- Event: Chaos 049
Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel
Chicago, Illinois
Tuesday, November 7th, 2023
The hotel was quiet here in the early hours of the morning. Most people were fast asleep since the hour drew near 3 am. There was only a handful of people working in the entire place. The person working the graveyard shift behind the front desk certainly got an eyeful when he saw HOW Hall of Famer Jace Parker Davidson walking through the door dragging his barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat.
The man was virtually petrified and unable to speak as Davidson made his way over to the elevator to take him up to his floor. It had been a long day indeed for Jace and even though he never got his hands on Lee Best, he still felt a sense of satisfaction. Davidson entered his room and closed the door behind him. He took a moment to breathe as he laid his head and back against the door while thinking about what had taken place just hours ago.
The sound of his phone from inside of his pocket ruined the moment for the Hall of Famer. He pushed himself away from the door as he fished the phone from his pocket. After a swipe or two across the screen, Davidson was greeted by the face of his sister Bailey.
“Well look at that…” Bailey stated, mocking a shocked tone. “You’re still in one piece, mostly.”
“Isn’t it almost 4 am on the East Coast right now?” Davidson questioned as he pulled out a chair and took a seat.
“Yes, it is but that doesn’t mean that I can call and check that you’re still alive,” Bailey responded. “I usually wake up around 5 am anyway to watch the sunrise and then hit the gym.”
“As you can see…” Davidson grunted as he leaned down and began to untie one of his blood-stained shoes. “I am still among the living and yes I am in one piece.”
Jace kicked off the shoe and tossed it across the room before going to work on the other one.
“And let me just say that you look like a million dollars,” Bailey added sarcastically. “So, did you do the deed? Is this manhunt finally over?”
“No and no…” Davidson kicked off the other shoe and then tossed it in the same direction as the first. “Lee Best managed to get away yet again but he’s scared now. I would say almost desperate at this point.”
“What happened?” Bailey inquired.
“Fuck, didn’t you watch the show?!” Davidson barks back at his sister.
“Well obviously, I did not!” Bailey fires back. “Look at me. I am still in bed, I am just now waking up, and I asked you what happened. So, clearly, I did not stay up and watch run amuck in Chicago.”
Jace shook his head and pulled himself out of the seat. He grabbed hold of the bat and made his way toward the bathroom while holding the phone.
“I got into the building fine and I spent most of the night looking for Lee.” Davidson walked over to the shower and then tossed the bat inside before closing the door. “He was nowhere to be found and some dipshit from like XPRO or something decided to get in my face. I asked him where Lee was hiding. He decided that he didn’t understand simple fucking English, so, I beat his fucking brains in.”
“All that blood is just from one person?!” Bailey exclaimed.
“I never said that he was the ONLY person that got his brains beat in,” Davidson answered as he placed the phone down on the counter where the sink was. “Turns out that all of those XPRO wrestlers are quite useless and don’t understand English either.”
Davidson pulled off his shirt and tossed it down to the bathroom floor.
“Ah, so, because you couldn’t get your hands on Lee Best… you decided to take it out on everyone else in the building,” Bailey said with an exasperated tone.
“Not everyone.” Jace protested as he turned the handle for hot water on the faucet. “Just the people that managed to piss me off.”
Davidson grabbed a hold of the fancy soap that was in the bathroom and began to wash the blood from his hands, arms, and face.
“Fun,” Bailey said while stretching. “So, are you going back home to Denver or maybe coming back here to Miami? Don’t tell me that you’re going to do this kind of thing every single week.”
Davidson turned off the water and then grabbed hold of a towel to start to dry himself.
“You should already know the answer to that.” His words were muffled by the towel. “I’ve got to be in Iowa next Monday.”
“Why Iowa of all the places in the world?” Bailey raised her eyebrow.
“Oh, because Lee actually booked me in a match for the next Chaos,” Jace answered with amusement in his voice. “He kept the EPU forty deep around him tonight but wants me in the building next Monday.”
“And you’re really going to show up for that?!” Bailey’s voice was at a high pitch. “You know that this sounds like a trap and he’s not even trying to hide the fact anymore.”
Davidson shrugged his shoulders as he grabbed the phone and headed back over toward the bed.
“I honestly don’t care anymore if it’s a trap or not.” Jace sighed as he pulled off his socks. “The fact that he booked me versus Brian Hollywood doesn’t make it all that great of a setup anyway.”
“That’s because Hollywood is the decoy, dummy!” Bailey lectures. “You’ve been in HOW how long now and you can’t see that coming a mile away?”
