- Event: March to Glory: 2023
Friday 10th March 2023
Manchester Crown Court, United Kingdom
*The scene opens inside an open court. It is a private hearing so no members of the public are in attendance. It is a small room, consisting of two tables beside each other, both with two leather chairs each. In front of them is a longer table where the Judge is sitting awaiting, wearing his full black robes and white wig. Already in the room is Inspector Davis and Chief Investigator Jones, sitting at their designated table. On the other side of the table sits the government appointed lawyer for Aceldama, Phillip Hudson. He sits looking over the notes, scratching his head and looking rather worried. All of a sudden the double doors behind them open and comes in, flanked by two police officers, wearing handcuffs, is Aceldama. The officers make him approach the judge and stand him in front of the large table.*
Judge- Mr Bruggemann, can you confirm to me you are aware of the allegations brought against you by the prosecution?
Aceldama- I am
Judge- You have been appointed a lawyer by the UK Government who has been handed your Home Office file and understands the details of the case. Are you ok with this and to proceed?
Aceldama- No your honour.
Judge- And can I ask the reasons why you do not wish to proceed?
Aceldama- My fault your honour, I must not have made myself clear there. I do wish to proceed, but I do not want this government approved lawyer. I wish to represent myself.
Judge- Mr Bruggemann, I would say it would be in your best interest to accept the lawyer, he has had your file since Tuesday evening and is will averse to the case.
Aceldama- With all due respect your honour, I do not need some child who looks like he has just walked out of Law School to represent me in this matter. He might have all the files, but I lived it all. The memories are engrained with me.
Phillip Hudson- Your honour I have made my way from London for this hearing, spent hours looking into this case, all for the defendant to insult me and tell me he does not need my services!
Aceldama- I did say with all due respect
Judge- Mr Hudson, you will be paid for your time and any expenses incurred, you are excused.
*Mr Hudson gets up, pulls the leather chair back in and walks over to the judge, handing him the documents and walking past Aceldama makes a snide remark to him*
Phillip Hudson- Best of luck, your going to need it.
Aceldama- Best of luck with the puberty.
*Mr Hudson leaves the room through the double doors and the two police officers proceed to direct Aceldama to one of the leather chairs and sit him down. One of the officers decides to sit beside him and the other behind. The prosecution just sit in shock, but seem happy that the outcome they were looking for just got a lot easier. The judge puts aside the documents and then looks up*
Judge- Well, I guess we shall start, prosecution if you will.
*Inspector Davis stands up, laying out her documents in front of her*
Inspector Davis- Your honour, Mr Bruggemann arrived into Manchester International Airport on Tuesday the 7th of March. His reason for travel was to represent a wrestling promotion, High Octane Wrestling at an event this Sunday at Old Trafford football stadium. Upon arrival he was flagged to Border Force that his American passport, issued only in January this year, had been issued fraudulently. The passport was issued in a way that evaded the fact that Mr Bruggemann was put on the no-fly list back in 2011 and was a way to evade this. Upon further investigation Mr Bruggemann has been incarcerated in a Russian prison, for crimes related to the KGB. The fact that Mr Bruggemann attempted to evade the authorities and hide his no-fly list and did not declare that he has been in the Russian Federation in the last 12 months we believe that his working VISA be revoked and to return to the United States immediately.
Judge- Mr Bruggemann, do you confirm or deny these accusations?
Aceldama- I confirm, but also deny.
Judge- Do you wish to elaborate Mr Bruggemann?
Aceldama- I was not aware of the evasion of the no-fly list. My employer sorted out the renewal of my passport because, you know, I was in prison in Russia. As for KGB related crimes, I believe they were the Russian Mafia.
Judge- Mr Bruggemann, you are not making your case any easier for yourself, maybe you should have remained with the lawyer.
Aceldama- I thought this was a court room? Do you not have to tell the truth in here? Anyways, I didn’t want to come here, its just part of my business. You think I would want to willingly set foot in this country? With your constitutional racism. You see me, a German national, filled with tattoos and you immediately see a neo-Nazi.
