Post by Robert Daniels on Jun 13, 2021 22:18:33 GMT -5
“No One is Calling You a Liar” by Keuning begins playing as blue and white block letters appear on the screen, reading “The Honest Truth with Biggs.” The letters dissolve and the screen switches to Biggs dressed in a tweed jacket with a light blue button up shirt and a navy blue bow-tie, seated behind a really nice desk with a navy blue front and glass top. A video screen is set up behind him. It's got a gradient blue background, with the show's logo in white on it. His book, “Checking the Blindspots: How to be Truly Honest with Yourself” is propped up beside him on his desk. Biggs has a slightly somber look on his face as the music fades and he begins to speak.
BIGGS: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the inaugural episode of “The Honest Truth,” the wrestling talk show where honesty is king. Now the last time I was seen on Mainstream television, Bryan Ford and myself were wrestling to determine the #1 Contender for Cartier's Mainstream World Television Championship when this happened.
The screen transitions to a replay from the end of Biggs vs Ford from Mainstream 68.
Biggs tries to catch his breath but is sent crashing to the floor as Ford flies through the middle rope with a spear! Both men hit the ground hard as a "Ooooh" is heard throughout the crowd!
MCKAYLA LEWIS: Bryan Ford must have a death wish! A spear through the ropes! Insane!
Ford grits his teeth as rage builds inside him. The impact on the ground caused a bit of the padding to separate on the floor. Ford kicks his feet against it in an attempt to stand and falls a few times, each kick causing the pad to peel back a bit more and expose the concrete. Ford and Biggs manage to stand and trade shots again! Ford gets the upper hand with a European Uppercut! Ford then hooks Biggs head under his arm and lifts him up with a suplex attempt but Ford’s ankle gives out on him making him set Biggs back down.
Biggs takes advantage and gives Ford a chop but Ford retaliates with a spit to the face! Biggs' eyes widen and he absolutely snaps! Biggs fires off multiple forearm shots to the face of Ford and lifts him up, drilling his head into the exposed concrete with a devastating Brainbuster!
As the feed cuts back live, Biggs is shaking his head with a contrite look on his face.
BIGGS: Truly hard to watch. As I have already made clear many times over the last two weeks, I strongly regret the fact that my actions resulted in Bryan Ford suffering a concussion. My guest on tonight's show is none other than the father of Bryan Ford, Mr. Nick Ford, who is joining us live via satellite.
The feed goes split screen, showing Biggs on the left and Nick Ford on the right. Mr. Ford is seated in what appears to be a study, with a bookshelf behind him, filled with books and assorted knick-knacks. A Bryan Ford action figure is displayed prominently on the shelf. Wearing a dark green sweater, Mr. Ford has a pensive look on his face.
BIGGS: Mr. Ford, first off, let me thank you for being willing to be on the show tonight.
NICK FORD: Thank you for having me. I'm glad that you're showing the courage to talk to me, man to man, most would duck out of something like this.
BIGGS: Mr. Ford, if I may, I would like to formally apologize for injuring your son two weeks ago. I know that my words mean very little in the big scheme of things, but I want to assure you that I take great pride in the fact that I am normally a very clean competitor. There is a big difference between hurting your opponent in order to defeat them, and injuring them. It is never my intent to injure my opponents, and I truly regret that your son suffered such a horrible injury at my hands. I know full well how serious concussions are, as I have suffered seven myself over the course of my career, and it cost me five years. For all the animosity between me and your son, I truly hope that he misses a minimal amount of time, and is back to doing what he does best as soon as it is safe for him to do so. Can you give us an update on your son's condition?
NICK FORD: As of right now Bryan is responsive to sound but has yet to open his eyes and show proper consciousness. And while I do believe your apology is heartfelt, the fact is, you should have never spiked my son's head into the concrete in the first place. You were reckless and showed real malice in doing what you did to my son! This is a professional business, key word Professional.
Biggs is visibly offended by Mr. Ford's comments, and offers his rebuttal.
BIGGS: There you go again accusing me of showing malice to your son! Do you even know what the word malice means, Mr. Ford? Malice implies intent, Mr. Ford, and the footage clearly shows that I did not set out with the intention of injuring Bryan! He was the one who kicked the mat loose! He was the one who spit in my face! I was unaware of the fact that the floor was exposed, and I did not target his head to hit the concrete!
Mr. Ford is clearly getting agitated as well, and fires back at “The Spaceman.”
