(Jeremy): I should have known you’d side with Maniac, a man such as yourself that’s been on his own path of redemption from a wayward past. “Matt was not a victim,” is that what you said? You’re smoking something other than Texas BBQ if you think he wasn’t a victim. Our very first Havoc Matt went one-on-one with Maniac and what happened? Instead of taking his win and walking away, he sucker punched him after the match and beat him down going on about “teaching him a lesson.” Then he runs Matt’s name through the mud, playing mind games and pushing every button he could exploit sending him over the edge. Yeah, it was Matt that got the jump on him later, but it was Maniac that turned a simple brawl into a violent fight. The same night he put Sarah down on the concrete and tried to run them all over outside. Poke, poke, poke and poke, week after week. It’s what he said he wanted…the chaos.
Jeremy chuckles to himself…
(Jeremy): And let’s not forget my “tainted” win, right Will? Now you’re sticking up for Maniac’s pet project….that “Human ##### Reel” Erica? Seriously dude? Nobody gives a shit about that conniving bitch. We were nothing but welcoming to her like anybody else that came through the academy, and she took her personal shit out on us. She finally gets her official contract and she literally terrorized Hans and Vanessa for months and all of a sudden you want to throw her ass a pity party? She’s lucky all she got was a little shove.
You’re right about one thing, nobody wants Maniac’s apology. That is, if he had even given one to begin with. I do want him to feel pain, I do want him to hurt, and yeah…we are better than him. He wouldn’t even be here if we hadn’t held down this fort the rest of you abandoned. If we hadn’t rebuilt this brand. If we hadn’t reestablished a reputation good enough to warrant networks to pull this place off their blacklist.
I thought we were done having this conversation, it was the highlight of last year when HWA returned and we seemed to run it into the ground, buy you know what your problem is…you, like Maniac…still have a bit of that old school mentality, him more than most. This brand, this modern era HWA was forged off a different vision than HWA of old. For 8 years, when this place was in all your rear-view mirrors there was Matt, then there was Sean, and then I came along and all we did was wrestle. Can you even imagine a drama free wrestling environment? It might sound boring to you, but I don’t think a lot of people have ever experienced this business in its truest form as we did, stripped of theatrics and violence until there was just pure competition. You see it in college wrestling, but never has it been in pro-wrestling. Week in and week out, honing our craft, improving where we could, testing our skills on one another.
Matt led that Will, and this isn’t the lover in me talking this is the wrestler. He had the respect of the entire locker room, as a mentor, a trainer, a friend and confidant. He was invested in everyone and everything within this company to see it prosper. We didn’t sign up for chair shots, fire, and barbwire. We didn’t anticipate vehicular assaults, people getting poisoned, and for Christ’s sake…sexually assaulted. Maniac, Fallen, and by association it was the returning veterans like you that brought your filthy baggage into our pristine hotel and now we’ve got bed bugs and you want to criticize me for fighting back?
Forgive me Will, but we’ll agree to disagree on this. Matt followed Maniac into the darkness because he didn’t have a choice. He was desperate to protect and preserve everything he had built and in his shoes…you’d have done the same. How dare you, any of you shrug your shoulders and lessen his burden or his circumstances. Violence may have been a part of your HWA back in the day, people coming up with injuries from being brutalized, and “hey it’s part of the business,” but this was never part of ours. Like I said in my AMA, it took me longer to adjust to all you coming in and forcing this landscape to change, but change it has. Maniac wanted to bring back the HWA of ole, well he won…here it is, and here I am…the last man standing, and I’m going to give it to him everything he asked for. He can’t have it both ways now Will, he had his chance to play nice and he spit blood in our faces. Don’t begrudge me for finally falling in line.
He sighs, pulling his hands through his hair in agitation.
(Jeremy): It saddens me to say Butch’s vision is dead. I tried so hard for so long to hold on to it, but I can’t anymore. It’s what held me back all year long, instead of adapting I held on to that little bit of hope that we’d all get along, and everyone would see that competitive landscape model, that we’d be one great big wrestling family and that the veterans would come in and lift up us newer guys, we’d learn from you and you’d learn from us and be renewed by our vigor, and we’d just enjoy this business and our fanbase. I was so fuking naďve.
Ridicule me all you want Will, it doesn’t matter to me anymore. I’m done holding on to hopes. I think back to our first match when Deas attacked me and how pissed I was at you for walking away. I was so stupid to think that you’d all come in wanting to be part of the HWA we built, I set my expectations too high and that’s my fault. So you know what Will…
Jeremy gets up off camera and returns, setting his bottle of home brew moonshine in front of him.
(Jeremy): Come find me at Havoc and we’ll crack this baby open. Let’s drink not to what HWA was in your era or mine, let’s drink to what it is. Let’s drink to Matt for putting up the good fight and coming up short in the end, lets drink to Fallen who walks around like a perverted freak but still collects a check and nobody seems to care…let’s drink to Sean who without his surgery is a sliver away from where Matt is…to Erica and her lunatic ravings finger banging herself in people’s beds and setting their homes on fire, poor Erica right?...Let’s drink to Michelle, who sees the good in everyone no matter what they do. Let’s drink to Jesse and Luna Rain who have your guidance and have already learned what it’s taken me a year to learn….that all you need is those most close to you. Let’s drink to Tobias because who doesn’t need a snob to tell us all how much we stink. Let’s drink to Stu-E and Laney for showing us the love of the sport and the strength of fatherhood. Let’s drink to the Blackthornes who are only here to stick it to their daddy and could care less about the business. To Hans and Sensei the last bastions of what we once hoped this industry might become.
To Sarah and Alexis on their fierce and unyielding forage ahead despite the odds against them. To Legion and the new guy Wolfy and all the new folks who come after them for jumping into this shit show….we’ll have to tell them to expect to be mutilated, abused, harassed, bullied, and fondled. Hey…lets drink to you Will, a guy who can apparently get poisoned and nearly die but shrugs it off not seeming to give much thought about truly getting rid of the guy responsible. Another day at the office right? Oh….and last but not least….Let’s do drink to Maniac…the herald of the return of the HWA of ole. Without him, we’d still be having silly little wrestling matches trying to outdo one another with just skills in little gyms for little crowds, and little money……and while we’re at it we’ll throw another one back for him because hey…he’s trying to change right and by God that means something?
Jeremy pulls the bottle directly in front of him, looking back at the camera.
(Jeremy): You know where to find me Will, and we’ll crack this open, sit down and be done with it…once and for all!
He sends the message and abruptly ends the video as the scene fades to black.
Message Thread
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