Post by Bruce "The Beast" Richards on Apr 22, 2007 0:11:54 GMT -5
(It's late at night. Bruce Richards is alone on his balcony, looking out over the river valley, the lights from the downtown core glittering on the river. He takes a drag on a cigar and exhales clouds of curling white smoke. He starts talking, not bothering to look at the camera.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: It's hard fighting a match against someone you have no personal problems with. When you hate someone, it's easy. You've got the additional impetus to get the job done. When you go into a match against someone I don't respect, you want to take it to them that much more so they know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you don't care about them. When you go into a match against someone that doesn't respect you, you work that much harder, try to be that much better, so that they do respect you.
(He turns to stare right at the camera, and there seems to be pale glow in his eyes. Maybe it's the light reflecting from the water. No, that has to be it. What else could it be?)
BRUCE RICHARDS: When you're going into a match against someone you absolutely despise, you've got the bloodlust. You want to take them to the limits, to give them more pain than they've ever known. To make them want to give up, not just in the match, but their whole (BLEEP) career.
(He breaks the stare, looks back across the water.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: But when you don't have that feeling of animosity...things get difficult. Sometimes you try to get the other person riled up. You try and throw out a little jab here, a seemingly harmless insult there, trying to set the other person off, just so you have an excuse to kick them hard to the curb. You could butter the other person up, make them overconfident, then pop that bubble come match night. You could play the psychology game, building them up at the same time you're cutting them down. (Shrugs.) You could do all that.
(Bruce takes another pull from his cigar. He slowly breathes out, allowing the cloud of smoke to rise just inches in front of his face before the wind trails it away from him.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: But what if you actually like the guy? If you actually respect them? What do you say before the match? This is, even if some people don't want to admit it, partly an entertainment industry. How do you make it interesting to the people out there, who want to see you talking shit about the other guy and calling for blood? And more importantly, how do you get the extra motivation that you're sorely lacking?
(Bruce finally turns his whole body away from the balcony and sits in one of the wooden chairs he keeps on his porch. He folds his fingers as he leans forward on his knees.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: If you're Simply Beautiful...you do a lot of things. You think about other matches you've had, like the ones you've had against Ravager, where he talked you up and took you down. Or of your matches against Chris Casino, the number one jackass in the NAPW, and think about the times he pinned you to the mat. You try and sublimate your anger into a match against me. If that's what he needs to do to get that motivation, fine. But misdirecting that anger against people who don't deserve it...I don't want to get too touchy here, but that's what Brian Bruno does. You might think I'm making a bad comparison, but it all starts with baby steps. It's something to think about. I mean, I've had my problems with anger in the past. And it's something we all deal with in different ways. You just have to find the best way that works for you. (Smiles.) I found mine.
(Bruce leans backwards into his chair, as the shadows in the corner creep over his face.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: I don't kiss ass. I don't butter people up. I say what I mean. Friends don't come easily in this business, and I have a harder time making them than most. So when I say I respect Simply Beautiful as a wrestler, I mean it. When I say I would gladly stick my neck out for him in that tournament, I mean it. I'm not being passive agressive, I'm not pulling any "psychological bullshit". It's the truth. And, to clarify something else: I never challenged Simply Beautiful. Rex Caliber booked us in a match because he thought it would be something the fans would want to see. Because he thought that when you get the two of us in a ring, it would be a five-star match. Rex was right. It's going to be a great match. Because we won't pull any punches, and we'll pull out all the stops, because if there's one thing we like more than wrestling, it's wrestling somebody good. And we both know we're that good.
(Bruce sighs, and when he starts speaking again, he seems...a little tired. His voice is a little more drawn out. The cadence of his voice is a little deeper, a little more acidic.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: As far as additional motivation goes? I've got mine. For one thing, I need to keep my streak going. Yeah, that's right. I've been unbeaten since Cold Snap. Five matches wrestled, five matches won. Next Tuesday, it'll be six. The following Tuesday, against Caliban, you'd best believe I'm going to try and make it seven. It's a start of a new singles career, and I aim to be impressive. And that's another source of motivation. Because of my history, I'm pretty much synonymous with tag team wrestling. My opponent and sometime tag team partner, Simply Beautiful acknowledges that singles competition isn't my specialty, and he thinks that getting a win over me proves that he's in the elite. I'm of the other opinion. I'm a guy who's mostly known for tag wrestling, going up against the SOLE SURVIVOR. That's motivation. To put one over Simply Beautiful in singles competition...that'll silence a few more of the people out there who think, deep inside themselves, that I'm nothing more than a tag team wrestler who's out of his element.
(Another pull on the cigar, and the smoke billows from the shadows.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: One more win to add to the statistics, to extend another week. One more singles match under my belt. And one more chance to prove to other people, and to myself, that Bruce Richards is the smartest man in the NAPW. And that The Beast is the hardest to beat.
