The Darkhorse

[GRIFT]

They changed the code in real life too.

http://www.rohwrestling.com/newswirearchiv...&intArticleID=5

As far as Steamboat goes look at it this way, CM was cheating the whole match... he couldn't stomach to watch anylonger.

Thanks for the feedback, as you may have guessed I am not the biggest RoH buff... so any critism helps.

Edited July 24, 2004 by The Grifter

[GRIFT]

Chapter 5: The Best Worst Moment of My Life.

Pt 1: The Call

“Listen I didn’t think it was that big of deal! I am not well known enough for this to hurt anyone,” I argued to USA Pro promoter and diner waffle enthusiast Frank Goodman over a pay phone in the lobby of a Comfort Inn after the RoH show.

Frank was upset because I turned heel in RoH while playing the role of face in his company.

“I don’t think you understand this Luke, but you are on the brink of stardom. NWA/TNA called me about you today. You are hardly as obscure as you like to think. Further more--”

“NWA TNA called?” I interrupted.

“Yes. They inquired about you but they weren’t all that impressed with your professionalism when they found about this little stunt of yours.” He said.

Shit. I pissed off than man who could have given me the reference that would lead to an incredibly profitable and high profile series of jobs. Great.

“Frank, I am sorry but I doubt anyone in New England even knows about the RoH shows it is really not a--”

I noticed Raven at the counter checking into the hotel looking over at me. I turned my back to the counter and shied away.

Goodman interrupted me, “Luke, Damian Carvil did a piece covering you on EWRevenge.com. It high lights your role in RoH, and even calls you, and I quote ‘a true rising star who given a year will have set the proper foundation to become wrestling’s next big thing.’ ”

Wow. That is fantastic I thought. EWRevenge.com is currently, more or less, the biggest wrestling website on the net.

“I am happy for you in a lot of ways Luke, but you have really put me in a spot here. I don’t know if it would be a good idea to have you back for the rest of your scheduled shows.”

Shit. Article or no article– I need that money. Words don’t buy food.

“Come on Frank! Is that really the only way we can do this? I already bought my bus ticket back up fo the show! I can’t afford any unnecessary expenses,” I pleaded.

Again I saw Raven peak over at me with a look of mixed concern, and intrigue plastered to his continence.

“Luke, I am sorry the plans you made are ruined, but so are mine. I was going to push you on the next card and give you another confrontation with the Xtreme Champion. I am afraid we are both out of luck. Give me a call in two or three months and maybe I we can start over... but for now, goodbye--”

“Two or three months?! Frank I need that money!”

Suddenly I heard an all too familiar click of a phone hanging up.

I in turn hung up, furiously slamming the receiver into place. I grabbed my stuff and stormed off into the lounge and preceded to order a few beers as Raven walked over to the pay phone and used it in the background.

Pt. 2: Great Bar

About half an hour later I had drank 6 beers and was slightly buzzed when I realized that Raven was still on the telephone in the lobby. “God that is a lot of quarters,” I thought out loud.

“What was that champ?” asked the barkeeper.

“Uh, nothing. Just out... Just thinking out loud,” I managed to get out. “I’ll take another,” I added.

“Maybe you have had enough, sport.”

“Please don’t make me go use that damned cliche,” I sardonically begged.

The barkeeper sighed and grabbed my mug replacing it with a bottleneck of some local brewery’s beer. “Atleast just take this one up to your room and get some rest. If you do we’ll say your drinks on the house. How about that stranger?”

Now, I am not one who likes to be told what to do. But as I sat there drinking, I remembered why I was drinking in the first place: I lost a potential paycheck. And how did I react to losing money? By running a bar tab that was almost on par with what I had lost in the first place.

I took the beer and grinned, “Deal. You are not that– not that bad of a.. a.. um... of a guy. Yeah, you aren’t.”

I stood up and grabbed my baggage– both literal and emotional– and made my way across the lobby and into an elevator noticing that Raven seemed to be in almost as adamant of an argument as I was only 45 minutes prior.

“Don’t worry they have got a great bar,” I cracked before passing by and heading for my room.

OOC: Decided to drop the small text all together. Oh and Pt 3 will be up shortly.

Edited July 25, 2004 by The Grifter

[Guest El Blanco]

Glad you dropped the small text. I have reason to beleive that raven is getting you a job right about now.... Maybe I am wrong...

