[REC.]
The scene opens up to the Infotainment Now! opening theme. As the images of various top Hollywood stars like Callista Christos and Sebastian Blake are interspliced with images of less-than-elites, shots of the show’s venerable hosts pop between with names. Tonight, as the opening credits clear, we see that it’s somehow-always-around Sadie Sierra manning (or wo-manning? is that how that works?) the desk. Sadie smiles, her blue eyes almost-literally piercing the camera under her raven-black hair, as she begins.
Sadie: “We have a jam-packed show for you tonight, but right off the top…”
An image of “The All-Star” Gavin Taylor appears in the corner of the screen, right over Sadie’s left shoulder, which appears on the right of our screen.
Sadie: “We have learned that Network spokesperson, Gavin Taylor, has been cast in a role in an upcoming Canadian Broadcast Network series, “Corner Crick”. The series, which is set to follow the antics of a formerly-wealthy family forced to leave their Los Angeles lives behind and settle down in a small, rural Saskatchewan town…”
[PAUSE]
[/REC.]
That was all that Ava St. Claire needed to see as she holds the remote control in her hand. The Agent to the All-Star – to many, his most-trusted confidante – sets the remote down on the desk in front of her before bringing her hands up to her face. She rubs her eyes a bit as she sighs, considering what she had just watched.
“So your big “money-making” idea is to cast Gavin Taylor, a wrestler, in a Schitt’s Creek knock-off?” she asks incredulously. Lifting her head out of her face, she looks at the subject across the table – certainly not the All-Star himself. Rather, it is the man who has become something of a personal nemesis to him… Network CEO Michel Corbeau. The man, who seems to have made it his goal to play with Gavin as though he were a mouse in a den of cats, has forgone his typical suit in favour of a short-sleeved button-down shirt and pressed blue jeans – certainly not typical apparel for a man with Corbeau’s power. He smiles as he sits back, fiddling a business card between his fingers. “Are you out of your mind? Gavin’s never acted before, and you want to throw him out on this project that’s more than likely going to fail?”
“I disagree, Ms. St. Claire,” Michel responds. For all of his antagonism of The All-Star and his team, Corbeau hasn’t overtly taken any action that could have been construed as anti-Gavin. Instead, his approach has been subtle, possibly overblown, as he seeks to undermine the foundation upon which Gavin Taylor stands. “Corner Crick is currently pegged as one of the Network’s must-see projects, and having Gavin involved in his is only going to raise his stock and, ideally, open him up to a world beyond the ring should he choose it. I’m talking things like Stephen King series, 80’s movie remakes, even live theatre!”
“Live theatre?” Ava raises an eyebrow as Michel nods his head. “Have you heard Gavin sing?”
“I understand he’s quite a hit at karaoke bars,” Corbeau responds. “But that’s beyond the point. For all of his… annoyances… Gavin Taylor does possess a certain quality that could translate well to the small screen, the big screen, even on stage. He has spent so much time fermenting himself as a performer and a talker that, if we’re honest, we’d be foolish not to explore this avenue.”
“But acting?” she asks yet again, attempting to break through to Corbeau’s corporate-speak and appeal to his sensibilities… sensibilities that we’re not yet certain he actually possesses. “Had Gavin ever actually expressed a desire to act before you pushed him to this audition?”
“Oh, the Gavin Taylors of the world don’t need to audition, Ms. St. Claire,” Corbeau responds with mild derision. Ever since he and the Network re-entered Gavin’s stratosphere, he had found himself at odds with each member of Gavin’s team, but none more than Ava, his agent. “Gavin is a celebrity… series like this thrive on bringing eyes to the product, and for better or worse, Gavin Taylor brings eyes to a product. All I needed to do was head to Regina… lovely place, by the way… and call in a favour from an old flame. Plus, as a Caucasian male, he could find gainful employment in acting long after he decides to hang up the wrestling boots for good.”
“You didn’t answer my question,” Ava points out.
“No, I suppose I didn’t,” Michel responds cheekily. “Look, you and I both know that in the wrestling business… or any athletic venture, for that matter… those involved in the meat and potatoes of it have expiration dates. It’s my desire to see Gavin Taylor’s usefulness prolonged to everyone’s benefit. After all, it would be a pity to see someone devote so much to the industry that they find themselves incapable of living a life beyond it. Accidents happen so readily.”
“Stop avoiding my question!” Ava slams her hands on the desk, increasingly frustrated at Corbeau’s politician-like need to dodge the point. “Because Gavin never indicated to me that he wanted any acting gigs!”
