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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2022 23:34:39 GMT
A private jet flies over the Gulf of Mexico on a sunny afternoon, having departed Houston a few hours ago, heading for Distrito Federal. Inside the plane we find “Cholo” Giovanni Santana, sitting in a leather reclining chair wearing a white suit with a colorful collared shirt underneath, no tie. He has his afro cornrowed today, looking so fresh and so clean-clean with orange Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses on. He has a cocktail in his hand and is looking at the list of participants in this year’s Olla Rumble on his laptop while also being in a Zoom conference call, though no activity is seen on it. His manager and uncle, Paco “The Drinking Time Bomb” Perez joins him after coming out of the back, carrying a plate of food with him. He is a much older Latino man, in his mid-seventies, but looking very strong and sturdy. He wears khaki pants, a yellow tank-top with red-suspenders on which match nicely with his red beanie hat. This is a look he has sported for 50 years now, and something that Cholo, despite being a millionaire now and being able to buy him a full wardrobe, hasn’t been able to switch him out of. Paco sits down on the chair across from Cholo and begins to dig in the goodies the flight attendants made for him. Cholo looks up from his laptop and smiles.
Cholo: Is that all for you or did you bring me some Tio?
Paco: Oh, my bad mi’jo, didn’t know you were hungry.
Cholo: I’m not, but seeing as you just took all the food we had...
Paco: Hey come on now, this is not all the food, plenty left!
Cholo: I know, just messing with you.
Paco: Right, pendejo! Anyway, they put you thru yet?
Cholo: Nope, PWE still got me waiting in the lobby of this Zoom conference call. But the moderator did come on briefly just to tell me that the minute they put me in, I should go right into the promo as they are doing it ‘rapid fire’, one wrestler after the other. So, while I’m waiting, I’m just looking the list over to see who’s in it.
Paco: Olla, eh? You found out what that stands for?
Cholo: Not sure it stands for anything, could be a nick name for the owner, her name is Ophelia Knight.
Paco: How the hell do you get Olla out of Ophelia Knight?
Cholo: Yo no se man, just a guess. I mean the name doesn’t matter, it’s a rumble, and you know I’m a sucker for rumbles.
Paco: Yeah, who isn’t? But this is your first one.
Cholo: I know! So pumped!
Paco: Any names you recognize from that list?
Cholo: Honestly, just three.
Paco: Oh yeah who?
Just then the Zoom call dings letting Cholo know he is up next. He holds up his index finger to Paco ‘off camera’ as he readjusts himself in the chair and goes live.
Cholo: ¡¿Que pasa mi gente?! I am “Cholo” Giovanni Santana coming to you en vivo and direct, flying somewhere over Mexico and they tell me it is about time I start breaking down some of these bad hombres and tough mamacitas that I will be facing in this thing call the Olla Rumble! I'm not going to lie to you though mi gente, I know exactly 10 percent of the wrestlers in this rumble. Part of that could be because I am not in the wrestling circuit as much as I should, part could be that some of these names aren't as big as they believe they are... But nah, I'm not gonna dog anyone, I'm sure they are all good in their own way, but I simply don't know most of them just like they have no idea who I am.
Alright, for those of you that are math ‘genios’ out there, how much is 10% of the rumble? Tres? Muy bien!
So, let's focus on the three names that I do know, they are Emmanuelle, Lewis Chad Pinkston and Shawn Warstein.
Paco looks at him confused but Cholo ignores him.
Cholo: Now when I say I know them, is not because I have had interactions with these competitors or faced them in the ring.
Paco then reacts as if to say “okay that makes more sense…”
Cholo: How then? Well, I am part of an inter-fed stable called the Seven Deadly Sins –
Paco interjects “of rassling!” but Cholo ignores him and carries on.
Cholo: AND some of my stablemates have had run-ins with these guys. I'll start with Emmanuelle who is a guest in this thing like I am and who is in Project: Honor with my homie, “Mr. Personality” Douglas Crane. Now Douglas doesn't have a cell phone, he's old school that way, but he's also not the friendliest, so it took me a while to get in touch with him. But when I did, I ran down the list of names in the rumble and the only name he picked up on was Emmanuelle. He told me that she has been in Project: Honor for a long time and while he hadn't faced her one on one yet, he did tag with her on a trios match he had in which his team unfortunately lost, and she was the one that took the fall on that one. It’s alright, we’ve all lost matches before, right? He also told me he was in a couple of big events with her during the holidays, a “black Friday” mall war with thirty participants and a “purge event” with sixty participants in a small town that was as violent as can be. Emmanuelle did quite well in both, although she didn't win either event.
Neither did Crane in case you're wondering.
