Watching Silent Movies In High Volume

Watching Silent Movies In High Volume

Johnny Cannon hadn't been home in about three and a half years for many reasons, but somehow he garnered a certain level of satisfaction and nostalgia as he returned back to the place where it all started. It was back in London where he got into his first fistfight, and subsequently, his first professional Mixed Martial Arts bout. However MMA was never a dream of Cannon's, it was more about his father trying to live vicariously through him. So it goes without saying, that the farther and son relationship had been strained by Cannon's choice to pursue a career on the big screen. And it didn't help that he seldom came home, or checked in on his family. But this visit was an opportunity to smooth over everything, and for Cannon to tote his wrestling success, hoping that his father would approve of it.

Jonathan Sr.'s Home
Bermondsey, London
January 22, 2013

"Jonathan!" His mother Sharon joyfully exclaimed as she made her way into the house.

"Hey mum! How are you?" Cannon asked as he got up from sofa to embrace her in a warm hug.

"Better now that I've finally gotten to see my baby boy. It's been what, three years Johnny? You too good to see your mother anymore now huh?"

"Not at all." He nervously scratched his head.

"Oh I'm only poking fun at you Jonathan. I'm happy to see you. Have you spoken to your father?"

"Earlier... He stepped out not too long ago, heading to the pup I think." He replied nonchalantly as the two made their way into the kitchen.

"You picked a good time to come home. Your cousins are in town." Sharon approached the stove, quickly getting her oven mitts as she took the pot off the burner.

"Dave and Charlie? Those old buggers!" He said with a laugh, raising an eyebrow from his mother.

"Now, don't be talking nasty about your cousins Jonathan. They're like your brothers and sisters." She scolded him.

"Yeah Johnny, show a little respect you muppet!" A male voice said, causing Cannon to turn around, only to be captured in a headlock and receive a mortifying nuggie.

"Get your crummy hands off me you minger. You'll ruin my hair." He lombasted, as he struggled to free himself. After a few seconds, he is finally liberated. The ostentatious Cannon quickly tends to his mohawk and hisses insults under his breath.

"Now is that anyway to greet your cousin mate?"

"You're such an oafish bloke Davey. How you been, still chasing after scrubbers I would presume?" Cannon said with a smile, the two cousins quickly embracing in a man hug.

"Always with the jokes Johnny Boy. Now you know nobody loves slappers more than you!" He replied jokingly.

"Hey, hey, not in front of mum..." He whispered, looking over his shoulder as he walked Davey out of the kitchen.

As the two exchanged small talk, Sharon set up the table in the dining room. Cannon sniffed the aroma which made him salivate at the mouth, having a fondness for his mother's cooking, and more importantly his favorite meal, hot-pot. As he and Dave pulled up seats around the table, commotion came from the stairs. Charlie made her way into the dining room, shaking her head confusedly as she removed her earphones from her earlobes.

"So, nobody was gonna tell me dinner was ready eh?" She said shaking her head as she dangled the earphones in her hand. "And you Johnny Boy? You got no love for your cousin Charlie huh?"

"Well, love is such a strong word Charlie." He said grinning slyly as he leaned back in his chair.

"Now Jonathan be nice to Charlie. It's not everyday she gets to see her favorite cousin." Sharon interjected.

"Yeah Johnny, you're my favorite cousin." She said, making an air-quote gesture. "Besides, it's been like forever since I've last seen you. You're clearly TOO much of a superstar to hang with your boring family." She said sardonically, Cannon merely flagging her sarcasm.

"So what's this I hear about you getting into wrestling John?" Dave said, easing his way into the conversation.

"You heard right. I'm wrestling this week back in the US."

"So who's gonna beat you up?" She said jokingly, as she began to dig into the lamb and sliced potatoes on her plate.

"Some American girl." A deep voice said, getting the attention of everyone at the table. It belonged to Jonathan Sr. as he joined everyone at the table, sipping on some beer he brought home from the pub.

"Jonathan, they make you fight women?" Sharon asks in a very concerned term, going as far as to stop eating her stew.

"The wrestling business has changed over the years. There aren't anymore gender brackets and such. Women fight men, men fight women... they're just changing with the times." He tried to explain, trying his best not to seem like a woman beater.

"Call me old-fashioned, but a man should never be fighting a female. What kind of sport is that?" She said, disapprovingly.

"Now mum, this girl isn't much of a lady to begin with. And she has no problem punching me in the face."

"So she and I have something in common." Charlie chimed in with another joke, trying to ease the tension at the table.

"So how long you here for then." Said Dave, as he stuffed his face.

