Post by Emma Louise on Jan 13, 2023 19:39:13 GMT -6
Scott Cardwell sat in his chair watching the two men in front of him. They were checking the equipment, making sure it was all working how it should before things went live. Scott swiveled from side to side with his chair as he waited.
“I think that’s it now.” said the technition of the show.
Scott put on his headphones.
“Hi and welcome to Grapples With Grant. I am your host that can boast the most. Today I am joined by the current ELL Champion, Scott Cardwell. Welcome Scott.”
“Nice to be here. I see you got me the padded chair.”
“We had to for The Champ.”
Scott laughs.
“Let’s talk wrestling. Why not? You are a heel in ELL. How do you find that in 2022?”
“There is a lot of things that could be done and said in the 80’s and 90’s that I can not say in 2023. I’d complain but I also kind of like that. I enjoy that my generation, and to an extent my parent’s generation, grew up and thought ‘we are not a racist people.’ ‘We are not xenophobic’ and ‘we are not homophobic’. Yeah, those isms are not fully gone and, sadly, I don’t think they ever will be fully eradicated. However I like the fact that we are more tolerant now than it was when I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s.”
“How does that fit to cutting a promo in ‘22? I mean it must be hard to get the heat you need.”
“It’s harder but it’s not impossible. The ego of ‘I am better, smarter, hotter than anyone in the arena or at home’ works. You tell an arena that you’re better than their favorites, they hate you. They want to see you get your ass kicked, they want to see their guy beat you and prove you wrong. If I can beat their guy and do it by bending the rules.... the heat is unbelievable. I’m not a lot of people’s favorite person. I love that. That’s what I aim for.”
“Do you like that? Going out there and having twenty thousand boo you?”
“It’s the job I have. It’s the task I have. My job is to go out there and to say or do what I can to make the fans hate me. I want the fans to hate me. I want them to reach a point where they are willing to pay to see me get the beating they feel I deserve.”
“It must be a good feeling.”
“It is. When I get that reaction, I’ve done my job and done it well.”
“In a few weeks from now, it’s you against Magic Malcolm for the ELL Championship at Ignition. Tell us about that.”
“Malcolm and I got along with each other a long time ago on screen and off. I don’t think there is a state in the US we didn’t share a car ride through at some point. However rivalry exists. He would be a little resentful of me when I got shots at the top. I was the same when he got them. It wasn’t like we hated each other but it’s something that’s going to happen. You may like some of the other podcasts out there. You might tweet them. You might conversate with them. You may even meet up and go for a beer with them. However, if they were to start getting higher ratings than you and more plaudits than you. You’re not going to be as close as you were. It’s natural.”
“How are things with the two of you today?”
“We don't hate each other. We talk. It’s not the same as it used to be. We don’t laugh the same. We don’t joke or shoot the shit like we did anymore. On screen, I’m the heel and he’s the face. But there was always a respect there because Magic Malcolm and I were a tag team. Now we’ve reached a point where his on-screen girlfriend, Fabulous Fiona, ended their relationship and a few weeks later has joined up with me. She’s now in tight black leather and PVC as we rub our relationship in his face. It’s one thing to see your ex with somebody new, but that somebody is his former teammate, his rival, the ELL Champion.”
“Ooh. How much of those relationships have crossed into real life.”
“I am in a happy relationship with my partner. Fabulous Fiona is in a happy relationship with her partner. Malcolm with his. I know some of this has been out of character but I’m not here to reveal everything. I’m not here to say if I’m with Fiona off screen, if she’s with Malcolm or if she’s with neither of us. Sometimes the less you know the better it is. Sometimes if you think someone has an injury it works better for the storyline than it would be to come out and say if they do or not. If I sat here and said I was seeing Fiona off screen also, would you want to watch a real life love triangle play out on screen? Likewise, if I said we were all seeing other people, the story would also lose steam as there are no stakes. However when the line is blurred and you don’t know for sure, you can watch and cheer with out the apathy of no stakes or the guilt of watching a relationship crumble.”
“There is that. I want to turn things to the future. How long do you see yourself doing this? Is there a set time?”
“I turned forty a few months ago. In a lot of sports, that’s when they talk about retirement, yet here I am the ELL Champion. I don’t mean this as a boast but I’m at the top of my game. Yes I am a little slower than I was in my twenties. Yes, I feel the bumps and the grind of the business more. And, yes, I do probably wrestle less than I did. That said I don’t want to be the guy that competes long after he should. Nor do I want to be someone that wrestles once or twice a year. I can’t stand those people. As a competitor, I understand it in a way but, as a fan, I don’t like it. So that won’t be me. I feel I’ve probably got a handful of good years left at the top. I want those years to be really good years. I want to make them count.”
“Maybe a face run is in there?”
“Maybe. I don’t want to do the old ‘let’s give him a face run before he goes so he gets a proper send off’. However, if it happens naturally, I wouldn’t say no to it. Maybe that will happen with Magic Malcolm. Maybe it will happen with Anthony Sharpe. We’ll see.”
