AMA Buffalo Jones vs. Christopher McMichaels - Mayday

[Kross Rhodes]

Battle for Respect
Pure Rules Match
Buffalo Jones vs. "The Blueblood" Christopher McMichaels

VS.

#BuffaloVsMcMichaels

Deadlines
❂ Remember that role-plays are to be received no later than 11:59 PM EST on Monday, May 10th, 2021.

 

[Chris]

Sunsets South of Rio​

Well off the coast of Brazil, we see a bright, shiny new yacht drifting slowly. While nowhere near full, some would say a reckless amount of people were on board the triple-tiered deck partying.

Onboard it features multiple jacuzzis, a poker room where a few less-than-reputable people sit, and many, many...many bars full of alcohol. All the while the latest Bad Bunny chart-topper is playing, and bikini-clad women dance throughout each level of the large boat. We move towards the upper deck where there sits a small jacuzzi overlooking the ocean, which is just starting to get overtaken with a gorgeous sunset.

???: “Hey! You two come on already, we gotta get this recorded before the sun goes down, you can drink in the hot tub!”

We see the voice belongs to none other than “The Blueblood” Christopher McMichaels as he’s trying to corral two extremely drunk, yet extremely attractive women towards the small jacuzzi with a slight slur of his own words as well.

McMichaels: “Just sit here for two minutes and look hot while I talk to all my fans and drinks are on me for the rest of the cruise ladies!”

​

This finally gets their attention the way McMichaels hoped, so he hands a cell phone to a crew member onboard the boat and jumps inside the jacuzzi draping both arms around the two women.

McMichaels: “Hello all my wonderful fans and AMA faithful! I’m currently out of the country engaging on some well-deserved R&R, but I’m taking time out of my busy vacation schedule to give an update to all of my fans! I’ve read all the comments so far about my so-called “defeat” at Under Pressure, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about. The past is the past, what's the use of complaining about people who have no business interfering in one of MY matches of all people. No, no no, see all of my loyal fans already know what a farce that was, and all the haters refuse to listen to logic so it’s all about MOVING FORWARD!”

All three people in the hot tub gladly accept drinks from a bartender walking past as McMichaels continues, with a much more serious tone than before.

McMichaels: Buffalo Jones, I’ve known you my whole life. Now, I may not have heard of you until legitimately a week ago, but trust me I’ve known you. You’re bitter, life hasn’t taken the turns you wanted it to, the years have just passed you by and before you know it, it’ll be time to retire after a disappointing career of “what could have been.” I saw it in our groundskeeper that worked at our winter home, our chef at our Spring villa, and even the old hostler that took care of our prize horses when I was a kid. Bitterness just has a certain sound, and what you have in common with all those poor sops is that you sound exactly the same, Mr. Jones. You might think you can embrace that bitterness and use it to finally have yourself the career you dreamed of in your twilight, but that’s just false hope. And trust me, I’m not your enemy Buffalo, I don’t want you to buy into that hope only for it to come crashing down like we both know it will.

Ya see I’m your friend. And true friends don’t give each other false hope, they tell the truth even when it hurts. And the fact of the matter is, it’s just over Buffalo. You’re in a purgatory where you don’t realize it yet, but the sooner you do, the better. Hey, I've heard you spent some time down this way yourself, what's stopping you from enjoying this South American sun again, my man? Oh, that's right...we don't talk about that. But it's time to stop torturing your loved ones, if you even have any, Buffalo, because they know it’s over. Stop torturing all the great AMA fans, they know it’s over too. And most importantly...stop torturing yourself Buffalo. And at AMA Mayday, in a Pure Rules match no less, you'll finally realize it's well, and truly...over.”

McMichaels signals for the crew member to stop recording and instantly changes back to his jovial persona from before.

McMichaels: “Did you guys see that? No script, no prompter, nothing. I am a GOD! Now, where’s my drink, we gotta get back to partying girls!”

He grabs the Mai Tai he’d set down earlier and downs it as the girls do the same with their drinks. McMichaels then slides some cash to the crew member

McMichaels: “You cut that right after my last line and get it uploaded on my social media ASAP, I have a brand to maintain, now let’s go girls!”