“And if he did, would you have sought them for him?” Michel asks, tilting his head.
“I would have helped him assess his priorities to ensure he was making the right decision for him,” she responds. “That’s what agents are supposed to do. It isn’t about blindly letting your clients jump out of airplanes without knowing their backpack has a parachute in it!”
“Good analogy,” Michel says with condescension dripping from his voice, almost applauding Ava. “But if we’re honest, you and I both know that Gavin Taylor doesn’t need much of a push to do something that will get him the spotlight. He’s a junkie for fame, Ms. St. Claire. He got his first hit as a child… some silly little league trophy that got him believing his only future was in athletics. He rode that wave through high school, to a college scholarship, to the point it nearly destroyed him. His college injury costing him a spot in every single draft he was set to participate in? That should have been it there… that should have been where his athletic pursuits ended. But he still felt the only way for him to gain notoriety would be through athletic competition, which dragged him to the front steps of professional wrestling. Now, he’s going to see what kind of adrenaline rush celebrity without the nastiness of wrestling’s wear and tear can bring. This is for the best… trust me.”
Michel smiles as his “trust me” remark sends chills down Ava’s spine. He reaches down into his briefcase, revealing a bottle of Pelee Island Bourbon Barrel Reserve Baco Noir.
“But this is a happy occasion, is it not?” he says, holding out the bottle. “You and I should celebrate it.”
“I’m not interested in celebrating with you,” Ava says as she shifts forward. “Now please find your way out of my office. We have nothing more to discuss.”
“As you wish, Ms. St. Claire,” Michel half-smiles, returning the bottle to his briefcase as he stands up. He heads towards the door, stopping as it is opened and looking back. “You know, you and I could make a marvelous team.”
“Again, not interested,” Ava says coolly. Michel nods his head…
“As you wish,” . …and steps out of the room, closing the door behind him. Ava shakes her head, looking back to the television to see Gavin’s image paused in the top right of her screen. She shakes her head as she mutters to herself.
“What have you done, Gavin?”
Without any answers, or anyone in the vicinity to even answer them, Ava falls back into her seat, shaking her head as she considers the ramifications of this news.
“Fuck, I should have taken his wine,” she remarks to herself as the scene cuts…
Gavin Taylor stands in front of a mirror, some papers in hand. Presently, he’s not dressed for the public, clad in one of his SCW-branded baseball jerseys (available NOW for the low low price of $39.95 at SCWMerch.com) worn with at least three buttons undone, some white, black, and blue plaid shorts. As he looks at himself in the mirror, Gavin laughs.
“But you know, it’s funny…” he begins, partway through what seems to be a prepared answer. “When I first got the call offering me the lead in Corner Crick, I was a bit surprised. After all, I wasn’t actively seeking acting work, you know? I’m an athlete… that’s my bread and butter. But as I read the script and, especially, the character I will be playing, I grew to appreciate it’s nuances and pathos.”
Gavin looks at the page again, squinting as he does.
“Is that right?” he asks someone nearby. “Nuances and pathos?”
Seated behind Gavin in a rather comfortable-looking chair is Gavin’s Network-appointed “confidante”, Sofi de Fabiani. She doesn’t appear completely invested in the moment, at least not as much as The All-Star is, as she fiddles away on her iPhone, but she nods along anyway. .
“Yeah, sounds great,” she says in the most wooden manner possible. Gavin shakes his head.
“What are you even doing on that thing?” he asks. “You should be providing me with honest feedback. Or at least posting pictures on Twitter… you know. Generate interest for the project.”
“How will pictures of me generate interest for your TV show?” Sofi asks, lowering her phone as she raises an eyebrow. It was a good point.
“I don’t know,” Gavin shrugs. “Maybe someone will see your pictures, Google you, find out you’re associated with me, Google me, then find out about the show. Long-term game plan here!”
“If people are looking at my pictures,” she says, a smirk on her face. “I doubt they’ll go any farther than more of my pictures.”
Gavin was stumped and, for a departure of his usual character, speechless. Still, he looks at her incredulously until she rolls her eyes and…
“Fine,” ,,,relents. She steps to the mirror near Gavin and snaps a picture of herself and, after a few strokes of her thumb across the surface of her phone, posts the picture to her Twitter. “Happy?”
