Post by dom on Mar 24, 2017 18:51:57 GMT -5
Funny thing about human beings is they’re flawed.
Some argue it’s by nature and others would say we create our own flaws.
Dom’s flaws were both handed down and earned.
His fear and anxiety, clearly from his mother.
His stubbornness and ability to endure physical pain, from his father.
But the worst flaw he had was one he always set aside before fixing.
His ability to always ‘screw it up’
There Dom was a slight shift away from planting Aaron Pace into the mat. A split second away from throwing the larger man over his head and scaling the corner of the ring. He was a god damn breath away from defending his Paramount Championship.
Instead?
Instead he slipped up. Instead his anxiety crippled his body and his fear numbed his mind. Everything was black and he couldn’t hear a sound until the bell rang. Then it all came rushing back to him and he forgot what happened. He had to go back into the locker room and watch a replay. One slight shift. He got over confident. He got too cocky. He beat himself like Duncan said he would.
Firing multiple offensive moves into Pace like the airplane circling King Kong; Dom felt like the end was near. But much like the larger, fictional ape. Pace swatted Dom down when he got too close. So now he sits on his porch looking out over his front yard. The grass growing higher than the regulation the neighborhood allows. A couple flyers slipped into his screen door remind him, but the grass was the furthest thing from importance to him.
Bringing the black, ceramic cup to his lips the steam slips from his mouth as he tries to consume as much coffee as he can to wake up – even though it all still feels like a dream. When he walked back through the curtains that night everyone had the same look on their face. The look you give a child when he strikes out swinging in tee-ball. A bit of ‘maybe this isn’t for you’ with a touch of ‘maybe next time, bud’
Next time? He already got the email this morning. Generation Now’s own wonderboy Cosmo Cooper. A formidable opponent, as most are in the Paramount division, who has more grappling experience than he does and more importantly he’s riding a streak one of the exact opposite that Dom is on. Part of him admittedly asks ‘Why Bother?’
It’s almost summer time and if he reopens his backyard gym to the Vegas locals he can do enough to get by using the whole One Hit Wonder moniker. People still love Ice Ice Baby. What a perfect place for it too. Las Vegas, where famous acts go to die. At least as he sits on his porch and drudges up thoughts darker than anything he’s ever felt he feels something. It’s better than being numb and having to text Duncan Wright that he lost his Paramount Championship and you couldn’t find a soul in the locker room who cared. Everyone bought his act, and even though Generation Now are the furthest thing from something you would want your own children to act like…. People eat them up too.
“Maybe there’s no rush in being me”, Dom laughs shaking his head, “I know I said that surprised and the rest of you are like no shit bud. I thought for a split second after I left the OWF headquarters in Ohio that I had it figured out. I had told the world what was going to happen. I walk out champ, and continue to be the glue that holds this place together. But maybe that’s just not me. Maybe I’m an extra in a movie – not exactly the face of a lead role”
His humor, again, trying to make him feel a bit better. Self-deprecation as a defense mechanism isn’t a new theory for humans to test out, but it feels foreign to him.
“But HEY!” dripping in sarcasm, “Cosmo Cooper, huh? There is a guy everyone loves. He is a complete douche bag on the internet. Which seems to be all the modern rage.”
A heavy roll of the eyes leads Dom to stand up and walk towards the end of his porch, “I’m not putting the guy down as a wrestler. In the ring I’m envious of his ability to put together what appeared to be effortless transitions and powerful throws. He’s a god damn technician and since he made his impact felt at AWE he’s run through this talent like a hot knife through butter. So what is a Dom DiBona to do?”
Putting his finger on his head he over acts his indecisiveness, “Well let me tell ya…”
With a turn of his body Dom puts full effort into the throwing of his coffee mug and smashes it against the outside of his house. As the hot coffee splatters he screams as it makes contact with his skin. The chair he was sitting in now finds it's way to the lot in front of the house as Dom slides his feet and mimics an Olympic strongman in his tossing of the patio furniture.
“HE MUST JUST BE A FLASH IN THE PAN?!?!”, Dom yells out as he strikes the outside panel on his porch, “HE GOT LUCKY WHEN HE PINNED DOM AND DIDN’T HAVE TO GIVE STOKER A REMATCH?!?!”, another punch is thrown before he turns towards the camera.
“Tell ya what I’ll do, AWE. I’ll put the entire god damn roster on notice. Right here. Right now. Let Cosmo Cooper be the first example of mine as I redeem myself and PROVE to the fans and AWE management that what happened was a fluke. A joke. A mis-step. You hear me? You don’t want to give me my due Aaron Pace? Well guess what? Fuck. You.”
