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 Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2014 9:37 pm
"The following contest is scheduled for one fall! The winner of this contest will move on to the next stage of the Sanguine Invitational! Introducing first..."
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Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2014 5:19 pm
As the announcer finished his intro, the crowd fell silent in anticipation for the first entrant. But instead of a wrestler's entrance video, the arena's video screen switched to a feed showing the door to the locker room backstage. After a few seconds of nothing, the door flew open and Brody Robinson exited the room, pulling on the tan canvas jacket he'd taken to wearing during entrances. The camera stayed ahead of him as he walked towards the stage, before he was quickly joined by one of the backstage interviewers who's name he couldn't remember.
"Mr. Robinson, do you have a moment?"
Grinning broadly, Brody gave a quick nod, wondering if this impromtu interview was a joke.
"If you can make it quick, I do."
"Well, you won your first match in BBW, and thus earned a second match in the Sanguine Invitational."
"Thanks for the update, friend."
"We would like to know how you're feeling going into tonight's match."
Taking a second to dodge around a few workers, Brody gave a nondescript shrug.
"It was only one match. I'm glad I won, but I'm not going to start patting myself on the back just yet, yeah?"
"And what about your opponent for tonight, Rosario?
"Didn't he show up to his last match drunk? Can't say I'm especially scared."
In the middle of his sentence, the opening bits of Motorhead's "In The Black" started to play through the arena, drowning out the last few words. His grin turned into a joyful smirk, before he tapped on the interviewer on the shoulder and mouthed out the word 'Showtime.' Pointing to the camera, he pointed back to himself before waving his arm to get the camera guy to follow. With the camera view now at his back, Brody jogged out onto the stage, with his arms wide open, into the excited cheers of the crowd. He stopped himself on the edge of the ramp and let his arms drop to his side, before turning back to the camera with a wide grin on his face once again. Pointing to his ears, he gave a simple statement the viewer could barely hear over the music:
"Cheering crowds. Music to my ears."
As the lyrics finally hit the sound system, Brody gave a final wave to the camera before spinning around and continuing his walk down the left side of the ramp, high-fiving fans as he went.
"Listen honey;
Let me see you smile.
Don't be look at me funny;
You got a better style...
Having reached the bottom of the ramp, Brody decided to turn around and charge back up the ramp, only to repeat his hand-slapping action with the right side.
"...See me coming;
Don't look the other way.
Don't start running;
You stole my heart away.
Don't give me that run around. You know I treat you fine.
You don't understand the way I feel. You got my heart rolling like a wheel,"
Upon reaching the bottom of the ramp, Brody briefly quickened his pace, rolled himself into the ring, and climbed back to his feet. With a few deliberate steps, he moved himself into a corner, before grabbing onto the top rope and pulling himself up to stand on the second rope in time with the chorus. As the lyrics came out, Brody lifted his arm and pumped his fist with each repetition.
I'm In The Black (I'm In)
I'm In The Black (I'm In)
I'm In The Black A-gain.
Can't go back (Can't go)
Can't go back (Can't go)
Can't be who I was back then.
After a few lines, Brody began to ignore the song, letting his arm fall before dropping back down to the mat. Pulling off his jacket, he tossed the garment out to ringside before beginning to stretch out his arms, with his head bobbing ever so slightly to the music.
"It's only me (Only me)
It's only me (Only me)
It's only me outside your door.
Let me be (Let me)
Let me be (Let me)
I'm the one your waiting for.
As his music began to wind down, he looked over to the announcer, who had been waiting patiently for his chance to do his job. With a sheepish grin Brody mouthed a 'Sorry' to the man before it started.
"From Zanesville Ohio, weighing in at 265lbs,
Brody Robinson!"
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Posted: Wed Feb 05, 2014 8:32 pm
At some point during the awkward silence that was the wait for Rosario, Brody had rolled out of the ring to grab the phone from his discarded jacket. Standing against the apron, he fiddled with the device for a few moments before climbing back into the ring, phone in hand. He walked up behind the announcer and wrapped his free arm around his shoulder, startling the man with the mic. Brody said a few unheard words to the announcer before lifting his phone in front of their heads. Both men were quick to smile before a small flash sprung from the phone, capturing one of the most awkward, or maybe the only, selfie that had taken place in a BBW ring. The crowd reacted with a short string of laughs alongside a slightly louder groan at how cheesy the moment was. Brody simply pulled his arm back before sliding the phone in his pocket and turning to the announcer, giving him a sincere 'thank you' in handshake form. Brody pointed at the mic in the man's hand, and took it as soon as the announcer offered it. Giving a quick nod of thanks, Brody turned to look at the crowd with his goofy grin displayed prominently.
"Sorry about that, ladies and gents. I just got a bit bored waiting around for Rosario. You know how it goes."
He gave a short shrug as he turned once again to face the other side of the arena.
"But hey, what are you gonna do, right? I mean, you'd think that the chance at any title in the company would be incentive enough to make someone show up to their tournament match, especially when that match is against a friggen unknown like me, but I guess Rosi's got himself something more important to do."
Another shrug, this time accompanied by a short laugh from the crowd.
"So while the stagehands run around looking for my opponent, I'd guess I'll say a few words to pass the time. You guys notice how messed up everything is around here? I mean, you got the gang of King children running around putting people out of commission and threatening Shanahan. You've got your World Champion running around throwing snakes at people and your #1 Contender complaining about god knows what. Then there's the weird group running around leaving their symbol everywhere and assaulting stagehands. And you've got the greatest love story ever between a big guy in a gas mask and Shanahan's adorable assistant."
His smile grew wider as he mentioned the last point, and he lifted a finger to the air for a bit of emphasis.
