Jump to content

The Blueprint for Success

Karl_Kitsch

Recommended Posts

Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
Posted

<a href="http://s223.photobucket.com/albums/dd99/chuck_jaywalk/The%20Blueprint/?action=view&current=blueprintcopy.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd99/chuck_jaywalk/The%20Blueprint/blueprintcopy.jpg" border="0" alt="The Blueprint Logo"></a>

New York, NY, December 13, 2008 –

 

“We are thrilled to be front and center with the the Blueprint,” says Sharon Levy, senior vice president, original series for POP!. “The access we have will really give our viewers the kind of heart-stopping action they have come to expect from POP! programming.”

 

Premiering in January, 2009, the Blueprint is a mix of hard-hitting in-ring action, sexy ladies at ringside and poolside, and gritty tales, straight from the streets. Mixing modern professional wrestling with adult-oriented storytelling, the Blueprint is a new sensation in professional wrestling and television drama. Monday nights at 9PM ET. Only on POP! Network.

 

 

About the Blueprint

The Blueprint is a joint venture between professional rapper and wrestler Swoop McCarthy, "Hardcore Jesus" Kurt Laramee, and "The Hypest" Carl Batch. Following the best selling rap single of 2008, "Bonk," Swoop McCarthy is a worldwide phenomenon and the face of the Blueprint, a privately held wrestling and entertainment company. Checkout the website at: http://www.the-blueprint-wrestling.com.

 

 

 

About POP! Network

POP! Network is available in 98 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.

 

 

The Blueprint for Success

by

Scott "Skuzz" Darby

 

 

"For the public, it all started with that press release. For me and Kurt and Carl and Swoop and Chance and the rest, it all started six months before. The Blueprint was more than a wrestling company for us. Hell, it was more than a new beginning.

The Blueprint was a whole new world. This book is a record of that new world and my part in it. Let me start by telling you about the kind of year Kurt Laramee had in 2008."

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • Replies 67
  • Created
  • Last Reply
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted

<a href="http://s223.photobucket.com/albums/dd99/chuck_jaywalk/The%20Blueprint/?action=view&current=KurtLaramee.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd99/chuck_jaywalk/The%20Blueprint/KurtLaramee.jpg" border="0" alt="blueprint"></a><a href="http://s223.photobucket.com/albums/dd99/chuck_jaywalk/The%20Blueprint/?action=view&current=CarlBatch.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i223.photobucket.com/albums/dd99/chuck_jaywalk/The%20Blueprint/CarlBatch.jpg" border="0" alt="blueprint"></a>

 

The Blueprint for Success

by

Scott "Skuzz" Darby

 

2008 was not a good one for Kurt Laramee. Having jumped from DaVE before it imploded, Kurt was finally finding his niche in the Supreme Wrestling Federation as the year dawned. His style was evolving from the hardcore environment he learned in to the lower impact SWF style. A push towards the top seemed inevitable. Seemed.

There was a problem and his name was James Brandon. "Big Cat" was another DaVE alum with World Title aspirations and a ton of hype. Brandon was an equally talented and heralded hardcore worker, a man that Richard Eisen had every intention of putting the gold on. When Brandon made his debut assault on World Champion Steve Frehley, Kurt was stuck in a firmly midcard match with Robbie Retro.

By March, "Big Cat" was SWF World Heavyweight Champion and Kurt was working six-man tags with Knuckles and Shady K. One Tuesday in April, however, everything changed. During a promo with Death Row and their manager, Carl Batch, all four men started riffing on workers they did not respect. Laramee mentioned the "Big Cat." Brandon and the Eisens were furious that a midcard stable would call out the World Champ. When they saw the internet reaction, that rage would turn into dollar signs.

The wrestling sites exploded with interest in a Laramee/Brandon feud. The raw, unscripted taunts, which were raw enough to garner FCC fines, made Laramee an anti-establishment star. For the first time, the King of the Streets seemed... cool. By the next Tuesday, SWF's booking team had no choice but to make the match for the next pay-per-view.

