- Event: War Games 2023
Location: Huffman, Texas: Stevens Household
Date: May 9, 2023
The scene opens up to a beautiful sunny day outside with the light shining through the windows, but it isn’t as beautiful for a certain individual as we see Scott Stevens sitting behind his oak desk in his brown leather chair inside of his man cave/office. Scott is leaning on his desk with his head in his hands next to a couple of prescription bottles, an empty tequila bottle, an empty bottle of Jack Daniels and a half drunken bottle of 101 proof Wild Turkey. Scott is either still feeling the after effects of his concussion or he’s hung over or both. Either way, he looks like shit as his hair looks greasy and his shirt is drenched in sweat or booze, possibly both.
Stevens shows signs of life as his head slowly rises out of his hands and he feels around on his desk blindly knocking over the empty bottles looking for something. Once Scott finds it, prescription bottles, a smile begins to grow on his face. Stevens pops the top of both prescription bottles and pours out twenty white tablets onto the wooden desk. He grabs the bottle of Wild Turkey and pours it into the empty glass next to it before grabbing the pills and tossing them into his mouth and chewing them up before shrugging and chugging the bottle of bourbon. As Scott puts down the bottle his wife bursts into the room with a pissed of look on her face.
“You son of a bitch!”
Lisa shouts as Scott looks annoyed with her presence.
“I’m really not in the mood to be yelled at this morning.”
Stevens replies to his wife as he takes a long drink from the Wild Turkey bottle before placing it back onto the wooden desk.
“You didn’t think I wouldn’t find out?!?!?!?”
Lisa growls as Scott lets out a heavy breath and turns towards her.
“I was hoping you wouldn’t until after War Games, but it looks like we need to address the elephant in the room then.”
Stevens mutters as he rises from his chair and leans against the desk as Lisa crosses her arms over her chest.
“Damn right we are!”
She emphatically states as she moves closer to her husband before slapping Scott across the face causing spit to fly out of Scott’s mouth.
“How could you do this to us?!?!? TO ME?!?!?!?”
Lisa shouts with tears in her eyes as Scott refusing to look at her in shame.
“Do you know what you’ve done?!?!?”
Lisa asks with rage in her voice as her husband simply shakes his head which draws more anger from the Brazilian.
“I want to hear you say it Scott.”
Lisa sternly tells her husband who looks up with an icy glare with his 97 Red colored glass eye and his emerald eye starring daggers into her.
“Yes, I understand what I did, and I would do it again if given the chance.”
Scott informs his wife who punches him this time in the face which causes Stevens to get dizzy, but he grabs the edge of the desk tightly to prevent him from falling.
“Don’t do that again.”
Scott warns his wife as he massages the bridge of his nose to help the pain go away and Lisa looks none too pleased with her husband’s threat.
“You’re lucky I’m not chopping off your fucking dick and balls with the stunt you’ve pulled.”
She coldly replies as she points to her husband’s privates.
“Are you done?”
Stevens asks his wife as he picks up the glass filled with bourbon and downs it before placing it back onto the desk.
“What do you think?”
Lisa furiously replies as Scott opens a drawer in his desk and produces another bottle of bourbon, this time a bottle 90 proof Jim Beam Devil’s Cut.
“Going to need this if I’m going to have to listen to you shrill this early in the morning.”
Stevens says as he opens up the bottle and pours himself another glass drawing rage from his wife.
“Go ahead.”
Stevens tells his wife as he puts the glass down so he can take his verbal lashing.
“What the hell were you thinking Scott?!?!?!?”
Lisa asks as she pacing in front of her husband confused by his actions.
“Why did you do it?”
She demands and Scott hangs his head low, but she makes her way to him and places her hand under his chin and raises it up so she can see his eyes.
“Why?”
She asks again and Scott sighs.
“Because I was looking for one last score.”
Stevens informs his wife as he scratches his beard and Lisa looks at him confused.
“What?”
Scott pours himself another glass and takes a moment before drinking it.
“We are broke babe, and I meant to tell you, but I was too ashamed and I’ve been trying to keep things a float, but with War Games coming in a few weeks I thought I could use the kids’ college tuition to place a bet that could not just get us out of the hole I put us in, but set us up for the rest of our lives.”
Stevens comes clean with his wife who still has a confused look on her face.
“Wait, we’re broke?”
