Scene opens in the downtown streets of London. It's been several days after the volcanic eruption that has trapped tens of thousands of people in London and the surrounding areas of Europe. The sky is still a dark grey, casting a chilling coldness over the city. Showtime David Cougar is seen leaning against a street corner. He is dressed in shades and a trench coat. A small amount of rain bounces off his coat and the wind blows his hair around. We here his thoughts as he is standing there.
Redemption. It's as synonymous with my career as success, fame, or glory is. The achievements that I have claimed in my days in WZCW can only be attributed to the anguish of defeat and the desire to cast retribution upon the poor soul who wishes to steal the spotlight.
I had journeyed to London, to get a feel for what it would be like to be in my opponents skin. No longer than a day after I landed, the volcano that erupted in Iceland left a huge dark cloud over all of the UK, and has trapped me here longer than even I anticipated staying, to the point where I may only arrive on time to redemption. In a sense perhaps it is a good thing, as I really do now get to see what life could've been like on here for Big Dave, trapped on this island.
David walks the streets of London, down back alleys and across bridges. His thoughts can still be heard through each scene change as he is walking.
I remember the last time I was here, at Kingdom Come. It was to be the biggest moment of my career. Working in WZCW for a year, I'd have proven to all who opposed me that I was among the elite WZCW had, and my future would have no end as I stood among my kingdom, champion. Unfortunately, Big Dave stunned the world and especially myself when he defeated me, one, two, three. The history between us bled right through that ring. Neither man took any advantages heading in, neither man made any mistakes till the very end, and both us knew there would be hell to pay for the winner.
I walked the streets of London late that night, tired and sore, but wanting to get away from the arena, from the ring. I had to know what went wrong. Some fans stopped me along the way. They congratulated me on my hard fought match, three of them all wearing Big Dave t-shirts. They said they had never seen a wrestler move and perform like I did, and towards the end they began rooting for me. Several more fans came up and said the very same things. Dave was a local hero here, but I was slowly becoming a national treasure in the eyes of these fans. In his mind, Big Dave says he doesn't need any fans. He has turned his back on everyone who has helped and supported him, the people in London, Ricky, and Ace. Dave thinks he can become the best on his own, without support, and without honour. What Dave fails to realize is that the fans are this sport, that they are what makes a man kick out when he has nothing left in him to kick out with. Dave first saw that at Unscripted, when the unspeakable happened and he could not pin me for the life of him. Everyone there first got a glimpse of the drive that has fueled me with every match I've ever been in and that drive wouldn't be there without the fans who watch me.
I didn't believe it either one time long ago. Like Dave, I was once in it only for myself and the glory it brought me. People have come up and asked me, why all of the sudden change. I was once boisterous and proud, over zealous and egotistical. Many wondered how I went from trying to destroy Trevor to being Trevors friend. Well it all started with his son. I remembered first hand my childhood, how my father was never there and I spent my time home alone. Trevor loves his son and always wanted to be near him, with him. That's when I realized it wasn't all about me. The titles, the wins, my show, I did it all for me, but it should never have been about me. It was all along about the fans, the people who put there hard earn money down like the people here, to see men compete in the ring for supremacy. To be bludgeoned and broken and bleed profusely over the ring, but to never back down. I am here to give the fans that sort of match, to never back down from an opponent, and to give my all in the ring. I challenged Dave at Redemption to a best 2 out of 3 match to give the fans the greatest rematch they may ever see 2 or even 3 times. I did it so the real proven better wrestler would undoubtably be able to say that he was the better man that night, I did it because as Dave and I both know, he's one up on me, and The Show does not like to be one upped.
Showtime walks up to a private jet plane in the middle of an open field. The pilot salute him, which Showtime returns the favor and boards the plane. He sits down in the seat and faces a camera. For the first time, he speaks.
