Post by ✘Sebastian C⍟nner✘ on May 24, 2019 12:38:27 GMT -5
PRELUDE
Project Attack: #146 - Sebastian Conner
"I was betting my last royalty check on a prayer of reincarnation."
"The ink hadn't dried yet and still I felt a tremendous weight lifted off my back"
"Anything. No more bullshit, no more filters."
A COUNTDOWN CAN NOW BE HEARD FADING IN
4
3
2
aaaaaaaaaAnnnnD
ATTACK
...And here we are, with the professional asshole himself. But you're not really an asshole."
"I I I ddunno. I'm not sure about...", I say with a chuckle.
"You're not. Not like the public thinks. Not Sean Penn level, more like Robert Downey Jr level. I've known you for how long now? Fifteen years?"
"Yeah. Well, fifteen here in August. And I prefer more like Alec Baldwin."
"So you're going to leave nasty voicemails?"
"I don't have any kids, so I'll have to stick to assault over parking spaces."
"Ha Ha. So... Thanks for being here."
"And thanks for having me."
"How ya doing man? You're looking good."
"I'm good, I'm really good."
"So, I know we discussed it a lot over the last few weeks but now it's official. You're back in the game."
"I am."
"Don't undersell it! Are you excited?"
"More than I can possibly put into words."
"It was a big deal and I know a big portion but I have to say it for the podcast. You were basically on house arrest due to the contract with EWC."
"More or less. There was a non-compete clause that had been written in such a way that wouldn't allow me to compete, let alone make public appearances."
"And that was just a small portion of what seemed like a never ending legal battle."
"I mean, when a company tries to trademark a person's name... things are bound to get out of hand."
"Trademark? Your name? Seriously?" Morgan asks with an astounded look on his face.
"Yeah. Which they lost."
"So tell me again, when and where did this all start?"
"Oh man. It had been going on for the better part of my time there. There was a lot of backdoor squabbling over my ability to draw a crowd, but I went out there and kept winning and kept winning. They had no other choice but to ride the wave, but they kept stacking the odds and each time I came out on top. Well then my contract went up in December and I kept wrestling under various extensions. That's about the time that we started this whole anger management gimmick, and I admit that it sounded good on paper. It mixed well with the professional asshole thing I was embracing. I would have cut promos from classes and it would have been fun but the truth was I wasn't having fun. It was finally announced that there would be a triple threat for Ace's United States championship and I was already heated at that."
"Are you talking real anger?"
"Yeah, legit pissed. Ace and I had already had two singles matches in which we each took a victory in. I even flew out to Vegas and attacked him during his match for The Experts. It was hyped and a rubber match between us for the championship was the perfect ending. They decided to put Scorpio in it? I think? I was too pissed off to even care. They weren't ready for me to grab a championship victory without having a new contract. That would have given me too much leverage. So, I said alright enough's enough. I packed my shit and went home."
"Just like that."
"Just like that."
"Wow. And so when did they realize what was going on and when did the drama unfold that most if us seen plastered all over social media?"
"Well they knew when I left. I wasn't shy about it. But shit didn't really hit the fan until I got a letter saying they were planning to register my likeness and whatnot to the trademark office. So not only were they making sure I wasn't going to make other appearances, they also weren't going to let me go with my own name."
"That is just bizarre."
"Even worse is while this was all happening, they are still filming me and selling the anger management shit as the reason for my absence. They were going to be airing a mini documentary piece which was to end in my return."
"Which obviously never happened."
"Had things of been handled differently, I would have gone back. But I was at a bad place with the whole ordeal. I just wanted to start new and rebuild my image, I wanted to take the professional asshole thing even further and I realized I couldn't, not there."
ENTER VALOR PRO?
"So here we are months later, and you're a member of Valor Pro Wrestling? How did that happen? One minute rumors are swirling that you're going to sign with HKW or possibly return to EWC and then BAM as it was overnight, you are signed to Valor Pro."
"I wish it was over night. Shit, that mess haunted me for months and months. I was still on the fence on what I was going to do, but it became clearer and clearer that no matter what happened, I wasn't going back. I have to give credit to a few people but namely you and my lawyer, Jack Kingsley. Jack is the best god damned lawyer I have ever met. He was able to work his magic and get a deal settled that pretty much gave me everything I was wanting. Their lawyers were there, Jack and I were there, and just then... they caved at our deal. So Jack hands me this ridiculously expensive pen and nodded. At first, I starred blankly at the page in disbelief that we finally got to the end. It was super slow motion."
"Like a movie or something? Where they do an acid trip?"
"Exactly like that. I was actually on LSD."
"Really?"
"No.", I say laughing at the ridiculousness of the idea.
"But seriously It was intense and then I snapped out of it. Before I knew it everything was signed and final. The ink hadn't dried yet and still I felt a tremendous weight lifted off my back. It had been a long few months and I was beginning to question what I was doing and where I was going."
"I could imagine."
"You have to think, during this whole fiasco, I wasn't allowed to speak about it or even joke about it."
"And now, you are able to say anything?"
"Anything. No more bullshit, no more filters."