“No need to get snippy with me,” Gavin responds. “I still don’t even know why Corbeau thought I needed to have a new “confidante”. As if Ava, Jack, and Karl don’t give me enough sounding boards to confide in when Maddie isn’t around.”
“Maybe he thought I could provide more unbiased feedback,” Sofi responds, moving back to her seat. Gavin shrugs.
“Maybe,” he begrudgingly agrees. “He does seem like he’s always trying to provoke me into doing something, anyway. But still, this TV gig is pretty cool. I mean, it’s not every day you get called out of the blue and offered the lead in a much sought-after television series.”
“A lead,” Sofi corrects him. Gavin, however, brushes off her correction.
“Tomato, to-mah-to,” he says. “When you get the name for the marquee, you’re set for success. Why do you think they cast Kennedy Street for Resistance: Earth or Deep Cover? Publicity!”
“Perhaps,” Sofi begins in rumination. “But don’t you find it a bit strange that you get this call for this television part just a week after your last meeting with Mr. Corbeau? After he tried to buy the “All-Star” trademark from you?”
Gavin had thought about the timeline. If he were telling the truth, he would tell Sofi here that it did concern him, and that he was certain that this part was part of Corbeau’s nefarious, almost cartoony supervillain plan to exploit and ruin him. He would tell the woman Corbeau assigned to his side that he didn’t trust their boss, and that he didn’t fully trust her. But all of that would require Gavin to tell the truth.
“Not really,” he lies to her face. Sofi, however, can tell it’s a lie, and she rolls her eyes as it passes through her ears. She knew Gavin didn’t trust her, which was why she hadn’t and couldn’t tell him what she knows… the truth – as she understands it – about Corbeau’s lecherous intent and lust for his wife. Because any of that would sound even crazier than “The Network that once paid half of your salary wants you to work to justify the payments issued eight years ago”…
And we wouldn’t want to be that crazy, would we?
Where were we again? Oh… right. Gavin looks back to the mirror, continuing to recite his rehearsed answers to questions that have not yet been asked.
“I have always looked at acting as a way to expand my brand beyond the wrestling ring and into the mainstream hearts and minds of the world,” Gavin says, understanding that he is, in fact, lying through his teeth. “I would watch the movies that Shaun Cruze put out… the Dependables films that my loving wife, Madison, are involved in… and I would think to myself “Self, you could do that”.
Sofi audibly groans at the scripted self-praise, but to Gavin’s credit (or detriment), he is able to ignore it.
“The series is set to film this summer during the break after Rise to Greatness,” Gavin says. “I should have plenty of time to go out there, nail my stuff in a single take… like I always do… and still be in tip-top shape when we go back on the road. I’m very excited about it.”
Gavin clears his throat, shuffling one paper aside in favour of another.
“No, I’m not concerned about the publicity interfering with my SCW duties,” he says, his voice beginning to waver. “After all, giving back to the people is what Gavin Taylor is all about. I’m proud of my crafts… all of them… and give one-hundred and ten percent every time I go out to do anything, really. You would think that may lend to overacting, but it won’t.”
He grows continually agitated for some reason until finally he snaps off…
“This press conference is over!” Gavin throws the papers around, moving back to a chair next to Sofi, who is visibly shaken by what she had just witnessed.
“Gavin?” she hesitantly asks, her hand moving to his forearm as Gavin seemingly sulks where he sits. “Are you…?”
“Motherfucker asked about my cold streak,” Gavin blurts out, pulling his arm away from the young woman’s hand. “As if I don’t already have enough going on. This was supposed to be about me and my new project… but NoooOOooOOoo… they had to make it about that!”
“Gavin… who?” Sofi asks the incredibly logical question. “There’s no one here but you and me.”
Gavin looks around, almost embarrassed at the outburst. It was becoming abundantly clear to him that his recent misfortunes are really getting under his skin. I mean, he just snapped at imaginary questions asked in a hypothetical environment.
“No… I guess there isn’t,” Gavin agrees. “But there will be. When this presser happens, there’ll be a room full of prying eyes and ears that are just looking… just waiting to hear me talk about my cold streak. I can just hear their condescension now… how they’ll look at me almost with pity in their eyes. Can you believe that? Them pitying me? Fucking ingrates!”
Sofi appears to be a bit concerned… like actual, human concern… about Gavin’s mental state. The All-Star sits back on his seat again, shaking his head, at an absolute loss of what he’s thinking.
“It’s just…” he trails off. Sofi shifts forward a bit, listening intently. “If I’m not The All-Star, who am I?”
