Simon Lyman vs. Alexis Quinne

[Konrad Raab]

2 RP Limit for singles

3500 word max per RP

Deadline: 11:59:59 pm ET Thursday, May 25, 2023

[Simple77]

#ooc: Sorry, just a shoot from me. Best of luck, Drew.

“Lately, I often wonder why I wanted to get back in the ring. On that backside of my 45th year of life was there anything left for me to accomplish? I mean here I sit back, having won four World Championships while Kandis, for example, can’t even sniff one.”

The little jab was something that was meant just for him, and yes it made Simon Lyman smirk. Secretly he hoped that things would always remain that way for Kandis too, because in his mind, Kandis deserved as much.

“There are those who love to point out, and they would be quite correct in doing so that none of those four World Championships was an SCW World Championship, so that must be why I came back, because that is what there is left for me to accomplish. Got to grab that brass ring even at my age right? Please, now you are really close to making me laugh if you believe that. I have been grabbing those rings for so long now that my hands are almost turning brass by this time. I will admit that I want to win the one that I have not yet won. If you are getting into the ring and don’t want to win the World Championship, you are either lying to yourself or you have no business getting into the ring. But I’m not about to go chasing that title, or any title for that matter. I am going to let that opportunity come to me, watch and see. Take a look around you SCW fans, realize what season it is and you will understand what I mean here, if you don’t already.

No, I have nothing left to prove at this point, at least not as far as wrestling is concerned. Rather I would have something left to prove by getting back to the ring was medical science. For all of my accomplishments inside of the ring, I will always be the guy that suffered a severe stroke, no way around that. A severe stroke that should have meant the end of my career, and for a while it did mean just that too. But as I sat on the sideline for nearly six years, preparing the next generation for the ring, and even calling the action as a color commentator for a while, I never was able to kick the feeling that I still had one more good run left inside of me. Would people think that I was crazy, for being gone this long and thinking that I could get back into the squared circle? People would have thought that I was crazy to do it just because of my age, but to have someone who was my age AND suffer a severe stroke participate in such an often violent sport? That is downright insanity.

See, that right there is what drives me at this point in my career, the idea that I can go and do something that I have done for nearly 22 years now and have other people say that I shouldn’t be doing it anymore. Nevermind the fact that I am a grown ass man, free to make my own choices and my own mistakes. That is part of what is wrong in today’s social media infested society, not only does everyone have an opinion about everything, but somehow they are led to believe that those opinions should actually matter. There are five people in my life whose opinions about this and whether I was going to go ahead and do it mattered. Once I knew those five people who know who they are were alright with it, nothing was going to stop me from coming back, when I never wanted to leave to begin with.

That’s right by the way, I have wrestled for nearly 22 years, and I don’t mind telling anyone that I have done it better than most too. Add in 6 years for retirement and that’s 28 years that I have been involved in wrestling. Alexis Quinne, my opponent this week on Breakdown, I want you to know before I say anything else that I have all the respect in the world for you as well as what you have done. You have been to the very TOP of the mountain, held the SCW World Championship, a championship that at this point I can only imagine what it’s like to hold it. You deserve my respect because you earned it through your performance. It is that respect that certainly has me looking forward to testing myself against you in Baltimore, MD. Interesting fact for anyone that has been paying attention to my career you know that Baltimore, MD while not my hometown, does hold a very special place in my heart, and I can’t wait to go out to CFG Bank Arena and put on a show for all of you whether someone else happens to be there or not.

But that's enough about the past because I am focused on the future, and I can’t help but wonder a little bit Alexis, do you have that same respect for me and what I have done? You should. 28 years involved in wrestling, most of them as an in-ring competitor. The first time I wrestled a match was in 1995. Do you even remember what you were doing in 1995? I would be seriously impressed if you did given that you were 3 or 4 years old at the time. Does that make me an old man in the eyes of many of our fellow wrestlers? Probably, and that's a fact that I am not going to run from either. I’m an old man Alexis, and I’m given the opportunity you could quite literally run circles around me inside of the ring.

