Revolution - Resurrection

Two months. That's not just how long it's been since Joe Bishop last made contact with the man who was once his best friend and the woman who was, apparently the love of his life, it's pretty much the length of time he's gone without a proper conversation. For two months Joseph Bishop's interactions have revolved around exchanging pleasantries with members of the WFWF locker room and searching for an argument over anything and everything that simply doesn't matter.

For all intents and purposes, Joseph Bishop has been a ghost for the last two months. It's not easy. Being loved or being hated is easy, because you're being acknowledged and it's easy to react to that. It's being ignored that really hurts, being ignored and not having the guts to do anything about it, even though there are people out there that care, that's what's been killing Joseph Bishop.

Not having the balls to do the one thing that could revive you from a state of being mentally dead, that's what's killing Joseph Bishop, mentally and physically.

It's always the same routine, playing that same scenario in your head over and over again, picking your phone up and typing in every digit of the phone number of the one person you need to call, but not having it in you to type in that last digit and push the button that could lead to rejection, to the last bit of hope that keeps you grinding through each day being ripped away from you and leaving you empty.

One day though, you've just got to take the risk...

This day, the day of Psycho Circus, was like any other really.

First you wake up in the morning, during the first week or so you'd contemplate whether or not it's worth getting up and grinding through another day. Whether or not it's worth putting on the mask of a man who’s content with his live. But it's been a couple of months now and Bishop has passed that stage, now he's on autopilot, he wakes up, does the things that are now routine and gets on with life.

Then, as a professional wrestler, you've got the journey to wherever the show is being held. You're left alone with your thought and generally that doesn't end too well. You play out every single mistake you've made, every possible outcome of not making each mistake. You rebuild your life mentally because it's easier than trying to rebuild it properly.

You get to the arena, drifting through a crowd of fans gathered outside the building. Sometimes they chant your name, sometimes they don't. It doesn't really make a difference, in fact you rarely notice.

You spend a little while preparing and then you put on your, metaphorical, mask. You act like the irrelevant details, like the reaction of the crowd matter. You hide your weaknesses, you keep yourself hidden from your opponent, because you've lost already if you don't do just that.

You have your match, you win or you lose, but it's rare that it changes anything (although for Joseph Bishop Psycho Circus is one of those rare occasions). You head back to your dressing room, maybe you have a couple of pain killers or listen to some music, it doesn't really matter what you do. Because when you're in Bishop's situation the next stage is inevitable, your mind drifts back, to the mistakes you've made, to the people you care about that you've alienated.

It's not like you don't know how you'd go about putting things right, it's all you ever think about. And you want to put things right, so you pick up your phone and you stare at it, sometimes for a few minutes, sometimes for a few hours. Desperately wanting to prove to yourself, that you're not the coward that you accuse yourself of being.

Then you type in every digit but the final one, you try to be brave, but you're not. You can't bare to think about what's going to happen when you make that phone call. So you chicken out, you put your phone away and you have to live with being the man who doesn't have the nerve to make the phone call that could save you.

It's that last stage that changed for Joseph Bishop today, because today, everything's going his way. He's a gambler, he's taken a lot of risks in his match with Reckless and they've all paid off. And he doesn't feel like stopping now. He's winning and he's going to keep winning. It's inevitable, it's destiny, it's written in the stars. Today he's a winner.

So he types in that last digit, and he pushes the button...

***

A few weeks ago, I lost the National Championship, a Championship that I had held for months. I lost my belt to, of all people Carter Contra, a man who I consider to be nothing more than a joke. Then I got my chance to get back on track when I faced off against the International Champion Trace Demon, of course when you're facing the man making the matches you don't get an instant shot at the belt, like you did when I was National Champion. But even so I took Trace Demon on and once again I... Well I lost.

Now the Trace Demon loss I could take, I mean I know that I'm a man who could hold the International Championship he holds with the honour and respect that it deserves, but even so he's a tough fighter and really that clash could have gone either way. What I couldn't take was losing to a man who is more of a comedian than a wrestler. That killed me. But you know why I lost my belt to Contra? Because he cheated. Because he whacked me over the head with his little movie prop. He didn't deserve to win but he did, because he did what he had to do to win.

Well that got me thinking. If a guy like Carter Contra can cheat to ensure that the wrong result, why shouldn't I cheat to ensure that we get the correct outcome? To ensure that one of the fastest rising stars in professional wrestling can't be undone by a comedian or by a man who owns a belt that he doesn't defend week in week out, a man who devalues that belt that he holds.

I'd never thought of it this way before, but really, if there are undeserving people out there, cheating and lying their way through life and gaining power and wealth along the way, why shouldn't someone who truly deserves it, who wouldn't abuse the perks in the same way, why shouldn't they do the same?

