Owen Lee vs. Drake Hemingway

[Owen]

10th July 2021

Los Angeles

1115 AM

Owen had arrived back in Los Angeles with one intention. Taking care of loose ends and getting the hell out of America. His standoff with SCW now meant that he had a lot of time on his hands, and he was going to make the most of that by finally taking a rest from the industry that had almost broken him. He didn’t know how, but Shaun had found out he was back in the country, and following a text, Owen had begrudgingly agreed to meet with him. Now sat waiting in a café he knew was one of Shaun’s favorites, he had to admit to feeling a little anxious as to how this meeting was going to go. Thankfully he doesn’t have too long to think about it, as Shaun is as punctual as over, and without a word he takes a seat, motioning towards the waitress to bring him his usual.

Shaun: Thanks for this Owen, wasn’t sure you’d turn up

Owen: Thought crossed my mind.

Shaun senses the tone of Owen’s voice, his anger immediately obvious. The waitress breaks that atmosphere temporarily, as he places Shaun’s coffee in front of him. Shaun cups the mug with his hands, warming them.

Shaun: Where do we start huh?

Owen knew exactly where he wanted to start, he’d rehearsed this moment methodically. 

Owen: Did you know?

Shaun immediately shakes his head.

Shaun: No Owen I didn’t.

Owen: And it that the truth? I asked because there isn’t a great deal of it hanging around now.

Shaun: It’s the truth. I couldn’t believe it when Kloe told me what was going on.

Owen nods, he believed him as there was a sincerity in his voice that he trusted.

Owen: Hmmm, I can imagine. Was quick the shock for me as well.

He doesn’t hide the sarcasm

Owen: So how is Mother, still standing by the fact it was better that I didn’t know the truth?

Shaun: She’s not doing great… 

Owen: Well good, at least that’s something. I can assure you though, she ain’t feeling nowhere near as shit as I’ve been over the past few weeks. 

Shaun: Probably not, but you really should talk to her Owen. Let her at least try to explain.

Owen: Shaun… I agreed to meet you, I didn’t promise to agree with anything you said, and with regards to Mom, right now at least, there is nothing that she can say to make this any better. My life has been on big fucking lie Shaun…

Shaun: He was still your Father Owen

Owen: No Shaun, no he wasn’t. Yeah, he played the part, but the reality is I wasn’t his blood, I’m barely a Cruze, seeing as Finn was treated like the black sheep. Right now, I can’t get past the deceit, and I’m not sure I ever will. All I know is right now, I’m alone… and you know what, that’s exactly the why I want it to be.

Shaun: What? And in the process destroy everything you ever worked for?

Owen: You mean the fabled ‘Cruze legacy’? Yeah, that was a lie as well, and I’m glad to be rid of it. All I gotta do now is wait out my contract and then I can forget about all this sorry mess and start again. 

Shaun: And you think that’s the best plan? 

Owen: It’s the only option I have right now Shaun. I can’t go back to SCW now, not after what I did to Olek, and truthfully, I don’t think I want to.

Shaun nods his head, not agreeing but hearing what Owen was saying. Owen was troubled, there was no doubt about it, but Shaun saw no benefit in pushing the ‘family’ on him anymore than he already had. That would need time, perhaps Owen would never be ready to sort the binds that once tied the family together, but Shaun couldn’t let him throw away his career as well.

Shaun: Look Owen, I know how you are feeling right now…

Owen: Do you? I don’t think so.

Shaun: I know your angry, and if there is someone who knows a bit about anger it’s me.

Owen: OK, so what’s your point?

Shaun: My point is regardless of how you are feeling right now, that is no reason to flush everything you have achieved down the toilet. Just put an end to it. Burning bridges might feel good now, and I can assure you, I’ve on more than one occasion wanted to feel Olek under my boot. But the thing is, SCW doesn’t suffer, Olek doesn’t suffer. In fact, the only person that suffers from these actions is you. You’re better than this.

