writing
The Big Debut
part seven of sixteen
The duo drove in silence for awhile after that. Terry tired of trying to figure out where Scott was driving them, so he dozed off in the passenger’s seat, and hoped for the best. Some time later, “The Tourist” greeted Terry back into consciousness, and he took a look out of the car window, attempting to situate himself with his surroundings. To his surprise, he was met with a sight that would be familiar to anyone who has ever taken a look inside a history textbook, the Washington Monument.
“DC? Why did you take us all the way out here, Scott?”
“I’m not really sure, Terry. Pretty cool, huh?”
“Cool? There’s nothing for us here, man. Let’s get out of here before we got lost or something.”
“Nothing here? Are you kidding? The city’s where it’s at, Terry! This is where everyone goes on the weekends.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t exactly fit the mold of everyone else.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Terry was sincerely frustrated with Scott now. He’d become the victim of what was essentially a kidnapping. He wanted Scott to tell him what was on his mind, but knew it wasn’t going to happen. Their friendship was strong, but there were cracks in the foundation when it came to communicating feelings and motives.
“Like you don’t know. It’s like I’ve always said, Scott. I’m a misfit, and proud of it. Now, let’s ditch this before something stupid happens.”
“C’mon, Terry! We’re in college! This is when we’re supposed to be doing all the stupid stuff we don’t tell our kids about.”
“I’d really rather not.”
“Tough luck, buddy. I’m behind the wheel, and I say we’re going to give this a shot. I’m tired of letting your apathy run the show. Scott’s moving on tonight.”
Terry let a retort about the utilization of the third person die in his throat. He was absolutely petrified of the predicament he now found himself in. He hated social gatherings, and it was obvious that a gathering was exactly what Scott had in mind for them. The fact that Scott had suckered him into it wasn’t helping matters any. If he couldn’t trust his best friend, how could he assure himself that the evening wouldn’t end up a disaster?
“I don’t appreciate being lied to, Scott.”
“What?”
“You never had any intention of going to the movies, did you?”
“Don’t give me that. You yourself said the movies were lame.”
“Did not.”
“Well, maybe not in as many words, but I saw the eye roll you gave me when I mentioned it as an idea. Besides, if I’d told you what I was planning, there was no way in hell I was getting you out of your room.”
“Exactly. I call bullshit.”
“What else was I gonna do? I need a wingman!”
“Like in ‘Top Gun?’”
“Don’t even.”
Terry continued to fret over his certain doom as Scott navigated through the streets of Washington, DC. Though he’d never say it out loud, Terry was quite impressed by his friend’s ability to find his way through the city. If there was one thing Scott had, it was a sense of direction, a skill that Terry himself had never possessed. After a few more moments of winding through the city, they arrived at their apparent destination on a nondescript side street. With a little difficulty, Scott parallel parked the car, but seemed reluctant to get out.
To be continued…
writing
The Big Debut
Part six of sixteen
It had started at the beginning of the previous semester. Diving headfirst into his major, Scott had signed up for nothing but upper level history courses in an attempt to finish out all of his requirements for graduation. He hadn’t been looking forward to it all that much, but after a few weeks, his outlook on the situation had changed for reasons Terry had been unsure of at the time. Terry had known he shouldn’t be curious, and simply happy for his friend getting into his classes, but he couldn’t help but wonder what had gotten into his friend, a man who had once taken pride in having skipped half of his classes and still passing them.
As the semester was winding down, Scott had come to Terry with the whole story. He’d apparently had a few classes in common with this girl named Sally, and they’d really been hitting it off. Now instead of skipping classes, Scott had been going out of his way to attend all of them just for the chance to talk to her for an hour or so. He had a major league crush on her, and Terry knew it wasn’t going to end well. It never did for Scott. He had all the personality in the world, but none of the confidence to back it up. Terry knew that it would all end with Scott failing to communicate his feelings, and that it would never be spoken of again.
As it turned out, Terry had only been half right. Yes, the semester ended with Scott’s heart in tatters, but they’d ended up having another class together in the ensuing semester. Energy and passion renewed, Scott had set about finally getting over the mental hurdle and making his move. Then came the news that Terry thought would destroy Scott for good, she was already taken. It took weeks to get Scott out of his funk because Terry was clueless when it came to cheering others up. So absorbed and wrapped up in his own world, Terry found himself helpless around Scott for that entire period of time. Nearly a month had passed since the whole incident, and Terry thought they’d moved past it, but watching his friend force his way through another Radiohead album told him otherwise.