*Judge begins to bang his gavel*
Judge- Mr Bruggemann that is enough! It is clear that this hearing was a waste of time, with this I have no option but to refuse your VISA……
*All of a sudden the double doors open. Aceldama turns his head to see Lee Best making his way into the room, holding a piece of paper and looking rather irate*
Judge- What is the meaning of this?
Lee Best- There seems to be some sort of confusion here, not gone the fact that I was not told that my employee was detained at the border!
Inspector Davis- I would assume you are Lee Best? We have been trying to contact you since Tuesday
Lee Best- Funny that, I don’t have any missed calls, no emails, not even a carrier pigeon! Saying that though with the pollution in this country he probably got lost. Yes I am Lee Best and I will be taking my employee with me this afternoon as he has a very important date with destiny.
Judge- Mr Best, I will have you know that Mr Bruggemann is on a no-fly list…..
Lee Best- That expired in 2021, you should all know that those entries last for ten years, am I trying to show you guys how to do your job? Anyways, I have a piece of paper here which will allow my employee to leave right now.
*Lee walks over to the judge and hands him the piece of paper. The judge puts on his glasses and reads it. He puts it up to the air as if to check its authenticity. Baffled at what he has seen he puts his glasses off and sets them onto the table*
Judge- Well I guess I have no option now, Mr Bruggemann, you have been granted a working VISA to enter the United Kingdom, which will expire on the Monday after your show at Old Trafford on the Sunday. You must report to Border Force at 6am on the Monday where you will be sent back to the United States.
Inspector Davis- I am sorry, but what is going on here? What did he just hand you? We have a right to know why your decision all of a sudden has changed after seeing a piece of paper!
Judge- I have here a letter, written to a Mr Lee Best, pardoning Mr Wolfgang Bruggemann of all his wrong doings and granting him access to the United Kingdom, signed by King Charles the Third.
Inspector Davis- There is no way the King would pardon a German national who lives in America, I would like that document verified before this case is put to a close.
Judge- Miss Davis, I have been a judge for over forty years, I have seen many of these documents, mostly from his mother, bless her soul, and the seal on this document is genuine. Mr Bruggemann, you are free to go, case closed.
*Aceldama is stood up by the two police officers, and the handcuffs are removed from him as the prosecution storm towards the judge’s table demanding to see the document as the judge simply gets up and walks away. Aceldama turns and looks at Lee, with a rather confused look on his face as he walks out of the courtroom, side by side with Lee, neither utter a word to each other as they leave the building and down the long steps and into a limousine parked outside the court. The limo drives off and there is still a few moments of silence, before Aceldama finally decides to speak*
Aceldama- A pardon from the King of England, how did you pull that one out?
Lee Best- One of his son’s assaulted one of my crew members at a house show several years ago whilst High on cocaine. His father asked me not to press charges, little did I know at the time that ginger prick’s father was the heir to the fucking English throne! So I felt he owed me a little favour.
Aceldama- So what now? I have wasted the last 3 days in a cell, the match is in two days and I have had no preparation
Lee Best- Preparation? What preparation do you need? You get there, smack the bitch up until she can’t get up again and then leave. Fuck me you would think after thirteen years you would have had your revenge choreographed in your head!
Aceldama- All those years in prison, most of it in solitary, all I had was time to think. About where it all went wrong, and every time I think of the exact moment it all went wrong for me, my downward spiral, it all goes back to that night, I want her, no NEED her to suffer.
Lee Best- I think you need to revisit your past……or else it is going to be your future
*Lee hands Aceldama a DVD*
Aceldama- What’s this?
Lee Best- Your match with Bobbinette, got it from the archives. Maybe you should watch it again. This is your stop. Your on watch, you cannot leave your hotel room, you hear me?
*Aceldama gets out of the limousine, holding the DVD in his hand and stands outside the multi storey Lowry Hotel. He walks inside the main foyer and walks up to reception. It looks empty so he stands about, then from a room behind comes the receptionist and walks over to him*
Receptionist- Ah Mr Bruggemann, we have been expecting you, here is your key card, a DVD player is waiting in your room as requested, have a nice stay!