[nomaster]

great bit but hmm i unno jus didnt have the rght connection for me, guys like hulk hogan and kevin nash and scott hall, all are huge assholes but get alot of work and they have no skill. you have lots of skill , are quite over(my guess[correct?])so in my oppion i ouldnt give a shit about your professionalism.

[GRIFT]

For those interested I started Ripley with 45 over (established from his past) and he has risen with every show and is currently at 68.

Would anyone be interested in his other stats? I kinda neglected to post them because I didn't think anyone would care.

I will be updating his overness stat regularly from now on.

Edited July 26, 2004 by The Grifter

[GRIFT]

Chapter 5: The Best Worst Moment of my Life

Pt 3. Culmination

I am not sure how long I had been in my room when it happened. I know that I was trying, to little avail, to take a shower. The damn thing wouldn’t give me any hot water. So I did what any upstanding, slightly buzzed, and disenchanted twenty something would: I set out to bitch and moan.

I called the front desk a 3 times and was put on hold for a total of 27 minutes before being told that there was absolutely nothing they could do. Their suggestion was that use the showers normally used for the pool. Never being a man who lived a life of glamour I prepared to venture to the pool but after asking the front desk where I could find it, they alerted me to the fact that the pool was closed for the evening.

That is right, they told me to do something that I could. Not. Do.

Needless to say I ended up taking a cold shower. I cannot stress enough how much I dislike cold showers, and furthermore how much I dislike those dinky portioned bottles of shampoo they give out at hotels. They are about as effective as an 20 minute Hunter Hearst Helmsley interviewuuuuh.

I was just about to turn in for the night when there was a knock on my door.

“If this is house keeping, I am going to kick your ass,” I wise cracked while laying on the bed.

“You are back on the USA Pro show, ” said a voice from beyond the doorway. I almost feel out of the bed on my way to the door to for elaboration. ‘This better not be a rib,’ I thought. When I opened the door Raven was standing at it.

“I’d like to come in if you’d permit me the prerogative. I have some things I would like to discuss with you; I have an offer to expostulate,” he said.

“How did you get me back on the card? What- what happened?” I frantically inquired.

“Are you going to invite me in or not?” a irked Raven asked

“Sure come on in, have a seat.” I replied.

Raven moved into the room and stood facing the large patio door styled window watching the rain bounce off the glass.

“It is beautiful isn’t it?” he asked without breaking his stare, “The way thousands of droplets are formed, each as individual and different from the other as imaginable. Each, constructed high above this earthly coil only to come crashing down instances later? A perfect parallel to our own existence.”

“Yeah– it is– beautiful I guess. But I guess I never really thought of it. Before now.”

“This business is one of many things Luke. It is a business of treachery, and it is a business built on lies, and the exploitation of men. But don’t let that disenchant you. It is also a business of love, and a business of dedication. I got you back on the next USA Pro show less for you, and more myself,” he added.

“Well I thank you either way.”

“But there is a price for this generosity. I wish to take you under my proverbial wing. I trust that this experience will not only be a lucrative one, but a valuable one for the both of us.”

“What do you mean?”

“In the nineteen thirties there was something called vaudeville. Essentially, it was a traveling variety show. A troop of vaudevillians would travel from city to city performing the same show every night in different cities. Eventually when they ceased to turn sales in one city they’d bring their act to a new venue and so on,” he elaborated all the while starring into the cold rainy night.

“And what does this have to do with us?” I asked.

“Just wait. Essentially I would like to start feuding with you. While you are not necessarily of a level of popularity on par to that of my own, I believe that it could be marketed very well and would be just what you need to propel you past your current road block on the path to stardom. You are on the brink of something larger than you are aware of, and I want to push you over it.”

I was shocked. Just as he put it, a feud with him could be all I needed to advance another rung on the ladder to stardom. But I was still utterly baffled as to why all of this was happening.

“Thank you... I– I don’t know what to say really,” I said.

“Just say that you will.”

“But how does feuding with someone like me help you? And how did you get me on the show again? And what about...”

