Roleplay Number: 05 XWF Record: 02 - 02 - 00 Opponent: 'Old School' Steve Corino vs. Chris Benoit vs. CM Punk vs. Ric Flair Event: Fight Night

The Old School Legacy:
APW: Signed with APW - Won APW debut match - Tag-Team Champion [x1] - Serious of the Month [March/April] - Main Eventing Breakdown [1x] XWF: Signed with XWF - Won XWF debut match.

Old School Victims:
Bobby Lashley [1x] - Scott Steiner [1x].

Roleplay Title: " All will Hail to the King of Old School "



The scene opens with a shot of  the New Alhambra Arena, the ECW Arena to you and me, however this isn't archive footage as above the entrance hangs a large Combat Zone Wrestling banner. It appears that CZW are once again making use of the arena for one of their shows. The picture then cuts to those entering the arena and among a small number of late arrivals are Steve Corino and Jack Victory, both of whom don't look too happy, in fact even Corino's trademark smirk is absent. Corino and Jack Victory break off from the others and through a door marked 'Employees Only', they both begin to walkthrough the backstage area as an angry Corino lifts his head and turns to Jack Victory.

'OLD SCHOOL' STEVE CORINO: ' What the fuck happened? What the fuck happened that I lost to wrestling's most untalented and undeserving of individuals? I'm the King of Old School... the King of Kings... and the damn God of professional wrestling... yet I lost to Triple H. Please, tell me how the hell that's even possible? '

Steve Corino stops talking and hammers his fist against the wall to the side of him, venting his rage. Jack Victory then firmly grips Corino's shoulder and starts to talk to him.

'OLD SCHOOL BELIEVER' JACK VICTORY: ' Come on Steve... he's an ex-World champion, he's been at the top of the business for years and he's won just about everything he possibly could of in the XWF. He's maybe got a little bit more talent than you thought. '

'OLD SCHOOL' STEVE CORINO: ' Triple H talented... Haha. Don't for one second even suggest that Triple H has the talent to outwrestle me. I was in the ring with the man and my opinion of him hasn't changed a damn bit. He may well have pinned me last week but that was a fluke, plain and simple. I'd happily prove that it was a fluke by going up against him again, 'cause I'm telling you there's no way that could ever be repeated, it was a one-off. '

'OLD SCHOOL BELIEVER' JACK VICTORY: ' Well your not the only one that would like another go, 'cause I never took my chance to loosen a few of his teeth, or knock him square on that big old nose of his. '

Steve Corino chuckles quietly and his normal smirk returns following Jack Victory's comments. Steve raises his head and both men move into an open backstage area filled with the usual tech equipment and a handful of other wrestlers. We see Steve and Jack pass some of CZW's other major talents, including the likes of Chris Hero and Ruckus, they then finally make there way out to the edge of the entrance way, staring out at the action in the ring from just behind the backstage curtain. It looks like a CZW deathmatch is in full flow, not exactly Steve Corino's match of choice.

'OLD SCHOOL' STEVE CORINO: ' Look at those idiots in the ring. What do they think they're doing, jumping through everything from glass to flaming tables, landing on thumbtacks and barbed wire... does this actually pass for entertainment, never mind wrestling? It looks like things sadly haven't changed much since we last left this arena... the criminals and the mentally unstable still flock here to see people like themselves act as stuntmen. Is that really what they want, stuntmen rather than wrestlers? You'd think they didn't learn anything when I graced that ring... I mean did I not highlight to them how pathetic their extreme and hardcore champions really were, after all I was able to beat them all and become ECW World Heavyweight champion. It was me, Steve Corino, The King of Old School that stood above all the extremists on the ECW roster. Now I didn't get there through doing anything other than old school wrestling... I  simply didn't need the weaponry that others couldn't do without, yet it seems that all that, all my achievements have been forgotten. These morons still scream and chant for every stunt... they don't recognise that they're ignoring a true wrestling genius like myself. I would happily send out an invitation to all of them to watch me this week at Fight Night and see how superior old school wrestling is to this mockery of professional wrestling. '

The match continues on with more crazy spots bringing huge reaction from the audience but Steve Corino simply stands and shakes his head, a movement copied by Jack Victory. Jack then moves to Steve Corino's side as Corino resumes speaking.

'OLD SCHOOL' STEVE CORINO: ' I may well despise this nonsense in the ring but wrestling in matches like it have at least prepared me for the rest of my career. You see nothing compares to ECW, nothing can ever surprise me and because of that it was the perfect training. Now, having experienced all of this, having experienced hardcore and having experienced extreme wrestling... I can truly say I've been through it all. Although, this week at Fight Night I'll step in the ring with two men who claim to have experienced a lot in professional wrestling. The first of them is Ric Flair, now granted he has experienced a hell of  lot... you just can't wrestle for 50 odd years and not experience a lot, but there's one thing Flair has never experienced, he's never experienced hardcore, extreme wrestling like I have. Flair never stepped foot anywhere near an ECW arena let alone inside an ECW ring, and if he had I can assure you that he wouldn't have lasted a damn second. Flair wouldn't have a clue how to take down a kendo stick swinging Sandman or a steel chair waving Balls Mahoney, whatever talent he may have wouldn't have been enough to survive in ECW. Of course, out of all of his 16 World titles Flair never laid his hands upon the ECW title and just like that title Flair won't get the chance to lay his hands upon me this week at Fight Night. He'll end up face down on the canvas in a matter of seconds when I show him exactly what he hasn't experienced. '

The match has now ended with a spectacular death-defying finish and Corino rolls his eyes at the crowd's applause. There isn't much action taking place and Corino soon turns to Jack Victory.

