Post by Tapioca Joe on Dec 20, 2017 18:12:51 GMT -8
Global Wrestling Division’s inaugural episode of Out For Justice was concluding. “The Battle of Los Angeles”, for all intents and purposes, looks to have been a major success as evident by the smiling faces and congratulatory gestures shared between the seemingly non-descript backstage worker bees. A smiling Tapioca Joe leans against a wheeled metal crate absorbing the atmosphere.
”It’s good to be back.”
”Tapioca? Tapioca Joe?”
The inquisitive male voice cut through the noise jarring Tap from his thoughts. The aged ring vet looks over to see the face of Global Wrestling Division journalist Peter Roth.
”It is you! Holy cow! It’s THE Tapioca Joe!”
”Just Tap.”
”Damn, my father isn’t going to believe this. We thought you were dead.”
Grimacing, Roth visibly regrets allowing the last statement to flow from his mouth. Noticing, Tap gives him a warm smile.
”I get that alot but last I checked I’m alive and kicking. Now you know my name, what’s yours?”
”Roth. Peter Roth. Global Wrestling Division journalist. What are you doing here, sir?”
”Please kill the ‘sir’ thing. I know I’m old but it makes me feel old.”
The two men share a mutual chuckle.
”Anyways, I’m with GWD now.”
”Holy cow! I know it’s impromptu and spur of the moment but do you think I can get an interview with you?”
Roth sheepishly looks up at the taller Tap.
”How about this, Peter...let’s exchange numbers and we’ll set up a time and place for a one-on-one?”
”Definitely, Tap. Definitely.”
”Today is a big day for me as I have the legendary veteran Tapioca Joe with me.”
”I don’t know about that legendary part but the veteran fits the bill.”
The scene opens to the inside of the Global Wrestling Division Coliseum, specifically the midsection row of seats. Peter Roth, dressed in khaki pants and an official GWD polo shirt, and Tapioca Joe, dressed in denim jeans and a red “Just Tap!” shirt, are seated next to each other.
”Well you’re a legend to me and thank you for joining me today, Tap.”
”Thank you for having me here today, Peter.”
”Let’s just jump right into this shall we? You’ve been out of the limelight for quite a few years. Where in the world have you been?”
”Basically just reflecting on life; spending time with family that I missed after all the years being on the road. I even did some work as a trainer for GroundZero Wrestling 2K1 before they closed down.”.
”I think I heard about that. It was down in Atlanta, Georgia, wasn’t it?”
”Yeah, I had a connection there from the old days that managed to get me a good gig.”
”How was it training the young minds of future wrestling stars?”
”It was...different. Yeah, I think the word I like to use is different.”
He chuckles.
”Different?”
”The attitude of today's’ young wrestlers is a helluva lot different than I was coming up. A lot of back talking, neck rolling, and side-eyeing. I won’t say all of them, but nearly all of them, have this personality trait of they’re the hottest wrestler in the wrestling universe.”
”Well there’s nothing wrong with confidence.”
”And there isn’t, Peter, but when it’s more conceit than confidence that’s when youngsters have to learn the hard way about respect.”
”I bet. So what has brought you back into the squared circle; competing more actively?”
”It’s that burning desire, I guess. Hearing the roar of the crowd when you walk out from the gorilla position that just does something to my soul. The comradery of the boys is definitely something I’ve missed. That’s probably the biggest thing that has brought me back.”
”So there is no truth that you’ve returned because you’re in desperate need to quench that thirst you have of obtaining the a World Championship; a title that you have never held in your thirty-year career?”
Tap seems to somewhat grimace.
”Wow, just like that, huh, Peter?”
”My bad, Tap. I mean, we did agree that no subject matter was off limits. I didn’t realize that…”
”No, no, you’re fine. It’s no secret that in my career I have never held a company’s World title. Whether that be my fault or not, things happened.”
”Things such as?”
”I’ve been around this sport a long, long time and I know how the business end of it works. Sometimes there are political forces at play that hold a greater sway of events. The purity of the sport, the competitiveness, gets muddled due to the greed and selfishness allowing only a select few to stop at the top of the mountain.”
”Wait, wait, so are you saying that the reason why you never held a World Championship is because executives in the front office held you back?”
”You take whatever you like from that, Peter. But my history goes to show that wherever I am I am a top draw as a fan favorite. Yet whenever given the chance to carry the full weight of a company as it’s top champion the end result always is the same.”
He scratches his salt and pepper colored beard.