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The duo drove in silence for awhile after that. Terry tired of trying to figure out where Scott was driving them, so he dozed off in the passenger’s seat, and hoped for the best. Some time later, “The Tourist” greeted Terry back into consciousness, and he took a look out of the car window, attempting to situate himself with his surroundings. To his surprise, he was met with a sight that would be familiar to anyone who has ever taken a look inside a history textbook, the Washington Monument.
“DC? Why did you take us all the way out here, Scott?”
“I’m not really sure, Terry. Pretty cool, huh?”
“Cool? There’s nothing for us here, man. Let’s get out of here before we got lost or something.”
“Nothing here? Are you kidding? The city’s where it’s at, Terry! This is where everyone goes on the weekends.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t exactly fit the mold of everyone else.”
To be continued…
writing
The Big Debut
Part five of sixteen
“Whaddya mean ‘where to?’ The movies, right?”
“Took too long to find my car, man. Missed the last showing.”
Terry stopped in front of the open passenger door of the Civic with a blank expression on his face. They’d taken the time to get out and find the car, and now once again found themselves with nowhere to go. He thought about calling it quits right then and there, but felt letting Scott down was the wrong move. After all, had the roles been reversed, he knew Scott would have been behind him the whole way. Scott had his flaws to be sure, but Terry felt lucky to count him as a friend. He just wished he could find a better way of showing it other than the occasional backhanded compliment.
“Of course we missed the last showing. How could we not? Everything just seems to work out for me.”
“Calm down, dude. We’ll think of something, I’m sure of it. Just hop in, and we’ll go where the night takes us.”
“’Go where the night takes us?’ You trying to have fun, or score with me?”
“Jesus, Terry! Shut the fuck up and get in the car.”
“Alright! Alright!”
Half expecting the car to stall or blow up, Terry exhaled with relief as Scott’s Civic got rolling without a hitch. Now relaxed, Terry lay back in his seat, and closed his eyes for a little bit, trying to get a beat on Scott’s choice of driving music. It wasn’t long before he was able to pick out the familiar strains an artist that had been receiving heavy airplay in Scott’s rotation as of late, Radiohead.
“’OK Computer’ again? C’mon, Scott. There must be something else you’re willing to listen to.”
“Not at the moment. It’s just kinda, I don’t know, speaking to me right now.”
“I’m just surprised you’re still listening to it, I guess. Wasn’t it her favorite album, too?”
“Yeah, it was.”
Scott’s tone alerted Terry to the fact that that particular line of questioning was over. His eyes may have been closed, but he could sense that Scott’s face had taken on a hardened look, and it was obvious that talking about his failed attempt at a relationship was still a touchy subject. Terry wondered if it was more than boredom that Scott was attempting to drive away from at the moment.
To be continued…
writing
The Big Debut
Part four of sixteen
“The way I see it, we might as well the make the most of a bad situation, alright?”
“Oh, do not go down the whole ‘when life gives you lemons’ path with your speech. You know I hate it when you get all philosophical on me.”
Scott mumbled something incoherently in reply, and stopped in his tracks. He scanned the row of parked cars, and dawning recognition swept across his sweaty face. Normally, Terry would have let rage take over and given his friend the business, but he was far too exasperated by this point to even muster up the tiniest bit of anger. He switched over to his defense mechanism of choice, sarcasm, instead.
“Maybe I didn’t park here, Terry.”
“What clued you in? The fact that we haven’t seen your car, or the fact that we haven’t seen your car?”
“The sarcasm’s really not helping, dude. You really need to lay off of that sometimes. Turns people off in a big way. You know that, right?”
“It’s just who I am, Scott. Without sarcasm, I don’t think I’d even be able to stand being around other people on a daily basis.”
“Hell of a way to go through life.”
“Who asked you anyway?
“Whatever, man. Let’s just find my car and get outta here.”
“I’m not sure I even want to go anymore.”
“I knew you were gonna say that. Dammit, Terry! Every time one little thing goes wrong, you immediately give up. That, more than anything else, is why you’ll end up stuck in this—how did you put it?—oh yes, ‘craphole.’”
“Enough with the lectures, Scott. Seriously. It’s like talking to my mom or something. Hey wait, is that it over there?”
Terry pointed at a car off to the left of where they were currently standing. Bedecked with a bevy of “hip” bumper stickers (“I’m No OBGYN, But I’ll Take a Look!”), and a vanity plate that read, “IMSCOTT,” it should have been hard to miss.
“I wonder how many times we walked past it,” Terry wondered aloud.
“Who cares? Let’s do this!”
“I still can’t believe what you picked for a vanity plate. ‘I’m Scott?’ What were you thinking?”
“I wanted one that no one else would have.”
“I can’t imagine why you had no competition for that one.”
“Oh, shut up, Terry. Where to?”