"My flights tomorrow. I've got some things I have to take care of back in the US. I've gotta prepare for the match as well."

"Ladies and gentleman, I give you Mr. Busy Body." Charlie announced mockingly.

"Oh give him a break now Charlie. You know how hard it is for him to make time for his family. He probably had to cancel hundreds of things to make room for us on his schedule." He said sarcastically, yet with a straight-face despite the laughter from everyone else at the table, minus Cannon who merely brushed off his father's remark.

"Now you know that's not true..." He replied, forcing a half-hearted smile to the surface. "I miss you guys everyday."

"Perhaps if you visited more often, your father wouldn't feel that way." Sharon chimed once more.

"Tell you what, after I win my tournament, and the Heavyweight Championship, I'll bring it back home, and we can all celebrate." He said, wiping his face with a napkin as finished up his dinner.

"Cocky much?" Dave said, flaunting a cheeky grin in Cannon's direction.

"Well he gets it from his father."

"That so eh." Jonathan Sr. asked as he pumped his chest proudly. "Well I'm gonna hold you to your word Johnny, and you come back home soon then?"

"Absolutely."

**********************************************************



"You know for this to be first class, they could have a better selection of beverages." Quinn complained, as he tried to get comfortable in his seat.

"Where'd you sneak off to yesterday? You missed quiet the beastly supper." Cannon inquired, placing his magazine across his lap.

"I take it dinner with the family was none too pleasant."

"And those people wonder why I rarely visit them. I could go to London, and never visit home, and I wouldn't feel guilty about it at all." He said indifferently.

"Oh don't work yourself up. They're the typical family. Boring, old-fashioned and annoying. That's what I love about them actually."

"Well your love and affection for them will compensate for my deficiencies in that regard." He said, patting Goodrich on the shoulder.

"Changing the subject, I've set up a number of things for you this week. You'll be doing an interview at one of the local radio stations, as well as signing autographs back in California. And I've spoken to a number of producers, one of which sent me a script." He digs into his briefcase, pulling out said script and hands it to Cannon. "You can look it over during the flight. I've arranged for some photo shoots and commercials as well."

"Somebodies been busy this week!" Cannon nods, impressed.

"Oh and you should take a look at this." He pulls his iPhone out of his pocket, beginning to fiddle with it before showing it to Cannon."Found this on the Exodus website."




"This is Ms. Park's promo if you haven't seen it yet."

Cannon stares at Goodrich for a moment, before scoffing to himself. "Although I like you Abby..." He says to himself before touching the screen. "You're more appealing to me this way." He smiles to himself as he presses mute.

Quinn raised an eyebrow, somewhat confused by Johnny's gesture."You're not going to listen to what she has to say?"

"Quinn, there's something you need to know about women. They love to talk, but they have nothing to say." Cannon said, rolling his eyes. "Or at least nothing worth listening to."

As the two of them talk amongst themselves, the flight attendant quietly approaches them. Cannon's attention is immediately captured, as the natural blond woman begins to speak.

"The plane will be taking off momentarily gentleman. Can I get you anything?"

"No mam. Your smile will do me just good." He says charmingly, causing her to blush as he walks away.

"Don't even rile yourself up. This isn't an adult film. You can't hump the flight attendant on the plane." Goodrich shakes his head.

"What would make you say that?" Cannon responds, the expression on his face one of feigned innocence.

"You were still looking at that woman's arse well after she left."

Cannon smiles before pulling his DVD player out of his dufflebag. He begins playing Rupert Julian's "The Phantom of the Opera".

"Why are you watching a silent film... and with the volume turned to max?"

"I'd like to think that I'm refined Quinn."

"What does that have to do with anything." He asked, totally bewildered.

Cannon simply smiled, leaving Quinn to ponder his thoughts.

**********************************************************




As the cameras began rolling, we find Johnny Cannon dressed to impress as usual, wearing a crisp white shirt, and tie, with black slacks and shiny dress shoes. He looks at his watch before opening the door to the main studio. He quickly joins a heavyset bearded man, and places on his headset.

"Ladies and Gentleman welcome back to "Inside The Ropes' bringing you the latest news in the wrestling world. Remember to download the podcasts of our daily shows on our website. Once again I'm Frank "Freebird" McCoy and right now I'm joined, in studio, by world renown actor and now wrestler, Johnny Cannon."

"Thank you for having me Frank. I'm a big fan of your show." Cannon smiles and points at him.

"Likewise, I'm a big fan of yours. Thank you for making time for us today Mr. Cannon, I know you're a busy man and all."