NICK FORD: You want to argue semantics!? Well you shouldn't even be spiking somebody's head outside the ring, mats or no mats! The fact that you thought it was acceptable to do that shows malice on your part! And lack of self control!
BIGGS: I'm going to stop you right there, Mr. Ford. You were a professional wrestler yourself at one time, so you know as well as I do just how heated things can get during a match. While there's certainly no love lost between me and your son, I want to let you know that I respect his talent in the ring. But it's obvious that that respect is not mutual, because he spit right in my face! We were already in a heightened emotional state due to the stakes of the match, and while I take responsibility for my actions, I will not allow you to mis-characterize me and drag my good name through the mud just so you can feel better about yourself and your son!
NICK FORD: Feel better? Nothing is going to make me feel better about this situation. I don't think I'm mis-characterizing you at all! You're a snake in the grass, Biggs, a snake in the freakin' grass, and now my son will be lucky to even have a career after what you have done to him. You can try to rationalize it all you want, but you may very well have ended Bryan's career! That's on your hands!
BIGGS: Believe me, Mr. Ford, I feel terrible about that. I would not wish a concussion on my worst enemy. But I take umbrage with the fact that despite all the video evidence, despite my contrite nature and frequent apologies, you continue to frame me as a cold-hearted villain who plotted this master plan to seriously injure your son! It was an accident, plain and simple, and if I could, I would take it back in a heartbeat! But I can't! You have every right to be upset with me as Bryan's father, but you have no right to claim that I did what I did on purpose.
NICK FORD: If you're that contrite, forfeit your shot at the Mainstream World Television Championship. That would show true character, that would show me that you truly are sorry for what you did to Bryan!
By this point, both men are red in the face and shouting at one another. Any pretense of civility is out the window.
BIGGS: Oh that's rich! Need I remind you that I know exactly what Bryan is going through. Do you think any of the men who gave me concussions gave up a title opportunity? No! This business is not ballet. You should know as well as anyone the risks we take anytime we step in that ring! Furthermore, you seem to be forgetting that not even a month ago, Cartier attacked me at a book signing and tried to kill me, so I have every motivation and right to fight her tonight!
NICK FORD: You are a small, pathetic, shameful man, acting like you care. You brought me on to this program under false pretenses!
BIGGS: No sir, there you go again projecting emotions and feelings onto me that simply aren't there! Be honest with yourself, you know that your boy is no paragon of virtue! He's gotten a chip on his shoulder recently, and has changed for the worse. Need I remind you of his recent issues with Echo Layne. Here's a gal whom he claims to be his “bestie,” and yet even as she was trying to help him not get waffled by a chair, he assumed the worst in her. Who does that!? Who looks at their friend and their first thought is, “Hey, my friend screwed me over!?”
NICK FORD: Bryan's character isn't in question here, Biggs, yours is! Despite whatever your issues are he would never try to hospitalize a fellow competitor!
BIGGS: There you go again accusing me of being a headhunter! I wasn't "trying" to put Bryan Ford in the hospital. I take pride in the fact that I am a skilled athlete who doesn't have to resort to cheap tactics to be successful, and what I did to your son was not intentional, it was an accident! Just because you are too stubborn to objectively look at the facts and too stubborn to accept my apology doesn't make me a bad person, that's on you! In fact, I'm so contrite about what I did to Bryan that I am dedicating my match to him tonight! I will win Cartier's World Television Championship in honor of your son!
NICK FORD: Don't you dare say that! You have no right to try to honor my son after what you did! You shouldn't even utter his name out of your mouth!
BIGGS: Too late, already did. And quite frankly, sir, you are not being honest with yourself or with me, so I'm going to have to let you go. Good day.
Nick Ford blows up, but the satellite feed is cut, and his side of the screen goes black. The camera then switches to the other side of Biggs, who turns to face into the camera.
BIGGS: Sorry about that, folks. Mr. Ford was continuing to propagate a false narrative that served his own purposes. He was not being honest, so I would not further subject my viewers to bold faced lies. Moving on, I would like to take a moment to address my opponent tonight, Cartier. Ms. Cartier, at one point, I held you in quite high regard. Sure, your technical acumen is lacking, but despite that, you always find ways to win. You are very well spoken when you want to be, and come off as very intelligent and knowledgeable about world issues, particularly in matters of race, and how it shapes all of our experiences. As a straight white male, I understand that I have benefited from a system that held you back, even though I wasn't actively seeking those benefits. So I want to preface everything I'm about to say by first acknowledging that I respect the hell out of you for being in the position that you are despite all the roadblocks and challenges that you had to face as a black woman that I couldn't even hope to begin to understand. You are performing at a high level in a male dominated industry, and for that I can only applaud you. Know that none of my comments hereafter pertain to your gender or race, but rather, they pertain to your character.