She asks and Scott looks at her puzzled.
“Yeah, I thought that what we were talking about?”
Scott asks as rage empowers Lisa once more and she begins to punch her husband while yelling.
“NO! I WAS TOLD BY DR. ROSS THAT YOU NEEDED TO RETIRE FROM THE RING BECAUSE OF YOUR LATEST HEAD INJURY, BUT NOW I’M HEARING WE ARE BROKE AND YOU GAMBLED OUR KIDS FUTURE AWAY!!!!!”
Lisa picks up the Jim Beam bottle and throws it at her husband as she screams loudly exiting the room.
“God dammit.”
Stevens says to himself knowing he fucked up.
Location: Houston, Texas: Marriott Hotel
Date: May 10, 2023
BUZZ!
BUZZ!
BUZZ!
BUZZ!
The scene opens up to a darkened room with a glowing red 7:00 on the clock and rumbling going on as if something is trying to shut off the sound coming from the clock. All of a sudden, the glowing 7:00 disappears before reappearing as it flies across the room before going dark once more. A
Click.
The light by the bed flickers on and we see empty bottles of bourbon and empty prescription bottles as well as tablets on the dresser next to the bed. The white sheets come down and Scott lets out a hearty yawn before sitting up and rubbing the sleepies from his eyes. Stevens grabs a hand full of the tablets that litter the dresser top and pops them into his mouth as he chews them up before open the dresser bottom drawer and pulling out a fresh bottle of Wild Turkey and cracking the top. The Texan takes a deep breath to try and block out the pain before taking a couple of big gulps before placing it onto the dresser top.
Scott Stevens looks and feels fucking miserable.
And why wouldn’t he?
How would you feel if your livelihood was threatened to be taken away from you forever? Everything you earned, everything you put yourself through to provide a betterment for your family is being taken against your will. They say time is a predator that stalks you. Sure, you can try and out run it with doctors, medicines, vices, or even new technologies, but in the end, time will always hunt you down and make the kill.
Booze and pills do help lessen the bite though.
Ever since the go home show this past Sunday, it’s been one cluster fuck after another. Scott was informed he has to retire because his years of ring service have finally caught up with him and the stubborn Texan didn’t want to hear it as he fired his doctor. However, instead of doing the right and sensible thing, he has cost himself more than that as he has alienated his wife and his kids from himself. Acting rash and being scared of possibly losing everything he wanted one last massive pay day to cover the loss of performing by providing his family for life he took his children’s college tuition money that he has saved and bet it all on himself to win War Games. Not his team to win, but Scott Stevens as the victor and next world champion because are against him and it would be a Fort Knox type of return if he wins.
Even the best of intensions has consequences and Stevens is finding that out leading up to the biggest event of the year.
Stevens slowly raises himself out of bed and stands there for a moment before dropping back down and hugging the trash can that his near the bed. After a couple of minutes of filling up the bucket, Scott wipes his mouth before disappearing into the restroom. The sound of knobs turning is heard along with running water for a few minutes before it ends with the sound of gurgling. Shortly after, the Texan reappears from the bathroom and grabs a pair of Nike shorts from his suitcase and puts them on before exiting the room.
An hour later……………………..
Beep.
The sound of the electronic lock to the hotel room unlocks and the door swings open as Scott Stevens reenters. Scott is drenched in sweat and begins to peel off the shirt from his body as the door closes behind him. Perspiration flies off the heavily scarred and tattooed body as Stevens struggles to pry the shirt from his chiseled frame. However, once it is off, Scott tosses the shirt into the restroom before retreating into the area himself. Scott suddenly stumbles backwards towards the bathroom door and hits the door frame and dropping to a knee. Scott decides the best course of action is to take a seat on the floor at least until the room stops spinning. After a few minutes when everything becomes coherent, Scott pulls himself up back to his feet and makes his way to the shower and turns the hot water on all the way and once the steam builds he finish disrobing before disappearing into the steam.
45 minutes later……………………..
The sound of running water stops and Scott Stevens emerges from the bathroom wearing a towel around his waist. Scott makes his way to the desk where his phone is charging and takes a seat. He waits by it patiently and when it begins to ring he clicks the accept button and put’s the conversation on speaker.
“Hello?”
Stevens answers.
“Hey Mr. Stevens, it’s RJ from The Final Bell and I was just calling to see if you are ready to come on?”
