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Katie Steward vs. Donovan Kayl
Topic Started: Oct 14 2016, 02:17 AM (85 Views)
Team Desire
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SCW's Queen of Queens/The Goddess of Desire
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Katie Steward vs. Donovan Kayl



2 RP Limit per match
Deadline: Noon ET Tuesday, October 18, 2016
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“I have to confess… I have no idea what I’m doing right now.

I’m sitting here, and I’m thinking: ‘what do I have to do to light that spark again?’ and the thought is driving me mad. But still, here I sit… unknowing of what I’m about to do – what I want to do. It’s frustrating. It’s maddening. And yet, here I am. See, in years past, there’d always be this something… this je ne sais pas… that would crawl out of the woodwork and carry me to the next week. Chloe provided a lot of inspiration to me. Simon and Trinity kept pushing me. When things went dark, I had Monty Walker, H2O, Christopher Noteman… names that none of you would recognize outside of their context, but names that pushed me forward because I wasn’t about to sit back and let them surpass me. I went to the ring against Derek Clix at Birthday Bash in 2010, a battle of the two top stars of a generation, and after I beat him… he completely and utterly ignored it. Brushed it off completely, acting as though it didn’t happen and, if it did, it simply did not matter. That offended me deeply and kept me pushed, but the treatment of SWA management after that match, confirming his viewpoint, acted as the first push towards the door. Two months after I left there, the place closed down. So, as you see, I’ve always been able to keep myself going, keep myself motivated. But now? Something’s missing…

I don’t blame SCW. Really, the fault of this matter lays squarely at these feet. Maybe if I pushed just a little bit harder, this would be easier. I could sit here and ramble on for hours about the past, but the future? That’s where I struggle. I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what Breakdown holds. I don’t know where I’ll be in a week, or a month, or a year from now. I could still be in this position, sitting here wondering what I have to do to light that spark. I could be the SCW World Champion at that time. Or I could be out of the industry, living as a hermit in the Himalayas whose only communication with the outside world is to employ a personal Sherpa to bring my messages to the bottom of a mountain and getting on a passing wagon. The future is exactly that: It’s uncertain. It’s unknown.

And by that token, I don’t know how I’m going to pull myself off of the track I’m on now and get myself back on the path I want to be on. I want to compete… it’s in my blood. It’s encompassed more than half of my life. For me… for someone like me to be so uncertain is an unfamiliar feeling. I strive on plans, on routine. I would have loved to compete in Montreal – to earn back some of the scorn I received interfering with Taking Hold of the Flame in Toronto. I would have loved to at least have the ability to appear on that show. But, it wasn’t in the cards. That’s been happening more and more lately, and I know that I’m the one to blame.

Kelcey Wallace deserved better of me. She deserved to go to Australia and compete against The Donovan Kayl at his absolute best. The Sisterhood deserved Donovan Kayl at his best. You go back… the last person to get Donovan Kayl at his absolute best was Alexis Quinne at the Rise to Greatness preshow. I won that match, and dammit I had to push to earn that win. Alexis Quinne, as much as I can’t stand her personality and the way she dismisses setbacks so casually, is definitely a talent worth talking about. So no, I’m not happy about the way I’ve been performing lately. In my world, like I demand of my students, it’s all or nothing. You don’t hold back. You give everything you can whenever you have the chance, and I’ve not been living up to my own teachings. What would you think if you were one of my students? I learned that lesson already – it’s not pretty. So now, not only am I affected as far as what I do in SCW, but my business outside of SCW suffers because I can’t keep myself focused on what happens here.

If you wanted me pushed from the business, you must be loving this. If you wanted me to succeed… you should love this to.

If there’s one quality about myself that my wife simultaneously respects and is driven nuts by, it’s my… well… I call it ‘persistence’. She would probably call it ‘stubbornness’. I get it. I hear it all the time. Its when I come out in front of the camera and tell the world “I will be damned if you put me out of the industry”. I decided long ago that when I leave professional wrestling for good, I will leave her on my terms under my own will. I’m not going to be forced out of the industry by any group or wrestler wanting to make a name for themselves by putting down The Cornerstone. It’s just not going to happen that way. So that’s why I’m still here… I want to live like I will someday leave: On my terms. That’s really all it boils down to, and if you aren’t happy about that fact? Well… you’re going to learn something else about Donovan Kayl.

He doesn’t care about that opinion.”