“So many questions, and such simple answers,” Raven turned to me for the first time since entering the room. “Firstly, I shall start with the second question for it is far simpler to answer. Frank Goodman and I are extremely close friends. In fact he is my booker, or agent if you’d like. After arguing in your defense I managed to convince him that in leaving you off the card he’d be passing up a great opportunity,” he state. “As for why feud with you? Luke, you are an overwhelming talented performer. Your charisma and knack for psychology were apparent to me after only seeing you wrestle twice. I can tell by looking at you that you could wrestle almost any style, anywhere in the world and a good competitor is always hard to find. Furthermore your character is intriguing and a nice parallel for my own. But more than just my attraction to your work qualities I need a...”

Raven suddenly stopped himself before regrouping and starting over.

“Tonight marked a true turning point for me. In recent days, weeks, and months I have been striving to get back to my roots. I have returned to a traditionally more grunge styled garb, and I have been thinking a lot about the past. I am a firm believer that in order to enter the realm of the future you must first accept the past, and prepare in your present. You must accept the pains of your child hood, accept the angst of your teen years, accept the struggles of your maturity and turn it into motivation. I realize that my career is soon to enter what I consider its twighlight. I can still work at a high enough rate, but for how much longer?” Raven was now operating at a surreal level of emotion.

I plopped down and sat on my bed as he began to walk around the room as he spoke.

“Alex and Mikey Whipwreck’s promo struck me somewhere tonight. Sure, I have a strong basis of fans, and yes on the independent circuit I make three times as much, and work half the dates but I miss the grand exposure of the WWE, or WCW and the sad truth is that I have never been able to perch atop a federation as champion.”

“You were the ECW champion, and the champion...”

“Barbed Wire City? ECW all though be it a brave endeavor will never be looked at as anything more than a failed experiment. A footnote in wrestling history. I have yet to solidify my name as an icon. I know that I am close, I know that I am one who has sat just on the outside of the title picture his entire life in the bigger companies but thus enters the aforementioned betrayal, and treachery that acts as a foundation to this business of ours. Bischoff told me my shot was coming. He lied. Vince told me I’d be given my shot. He lied. Instead, I was the only HeaT exclusive wrestler in the company. The Jarret’s have yet to live up to their promises and even if they did, it would mean little. Atleast now it would. The reason I have worked so hard in NWA/TNA has been to establish one more company in which I can attempt a run of iconic portions, but sadly I can’t know if this will ever come to be,” he continued.

By this time I was overwhelmed by this out pour. It was almost like the walls built as a separation between Raven and Scott Levy had dissolved into each other completely as he scornfully and passionately spoke out to me. They seemed so inextricably intertwined as if one was only and extension of the other.

“Once I'm done, I have no interest of being behind the scenes. I wont be the wrestler who starts his own promotion with the ambitions of dethroning the McMahons. I wont be the wrestler who spends the rest of his life screwing young hopefuls out of their money with a wrestling school. I'm a performer. I want to perform. When I'm done with this, I'll go into something else where I can perform. So I have always believed that my legacy would be one built soley on my own shoulders through what I do in the ring– until now,” he continued, “Tonight I decided that it would be you who would help me to carry my legacy. It would be you who placed the finishing brush strokes to my oil canvas masterpiece.”

“I still don’t understand.”

“I am asking you to accept me as your mentor and yourself as my protege; as my prodigy. I will be your guide on this twisting road of sorrows and joys. I will steer you away from the excessive debauchery that has left me the way I am, while allowing you to indulge in them just enough to understand. I wish to be your mentor less for your sake, and more for my own legacy. I want for you to be everything that a life of drugs, ring rats, and depression has prevented me from being so that I might experience your successes vicariously,” he concluded.

I sat in awe at the emotional display that had just taken place before me in that dank Comfort Inn. I couldn’t have asked for more of a break in my life. I was speechless at first. My mind began to paint countless pictures of Raven and myself battling in the ring to the delight of the fans before packing up and listening to his veterans wisdom.

“What do you say?” he prompted.

I tried to answer but still no words would flow. I was too enamored with ideas, and pictures of my future. Finally I was able to say.

“Yes.”

[steelpony]

Dude, Fricken schweet diary. Love the humor. Does Raven speak like that all the time??

[Guest El Blanco]

*Claps*

Amazing poretrial of the Raven character. I beleive you hit the proverbial nail on the head as they say. The whole thing with Raven was amazingly worded. My hat is off to you good sir and this diary finds a spot in my signature.