RJ asks as Stevens throws another handful of pills into his mouth.
“Yes.”
Scott replies with a mouthful of drugs.
“Ok, we will put you on hold and bring you in after the commercial break.”
RJ informs Scott who makes his way over to the dresser and picks up the bottle of Wild Turkey and makes his way back over to the desk awaiting to be taken off of hold. Stevens takes a swing out of the bottle and RJ comes back on to inform Scott they are about go live. A few seconds pass and Stevens hears the host of the show talking.
“Welcome back ladies and gentlemen to the Final Bell with me, your host, Adrian Bell and we have a special guest on hold right now. That guest will be competing in a few weeks at HOW’s big summer event entitled War Games which can be viewed on both the PWA and HOTv streaming networks. My guest is H-Town’s own, Scott Stevens!”
Adrian gives Scott the hype intro and after a moment Adrian continues.
“How you doing today Mr. Stevens?”
Adrian asks and Scott puts down the Wild Turkey bottle to answer.
“I’m doing well, how are you?”
Stevens replies to the host.
“I’m doing great, how about yourself?”
Scott asks the host.
“I’m doing fine, but let’s cut the pleasantries and get down to the nitty gritty, shall we?”
Adrian asks and Stevens nods.
“That’s fine with me.”
Stevens replies before taking another drink of his bourbon.
“It’s no secret that War Games is your favorite time of year and the people have to be wondering who is the odds-on favorite team to win it this year?”
The host asks and there is a moment of silence.
“You still there Scott?”
Adrian asks to make sure the connection wasn’t lost.
“I’m here.”
Scott replies slowly.
“I was just collecting my thoughts because I don’t believe there is a clear-cut winner like everyone is making it seem. I believe it will be a lot closer than people think and anyone from any team can take it this year. You’ll probably call me biased, but I believe my team has the very best chance at winning.”
Stevens informs Adrian who is laughing.
“Come on now Scott! You are going to tell me your team is better than Evan’s Ward team for example?”
Adrian asks shocked by Stevens’ response.
“Yes. My team has the heart and the soul the other teams don’t have. Each of us prides ourselves with being the absolute best and we will go out there and give it our best or die trying. Let’s take Jace for instance, forget the fact he is a Hall of Famer, former world champion, and a past War Games victor, the man dominates every championship he acquires. It doesn’t matter if it’s the world championship or a tag title he will prove to everyone that he is the absolute best champion there is. Some say certain champions, not going to mention who, but a certain champion of the world has been avoiding Jace because they know they could dethrone them. On top of that, we have a former two-time world champion in Conor Fuse, who happened to finish second in back-to-back War Games the last couple of years. Conor is a gamer, and he also prides himself at being the best Player One there is. Then you have Scottywood and myself, and the two of us simply don’t give a fuck and we will do whatever it takes to win. Winning War Games as the final victor has alluded the both of us in our careers and we will do whatever we have to do to make sure that accolade is accomplished. Even Zach Kostoff is hungry to get out of his old man’s shadow and make a name for himself. However, probably the most important reason I believe our team will win War Games is that every single member is willing to kill to achieve victory. Can any other team be willing to do that?”
Stevens asks but doesn’t let Adrian respond.
“Now, if I had to pick a team other than mine to win, I would’ve picked that team and it pains me to say that.”
Stevens acknowledges Team Ward’s potential at being the victors of War Games.
“So that’s the team you really pick to win?”
Adrian asks again, and Scott seems annoyed by the question.
“No, I still believe my team is the odds-on favorite to win, and Ward’s team would win if the team I wasn’t on was assembled.”
Stevens doubles down on his statement.
“I just find that hard to believe with a stacked team like Ward’s team.”
The host replies flabbergasted by Stevens’ unwavering choice.
“Look, Evan Ward’s team is very good and that’s why most people have them as the favorites to win and why wouldn’t you when you have the competitors on it. It’s hard to argue when everyone on that squad has been a world champion, but more importantly, has won War Games, some more than once.”
Stevens says before taking a drink before continuing.