Wrestling is, as I'm sure you know Alexis, about so much more than just who can run the fastest…or reach the highest,...or jump the farthest. All of those things are impressive to be sure but this old man knows that wrestling is about more than just the measurables. There are a ton of things that you can’t measure that factor into a wrestling match as well, things like heart and determination, and even as an old man those are things that I have in spades.

Can I be honest with you right now though Alexis, be honest with all of our fans that will no doubt see this leading up to our match? Because I have a confession to make. There was a time, back in my prime when this was considered to be my thing. I was the best promo in this industry. I could make people want to spend their hard earned money to watch me wrestle just by talking to them. Not to mention, I used to love to talk, because I was so damn good at it. You don’t need to take my word for that either, nor would I expect you to. All you would need to do is talk to anyone that followed wrestling 12-15 years and they could tell how Simon Lyman could talk them into an arena. Part of that is because they knew that I was going to deliver. Nobody put on the show that I did in pro wrestling! If you think I am proud of that, you are damn right I was. People used to avoid getting into matches with me when I was the World Champion, that’s how good I was, can you imagine. I was so damn good that people would wait until AFTER someone else beat me before they took their shot!

Now though, being honest still, if you will indulge just a little longer Alexis, I ain’t as good as I once was. Life has put a lot of wear and tear on these tires and don’t think I don’t realize that everybody knows it too. Furthermore, I don’t like to talk like I used either. What can I say? I am just a grouchy, ornery old man I guess. I like the fact that I’m just a grouchy, ornery old man too, because I realize now that talk is cheap, it’s the fight that I’m after. How about you, Alexis? Again, I respect the world out of you, but we are heading into my favorite event of the year and all of the respect in the world doesn’t change the fact that I just want to, just want to get ready for what is to come next. Make no mistake either, I want you to be ready to fight me, so come at me with everything that you have. Don’t disappoint this old man. I want this Alexis, I crave it, I have always craved competition and that will never change.

I already said before that I ain’t as good as I once was, but for a match that could be a match on a pay-per-view against a former SCW World Champion, I could be as good once, as I ever was. That’s why I have no problem telling you that I could very easily see myself winning this match. I just want you to get ready and be that warrior that won the World Championship. That way, when everyone thinks about this match later, the thing that everybody will remember first is not how Simon Lyman won. Rather, the thing that everybody will be concentrating on is how on that night, in Baltimore, MD, Alexis Quinne gave him everything that he had and made the old man earn it.

There really is nothing left to say except for Alexis,

WELCOME TO THE SHOW!

It’s going to…

BE SENSATIONAL!”

[Alexis Quinne]

[INSERT]

[VOYAGERS]

[END INSERT]


[Cameras pan open on a balcony with the moon in the background, illuminating over Baltimore. The night traffic hummed like sections of a marching band playing their cues. The whoosh from the cars going to and fro. A faintest rumble of a siren crept in for a moment. Alexis Quinne leaned her back against the whit railing; dressed in a black and silver "VOYAGERS" hoodie with black jeans and her long black hair down. Her eyes spot the camera and her mouth opens.]

Alexis: You know, about an hour after I fucking destroyed that locker room, it hit me that it wouldn't take long for everyone to find out. Duh, right? Of course. Nothing gets passed anybody. It's the way life is being in the public. Comes with the territory. There was that brief moment where.. there was real fear from me. A moment of frustration. A low light. How would that be perceived? Which one of my enemies could spin that and use that against me?

[She reaches up with her left hand, rubbing her face.]

Alexis: That lost to Bree hurt. Losing 5k hurt me that week. No one's crying about that. It's not like I'm poor these days. The days of working at Cracker Barrel are long gone. I think, right now, looking at everyone here in SCW, there's this element of this "wink wink, nudge nudge" vibe. It's wrestling so I know there's always going to be characters and wacky shit. And this is not me being the grump old vet who wishes the young wrestlers would slow down and stop doing damn flips. But I hear some of these guys just talk about wanting to wrestle, not caring about wins and losses. Or they're just here for a good time. To each their own but that's bullshit to me.

