Chapter View

Postscripts

Setting the Bar

No Shot

This Is The Beginning

Would'a Could'a Should'a

The Big Man on Campus

And STILL Spelling Bee Champeen of the World

Writing on the Wall




The Big Man on Campus

(CUT TO: "The Big Man On Campus" JJ DeVille is walking amongst fellow students on the quad at NC State University, bookbag over his left shoulder, and a spit-cup for tobacco in his right hand.)

JJ: The CSWA... the name alone means something special. It means more than most other... than ALL other... professional wrestling leagues. It's the granddaddy of them all. The CSWA is the Indy 500. The World Series. The Super Bowl. The CSWA invented this sport, it defined this sport, and it stands alone as the greatest promotion to ever exist.

To be a champion in the CSWA... means that you are something special. Something legendary. It means you are amongst the best of the best. That no matter wherever you go, someone will recognize you. It means that you have a legacy, it means that you can hang your hat on something, it means that you have absolutely nothing to ever be ashamed of in your career.

(JJ spits into his cup. He shakes his head and sneers at the ground. Then he pauses.)

Unless your name is JJ DeVille.

You see, I grew up not too far from the Merrit Auditorium, a scrawny little kid without a lot of friends who dreamed one day of being a giant star like his heroes. I did whatever I could, by hook or by crook, to get that opportunity... and time and time again I was denied. Finally, one day, I was presented with an offer by a man I thought was the coolest human being to ever walk the earth, "Hurricane" Eddy Love. He said... kid... if you do whatever I tell you to do, I'll make sure you get a spot on the next card. And I did just that.

I spent the next few years at his and Troy Windham's beck and call. Washing the windows. Cleaning their boots. Being their court gesture, all so I could have the honor of getting my ass beat by the illustrious "Luscious" Lance Leisure in under two minutes. I humiliated my friends, my family, myself... all so I could have a chance at one day being a champion.

And that day came. YOu look in the record books, and you will see that I... JJ DeVille... was briefly the CSWA's Greensboro Champion. A championship title that launched the careers of damn near anyone who means anything in this sport.... a championship title I didn't deserve to hold, and the one thing that I am the most ashamed of in my career.

You see, one of the things that Eddy and Troy had me do was pester paralegals and attorneys, reading case law... working my way through the legal system so they could gain any advantage possible, even in the courts of this country of ours... I cut promo after promo where I filed junk lawsuits on their behalf, just to tie their opponents into court cases. But along the way, while scouring the CSWA rulebook, I found a legitimate opportunity, a glaring loophole, for me to jump on.

To win the CSWA Greensboro, one had to actually be a resident of The Piedmont City, which I was since birth. I succesfully sued to have the current champion... Shane Southern... stripped of his title, and had it delivered to me. That... that is how I won CSWA gold.

(JJ spits his chaw into the cup.)

Shane Southern is a legend of this sport. Shane Southern is a man who competed harder than any human being ever did in this sport. Shane Southern is a man who built himself into a hall-of-famer. And he did it by living with a code. By having integrity. By never, ever, taking a short cut to get to the top of this industry.

Not like me.

Shane Southern, I know you're out of the business today. But if you hear me, if you get this... I just want to tell you... I'm sorry for what I did all those years ago. I... I was a misguided little kid, and I made wrong choices in whom I looked up to when I first broke into the business. My role models were two guys who'd do anything to get ahead... and all along, it should have been you.

(JJ spits more chaw into the cup.)

That's why, Shane Southern... that's why I'm dedicating my next match to you. I won my first title at your expense, and I did it the wrong way. Now? Now... if me and my tag partner Bobby Karma can get past our opponents at the next CSWA televised event... I get a chance to make things right. I get a chance to win my next title... this time, legitimately. No cheating. No chicanery. Just by being a better man in the ring. Straight up. Party's Over.

Just one question, Shane, if you're watching...

(JJ spits all the chaw out and tosses the cup on the ground.)

How the hell did you chew this sh*t? It tastes gross! I need a Cherry Coke! (FTB)