Laramee, in a more scripted, but equally scatalogical, promo ripped Brandon again and renamed the PPV 'Word is Bond.' Batch dared the 'Big Cat' to make the match a DaVE Rules Hardcore match. The announcers began referring to the alliance of Death Row, Batch, and Laramee the Bond. T-shirts were printed overnight.

At Word is Bond, 'Big Cat' dominated the brutal Hardcore match, battering Laramee with any weapon he could muster. The thing management did not count on is the way the crowd embraced Laramee's gutsy, bloody performance. He refused to give in, no matter what was thrown at him. Kurt hit a chair shot and got a 2 count. The crowd went nuts.

The ensuing schmozz saw Death Row come to ringside and cheer on Laramee. Kurt handed Knuckles a chair. This is when what was a work and what was a shoot becomes blurry. Knuckles leveled his "friend" Kurt with the chair. Shady took the chair from Knuckles and proceeded to waffle Laramee with an even nastier shot. This was likely the booked finish, as Laramee sold it like a champ, even as the Pittsburgh crowd chanted for him to get up. The next part is what people argue about to this day.

Knuckles and Shady grabbed Kurt's arms and held them in half nelsons. Kurt was no longer selling the chair shots, he was trying to get out of the hold. Carl jumped onto the apron, but Emma Chase made use of Carl's own cane to take out his knee. He fell to the floor with a sick thud. Laramee kicked and struggled to get out of the hold. 'Big Cat' Brandon stood in front above Laramee and smiled a bloody smile. Brandon put an MMA style heel hook on Laramee.

The entire sellout crowd turned silent when they heard Laramee's knee pop. The ref called the match and Laramee was stretchered out. Enter the biggest heel faction in recent SWF history, the Murder Nation, exit the King of the Streets.

Laramee and Batch were quietly released in July, months after they last appeared on TV. Was Laramee headed to TCW? Was the knee injury legit? No one knew. Kurt and Carl's websites only left one clue. A pair of words appeared.

 

The Blueprint.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Thanks Eisen-verse! I think it's a pretty different corner of the Cornellverse, so I look forward to exploring some lesser used guys. Chance Fortune, Kurt Laramee, Animal Harker, the Nation of Filth... I could go on. Definitely going to be a fun company to run, I just hope the sheer amount of toxic personalities doesn't sink me.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Eisen-verse Enthusiast

Eisen-verse

Posted
Posted
Thanks Eisen-verse! I think it's a pretty different corner of the Cornellverse, so I look forward to exploring some lesser used guys. Chance Fortune, Kurt Laramee, Animal Harker, the Nation of Filth... I could go on. Definitely going to be a fun company to run, I just hope the sheer amount of toxic personalities doesn't sink me.

 

I say embrace it. :)

 

It's boring to read a diary where everyone gets along "hunky dory". ha. Life is not like that... In any organization. Conflict is good! (well, at least from a writing perspective)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I say embrace it. :)

 

It's boring to read a diary where everyone gets along "hunky dory". ha. Life is not like that... In any organization. Conflict is good! (well, at least from a writing perspective)

 

Oh, it will be embraced. In many ways, that is the central theme. The Blueprint 5 are workers whose egos or personalities hurt their careers in other companies, so they are sort of stuck with each other in the Blueprint.

 

Who are the Blueprint 5? Well, we know Kurt Laramee and Chance Fortune are there. Swoop McCarthy, while he is the owner, is not one of the 5. Neither is Carl Batch. Scott "Skuzz" Darby is a rookie worker and is not one of the 5.

 

So, who are these 3 other workers who cannot stay in their current work situations? I guess you'll have to keep reading... or guessing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

 

Australian Pro Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion Swoop McCarthy entered 2008 on a hot streak few could equal, getting the biggest pops in all of Australia. Quickly outgrowing the Australian wrestling scene, Swoop was already on his way to being a mainstream celebrity in Australia when a promo changed his life. Before a show in Melbourne, Swoop was on a TV news show hyping the big show the next night. He was giving his usual laid back, cool as Hell promo, when he casually mentioned hitting his opponent with a bonk.

