“Are you sure you want to do this?”
The concern in the voice of Ava St. Claire, Professional Agent to the “All-Star” Gavin Taylor, resonates through. However, the steely gaze in Gavin’s eyes is more than enough to ward off any trepidation in her standing. He doesn’t answer, instead pacing with a mild limp on his left foot, clutching his stomach. There is an unspoken word between the two that tends to look like “Let’s do it”. Nodding her head, Ava steps through the door first, walking towards a podium in the middle of a media gathering room. Clearing her throat, she leans in.
“Okay,” she begins, stacking a few papers on the podium. “We’re going to make this brief tonight. Obviously things did not go as Gavin Taylor would have preferred it, but I’m going to let him explain it to you in his own words. If he is willing, there will be a brief question period. So please, take your seats and we can begin…”
Ava looks to the door, waving towards it. The door opens again, with Jack and Karl Barker stepping through the door first. They lead Gavin towards the podium, flanking either side of him as he steps to the microphone. He still walks with a slight limp and clutches his stomach. Placing his hands on either side of the podium, Gavin is clearly holding himself up with it. He closes his eyes, breathes deeply and, in a low, almost lifeless tone, begins to speak.
“Tonight,” Gavin begins. “I competed in the Supreme Championship Wrestling United States Championship tournament against Doctor’s recommendations.”
Immediately, a few of the reporters rise to their feet, hands in the air as they attempt to dig deeper into Gavin’s explanation. The All-Star raises his hand, sending the rambunctious crowd of reporters back to their seats.
“Yesterday, upon my arrival in Ottawa, I attended dinner at a local seafood restaurant,” Gavin begins. “It was there that I ordered my typical appetizer: scallops, followed up by a steak dinner, medium-rare like a normal person, with a caesar salad and a hasselback potato on the side. Approximately three hours later, I began to succumb to an upset stomach, with events that are too graphic for this forum to discuss. It turned out that I had been victim to undercooked scallops and, as a result, was subject to a case of food poisoning.”
Gavin pauses, soaking in the silence of the room for dramatic effect. Reaching to the side, Gavin procures a handkerchief from Karl Barker, dabbing his eyes before passing it off to the other side to Jack.
“It was tough,” he nods, showing an attempt at some humility, something Gavin is not known for in the slightest. “To be told I would be less than one-hundred percent for my tournament match against Selena Frost was demoralizing, to say the least. To know that I wouldn’t be able to give my all to that match… wow. To complicate matters, while I was at the gym trying to work through my health issues, I was victimized again by another assault. This time, while inside the change rooms, another patron tripped over his own two feet and staggered, landing with the full force of his weight in his heel pressing onto my toes. This caused my middle toe to bruise, encumbering my movement and leaving me with the limp you regarded as I entered this room.”
As Gavin again pauses for dramatic effect, one of the reporters stands up.
“Do you honestly expect us to buy…” he begins. However, the attention to his agency prompts Gavin to motion to his All-Star Security. Jack and Karl move from beside Gavin around to the crowd. They weave through the group, taking a hold of either arm and “helping” the individual out of the room. The door closes and Gavin’s A.S.S. returns to his side. Gavin nods in gratitude for his employees’ actions.
“I don’t want anyone to think that this is some kind of excuse,” Gavin continues. “It was my goal from the beginning to compete against Selena Frost because I believed that, even at sixty-six percent, I would be able to overcome and defeat her. But just because I was unsuccessful on this night does NOT mean my career is over. I still believe that, at one-hundred percent, I can defeat Selena Frost, and if the United States Championship would be on the line, well…”
Gavin smirks. Motioning for Jack and Karl to follow him, the trio exits the press conference, Gavin still keeping the limp in play. The door closes behind the trio as Ava moves to the microphone.
“There will be no questions at this time,” she says, closing the press conference completely.
~~~
“Tell me – is Supreme Championship Wrestling really in a better place today than it was two weeks ago?
Two weeks ago, we were in a new dawn… an opportunity to crown a new United States Champion to carry that particular Championship into Rise to Greatness weekend and, potentially, beyond into a new season of SCW. Instead today, we are here with Selena Frost as Champion… again! I mean think about it! Wouldn’t it be better with someone fresh as United States Champion? Someone new? Someone who hasn’t been gorging upon the spotlight of SCW for years?
Someone like… I don’t know… me?
Don’t get me wrong. The fans got a happy ending by seeing someone they wanted with the Championship, but really… that’s not the point, is it? You had a chance to see SCW as a whole advance and, quite frankly, you didn’t get it. But don’t fret… the time will come when Gavin Taylor wraps that United States Championship belt around this waist. Someday, the sun will set on the day of the glory hogs and rise on a new crop of talent… with the All-Star front and center.
And speaking of the sun setting on glory hogs…
You know, I shouldn’t have been surprised at the actions of Jay Gold and Jake Starr against me two weeks ago. Gold has had it in for me ever since he put my life at risk in Trios. Starr realized he couldn’t throw me out of Taking Hold of the Flame and ended up costing me by getting us both tossed. But two weeks ago was something else…
I defeated Jay Gold in the tournament. That will go down in the annals of history and that is a fact that pisses Jay Gold off. Here he is… Hall of Fame career. The first Supreme Champion. And ever since he came back, outside of one fluke, I have had his number. It has to bother him. After all, fifteen years ago, he was hot shit. Today? Well… it’s been fifteen years, and things cool down. So you probably know where I’m going with that.
So after suffering another defeat at the hands of a superior athlete, he snaps. Goes after me in a tantrum, and allows Jake Starr to get some “revenge” for what? A bit of absolution? For Aubrianna Powers and I giving him a small taste of the karma one gets for trying to hold on too long. See, Jake Starr and Jay Gold really are birds of a feather… but their flock has flown south and they’re here on their own trying desperately to maintain some level of relevance. They want to scratch and claw against a generation that has passed them by and here we are today because of that.
Gavin Taylor. Aubrianna Powers. Taking on the relics of yesteryear, Jay Gold and Jake Starr. Another desperate ploy in their setting careers, an attempt to eternally damage the long-term health of this company. Because that’s what they do. They don’t care about SCW any more than Selena Frost does. They care about padding their careers out at any cost, even if that means damaging the future. Because long after people wise up and realize that Starr and Gold belong in a retirement home, I’m still going to be here. I can’t speak for my partner in this match, but I think she’ll still be here. So who does it benefit to give these old farts an opportunity to degenerate the future of SCW? Only them. They are literally the only ones who gain anything out of even being in the same conversation as me.
But what do I gain by putting a couple of overrated has-beens out to pasture? You look at me and see the man who shone the light on the fading relevance of Jay Gold and Jake Starr. You see tomorrow’s superstar today. You see the man who is going to not only match their accomplishments, but make them appear insignificant by comparison.
That’s me.
Because once the world sees how easily Gavin Taylor and Aubrianna Powers takes care of business, they won’t care about Jake Starr and Jay Gold any longer. There will be nothing left to care about from them, and they can ride off into the sunset of obscurity where they belong knowing that those still there are so much better than they could ever be today.
That’s the All-Star way. That’s where SCW moves forward and the deadweight gets left in the dust. That time is coming. Just you wait…”
"The All-Star" Gavin Taylor 