Owen: So, you think I should pay the fine?

Shaun nods his head, confirming his thoughts.

Shaun: I do yes. Olek will get it, he’ll understand what you’ve been through.

Owen: Maybe, but even before all of this, he was overlooking me all the time. Putting me in bullshit matches when I deserved so much more.

Shaun: Perhaps, but by taking this course of action, all you are doing his proving his point. That’s you DON’T deserve these opportunities. Sitting out your contract and going somewhere else might sound like the best idea, but if you start getting yourself a reputation as a troublemaker, who else is going to sign you?

Owen: EAW?

Shaun shrugs.

Shaun: No one is bigger than SCW Owen, and deep down you know that. I thought you had a bit more fight than that.

Owen: Well, maybe I’m sick of fighting. Maybe it’s time for me to do something else, rather than busting my balls for very little in return.

Shaun: So, there really is no ‘Cruze’ DNA left in you huh?

Shaun had said it as a throwaway comment, not expecting Owen to simply smirk.

Owen: No, there isn’t. And you know what, because of the trouble that name has caused me, that’s one of the small mercies to have come from this. I can be myself; I don’t have to live up to a ‘standard’, and I’ve more than enough money to simply walk away. I don’t need SCW Shaun. I don’t need ‘family’, and I certainly don’t need you. 

Owen gets to his feet, throwing some money on the table.

Owen: Buy yourself a muffin or something, my treat.

Shaun looks up at Owen and shakes his head, not sure what to say.

Owen: See you around.

Without another word, Owen heads to the exit and out the door without once looking back. Once outside, his phone pings, and Owen half expects it to be a message from Shaun, his eyes widening as he sees the source of the message. He pulls up the Twitter app, and reads the message in full, a message from Daisy Lee, someone he hadn’t heard from in the longest time.

‘It’s time to come home’

Owen smirks, putting his cellphone back in his jacket pocket, as the scene fades.

30th December 2021

Ottawa, ON

Once it had been confirmed, and the ink was dry on his new contract, Owen knew precisely what he needed to do. There were so many people that he had wronged before, it was impossible to beg them all for forgiveness. All that he could do was show the world that he regretted his actions, and he wanted, no needed to do better. No one would ever really know what had happened in the last six months, and how much he owed his life to Daisy Lee, and how this moment could have been so much different. In time, he would need to thank a lot of people, but at the forefront of this was Daisy, who had rebuilt him from the ground up and once again given him a purpose. That purpose, quite simply, redemption. This being Owen’s first time back in front of a camera had meant the SCW had afforded him his own camera crew, eager to capture his first words back as an active competitor. That added a little more pressure to the moment, but it was pressure that Owen was more than ready to embrace. The camera starts to record, and Owen doesn’t smile, in fact he shows very little emotion. He was here for one purpose, and one purpose alone. To talk to Drake Hemingway, the first stop of a new journey. The journey back.

/REC

“The more things change, the more they stay the same. That would be my summary of everything I see in the SCW right now. When I left under a cloud, the lunatics were running the asylum, I know this because I was one of them. Flash forward six months, and we see the same antics, but with a different person in charge. A person that was more than willing to give me a second chance. See, I don’t need to be told all the things I got wrong post Taking Hold of the Flame. I acted like a dick, I lashed out at the wrong people. I blamed people for my demise that had very little bearing. Yes, I had a reason… but it certainly isn’t an excuse. You mess up, the only thing you can do is own it, and move on. And that was something that back then I refused to do. Instead, what I did was look at everyone else and blame them. I took a chunk out of everyone except for the person who could do something about it. That person of course was me, and thankfully the new General Manager round here doesn’t hold that against me, and neither does Olek. And now, it’s up to me to repay that faith… their faith…”