Cougar: Big Dave, I'll give credit where credit is due, you just might be the toughest opponent that I have ever faced and your rise to fame in this company has been equal to if not one tiny step ahead of me. But that is where my kindness towards you will end. You've spewed out from behind your snakes tongue that I had every advantage walking into Kingdome Come, my own terms, everything in my favour, tell me Dave, through all those claims what was there in that match that was in my favour. I was the one defending my belt, I was the one wrestling in your home country, the arena which you probably have been in over a dozen times. I made two tactical mistakes in that match, one, I injured your partner. Your partner Ace who was as much responsible for your success as you were. I took him out by fair play, and you can not deny that his career being prematurely ended did not stif some emotional charge inside of you.
And two, and this one is a big one, I had you beat. You and I both know it and in weeks you've tip toed around the subject. You've seen it last week against your buddy Karnage, you've seen it week in and week out with every tape you've watched of me, that I can hit The Final Act any time I want and when I do it spells the end of the show for you. I was boastourous, I was arrogant back then. I made the mistake of wanting to injure you and to end your career like I did to Ace. That won't be the case at Redemption. When I hit The Final Act on you, I'll be going for the cover, and just like it's called it will be lights out for you once... twice...
Dave, do you really think I will just let go what you did to Steel. Steel was the closest thing I had to a friend in WZCW, and you purposely put him out of action to make me feel the way you felt. Well Dave, I don't feel the way you do, not anymore. You talk about Ace, but you really talk about is yourself. You don't do this for anyone else, but yourself. At Redemption, it's not about me, and it's not about you. It will be about the fans, it will be about Trevors little boy at home, watching as his daddy's leg is in a cast. It will be about them cheering as I bash your head against the turnbuckle. Hooting and hollering as I hit you with a Backstage, and standing up and snapping pictures as I have you on the top rope and hit you with The Final Act. I will do this all for them, and break my leg or injure a dozen people if you have to, I won't stop until your shoulders are down or your hand is banging against the mat.
Dave, you are nothing but jealous of the fact that your country men cheered me on, that the fans adore my show, and the success that it has all brought me before you. So you tell them you don't need them, that you prefer silence as louder and more spoken than anything the fans can say. It all deep down makes your blood boil that the fans could respect someone other than you, so I'm going to give you what you want. I will walk down to the ring, no music, no crowd noise. I want you to listen to the silence as we begin our war, to let it sink in all that we have gone through and what we will go through inside that ring. To know that I am doing it for the fans, but when were inside of that ring, I'm going to be going straight for the jugular and taking back the title once worn proudly around my waist.
Do you remember what I told you before our match at Kingdom Come Big Dave? Why I said that you were the one who was going to win the league all along. I told you that was because you and I both know something the rest didn't. The feeling to be a champion in this company. The drive, the lust, the pure ecstasy in holding one. I told you that you and I both know what's that like, and the feeling one goes through when they do not have it. They crave that gold, and they will do anything to get it back. Well Dave now the tables have turned. You have the gold and I want nothing more than to take it back. That title, is like a drug to me, and my drive to reclaim it will go unextinguished. At Redemption Big Dave I could defeat you in any which way, by pinfall or submission, by count out or even DQ from you, that is no dream Dave, but simply a reality. A reality which I intend to make fact. You can try all you want to crush those dreams, to make them disappear, to make me feel inferior, but the one place you can never end those dreams is when I close my eyes and see myself standing above you.
Pilot: Fasten your seatbelts, we are ready for takeoff.
At Redemption Dave, there will be a moment of silence where you and I can ponder, that will be more chilling than steel on Steel and more haunting then sitting at Ace's bedside. That will be when your flying upside down, prepared to partake in your Final Act. And in the three seconds later, dreams will become reality.
David sits in silence as the plane takes off. He closes his eyes and as he does a live audience crowd can be heard in his head shouting Showtime! Showtime! Showtime! David smiles as he ponders one last thought.
Silence is something Dave can not create, not when they're cheering me for me all the way in London.