“Despite how much I respect you for your will and desire to overcome, what I take umbrage with is how you choose to represent the Mainstream World Television Championship. Anytime you hold a championship, you are one of the faces of that wrestling organization. How you carry yourself reflects back on Mainstream Wrestling, and the fact is, you have not been carrying yourself honorably at all since defeating Mariano Fernandez for the title. In your first title defense, you faced my boy, Bobby Larson. And despite the fact that he was giving you all you could take, you showed him and the title you carry the ultimate disrespect by trying to walk out on the match!
Biggs' face begins to redden as he continues to speak.
BIGGS: You did a disservice to the Mainstream World Television Championship that night, because a real champion does not walk out on a match! Even if you think you're miles above your competition, when you defend your championship, you freakin' defend it! To do anything less makes a mockery of our sport and the title you carry! That's why I threw you back into the ring, because I wasn't going to let you disrespect Bobby in that way, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let you disrespect the TV Title in that way either!
“Which brings us to Spokane. I was minding my own business, doing a book signing for my fans, which you felt was appropriate to interrupt and jump me at! I only fought back in self defense. However, you decided that you would trash the place and try to not only end my career, but also my life! The human body isn't supposed to fall 14-feet and be fine. The table literally saved my life. Fact is, you are an attempted murderer, and quite frankly, I'm not comfortable with the idea that an attempted murderer is one of Mainstream Wrestling's champions! So tonight, I feel that it is my solemn duty to rescue the Mainstream World Television Championship from you, Cartier. Because despite all your good and noble qualities, honestly, they get more than canceled out by your ignoble ones.”
Biggs gives a heavy sigh before continuing to speak.
BIGGS: I take no joy in having to say these things about you, Cartier, but sometimes, the truth hurts. I want to be able to stand up and say that you are an example of everything that is right about professional wrestling, but I simply cannot do that without being a liar. So tonight, I will be doing Mainstream Wrestling a favor by relieving you of the TV Title, giving them a champion who respects the title, giving them a champion who acts with dignity and grace for all their opponents, giving them a champion they can be proud of. Tonight, I win the TV Title not just for myself, not just for Bryan Ford, but for all of Mainstream Wrestling....
Biggs is looking intensely into the camera as the show fades to commercial break.
BIGGS: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the inaugural episode of “The Honest Truth,” the wrestling talk show where honesty is king. Now the last time I was seen on Mainstream television, Bryan Ford and myself were wrestling to determine the #1 Contender for Cartier's Mainstream World Television Championship when this happened.
The screen transitions to a replay from the end of Biggs vs Ford from Mainstream 68.
Biggs tries to catch his breath but is sent crashing to the floor as Ford flies through the middle rope with a spear! Both men hit the ground hard as a "Ooooh" is heard throughout the crowd!
MCKAYLA LEWIS: Bryan Ford must have a death wish! A spear through the ropes! Insane!
Ford grits his teeth as rage builds inside him. The impact on the ground caused a bit of the padding to separate on the floor. Ford kicks his feet against it in an attempt to stand and falls a few times, each kick causing the pad to peel back a bit more and expose the concrete. Ford and Biggs manage to stand and trade shots again! Ford gets the upper hand with a European Uppercut! Ford then hooks Biggs head under his arm and lifts him up with a suplex attempt but Ford’s ankle gives out on him making him set Biggs back down.
Biggs takes advantage and gives Ford a chop but Ford retaliates with a spit to the face! Biggs' eyes widen and he absolutely snaps! Biggs fires off multiple forearm shots to the face of Ford and lifts him up, drilling his head into the exposed concrete with a devastating Brainbuster!
As the feed cuts back live, Biggs is shaking his head with a contrite look on his face.
BIGGS: Truly hard to watch. As I have already made clear many times over the last two weeks, I strongly regret the fact that my actions resulted in Bryan Ford suffering a concussion. My guest on tonight's show is none other than the father of Bryan Ford, Mr. Nick Ford, who is joining us live via satellite.
The feed goes split screen, showing Biggs on the left and Nick Ford on the right. Mr. Ford is seated in what appears to be a study, with a bookshelf behind him, filled with books and assorted knick-knacks. A Bryan Ford action figure is displayed prominently on the shelf. Wearing a dark green sweater, Mr. Ford has a pensive look on his face.