During his match the next night, Swoop set up his opponent for an Atomic Elbow. The crowd started chanting "Bonk... Bonk... Bonk..." and Swoop, always aware of the crowd, started signaling for them to chant louder. As the chant grew, Swoop turned around and hit his Atomic Elbow. The Melbourne crowd went nuts and Spiffy Stan Standish sold it like death. What was previously a transitional move was now a deadly finisher and Swoop had a catch phrase. Two weeks later, Swoop came out with a black t-shirt with "Bonk!" written in white on the front and a phenomenon was born.

James J. McMinister and Swoop simultaneously realized what a huge thing it was they were sitting on and both started trying to ride the wave. McMinister whipped up a veritable mountain of t-shirts and merch. McCarthy, an aspiring rapper, spent all of the money he could get together to enter a music studio and record a rap single. Called "Bonk," the stripped down beats and odd cadence of the track made it perfect intro music.

Only a few weeks after the "Bonk" interview, the crowd was a sea of "Bonk" shirts and Swoop's matches were easily twice as loud as the rest of the card. McCarthy and McMinister were both soaking in the adulation, little did they know how big things were going to get.

A video of Swoop's best spots set to his single was on YouTube shortly after it's debut, but a video of Swoop hanging around Melbourne with no wrestling connotations went up a month later. Several hundred thousands of hits later and Swoop was a full-blown internet sensation. The day "Bonk" hit number one on iTunes, the SWF sent Swoop McCarthy a letter by courier. Richard Eisen himself was coming to Australia to speak to Swoop.

Even I don't know exactly what was said in the three hours the two meet, but the result was huge. Swoop was not going to work for the SWF. All Swoop has publicly said is that Eisen told Swoop not to sign with the SWF or the TCW or any other company. Eisen's advice was not to let another company use his fame, but to create a new company and reap the rewards himself. McCarthy, anticipating a huge contract offer to work in the SWF and not the fatherly advice he was being given, absorbed all the information he was given.

By April, Swoop McCarthy was no longer working for APW and the groundwork was laid for a new idea in professional wrestling.

The Blueprint was written.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

Chance Fortune saw his highest professional high and lowest professional low in 2008, as well as a moment that changed his life forever. At the beginning of the year, Chance was feuding with Sammy Bach for the All-Action Title. The feud was heated, so heated that some claimed it was rooted in legitimate hatred between them. Chance would start the feud by retaking the title for a third run and by taking Sammy's manager, Karen Killer with him. The rivalry finally exploded during a particularly stiff TV match. Sammy hit Fortune with an unplanned low blow and Fortune flipped out. Fortune hopped the top rope and walked towards the back, much to the shock of the crowd. Karen Killer and Sammy Bach were left in the ring, furious. Sammy grabbed the microphone and gave an impromptu promo.

"What's wrong, Chance? Are you scared? Is that is, Chance Fortune? Or are you gay?"

Bach laughed his head off at this, but Karen Killer, who had been traveling with Chance was horrified by this comment and her jaw dropped. Fortune turned around and charged the ring. He hit Sammy Bach with a George DeColt Press and pummeled him bloody. The announce team were left silent and stunned, shocked to see the happy-go-lucky Chance Fortune beating Sammy Bach's face in, with tears rolling down his cheeks. The cut to commercial came too slowly and the fans were left confused. What was up with Chance Fortune?

The dressing down that Tommy Cornell and Sam Keith gave to Chance in the locker room has gained a sort of legendary reputation amongst wrestling fans. Some enterprising wrestler used his cell phone to record it and it was posted anonymously on the internet. While I would rather not repeat the whole reaming, but I have heard it enough times to tell you this: I never, ever, want to anger Tommy Cornell. Chance never said anything to defend himself as he was torn to pieces by his bosses, he just said "Yes, Sir" and "No, Sir" in response. After thirty minutes, Chance picked up his bag and walked out of the TCW. The popular account of what happened in the back says that Robert Oxford walked him out and gave him a hug before he got in his taxi. Knowing Chance and the way people love him, I would venture to guess this is a true story.

Chance Fortune became an icon in the gay community almost overnight. Magazine covers, TV interviews, and a book deal elevated his exposure to the point that he was the most seen professional wrestler in the world for about a month. Chance was not the first openly gay pro wrestler, that was Menace, but he the way he was outed and the level of exposure he garnered made him the face of gay pro wrestling.