[ClaRK! Kent]

As usual, Grifterman, an excellent few entries that prove this is among the best diaries in the forum. Not only does this one have my favourite "created" or "diary" character in Luke Ripley, it now also has perhaps the greatest character in wrestling history, in my humble opinion, in Raven. I salute you. Looking forward to the next few updates.

RK!

[GRIFT]

Alrighty, here is the scoop: I am going to Ireland for 10 days and I am not sure if I'll be able to update while there.

I will be bringing my laptop but there is a solid chance that I wont be able to get on the internet. I will, however, be drinking myself into a beligerant stupor.

So it is more of a trade off for me. Oh and don't forget about old Luke Ripley, when it comes to your Diary Award Nominations.[/shamelessplug]

Anyhow please keep reading, same Darkhorse time, same Darkhorse topic.

Edited August 1, 2004 by The Grifter

[Guest El Blanco]

*balls hands into a fist*

Drink some Irish loggers for me. Great Ale Ireland has.

[GRIFT]

OOC: This show is noticably shorter than others, based mostly upon my lake of time and the fact that I have been stuck on it for a while. In fact I booked the minumum 4 matches and used one angle... The reason I was so stuck on this show is because I have been so busy on planning for what happens after... Was this show a cop out? Kind of but I am really excited at where this diary is going and I have some new innovative ideas I am going to try and implement. I also have a unique idea I am trying to work out with another writer... but more on that later... for now enjoy the show. It is short but it serves as a bridge that leads us further into the Raven Mentor arch.

We showed up at the Amazura Concert Hall about two thirds the way through the show, which meant there was still an hour left. Have to love Goodman and his 20 match cards. When we got there Raven sat back and looked over some cue cards in the corner as I went over my spots with everyone I would be working with tonight.

The fans seemed a little rabid this evening, after all the line up had changed considerably due to injuries, and last minute Japanese commitments.

Frank did fill the card with title matches however, and whereas we were making it for the closing matches, we would see most of them, including this rematch from my last show with USA Pro.

USA PRO Tag Team Championship Match

The Christopher St. Connection vs Simon Diamond and Stryker

Just like at the last show Simon started the match for his team this time against Mase. Again, Mase tried to use his “unorthodox” style to force the Godfather of Cool to lose his cool.

However, Simon played a smart game on the mat that neutralized Mase early in the match and quick tags in and out by the champions kept the advantage on their side right up until Stryker missed a drop kick from the top rope.

Mase crawled slowly towards his corner, but made the hot tag to his partner Buff E. Buff came in and leveled Stryker with a clothesline, then Diamond, and started hitting moves on both. His momentum didn’t last long however as when he hoisted Stryker up for a powerbomb, he managed to flip out of it into a hurricanranna for the pin.

The match was received well enough, but something was missing and the crowd could tell.

Anyways, next up was an atrocious segment with Chris Candido on the mic. Wow imagine that? A bad Candido mic segment?

USA Pro United States Championship Match

Chris Candido vs Mike Tobin ©

I heard they were going to let Candido on the mic for a while at the start of this match, so I hid.

When I got back Chris reminded me why he still has a job in this industry, and that was by showing some solid in ring action against Tobin who is no slouch himself. The two traded hold for hold, and ended up toe to toe more than one time, causing the crowd to applaud in respect.

Suddenly Raven joined me as I sat by the curtains watching the match.

“Nice to see a couple of people who can tell a story in the ring isn’t it?” he said.

“Yeah, but that Chris has all the flavor of saltine cracker on the microphone.”

“Do you watch all the matches this way?” he asked

“I try to, I like to learn.”

“Then you’ll love the next match,” he added, “It is Balls Mahoney vs the Masked Maniac.”

“You are kidding right? That match is going to be awful. I am as big a fan of brawling as the next guy, but those guys have about the ability--”

Raven interrupted, “Luke, you will find that there is far more knowledge to be discerned in any bad match, than in any variable five star classic.”

With that Raven stood up and walked off to talk to Al Snow, leaving me to catch the finish of the Tobin/Candido affair. The end came when Candido telegraphed a backdrop, and found himself in the spike piledriver of Mike Tobin. After the match Sunny/Tammy came into the ring to nurse the frustrated Candido to his feet.