BIGGS: Mr. Ford, first off, let me thank you for being willing to be on the show tonight.
NICK FORD: Thank you for having me. I'm glad that you're showing the courage to talk to me, man to man, most would duck out of something like this.
BIGGS: Mr. Ford, if I may, I would like to formally apologize for injuring your son two weeks ago. I know that my words mean very little in the big scheme of things, but I want to assure you that I take great pride in the fact that I am normally a very clean competitor. There is a big difference between hurting your opponent in order to defeat them, and injuring them. It is never my intent to injure my opponents, and I truly regret that your son suffered such a horrible injury at my hands. I know full well how serious concussions are, as I have suffered seven myself over the course of my career, and it cost me five years. For all the animosity between me and your son, I truly hope that he misses a minimal amount of time, and is back to doing what he does best as soon as it is safe for him to do so. Can you give us an update on your son's condition?
NICK FORD: As of right now Bryan is responsive to sound but has yet to open his eyes and show proper consciousness. And while I do believe your apology is heartfelt, the fact is, you should have never spiked my son's head into the concrete in the first place. You were reckless and showed real malice in doing what you did to my son! This is a professional business, key word Professional.
Biggs is visibly offended by Mr. Ford's comments, and offers his rebuttal.
BIGGS: There you go again accusing me of showing malice to your son! Do you even know what the word malice means, Mr. Ford? Malice implies intent, Mr. Ford, and the footage clearly shows that I did not set out with the intention of injuring Bryan! He was the one who kicked the mat loose! He was the one who spit in my face! I was unaware of the fact that the floor was exposed, and I did not target his head to hit the concrete!
Mr. Ford is clearly getting agitated as well, and fires back at “The Spaceman.”
NICK FORD: You want to argue semantics!? Well you shouldn't even be spiking somebody's head outside the ring, mats or no mats! The fact that you thought it was acceptable to do that shows malice on your part! And lack of self control!
BIGGS: I'm going to stop you right there, Mr. Ford. You were a professional wrestler yourself at one time, so you know as well as I do just how heated things can get during a match. While there's certainly no love lost between me and your son, I want to let you know that I respect his talent in the ring. But it's obvious that that respect is not mutual, because he spit right in my face! We were already in a heightened emotional state due to the stakes of the match, and while I take responsibility for my actions, I will not allow you to mis-characterize me and drag my good name through the mud just so you can feel better about yourself and your son!
NICK FORD: Feel better? Nothing is going to make me feel better about this situation. I don't think I'm mis-characterizing you at all! You're a snake in the grass, Biggs, a snake in the freakin' grass, and now my son will be lucky to even have a career after what you have done to him. You can try to rationalize it all you want, but you may very well have ended Bryan's career! That's on your hands!
BIGGS: Believe me, Mr. Ford, I feel terrible about that. I would not wish a concussion on my worst enemy. But I take umbrage with the fact that despite all the video evidence, despite my contrite nature and frequent apologies, you continue to frame me as a cold-hearted villain who plotted this master plan to seriously injure your son! It was an accident, plain and simple, and if I could, I would take it back in a heartbeat! But I can't! You have every right to be upset with me as Bryan's father, but you have no right to claim that I did what I did on purpose.
NICK FORD: If you're that contrite, forfeit your shot at the Mainstream World Television Championship. That would show true character, that would show me that you truly are sorry for what you did to Bryan!
By this point, both men are red in the face and shouting at one another. Any pretense of civility is out the window.
BIGGS: Oh that's rich! Need I remind you that I know exactly what Bryan is going through. Do you think any of the men who gave me concussions gave up a title opportunity? No! This business is not ballet. You should know as well as anyone the risks we take anytime we step in that ring! Furthermore, you seem to be forgetting that not even a month ago, Cartier attacked me at a book signing and tried to kill me, so I have every motivation and right to fight her tonight!
NICK FORD: You are a small, pathetic, shameful man, acting like you care. You brought me on to this program under false pretenses!
BIGGS: No sir, there you go again projecting emotions and feelings onto me that simply aren't there! Be honest with yourself, you know that your boy is no paragon of virtue! He's gotten a chip on his shoulder recently, and has changed for the worse. Need I remind you of his recent issues with Echo Layne. Here's a gal whom he claims to be his “bestie,” and yet even as she was trying to help him not get waffled by a chair, he assumed the worst in her. Who does that!? Who looks at their friend and their first thought is, “Hey, my friend screwed me over!?”