-----

NOTE: THE FOLLOWING IS THE TRANSCRIPT FROM A RADIO BROADCAST FORM MONDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2016 in TORONTO, ONTARIO.

Host: And we are back here on Sirius Canadian Sport Radio. We have more coverage of the Toronto Maple Leafs actually winning a game in October…

Producer: Their second in the season, for that matter.

Host: Unprecedented. I’m sure someone out there is already planning the parade, if you know what I mean.

Producer: You mean that you’re not entirely used to using jokes that haven’t been driven into the ground in the last 40 years?

Host: Exactly. In addition to that, we have a Blue Jays game to tee up, down two games to none in the best of seven series against the Cleveland…

Producer: Will he?

Host: INDIANS…

A “whomp-whomp” sound effect plays.

Host: …before returning here to Toronto tonight. And with all of that to go over, it’s a good thing we have unlimited airtime, because we there is so much to go over, and we have a local celebrity in studio with us today!

Producer: With all due respect, I think Donovan Kayl is a little bit more than a “local celebrity”.

Host: That’s right… a former seven-time World Champion… something like twenty-time World Tag Team Champion…

Producer: Twenty times with three different partners. That’s just disgusting.

Host: It’s almost inhuman when you consider the great tag team atmosphere he and his partners have fostered over the years. He was voted #2 in the Top 50 SWA Wrestlers of All-Time back in 2010 in a clearly rigged ballot…

Producer: Come on now… what would we be if we said a democratic vote didn’t go the way we wanted it to?

Host: A Donald Trump Republican?

Producer: Exactly! A fate we can thrust upon no man.

Host: Fair enough. But this is pretty big… Donovan Kayl, welcome.

Kayl: Thanks – it’s great to be here.

Producer: Mr. Kayl, there’s no need to lie.

Host: Hey! If Donovan Kayl is glad to be here, then let it go. That’s one hell of a sound bite. So, Donny… can I call you Donny?

Kayl: No.

Producer: Better stick with Donovan.

Host: Solid plan. Donovan, how have you been?

Kayl: I’ve been good.

Host: Good… very elaborative.

Kayl: Well, we’ve been touring Canada this past week, which has been helpful.

Host: In what way?

Kayl: Well, I always get a good sense of the direction I’m going whenever I come home. There isn’t a crowd in this country where I don’t get some indication of the direction I’m moving in. I’m grateful that Canadian fans are smart enough to support me, while secure enough to call me out on crap if I’ve been feeding them crap. It’s not like a blind sort of support where I could go out to the ring, tell them where to stick their opinions and have them agreeing or – worse yet – trying to stick their opinion there.

Host: Are there crowds that do that?

Kayl: Well, you look at the idea of the “hometown crowd”. Hometown crowds are typically believed to be forgiving of anything, to the point where someone could go to the ring and be treated like a conquering hero no matter how much bullshit… I can swear here, right?

Producer: We’re on satellite… as long as you don’t fornicate on air, we’re covered for most things.

Kayl: Good… no matter how much bullshit they spew. There are so many people who are just completely deplorable people who expect to be worshipped based on geography.

Host: That’s not what happened to you last time you came to Toronto.

The sound of Donovan chuckling is heard.

Kayl: No, it didn’t.

Host: And how did you respond to that?

Kayl: Not well. I took it as a personal affront at first, until my wife – God bless her – pointed out to me what the crowd was trying to point out to me: They weren’t booing out of support for the person I was going after. They were booing because they expected better of me. I hadn’t put that thought together because, to me, I was giving them my best.

Host: Were you?

Kayl: Come on… have you seen me at my best before?

Host: It’s hard to say. Time changes people’s styles. Your best in 2016 could be different than your best in 2010.

Kayl: I always strive to give my best in the ring, but my best headspace? No, I wasn’t there. I was lost in a fog of my own self-righteousness, and the fans in Toronto on that night weren’t afraid to let me have it. I have more respect for that crowd because of that fact, which is something I’ll be sure to impress upon them when we return to Toronto for the End of Year Special. Maybe I’ll even compete on the show… I don’t know. That’s up to the bookers to decide.

Host: Speaking of bookers, we want to change directions completely.

Producers: No need to pull back the veil here.

Host: That’s right. You’ve been around the industry, what? Twenty years now?

Kayl: Twenty-one, to be exact.

Host: Twenty-one years. Wow. In that time, who are the favourite opponents you’ve faced?

Donovan laughs.

Kayl: You’re really putting me on the spot here.