"... No problem. As I said, I'm a big fan of the show and um... it was a priority of mine to get this interview done."

"Well let's get started then shall we. You've recently signed with the new Exodus promotion out in San Diego. What are your feelings about it, since this is your first stint as a professional wrestler. What are the differences, or maybe the similarities between it and the MMA work you used to do, and life as an actor?"

He takes a moment to contemplate his response. “Well Frank, it obviously presents a different challenge." He pauses again, thinking once more. “You know, as an MMA fighter, there's not as much posturing as there is in professional wrestling. In the former, you just get your fight date, and you rigorously prepare and train for your opponent, and you have the weigh in, and then you meet and beat each other's brains out. With the latter, everything is totally different. It's more entertainment if you think about it, giving the promos about your opponent, and then you see what they've said about you... then you respond... and get their rebuttal.. and then you get to beat each other's brains out. Wrestling, is a lot like acting in that aspect.” Cannon pauses again, readjusting his headset.“We get on camera, and we act out these personas and talk as much crap as we can about our opponents.. it's really acting without the lines. It's fun.” Another pause. "And as far as Exodus Wrestling goes, I've been enjoying myself there. There's a lot of extremely talented individuals there... and we're doing some great things and have had a great response from the people in California to our first couple of shows... our first iPPV is coming at the end of the month so everyone's totally excited about that."

Frank nods, as a smile rushes to the surface on his face. He takes a deep breath to compose himself, trying to suppress the emotions of being in the presence of one of his favorite on-screen stars. “The company is having it's first annual "Winter Road" tournament, can you tell our listeners a little about that for those who haven't caught any of the shows yet.”

Cannon nods, as he leans back in his seat. “Definitely... uh, it's a big deal obviously. It started with eight guys fighting for an opportunity to be crowned the first Exodus Heayweight Champion. But it's more to it than that. You had eight different people coming from different backgrounds, and we've all got our reasons for wanting to win the tournament... we've all overcome different things in our lives and are still overcoming, you know... certain events and transgressions personally and in our respective careers... so we're all essentially, fighting for something more than a championship.” Johnny rubs the bridge of his nose before continuing. “And that's what gives this tournament personality. It's not your generic, 'okay let's throw some names in a hat, let them fight it out, and the last man standing is the champion'... No. You've got eight superstars who all had a shot at winning the whole thing, and for all eight of us, victory is extremely important. Some of the guys are fighting for more than themselves, others are just going for the obvious material gain... and it obviously creates an interesting dynamic to everything. After this weeks show, the field will shrink down to four going into March of War, and then to two... until there's a victor. So obviously when the dust settles, seven people are going to need medical attention for bruised egos.” He points at himself, confidently. “And one guy will have all the glory... and I intend to be that guy.”

“What would winning the Winter Road mean to you then…”

Cannon nods and smiles, simultaneously searching for the words to give his honest response. “It would mean everything to me for two reasons. As you and most people know, I had a somewhat successful career as anMMA fighter before I became an actor. What a lot of you don't know is that I was brought into Mixed Martial Arts by my father. My father was quite the brawler back in his youth, particularly as a boxer, but he was never able to achieve even the modest goals he set out for himself. When I chose to leave MMA to pursue acting and other endeavors, I kind of killed my father's dream in a sense. He always wanted to be a champion. Despite the many fights I won during my MMA career, I never won a championship. That's not a disappointment to me, and I'm satisfied with that, but it was sort of heartbreaking to my father. Winning the Winter Road would allow me to finally give my father a champion, and more importantly, would make him one as well. So if any of you thought Johnny Cannon was only in it for himself, you're bloody wrong." Johnny adjusts his tie and leans up in his seat. "And the other reason, to quiet all my skeptics and doubters. I walk and talk like I'm the best fighter in the world, and I wholeheartedly believe that, yet people question my legitimacy. Winning this tournament will prove who is at the pinnacle of wrestling, and more importantly who the best in the world is. When the smoke clears, if I'm hoisting that Heavyweight Championship in the end, then everyone would have witnessed my rise. All the doubters would have watched me climb the ranks, and overcome all the obstacles set in front of me to see me stand tall at the end. The Winter Road is all about proving who the best fighter, and wrestling is, and I believe that you're looking at him Frank." Cannon declares with serious conviction, appearing to believe every word he's saying - as McCoy nods, totally convinced himself.

“Before you can do that you've got to get passed your opponent this week – Abby Park. So let's talk about her. What will viewers get to see when the two of you go head to head at the RIMAC arena?”

