"And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled: for such things must needs be; but the end shall not be yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows." (Mark 13:7-8)
(Don Lemon): Good evening and welcome to CNN Tonight, I’m Don Lemon and tonight I’ll talk with Baltimore City Mayor, Stephanie Rawlings-Bank and her push for reform in the local police department, our panel discussion will include Dr. Mehmet Oz and fellow doctors at Columbia University calling for his resignation. First up, the ever embattled Hardcore Wrestling Alliance is once again making headlines days after their Road to Ruin ppv. A major defeat, a new World Champion, and a highly controversial match leaving 70 year old Executive Director of Business Affairs, Elizabeth Shevington in critical condition in a Montreal hospital. Joining me now from Dark Horse Towers in Los Angeles, HWA Owner and CEO Senester….welcome sir thank you for joining us.
(Senester): A pleasure Don, thank you. You’re much shorter than I imagined you.
Don laughs a bit.
(Don Lemon): Well 5’6” certainly isn’t too tall in comparison to most of you and other wrestlers.
(Senester): No it isn’t.
(Don Lemon): Let’s jump right into then. You’re coming off a big return of sorts this year following a fair portion of 2014 where you were off the air. Tell us about that transition from then to now.
(Senester): It’s no secret we’ve had everyone and everything from government entities to various social groups and activists at our back for years, but when the smoke clears you can always find them in our wake. It’s a fruitless enterprise to attempt to undermine or destroy my empire. However, war is not without its casualties. We’ve lost a lot of talent. Some are long gone, others have fallen stagnant on the sidelines and others have seen the battle through and have carried us into 2015. Smaller does not mean weaker in this business. There are promotions out there with dozens of men and women on their roster but while their serving up plates of shit for their fans and sponsors to eat, we’re plating gold. Road to Ruin was just another example of that. From the All Star Championship match to the World Title Main event our athletes out perform all others on every single level.
(Don Lemon): Let’s talk more about Road to Ruin. It’s been a week since the ppv, but the controversy surrounding it is still buzzing in the media…the impromptu match in particular between Wisdom Parker and Elizabeth Shevington. The reaction of the fans was astounding when it was announced that the World Title match had been cancelled, and would only be reinstated based on the outcome of this match. What was going through your mind in creating this match? A few weeks ago you and Michael James were discussing keeping Mrs. Parker out of the main event, was this the result of your planning?
(Senester): Naturally your narrowing your perspective to the outcome and not the premise. Rewind for a moment Mr. Lemon to the very start of the night. Mrs. Shevington took it upon herself to create an impromptu match of her own. Bryan Deas, nor H&K were scheduled for match that evening. Their presence was required for pre and post ppv fanfare yes, but not competition. As I said then, I was inspired. She unknowingly presented me with an alternative that solved both the issue of Wisdom Parker sticking her nose in the main event, and my professional problems with Mrs. Shevington.
(Don Lemon): What “professional problems” would that be? It seems that she has done a splendid job being the balance between the tyrannical structure that brought your company into courtrooms a few years back. She had the respect of your athletes and the fans, and the decisions she made maintained a sense of equity. Then at this ppv you throw a 70 year old woman into a wrestling ring to compete. Why?
Senester take a sip from the coffee mug in front of him.
(Senester): Why? Quite simply, because I could Mr. Lemon. Because for months Shevington was manipulating various superstars to undermine my authority. I brought her in for all of your aforementioned reasons. That was her role, to be an advisor, a spokesperson with an inside perspective responding to the backlash outside. She did that quite well for some time, but over the past months it hadn’t been enough for her. She thought she could control the shows with impunity. She was a businesswoman with no experience in this industry whatsoever. He role was the Executive Director of Business Affairs not to Production Manager, not General Manager, not to play grandma with milk and cookies for the whining and complaining superstars trying to make them feel better about their inferior performances like H&K, not to give out butterscotch candies to Buff Bridges prolonging the sweet taste of the business in his mouth while he rides the fence. I created that match because it put two problems in one place and solved them both at the same time. I had other plans for Wisdom, but Shevington’s actions prompted me to alter them.
(Don Lemon): Surely you cold have come up with a better solution than that. A 70 old woman has no business competing in a wrestling ring. You could have just fired her if you were displeased with her.
(Senester): She’s actually 71 Mr. Lemon, and you’re right…I could have fired her beforehand, but I didn’t. I wanted her to know the consequences of her actions. There is a price to be paid for defiance. Then I fired her.
(Don Lemon): It may be that she’s made to pay the ultimate price. We understand that she continues to fight for her life still in the hospital in Montreal. The extent of her injuries are quite severe.
(Senester): I don’t know anything about her injuries. She became a former employee the moment she left the ring, which makes any subsequent issues a matter for the HR department.