'OLD SCHOOL' STEVE CORINO: ' The other man I'll face this Thursday who claims to have experienced a lot in wrestling is Chris Benoit. Now he makes a point of how he's had a tough career, in Stu Hart's Dungeon, in Japan and of course in ECW. But I've got a simple question for you Jack, do you actually remember seeing much of Chris Benoit in ECW? '

'OLD SCHOOL BELIEVER' JACK VICTORY: ' Now I come to think about it I don't remember ever sharing a locker-room with the man, but I think all those nasty missing teeth proves he at least turned up in ECW. Still, he's no ex-ECW World Heavyweight champion like yourself. '

'OLD SCHOOL' STEVE CORINO: ' That's exactly right, Benoit may have turned up in ECW but he never quite went the whole way. He never really took it to the hardcore maniacs of ECW like I did... and you know I'll tell you why we never shared a locker-room with Chris Benoit. It's because he didn't even last a year in ECW... he left as soon as he could. Now not even lasting a year in ECW doesn't sound like he experienced it at all and it doesn't sound to me like he's in any position to lecture me on pain and survival. In fact as far as I can tell it was Chris Benoit who couldn't survive ECW so instead headed for a much more comfortable life elsewhere. While Benoit walked away from ECW some of us stuck around... I knew I was never going to leave, not until every last wrestler and fan had been converted to my old school way of thinking. Of course though, I could have easily jumped ship if I wanted. I'm sure it would have made me better money and I'm sure any other company would have been happy to have me, but I had a goal and something I wanted to achieve in ECW. Now as much I respect Chris Benoit for being a technical wrestler and not just a mindless thug, I sure as hell don't respect the fact that he didn't share my goal and that he wasn't willing to stand up and fight hardcore like I did. I mean I was in ECW to change the face of that whole company and maybe Benoit could have helped me do it but he proved he was no old school wrestler when he tucked his tail between his legs and ran, leaving ECW behind. '

The crowd erupts once more and it seems like the show has restarted but Steve Corino pays no attention to it and clearly has more important things to say himself.

'OLD SCHOOL' STEVE CORINO: ' Still the very man who left ECW behind, was trying to claim that he could teach me  something about pain and survival.  Haha, he may not have truly experienced ECW but I honestly thought he knew a little bit about this business. I mean please, you don't talk to Steve Corino about pain, 'cause he should know that one of his little submission holds doesn't even compare to one second of what I went through most nights against those hardcore thugs. You only need to zoom that camera in on my forehead to see the scars and the wounds that I've got as proof of the pain I've been through. I've put my body on the line in every hardcore match imaginable so for Chris Benoit to talk to me about pain is a damn insult. You know I'll be happy to let Chris Benoit lock me into whatever submission hold he can come up with 'cause they simply don't compare to what I've already been through. I'll prove to him exactly how little his submission holds matter against a man who actually has experienced pain on a much greater scale... every submission manoeuvre he wants to throw at me will be plain useless. To put it very simply, I will survive against anything and everything you can throw at me Benoit. '

Corino pauses and turns back to the stage looking out at the crowd who watch on as two other CZW wrestlers go at it. Corino simply ignores the match continuing to stare out at those in attendance.

'OLD SCHOOL' STEVE CORINO: ' No doubt all the idiots in attendance tonight have so much respect for Chris Benoit, just like they do for the other young man involved in my four way match at Fight Night. You see just as I'm sure they praise Chris Benoit's intensity on internet message boards I'm sure they start up whole websites dedicated to CM Punk. For some reason unknown to me CM Punk has got himself a little cult following... but that's a following that he hasn't even come close to earning. As far as I can tell he's nothing but a wet behind the ears kid... just a punk kid. Now no kid has got any right to be walking around the way he does, he hasn't proved himself and until he does I expect him to pay the utmost respect to old school legends like myself. If CM Punk is ever going to be anything more than a punk kid then he'll need to learn and learn quick. So I suppose he's actually quite lucky to have the opportunity to learn from a wrestling god like myself. I mean I'll be more than happy to give him a quick lesson or two inside the ring at Fight Night, and if he wants to make a name for himself then he'll watch very carefully because there's simply no better example to follow than my own. You see I don't particularly care for the CM Punk's 'straight-edge' lifestyle, it means nothing to me 'cause all I care about is having an old school attitude. To me professional wrestling is a sport founded on tradition and the traditions set forth by the manliest of men. Men who abused other men... men who abused the occasional woman... and men who abused themselves through substances like drugs and alcohol. Now I a man who holds close to myself those very traditions... and if CM Punk has got a problem with that then I've got a problem with him. There really is a lot more to life and to wrestling than CM Punk will ever experience if he wants to continue to live by his little straight edge rules. So I advise him to follow my example and embrace my old school philosophy, it's the only way he's got a hope of getting anywhere in this business. If CM Punk doesn't decide to change his ways in time for Fight Night this Thursday night then he along with Ric Flair and Chris Benoit will be forced to HAIL TO THE KING OF OLD SCHOOL! '

'OLD SCHOOL BELIEVER' JACK VICTORY: ' Haha... High Spot, Steve.'

Steve Corino and Jack Victory high spot as they  move away from the entrance way curtain and make there way back across the CZW backstage area. It seems clear that Corino has had enough of CZW and is ready for Fight Night this Thursday back in the XWF. The camera then zooms out as the XWF logo flashes up and the picture fades to black.