To be continued…
formspring
Gonna finish your story?
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Whoops! Forgot.
The Big Debut
Part Two of Sixteen
“If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times, Scott. You’re going to be fine. No use forcing yourself on any girl who crosses your path. You’ll regret it if you throw away our last few weeks trying in vain to score. Let’s just chill here for now. There will be plenty of time once we blow this popsicle stand for girls and all that crap.”
“Yeah, ‘girls all that crap.’ You really have a way with words, you know that? Really sums up life after school in a poetic manner. Well done.”
“Oh, shut up.”
“I mean it. Let’s just get out of here.”
“And go where, exactly?”
Scott hesitated for a moment, trying to come up with an idea that would actually pique Terry’s interest. “The movies?”
“Really? Go see a movie? That’s the best you can do?”
“Why not? I’m sure people do it all the time. That’s all I hear other people talking about in class. They’re all like, ‘hey, did you see that movie over the weekend?’ We’re bound to run into other people there.”
“What if I don’t want to run into other people?”
“Look, maybe you’re fine with being a hermit or whatever, but I’m not. I want to go, and you’re coming with me.”
“Okay, say I agree to help you satisfy this random craving for ‘doing stuff.’ What movie? What theater?”
“Who cares? We don’t need a plan. Let’s wing it.”
“It doesn’t work like that. We gotta have a gameplan if we’re gonna do this right,” Terry said, hoping to quell Scott’s momentum somewhat. The more animated Scott became, the more Terry became opposed to the idea of going out. It wasn’t that he hated the concept; he simply wasn’t too keen on the idea of leaving the warm, familiar confines of his apartment.
“Alright, fine! Let’s hit up the Cinema DeLux over at Fairfax Corner. They’ve got the stadium seating and kickass refreshments.”
“Not to mention the jacked up prices, but whatever. We got a theater. Now give me a show.”
“Let’s do ‘Coraline.’ It’s in 3-D! How ‘bout it? You get to wear the glasses and shit. It’ll be fun.”
“Ain’t that a kids movie?”
“Who gives a fuck? It’s not about the movie, it’s about the adventure. Let’s just have one night where we can look back and actually have a memory to attach to it.”
Paul Heyman on CM Punk
A good read, a must read for Punk, WWE, or Heyman fans. Good insight onto how the system works.
I WANT to publicly offer my most sincere compliments to World Wrestling Entertainment on the character development the audience is witnessing revolving around Smackdown’s world heavyweight champion CM Punk.
There are many reasons the proverbial glass ceiling in WWE is being shattered, at least for the moment, by the Straight Edge performer from Chicago, Illinois, but here’s one thing that can be stated as an “absolute”…
The CM Punk character is “in play”, and WWE is offering its audience the opportunity to come along for the ride and have an emotional investment in a genuinely interesting character.
When Punk first signed a WWE contract in 2005, he was thought of by the Internet fan base as a “can’t miss” prospect.
Punk was sent to the OVW Developmental System in Louisville, Kentucky to be groomed for the main roster. This was during the time I was assigned to write and produce the OVW Developmental television show.
Gabe Sapolsky, an assistant of mine from the original ECW who scripted Punk in Ring of Honor told me: “He will be a smash hit no matter how long it takes for them to realise it.”
Punk became the focal point of the OVW television show, and was the subject of the scouting reports I would send every other week to WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, Talent Relations Exec John Laurinaitis, Stephanie McMahon-LeVesque and the entire writing team.
Yet, of the 30-plus talents called up to the main roster during my seven months developing characters in OVW, Punk was never drafted to Raw or Smackdown.
While I understand that everyone views talents differently, I was always shocked at the lack of any vision whatsoever for such a hard worker and intriguing storyteller like Punk.
His subtle heel mannerisms in OVW were that of a seasoned professional and when he was presented as a babyface, his ability to connect with the crowd could not be denied.
So when I had to build a roster for the resurrected ECW brand, Punk was my first draft choice from the developmental system. That was a no-brainer.
Punk has had his growing pains in WWE, some of which can and should be directly attributable to the fact he was painted to Vince as a “Heyman guy”.
I always hated it when wrestlers were labelled as someone’s project. Punk was a WWE project, for WWE to profit on and from.
His progression should not have been derailed because others lacked the belief in him that I had nor because I was willing to fight to creatively protect a character that obviously connected with the audience and the audience with him.
But a while after my departure from WWE, when the need for a youth movement was evident, the focus started swaying back towards this uniquely charismatic individual.
Much in the way Rob Van Dam and Jeff Hardy are the antitheses of Vince McMahon’s vision of a true WWE superstar, Punk doesn’t talk like anyone else, wrestle like anyone else or present himself like anyone else on WWE’s roster.