He points towards the camera

“YOUR faith. Because make no bones about it, I don’t deserve that faith. Coming back to the ring on Breakdown, the boos, the jeers… I deserved them no doubt about it. The cheers though, they came as a surprise, because I’d done nothing to get those. The difference is between the guy who threw a tantrum at Taking Hold of the Flame, and the one sat here before you right now, is that I understand BOTH those reactions, and I listen to what you are saying to me, and what you need from me. Believe me, I will NEVER take you for granted again. Owen Cruze messed up, Owen Lee will not, I promise you that. And although it may be a rough ride along the way, the journey, and the destination will be worth it, for EVERYONE. Because something else I realized during my hiatus, is that the SCW isn’t about one person, just like it isn’t about a self-absorbed, self-entitled group that believe everyone should bow before them, and woe betide anyone who disagrees with their flawed logic.”

He finally affords himself a smirk.

“Jackals, picking the carcass of other people’s successes. Sounds about right.”

Owen shifts in his seat, lifting his right foot and resting it on his left leg, holding it there.

“Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat shall we Drake? Let’s not pretend for one second that this is going to be Owen Cruze against Drake Hemingway the way it should be. I mean, when has a ‘Jackal’ ever got something done on their own. That’s not to say I don’t understand the logic of the group, and the benefits of having someone who has your back, I was a part of the Perfect Pack after all. But comparing the Jackals with the Perfect Pack is like comparing eggs and apples, there is no real comparison. And when it came to the group that Kelcey put together, we were ALL equals. Tell me Drake, can you say that the Jackals are the same and keep a straight face? I mean, until recently it was obvious that Konrad was the weak link, a person only kept around for Minerva’s benefit. The minute she left; Konrad was cast aside without a second thought. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good call, but if Minerva hadn’t had left, and someone needed to be blamed for the Jackals failings, where do you think the blame would have landed? Minerva? Konrad? Tommy? Kandis? No, it would have come down to you Drake. The least important cog in the Jackal wheel. Even now, as I get in the Jackals business, is it Kandis or Tommy stepping up? Nope, it’s you, the bait sent out quite literally to lure me out in the Canadian Tire Center tomorrow night. It’s kinda funny, how obvious it is that this is being set up as a trap to try and put an end to my resistance right from the start. But the thing is, I’ve dealt with far more significant threats than the three of you. What are you going to do huh? How can you hurt me anymore than the pain I have already felt this year? Put me out of action? I’d like to see you try with Daisy stood ‘quietly’ in my corner. That’s the problem Drake, since Minerva left, all your threats and promises have fallen flat. That’s not your fault, that’s a total lack of direction, and a firm belief that you are nothing more than a hanger-on as far as The Connection are concerned. You believe you are given more respect than Konrad, you think that they wouldn’t turn on you in a heartbeat, but you’re wrong. So very wrong. And if Loretta had anything about her she would tell you the exact same thing. You’re just another more than capable wrestler pissing his talent up the wall for the sake of an illusion of dominance. A façade of success. It’s pitiful, that someone like you allows yourself to be treated this way. But at least it gives the rest of us a little light relief from constantly shrugging our shoulders at your groups ‘actions’. The neck cramps are real Drake.”

Owen was starting to get back into his stride. It had been six months since he had filmed one of these, and he knew the reality was there would be many that were analyzing his every word.

“I mean, let’s look at the harsh truth Drake. In EMERGE… that was where this God-like attitude was born, as you chased the EMERGE Championship. There, you preached, you preached and then you preached some more, but literally no one listened to you. NO ONE. Now, you’ve arrived here in SCW, a place with perhaps the biggest talent pool in our industry, a depth not seen in any other company, and you’re preaching again, but this time no one CARES. I don’t know, do you tweet your own stuff, or do you have someone do it for you? I guess what I am saying is it you that’s to blame or is there someone who needs to be fired. Because bro, I don’t know what you were looking to achieve from your little statement when you found out you’d be facing me at the End of the Year Special, but if it was meant to make me regret my decision to return, I’m afraid it fell flat, just like so much of your meandering rhetoric. 

Drake, ask yourself this? 