His chest quickly expanding and caving with every deep, angry breath Dom’s face lights up to mock those surprised at his use of the ‘F’ word.
“You hear me? And Fuck Cosmo Cooper, too”, Dom throws up his thumb and pinky on his hands and squints his eyes, “YEAHHH COOL BRAH. SUPLEXES AND STUFF. We get it Cosmo. You’re edgy and cool. You lo-“
Dom’s head quickly drops and he throws his hands in the air before looking off screen, “Look guys, I cant do this. I’m just screaming obscenities. Who does that?!”
“CUT!” is heard as a guy walks out from behind the camera and suddenly the shot widens and we see a production crew all around Dom as he folds his arms and looks around at the chaos on his front porch.
“Domm-ayy. What is it bud? I thought we agreed?” with hair shining in the morning sun from the obtuse amount of gel keeping it glued to his head a guy consoles an annoyed Dom, “What can we do? Is it the dialogue? OR the coffee mug? We’ll replace the Mug Dom. It’s jus-“
He holds his hand up towards the guy as two men in suits walk up to the set where the cameras are shooting and make eye contact with Dom.
“This is private property gentleman”, Dom wastes no time relieving a bit of his frustrations out in his greeting, “Can I help you?”
With a tilt of the head and his eyes looking around at the equipment, the man in front of all of them brings his eyes back to Dom, “Um. These are our cameras. And this was SUPPOSED to be a promo shot for Gorilla Graps Supplements with the..” with more attitude the man looks around Dom’s porch and back to Dom, “AWE Paramount Champ? So where’s the strap?”
Dom takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. If he had a genie he’d make a wish that these idiots would all disappear. The only reason he chose to do this was for the AWE, but he’s no longer their champion.
“I…lost”, trying to say it without being ashamed – Dom’s face turns, “….I told everyone here that I lost and they still showed up to shoot your promo”
Without a second thought the man waved his finger in a circular motion, “Round up our stuff we’re out of here. GGS endorsement was under the agreement that you were the AWE Paramount Champion. That’s the agreement we signed. WE agreed to make you a star in the health world if YOU made us money wearing our name.”
The man walks up to Dom, who is now staring straight ahead with a scowl on his face as if nobody around him exists – because if they did they’d all be in a lot of trouble right now.
“Mr. DiBona, we do not take kindly to frauds”, The man whispers to Dom.
Not taking kindly to being called a fraud – Dom spins towards the man who removes himself from within arm’s reach before walking back down the porch.
“If you ever hold that championship in your hands again Mr. DiBona” he says as he walks towards his car, “Perhaps try holding onto it for longer than a blonde pop star’s Vegas marriage” a shit eating grin is the last shot Dom will see of this man’s face as he enters the car and the staff around him begins to pack up.
His arms still crossed.
His eyes still locked ahead on the car.
And his scowl still front and center.
As the scene fades.
“You know, one thing I said was true in that commercial. Pace didn’t beat me – I beat me. I did exactly what he told me not to do. He told me to sit in the center of my emotions and watch them dance around me. Allow them to be spectators to a display of your mental prowess – and they were until I let them grab the steering wheel and drag me into oncoming traffic”
Dom’s voice is in the distance as we hear a couple footsteps in darkness and a light turns on in the middle of the room. In the room is a gym bag on top of a regular table and Dom standing behind it.
“I emptied my bag as I walked that ramp to defend my championship – but as the match progressed I let my bag fill back up. With emotions and feelings and in the end it weighed me down enough to let me slip. And when I slipped Pace saw it, because that’s what snakes do. They see you make a mistake and go for the kill in fear of trying to compete on the same level of the food chain. Cold blooded. Spineless.”
“But when it’s for the Paramount Championship who can blame him? A Dom DiBona with a full bag is still the champ. But what about when the bag got emptied after I lost that match? What happened then? Well the commercial was right again”
Dom reaches forward and unzips the bag. Dumping it’s contents out on the table scattering it around.
“Numb. Blind. Chaos. But when you recover you realize your bag is empty and suddenly you’re in no urge to fill it back up. But you are craving revenge any which way you can find it – lucky me I draw Cosmo. This guy is everything you could ask for in an opponent. Ballsy. Tough. And the most punchable face I have ever laid my eyes on. At Massacre, you’ll learn what it’s like to go up against a man who lost. A man who feels that pain deep inside of him because he's been let down and since I’m the nice guy everyone thinks I am Cosmo, I’m going to share that pain with you. I'm going to let you see what that pain tastes like and at the end of the night I look forward to your feedback on how I can make it better in the future for everyone else. Don't take it personally. Just watch me take the day.”