Balls Mahoney vs The Masked Maniac

As predicted this one wasn’t very pretty, but keeping Raven’s words fresh in my mind I watched every minute looking for flaws and believe me that was like looking for a hooker in the red light section of Amsterdam.

In all fairness, the two did get the crowd going for parts of the match, including the finish that, as per usual in a Mahoney match, included a chair.

Balls ended up bumping the referee, and when he did Maniac nailed him with a chair but opposed to pinning him, he laid it on Balls’ chest, and then laid down in the ring. When Mahoney came to, he grabbed the chair and stood up. At that moment so did the ref, who saw a chair wielding Balls, and a prone Maniac and came to the conclusion that he had attacked The Masked one, and Dqed Balls!

It wasn’t the safest decision he ever made, however, as Balls retaliated with a stiff chair shot to the ref as Maniac got the hell out of dodge.

Next up was Raven’s match, it was a triangle match for the World title.

USA Pro World Title Match

Raven vs Al Snow vs CW Anderson ©

Before the match started Raven grabbed a microphone.

“Fate, and destiny are two irresistible forces. Whist following the paths that they have paved for me, I have seen many men rise, and even more fall. CW Anderson, you must know this– tonight you shall meet your waterloo. Not because I deem it to be, for I am only an agent of fate and you are simply a cog in the works of a greater master plan– Quote the Raven... Nevermore.”

Following that brief speech

The match was solid. The beginning saw a lot of back and forth action, most notably between Raven and Snow. CW almost took a backseat to the two veterans in the start, but he returned soon enough, refusing to sit out a match that would determine who walked out of the arena with his belt.

In the middle of the match, Raven looked to have things just about won after nailing a double Evenflow on his competitors and that is when I came running down and slid into the ring.

I more or less decapitated Raven with a clothesline, then as Snow came to his feet I gave him the Riptide, causing him to roll out of the ring and onto the floor. Next, I hit a rising CW with a dropkick that sent him reeling to the outside as well.

I again turned my attention to Raven, decimating him with an assault of assorted suplexes. I began to shout, “WHAT ABOUT YOU!!! WHAT ABOUT RAVEN?” before lifting him up and hitting his own Evenflow for emphatic measure.

Next a grabbed a microphone.

“Raven, you sorry sack of shit! Did you think that when Samoa Joe paid me to make you and Homicide’s lives living hells that I’d only be at RoH shows? Raven, from this day forward, every time you look over your shoulder you are going to see my face! Every time you step into this ring you are going to see me and you will see the horrors that lie in the Rainbow in the Dark, you will taste the Riptide, and most of all you will be left just like you are now FACE DOWN ON THE MAT.

WHAT ABOUT YOU? I’ll tell you what about your Raven? Your days are numbered, because I am making you my own person pet project. You used to talk about pain. You used to talk about a childhood lost and fraught with disenchanted memories of abuse and neglect! Well if you thought your past was bad Raven, wait til you see your grim future! WHAT ABOUT RAVEN!?!

I’ll show you what Raven! I’ll show you a true meaning of the word pain.”

By this point Raven is wrapped around my legs trying to pull himself to his feet. I send him back to the mat with some quick punches before closing my statements.

“Raven, you have now embarked on your final journey of your career. Fate is calling your name Raven, and it promises not glory, it promises only an inevitable end and know its name! Thy end is Darkhorse! Quote the Darkhorse Nevermore!”

With that I vaulted off the ropes and hit my Rainbow in the Dark spring board maneuver to close the show.

Edited August 25, 2004 by The Grifter

[nomaster]

pretty kik ass segment there at the end, i like where its going

[GRIFT]

Chapter 6: Parallels of Feigned Animation

Raven and I rolled into our next RoH show on high. It was our first scheduled singles match against each other and as it stood it was to end with no interference. All eyes would inevitably be on us, and from one vantage this was the biggest chance of my career to make an impact, but on the other it would be my biggest blunder if I managed to botch the match up. As I drove down the highway he began to speak.

“You have been quiet, and by my guess your silence is precipitated by a sense of anxiety. You are worried about our match,” he said. “Well don’t be. You will be fine, you have been endowed with all the talent in the world– That is why I chose you,” He then added emphatically.

I sat there their in silence. I never knew what to say when he talked about me being his ‘legacy.’ What does a person say to that?

