else. Community and pride, if someone in the hood is doing good, everyone is doing good. All of these people just want to see you do your best and as they say, go for the gold.”


“JOEY!!!!”


Joe takes another sip of his water.


”It took a bunch of BS but finally the day has come for Team Empire, to take back the gold.”


Joe jogs up the steps leading to his brownstone where he flings open the door and is finally home.


A couple of minutes later Joe is jogging up the steps that lead upstairs of the brownstone and at the top of the stairs is a door. Joe slings the old ESW tag title over his shoulder once he reaches the top of the stairs and opens the door. That door leads to his “office” where he has all of his crap he moved from Miami, most of it still in boxes but on the far wall of the room is this huge trophy case and in it are all of the belts he has won over his career.


”Now that we finally got Brandon to put those belts on the line and to be honest I didn’t think it was going to be this difficult, I can now put this back where it belong…..after I fix it.”


If you remember Joe took his ESW tag belts that he was holding with Tommy when the ESW folded for a second time and slapped a UWL sticker on them and paraded them around as the UWL world tag team titles. Now that they finally has a shot at the belts as they are about to see the light of day for the first time in a good long time there is no need to carry around the ESW belts in Joe’s mind. He wants the real ones. The belt he had to give up due to injury.


Joe peels off the ULW sticker and rubs his forearm over the face of the title to give it a quick polish. He pulls back opening the sliding glass door on the case and sets the title belt back where it belongs, alongside the BLPW belts.


”Soon. I’ll be adding another tag belt in here. The belt I should still have if it wasn’t for Jay and him not listening to my warnings. The belt I never lost, the belt I had when I was the Heritage champion and everything looked like I was about to take over the UWL when disaster stuck and I lost a year of action in that ring. But if you think about it now.” Joe slowly slides the glass door shut on the case. ”I’m picking up right where I left off in my quest in taking over the UWL, this time though, I brought an army with me and we’re looking to take control of the UWL.”


“JOEY? YOU HOME?”


Joe’s head snaps around and a smile graces his face.


”The sound of angels play upon my ears. My sweet Kenny. Oh how I have missed you!”


Like a charging bull Joe runs down the steps he just can up, skipping like three to four steps at a rip and flies down the steps and standing just inside the doorway is Kenny. Joe hits the last step and into Kenny’s arms where the two hug each other tightly. Kenny is slightly older than Joe, in his early 40’s standing in a inch or two shorter than Joe. As he places his head on Joe’s shoulder and holds on to him we can tell Kenny is a big more rugged than Joe and with his short spiky black hair Kenny could almost be mistaken for Till Lindemann.


“It’s so nice to see you again.” Kenny says as they quickly kiss and hug again.


”I wish you could come with me. You would love Hawaii.” Joe says as he doesn’t want to let go of Kenny himself.


“Maybe next time. If I told them I was taking three weeks off I would be looking for a new job.” Kenny says as he works on broadway behind the scenes. He loves his job almost as much as he loves Joe. As they break away from the embrace they hold hands and looking into each others eyes for a second. No words need to be said for a moment or two and it is Kenny who snaps out of the stare into Joe’s loving eyes.


“Did you get my message?” Kenny asks.


”Which one?”


“The one I sent like five minutes ago.”


Joe quickly reaches in his pocket and retrieves his phone. ”You sent me a message? How did I miss that one?”


“Tim stopped me?” Kenny says with a touch of “I hope you know who he is because I have no clue myself” in his voice. “Wanted to know if you wanted to cut a promo or whatever it is you call that stuff.” Clearly Kenny isn’t into wrestling.


”He’s in New York?”


“It would seem so.”


”Ah cool. I’ll get with him in a while.”


“How’s your back?”


Joe looks up from his phone after sending Timmy, a cameraman from the UWL who is looking to break through and get in front of the camera for the UWL, a message. ”My back?”


“They..” Kenny’s co workers “Were telling me you were chokeslammed through a table? Sounds so barbaric.”


”Oh! That! It’s a little sore you know. It was a table I was put through.” Joe says lying through his teeth.


“You want me...to rub your back? I think we have some Icy hot laying around.” Kenny says.


”That was why I returned home. To get a back rub.”


Kenny shakes his head. “Take that shirt off then. I swear to god you’ll get hurt someday and I’ll tell you l I told you so.”


”I know. I know.”