What did not happen to Chance Fortune was the offer of a contract with another company. The SWF, fresh off of a round of legal wrangles, would not touch him. The USPW had no inclination towards bringing in an openly gay athlete. Suddenly, the demise of DaVE and it's cutting edge attitude were suddenly missed. The only offer he got was from some strange company he had never heard of. What is the Blueprint?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted
I finally played my first show as the Blueprint and it was... interesting. With some solid workers and some great interviews, it could actually work. Of course, I have a three team tag division and no women's division, yet, but I like it. The third member of the Blueprint 5 will be revealed tonight. He's based in England and he could be an even bigger future star than Swoop.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Self Proficient

Self

Posted
Posted

An openly gay babyface wrestler? I love it.

 

I haven't been able to wedge a character like that into my diary, but it's something I've had in my mind for a while. Wrestling has promoted homophobia for years, and it's something I'm very strongly against. I get it to any extent, it's good heat, but they never show the positive side. They have the prancing fairy, but they never have the bad ass, kick ass, openly gay man, who is comfortable with who he is and is a tremendous fighter to boot.

 

So bravo, sir. You've won yourself a reader.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted
An openly gay babyface wrestler? I love it.

 

I haven't been able to wedge a character like that into my diary, but it's something I've had in my mind for a while. Wrestling has promoted homophobia for years, and it's something I'm very strongly against. I get it to any extent, it's good heat, but they never show the positive side. They have the prancing fairy, but they never have the bad ass, kick ass, openly gay man, who is comfortable with who he is and is a tremendous fighter to boot.

 

So bravo, sir. You've won yourself a reader.

 

 

Honestly, as I write this, the character I most enjoy is Chance Fortune. I have known so many gay people that defy the stereotypes that I had to include a gay wrestler who was not a comedy weakling (Alan Funk) or a monster (Goldust). Luckily, Chance is both a blank slate (I don't see people using him much) and a very talented wrestler. The fact that wrestling has been home to so many homosexual workers and is so viciously homophobic makes for that thing writers love: tension.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

 

The year 2008 was a big change for "Ripper" LeStat. Unable to find more than sporadic work in the U.K. or Europe, "Ripper" took things into his own hands. With a video camera and some video editing software, LeStat started filming vignettes all over London. The moody set pieces, often set in graveyards and cathedrals, were called the "Ripper Tapes" and they did more for his career than anyone could have guessed.

"Ripper," with his massive frame, gaunt features, and deep voice became something of a goth Internet superstar. People with no interest in pro wrestling watched him give intense and well-written monologues simply out of interest in the man himself. By using the writings of Aleister Crowley and a little bit of German, "Ripper" created a mythology around himself that made the "Ripper Tapes" a phenomenon. Too bad wrestling promoters weren't paying attention.

Even as "Ripper" rode a huge wave of interest, none of the English or European wrestling promoters saw much reason to sign him, not even MOSC. T-shirt sales and an agreement with a nightclub promoter to make personal appearances were all that kept LeStat's head above water.

On the other side of the planet, Swoop McCarthy was putting together his short list of workers for his Blueprint. Swoop's priority was putting together what he called "the Blueprint 5." What he intended was for a group of 5 wrestlers to put up a small deposit, more as a sign of good faith than as operating capital, and become co-owners of the new venture. What McCarthy feared was signing a worker that had huge amounts of talent, spending valuable time and money putting them in the public eye, and then having them bolt for the "Big Time" as soon as possible. By requiring a good faith deposit from his Main Event level talent, Swoop could keep them happy as investors and not just talent. This business model had already snagged him Kurt Laramee and Chance Fortune. When Swoop saw the "Ripper Tapes" on YouTube, he immediately sent out an email to "Ripper" LeStat.

 

Dear Mr. LeStat,

How would you like to wrestle in America and become rich and famous? I have just what you need.

-The Blueprint

 

Mr. LeStat was in America a week later, Swoop had his third member of the Blueprint 5. The fourth was...