Host: Making you uncomfortable?

Kayl: Not really, but there’s just so many opponents over twenty-one years that it’s hard to really narrow down to one or a few. Obviously there are people I’ve faced more than others – Simon Lyman, Danny Darko, of course my wife Chloe – and then there are opponents here that have brought the best out of me – guys like CHBK, Thomas Valentine, and David Helms – these are the people whose styles meshed best with my own. But then I faced others who may not have looked like a good fit on paper – people like Matt Auclair, and El Rudo – that have produced some really stellar work with me.

Host: So, you’re saying you could work with anyone?

Kayl: Pretty much, yeah. My philosophy has always been to get the best I could out of an opponent. While I like to win… and believe me, I love to win matches… I also take a lot of motivation out of giving the crowd the very best I can for the money they paid. When I was in Australia for the SCW tour recently, I was paired up against Kelcey Wallace…

Producer: Your cousin through marriage…

Kayl: Right. We faced off and I like to think the fans left with good memories of those matches. I was never a good guy out in Australia. When I first went out there to compete in 2004, I came in as a dick. I… I could use the wrestling vernacular, but it went beyond that. I was a dick to everybody – wrestlers, officials, fans…

Host: Why was that?

Kayl: Bitterness, mostly. I was comfortable competing for the company I had been with, and when it shut down, it hit me hard. I blamed people for letting the company close down and wore that on my sleeve. So every time I’ve gone back to Australia, I’ve made an extra effort to go above and beyond to kind of show remorse for those actions…

Producer: The dickery.

Kayl: Right… the dickery. Has it worked? Well, I’ve been back at least 5 times since 2004, and haven’t had anyone try to kill me, so that’s a step in the right direction.

Host: Have you ever had anyone try to kill you in your career?

Kayl: Half of my opponents?

He laughs.

Kayl: No, as far as what we do in the ring, I don’t think anyone except Riddick really tried to KILL me… most are happy if they can pull off maiming me. But outside, I did have an incident in Florida back in 2011…

Host: After the SWA…

Kayl: I was competing for a new North American wrestling alliance known as NEWA… subtle, I know… and yeah, myself, Chloe, Simon, and Trinity Street were one group and we were HATED. Like, not an ounce of love for us outside of our hometowns, and yeah, people threatened. No one ever really had the balls to try and pull it off, but there were some tense moments leaving some shows because of how maligned we were.

Host: Thank God you survived…

Kayl: No shit… people can be crazy, that’s for sure. There are people who take things way too seriously, but most of them are keyboard warriors. You’ll see them on Twitter trying to get under your skin, but you have to think: If they go to Twitter to try and tear you down, you have some pretty big real estate in their mind. And if you have that kind of power…

Host: Wow.

Kayl: It’s really something.

Producer: And hey, if this wrestling thing doesn’t work out for you, you always have those side businesses.

Kayl: That’s a good point.

Host: How is the academy going anyway?

Kayl: The Academy is going strong, you know? I have Viktor Samson – a man I actually met during my first foray into Australia – running things down at the main campus in Baltimore…

Host: Why Baltimore?

Kayl: Come again?

Host: Well, you’re a true blue Canadian man. Why did you open your Youth of a Nation Wrestling Academy in Baltimore, Maryland?

Kayl: It was convenience, mostly. Chloe wanted to live closer to her mother after her father passed away, so being the compromising man I am, I agreed to take up primary residence in Baltimore, and I don’t really regret it.

Host: Do you still have a Canadian residence?

Kayl: I do. I have a home in Toronto that we spend time in around the summer, and a vacation spot out by Edmonton.

Host: Any thoughts of opening another campus in Canada?

Donovan chuckles.

Kayl: You caught the “main campus” remark, didn’t you?

Host: What kind of interviewer would I be if I didn’t?

Kayl: Probably a pretty poor one.

Host: That’s right.

Kayl: Well, it’s kind of different in a way. I support the Thunderdome in Thunder Bay, which is run by Tony Todd…

Producer: Father of Cindy Todd.

Kayl: Yeah. I have a ton of respect for Tony. When I opened up the YoaN Academy, I leaned on him a lot for advice on the business side of things.

Host: Your friendship with Cindy is rather peculiar given your differing positions in the industry.