Later that night in Central Park. Joe meet up with Timmy and he has set up the camera. Despite that Timmy wanted to interview Joe, Joe talked him into doing what he does best, man the camera. Nighttime has fallen over NYC and the lights are on in the park as Joe is leaning up against this huge ass rock they have in middle of the park. Why it’s there no one knows why. Joe’s a wearing a Team Empire hoodie and has his hands in the front pockets and he looks refreshed if you know what I mean.


”Would have, could have, should have, it doesn’t matter Brandon. Durrican’t lost that match and all you said I had to do was beat him. I did just that, I beat the big guy and now those little belts you went out of your way to not defend, will be defended. There’s no excuses now. No Coronation Cup going on to distract you. You are right back where I know you don’t want to be.”


Joe shifts his weight from one leg to the other.


”Back in the tag division. What I don’t understand is why you want to prove yourself in the tag ranks when you yourself declared it dead it a month ago. I saw the pain in your eyes when you handed your cousin that belt. You knew what that meant. It meant no more singles matches for you and it’s a real shame too. You did make it to the finals of the Cup, you were the first guy to beat Hardcore Comley when noone else could in the cup. You made it all the way to the cup finals and that isn’t nothing to sneeze at. I tip my hat at you.”


Joe reaches up to tip his hat, only that he’s not wearing one.


”Well you get the idea. Unlike you are towards me, I don’t have this deep seeded hatred towards you. You can look at this war between Team UWL and Team Empire how ever you want, fill your head with whatever nonsense you want but the sad truth for the UWL is this. Team Empire has already won. Look around. Things are changing right before your eyes. When Angelo and I made our returns, all we wanted to do was focus on those belts you have held onto for a while now and we were told no. Those belts are going away. Neither one of us were interested in fighting the Emma Williams of the UWL. We weren’t interested in fighting the Cory Chevelle’s of the UWL and while Angie gave it his best shot and while he talked a big game, we didn’t have any interest in fighting the Caleb Hart’s of the UWL. We wanted the International Incident’s of the UWL. We wanted the Shadows to come out and fight. All we wanted to do was chase down, face and fight the tag team of the UWL. The only tag team that mattered in the UWL….”


Joe shrugs


”Well until we showed up that is. It took some doing, It took us putting out a campfire and starting a forest fire, singing a song and beating one big dummy but here we are. Those tag team belts will be defended once again in the UWL. And I could only guess at how that is making you feel Brandon. You have worked so hard to distance yourself from the tag division, you so want to make it as a solo act but here you are. Defending what you tried to make go away, and the best part of this we’re not alone.


I really wish you would tell us how you really feel about your match last week. Oh I wanted to say something last week about the Iconoclasts facing you on how that really must have made you feel. Deep down, okay not really deep down I was hoping that those two guys would have beaten you and….”


Joe sighs. he shrugs again.


”To be honest I am surprised you beat them Brandon. I have known Shawn and Craig for a real long time. I have battled them so many times I can’t remember how many times we faced each other. I have won, they have won, We’ve been on the same team and against each other so many times you would think we were one of those defunctional families who just love to fight each other. I know what those guys bring to the table, what those two can do as a team and you should consider yourself lucky to have walked out with the win. But I know this.”


Joe pulls a tube of chapstick from his pocket.


”The next time you face The Iconoclasts, you won’t be walking out with the win and if by some chance you have the belts which I hardly doubt, you won’t be walking out with them either. Much like Angelo and I, those two are on a mission and they know what they want. Guys from New York and Philly. We are like that. We know what we want and we just go out and get what we want. In fact Brandon.”


Joe applied some chapstick to his lips quick. I don’t know who gets chapped lips in May…..


”You’re in quite the pickle. You have Team Empire hunting you down. You have the Iconoclasts hunting you down and don’t think for a second that the newly reformed Birds of Prey, you know your teammates in Team UWL aren’t looking at you and going hmmm. Hell what about Rayne and Pierce? Those two can come knocking on your door as well. Suddenly Brandon the tag division is heating up! When there just you and your cousin, now is 4 or more teams in the UWL. So much for that tag division for being dead and all. I just know this.”


Joe slides the chapstick back in his pocket.


”When Team Empire walks out with those belts this Saturday night….we won’t duck and hide from any and all challengers. We won’t hide behind Jay Jefferson pretending that there isn’t a tag team in the UWL for us to fight. If anything. We’ll be telling all of these guys and gals who think they could beat us to get on that high horse of theirs and take the first swing. Cuz that’s all you’ll get, one free swing. And for the Shadows Family, the free ride you three have been on, is coming to an end. And just think Brandon.”


Joe steps towards the camera.


”On the bright side. After Saturday night you’ll be free to pursue that singles career you have always wanted.”


Fade out.