07-02-2019, 11:59 PM
[Summer time. San Francisco, California. The camera is shaky. The sky is dark. A bonfire is happening in the backyard of someone's house. There's a few people around the fire, drinking. Few others playing corn hole, drinking. Music is blaring. Somewhere, Max Kane is around the bonefire, dressed in just a leopard print vest and blue jeans shorts and a pair of shades of his face.]
Max: Sticks!
[Max yells towards the shaky camera.]
Max: Hey! Sticks! Hey!
[Max waves at his best friend, who's holding the camera.]
Max: Let's go inside. Yeah?
[Max grabs his bottle of beer off the ground and heads towards the camera. Sticks follows him through the backdoor and into a hallway. The hallway then leads to a dark basement.]
Max: Where's the fucking light to this place?
Sticks: It's over here.
Max: Over there?
Sticks. Yeah.
Max: Good. Turn it on.
[The basement gets some lighting. Max finds a chair and sits on it, reverse style. He takes a quick chug of his bottle, then places it down on the ground.]
Max: i don't fucking know when this thing is going to go up. I'll figure it out. It's fucking summer time. It's sunny everywhere. Warm. Don't have to worry about the cold and shit. It's always a party. Always. It's also..
[Max takes another swig of his bottle.]
Max: It's also..Rise to Greatness season. Best time to be in SCW. Everyone's running around with their fucking heads off their bodies, trying to get themselves into the big show. Everyone wants to be seen and look good and fucking make statements. Leave messages. All that shit. Half of them couldn't even send a statement if they had a fucking pen and paper. But we love it. Every year. We can't look away. Who's coming back? Who's main eventing? What are the matches? Good shit. Always a party.
[Max fake a toast to the camera.]
Max: Cheers.
[Max chugs a few more times.]
Max: Always a fucking party.
[He then rubs his face a bit.]
Max: Breakdown's heading to San Jose this week, too. That'll be fun. Don't have to take any connecting flights to get there. It right around the corner. Might as well be a home field advantage for me. Maybe. San Fran and San jose different. But, Bay Area is Bay Area right Alexis Quinne?
[A small laugh escapes his mouth.]
Max: You know, at this point, I'm not surprised by anything that happens in this business. That's one the lessons i learned waaaaay back when I was scrapping, when I was crawling, when i was jumping, when i was running and grinding and driving from place to place to make like $45 a pop and cleaning up the place after the wrestling was done an then scrambling back to work some bullshit dead end jobs and then going back to my Dad to pay that rent that left me broke as shit then back to my fucking bed so where I only got like four hours of sleep before I got back up, started my day and did it all over again. One of the lessons i learned then was anything you can think of that can happened, probably will happen. Part of me thinks it's cool to see on the card that i'm going to be in the ring with Jake Starr. The whole you watch certain people when you were growing up and now you're trying to punch them in the face type deal. It's not like I never thought it was impossible, but shit like that is kinda crazy.
[Max rubs a hand through his black hair.]
Max: I'm glad you decided to get off your stupor Jake to come back and make some extra money so you can..uh...go back to your expensive lifestyle.
[Max chuckles.]
Max: I don't know why you're back, buddy. I don't know. Maybe you pissed your money away or something. Maybe retirement wasn't going well for you or you thought those Gen Z's would fucking forget who you were. I wouldn't be surprised. But you're back. Just waltzing right back here in SCW. Your video was cute, buddy. Vintage Jake Starr. The whole thing was glossy. Expensive. Nostalgic. All you legends bank on fucking nostalgia. You gotta play the hits when you come back on your multiple come back tours.
[Max takes his bottle and takes a swig.]
Max: And it's not like you're watching or keeping track on what's going on. I could say a few things about you having to get one of your producers to tell you who I was. I could call it tacky. Predictable for someone in your shoes, a legend, talking to someone like me, a guy that's trying to become one. I'm just make it to Rise to Greatness, buddy. That's where I'm at. Still scrapping, still crawling, still punching, still kicking, still jumping, still running, still breathing as hard as any of my peers. Maybe one day, buddy, I'll be in your shoes and some fucking kid is going to step up to me and I won't have enough brain cells in my head to even remember who they were.
{Max laughs.]