So Psycho Circus rolled around and I did what I had to do, to make sure that the opening contest, was won by the up and coming, talented, former two time National Champion, rather than being won by the washed up has been I stepped into the ring with, Reckless. Is that so wrong? Is it wrong that I got that victory wrapped up as quickly as possible? That I didn't let his mind games have any effect on the outcome of our match?

Is it wrong that I killed the dreams of a man who was under the delusion that he could swim with the sharks?

I don't think so. More importantly, the WFWF officials didn't seem to think so.

So why shouldn't I do whatever it takes to make sure that the best man... or woman, wins this triple threat match and challenges Trace Demon for the International Championship in my homeland? Why shouldn't I make sure that after Revolution's tour of the United Kingdom, the WFWF has an International Champion it can be proud of?

What's wrong with that?

***

...And then, when he's finally plucked up the courage to press the button, and call the one person he needs to call. He waits, and he listens to the phone dial, and he runs through every possible outcome of this conversation.

Then it dawns on him, that this phone isn't going to be picked up, that the struggle he's been having with himself for two months, has dragged on too long, that he's been ground through too many days. That things aren't going back to the way they used to be.

But once you've finally taken the first step, you've got the confidence to go a step further.

Joe Bishop marches out of the arena, his kit bag draped over his shoulder, his mind focused solely on facing the one problem that’s been haunting him for months. A relatively quick car journey seems to take an eternity before Bishop arrives at an old run down block of flats. After climbing up to the fourth flour, Bishop is confronted with the place that he called home two years ago.

Eventually he plucks up the courage to knock on the door, his heart pounding against his chest. The wait is agonising and whilst probably only a few seconds in reality, it feels like he has been standing here, waiting for this door to open for hundreds of years. Eventually it does and Bishop is met by an unfamiliar face, a tall man drops his head under the doorway…

“Can I help you?” He asks.

“Is Jessica in?”, Bishop responds, almost not wanting to know the answer now that he knows this guy is there.

“I just moved in a couple of weeks ago…” the man can see that this has unsettled Bishop, “Sorry”.

***

For a lot of people, stepping into the ring with a woman would present something of a dilemma. You see a lot of folk think it's wrong to hit a woman, they don't attack members of the fairer sex, they don't retaliate when they're attacked by a woman, they just let women walk right over them. Others believe they have power over women and they choose to abuse that perceived power. I like to think that I'm something of a modern man, a man who doesn't judge someone based on the colour of their skin or their age, or their genitalia.

As far as I'm concerned we were all born equal, or at least we should have been. So for me being in that ring with a woman isn't a problem, because as someone who's willing to kick ten types of crap out of any man who steps into the squared circle with me, I'm more than willing to do exactly the same to any woman who I end up fighting.

So Hana, don't think that I'm going to go easy on you in this match. Some men probably do, I imagine a lot don't. I can guarantee that I, personally, won't be going easy on you.

I may never have hurt a woman physically, but I've done my fair share of emotional damage at and believe me I'm more than capable of ripping another human being to shreds physically or mentally, man or woman.

You see I'm going to go into Revolution and I'm going to punch, kick, scratch, bite and break you Hana. Why?

As I say, I'm a modern man, and it's because I'm so well morally adjusted that I'm willing to hurt you regardless of your gender. That I'm willing to do whatever it takes to defeat you. I'm proud to be part of a promotion that has a woman as a World Champion because at heart I'm a decent bloke and that's why I'll treat you with as much respect as I do any other opponent, it's why I'll do whatever I have to, to be facing Trace Demon next week. It's nothing personal, I'm just not going to throw away one of the biggest chances in my career for a woman, who like the man who ended my National Championship reign, doesn't seem to take the sport seriously enough. You want a title shot, you're going to have to earn it. I'm not handing you anything on a plate, I just hope Justin Tyme is as honourable as I am.

***

Everyone has their own coping method, Joe Bishop's method is pretty similar to a lot of other people's method. It revolves around one simple, misguided, premise. Alcohol will fix your problems.

I think Joe Bishop probably knows that it isn't the answer to his problems. But it's undeniably a decent distraction and I guess right now that's exactly what's needed.

The first two pints go down within a flash, the next couple a little more slowly as Bishop slumps over the bar, his head buried in the stench of booze and cigarette smoke.

Bishop’s attention is rarely drawn away from booze all night, although eventually his eye is drawn away from the alcohol to a woman who enters the pub. Now maybe it was the beer goggles that Bishop had downed so far tonight, maybe it was just his loneliness, whatever the reason, this woman looked absolutely stunning. Now realistically there’s no way that she could have been, because frankly there’s no way she’d be coming to this bar if she looked as good as Joe Bishop thinks she looks. But Bishop wasn’t exactly thinking things through and so there’s was a part of his mind pleading with him to go and talk to her.