”But don’t confuse my honesty as bitterness. It’s not that in the least, Peter. Would have I liked a run with a World title? Without a doubt. It’s one of the glaring marks on my long resume. But do I let it define me? Of course not. I’m a wrestler. I’m a wrestler that doesn’t fall into the thought trap that if you’re not in this sport to hold the top title then why are you even wrestling? There is so much more to wrestling than shiny gold plates attached to a leather strap.”
”Fair enough. You’re making your return in two days. Why Global Wrestling Division?”
”Too bad honest, there is no deep explanation. My agent, shout out to Iconic Sports Management, and I had been in talks about my return to the sport. He contacted me a few weeks ago about an upstart wrestling company looking for talent. The numbers were right and here I am.”
”In two days time in your GWD debut you’ll be facing the dangerous “Infinite” Deacon Crane in a Thirty Minute Ironman Match. Crane is coming off a huge loss that saw him eliminated from the tournament to crown the first ever American Justice Champion. What is your gameplan heading into this first ever type of match in GWD?”
”I managed to actually watch Deacon’s match during the inaugural Out for Justice broadcast. I can’t lie, I was actually impressed with his skill and ring presence. If it wasn’t because of all the chaos caused by Nameless outside of the ring there would have been a good chance that Deacon would have gained the victory over Mark Storm and not the other way around.”
“I think in order to pull out a solid victory in this upcoming Ironman Match, I’m going to need to play some solid defense versus offense. In a match like this I could think that Deacon will come out and try to gain as many quick pinfalls as possible. It’ll be up to me to minimize that and take him down to the wire edging out a win with a possible two to one or one to zero margin of victory.”
”Sounds like a solid strategy. It was announced not too long ago on Twitter that the the winner of Britney Anders versus Chris Compact will face the winner of your match against Deacon Crane. On top of that, the winner from that subsequent match will get a non-titled match against the newly crowned American Justice Champion which could be Nameless, Geoffrey Thomas Anderson V, Chris Crippler, or Mark Storm. If you were the one to face the the new American Justice Champion, who would you hope it would be?”
”Really it doesn’t matter either way, Peter. I’d just be honored to even step into the ring with the new champion. But from that list, I wouldn’t mind clashing with Chris Crippler again.”
”Again? I didn’t realize there had been a first time.”
”Yeah, Martin and I faced off a couple times in our younger days while we were working the Southern territories, if I remember correctly. He probably doesn’t remember though as we were young making our bones in the sport.”
”Wow, I didn’t know any of that. Which brings me to why are you called ‘Tapioca’?”
The question elicits a slight chuckle from Tap.
”Let’s leave that for the next interview, Peter…”
The GWD journalist silently nods before the two men shake hands bringing the scene to a close.
”It’s good to be back.”
”Tapioca? Tapioca Joe?”
The inquisitive male voice cut through the noise jarring Tap from his thoughts. The aged ring vet looks over to see the face of Global Wrestling Division journalist Peter Roth.
”It is you! Holy cow! It’s THE Tapioca Joe!”
”Just Tap.”
”Damn, my father isn’t going to believe this. We thought you were dead.”
Grimacing, Roth visibly regrets allowing the last statement to flow from his mouth. Noticing, Tap gives him a warm smile.
”I get that alot but last I checked I’m alive and kicking. Now you know my name, what’s yours?”
”Roth. Peter Roth. Global Wrestling Division journalist. What are you doing here, sir?”
”Please kill the ‘sir’ thing. I know I’m old but it makes me feel old.”
The two men share a mutual chuckle.
”Anyways, I’m with GWD now.”
”Holy cow! I know it’s impromptu and spur of the moment but do you think I can get an interview with you?”
Roth sheepishly looks up at the taller Tap.
”How about this, Peter...let’s exchange numbers and we’ll set up a time and place for a one-on-one?”
”Definitely, Tap. Definitely.”
~~
Days Later
Days Later
”Today is a big day for me as I have the legendary veteran Tapioca Joe with me.”
”I don’t know about that legendary part but the veteran fits the bill.”
The scene opens to the inside of the Global Wrestling Division Coliseum, specifically the midsection row of seats. Peter Roth, dressed in khaki pants and an official GWD polo shirt, and Tapioca Joe, dressed in denim jeans and a red “Just Tap!” shirt, are seated next to each other.
”Well you’re a legend to me and thank you for joining me today, Tap.”
”Thank you for having me here today, Peter.”
”Let’s just jump right into this shall we? You’ve been out of the limelight for quite a few years. Where in the world have you been?”
”Basically just reflecting on life; spending time with family that I missed after all the years being on the road. I even did some work as a trainer for GroundZero Wrestling 2K1 before they closed down.”.
”I think I heard about that. It was down in Atlanta, Georgia, wasn’t it?”
”Yeah, I had a connection there from the old days that managed to get me a good gig.”