Max: Shit. Who am I kidding? If I'm able to walk at your age, I'll take that as a win. But I have a question for you. You may not know who I am. You might and you might just be trying to fuck with me. But let's just assume that you don't have a clue who Max Kane is, fuck it. I just want to ask you this question. Real simple question, Jake. Painless. And if you could, I would appreciate if you could dignify me with a response, buddy.
[max takes a sip of his beer as small chuckles come out of his mouth.]
Max: Are you afraid to fail?
[He presses his lips together, the silence overtaking him and Sticks. His eyes never leave the camera.]
Max: Are you, after all that you've done and all that you've accomplished, are you afraid to fail?
[Max extends his arms, "waiting" for a response.]
Max: When I was eight years old. My Mom would take to the beach and her and my Dad, they use to surf. They used to wait for the waves, see the ones they liked and then they would go after it. it was fun to watch. Eventually I kept watching them ride those waves and I kept watching them go after those waves and I keep jumping up and down rooting them on an I kept getting excited when one would come to them and I would keep screaming shouting.
[He pauses.]
Max: That eventually...I wanted in on that action, Jake. Even then i wasn't a spectator. I needed to feel what that felt like. I needed to do it to feel it. I needed to know what it felt like to ride a wave. So I convinced them to do so. First time I tried, I was gun ho, went for it, almost drown.
[He pauses again.]
Max: I almost drown. Had it not been for some lady that saw me chase after those wave that i had no fucking chance of riding. There was also this time, I was like ten years old. And there was this girl that i liked. And I was really shy around her. I didn't know how to act or how to approach her Jake. One day I was like fuck it, I got to try it. if I don't try to make my move, aint' shit going to happen. So it's lunch time and she's sitting where she normally sits in the cafeteria. So it's my time. I'm going to sit next to her and I'm going to make it clear what I think. i fucking tie over my shoe laces, the fucking pudding lands on my face, in my hair. The chocolate milk splashes all over my fucking shirt. Everyone laughed. She never gave me the light of day.
[He laughs a bit.]
Max: Last year, Jake, since you weren't around last year and you didn't bother tuning into your TV set. I was on Rise to Greatness and I had one objection. Win the Tag Team titles for the True Love Twins and for Beauty Factory. There was money to be made and i wanted to personally do it myself. I didn't need a partner. I didn't want Jack or Savali or Dante. I can do this shit. I'm Max Kane. I got it. Jake, I went for a dive and Abigail lindsay pushed the Twins in front of her and I landed on them. Lost them the Tag Team titles. Lost out on some money.
[Max points a finger up.]
Max: I was trying to get to Taking Hold of the Flame this year? I wanted to get in on that. Didn't make it either. Lost. Failed. Shit sucked. I missed out on one of the biggest parties of the year. The best opportunity to make it to the main event of Rise to Greatness. Failed. And that shit doesn't taste great, buddy.
And to make matters worse, because you try to make good on your fuck ups, I fucked up my leg and the week later with my brace, I tried to get the titles for the Twins. it sounded good in my head but I landed on them, fucked up my leg got them DQ'ed. Lost out on some money.
[Max eyes the camera.]
Max: What's the fucking point here, Jake? Whether it's some stupid shit like trying to talk to a crush or failing on the biggest show in all of of wrestling, I have failed. I have fucked up so many times. I've fucked up royalty. As a son, as a boyfriend, as a wrestler, as a man. Shit I know how to fuck up something. I also know how to fuck someone up to, Jake. I have literally ruptured my spleen. That's a fun fact for you and your shitty producers, buddy. I'v jumped off a thirty foot balcony in front of like 300 people and separated my shoulder. My ankles fucking BURN after every match, buddy. Every match.
[He rubs his hand through his hair.]
Max: But are you afraid to fail? Because for me buddy, failing comes with the territory. I'm the guy that does what no one would even think of doing. I'm the guy that that is willing to take it to places people are afraid to go. I'm the guy who's willing to use his body to fuck you up in ways people think aren't safe or necessary. I have a goal. Male Wrestle of the Year. It's not going so well. We're half way through the year and if this keeps up, I'm going to fall flat on my face with how short I come up. It doesn't feel good because I know on any night I can take it to any of those fuckers in the back. And I know too what I can do.
[Max looks off into the distance before back to the camera.]
