Cheap Talk and Piss-Poor Excuses

It was late.

I glanced up at the large digital clock on the wall which read 11:47pm. Not as if it mattered, I could rest tomorrow morning if I wanted. It had been several days since I've received the noticed of the second card from Exodus Pro and it wasn't much of a surprise to find out that I would headlining the second card but it wouldn't be against the likes of Cannon this time.

It was going to be against Omar Wise.

And the word on the street was Omar was pissed.

But that was his problem that he couldn't get the job done and he thought for a minute that he was going to take it out on me...

...well he had another thing coming.

“Hey, sunshine...you going to lift this damn weight or are you going to daydream all day?” Nick called out from behind the bench press as my spotter.

“Yeah, man. I'm on it.”

I looked back and the stainless bar as I laid back on the thinly padded bench and carefully wrapped my large hands around the bar, which held four 45 pound plates on each side. With Nick placing his hands underneath the bar for a spot a count of three was grunted out as I pushed the bar up, tightening my grip as I held the 405 pound bar over my chest as the steel bar seemed to give slightly underneath the massive amount of weight as it bowed down at each in.

I took in a slow inhalation of breath and lowered the bar to my chest, letting my arms reach a 90 degree bend at the elbow as I exploded physically, letting out my breath and driving my arms and chest up to push the heavy weight up to keep my arms straight before lowering it once again for another drive.

After another successful rep, with Nick's help, the weight was racked as I slowly sat up shaking my arms out slightly feeling the soft burn in my chest and triceps from the nights workout regime. With soft slap on my sweaty bare shoulder, it seemed to echo throughout the empty gym as I looked at Nick who stood with a smile on his face.

“So, Mr. Superstar? You ready?”, Nick asked as I shrugged my shoulders in a silent reply as I stood to my feet, reaching out to grab a nearby towel to wipe the sweat that was currently running down my brow.

“My, my, my...does the cat have your tongue?”, he said in quick reply,

“No, that's not the case. I'm not surprise that I'm stepping into the ring with Omar this soon in the game. I guess Collins and Frost have something to prove and they going to do it on Omar and I's back. It seems that even through the accolades of the UWL...I'm still looked upon as Justin Brooks from years ago. The good guy...the hero for the masses. Shit gets old after awhile you know.”

I shake my head in disgust as I toss the towel in a nearby hamper as I make my way towards the locker rooms with Nick in step with me.

“Com'n, Justin...this isn't about being the good guy like it was in the WWA. And this isn't the UWL either, so don't expect the likes of Robb Daniels or Jacob Davies will come running in to save the day.”

“I never needed them to save the day, Nick. I never needed anyone to save my ass for that matter. I don't care what Exodus Pro, the rest of the roster, or Collins and Frost expect. I'm going to do what I've been doing since I first stepped into a ring and that's fight. If Omar wants a fight, I'll bring him a war. There's a reason why I'm one of the bigger names to come into the Exodus fold and there's a reason why regardless where I go...I headline.”

“And that's why Omar really wants to bring the pain. It's because you're Justin Brooks...it's because of the guys you've beaten and the Championships you've done. Just think, to be the man to say I've been Justin Brooks one-on-one is something that not a lot of people can say...and Omar is right, he's got a lot to gain by beating you.”

“He isn't the first one and he won't be the last. Everyone has something to gain be stepping in the ring with me, but it doesn't matter what you have to gain if you beat me. You got to beat me. I've had a lot of people tell me over the years that they are going to beat me and guess what I've proved them all wrong. And I have no problems adding Omar's name to that list.”

Stepping into the locker room, I opened the wooden locker on the far end of the locker room, opening the door to pull out my blue cloth Nike duffel bag to set it down on the wooden bench behind me. I took a seat on the bench and reached down and pulled off the form fitting Under Armor shirt and dropping it on the cold tile floor with a wet plop.

“And you feel as if you have nothing to gain by beating him?”

“Yes and no.”

“Care to explain to me like an adult or you going to leave in suspension?”

I chuckled at his sarcasm as I went on. “Yes, in the sense that beating him puts me ahead of the game in the Winter Road, it'll be a nice feather in the cap knowing that I took the biggest man that Exodus Pro has to offer and I beat him like he's never been beaten before. And on the other side of that coin...I'm supposed to beat guys like Omar Wise. I'm expected to step into the ring with guys like Omar, go toe to toe, blow for blow...and still stand strong. I'm the established Superstar, I'm the world-known champion from all over the globe. If I lose to the likes of Omar Wise, I'm just another fatality to his size, strength, and general douche-baggery, then that puts me behind the eight ball and now I have to climb from the bottom of a very large hole just to have him waiting for me at the end of the tunnel all over again.”