“December 31st is right around the corner,” Jace explained before pausing. “That’s it, once December is over then I am done in HOW. I’m not going to re-sign just to try and get my hands on Lee Best. This is it. I’ve got a little over a month to get this done legally. I need to do what I have to do while under contract or else I end up in jail if I do it after my contract expires. So, if walking into a match against Brian Hollywood or walking into an obvious setup is the ticket to put me in the same building with Lee Best? Then that’s what I’m going to do.”
“Or you could just say fuck the contract and fuck Lee Best. Leaver the company now and never look back.” Bailey tries to reason.
“If I just give up and walk away then he wins.” There was resistance to the very idea in his voice. “Then he gets to walk away consequence-free from everything he’s done to me. I’m in too deep now to just walk away. I have about eight weeks give it or take to put an end to this shit. And I’m going to do everything in my power to do so up until the final fucking second.”
“You’re so fucking hard-headed!” Bailey groans.
“Tell me something I don’t know.” Jace remarks as he rises to his feet and begins to unbutton his jeans with his free hand.
“That’s the worst part! You know you’re fucking dense and you’re proud of it!” Bailey’s voice cracks in the middle of yelling. She takes a moment to compose herself before exhaling. “But I get it, you’re going to do what you feel you need to do regardless of what I or anyone else has to say about it. Just don’t get yourself killed.”
“I’ve died twice and already sold my soul, a little bit too late for that.” Jace scoffs.
“Wait, WHAT?!” Bailey shrieks.
“Sorry, sis. My pants are coming off and I’m going to get a few hours of shut-eye. Love you, bye.” Davidson hits the end button on the video call and places the phone on the nightstand before Bailey can respond.
He kicks off his jeans then turns around and pulls back the covers on the bedroom. With a yawn, he gets into the bed and begins to get comfortable. He looks around the hotel room and listens to the sound of the night for a moment before sitting up. Davidson rubs his hand over his face as he pulls himself up to his feet and heads to the bathroom again. He opens the shower door and grabs hold of the bat before shutting the door back.
“Better safe than sorry.” Jace mumbles to no one in particular.
Davidson turns and places the bat down on the other side of the bed before getting back under the covers himself as the scene fades.
—–
Why are you here, Brian?
Sorry, I know that question is a bit random, so, allow me to explain.
Why are you here in High Octane Wrestling in November of 2023, Brian? What is your purpose as a professional wrestler in this company?
Is that a question you can even answer at this point?
Since this match was booked I’ve sat back and tried to figure out the answer to that question. It’s a real head-scratcher for me. And yet, I have a feeling you’re no closer to a solid answer to it than I am.
Naturally, the typical answers flooded the forefront of my mind when I asked the question to myself. Brian Hollywood is here to win the HOW World Championship belt. I mean… isn’t that what most people are here for, right?
And before you say it, Brian, I know that… ‘for you personally’… that you’ve won the HOW World Championship belt twice already.
But as you already know, pretty much me and everyone else who has been in HOW for longer than a cup of coffee have invalidated both of your reigns as the HOW World Champion. And that is possibly very mean-spirited and disrespectful to you. However, did ever sit back and think about why 97.99999% of the roster would unanimously agree on the same verdict?
I’m not exactly popular among the other wrestlers in the locker room, so for them to all agree with something I’ve said and co-sign it, then it must be some undeniable shit.
And we’ve done this whole song and dance before, Brian. I can sit here and explain all the ways why your reigns as the HOW World Champion are about as hallow as the void in your soul. But again, I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know.
What I do want to point out though, is the fact that one person in particular hasn’t stepped up and squashed all of the negativity when it comes to your reigns as the top guy.
That person is Lee Best.
There are few things that Lee Best cares more about in this world than the validity of his Hall of Fame and the HOW World Championship.
97red is his baby.
So, if this man goes out of his way to validate Adonis Smyth as a former HOW World Champion? Why hasn’t he done the same thing for you?
You can’t say he doesn’t care. Look at what happened at the last PPV. Conor Fuse got screwed out of the HOW World Championship belt because he took a sledgehammer to the belt itself. Lee doesn’t let people get away from disrespecting or invalidating his title.
How does that make you feel, Brian?
I think it’s safe to say that you’ve done more for HOW than Adonis Smyth ever has. Yet Lee refuses to co-sign any association you have with that title belt. Which I will admit, is very shitty on his part. Not to say that I disagree with him. Cause I will stand on the fact that your ‘reigns’ were nothing but hallow moments in history that are better of forgotten. The point is that you’ve still held that belt regardless of how valid it was it not.
You were a member of one of his Best Alliance teams. You stood here and tried to fill shoes that you knew you could never fill but you still tried!
There was no Mike Best around, there was no John Sektor, and no Jatt Starr. Rhys Townsend, Evan Ward, Shane Reynolds, Bobbinette Carey, David Black, and pretty much anyone who has ever held that belt previously, were all nowhere to be found.