Max: But scared money doesn't make any money. And I want to make a lot of fucking money. And I want to be in all the things. And there's a lot of people watching this Jake that can relate. We all dream of different things we want to do or what to accomplish. it turns out harder than it seemed in our dream. So what do we do? Do we give up? A lot of the people watching this don't. Neither do I.
i'm fucking indestructible.
If all these injuries and bruises and fucks ups having put me down, then what makes you think you will? You got things to protect. A legacy to protect. A name to protect. An image to protect. A persona to protect. I'm not protecting shit, buddy. And I'm sure as fuck not protecting myself if it means getting to where i want to be. That's Rise to Greatness. That's opportunities where I can make my legend. Opportunities were I can become a fucking legend. And that's te fucking fun part.
[Max laughs.]
Max: Breakdown! It's live TV. Who knows what the fuck can happen? They can't stop me from doing what i want. And I can't stop myself from not trying to go after it. You wants thrills? You should jump on a fucking roller coaster. Feel tat shit in your lions, buddy. I''m the thrill. I'm the guy that brings the party. I'm the guy your wife or whoever you're with is going to be clutching to her fucking pillow Wednesday night when you step in the ring with me because she's going to see that I'm going to use EVERYTHING.
My elbows. My fists. My knees. my legs. My feet. My head.
[Max lightly punches himself.]
Max: There's a code that i go by. Take nine. Give out ten. And who knows what i'm going to do in San Jose, on Wednesday. Who knows. And that's the fun part. Facing you. Beating you and trying to make it to Rise to Greatness. You'll have your fans. You're Jake Starr. You haven't been around in a while. Absence makes the heart fonder. People like a nostalgia act. It's fun. Buuuut...you'll notice too that those same people will be up on their feet, clapping their hands; saying the same thing..
KANE!
MAX!
KANE!
KANE!
MAX!
KANE!
[Max chants with a smirk.]
Max: And that's when the party turns into a fucking riot. Breakdown, I'm turning Sane Jose into a fucking riot and I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass Jake Starr. So you might want to pay your producers to throw some tapes around about me or maybe you need a few Q-Tips or prescription glasses to read up before Wednesday about me. Doesn't matter to me. Can't think of a better introduction than punching you in the fucking face.
Should be fun!
And I'm coming for it all.
Max: Sticks!
[Max yells towards the shaky camera.]
Max: Hey! Sticks! Hey!
[Max waves at his best friend, who's holding the camera.]
Max: Let's go inside. Yeah?
[Max grabs his bottle of beer off the ground and heads towards the camera. Sticks follows him through the backdoor and into a hallway. The hallway then leads to a dark basement.]
Max: Where's the fucking light to this place?
Sticks: It's over here.
Max: Over there?
Sticks. Yeah.
Max: Good. Turn it on.
[The basement gets some lighting. Max finds a chair and sits on it, reverse style. He takes a quick chug of his bottle, then places it down on the ground.]
Max: i don't fucking know when this thing is going to go up. I'll figure it out. It's fucking summer time. It's sunny everywhere. Warm. Don't have to worry about the cold and shit. It's always a party. Always. It's also..
[Max takes another swig of his bottle.]
Max: It's also..Rise to Greatness season. Best time to be in SCW. Everyone's running around with their fucking heads off their bodies, trying to get themselves into the big show. Everyone wants to be seen and look good and fucking make statements. Leave messages. All that shit. Half of them couldn't even send a statement if they had a fucking pen and paper. But we love it. Every year. We can't look away. Who's coming back? Who's main eventing? What are the matches? Good shit. Always a party.
[Max fake a toast to the camera.]
Max: Cheers.
[Max chugs a few more times.]
Max: Always a fucking party.
[He then rubs his face a bit.]
Max: Breakdown's heading to San Jose this week, too. That'll be fun. Don't have to take any connecting flights to get there. It right around the corner. Might as well be a home field advantage for me. Maybe. San Fran and San jose different. But, Bay Area is Bay Area right Alexis Quinne?
[A small laugh escapes his mouth.]