“Do you like comics?” Raven asked.

“Comics? Like comic books? Yeah, I guess why?” I asked.

“Because they are the subject matter for today’s lesson,” Raven responded.

“Comic books? What the hell do comics have to do with wrestling?” I naively asked.

Raven then sat silently, and casted a cold look towards me before rolling his eyes. “What do comic books have to do with professional wrestling? Every thing my friend. On the surface, most might think the two have little in common but in actuality, they are staggeringly similar.”

“How so?” I skeptically asked.

Raven simply grinned and started back in, “What is at the base of almost every professional wrestling feud?”

“A series of matches?”

“Simpler than that, kid. Think simple.”

“Um, conflict?”

“Yes, more specifically a conflict of good and evil– and at times evil and eviler as well as good and better. Good versus evil is the cornerstone of just about every storyline in wrestling and comics, as are the concepts of the triumphant underdog, damsel in distress, and the backstabbing tyrant. Our current arcs just modernize all those concepts and bring them to larger than life status. Do you see where I am taking this?” He continued.

“I think so.”

“Both are based on the triumphs and tribulations of icons of mythological standards. Which leads me to my next point: of alliteration of titles. When Marvel Comics reinvented itself in the 1960's, Stan Lee, the man responsible for creating many of it's currently popular characters, used to make life easy on himself by giving his characters alliterating names. We had “Spiderman” Peter Parker, Reid “Mr Fantastic” Richards, and Bruce– wait for it– “The Hulk” Banner. Then in wrestling we find the likes of Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Brutus Beefcake, and of course Hulk Hogan.”

I continued to listen attentively.

“But the biggest part, is that we tell a story through action. We tell stories with facial expressions and imagery and at times our words. In comics, you could have the best script in the world to work with, but if your artist can’t pen the underlying emotion of each statement, then the story fails.”

Suddenly it clicked.

“I get it! It is like, if you stick two wrestlers in the ring, with a big finish planned and plenty of spots, and they go through all the movements, and hit all the moves but skip the emotion– if they skip the psychology the story is lost. If you can’t paint a beautiful match, the story is lost.” I said.

“Very good. But you um, you just missed our exit.”

Crap.

[JStarr]

Good to see Darkhorse wrestles better than he drives. Very curious to see how Raven's lessons will play out in this upcoming match...just don't flame yourself out trying to create literature here, Grif...remember, it's only their first match together.

[Kaney]

I personally don't really like this diary. It just doesn't seem to click for me. The shows are alright in themselves, but the story just seems...meh. I can't seem to get into it, which sucks since that seems to be the main focus for the diary. It was also a bugger trying to read those older posts in the small font, but I can't really say much now, since you changed it. Some of the humour was pretty good, but it seemed out of place, like that segment with Raven/Homicide. Like someone said, those two would have been the last people I would have had there, but I guess it didn't do too much harm.

I'll keep reading, in the hope that you can improve on those aspects, I might even sig it, but right now I don't really see anything special about it.

[GRIFT]

APOX ON YOU KANEANITE, OUR EVER LASTING FEUD SHALL BE FUELED BY A NEW FIRE...

Actually, thanks for your critique. I alwas like to here what people are thinking even if it is negative.

To be honest, I have felt kind of strung out on the diary front lately and have a big urge to start a WWE Diary-- but it is so hard to escape the bustle there and I prefer not to cluttler the board any more than it already is with WWE diaries unless I could add something extra special.

I am seriously considering the abandonment of this diary. I am just feeling really bogged down as I write the upcomming ROH show.

I love the concept, and I have been looking foward to some of the plans I have, but most are unfortunately too far off to keep me focused.

I am going to try to stick with it for a while longer, and if I do leave it I imagine I will do a revisited version later as I have found plenty of places I would like to be able to go back and change.

[Kaney]

Don't abandon it! I was being heelish, all that was garbage earlier! This is a very good diary, it's extremely well written. Don't take any of that stuff to heart.

D'oh, foiled again. I'll get you one day without retracting it afterwards Grifter! Mark my words!

>_<

[GRIFT]

Oh, I thought your post was serious...

Either way mine was. I have been on a hump lately that hopefully I will write over but the hump is pretty evident by my lack of posts.

Maybe a secondary diary would help.

[TGC]

Closed and moved to Archives.