(Don Lemon): That’s a rather cold, uncaring response.
(Senester): It’s a matter of fact response Mr. Lemon. When CNN sends you or Anderson Cooper or any other reporter on assignment you accept the responsibilities of your role. You know that at any given moment in time you might be sent anywhere from the unruly streets of Baltimore to the war zones of Afghanistan and no one pities you for it. Shevington was no different than any of you signing her contract to a wrestling promotion, knowing that everyone from the World Champion to the bathroom attendant is subject to compete at any given time. The media keeps speaking about age as if it has anything to do with it, it doesn’t. Talk to Terry Funk about being too old to compete in a wrestling ring, try pulling the pity card on the Fabulous Moolah or Mae Young. In this business the rules of the mortal world do not apply. In the world of wrestling you can be 100 years old and still lace your boots. The rest of society condemns the elderly to being Walmart greeters, and I treat them as equals. I should be applauded not vilified.
Don seems a little taken aback raising his eyebrows as he continues.
(Don Lemon): That analysis is a rather askew from the general morals of society. This woman could very well not survive. Wisdom Parker from what we saw following the events was devastated.
(Senester): Devastated? Who’s perception is “askew” now Mr. Lemon. Wisdom had a choice. Her husband had already made up his mind. Butch Parker was set to forego his right to a match with Michael James for the World Title and had her in hand walking away. What did she so? She shoved him through the curtain at the last possible moment and rushed back to the ring to take on Shevington.
(Don Lemon): Yes, but then you manipulated the match at every turn. Changing the circumstances of victory from basic to barbaric.
(Senester): There you go again with the pity. Was it barbaric because they are women? How sexist. Was it barbaric because of Shevington’s age? How discriminatory. No one blinks twice when men are in the ring doing exactly the same thing. Look into the crowd Mr. Lemon, have you seen the reaction of fans faces. They salivate for it. It’s what sets HWA apart from every other promotion in the world. As much as some may want to turn away they find they can’t. As much as parents want to change the channel, the find themselves ordering ppv’s over and over again.
(Don Lemon): Are you at all concerned with the long-term effects that match might have on these two women?
(Senester): In short…no! The future of Elizabeth Shevington holds no interest to me, as I said…she is a former employee and as such a matter for our HR. As far as Wisdom goes, she’s actually scheduled for an interview at Havoc next week. What she has to say is of no concern to me. At Road to Ruin Wisdom Parker did exactly what the Parker’s are known for…letting their egos control their actions. She was more concerned with getting revenge on Michael James than she was with Shevington’s wellbeing. What recourse is there for the choice she made? Let’s go back even further to the week before. I personally offered a binding contract to the Parkers guaranteeing Wisdom’s safety at the ppv. But they declined out of sheer spite. If there is a finger to point, point it at Butch Parker, point it at Wisdom Parker and their insatiable egos. One day their daughter Evina will look back at her family history and much like Ben Affleck recently…make an attempt to hide its shame.
(Don Lemon): So what’s next for HWA? With two new champions what does the future hold?
(Senester): We have two new champions, but the reign of Butch Parker will be rather short lived. Somehow he managed an upset at Road to Ruin over Michael James who over the past year has raised the World Title to a status it hasn’t seen since I myself held the belt. I cannot abide failure and I have no doubt that he will not fail in recovering the gold. And then there is Freddie Styles, stepping free from his families shadow…the nephew of Ronnie McNeil but clearly a man of his own. Far better than his uncle does Mr. Styles understand what it takes to win, and more than ever I feel he’s prepared to do what it takes to win. He demonstrated that against Stu-E Price. There was no friendship in that ring, and I doubt there is any left out of it. I’d like to think he has come full circle and is back on the path he first began upon focusing on what matters in this business above anything else…success!
(Don Lemon): You spoke of matches that set HWA apart from its competition. Elaborate on that for us. What else do you feel puts you ahead of TNA or the WWE?
(Senester): I believe I said it best earlier…when you compare their product to ours the disparity is vastly obvious. Look at TNA. Arguably the best thing they had going for them was having Hulk Hogan a part of their promotion. His presence alone commands attention and having a legend such as he interact with individuals who had never and mostly will never come close to the success he has had in this business…that was a valuable asset. The same can be said for Ric Flair who was there as well. Yet, they allowed their business plan to be shaped by the opinions of talent with no business acumen. AJ Styles who was at his best with Ric Flair behind him. Then there was Jeff Hardy, already a popular superstar in his own right but never before had he cut a promo with half the quality as he had as his time as heel under Hogan, even his ring style changed for the better at the time. Our men and women don’t fight change, they embrace it. They don’t complain about how long they’ve been here and they now best, and if they did it’s not their place anyway. They don’t shirk a helping hand they take it and find a way to use it to advance themselves. And beyond that I don’t give a damn what any of them think. The moment Hogan left, that’s when the lights went out, and their left with poorly lit arenas, have devolved to that absurd six-sided-ring, and a roster full of individuals few people really care to see, who never amount to anything. You can’t put two zeros in the ring and expect it to equal any other number.