Max: You know, at this point, I'm not surprised by anything that happens in this business. That's one the lessons i learned waaaaay back when I was scrapping, when I was crawling, when i was jumping, when i was running and grinding and driving from place to place to make like $45 a pop and cleaning up the place after the wrestling was done an then scrambling back to work some bullshit dead end jobs and then going back to my Dad to pay that rent that left me broke as shit then back to my fucking bed so where I only got like four hours of sleep before I got back up, started my day and did it all over again. One of the lessons i learned then was anything you can think of that can happened, probably will happen. Part of me thinks it's cool to see on the card that i'm going to be in the ring with Jake Starr. The whole you watch certain people when you were growing up and now you're trying to punch them in the face type deal. It's not like I never thought it was impossible, but shit like that is kinda crazy.
[Max rubs a hand through his black hair.]
Max: I'm glad you decided to get off your stupor Jake to come back and make some extra money so you can..uh...go back to your expensive lifestyle.
[Max chuckles.]
Max: I don't know why you're back, buddy. I don't know. Maybe you pissed your money away or something. Maybe retirement wasn't going well for you or you thought those Gen Z's would fucking forget who you were. I wouldn't be surprised. But you're back. Just waltzing right back here in SCW. Your video was cute, buddy. Vintage Jake Starr. The whole thing was glossy. Expensive. Nostalgic. All you legends bank on fucking nostalgia. You gotta play the hits when you come back on your multiple come back tours.
[Max takes his bottle and takes a swig.]
Max: And it's not like you're watching or keeping track on what's going on. I could say a few things about you having to get one of your producers to tell you who I was. I could call it tacky. Predictable for someone in your shoes, a legend, talking to someone like me, a guy that's trying to become one. I'm just make it to Rise to Greatness, buddy. That's where I'm at. Still scrapping, still crawling, still punching, still kicking, still jumping, still running, still breathing as hard as any of my peers. Maybe one day, buddy, I'll be in your shoes and some fucking kid is going to step up to me and I won't have enough brain cells in my head to even remember who they were.
{Max laughs.]
Max: Shit. Who am I kidding? If I'm able to walk at your age, I'll take that as a win. But I have a question for you. You may not know who I am. You might and you might just be trying to fuck with me. But let's just assume that you don't have a clue who Max Kane is, fuck it. I just want to ask you this question. Real simple question, Jake. Painless. And if you could, I would appreciate if you could dignify me with a response, buddy.
[max takes a sip of his beer as small chuckles come out of his mouth.]
Max: Are you afraid to fail?
[He presses his lips together, the silence overtaking him and Sticks. His eyes never leave the camera.]
Max: Are you, after all that you've done and all that you've accomplished, are you afraid to fail?
[Max extends his arms, "waiting" for a response.]
Max: When I was eight years old. My Mom would take to the beach and her and my Dad, they use to surf. They used to wait for the waves, see the ones they liked and then they would go after it. it was fun to watch. Eventually I kept watching them ride those waves and I kept watching them go after those waves and I keep jumping up and down rooting them on an I kept getting excited when one would come to them and I would keep screaming shouting.
[He pauses.]
Max: That eventually...I wanted in on that action, Jake. Even then i wasn't a spectator. I needed to feel what that felt like. I needed to do it to feel it. I needed to know what it felt like to ride a wave. So I convinced them to do so. First time I tried, I was gun ho, went for it, almost drown.
[He pauses again.]
Max: I almost drown. Had it not been for some lady that saw me chase after those wave that i had no fucking chance of riding. There was also this time, I was like ten years old. And there was this girl that i liked. And I was really shy around her. I didn't know how to act or how to approach her Jake. One day I was like fuck it, I got to try it. if I don't try to make my move, aint' shit going to happen. So it's lunch time and she's sitting where she normally sits in the cafeteria. So it's my time. I'm going to sit next to her and I'm going to make it clear what I think. i fucking tie over my shoe laces, the fucking pudding lands on my face, in my hair. The chocolate milk splashes all over my fucking shirt. Everyone laughed. She never gave me the light of day.
[He laughs a bit.]
Max: Last year, Jake, since you weren't around last year and you didn't bother tuning into your TV set. I was on Rise to Greatness and I had one objection. Win the Tag Team titles for the True Love Twins and for Beauty Factory. There was money to be made and i wanted to personally do it myself. I didn't need a partner. I didn't want Jack or Savali or Dante. I can do this shit. I'm Max Kane. I got it. Jake, I went for a dive and Abigail lindsay pushed the Twins in front of her and I landed on them. Lost them the Tag Team titles. Lost out on some money.