"I'm serious about that last thing, by the way."
Turning around to find a camera, Brody looked right down the barrel and gave a thumbs up.
"Boom, buddy, you're awesome. You ever need a bit of help, give me a ring, alright?
But, you know, most of this stuff? None of my business. I'm nobody's target right now, and I'm glad I can say that, considering the tournament is going to be tough enough to handle without a bulls-eye on my back. Not to say I won't help if someone needs me, but for now, I'm content with being someone else's nightly roadblock."
Turning back to the stage, Brody walked to the ropes ahead of him and leaned forwards towards the ramp, mic still lifted to his mouth.
"But I'm done boring you guys with my opinions for now. Rosario! We request your presence in the ring! People are getting tired of hearing me talk and I'd like to get this thing rolling!"
Backing away from the ropes, he held the mic out for the announcer to grab, before stretching out his neck while watching the ramp, thinking Rosario's appearance was just a matter of time.
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Posted: Tue Feb 11, 2014 8:00 pm
Seconds turned into minutes as everyone waited for Rosario to appear on the stage. But as time dragged, on it was clear hope for that was false. Brody and the ring announcer walked to the ropes to discuss the situation with the ringside official. The three men talked over the options they had and Brody was trying his hardest to delay the call he knew was coming, stopping just short of falling to his knees and begging. Maybe Rosario was just screwing around and he'd be out in a second. But all of his pleading was for naught, and both officials nodded in agreement to end it. Leaving Brody leaning against the ropes with a look of sheer disappointment on his face, the ring announcer walked to the center of the ring to make the announcement.
"I have just been informed that Rosario is not in the building tonight, and will not compete in this match. So your winner, by forfeit, Brody Robinson!"
The crowd responded favorably to the news and began a stream of cheers before they gradually realized that the brawler hadn't moved from the ropes, leading to the excitement quickly dying out. He briefly rubbed his chin, before finally climbing through the ropes and dropping to ringside. Crouching next to the ring, he pulled up the apron and dug around underneath for a second, before pulling out a steel chair and sliding it into the ring. He walked towards his discarded jacket once again, picking it from the floor and pulling it on before rolling himself back into the ring. Approaching the announcer, he again asked for the mic, and upon receiving it, grabbed the chair from the mat, pulled it open, and placed it in the center of the ring. Taking a seat, he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees, letting the mic hang freely in his right hand. His mood hadn't seemed to lighten up, and the crowd went silent in anticipation for what he was about to say. After a few moments, he lifted the mic to his mouth.
"If you guys don't mind, I'm going to take things seriously here for a bit. So if you're expecting me to make a funny joke and walk backstage with a smile on my face, I'm sorry to disappoint you. But I've got to get this off my chest." A murmur of confusion ran through the audience. Maybe they were confused at how Brody could go from joking to serious so quickly. Maybe they were wondering what set him off. And during his brief pause, Brody wondered if he should even bother. But he'd already made a show of setting this up, so he might has well finish it.
"Now, I've been doing this thing for a while, and I'll be the first to admit that my career isn't exactly what some kid in the audience is going to look up to when he decides if he wants to start one of his own. Between my crippling lack of upward mobility and my complete disinterest in backroom deals for titles, I've never exactly been the most prominent man on any roster. And, as you may know, that doesn't exactly translate to title shots or wins, if you get my meaning. And even when I did scrape together enough support to win a title, it never went anywhere and I never had the kind of success my predecessors or successors had. And you know what? I'm OK with that. I've said for years that I don't care about winning a big fancy belt. Not to say I wont try to win one, as you can probably tell by my being in this tournament, but if I don't win I'm not going to, I don't know, threaten to leave the company out of spite or something. That's just rolling with the punches. And through all of that, I've got the respect of some of the biggest names in the business. Not a lot, but enough to get the door open when I need some work. And really, that's all I ask for. But this s**t?" Pushing off his knees, Brody leaned back in the chair and pointed to the stage with his free hand for emphasis.
"Some idiot not showing up for a match with nary a phone call or a walk-in saying that he can't compete? So I have to walk out here and stand around waiting for nothing while some interns dash around in the back looking for a man they won't find? That, my friends, is what sets me off. Because that is the ultimate sign of disrespect. When you care so little about a match that you fail to at least tell someone that you won't be there, that shows me that you don't care about who I am or what I've done. I mean, if you respect someone, you make sure they know that you're sorry that you can't make it, right? But apparently I'm not worth that kind of effort. I guess to Rosario, I'm not better than a green as grass rookie. And you know what, after years of doing this, you can't believe how horrible that makes me feel."Brody fell silent once again, reverting back to his leaned forward position, but this time keeping his head lifted towards the stage.
"I know this probably sounds like self-important whingeing, and I really do apologize for that. And let me be clear, this isn't going to be a permanent thing. Your regularly scheduled Buckeye Brawler will be back next time, my grin displayed proudly as a walk down that ramp. But like I said, I just wanted to get this stuff off my chest. And I know what some of you are thinking, and I'll say that I agree. If, by some stroke of luck, I win this whole thing and go on to win a title, that little guy in the back of my head will be saying 'But what if Rosario had shown up? Would I even be here?' And I accept that criticism. All I can do is keep going forward. I didn't want to win this way, but if it has to be, then I'll grin and push past it. Hopefully it'll lead me somewhere I want to be."
Pushing on his knees to get up to his feet, Brody turned to leave his mic on the open chair before walking to the ropes and climbing to the apron. He took the stairs down to the outer mats and went straight for the ramp, keeping one arm outstretched to hit the passing hands on the way backstage.
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