NICK FORD: Bryan's character isn't in question here, Biggs, yours is! Despite whatever your issues are he would never try to hospitalize a fellow competitor!
BIGGS: There you go again accusing me of being a headhunter! I wasn't "trying" to put Bryan Ford in the hospital. I take pride in the fact that I am a skilled athlete who doesn't have to resort to cheap tactics to be successful, and what I did to your son was not intentional, it was an accident! Just because you are too stubborn to objectively look at the facts and too stubborn to accept my apology doesn't make me a bad person, that's on you! In fact, I'm so contrite about what I did to Bryan that I am dedicating my match to him tonight! I will win Cartier's World Television Championship in honor of your son!
NICK FORD: Don't you dare say that! You have no right to try to honor my son after what you did! You shouldn't even utter his name out of your mouth!
BIGGS: Too late, already did. And quite frankly, sir, you are not being honest with yourself or with me, so I'm going to have to let you go. Good day.
Nick Ford blows up, but the satellite feed is cut, and his side of the screen goes black. The camera then switches to the other side of Biggs, who turns to face into the camera.
BIGGS: Sorry about that, folks. Mr. Ford was continuing to propagate a false narrative that served his own purposes. He was not being honest, so I would not further subject my viewers to bold faced lies. Moving on, I would like to take a moment to address my opponent tonight, Cartier. Ms. Cartier, at one point, I held you in quite high regard. Sure, your technical acumen is lacking, but despite that, you always find ways to win. You are very well spoken when you want to be, and come off as very intelligent and knowledgeable about world issues, particularly in matters of race, and how it shapes all of our experiences. As a straight white male, I understand that I have benefited from a system that held you back, even though I wasn't actively seeking those benefits. So I want to preface everything I'm about to say by first acknowledging that I respect the hell out of you for being in the position that you are despite all the roadblocks and challenges that you had to face as a black woman that I couldn't even hope to begin to understand. You are performing at a high level in a male dominated industry, and for that I can only applaud you. Know that none of my comments hereafter pertain to your gender or race, but rather, they pertain to your character.
“Despite how much I respect you for your will and desire to overcome, what I take umbrage with is how you choose to represent the Mainstream World Television Championship. Anytime you hold a championship, you are one of the faces of that wrestling organization. How you carry yourself reflects back on Mainstream Wrestling, and the fact is, you have not been carrying yourself honorably at all since defeating Mariano Fernandez for the title. In your first title defense, you faced my boy, Bobby Larson. And despite the fact that he was giving you all you could take, you showed him and the title you carry the ultimate disrespect by trying to walk out on the match!
Biggs' face begins to redden as he continues to speak.
BIGGS: You did a disservice to the Mainstream World Television Championship that night, because a real champion does not walk out on a match! Even if you think you're miles above your competition, when you defend your championship, you freakin' defend it! To do anything less makes a mockery of our sport and the title you carry! That's why I threw you back into the ring, because I wasn't going to let you disrespect Bobby in that way, and I sure as hell wasn't going to let you disrespect the TV Title in that way either!
“Which brings us to Spokane. I was minding my own business, doing a book signing for my fans, which you felt was appropriate to interrupt and jump me at! I only fought back in self defense. However, you decided that you would trash the place and try to not only end my career, but also my life! The human body isn't supposed to fall 14-feet and be fine. The table literally saved my life. Fact is, you are an attempted murderer, and quite frankly, I'm not comfortable with the idea that an attempted murderer is one of Mainstream Wrestling's champions! So tonight, I feel that it is my solemn duty to rescue the Mainstream World Television Championship from you, Cartier. Because despite all your good and noble qualities, honestly, they get more than canceled out by your ignoble ones.”
Biggs gives a heavy sigh before continuing to speak.
BIGGS: I take no joy in having to say these things about you, Cartier, but sometimes, the truth hurts. I want to be able to stand up and say that you are an example of everything that is right about professional wrestling, but I simply cannot do that without being a liar. So tonight, I will be doing Mainstream Wrestling a favor by relieving you of the TV Title, giving them a champion who respects the title, giving them a champion who acts with dignity and grace for all their opponents, giving them a champion they can be proud of. Tonight, I win the TV Title not just for myself, not just for Bryan Ford, but for all of Mainstream Wrestling....
Biggs is looking intensely into the camera as the show fades to commercial break.