Cannon grins just thinking at the mere prospect of it all. “Well fans are going to get to watch two intense, high-octane competitors try to prove themselves. The two of us believe we're destined for greatness, and that we have all the tools necessary to achieve prominence, and more importantly be declared "First Exodus Heavyweight Champion" when it's all said and done. We've got everything riding on this matchup, because that said opportunity hangs in the balance. Each of us has taken a loss against Fiona Rourke, so we have to essentially win to get in the Semi-Final, and that represents not only a chance to compete for that Heavyweight Title, but a re-match against Ms. Rourke. That's something we'd both like to do, so you're going to see us throw everything we possibly can at one another and at the end it will come down to who wants it more... and which one of us is willing to go that extra mile, and do everything it takes to win. That gives this match the makings of an instant classic.”

“Do you believe you can defeat Abby Park this week?”

“Absolutely.” Cannon replies candidly and confidently. “I think I can beat Abby Park, Fiona Rourke, Kliff Ulysses, and Omar Wise. I think I can win the Winter Road tournament. I think I'll become the Heavyweight Champion. It's just a matter of going out there and doing it. And that's why we fight. Nobody wins anything on paper. Nobody wins anything during these promos we do throughout the week. I learned that lesson two weeks ago when Ms. Rourke got the best of me, albeit under questionable, controversial circumstances. That night I knew I could beat her, and I was well on my way to doing so, but I left too many things up to chance, and let my ego get in the way. I don't make many mistakes, and when I do, I surely don't make the same one twice. So Abby best believe she's going to get a one hundred percent focused Johnny Cannon, and that wanker's lethal Frank.”

"Would you like to respond to Abby's comments toward you, about how though she respects you, she doesn't like you. And more specifically and I quote, how you should “Remember the first time you had victory" because” ‘It's not going to happen again. And Mr. Cannon you can respond directly to Abby.”

Cannon gives a round of fake applause. “Abby, as I've mentioned to you on twitter for those of you who don't follow me, but should, you're talking up a storm, a gigantic, foreboding storm that a lesser man would find threatening, but not me. I laugh in the face of danger so to speak. Building up to my last match, Daisuke spoke of a great wrath, and all that jazz, but in the end he tasted defeat. That's what's on the menu for you this week as well. The appetizers consist of thunderous European Uppercuts, devastating Lariats, and head-splitting Kicks, thrown alongside a helping of various suplexes, submissions, and a dish of Cardiac Arrest. And for your entrees, we have a tasty Roundhouse Kick, an even more delectable Keylock, and of course my specialty, the critically acclaimed Cannon Driver!” He gestured Bon Appetite with his hand. ”And if that full course meal isn’t satisfying enough, and you want seconds, or maybe thirds, I’ll simply take you to the top rope and Cannon Driver you onto the apron, the floor, the announce table and anywhere else I see fit. And of course you get to go home with the dessert in the form of you falling to the bottom of the totem pole, and becoming an afterthought as you watch me go on to drag Fiona Rourke back down to reality, and mop the kitchen floor with whoever comes out of Block A.”

“You sound certain and confident that you'll be victorious this week Mr. Cannon.”

“Confidence is the coat winners wear Frank. But tell me, what would you have me sound like Frank? Would you have me doubting and second guessing myself? Would you have me up all night, scared to go to sleep because of nightmares of bottom? Would you have me twitching in fear of failure? No you wouldn't. That's because I have nothing to second guess, nothing to doubt, and nothing to fear. I know my capabilities. My lineage is carried in these.” He balls his hands into fists, brandishing them at Frank. “I’ve got a truculence and belligerence that was passed down to me from my father, which he had passed down to him by my grandfather. Every goal I’ve set for myself throughout my life, I’ve pretty much achieved. I have no reason to believe anything different. So Abby Park if you think you’re ready for someone like me, you’re deluding yourself love. Fiona Rourke may have wins over the both of us, but let’s get something straight doll, Dan Arnouli won that match for her. I was about to strut down victory lane until he PHYSICALLY placed his hands on me, and took matters into his own hands. Fiona beat YOU fair and square. There was nothing controversial about that. But understand that no referee is going to prevent my victory this week! And if Fiona Rourke took your virginity, I can do you one better love. I’m gonna take your peace of mind, cause no woman is ever the same after I’m finished with her.”

“Well my producer is all my ear right now, and we have to end this particular segment and take a commercial break. Once again I’d like to thank you again Mr. Cannon for joining us today. The world will be looking forward to your match this week, and Exodus Pro as a whole. Good luck.”

“Cherio.”

FADE.