“Seems like you've been mulling this over.”

“Since I saw him in the ring against Mangus and Fiona, it'd would be idiotic to think that the Assault Breacher Vehicle and The Big Bad Brooks wouldn't be meeting in the middle of the ring sooner than later.”

I reached into the, now opened, duffel bag and pulled out a white tank top sliding it over my upper body followed by a gray baggy hoodie. I slipped the sweaty shirt into the bag zipping it up slowly as I tossed the bag strap over my shoulder.

“Besides, out of everything that Omar had to say only proves one thing.”

“Okay, I'll bite...what's that.”

“Talk is cheap...that's why him and Torment have so much of it.”

[Exodus Pro Hype Video I]
[Justin Brooks vs. Omar Wise]
[Winter Road Block A]

[It's hype video time!]

[And this weeks, it's going to be a BARNBURNER!]

[In true Main Event Fashion it's going to be Omar Wise vs Justin Brooks, it's like Godzilla vs Mech-Godzilla just minus all the shitty dubbing and less frighten Asians!]

[Your favorite Wrestlers Favorite Wrestler stands in front of a Exodus vinyl backdrop with his hands on his waist. His large chest seems to bulge underneath the black cotton shirt that reads 'BIG BAD BROOKS' across the front as his arms threaten to burst from the short sleeves as Justin is all smiles after his first victory in Exodus Pro.]

Then again the fact that you actually took the time to speak to me like a man and not like a puppet should mean something to me.”

“But it doesn't.”

“And for this to be a brand new day...a whole new brand and you wanting to be something you're not? Well Omar, you're off to a real bad start, so you can put the whole 'these two hands' nonsense aside and leave it at the door because frankly, I'm not buying and I don't really give two shits about what you can do because unlike Magnus Gunner and unlike Fiona Rourke as well as majority of the Exodus roster, I'm not afraid of you and I have no reason to be.”

“You want to break me?”

“Go for it.”

“You want to make me bleed.”

“I hope you do.”

“You want to crush me?”

“Be my guest.”

“Insert whatever generic phrase about how bad you want to beat me, Omar.”

“I welcome it all because whatever you got in those banana hands of yours doesn't mean that you're going to win...it doesn't mean that you're going to beat me.”

“I've been busted open...I've been crushed...I've been broken...whatever you think you can do to me, it's nothing to new to me. But something that I'm going to do to you is something that you've rarely seen.”

“I'm going to take any and all punishment that you got...I'm going to take the beatings and the bludgeonings...and then once you're all out of tricks and the dust has settled, I'm still going to be standing and I'm going to do something that no one else in Exodus can do.”

“I'm going to bring the fight to you.”

“I'm going to be one to start beating the Assault Breacher Vehicle on his own terms at his own game in front of his own manger. And once it's all said and done and I've put you down like a unwanted puppy and I dare Donovan Torment to call it an accident. I dare him to call it a fluke...I dare him to say that I didn't beat you one on one.”

“So while you want to say that I looked okay...while I looked average...the fact of the matter is at the end of the day, I won...while you were sucking wind because you got knocked through a table by the likes of Fiona Rourke. So you can call it an accident all you want...the fact of the matter is at the end of the day she's a Exodus Pro Champion while you got your boy Torment running at the mouth about how she's too busy blowing the boss.”

[Justin puts his hands up defensively for a moment.]

“Now that relation is none of my business and personally I don't care. But while you're making excuse, I'm the one doing what I do best.”

“And that's win.”

“So after this match up, what happens next, Omar?”

“What other excuses is there left to say?”

“You going to have Torment strike legal action against me as well because we all found that that Assault Breacher Vehicle is nothing more Hertz Rental Car Special...a Ford Fiesta if you will.”

“You are bigger than me.”

“You are meaner than me.”

“You are stronger than me.”

“You got more hate and you got more to gain...but then again it was the same way last week as well.”

“But through it all...and everything that you are there's one thing that I do have over you.”

[The camera zooms in on Justin's face as he smiles in front of the camera.]

“I'm just plain better than you.”