”How was it training the young minds of future wrestling stars?”
”It was...different. Yeah, I think the word I like to use is different.”
He chuckles.
”Different?”
”The attitude of today's’ young wrestlers is a helluva lot different than I was coming up. A lot of back talking, neck rolling, and side-eyeing. I won’t say all of them, but nearly all of them, have this personality trait of they’re the hottest wrestler in the wrestling universe.”
”Well there’s nothing wrong with confidence.”
”And there isn’t, Peter, but when it’s more conceit than confidence that’s when youngsters have to learn the hard way about respect.”
”I bet. So what has brought you back into the squared circle; competing more actively?”
”It’s that burning desire, I guess. Hearing the roar of the crowd when you walk out from the gorilla position that just does something to my soul. The comradery of the boys is definitely something I’ve missed. That’s probably the biggest thing that has brought me back.”
”So there is no truth that you’ve returned because you’re in desperate need to quench that thirst you have of obtaining the a World Championship; a title that you have never held in your thirty-year career?”
Tap seems to somewhat grimace.
”Wow, just like that, huh, Peter?”
”My bad, Tap. I mean, we did agree that no subject matter was off limits. I didn’t realize that…”
”No, no, you’re fine. It’s no secret that in my career I have never held a company’s World title. Whether that be my fault or not, things happened.”
”Things such as?”
”I’ve been around this sport a long, long time and I know how the business end of it works. Sometimes there are political forces at play that hold a greater sway of events. The purity of the sport, the competitiveness, gets muddled due to the greed and selfishness allowing only a select few to stop at the top of the mountain.”
”Wait, wait, so are you saying that the reason why you never held a World Championship is because executives in the front office held you back?”
”You take whatever you like from that, Peter. But my history goes to show that wherever I am I am a top draw as a fan favorite. Yet whenever given the chance to carry the full weight of a company as it’s top champion the end result always is the same.”
He scratches his salt and pepper colored beard.
”But don’t confuse my honesty as bitterness. It’s not that in the least, Peter. Would have I liked a run with a World title? Without a doubt. It’s one of the glaring marks on my long resume. But do I let it define me? Of course not. I’m a wrestler. I’m a wrestler that doesn’t fall into the thought trap that if you’re not in this sport to hold the top title then why are you even wrestling? There is so much more to wrestling than shiny gold plates attached to a leather strap.”
”Fair enough. You’re making your return in two days. Why Global Wrestling Division?”
”Too bad honest, there is no deep explanation. My agent, shout out to Iconic Sports Management, and I had been in talks about my return to the sport. He contacted me a few weeks ago about an upstart wrestling company looking for talent. The numbers were right and here I am.”
”In two days time in your GWD debut you’ll be facing the dangerous “Infinite” Deacon Crane in a Thirty Minute Ironman Match. Crane is coming off a huge loss that saw him eliminated from the tournament to crown the first ever American Justice Champion. What is your gameplan heading into this first ever type of match in GWD?”
”I managed to actually watch Deacon’s match during the inaugural Out for Justice broadcast. I can’t lie, I was actually impressed with his skill and ring presence. If it wasn’t because of all the chaos caused by Nameless outside of the ring there would have been a good chance that Deacon would have gained the victory over Mark Storm and not the other way around.”
“I think in order to pull out a solid victory in this upcoming Ironman Match, I’m going to need to play some solid defense versus offense. In a match like this I could think that Deacon will come out and try to gain as many quick pinfalls as possible. It’ll be up to me to minimize that and take him down to the wire edging out a win with a possible two to one or one to zero margin of victory.”
”Sounds like a solid strategy. It was announced not too long ago on Twitter that the the winner of Britney Anders versus Chris Compact will face the winner of your match against Deacon Crane. On top of that, the winner from that subsequent match will get a non-titled match against the newly crowned American Justice Champion which could be Nameless, Geoffrey Thomas Anderson V, Chris Crippler, or Mark Storm. If you were the one to face the the new American Justice Champion, who would you hope it would be?”
”Really it doesn’t matter either way, Peter. I’d just be honored to even step into the ring with the new champion. But from that list, I wouldn’t mind clashing with Chris Crippler again.”
”Again? I didn’t realize there had been a first time.”
”Yeah, Martin and I faced off a couple times in our younger days while we were working the Southern territories, if I remember correctly. He probably doesn’t remember though as we were young making our bones in the sport.”
”Wow, I didn’t know any of that. Which brings me to why are you called ‘Tapioca’?”
The question elicits a slight chuckle from Tap.
”Let’s leave that for the next interview, Peter…”
The GWD journalist silently nods before the two men shake hands bringing the scene to a close.