That’s why his character works. It stands out.
When Punk won the Money In The Bank match for the second straight WrestleMania, no one in WWE could see the direction in which the product was headed.
Undertaker needed some time off. Shawn Michaels decided to take a much-deserved rest. Then came the whammy. Jeff Hardy wanted to go home, at least for a while.
The panic button was pushed.
The creative mandate was obvious. The youth movement was in full swing.
Randy Orton was the centre of the WWE Universe. Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase would be the ones to help him get his heat and the first line of defence when it came time for the babyfaces to shine like heroes.
Then there’s Chris Jericho. Despite banging on the “40 and over” club door, the presentation of Jericho makes him a new character and, since he has been injury-free his entire career, WWE could count on him.
But then there’s a lot of attempts to create new main event players, but nothing that’s catching on or taking hold.
The Colon Brothers are designed to appeal to the Latino audience, but the lack of emphasis on tag teams in WWE keeps them “luke warm” instead of “hot”, despite them being the unified champs.
MVP is now a babyface but there’s no reason yet for the audience to get behind him, besides that he might just be bedding one of the panellists from The View. Perhaps if WWE told the real life story of this reformed thug who spent almost a decade in US Federal Prison, only to rehabilitate himself and become a global superstar, fans would have a compelling reason to cheer on MVP for his riveting life story.
John Morrison is another character who has been presented as a babyface with nothing to entice the crowd to have a vested interest in his success. Morrison has everything it takes to become this generation’s Heartbreak Kid, but that ascent up the ladder will only commence when the audience is given a genuine reason to latch on to his rising star.
So with all eyes on Orton but HBK, Taker and Batista on the shelf and HHH needing time off too, the pushes of The Colons, Morrison and MVP needing time and TLC (Tender Loving Care from creative, not “Tables Ladders and Chairs”) and Kennedy and Umaga fired, WWE was reeling.
Add in the uncertain future of the popular Jeff Hardy, and what do you do?
WWE came up with a most interesting solution.
Put CM Punk in play.
When Jeff Hardy defeated the awesome Adam ‘Edge’ Copeland for the Smackdown version of the world title in a Ladder Match at Extreme Rules, the audience rejoiced
Then came the best moment in WWE since Orton punted Stephanie.
CM Punk came out, cashed in Money In The Bank and defeated Hardy for the championship.
He didn’t do it in heel fashion. He played by the rules.
All world champions must “defend themselves at all times” from the Sword of Damocles of the Money In The Bank winner cashing in that title contract.
The debate was on.
Was Punk a heel, making what could be at best described as an un-sportsmanlike decision by taking advantage of Hardy’s exhaustion, having just defeated The Rated R Superstar in such a gruelling battle?
Or was Punk a babyface, a ruthless man in a ruthless world, doing something no doubt The Rock or Stone Cold Steve Austin would have done if given half the chance?
In the coming weeks, I am sure Punk will display personality traits of both hero and villain. Fan favorite and subtle rulebreaker. Babyface and heel.
His character, based on his real life discipline of abstaining from drugs and alcohol, can be presented as both a man of principles and a champion who will do anything to remain in that position.
As Smackdown looks to hold onto its audience in the post-Jeff Hardy Fall Season 2009, the audience has a lot to be interested in.
What will Hardy’s send-off be like?
He surely has to be given time off. A man with two strikes in the Wellness Policy who speaks up publicly of his desire to go home for a while should not be pushed to stay on the road. That’s a recipe for disaster.
Where does Edge’s character go? Are their enough heroes to stand up in the face of adversity personified by heels Edge, Jericho, and Punk?
Is it time for the Vickie Guerrero-less Edge to become Smackdown’s Last Hope?
And what becomes of CM Punk?
Each week, as a new clue emerges for both sides of the heel v babyface debate, an uber-talented performer gets the chance to tease the audience, get them to care, make you wonder what’s next for a champion you absolutely know is “the character in play” on Smackdown.
When the audience knows the WWE Universe revolves around a pivotal superstar, it gives fans a reason to discuss the latest twists and turns with their friends, to watch the television shows and to purchase tickets to the live events as well as the monthly PPVs.
Every show featuring Punk becomes a “must-see” because his star is emerging, and you might just miss the event that kicks off the big push to WrestleMania season.
Or even just the next big clue as to where WWE is headed with his character and the world title picture.
With WWE sending out ill-advised press releases treating Donald Trump’s “purchase of Raw” as “real”, and a top tier that has unfortunately grown stale because of the lack of new matchups, World Wrestling Entertainment has found a reason for you to watch, care, and spend.
And that reason is CM Punk.