He grabs another drink that was left behind the jacuzzi, and clearly not thinking of any health protocols, downs it too, before heading to the main deck to join the rest of the guests on board the yacht as another top Latin hit starts playing

OOC NOTE: Paragraphs 7-10 can be included in results (if it fits, idc one way or another) as a social media uploaded promo, the rest obviously off-screen.

 

[Hoss]

You don’t have to be great to start… but you have to start to be great.​

Our promo begins on a shot of a pro-wrestling training facility. The walls are multi-colored, painted very vibrantly. On the back wall there is a sizable mural of the Rocky Mountain. Large posters of local wrestling events in the Denver area hang all over. In one corner, there is a scanty weight training section with loose dumbbells, one barbell, several plates and a cable machine. In the center of this shot is a 18 x 18 wrestling ring with a grey canvas and plain black skirts. It isn’t anything state of the art, that’s for sure, but it’ll get the job done. In the bottom right hand corner, text appears that reads:

Undisclosed warehouse
Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA
March 2, 2007​

Just then, the sound of a door closing can be heard. Into the camera shot comes waltzing in a young(er) Buffalo Jones, wearing sweatpants, a University of Colorado football hoodie and a black toboggan and gloves. Next to him is an unfamiliar man, who appears middle aged and has striking rugged facial features. He looks as though he may have seen better days, but on this day he’s cozied up in a large winter coat, a plaid trapper hat, and thick wool pants, carrying a thermos. The two men both have snow accumulated on their heads and shoulders, which they sweep off themselves. They walk up and stop in front of the ring.

Mystery Man: So here she is. She ain’t much, but I just finished remodeling the place the best that I could. Heh. Ya should have seen it before I came in and did these repairs. I don’t think this place has been used once since the last time your dad worked out here!

Buffalo shoots the man a look of surprise. At this point in his life, Buffalo is far more expressive, and even the tone of his voice is markedly different.

Buffalo Jones: You don’t say? Well look, Charlie, I appreciate you offering this place up for me to get back into ring shape. I mean, I’m three years out of the game now. I’ve got a lot of work to do, and to be totally honest with you, I’d rather fail in private than make an ass out of myself in front of a bunch of other trainees.

Buffalo and Charlie share a very brief chuckle.

Charlie: I can’t say I blame ya there, bud. But I wouldn’t worry too much about it, kid. Way I see it, this is like destiny for ya. Your life could have gone a lot of different ways with your father not being around to raise ya, and yet ya still found your way to pro-wrestling. And even after ya gave it five years of your life and things didn’t quite pan out, here ya are!

Buffalo Jones: Well, you could say I already sunk too much into this career to not see it through. Plus, it’s not like I know much else. I was banking on getting to the NFL, wrestling was just a natural fallback after you and some of my dad’s other wrestling buddies got to nudging me towards it. I admit maybe I started to like performing after a while.

Charlie: Oh, please! I know damn well that ya were making fine money at the lumber mill these past couple years. Way more money, in fact, than ya had been making while working these local indies for a hot dog and a pat on the back for those five years! Why don’t ya just admit it, boy? You’ve caught the wrestling bug. It happens to the best of us!

Buffalo can’t help but laugh, and he gives Charlie a bit of a shrug.

Buffalo Jones: Alright, alright, fine! I guess somewhere along the way I did fall in love with it. Though when I walked away, I thought for sure I was done. I didn’t realize how much I was going to miss the business. All the road trips, seedy motels and crooked promoters. There is a certain charm to it all once you take a step back and look at it. But, the plain and simple fact of the matter is, I can’t do this forever if I don’t start to see some results!

Charlie: Well then I reckon we better get down to business then. Go ahead and get loosened up and I’ll meet ya in the ring!

Buffalo Jones: Sounds like a plan.

Charlie and Buffalo Jones head in different directions, as they prepare to get some ring work in. With both men out of the frame, suddenly the scene begins to fade…

The camera shot remains the exact same but as the view of the recently remodeled training facility deteriorates, it is replaced by a view of that same facility, only now worn down and unkempt. The paint on the wall is now dull and chipping. The posters have largely been removed, and those that remain, are now torn or falling apart. The floor looks dusty. The weights in the corner have begun to rust. The lights that illuminate the facility flicker. Cobwebs have grown up in the corners where the walls meet the ceiling. At the bottom right hand corner reads:

14 Years Later…​

The camera begins to pan inward towards the ring, where we can now see Buffalo Jones is sitting in the corner. He has his hair pulled back, as he breathes deeply and beads of sweat roll down his face. He’s sporting a generic AMA shirt and some athletic shorts. He is staring at the mat initially, but then as the camera pans in towards his face, he peers upwards, staring into the camera.