“Evan Ward may be a fucking douchebag, but the man is a Hall of Famer for a reason. Before he won War Games himself back in 2013, he dominated every division HOW had to offer before making his Third Generational Leap at becoming a world champion. Plus, one of the most underappreciated things about Evan Ward that people are neglecting is that he’s a good leader despite my bias opinion of his captain status about War Games. Ward knows how to lead because he was an accomplished tag team wrestler and he was the leader of Ground Zero through some of the good times and some of the bad times. Ward knows how to work with people, but most importantly, he knows how to lead them. However, as great of a leader he is his ego as gotten the better of him as of late. You may only see bits and pieces of it on HOTv, but if given the opportunity he will throw his own teammates under the bus if he gets to hold 97 Red around his waist once more.
Stevens states and Adrian agrees.
“I think I started to notice that with the treatment of Aceldama.”
“Exactly!”
Scott cuts him off.
“Ace is an absolute savage in that ring. He is a destructive force that’s hard to describe unless you’ve been in the ring with him because it seems chaos fuels him.”
Adrian cuts of Stevens.
“You could say he is HOW’s hulk?”
Adrian asks and Stevens leans back in his chair and nods in agreement.
“That’s a pretty good comparison, but that seems to have changed because the dog won’t do anything without his master’s command and if Ward is eliminated will Ace come to the aide of someone like Charles de Lacy? Or will he let his teammate be eliminated because his master didn’t tell him to save him? Hell, will Ace continue to fight for himself and the team without the commands of his master?”
Stevens asks and there is a brief silence.
“Those are some good points and speaking of Charles de Lacy, what are your thoughts on him?”
Stevens’ phone vibrates and he sees he has a text from Jace.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I believe he can make an impact in the match, but the question you need to be asking will his teammates allow him to win it over them? He’s definitely a wild card because with everyone on that team looking to be world champion, I wouldn’t trust any of them.”
Scott informs the host and Adrian chuckles a bit.
“I thought the wild card would be the mystery man, if he happens to make it into the match, and that being El Hombre Blanco.”
Stevens immediately cuts him off.
“That’s Mike Best! I know it, you know it, every knows it! It’s the worst kept secret in the company.”
Stevens growls as his phone vibrates once again with another text from Jace.
“Fair enough, but how can you go against the team that houses the greatest War Games competitor ever?”
Adrian asks with curiosity.
“Fuck Christopher America.”
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me, fuck Christopher America.”
“Nothing more than that?”
“I’ll add another something else Adrian.”
Stevens says as he clears his throat.
“Fuck Christopher America.”
Stevens says with a chuckle.
“Moving on, who do you think has the best chance at winning not from your team or Evan Ward’s team?”
Before Stevens can answer the question, Jace’s number appears on the screen of the phone and Stevens hits the old asshole button to decline the call.
“I believe Joe Bergman has the best chance of winning.”
Stevens replies confidently.
“The Heartland Sith? The Lord of Midway? The Sovereign of the Rust Belt? The Champion of the Evil Empire?”
Adrian asks and Scott waits for him to stop spouting off nicknames.
“Yes. With all the things going on with him and the Final Alliance it would be the ultimate fuck you to Lee Best if Bergman was to walk out of War Games as the world champion and retire back to Wrexham with his baby.”
A ding sounds from Stevens’ phone but he ignores it.
“That is a good choice, but I would have to pick someone like Clay Byrd or Dan Ryan.”
Adrian informs Scott of his pick and the Texan doesn’t disagree.
“I might have picked Clay Byrd if Conor Fuse or Mike Best wasn’t in the match because Clay has had trouble with those two as he can’t seem to get over the hump of defeating them and with both of them in the match it’s almost a forgone conclusion Clay will not emerge victorious that night. As far as Dan Ryan goes, I just didn’t feel comfortable picking him. Since coming to HOW he has been more sizzle than steak and someone of his talents and past accomplishments I believe he should’ve done more than he has in HOW to be honest.”
Scott replies with blunt honesty.
“Fair enough. Now before we wrap things up is there anything you want to say to the listeners?
Adrian asks and Stevens smirks.
“Yes, and that is when ever you feel down, you feel like you can’t continue, and you want to give up just remember the three most important words and everything becomes better.”
Scott says and Adrian cuts him off.
“And those three words are?”
Adrian asks impatiently.
“Those three words Adrian are; “fuck Christopher America!””
Stevens says proudly before the host thanks him for calling and the two hang up. Once the interview is over, Scott notices he has a voicemail from Jace and he stares at the red alert icon for a long while before pressing the button and placing the phone to his hear to hear the message as the image fades.