Hollow Words

[Dan Herrera]

”Be not a slave of words.”

~Thomas Carlyle~

[ Begin Scene I | Legacy ]

[ Setting: Main Historical Street ]

[ Location: Tombstone, Arizona ]

[ Cast: Dan Herrera, Peaches ]

(Standing at one end of the town, me and Peaches stare down the old dirt road of the historic site of Tombstone, Arizona. Being as it was one of my favorite movies and we were so close, me and Peaches decided to drive down and visit while we were in town. Looking around I see the horse stable area where the battle of the OK Corral took place. I imagine myself standing in the same spot that Wyatt Earp was as we look at the corral. Scanning the scene, Peaches just looks at me shaking her head.)

Peaches: You are waaaaayyy too into this Dan.

(She laughs.)

Dan Herrera: This is history right here Peaches. A story that’s lasted for over a hundred years. We’re standing in the spot of the most famous gunfight of the old American West.

(Peaches continues to look around.)

Peaches: The movie did a little bit of embellishing didn’t it?

Dan Herrera: Oh yeah. Of course they did. Tinseltown has a habit of doing that doesn’t it. You know this fight only lasted sixty seconds? Wyatt Earp and his lawmen against a gang of outlaws. 30 seconds… they came to fight and win… and that’s what they did.

Peaches: Gotta admire their courage, or was it pride?

(We move on from the OK Corral and start walking down the street, watching as actors reenact the environment that would have made up the street back in the 1880s. I look over at the saloon and wigle my eyebrows at Peaches. Her eyes widen and we make our way towards the entrance.)

Dan Herrera: I don’t know which it was, but whatever it was, they backed it up with their actions. You know, I could make a real annoying relation to our jobs with that.

Peaches: But that would be annoying, like you said, so you’re not going to right?

Dan Herrera: Wellllll…

(As we walk up to the swinging gates, making up the door, a man comes flying through them landing on his ass. A bigger man walks up to the doors and tells him that he’s not welcome back and if he tries he’ll be shot where he stands. I look at Peaches and raise an eyebrow. She just shakes her head. We head into the saloon finding a seat. I nod at the bartender and he walks out to our table dropping two small cups and a bottle of whiskey on the table. I tip him with cash, the way it would’ve been done in the old west, not wanting to be given any funny looks by breaking out a debit card. I poor a cup for me and one for Peaches before taking a sip. The taste is sour in my mouth and I shake my head for a moment as my face scrunches up.)

Dan Herrera: Damn! That bottle may have come from 1881. Wow.

Peaches: I don’t know what you’re talking about, it tastes great.

(As she says this, her face is scrunched up and I can tell she’s trying to look tougher than me, but it’s not working.)

Dan Herrera: But like I was saying.

(Peaches gives a groan.)

Dan Herrera: In the old west, your word was your bond. Going back on it, or bragging about something for the sake of bragging about it and not backing it up… got you killed. I kind of miss those days Peaches.

Peaches: I can see why. Although, I do believe the population of the earth would drop drastically if these restrictions were put into place.

(We both laugh before taking another drink and puckering our faces again.)

Dan Herrera: That’s exactly what I’m saying. You know? In our profession, people seem to get off by listing fake accomplishments or boasting about the things they are going to do when they neither have the skill or the intent to ever back them up. I like it when someone thinks they can beat me so they say it, and when they come out to the ring and bring it just as ferociously as they said it… that’s the best. Probably sounds a bit masochistic to say, but if you say you’re going to punch me into next week, I expect to get rattled pretty badly. When it doesn’t happen, it’s always just more of the same, hot air being blown when there’s no action behind it.

Peaches: So you like being beat up?

(I shoot a stare at Peaches, hoping she’s being sarcastic. I know she understands me, if she didn’t she would have left a long time ago. I can tend to be confusing, but I’ve never lost her in my lines of thinking in the past.)

Dan Herrera: No, what I’m saying is that I like people that have actual intent behind their words.

Peaches: I know, I get tired of all the talk myself.

Dan Herrera: Exactly. I’m sure they’ll be plenty of it in our triple threat match for Twin City Wrestling and the same for me and Cordy’s match against the Usual Suspects in FGA. But I’m open to being proved wrong.

Peaches: We’ll see how things pan out won’t we.

Dan Herrera: Absolutely. But until then, we should really focus on the here and now.