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

The Chance Fortune incident might have been the event that most directly lead Robert Oxford to leaving Total Championship Wrestling, but it was simply the most obvious in a chain of misgivings and ill will that strings all the way back to January of 2008. A standard issue tag match between Oxford and his partner Joel Bryant and the Young Guns ended suddenly when a dropkick gave Bryant a serious concussion and put his career in jeopardy. Oxford lobbied until he got a pair of matches against Steve Gumble and Harry Allen. The Young Guns were punished swiftly for their sloppy ring work, as Robert Oxford bludgeoned, stretched, and stomped the offending parties. Using many of the dirty tactics in his bag of tricks, Oxford played the grumpy old heel part to the hilt. The TCW audience, trained to enjoy technical wrestling, ate up this new version of Robert Oxford and a new midcard star was born.

By the time Chance Fortune had his run in with Sammy Bach, Oxford was ripping up the middle of the card. Hell, the veteran even had his very own t-shirt, touting his painful finisher, the Oxford Comma. If Tommy Cornell was in a different state of mind, the simple act of escorting a friend and student out of the building would not have been seen as a dire attack on the company. Thing is, Tommy Cornell was verging on a breakdown.

To say that TCW was in trouble was an understatement. The SWF was improving the quality of it's in-ring product to the point that TCW was having a difficult time marketing themselves as obviously superior in this regard. The perennial laughingstock that is USPW was now a very serious contender for America's Number Two, thanks to great main events and a women's division that provided something neither SWF nor TCW did. Hell, even the most hardcore of TCW fans were importing the reborn GCG and PGHW DVDs. What ever it was that made TCW special needed to be identified and marketed quickly. Sam Keith had Tommy's ear and was selling the idea of TCW as the new and improved DaVE, risque and dangerous. Keith even suggested bringing in Nemesis himself to lead the faces allied against the Syndicate. On the other hand, Joel Bryant was in love with the idea of peeling away the storylines, importing a few more Japanese workers, and changing the name of the company to TOTAL. His so-called "Pure Sports" product would market itself much like MMA or Japanese puro. Tommy was enamored with neither idea.

Paranoid and unable to trust anyone, Tommy Cornell called Robert Oxford into his hotel room. The details are hazy, but the results are well-documented. Robert Oxford's contract was voided and he was free to go. Tommy was kept off camera for a couple weeks and rumors swirled that he was hiding a black eye, given to him by an irate Oxford. In the end, Robert Oxford was contacted by the Blueprint before the ink on his release was dry and he was an officially the fourth of the Blueprint 5 before Tommy Cornell's black eye went away. Allegedly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

I guess this is as good a time as any to explain my presence in the Blueprint. As of January 2008, I was an eighteen month rookie, working the Kansas City indy scene. I worked in River City Pro and All-American Rasslin Company and any fly-by-night that would give me a payday. All-American Rasslin Company (AARC), I was Scotty Darby, the babyface high-flier who bumps like mad for anyone over 6' that the promoter could bring in. It was River City Pro (RCP) that let me be "Skuzz," the role that gained me enough pseudo-fame to get on Swoop McCarthy's radar.

For those who did not see me in RCP, the Skuzz gimmick is simple: Skuzz is the most cowardly bad guy in the history of the world. I would sneak attack, ambush, bushwhack, and Pearl Harbor any face on the roster, but the second anyone tried to attack me face to face, I would run. What made me a "star" among tape traders, though, was a face turn.

I was feuding with a babyface from Nebraska called "The Husker" Hank Horner. His all-American gimmick would have been a perfect fit in AARC, but in RCP, with it's smarky fans, he was considered a heel until I started screwing with him. I messed with him for six months, making him lose matches, attacking him in the back, making his life Hell on Earth. Somehow Hank won the Kansas City Title and I wanted a shot at it, in spite of my cowardly ways. The stipulation was that if I lost, I had to walk the straight and narrow and be Hank's best friend and tag partner.

Unsurprisingly, I lost the match. He beat the Holy Bloody Hell out of me. I wore the first crimson mask of my short career. The next week, I was forced to be "The Husker" Hank Horner's tag team partner. I walked to the ring to Sam Strong's music, wearing a pair of American flag Zubaz pants and an American Eagle t-shirt. I worked the most basic, old-school 80's face offense possible. The crowd went nuts.