(He kicks his feet up on the table and continues to smoke his cigar. Fade out.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: It's hard fighting a match against someone you have no personal problems with. When you hate someone, it's easy. You've got the additional impetus to get the job done. When you go into a match against someone I don't respect, you want to take it to them that much more so they know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that you don't care about them. When you go into a match against someone that doesn't respect you, you work that much harder, try to be that much better, so that they do respect you.
(He turns to stare right at the camera, and there seems to be pale glow in his eyes. Maybe it's the light reflecting from the water. No, that has to be it. What else could it be?)
BRUCE RICHARDS: When you're going into a match against someone you absolutely despise, you've got the bloodlust. You want to take them to the limits, to give them more pain than they've ever known. To make them want to give up, not just in the match, but their whole (BLEEP) career.
(He breaks the stare, looks back across the water.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: But when you don't have that feeling of animosity...things get difficult. Sometimes you try to get the other person riled up. You try and throw out a little jab here, a seemingly harmless insult there, trying to set the other person off, just so you have an excuse to kick them hard to the curb. You could butter the other person up, make them overconfident, then pop that bubble come match night. You could play the psychology game, building them up at the same time you're cutting them down. (Shrugs.) You could do all that.
(Bruce takes another pull from his cigar. He slowly breathes out, allowing the cloud of smoke to rise just inches in front of his face before the wind trails it away from him.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: But what if you actually like the guy? If you actually respect them? What do you say before the match? This is, even if some people don't want to admit it, partly an entertainment industry. How do you make it interesting to the people out there, who want to see you talking shit about the other guy and calling for blood? And more importantly, how do you get the extra motivation that you're sorely lacking?
(Bruce finally turns his whole body away from the balcony and sits in one of the wooden chairs he keeps on his porch. He folds his fingers as he leans forward on his knees.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: If you're Simply Beautiful...you do a lot of things. You think about other matches you've had, like the ones you've had against Ravager, where he talked you up and took you down. Or of your matches against Chris Casino, the number one jackass in the NAPW, and think about the times he pinned you to the mat. You try and sublimate your anger into a match against me. If that's what he needs to do to get that motivation, fine. But misdirecting that anger against people who don't deserve it...I don't want to get too touchy here, but that's what Brian Bruno does. You might think I'm making a bad comparison, but it all starts with baby steps. It's something to think about. I mean, I've had my problems with anger in the past. And it's something we all deal with in different ways. You just have to find the best way that works for you. (Smiles.) I found mine.
(Bruce leans backwards into his chair, as the shadows in the corner creep over his face.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: I don't kiss ass. I don't butter people up. I say what I mean. Friends don't come easily in this business, and I have a harder time making them than most. So when I say I respect Simply Beautiful as a wrestler, I mean it. When I say I would gladly stick my neck out for him in that tournament, I mean it. I'm not being passive agressive, I'm not pulling any "psychological bullshit". It's the truth. And, to clarify something else: I never challenged Simply Beautiful. Rex Caliber booked us in a match because he thought it would be something the fans would want to see. Because he thought that when you get the two of us in a ring, it would be a five-star match. Rex was right. It's going to be a great match. Because we won't pull any punches, and we'll pull out all the stops, because if there's one thing we like more than wrestling, it's wrestling somebody good. And we both know we're that good.
(Bruce sighs, and when he starts speaking again, he seems...a little tired. His voice is a little more drawn out. The cadence of his voice is a little deeper, a little more acidic.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: As far as additional motivation goes? I've got mine. For one thing, I need to keep my streak going. Yeah, that's right. I've been unbeaten since Cold Snap. Five matches wrestled, five matches won. Next Tuesday, it'll be six. The following Tuesday, against Caliban, you'd best believe I'm going to try and make it seven. It's a start of a new singles career, and I aim to be impressive. And that's another source of motivation. Because of my history, I'm pretty much synonymous with tag team wrestling. My opponent and sometime tag team partner, Simply Beautiful acknowledges that singles competition isn't my specialty, and he thinks that getting a win over me proves that he's in the elite. I'm of the other opinion. I'm a guy who's mostly known for tag wrestling, going up against the SOLE SURVIVOR. That's motivation. To put one over Simply Beautiful in singles competition...that'll silence a few more of the people out there who think, deep inside themselves, that I'm nothing more than a tag team wrestler who's out of his element.
(Another pull on the cigar, and the smoke billows from the shadows.)
BRUCE RICHARDS: One more win to add to the statistics, to extend another week. One more singles match under my belt. And one more chance to prove to other people, and to myself, that Bruce Richards is the smartest man in the NAPW. And that The Beast is the hardest to beat.
(He kicks his feet up on the table and continues to smoke his cigar. Fade out.)