|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2023 4:37 am
The camerra comes on to reveal Blaze and Marcus Damone of the Syndicate in the locker room preparing for their match. As the two are sitting on the bench, lacing their boots, the world champion walks in along with their manager.
"Glad to see you're getting ready. We've got some news on your rematch with the Savage Sons." Drako takes a moment to observe them. "Your rematch is a ladder match."
Marcus looks up at his uncle. "Is that supposed to intimidate us? We beat them once, now we'll toss them off a ladder and do it again."
Drako smacks him across the back of the head. "Last I checked, this is your first ever title defense. That arrogance will get you beat. There's no pinfalls or submissions in this. You're gonna have to climb a ladder and retrieve the titles to keep them. You been in a ladder match I don't know about?"
Marcus rubs his head. "Clearly not. But didn't you and my dad train us?"
"Yes, to wrestle. There's no preparing you for a ladder match. You're gonna have to learn on the fly. And let's not kid ourselves here. One of your opponents is a veteran. Do you think he's going to let Erynys make the same rookie mistakes in this match that he made in your last match? You better be focused tonight and bring those titles home again."
Adrian, who is no longer in the neck brace, chips in at this point. "The Savage Sons had a lot of big words earlier tonight. Sounds like bitterness that they didn't think of a way to win first last match. Some insults to the family honor, blah blah blah."
Marcus rolls his eyes. "Do we care?"
"No, we don't," Drako confirms. "It's easy to ride that high horse when youre' busy pandering and desparately trying to convince yourself and the idiots in the stands that you're some kind of paragon of virtue. The reality is, if you give them a chance, they'll do what we did and then some. But tonight, here's what you and Blaze are going to do. You're going out there, you're going to let the ref hang those belts up high, then you will proceed to beat the piss out of them both. You will use everything I ever taught you and guarantee that they aren't leaving here in the condition they arrived in tonight. Then after you're done, I'm going to walk into the Power Dome and show Cyrus Leone who really has the power around here. We leave Summerslam on top, then at Unforgiven we briefly step back from the main event to allow big brother to do his thing as the head of the family one last time while we look to see who's got the balls to step up to us next."
"There is one person you're forgetting, dear uncle." Marcus watches Drako's face intently. "Don't forget, one Nuke Fusion has promised to redeem you one way or another."
Drako smirks. "The only thing Nuke Fusion will be redeeming is a free trip back to the hospital if he gets involved in Syndicate business here tonight. I don't need redemption. I just need to keep being the champ. And I've got a far better track record of that than he does. You worry about the Savage Sons. We'll worry about Nuke if and when he shows his face."
With that, the champ heads off to prepare for his match.
Marcus looks to Blaze. "You think he's got this tonight?"
Blaze simply shrugs and continues getting ready.
"I think tonight is a divide and conquer type of night," Adrian tells Marcus. "Drako has the Power Dome for the world title tonight, so you know he won't be making his way to ringside for your match. And even if we all come to ringside for his, we're on the outside with no way in. So, let him go out there and prove why he's the best wrestler in the world while you go out and prove you're the best tag team in the world. Simple."
Marcus and Blaze exchange a look.
"We got this." Marcus tells him.
"Good, but I hear your father would like a word with you before you go out tonight. Might want to see what that's about before he comes hunting for you." Adrian heads off.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 05, 2023 9:42 am
a few matches/segments later, the camera comes on again to reveal the original Dragon, Jarel Damone, walking in the backstage area only to be intercepted by Michael Cole.
Cole: Jarel, if you have a moment to answer a few questions.
Jarel stops and looks down at Michael Cole. "Make it quick, I've got business to attend to."
"Well, I have to ask, what brings you here to Summerslam? We weren't expecting to see you until Unforgiven? Are you perhaps here to meet with..."
Jarel raises a hand to cut him off. "I'm here on family business tonight. Which as soon as we're done here, I'm going to go handle. But I'm pretty sure you want remarks on my match at Unforgiven. Well, here's the thing, Michael, the time for talking is done. I saw Chrono's segments, he's in top shape. That similar mind set of ours has been on display for you all. We agreed to the match, went home and trained. I pulled the family home and put in the work. He put in his work. All that's left is Unforgiven and for two of the most dominant men to go do the things that make this show the perfectly named show for us to clash. I made my guarantee that he was going to get exactly what he asked for and with the amount of work I put in, I'm confident that I'm keeping my word."
Before Michael Cole can ask another question, Marcus Damone steps forward to join his father on camera. "I hear you wanted a word."
Jarel looks at Michael Cole first. "Scram, this is family business."
As the interviewer does as he's told, The Dragon narrows his eyes on Marcus.
"So, let me get this straight, you and your cousin managed to do something here I never did, winning the WWFG World tag team titles. You also beat Salem and his partner to do it. Another thing I've officially not done. But instead of letting them go to the back of the line, you and your uncle gave them the opportunity to earn an immediate rematch and let them choose the stipulation?"
Marcus shrugs. "Not my fault their opponents didn't get the job done."
The Dragon is not pleased. "I would think that Drako might have pointed out that if you're going to do business this way, you could at least make sure the job gets done. Common sense would say if you're going to make the stipulation, you come out and make sure they lose. Now, you're in your first ever ladder match here tonight. So what's the plan?"
Marcus scowls at his father. "The plan is to go out and beat them down until we take our titles down. It's a simple concept, Dad."
"I got decades of experience of you and your cousin, brat. Don't patronize me. My point is, if you couldn't grasp the simple concept of securing your defense here tonight being against whoever was next in line, how do you expect to come out on top again? And let's be clear, tonight, you don't have Adrian in your corner."
This clearly wasn't what Marcus expected.
"Oh, did you think I wouldn't occasionally dip back in to give suggestions just because Drako is calling the shots these days? I'm the originally head of the family business, so I hold a little weight around here. Drako gave you the key to keeping Salem and Erynys away from the tag titles, and you weren't smart enough to take it. So now, you do things on your own, the same as your uncle has to in that Power Dome tonight." Jarel watches the expression on Marcus' face. "I suggest that tonight you go out there and show everyone what made you good enough to send me into retirement. I suggest you treat this like a fight. There's no Adrian to distract the referee or help tip a ladder over. It's you and Blaze, both of you damn near 7 feet tall and 300 pounds. Go out there, punch them boys in the face, bash them with ladders, kick their teeth down their throat, and retain those titles. Otherwise, you may not like what happens after Unforgiven."
Marcus wanted to leave but paused. "Meaning?"
Jarel looks him up and down once, a clear warning. "You know the answer to that. I had a similar conversation with your uncle already. You all changed how the family does business. The least you can do is make sure you're still doing it as well as the patriarchs did it. We'll be watching." The Dragon starts to walk off.
"Who's the we in this case?"
Jarel stops and looks back at him. "Patriarchs is plural. Where there's one, the other is waiting. Don't let us down." The Hall of Famer heads off as he'd planned, leaving Marcus to an obvious realization.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