By June of '08, I was the most over face of RCP and there was a significant feud in my future, with Hank on the verge of flipping on me. Before that could happen, however, Swoop McCarthy made me an offer I could not refuse. I would be the centerpiece of his new company's midcard. How could I resist? That is how I ended up at the center of this thing called the Blueprint. All we needed was the fifth member of the Blueprint 5.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

"Big in Japan" by Alphaville has been Julian Watson's entrance music since 2004 for good reason. Ask the average, non-tape trading, wrestling fan in the U.S. about Julian Watson and you will get a blank look in return. A Golden Canvas Grappling fan, on the other hand, will wax lyrical about the smooth brawling of the big tough Canadian. Not a superstar, even during the weakest era of GCG, Julian was a big time worker, someone who telegraphed future greatness.

On his final tour with GCG, Julian was booked to lose to Pistol Pete Hall in a series of 20 minute slugfests. These matches, now heavily traded by collectors, were an amazing demonstration of Hall's grumpy old man routine and Watson's intense young bull trying to take the top spot. Even as he lost, Watson became a legitimate contender in the eye of the fans.

After the tour, Julian Watson became a certifiable commodity on the open market, fielding offers from BHOTWG and TCW. Not wanting to betray GCG, Watson turned down Burning Hammer. The TCW offer was something Watson deeply concentrated on. He spent at least a month, back at home in Canada, weighing his options.

During this time, Swoop made a call to Watson and made him an offer that even TCW couldn't compete with. McCarthy offered Julian a main event position and a stream of quality opponents. The icing on the cake was a question Swoop posed...

"What do you think your chances of being elevated over the Upper Midcard Cornell has put together? Will you be going over Scout and Wolf in a year or will you be jobbing to Sammy Bach by Christmas?"

With that, Julian Watson became the fifth member of the Blueprint 5. Now all we had to do was put on a show. How hard can that be?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
cappyboy Newbie

cappyboy

Posted
Posted
Loving this. Doubt I'll be playing the prediction game once cards hit. Can't ever seem to get into that part of diaries although I do enjoy seeing other readers thoughts. But I do expect to be reading. You have a really intruiging backstory here and a very unexpected talent base. Look forward to seeing more of The Blueprint
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Karl_Kitsch Newbie

Karl_Kitsch

Posted
  • Author
Posted

 

 

With the "Blueprint 5" in place and funding secured, everything was set for a January debut for the Blueprint. The only problem was the network. The POP! Network had been trying to weasel their way out of the TV contract with Swoop ever since they figured out his real objective, you know, the whole opening a wrestling company thing. POP! made overtures about the contract having "Time Slot Reallocation" and "Early Termination" stipulations. All of it was an attempt to control the content of the show. So Swoop being Swoop, he walked away from the TV contract. The Blueprint would start it's life without a TV show and would record DVDs.

Those early shows were taped in the Asylum, a boarded up concrete hulk of a building in the outskirts of Detroit. It could hold exactly one thousand fans, enough people to look good on camera and make a ruckus, that's for sure. Swoop took a year long lease on the place and it was rechristened "the Blueprint Arena." Everyone, save Swoop, still called it the Asylum. My only memories of the Asylum are of the cold, wet air that place was filled with in the winter and the amazing Mexican food truck that took to setting up across the street on Fridays, when we held our shows.

Swoop himself asked me what we should call these weekly shows, during one of our bowling night/ booking meeting gatherings. I was thinking excessively hard about the name when the bowling alley's jukebox gave me the perfect title.

 

"Swoop, I've got 99 Problems, but a bitch ain't one."

"99 Problems?", Swoop shrugged and smiled. "What the Hell?"

 

The very next day, we were leaving flyers all over the bowling alley, and much of the neighborhood. Bright yellow leaflets of paper declared that Swoop McCarthy, Chance Fortune, and Kurt Laramee would be in action.

 

"Hey, Skuzz!" Swoop bellowed at me in the parking lot.

"Yeah, Swoop?" I yelled back, not entirely sober.

"Skuzz, what happens when we hold our 100th show?" Swoop asked with a laugh.

I pondered for a second.

"Well, Swoop, that's a problem I want to have."

 

Trust me, that was the least of our worries.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...