Then you have the WWE. Let me say that our talent earn their reputations, they earn their status. There are no handpicked faces of the company here. I will set our men and women on any given path of opportunity, but its up to them to capitalize on that. HWA is the real world or wrestling, this is not entertainment. That is the primary thing that sets us apart from them. In the real world a man the stature and talent of a Daniel Bryan could never beat me, he couldn’t beat Michael James, or Butch Parker and thus would never come close to being a World Champion, but….in the land of “entertainment” anything is possible. While their having “Diva” matches, to their credit the women who have been in HWA’s ring have performed of equal quality to the men. If WWE only had Diva matches…would anyone watch for long? No, because it’s fluff not substance. Wisdom Parker, aside from her personal character, as a performer should we obliterate every single woman on that roster, and most of the men along with them. Vince McMahon said it best himself…he’s in the “Sports entertainment business.” Wrestling is just a small part of the theatrics they display for fans. The HWA is a wrestling company, we are not here to play to the whims of the crowd, and we’re not here to entertain you. If anything, I run this company to entertain myself. What value anyone else gets from it is secondary to that, and a benefit to them.
(Don Lemon): That’s an incredibly bold statement. It sounds equivalent to saying you don’t need your fans, or they are someone irrelevant.
(Senester): I don’t need the fans and they are irrelevant Mr. Lemon. Poets pour their heart out in words upon paper. That is for themselves. By sharing their work they are merely allowing others to see a bit inside them. What benefit or “entertainment” they draw from it as I said…is secondary. Butch Parker, Michael James, Buff Bridges, Talon Wilkinson, Eddie Phoenix, Ronnie McNeil, Bryan Deas, and the list goes on and on…they’ve never laced boots for the fans. They don’t go out there and put their bodies on the line for the cheers, hell…last year we wrestled in empty arenas. A testament to the fact that what each of them did and does in the ring is for themselves. Their own competitive spirit and ego. That is the reality of true wrestling and wrestlers. Personal gratification and monetary compensation. The world takes notice of HWA more than anyone else because it is real at its core. They will still snack on TNA’s lackluster product, and get pulled in by WWE’s catchphrases and pushed superstars…but when it’s time to come to that table…their feral natures show and it is HWA, it is real competition they salivate and hunger for.
(Don Lemon): We’re just about out of time here but I want to ask one more question. Dream Matches. As a promoter, if you could put together any assortment of dream matches what would they be and why?
(Senester): I must admit…I love that question. Butch Parker and Brock Lesnar for obvious reasons…two men with MMA backgrounds in the wrestling world, similar styles, similar competitive personalities. Ronnie McNeil and Bret Hart…again similar styles as ring tacticians, and two men who both have had higher opinions of themselves from what their really worth. Seeing the two of them fight over whose had the shorter end of the stick in this business would be interesting to say the least. Michael James and Michael Dredge…two incredibly fierce personas and egos. Two men with little regard for others and admirable arrogances where there is only space for one. Any combination of Wisdom Parker, Beth Phoenix and Lisa Marie Varon. Each dominant in the ring, but not always fully tested with an opponent of equal caliber. Buff Bridges and Shawn Michaels. Two “heartthrobs” with superior in ring abilities, and egos to match. There’s so many more I could name, and so many reasons for them.
(Don Lemon): What about for yourself? What dream matches would we see Senester in?
(Senester): It’s funny you asked. Most of the ones I’d mention I have in fact sought out, but they’ve refused. There is something about being demolished and humiliated men often find disagreeable. I’d say Rey Mysterio Jr., and Daniel Bryan to prove the point I made earlier…WWE’s entertainment does not measure up to real competition. I would simply destroy them in the ring in every way possible. Samoa Joe, AJ Styles, and CM Punk because I enjoy taking the embellished images men and women have of themselves and crushing it with the reality that they are not who they think they are, and never will be. The Undertaker because he is merely a character, a fabrication, and one of the greatest examples of “sports entertainment.” Blush, ICE and Luscious Lenny. No matter how many new toys you have to play with, the old ones down in the bottom of your toy box hold a sentimental value you cannot replicate.
(Don Lemon): Senester, thank you so much for your time. You are indeed a unique individual to say the least. That’s all the time we have, you can catch Senester and the HWA and Havoc on their own network every week, up next is Anderson Cooper 360, for CNN Tonight I’m Don Lemon…good night everyobody.
The scene fades with Don and Senester shaking hands and continuing to converse as the program goes off the air.
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