And then I left too.
Everything that made HOW what is it today was out the door and you stepped up and tried to give CPR to something that had died weeks ago.
It was a futile effort but at the very least I think Lee should have thanked you for your effort. We both know that he never has and that he never will.
Just look at the card this week, Brian. He booked me in a match against you in Iowa.
Why would he do that?
I’m not sure you watched much of the show after getting your ass handed to you by Kostoff Jr. so allow me to fill in the blanks.
I was in the Best Arena last week looking for Lee. I had a barbed wire-wrapped baseball with me and I was going to hunt down Lee Best like an animal. Only, some XPRO idiot decided to get in my face and refused to tell me where Lee was hiding.
So, I showed him the consequences of his actions.
At this point, I’m sure what is left of his brain is making its way through the Chicago sewer system after getting flushed.
Yeah, that happened but that doesn’t mean that I stopped looking for Lee. But we both know how Lee is. He knew I was coming for his head so he decided to gather every single member of the EPU that he could scrape up to protect him.
I didn’t like that… so I took out the entirety of the XPRO roster that was there in Chicago. And now that’s where you come in, Brian.
I did all of that and Lee Best’s response to it is to throw you into a match against me.
This isn’t a show of faith, it’s not a vote of confidence, Brian. This is a death sentence for you.
You’re the sacrificial lamb that is being tossed to his slaughter for the sake of ratings and time. Lee intends to use your well-being, your career, as nothing more than a distraction for me so that he can slip out of the backdoor and live to see another day.
This one time, Brian. I’m going to do the nicest thing I’ve ever done and ever will do as far as you’re concerned.
I’m giving you one chance at survival.
That means that you don’t get on a plane and show up in Iowa on Monday. Just pack it in and go M.I.A because that is the best option for you at this point.
But if you do show up on Monday night?
If you dare to step foot into MY ring?
I’m going to use you as an example of what I’m going to do to Lee Best when I get my hands on him.
That’s not a good thing for you, Brian. Be smart for once in your life. Don’t show up to Chaos, don’t make me bear my fangs to you. It’s not worth it. Even your life, as pitiful as it is, isn’t worth tossing away because Lee Best is desperate.
Let’s face it, Brian.
You have nothing to gain from this. You have no real intention of ever holding the HOW World Championship belt in the palm of your hands again. You can’t even manage to hold the HOTv Championship belt at this point.
Your plan to haunt the hallways of HOW until, myself and everyone else who’s talented, leave so you can be the guy again isn’t going to work.
You claim to be a smart businessman.
You claim to be Mr. Executive.
You like to cosplay as a bootleg Richie Rich, so clearly, a contract where you’re not even making six figures isn’t worth throwing away your life for.
There isn’t a Hall of Fame spot waiting for you at the end of this tunnel, Brian. Longevity doesn’t put you among the best. You and Darin are wasting your time. So, instead of just blinking in and out of HOW aimlessly like a faulty lightbulb just to collect a paycheck.
LOOK AT ME, BRIAN!
Do you think I care about wins or losses at this point? Do you think that I have any desire at all to hold any of the Championship belts that I’ve held multiple times before, again?
I know my days as a member of this roster are numbered. I personally numbered them because I am self-aware. I made a choice but you don’t have a choice, Brian. Your time never came and it never will. Your career will forever have blue balls like Darin Zion in any bar that has at least one female or female of any species on this planet.
I’m not going to walk into this thing looking to exchange fucking wristlocks with you. I’m not trying to give you a seven-star caliber match and make you look good even in defeat. I won’t raise your arm into the air and let you have a moment of recognition and appreciation for giving me a ‘run for my money.’
I’m going to straight-up murder you, Brian.
I’m going to use that same barbed wire-wrapped baseball bat on you in ways that will make Benny Newell jizz his pants in twelve different ways he’s not yet discovered.
Don’t force my hand.
Do something to benefit you.
Don’t attempt to pull up your big boy pants.
Don’t try to turn back time and pretend you’re a fucking assassin again.
Don’t try and play the hero.
Don’t even consider this as the 14th millionth and thirteenth time for you to ‘turn things around.’
Do not pass go.
Do not collect $200
Do not let Lee Best whisper sweet nothings in your ear and entice you with deals that he has no intention of keeping.
BE FUCKING SMART, BRIAN!
But you won’t…
Helping yourself has never been your strong suit, Hollywood.
You’ll cobble together a few hundred words of literal chicken scratch.
You’ll stand across the ring from me on Monday all full of piss and vinegar before the bell rings.
But when the bell does ring?
You’re done.
If I have to bust the ghost that used to be Brian Hollywood to get my hands on Lee Best then so be it.
See you at 11:59 pm, Brian.