(Looking over at the door near the Piano that’s being played, I see a group of bar women prancing their way out in their fluffed up dresses as the music kicks up. They then begin to dance around the bar entertaining the patrons. I smile at Peaches and she just rolls her eyes.)

Dan Herrera: Like this great reenactment that’s going on right now.

Peaches: Mhmm… when do the men come out?

(I laugh as we continue to drink and watch what’s going on around us. I can’t imagine my smile would be any bigger. I’d always wanted to visit Tombstone and here we were. What a perfect way to relax before we head back to Tucson for Vertigo.)

[ End Scene I ]

---

[ Begin Promo I | Mouthpiece ] 

When me and Cordy made our announcement to enter the Dynamic Duos back at the beginning of April, it was a pretty big deal. No one was expecting it. No one saw Dan Herrera or Cordy Stevenson making their re-debuts there in Philadelphia, but we were there none-the-less and surprised everyone. Now, not to toot my own horn but it was kind of a big deal. Two of FGA’s longer tenured wrestlers returning on the same night to form a tag team and enter Dynamic Duos? That’s a match made in heaven for the fans, and they ate it up as much as we did.

Now, the Usual Suspects… you guys had a bit of a surprise in your own return also didn’t you? After a year or more away, you showed up with Anthony Rother unbenounced to anyone. After a long, rather obnoxiously opinionated, rant about the current state of FGA, it’s past, and the fans that follow it you finally revealed who your friends were. But at the expense of both security and some of the local PA talent.

Now I started here in FGA when you guys were still around. You were a tag team that mattered in the Tag scene. When the Usual Suspects were wrestling the fans took notice, good or bad. They knew that when you got into the ring it was going to be a good match. They would have welcomed you back with open arms, and admittedly after your show they still did. But why the theatrics? Are you that disheartened with the state of the FGA Tag Team scene that you had to beat up security and other wrestlers to try and make a point? You’ve been gone a long time. People were already glad to see you, but you’ve already left a nasty taste on their tongues now from the get go. 

Now, leaving the fans completely out of the equation. You’ve left a nasty taste in the wrestlers around you’s mouths. Particularly, mine. I’m not a fan of the way that you three decided it was time to return. You turned something exciting and momentous into a black mark on the June 11th, Vertigo. You want a fight, all you have to do is ask for it. The match will be booked and you can show just exactly what it is that the wrestling world has been missing in your absence. Those are the types of wrestlers that I look at and have a real appreciation for. Attacking people or baiting people into be attacked is a coward’s move in my book. Makes me believe that you don’t believe your body of work in a sanctioned match, what we are here for need I remind you, doesn’t stand out enough. It makes you look weak.

But the thing is, I know you’re not. I know what you’ve done in the past. I know they types of matches that you’ve put on in an FGA ring. You’re good wrestlers. The types that this sort of behavior is not needed from. But here we are anyways, brought to this moment after your decisions to show the world just how big of badasses, err… jackasses you are. I have to wonder what kind of influence Anthony Rother has on you Marx and Tryon. Because it seems that’s the one factor that’s different here.

If I could offer you a piece of advice… don’t let Anthony Rother drag you through the mud on your way up the mountain. If you do, you’ll be so bogged down by the time you get halfway that you’ll be too worn out to make it all the way.

But since we’re headed to Arizona at the moment, and nothing is going to change between now and then, we have to deal with the here and now. When we step into the ring, I expect nothing but the best from you two. And in return, you should expect the same from us. That’s just the way we enter matches. It’s the reason that since we returned we’ve stood head and shoulders above the competition. Come to Tucson and prove to the world all the chatter you’ve spread for the past month. It’s just you two, no extra tag team partners, versus the Tag Team Champions. If ever there was a time to prove through action what you say, it’s now. But be warned, misstep and I have every intention to expose you for the empty words you’re mouthpiece has been telling to the FGA world. 

Now Rother, you said that team after team would enter the ring against your team at their own risk. Good. I like a challenge, and since we’ve not faced you guys yet, it’s just another notch to add to the Status Quo belt. 

As I said, I’ve had respect for you guys as a team. But that respect is waning as of late. Prove to me that you still deserve it. Disrespect me and Cordy instead, and you’ll leave with your tail tucked between your legs. See you in Tucson. 

Thank You, That is All!

[ End Promo ]