“I think that’s a good time to take a break there. As we do, a message from today’s sponsors. If you’re feeling low and lethargic it could be down to having low testosterone.....”
“I think that’s it now.” said the technition of the show.
Scott put on his headphones.
“Hi and welcome to Grapples With Grant. I am your host that can boast the most. Today I am joined by the current ELL Champion, Scott Cardwell. Welcome Scott.”
“Nice to be here. I see you got me the padded chair.”
“We had to for The Champ.”
Scott laughs.
“Let’s talk wrestling. Why not? You are a heel in ELL. How do you find that in 2022?”
“There is a lot of things that could be done and said in the 80’s and 90’s that I can not say in 2023. I’d complain but I also kind of like that. I enjoy that my generation, and to an extent my parent’s generation, grew up and thought ‘we are not a racist people.’ ‘We are not xenophobic’ and ‘we are not homophobic’. Yeah, those isms are not fully gone and, sadly, I don’t think they ever will be fully eradicated. However I like the fact that we are more tolerant now than it was when I grew up in the 80’s and 90’s.”
“How does that fit to cutting a promo in ‘22? I mean it must be hard to get the heat you need.”
“It’s harder but it’s not impossible. The ego of ‘I am better, smarter, hotter than anyone in the arena or at home’ works. You tell an arena that you’re better than their favorites, they hate you. They want to see you get your ass kicked, they want to see their guy beat you and prove you wrong. If I can beat their guy and do it by bending the rules.... the heat is unbelievable. I’m not a lot of people’s favorite person. I love that. That’s what I aim for.”
“Do you like that? Going out there and having twenty thousand boo you?”
“It’s the job I have. It’s the task I have. My job is to go out there and to say or do what I can to make the fans hate me. I want the fans to hate me. I want them to reach a point where they are willing to pay to see me get the beating they feel I deserve.”
“It must be a good feeling.”
“It is. When I get that reaction, I’ve done my job and done it well.”
“In a few weeks from now, it’s you against Magic Malcolm for the ELL Championship at Ignition. Tell us about that.”
“Malcolm and I got along with each other a long time ago on screen and off. I don’t think there is a state in the US we didn’t share a car ride through at some point. However rivalry exists. He would be a little resentful of me when I got shots at the top. I was the same when he got them. It wasn’t like we hated each other but it’s something that’s going to happen. You may like some of the other podcasts out there. You might tweet them. You might conversate with them. You may even meet up and go for a beer with them. However, if they were to start getting higher ratings than you and more plaudits than you. You’re not going to be as close as you were. It’s natural.”
“How are things with the two of you today?”
“We don't hate each other. We talk. It’s not the same as it used to be. We don’t laugh the same. We don’t joke or shoot the shit like we did anymore. On screen, I’m the heel and he’s the face. But there was always a respect there because Magic Malcolm and I were a tag team. Now we’ve reached a point where his on-screen girlfriend, Fabulous Fiona, ended their relationship and a few weeks later has joined up with me. She’s now in tight black leather and PVC as we rub our relationship in his face. It’s one thing to see your ex with somebody new, but that somebody is his former teammate, his rival, the ELL Champion.”
“Ooh. How much of those relationships have crossed into real life.”
“I am in a happy relationship with my partner. Fabulous Fiona is in a happy relationship with her partner. Malcolm with his. I know some of this has been out of character but I’m not here to reveal everything. I’m not here to say if I’m with Fiona off screen, if she’s with Malcolm or if she’s with neither of us. Sometimes the less you know the better it is. Sometimes if you think someone has an injury it works better for the storyline than it would be to come out and say if they do or not. If I sat here and said I was seeing Fiona off screen also, would you want to watch a real life love triangle play out on screen? Likewise, if I said we were all seeing other people, the story would also lose steam as there are no stakes. However when the line is blurred and you don’t know for sure, you can watch and cheer with out the apathy of no stakes or the guilt of watching a relationship crumble.”
“There is that. I want to turn things to the future. How long do you see yourself doing this? Is there a set time?”
“I turned forty a few months ago. In a lot of sports, that’s when they talk about retirement, yet here I am the ELL Champion. I don’t mean this as a boast but I’m at the top of my game. Yes I am a little slower than I was in my twenties. Yes, I feel the bumps and the grind of the business more. And, yes, I do probably wrestle less than I did. That said I don’t want to be the guy that competes long after he should. Nor do I want to be someone that wrestles once or twice a year. I can’t stand those people. As a competitor, I understand it in a way but, as a fan, I don’t like it. So that won’t be me. I feel I’ve probably got a handful of good years left at the top. I want those years to be really good years. I want to make them count.”
“Maybe a face run is in there?”
“Maybe. I don’t want to do the old ‘let’s give him a face run before he goes so he gets a proper send off’. However, if it happens naturally, I wouldn’t say no to it. Maybe that will happen with Magic Malcolm. Maybe it will happen with Anthony Sharpe. We’ll see.”
“I think that’s a good time to take a break there. As we do, a message from today’s sponsors. If you’re feeling low and lethargic it could be down to having low testosterone.....”