Kayl: It can be, but Cindy is a good friend and someone I can always count on to tell me how it is rather than sugar-coating. I think you always need to have that one friend… obviously don’t surround yourself with that or you run the risk of growing just so cynical… but we need the one friend who isn’t afraid to tell you like it is. For me, Cindy is that friend. But the industry itself is a strange place. You have people who, on paper – or on television – you would never think are close friends being close friends.

Host: Can you give us an example?

Kayl: Me and Cindy Todd.

Producer: Cop out.

Kayl: You’re damn right, but for other people – that’s their life and their reveal to make. It’s not my place.

Host: Anyway, we were talking about the campus remark.

Kayl: Right… so I opened the Baltimore campus and it was out of there that we had the TV show.

Host: That’s right. It was a huge ratings boost to its network, but then was mysteriously cancelled. What happened?

Kayl: It didn’t accomplish what I wanted it to.

Host: And what was that?

Kayl: I wanted to peel back the veil to what it takes to make it in the wrestling industry. I wanted to show our audiences that it takes hard work and dedication to the craft to truly give you the best launching pad. What happens in a wrestling school – just like any other school – is no guarantee at being successful. You can look at any wrestling school, and any one that guarantees you success in the industry after graduation is lying to you. Point blank, do not give those people your money, because they’re hosing you.

Producer: Words of wisdom from one of the greats, indeed.

Kayl: My vision was something like a documentary. You’d meet the students and follow their progress, but it would be based on what they were doing in school. Instead, it ended up being a reality show, complete with the Network trying to insert drama into my Academy. That really pissed me off, if I’m honest. It wasn’t fair to my Academy and could have had a negative impact on my business, and it wasn’t fair to the kids. I think that, because of that, they were rushed out the Academy before they were ready and, no matter how much I tried to reassure them, they weren’t. But the expectations, because people already knew who they were, were huge and they couldn’t meet them.

Host: How are they doing now?

Kayl: Now that the cameras are gone, most of them have returned to the Academy. Yuri Bryzgalov is recovering from the neck injury he suffered in GCW. The Youth Movement have taken a few bookings on the indy scene and are starting to gain some real momentum. They’re doing good, in spite of the compromised training they had.

Producer: Just a note that Robbie Tanner and Tim Jacobsson just became MSW Tag Team Champions over the weekend.

Kayl: The Movement lives on.

Host: And now?

Kayl: Now, I look around the wrestling landscape and see all these Academys popping up all over the place. That’s a good thing, really, but I think back to 1995 when I started in the industry and remember how I got involved. I was a runaway. I didn’t have the financial backing to put myself into a state-of-the-art academy. I had to scrap and scrounge and really hope for a stroke of luck when it came to getting myself trained. And I was lucky. I found a guy who was willing to take a chance on a kid who had no backing and, without a hand, wouldn’t have had a chance at making it in the world itself, let alone become World Champion. I think about that a lot and often ask myself how many kids are out there that are just like I was – that are disadvantaged, that want desperately to make a better life for themselves. So, I’m opening a campus in Toronto in a far different manner than any other school out there.

Host: That’s big news.

Kayl: I always wanted to give back. I’m pretty financially secure between my wrestling career and the Academy in Baltimore and Chloe’s business ventures, so I think this is the right thing to do. Who knows? There may be a new “Donovan Kayl” right here who has been waiting for this, who would never have the opportunity to get into the industry if this hadn’t happened. That’s the person I want to find. That’s what motivates me in this business venture.

Host: Do you have a location?

Kayl: Not immediately, and I’m okay with that. I almost thinking having a concrete location may take away from the integrity of the training. In all honesty, the “Toronto Campus” may just be a take on the area I’m sourcing for students. It could just be a case where they go where I go, and train where I train. That’s how I learned at first… no real structure, just a lot of education to soak in. The right person is going to be able to soak it all in.

Host: So how do you plan to find this person?

Kayl: I’m going to listen. I’m going to pay attention to my surroundings. I’m going to use my instincts to find the personality of the person who can take this opportunity and make the most out of it.

Host: And what about your pupils who have come before? Will they have this opportunity?

Kayl: My pupils that have come before had a top-tier education in the wrestling industry, barring the televised class that was fed distractions. I don’t foresee a problem in talking with them after this becomes instituted. I built my career on a whim and some faith, and now I want to build someone else’s career on the same. I think if anyone is capable of pulling this off, it’ll be me.

Host: We certainly wish you the best in that. What’s next on the docket for Donovan Kayl?

Kayl: Two days in Toronto for baseball with my family, then I fly out to Richmond, Virginia after game 4 to meet up with SCW for Breakdown.