I wrestle for keeps out there. It's not for shits and giggles. I would like to think, with my history, who I am, things I say, people know I'm the furthest from a saint. Furthest from a prude. But this has to matter. People have died in the ring. The number one reason why I don't see my family as much is because I'm doing this; I'm watching film. Me and Angela are traveling the world, watching wrestling. Producing wrestling content.

[Alexis runs her hands through her hair.]

Alexis: Losing to Bree hurt because I wanted it. I wanted that win. I put a lot of man hours training up for that thing. I want a fucking belt. That lost, that disappointment in myself for not doing what I needed to do to win...it was tough. In every relationship I've had; parents, family, my sister, boyfriends, I have a hard time truly being vulnerable to them.

The only thing I've every been vulnerable to, consistently, is pro wrestling.

[Alexis shoves her hands inside her pockets.]

Alexis: I've lied to my sister, Ramona, to her face. Willingly. I've lied to many friends to either protect myself or because I couldn't admit when i was wrong. But I feel obligated, I feel like I can't lie to pro wrestling. Every step of my career. Wins, losses. PUNK HAZARD. Whatever. You all know what I think. You all know how I felt. This is the only thing I've ever fully given myself to. And there's people listening to this, thinking I'm be overly dramatic. But if you asked my Mom, if you asked my Dad. And anyone who would even say is a friend of mine, they'll tell you the same thing.

[Alexis rubs her hands together.]

Alexis: There is no hiding when everyone already sees you in the light. And now everyone wonders. Breakdown tomorrow. Me and Simon Lyman. How do I respond? Everyone knows the rep about me and losses. Fucking hate them. Simon Lyman, you know the deal. Whether watching me in the back when you were here the first time or when you were at the desk calling my matches. You know what I'm about.

So here I am. This is me, yo.

[She brings out her left hand, pointing to herself.]

Alexis: Right here.

[Her left hand now rest on her chest.]

Alexis: You've done it all. People know all the titles and the big matches. You were real cushy at that announce table for years. That Kandis match. The return. I watch everything. Kandis came this close to making it to the finals for the World title. And yet, I saw it in your eyes. I always say, the eyes don't lie. And coming into that match I wondered why were you coming back. Someone who's a legend. Wrestling royalty. You don't have to work a day in your life again because of how good you were. Why is this guy back?

And then I saw the eyes.

And it told me everything. It's because you don't feel complete as a person if you're not wrestling.

[Alexis pauses.]

Alexis: You're married to this shit. It's in your veins. You can't leave. You're wrapped in this whole thing. And even though you lost. I'm not going to bullshit you and say your technique looked like your prime. Kandis almost beat Adam Allocco last week. And you almost beat her. First match back in years!

How does that happen?

[Alexis' eyes lit up a bit.]

Alexis: It happens when you give a shit. It happens when the physical might not be the same but the mental is sharper than ever. That's what I saw. That's beyond the years and years of wrestling experience. I consider myself a historian and yet I know, compared to you, I don't know shit. The experience, the care to push yourself beyond what your body tells you. That's how you get close. And that's what I got staring across from me tomorrow night.

And that's pro wrestling. Two people with their reasons, their dreams, everything that they have, colliding to see who's better. Simon I know you got your reasons. I saw with my own two eyes that you still belong in that ring. One of the sharpest minds still in the ring. One of the biggest hearts, still in that ring. The way you wrestled that match, you would have thought you were like Cassie Wolfe or any of the young guns on this roster.

I've dropped 4 out of the last 5 matches. Trust me, I'm not in the position to be taking shit lightly. You have your reasons to be back, I have my goals. I have a standard that I put on myself that I haven't lived up to. Something has to give and someone has to win. So once again, I choose to give myself to you, to the ring, to pro wrestling. Because I want that win.

Here I am.

Coming for you. Aiming at your head.

[Alexis makes a mock gun with her right hand.]

Alexis: Here I am.