Sofi’s eyes betray a sense of nerves, though Gavin wouldn’t notice it. Still, she tries to slide forward on her seat, leaning in front of Gavin’s head – although he doesn’t turn to face her back.
“Being “The All-Star” isn’t what defines you,” she says tentatively, attempting to diffuse what could be a volatile situation. “You’re not a moniker. You’re allowed to go through ups and downs. It’s okay… to not be okay.”
“Huh,” Gavin scoffs, finally turning his head to face the young woman. “When did you become such a cliché factory?”
“Life’s just a bunch of clichés,” she remarks, a little more confident in this than her supportive words to The All-Star. “That’s why they’re clichés… because they’re so recurrent in our day to day lives.”
“Yeah,” Gavin nods his head, agreeing with the point… or at least understanding it. It’s tough to read him sometimes and, in the midst of an uncharacteristic breakdown, it is one of those times. Still, he appears to at least get what Sofi is saying to the point that he’s able to assuage her concerns. “I guess you’re right.”
“Besides, there are All-Stars in all walks of life,” she keeps going, thinking she’s struck the right chord. “Sports, acting, doctors, lawyers, garbage men…”
“I’m going to stop you right there because you were doing so well,” Gavin responds, his hand in the air hear Sofi’s face. The young woman stops talking. “Let’s not water down my life’s work by saying any Tom, Dick, or Harry can be an “All-Star”…”
“I’m just saying,” she responds a bit defensively. “Letting people know that they can be All-Stars too… just like you… that could be one heck of a marketing campaign.”
“What do…” Gavin begins to respond, but the hamster wheel inside his head begins spinning at an impossible-to-attain pace. “The “All-Star Too” campaign? Let John Average believe that he is like me, and…”
“Maybe get John Average to begin supporting you… make a fan out of him,” Sofi responds, tapping her forehead. “Maybe if he thinks he’s in the same league as you, he’ll want to see you succeed so he succeeds…”
“Instead of wanting me to fail to vindicate his own failures,” Gavin ends her thought… kind of.
“Kind of,” Sofi confirms. Gavin, for all of his faults and flaws, begins to smile… believing that they are onto something here.
“The “All-Star Too” campaign,” he muses again, almost in a singsong manner. “Don’t settle for less… whatever you do, be an All-Star at it.”
Sofi can’t contain herself, and a smile cracks on her face. Gavin nods as he looks around.
“Ava!” he calls out, oblivious to the fact that she’s not in this scene. “Jack! Karl!”
“They’re not here,” Sofi points out very correctly. Gavin looks around a little bit longer before he comes to register that fact that no, they aren’t in this scene. Instead, he looks to Sofi.
“You got a pen and paper?” he asks her. Sofi shakes her head.
“Only this,” she responds, holding up her cell phone. Gavin nods his head.
“Then start taking notes,” he instructs.
“Excuse me?”
“I’m going to need notes about this if we’re going to present it to Ava and The Network,” Gavin verifies. “So come on… there’s a notes app on there, isn’t there?”
“Um, yeah,” Sofi responds.
“Good,” Gavin nods his head. He pulls himself out of his chair and begins pacing again. “So start taking things down…”
“Alright, alright,” she responds, going into her phone apps again. Gavin begins rattling off ideas as the scene shifts…
[REC.]
“Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Gavin Taylor, and if you’ve been in a coma or living under a rock since January, have I got an update for YOU!
There’s a new President in the United States, which some say is the cause of increased gas prices while others say results in general entertainment and abject horror at the daily news is in a downward spiral. But that’s okay, because you can stay home and watch me on television, whether it’s in my upcoming series or on Supreme Championship Wrestling Breakdown.
Yes, the All-Star, who many believe is the greatest professional wrestler alive… just do me a favor and don’t ask them… appears on your television sets every Thursday night when Breakdown goes to air! I have become such a fixture in that company that when you do tune in, and it’s well worth your time to do so, you will see this handsome visage in the opening credits of the program! It’s no small feat, either. It took dedication and perseverance to build myself up to the point where I qualified to be in that intro. Also, you may or may not notice that there’s a new official poster for the next pay per view… and this one is a doozy… Taking Hold of the Flame. This poster is so official that SCW’s official Twitter page has already shared it, and we’re still weeks from the event. And who do you see on that image? In addition to a few other people, you see me… The All-Star!
This despite the fact that, if you are that person who’s been in a coma or living under a rock, you’d now be surprised to learn that I haven’t won a match since January.
