East Side Story [Cv2018]

[olde_gregge]

Phonse Lockett peaked around the curtain in the gorilla position, watching the main event unfold in the ring from his special and perhaps undeserving position. Truth be told, the entire situation was surreal. The Mississippian had never really amounted to much in the wrestling business, all things considered. He had never made it out of the high school gyms and National Guard armories in his eight year “career.” Phonse was okay with that, though; he had never really considered himself a commentator, anyway. No, he was a journalist. A film maker. For a time, he only had his university diplomas to attest to those abilities, but as luck, or perhaps fate would have it, that would soon be changing. Tonight was the start of a life-changing opportunity.

 

Joanne Rodriguez’s ground-breaking series “Fighting in a Man’s World” had been a masterpiece in the genre of wrestling media, in Lockett’s opinion. Even greater than the respectable “Why We Fight” documentary from a few years prior. The latter had changed the fortunes of a single company; the former had changed the landscape of an entire industry. Women’s wrestling had been changed forever and this sport was better for it. Of course, the achievement of this new milestone had brought to the forefront of minds and the tips of tongues a question: what’s next? How would wrestling be drastically changed next? Ask the average wrestling fan and they’d say Dunton Hall’s new promotion debuting next month, and they were probably right, of course. Phonse Lockett, though, had a different sort of vision that, while not as earth-shattering, had the potential to really make a splash in the business.

 

The Quebec Pro Wrestling faithful found their feet as the professional wrestling veteran Joel Bryant barely beat the ten count, rolling into the blood-stained ring just in the nick of time. The fans respected the man’s love of the sport. The way he was wrestling tonight, one would’ve thought he was standing in front of thousands in a TCW ring. Those days were behind him, but his effort had never wavered. Still, Phonse knew that these fans hadn’t braved the traffic and snow to watch Joel Bryant, great as he may be. No, they had come for his opponent who stalked the staggering veteran like an apex predator. Joel found his feet, stumbled into his adversary’s awaiting hands, and found himself staring at the lights in seconds. And oh, how the crowd exploded in cheers.

 

While the victor was draped with belt after belt by the referee, Phonse reflected again on the road ahead of him. Prior to this trip north of the border, Phonse had never left the south east. Soon he would see the world, hovering in the shadow of his chosen protagonist. Ever since Richard Eisen began swallowing up the territories decades ago, wrestling success had been largely associated with exclusivity. The term “journeyman” had declined to the point that it was an insult to describe a competitor as one. Yet here we were in the year two thousand and eighteen with a man satisfied with his place outside the national scene. In a way, he had transcended it, even. He had fans all over the globe, but Phonse Lockett wanted to immortalize him. Hopefully, together, they would do just that.

 

Sayeed Ali stepped through the curtain and glanced in Phonse’s direction, a grin across his face. “I do good, Fonzie?” he asked in his thick, New York accent.

 

Lockett nodded, “Pretty good, I’d say. Hopefully there’s more where that came from.”

 

Sayeed Ali glanced down at the four championship belts draped across his shoulders. Then he smiled. “Just keep following, kid, is all I can say.”

 

Phonse Lockett had no intention to stop following anytime soon. This was his claim to wrestling fame.

 

This was the East Side Story.

 

***********************************************************

 

Thus, begins a non-traditional diary I’m conducting in lavelleuk’s stunning CV2018 mod that they released last month. While I familiarizing myself with the various narratives and characters in this mod, I was really struck by the uniqueness of Sayeed Ali’s career and the direction it could go. I love the concept of a journeyman globetrotter who never wants to sacrifice his freedom for a big time paycheck. Hopefully this journalistic approach through the eyes of Lockett really captures it in the coming pages.

 

In terms of the technical side of the story, its going to be a mix of the AI decisions and my own input. I’ll be starting as the booker in the four companies Ali begins in and will join on with any company that signs him down the road; when he leaves, I leave as well. After a bit of testing, I’ve concluded the only instances where won’t be able to control his matches would be when he defends an alliance title outside of the companies I already control. Not a big deal and it’ll definitely add to the narrative, I think, when I won’t be making all the booking decisions.

 

I’m envisioning this to be a narrative heavy diary split between Ali’s in-ring career around the world and some instances where he interacts with some Cverse favorites outside the ring. The ultimate goal would be to get him into the HOI, but we’ll just have to wait and see.

[Herrbear]

Sounds interesting.