"And might I rightfully have to thank you for your part in this."
"No need."
"I'm sure your listeners, viewers? What the fuck are they? I don't even know what we are doing here."
"A podcast. So this will get aired live on iheartradio as well as the live video version on YouTube. So, both listeners and viewers. You had it."
"So, it's no secret here that Travis here has been in this industry for ever. He's practically a relic at this point."
"A relic." He says laughing.
"So Travis and I have been friends forever. Well he heard about the shit that was happening and also heard I was looking to get back into. You may or may not know this, but he travels around to countless promotions. Wrestling, Boxing, MMA, you name it. Think the Gene Simmons of wrestling, except he's actually talented. So, Travis goes around and does consulting work for these companies to build their brands both financially and creatively and when he's not doing that, he's training fighters for MMA debuts. Well, he calls me up out of the blue and says I heard Union Battleground is making a comeback and I think it's the perfect fit. I tell him, I'm open to it and within three days I had a phone interview with the board of directors."
"Should we tell our secret?"
"I'll let you tell that."
"So Sebastian is going through this bullshit with other parties and he is not allowed to speak publicly about ANY of it but behind the scenes he is calling me weekly telling me everything. So, I did what any best friend would do and I started leaking bits of it to the press without his knowledge. Right?"
"Right"
"So, we had this grand idea."
"No, Travis had this great idea to allow the drama to build up the public interest in the professional asshole persona. And it was working. The leaks, the stories... it was building this type of cult following. And here I am with no spare income as everything was tied up with lawyer fees and bills and shit. I get my last royalty check and I give it to Travis and tell him let's go all in. I was betting my last royalty check on a prayer of reincarnation. And I'll be damned if it didn't pay off. So all this press and momentum helped me secure the deal with Union. So I go to BG Network and start pitching ideas, and everybody is on board with the Professional Asshole. So their only concern was not knowing how the audicence will react. I said Sorry Not Sorry. I shit you not, their marketing specialist jumped at that and said he had a perfect shirt idea. So they took the Union Star and used it as the O in the phrase and plastered it on a shirt. The rest is, well, you'll just have to wait to find out."
"That's awesome and while you there, something else happens."
"Yeah, while visiting Battleground Network Headquarters I run into Maurice Yensman, who had just signed with Valor Pro. We started bullshitting and he said, why don't you come wrestle with Valor until Union kicks back off. We both were friends with Travis, so I said fuck. Why not."
"And Maurice as you know participated in the Unscripted show I put on last year before entering EWC."
"Yeah, small world."
"That it is."
NA NA NA GOODBYE
"So, let's briefly touch on the other story surrounding you. Deya."
"Oh dear god. Let's not and say we did."
"Come on, spill the beans. What really happened?"
"It's show business. Or in her case, showing a little too much of her business."
"I won't mention names, but Sebastian caught Anastasia Deya romping around with someone new?"
"We had already started going our own ways and something happened and that was that."
"And now you've found someone knew. Who might I say, is a smoking little number."
"Cora. Cora is great, you know that. You've met her."
"She is pretty kickass. So tell us, how did you two meet?"
"We met randomly at a bar and we exchanged numbers."
"That's not what you told me. You said..."
"I said we exchanged numbers.", I say cutting him off. "She is amazing and we have our own lives going on. She does her thing and I do mine. She is super supportive and has been helping me put together some of the new stuff I am planning to bring back to the ring with me."
"Like a manager?"
"Not so much a manager. She's just there and I run ideas past her and she gives me honest no shit feedback."
"So back to the matters at hand. So Valor Pro. How does it sit with you having familiar faces such as NSFW and Brenna Gordan?"
"Look, I've never went out of my way to make enemies but at the same time I've never gone out of y way to make friends. I am not worried one way or another about who is here or not here. At the end of the day, I am here and that's who I have to worry about. I can't get caught up in the same shit as before."
"I need to ask, is there any real backstage heat with you? I mean on a surface level, you have this fog that's been following you, that you are an angry entitled person."
"If that's the perception people want to have of me, then that's them. Am I angry? Your fucking right I am. I have every right to be. It's no different than any other job in the world. If you got jacked around, you'd find a new job. That's all. I've said it before and I will gladly repeat it. I am not a villain, the bag guy if you will, but I sure as hell play a good one. If speaking my mind rubs anyone the wrong way then fuck em. I don't owe anybody an explanation for what I do. And if there's anyone on the Valor roster who takes issue with how I conduct myself then I say we settle it the way we all know and that will be by getting in the ring."
"So I wanna wrap things up with two exclusive announcements here on Project Attack. The first being that you, Sebastian will be debuting a new finishing move at Valor, do we know when that will be?"
"Not yet, but hopefully Rite of Kings and yeah I will be debuting a new finisher. We are working out the name of it, but you know as you've seen it."
"Yeah I got to see it at the gym last week. It's a cool take on a wicked MMA move. And finally, you are also going to be coming out to a new theme, is that correct?"
"It is."
"Look brother we are just about out of time. We'll have to do this again."
"I agree."
"Ladies and Gentlemen, Sebastian Conner!"
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