Do you think I’ve been sat on my ass the last six months? Do you think I’m going to suffer from ring-rust, and this is going to give you your chance to put a tick in the ‘W’ column? I bought out my contract, you saw that right? I was able to compete where the hell I liked, and I never stopped competing. 

Not once. 

Yes, it was away from the glare of the lights, and the television cameras, but all the time I was gaining EVEN MORE experience for a guy my age, because there is no one my age in this entire industry that has the experience I do. In places where the hunger to succeed is next level. You’re expecting to face the guy that left, I can hear that in your statements, and you have very little idea or realization that I am SO much more than that now. The Jackals are known for their aggression, right? Well, thanks to Daisy, I’ll match that and then some. The FACT of the matter is you have NO idea what it is you are going up against. And by comparison, I know EXACTLY who you are. Already, you are basing your thought process on assumptions. Already, you are bringing about your potential demise. Apparently what YOU do best. Because Drake, already I hear you bleating like a stuffed pig, claiming your shot because you beat Jordan Majors. Well newsflash Jackass, one, I ain’t Jordan Majors, and two, beating Jordan on a rare off day for her don’t prove shit. When I beat you, does that mean I’M next in line for an Adrenaline title shot? No, because that’s not how the business works. I’ve so much I would still have to prove. And that’s my point Drake, so do YOU, even if you can’t accept that. One victory in the grands scheme means nothing… now can you do it again against a former World Champion?”

Owen shrugs his shoulders, biting on his bottom lip.

“Maybe you can, but if you think standing up to you and your bunch of reprobates is going to fill me full of regret should you do so, then you’re whole thought process is absurd. Just like Aries, I’m going to be there, waiting at every single turn, to foil whatever plans of ‘dominance’ you might have. It’s fitting, so very fitting, that it is you that steps up to the plate, the messenger of SCW, because right now, I have a message of my own for you. You sir are one of the most promising wrestlers in the world today, a guy that yes could claim Championship Gold. But you will never achieve that goal until it is the wrestling you concentrate on, and you lose the theatrics that the Jackals are renowned for. You may win our confrontation, you may not… but if it are any certainties, it is the extra-curricular activities that will surely happen that the world will be talking about, and that’s a shame Drake, it really is. You try to distance yourself from the same bloodline as your brother, but the fact remains, the two of you are pretty much the same. Neither of you know who you are, or realize what you could be without the bullshit. He relied on money to get what he wanted, with you its violence, but it was only when William realized who he truly was that he finally got all that he desired. 

Is that what you future will entail?

A career of missed opportunities and flip flopping from one ‘character’ to another?

If so Drake I don’t FEAR you, I PITY you. I pity the failure that you will inevitably become. A waste of talent, a waste of skill, and consequentially a waste of space on the Supreme Championship Wrestler roster, when you could have been so, so much more. You Jackals may well knock me down, but I will get up again, just like that old song. You might cause me pain, but pain, it’s like an old friend right now, the friend that reminds me of that difficult past. I’m free Drake, free from the shackles, and now rather than it being myself that is at threat, the Jackals have a new problem to deal with. An annoying gnat that I assure you will never go away. Try your best to beat me, or just concentrate on ending me. The fact is, either way, I don’t care what you do. I sir, am taking back my name. I sir, am taking back my reputation. I WILL find my redemption in this company and with those fans that once love me. And THEN Drake, I’m gunning for Gold, and the Supreme Champion tag that I shunned once before. Regrets, yeah I’ve had a few… but then again, too few to mention. Sinatra said that, and I say it before you now.”

He pauses, a smirk on his face.

“Owen Lee, looking forwards without the shackles of his past… THAT is what you have to deal with Drake, and for all your ability, I don’t believe you can. I look forward to your inevitable excuses in the New Year…”

Owen winks at the camera, nodding his head confidently.

“It’s been a shitty year, tyhe shittest of my life. But I’m going to end it in style.”

He smirks

“SCW, Jackals, Drake… here we go.”

Owen nods once more, the scene slowly fading.