Game Ain't Over (Dusty Rhodes Cup RP #1)

The scene opens up to darkness, then a light coming on at the sound of a loud bang. The light shines down to a figure sitting in a black steel chair with its hands on their knees. It's Frankie Cocheese, dressed in the same attire he wore during Drew's Championship Celebration.

"One of the weaknesses... that Drew Stevenson once told me that I had... was that I could never just summarize my thoughts, that as great as my promos were, I could never get across what I wanted to say quickly." He shakes his head, "Well I'm here to prove him and anybody else who thinks so wrong! I'm here to prove that I don't need a fancy background, I don't need high production. All I need is a camera and a microphone!" He silently stares into the camera intently. "People thought I was retiring, yet again, but I'm here to prove that the game ain't over with me. I ain't gonna quit. Not like feds before! They crop up and close down, just when you try and make a name for yourself there! Y'see... This business is going through hard times. It's fitting that this is the Dusty Rhodes Memorial Cup, because the past few years have been nothing but hard times. Feds come in and out, wrestlers like me go in and then get told to leave, just before they can grasp that moment of stardom! And every time I've told myself it ain't worth it, and go to retire only to be brought back by a friend." He lowers his head for a moment in silence, then looks at the camera. "Let me tell you... I've been brought back once again, but this time, it's to right everything. It's to right everything because I'm tired. I'm physically, mentally, and emotionally tired of everything! I'm tired of people like Drew Stevenson running around on twitter talking crap! I'm tired of people looking down on others when they're just trying to make a NAME for themselves! I'm tired of people looking at others who, no matter what they might do, they're looked at as a nobody! There are somebodies in this business! I AM A SOMEBODY!..... Hard times... Hard times... Who knows more about hard times than Frankie Cocheese huh? I was looked at as somebody who wasn't gonna amount to a DAMN thing in this world! Hell! I'm still looked at like that! Drew Stevenson, yeah, he's got cars and money, something I got but always wanted more of, but in this business it doesn't matter! What matters is what you do! I remember Drew Stevenson when he was humble, now he walks around here like a God and he's got the nerve to call ME a hypocrite?! Listen..."

He wags his finger for a moment. "I always thought of myself as the best. You have to. No one else is going to believe you are until you believe it in yourself. But Drew... Drew runs his mouth too much. And around my way when you do that, it gets shut." He balls his right hand into a fist, left hand going over it. He bows his head briefly, then continues. "It's like Dusty Rhodes versus Flair, myself and Drew. He's got all the championships, the money, the hall of fame inductions. Me? I've grown up through hard times, I don't look like the star athlete, people take me as some kind of joke, some street thug that'll die that way. But I'm back... I'm back and I'm here to prove that no matter how you look, how tall you are, it doesn't matter. What matters is drive." He pats his heart with his right hand repeatedly. "What matters is HEART! And though I've been looked at as a jerk, and I've acted like one, I've always been told I went out there with heart, and I got things done! I don't have the body of a greek god, but I can put on a wrestling match just like those days of old! There have always been opportunities out there, tournaments, cups, and I've never taken the chances because I always had it in my head to just get the title and reign supreme! But this... this means more than the title. This is a chance at redeeming myself. This is a chance at living the AMERICAN DREAM! Going from nothing and rising to the TOP! Taking the opportunities that are granted to you and making the MOST out of them! And that's what I intend to do! Golden Gate. San Francisco. I've returned. While this may be my last fed before I go out, I swear to you I will go out with my HEAD HELD HIGH! Not my head turned low! I'll run through whoever I have to just to win this cup! Not just myself, but for all of YOU! All of YOU who are downtrodden, all of YOU who have been told you'll never make it! All of YOU, who even when I paraded around like Drew is now, still believed in me..... The Gauntlet... I've laid down the gauntlet! I've fired the first shot! And no matter who throws their hat in, know that all these hard times I've suffered, these pains the people have suffered!... I will plow through them, through you!... and make good on my word. I'm going to do it for all of you. Cochedda will PROVE he's the true Gogetta! I'm going to do it for all of you!" He points towards the camera. He then laces his fingers together, indexs together and pointed upward, eyes following. "For you, Dusty..."

He then looks towards the camera. "Whoever participates, let's make it a good one... See you when I see you..."

The camera fades.

Rest in Peace, Dusty.