I know… I know… it’s shocking, isn’t it? But for whatever reason, I just… I haven’t been able to put it all together when it mattered. I talk a big game, I know. And when the bell rings, I put on a big performance, but lately I’ve just been falling short. I haven’t been the best version of Gavin Taylor. I haven’t been Big Match Gav.
Which is why this coming Breakdown is so important for me, because I get to go one on one with another big match performer… Big Match Dave…id Helms.
Dave and I have a rather… interesting history. Maybe no interesting like something you’d care to read about in a book or something, but it’s interesting to me. And, since I am the one talking here, that’s really all that matters. I first encountered him when he was retired from wrestling, brought into UWA to be an authority figure while I was trying to get to the top of the company there. From there, he came out of retirement here in SCW and I eventually made my way over. Since then, we’ve faced each other a few times. He’s won some… I’ve almost won others. Big Match Dave… fuck that’s a good moniker… he even came out last year at Taking Hold of the Flame and won the whole she-bang… the entire enchilada… the whole kit-and-kaboodle. He has been successful while I have been going through the motions of success. I’ve been wracking my brain trying to figure out how Dave and I differ… what does he have that I don’t? How is he able to successfully navigate through the treacherous waters of Supreme Championship Wrestling while I get used as cannon fodder for other competitors to get off of their cold snaps? And then I figured it out…
It’s you.
No… not “you” as in specifically you. But you, the general idea that the SCW audience represents. The fact that you respect your favorites to the point that you’re willing to sacrifice your voices to express that support. You see, there was once upon a time that I was a beloved Champion of the People. At that time, it didn’t matter that I got on temporary cold snaps because out of the cold always came gold. Gavin Taylor was an international success story everywhere in the world… Mexico, Australia, the United States, Canada… it didn’t matter where on the globe we were or how thick the accents were. I was a hero! And yes, somewhere along the way I stopped being that hero because it wasn’t profitable, but that’s not the point! The point is you have this weird, symbiotic relationship with some of the talent that helps them be better in the ring and propel them above those of us you’re maybe jealous of. I feel so foolish for having not seen it earlier… you are the key, viewer. And so I say to you…
Turn me!
No, don’t physically get into the ring or come up to me on the street and try to actually turn me. Are you kidding? That’s pretty gross… I don’t know where those hands have been. But I am here to be a man respected again… no. A man worthy of being respected. I thought long and hard about what that could entail… how I would go about earning that respect again. I’ve been around the business for a long time… I even played the part of a “good guy” to get into your good graces in an absolute ruse that landed me both the IWC World Tag Team and Evolution Championships… and man… you guys bought into that one hook, line, and sinker! Whew! That was a good time…
But I need you to forget about that now, and I need to do something that will prove to you that my heart… my intentions are pure. I want you to not only hear my words, but to listen to them, because they are very important…
No. More. Shortcuts.
I have, over the course of my career, used any number of shortcuts to get ahead and get what I wanted. Don’t sound so surprised… it’s a well-documented fact. I mean, one time I threw a pot of hot water into someone’s face to get a victory. Granted, it was a no holds barred match, so totally legal in the confines of it, but still… who does that? Well, I did that. Key word: did. Because I don’t want to be that way any more. From now on, with Breakdown as my first step, I’m a recovering shortcutter. You could say this is day one of my shortcut recovery… an affliction which, ironically, has no shortcuts to recovery.
For you, David, this may be a big match… and as Big Match Dave, you are known to thrive in these instances. But for me, this match is so much bigger than that. You were the second in my cold snap. You beat me, and really that set me down the path I’m on now… because if I beat David Helms three months ago, I go on and defeat Xander Valentine, become SCW United States Champion of the World, and we’re not having this conversation today. I should bring every ounce of hatred and every trick I have. But I’m not. New leaf and all, so all I’m going to do is thank you. Thank you for beating me those months ago. Thank you for sending me down this cold snap. Thank you for contributing to my slump, because without it… without you, I don’t get the awareness necessary to identify my own flaws. I don’t get the chance to figure out how I can improve upon them. I am going to be a better man because of it. I’m going to be a better competitor because of it. So thank you.
Also… thank you for being the one to finally help me put this cold snap to bed. Thank you for being the one to help me overcome my own hang-ups and once again become the world class, elite competitor I know I am! Your service will undoubtedly prove to be invaluable as I stand at the precipice of the All-Star Summer!”
"The All-Star" Gavin Taylor 