But having just managed to pluck up the courage to try and fix the issues he had in his life, only to be shot down in flames, Bishop wasn’t exactly feeling confident. After wrestling with his mind for a few moments, Bishop eventually decides to make his move, but whilst walking over he runs through all the possible scenarios in his head and this time doesn’t have the guts to go through with it, walking past the woman and out of the bar. The confidence that he had built up earlier in the night well and truly gone and the hope along with it.

***

Trace Demon, before becoming the co-owner of the WFWF, talked about the issues that he saw with this promotion. These were issues, generally, that I too saw with the WFWF. He talked about wrestlers needing to earn opportunities, he like me, saw the damage that was being done by any old wrestler being fast tracked into big matches with the top dogs in the WFWF when they had done absolutely nothing to earn those opportunities.

When I returned to the WFWF 9 months ago, I had to start all over again. I had to rip through the undercard as I had done years before, just to get a shot at the National Championship. I had to defend that belt for over a hundred days to get anywhere near a shot at the International Championship. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about that. If anything I think it shows just how strong this promotion is, that someone like me couldn't just come back and have everything handed to them on a plate.

Unfortunately, in a little under a year, the WFWF has fallen apart. You see I'm one of three competitors who has a chance to walk out of Revolution the number one contender to the belt held by the co-owner of this promotion. And I've fought all competitors, I've beaten pretty much everyone they've thrown in front of me to be presented with this opportunity.

Justin Tyme and Hana Brightly on the other hand, have not. Justin Tyme has done nothing in recent times to earn this opportunity, this opportunity that I have given blood, sweat and tears to earn. As for Hana Brightly, she's never, ever, done anything to deserve this shot. You see, as far as I'm concerned, one victory over three men who are frankly irrelevant isn't enough for her to be considered International Championship material.

Don't get me wrong, neither of these guys have faced any serious competition in the WFWF in the last year or so, either one could prove to be one of the toughest fighters in this promotion, it just doesn't sit right with me that I'm the only one of these three competitors who has had to earn their place in this match.

I just think it's sad really that this promotion has to now put faith in people who've won one pay-per-view pre-show match or had an International title run 9 YEARS AGO. I think it's sad that while they're doing that guys who have proven themselves time and time again are walking out on the company because they're disillusioned with this promotion. Guys like Phillip Schneider.

But then I've bitched about this promotion before and I've gone on and done nothing about it. So at Psycho Circus I developed a new approach, an approach that I'm going to be carrying forward for the foreseeable future. You see I tried complaining, I tried moaning and whinging and crying. It got me nowhere. But if I win this match, I get to go one on one with the co-owner of the promotion that's making the mistakes I believe the WFWF is making. Once I've ensured the right outcome against Justin Tyme and Hana Brightly, I can, man to man, send Trace Demon the message I should have sent him a couple of weeks ago. I can show him that I'm done being held back and that I'm sick of having to prove myself time and time again to get a shot like this when I've watched my two Revolution opponents being fast tracked into the same position.

All I’ve got to do, to get that match that I crave, is beat Hana Brightly and Justin Tyme.

I know it's not their fault that they're in this match with me and I'm sure that they're every bit as desperate as I am to become the International Champion, I'm sure that like me they'll be doing whatever it takes to become the number one contender. I imagine that like me, they'll be adopting an 'ends justify the means' approach to this clash.

But Tyme, Brightly, this scenario is new, or at the very least it's not exactly fresh in the memory for either of you. I'm not going to be making any mistakes in this match, whether or not that'll be enough, who knows. But I can guarantee that if either of you slip up once, if either of you make one little mistake, if either of you start to think that you've got the match won before the bell rings and the ref raises your arm, I will punish you, I will take your mistake and without a seconds thought I'll capitalise on it.

I want you both to think, very, very, carefully about that. One slip. One mistake. One stutter. One moment of over confidence...

And your shot at becoming the International Champion goes up in smoke.

If that happen, you'll have to start right from the beginning like I did when I came back and trust me I know from experience, it could be 9 months before you get a shot like this again.

I've already proved that I deserve to be above the guys who are scratching and clawing at the National Championship, you've not and, unlike me, if either of you fail to win this match, you'll be one of those guys, you'll be one of the guys scratching and clawing at the belt I've outgrown.

Tyme, Brightly, you've been warned. Slip up once, lose your head for a second, and just like Reckless... I'll dispense of you. No pressure.




OOC: Character Development has never exactly been my forte, but as I had a bit of time to spare this week thanks to the Easter holidays and Shawn and Obo have alluded to the fact that it's something I need to include more of in the last couple of weeks, I knew I couldn't really get away with just pumping out another monologue for this one. So I've tried to focus more on Bishop outside of the WFWF, not completely satisfied with it to be honest, but it has at least given me a fresh slate to rebuild the Joe Bishop character. A few section were rushed because I'm on holiday and new that I wouldn't get a chance to post tomorrow, a few haven't because I did them early on.