*He takes the key card and then proceeds to walk towards the elevators*
**FADE TO BLACK**
14TH February 2010
University of Illinois Hospital
*The scene opens inside a small hospital room. Inside the room lies Aceldama. He is connected to a heart monitor and is taking in oxygen from a mask. He is handcuffed to the bed and two police officers stand at either side of him. A doctor comes into the room, holding a file, reading it with great detail. Aceldama sees him come in and asks the police officer to his left to remove his mask*
Aceldama- What the hell is going on here?
Doctor- Well Mr Bruggemann, you had a heart attack and the organ has taken considerable damage.
Aceldama- What the fuck are you talking about, I am a professional wrestler, I am in the shape of my life. Yes I might have taken a few drugs that night, but I know my limits, I did not overdose.
Doctor- No this was no overdose, your heart condition is genetic, did you know of any heart issues in your family.
Aceldama- My mother passed away when I was young, and my father I never knew either.
Doctor- Mr Bruggemann you have something called supraventricular tachycardia.
Aceldama- In English please
Doctor- Your heartbeat sometimes when it increases does not know how to stop, so it keeps beating faster and faster, until, well, it finally gives up.
Aceldama- You can fix it right?
Doctor- No sadly this is genetic, yes it can be supressed, but it is something that can be triggered by many things, its just a matter of knowing your trigger.
Aceldama- I know mine. Ever since I lost my match to Bobbinette Carey, I went on a downward spiral. I felt different. I was no longer the person I was before. For so long now I felt I was in control of my own destiny. I was on top the world, the best at what I do, then, four days ago, it all came crashing down. With that defeat everything I had accomplished for myself dwindled away to nothing. Bobbinettte Carey, YOU broke my heart and I will not stop, if this heart of mine is to bear it’s final beat, I will not stop until I know that the pain and anguish you have put me through is felt through every vein in your body.
BOBBINETTE CAREY YOU BROKE ME!! AND I WILL REPAY YOU IN KIND!!
**FADE TO BLACK**
Friday 10th March 2023
Room 458 Lowry Hotel, Manchester, England
*In his luxurious hotel room Aceldama stands by the tall window looking out upon Manchester. In close proximity is Old Trafford stadium, the host of March to Glory on Sunday*
Aceldama- So that must be Old Trafford then, bigger than I thought. That is where my redemption begins and ends then? Carey, wherever you are out there, I hope you are getting prepared. No need to rest up, there will be plenty of time for that when our match is over, as I aim to keep you down for a very long time. I intend to end your career, just like you tried to do with mine. Thirteen years is a long time to hold a grudge I know but I guess I don’t like unfinished business. We never got to meet again, so here we are……..its time to make new history, as the past history did not have the desired ending. Lets write a new ending…..a proper ending.
*Aceldama walks away from the window and sits down on the end of the bed. He looks to his right and notices the DVD Lee gave him sitting there. Picking it up he proceeds to walk over to the television where a DVD player is sitting beside it. He puts in the DVD and sits back on the end of the bed, grabbing the remote for the television and turns it on. The footage is a bit grainy however everything can be seen. It is the full match from 2010 when Aceldama lost his world title to Carey. As it plays out Aceldama’s face starts to shudder. He begins to put his hands over his eyes and is shaking his head profusely. After the match is over he cannot even take himself to finish it and as soon as Carey is handed the world title and raises it over her head, he turns off the television and puts his head into his hands*
Aceldama- All this time….I was wrong. Bobbinette, I took you for granted. I got cocky, I underestimated you. The loss was my doing. I did come prepared. You are a hall of famer for a reason, watching that I was so blind not to see. All this time I wanted to re-write my own history, to right the wrongs…..watching my history play out in front of me, all those wrongs were my own doing. On Sunday I will come to that ring and I will do what is needed to be done…..to show you respect. All those years ago I did not do that, and it cost me, I cannot make the same mistake twice!
*Aceldama goes over to the telephone and dials a number*
Aceldama- Reception, I need to use your gym for the rest of the day.
*Aceldama puts down the phone*
Aceldama- Its no longer about redemption……its about showing YOU Carey, the real me. That night you took the title from me, I went in uninterested, unprepared, thinking I was better than you. We are equals, but I am going to show you come Sunday, even though we may stand as equals, even equals can have a superior.