[Max points a finger up.]
Max: I was trying to get to Taking Hold of the Flame this year? I wanted to get in on that. Didn't make it either. Lost. Failed. Shit sucked. I missed out on one of the biggest parties of the year. The best opportunity to make it to the main event of Rise to Greatness. Failed. And that shit doesn't taste great, buddy.
And to make matters worse, because you try to make good on your fuck ups, I fucked up my leg and the week later with my brace, I tried to get the titles for the Twins. it sounded good in my head but I landed on them, fucked up my leg got them DQ'ed. Lost out on some money.
[Max eyes the camera.]
Max: What's the fucking point here, Jake? Whether it's some stupid shit like trying to talk to a crush or failing on the biggest show in all of of wrestling, I have failed. I have fucked up so many times. I've fucked up royalty. As a son, as a boyfriend, as a wrestler, as a man. Shit I know how to fuck up something. I also know how to fuck someone up to, Jake. I have literally ruptured my spleen. That's a fun fact for you and your shitty producers, buddy. I'v jumped off a thirty foot balcony in front of like 300 people and separated my shoulder. My ankles fucking BURN after every match, buddy. Every match.
[He rubs his hand through his hair.]
Max: But are you afraid to fail? Because for me buddy, failing comes with the territory. I'm the guy that does what no one would even think of doing. I'm the guy that that is willing to take it to places people are afraid to go. I'm the guy who's willing to use his body to fuck you up in ways people think aren't safe or necessary. I have a goal. Male Wrestle of the Year. It's not going so well. We're half way through the year and if this keeps up, I'm going to fall flat on my face with how short I come up. It doesn't feel good because I know on any night I can take it to any of those fuckers in the back. And I know too what I can do.
[Max looks off into the distance before back to the camera.]
Max: But scared money doesn't make any money. And I want to make a lot of fucking money. And I want to be in all the things. And there's a lot of people watching this Jake that can relate. We all dream of different things we want to do or what to accomplish. it turns out harder than it seemed in our dream. So what do we do? Do we give up? A lot of the people watching this don't. Neither do I.
i'm fucking indestructible.
If all these injuries and bruises and fucks ups having put me down, then what makes you think you will? You got things to protect. A legacy to protect. A name to protect. An image to protect. A persona to protect. I'm not protecting shit, buddy. And I'm sure as fuck not protecting myself if it means getting to where i want to be. That's Rise to Greatness. That's opportunities where I can make my legend. Opportunities were I can become a fucking legend. And that's te fucking fun part.
[Max laughs.]
Max: Breakdown! It's live TV. Who knows what the fuck can happen? They can't stop me from doing what i want. And I can't stop myself from not trying to go after it. You wants thrills? You should jump on a fucking roller coaster. Feel tat shit in your lions, buddy. I''m the thrill. I'm the guy that brings the party. I'm the guy your wife or whoever you're with is going to be clutching to her fucking pillow Wednesday night when you step in the ring with me because she's going to see that I'm going to use EVERYTHING.
My elbows. My fists. My knees. my legs. My feet. My head.
[Max lightly punches himself.]
Max: There's a code that i go by. Take nine. Give out ten. And who knows what i'm going to do in San Jose, on Wednesday. Who knows. And that's the fun part. Facing you. Beating you and trying to make it to Rise to Greatness. You'll have your fans. You're Jake Starr. You haven't been around in a while. Absence makes the heart fonder. People like a nostalgia act. It's fun. Buuuut...you'll notice too that those same people will be up on their feet, clapping their hands; saying the same thing..
KANE!
MAX!
KANE!
KANE!
MAX!
KANE!
[Max chants with a smirk.]
Max: And that's when the party turns into a fucking riot. Breakdown, I'm turning Sane Jose into a fucking riot and I'm going to enjoy kicking your ass Jake Starr. So you might want to pay your producers to throw some tapes around about me or maybe you need a few Q-Tips or prescription glasses to read up before Wednesday about me. Doesn't matter to me. Can't think of a better introduction than punching you in the fucking face.
Should be fun!
And I'm coming for it all.