Host: Sounds busy.

Kayl: This is the life we lead. I’m trying not to push too hard – maybe I’ll be able to make it through the games, you know? I hear you there… who are you backing?

Kayl: I don’t think I need to really answer that question, do I?

Host: I thought as soon as I asked it that it was a dumb one.

Kayl: Well, we’re all entitled to our dumb moments.

Host: Do you have time to stick around and join in some Jays talk after our commercial break?

Kayl: I think I can spare a bit of time.

Host: Good… we’ll be back after this with Donovan Kayl talking WTF the Jays need to do to get a break in this series.

Kayl: The answer is hitting.

Producer: Aaaaaaaand break.

-----

“A lot of people ask me on an all-too-regular basis: “Donovan Kayl, what’s it going to take for you to get back on top?”. Well, if that was something I had the answer to, don’t you think I would have done it by now? Don’t you think for a single, solitary SECOND that I would have taken what I needed to do to heart and made myself Champion again? I’m a wrestler… I bleed this industry. If there was an easy way back to the top…

Maybe I wouldn’t have taken it after all.

You see… I march to the beat of my own drum for a damn good reason. Far too many people… you see them every day… too many people who act as though their success needs to be instantaneous or else they have to throw everything away. Far too many people want success NOW or they’ll get it another way. Personally, I find that pathetic. It’s a part of an entitled generation – people thinking they deserve to have opportunities gifted to them now, and if they aren’t, then things have to change. No one wants to stay the course. No one wants to EARN their keep.

I want to earn my keep.

That’s why I sit back and I wait for opportunity. You see those who do what they feel they have to in order to cut the line, take an opportunity that maybe they don’t deserve. Attacking people in parking lots because they are much more comfortable trying to get an emotionally-charged shot rather than a fair one. And don’t get me wrong, I understand the motivation. There is an innate desire to take the shortcut, to make things as easy as you possibly can. I’ve taken those shortcuts myself, and although I’m not entirely proud of having to do so, its something I’ve made peace with. But as it is, there comes a time in every career where you have to decide how you want to be remembered. Do you want to be remembered as the guy who took every shortcut? Or the guy who ground it out, who stuck to his convictions and became a Champion worth respecting because of it?

They will tell you my way is wrong. They are fucking lying.

And when I step into the ring in Richmond, Virginia on Wednesday night, I will be doing so with full attention and knowledge of who I am.

It’s very liberating, self-awareness. It’s freeing to know just who you are and what you are meant to do. For me… look. I’ve been approaching my time in SCW all wrong. I’ve been trying to pull into a role that isn’t mine… certainly not here. So, take that and throw it out the window. I’m The Cornerstone… I control the windows. Well, one is open and the preconceived notion that I’m here to be the “veteran presence” is being crumpled into a piece of paper and thrown away. That’s not what I want. That’s not what I deserve. What I deserve is the freedom to just do… me.

I don’t know if SCW is fully aware if exactly what me dong me entails. It’s something you’re going to learn.

It’s something that Katie Steward is going to learn.

Look, I’ve had my matches with Katie Steward before. My cousin had an epic war with her that still has her confused and thinking we’re the same person. I know, the whole “name” thing… but still. You would figure that someone as tenured as Katie Steward would have been able to tell the difference before. Maybe she knows the difference now. I can’t be too certain. All I can be certain of is the fact that she’s hungry. She’s been ripped away from the SCW Woman’s Championship – a belt that she largely defined – for a few months and is likely looking for her next gold fix. But what about me? I’ve been without a Championship for over a year now – something that’s rather unfamiliar for me. Sure, I’ve had my opportunities, but found myself struggling to convert.

I’m tired of struggling.

So here I tell you as sure as the tides are going to come, as sure as Donald Trump saying something downright idiotic – I will stand and I will fight. I will not let my legacy or my path be dictated to me by someone else, least of all Katie Steward. And yeah, I’ll admit that I’m not entirely certain what Katie’s motivation is, where she wants her road to lead right now, or what her next great plot is… but as a competitor, that shouldn’t matter to me. What matters to me in my position right now is taking my next step towards my goal. A complete revitalization of my career, right here in Supreme Championship Wrestling. Richmond, Virginia is going to be that starting place, and as a good friend of mine would say… as I’m going to shamelessly steal from him… you know that it’s going to BE SENSATIONAL! Count on it…”
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