Buffalo Jones: As the days, weeks, months and years pass by... and the wear and tear continues to accumulate as I voyage through this career I’ve chosen… every so often I am left to look around and wonder what motivates me.

He wipes some sweat away from his forehead with the collar of his shirt.

Buffalo Jones: Money? Never meant a whole lot to me. Fame? I could live without that. Making my family proud?

He tilts his head back and stares at the ceiling.

Buffalo Jones: Well that ship has sailed.

He brings his gaze back down the camera.

Buffalo Jones: The love of the sport? Maybe. See, I’ve wrestled thousands of matches in no fewer than a dozen countries and multiple continents. The only thing left I felt I needed to experience was the bright lights and roaring applause of a true national powerhouse, and now I’ve lived out that dream with my last two matches in AMA. The rush I got from my battles with Dorian Declan and Curt Adkins was gratifying to say the least. But now I stop once again and wonder - what am I in this for?

He begins to unravel the tape on his wrist, as he proceeds.

Buffalo Jones: And then… I get my next opponent: Christopher McMichaels. Alright, great. I saw his match with Tora Fushimi at Under Pressure and he no doubt put in a good showing. There is some skill there that can’t be denied and I can see McMichaels really making a mark for himself if he puts in the time and effort. Frankly, I have nothing bad to say about his wrestling ability, though some of his mannerisms struck me as a bit strange. But, as I dig into his background, I start to wise up to what McMichaels is really all about.

He gets the tape off his wrist and tosses it to the side.

Buffalo Jones: And it turns out that McMichaels comes from a very affluent background. Nothing wrong with that. But, then I uncover that he ostensibly bought his way into the biz. I dig further, and I find out that he didn’t get into wrestling because he was passionate about it. He didn’t get into wrestling in search of some kind of glory or personal fulfillment. And he didn’t even get into wrestling to make a living. Hell, what’s he need any of that for? He’s top 1%. Apparently, Mr. McMichaels got into wrestling simply because he was “bored”.

Buffalo nods his head and smirks in a way that clearly reads of frustration.

Buffalo Jones: Well isn’t that something? Here I’ve just been mangling my body, sacrificing my mental health and alienating all my loved ones for two decades, while this fellow could have chosen to do literally anything he wanted to with his life, and he chooses to buy himself a spot on the AMA roster for no better reason than, I guess, riding in private jets and blowing his father’s money on champagne and caviar lost its appeal.

He points his index finger in the air.

Buffalo Jones: And just like that, motivation strikes once again. I’m not a gatekeeper by any means, Mr. McMichaels, but if there is one thing in the world I take personally, it’s people who treat this business like a joke. You want AMA to be your personal little playground? Well, that simply isn’t going to work for me. I’ve given everything… EVERYTHING… to be here. I am proud of the trail I have blazed to make it to this point, despite the many bumps in the road, so for someone like yourself to be sharing the locker room with me... I take that as a great affront to this beautiful sport.

Buffalo pulls himself up out of the corner, and walks out to the center of the ring.

Buffalo Jones: Now, this little rinky dink facility right here might not be no “Colosseum”. There are leaks, and the AC don’t work, and maybe it could use a good sweep. But that’s all superficial. One thing I know to be true about pro-wrestling is that there are a thousand ways to dress it up and package it, but it just about always boils down to the same thing. One ring and two men, in a battle to prove who the superior wrestler is. When we lock up at Mayday, it will be under Pure Rules. That means no hijinks and no superfluous BS. I love this stipulation because it leaves no doubts in the end who the better man is. And with the limited rope breaks, that means there will be no reprieve for you, and you will be forced to confront your decisions.

Believe me, I know full well that no matter what happens to you here in AMA, you’re going to be just fine. You’re set for life, financially. But on May 16th at Mayday, I’m going to demonstrate to the world the difference between a pro-wrestler… and a man who has written a check that his ass can’t cash! See you then...

With a very deliberate grin, Buffalo walks past the camera and out of sight, cueing a fade to black...