This leads me to believe that if she can fight so many people in open spaces like a mall and the streets of suburbia, then a 30 people rumble inside a wrestling ring won't be much of a problem for her and thus she is someone that I am not only keeping my eye on, but hoping I get to square off against.
Cholo takes a sip from his cocktail and continues.
Cholo: Ah! Second person is Lewis Chad Pinkston, who is actually a member of PWE. Now he and I were in a tag team invitational tournament last year and while I didn’t do well in it because it was with random partners and my partner was this borracha who was the only one out of the whole damn torneo that didn’t show up if you know what I mean, so we got bounced in the first round but Chad went up against one of my other homies, my blood actually since he is a my primo: Hector Malvado. Sadly, he didn’t get to tag with his twin brother and instead he had to tag with Dolly Waters but oddly enough, they made it work, even dubbed themselves “Aguas Malvadas”, evil waters, very clever if you ask me and they ended up winning the whole damn thing. In the semi-finals though, they faced Chad and his partner Bam Miller. Even though I got eliminated early I kept tabs in the tournament and saw that despite him being awkward as heck and not knowing what he was doing half of the time, he was winning and advancing. Some may say that’s luck, but can’t be all luck, Chad had something then that the fans got behind and along with his partner they almost made it all the way. It’s been months since that tournament so I’m sure Chad has evolved and is ready to bring it mi gente. Personally, I can’t wait to see what he has made of himself, and hopefully I get to see him in the ring as well.
Cholo finishes his drink and then quickly peeks out the window and sees that they are getting closer.
Cholo: Last, but definitely not least is Shawn Warstein who is also a guest in the rumble but likely one of the favorites as everywhere he goes this man not only make waves but wins. For him though, I must go back a year ago when he was wrestling in a federation called GCWA and his stablemates then, Legacy, was feuding with The Sins of the Fathers. Not only that though, but he also had a ‘Crowning Achievement’ match in which he competed against one half of the SotF: Xavier Lux. That was a damn good match to watch, I happened to be on the audience for that one since my uncle was managing that tag team at the time. Lux won that match but Shawn did as his name says and gave him and the two other competitors a hell of a war. Shawn would later compete in that federation’s rumble too, and he was the runner up if not top three, I don’t recall exactly, was still pissed about my homies getting eliminated earlier but clearly this man knows how to perform in a rumble and is no wonder he is one of the favorites to win this one. I don’t know what he has been up to lately, again, this mostly my fault, but if he’s competing on this rumble that means he’s active and looking to add more accolades to his name.
To be frank, I’m looking to do the same myself as after my big tournament performance, I haven’t been able to show much… I mean to be fair, I’ve only been in two matches, too busy with my charity work, building shelters and facilities for homeless children, but still, I should be doing more. It also doesn’t help that I didn’t win either of those matches; so, while I am here to have fun in ol’ Mexico at the expense of Pro Wrestling Excellence, I am looking to put on a good show and at least come away with one of those four opportunities PWE is offering to the top four after the winner.
I know I may not be at the level of Emmanuel, Pinkson and Warstein, but you know what my gente? I also didn’t think I was at the level of the 80 wrestlers competing in last year’s tournament, and I made it to the finals.
Let’s see how far I go in this fiesta eh? Let’s get ready to rumba!
Cholo flexes for the webcam and you see a bunch of thumbs up, applauds and even laugh emoticons filling the screen. He’s taken back to the lobby of the Zoom session where the organizer of the call thanks him and says that she hopes they see him soon in person to do it all over it again in a few hours. Cholo closes the laptop, calls for another drink and then looks at Paco.
Cholo: How was that tio?
Paco: You’re too damn nice.
Cholo: No jodas man.
Paco: No seriously, I get it you wanting to show respect to your opponents, but you need to spit fire a bit too son. Turn up that Latino heat if you know what I mean?
Cholo: Look I got no problem with the three guys I mentioned or with the 26 others competing in the rumble, so why am I going to spit fire at them? Besides, I do my best talking in the ring, you thought me that.
Paco: Yeah, I know, just promise me that when we do the promos on land, you’ll show some of that fuego and machismo our gente love. After all, you want to bring attention to yourself, so you get invited to more of these types of events.
Cholo: Alright Tio, alright.
Paco: Specially the one for TV Azteca, that one is in Spanish.
Cholo: Orale!
Paco: Stop it, you’re not Mexican.
Cholo: My bad. Wait, you say ‘simon que si’ all the time! Poser!
They both share laugh as the flight attendant brings him another drink and then tells them to buckle up as they are about to descend. They both look out the window and sure enough, they see the lights of the Mexican capital, the smog-filled downtown area but also the beautiful and majestic sierras surrounding it.
After landing.
Cholo’s jet sits on a small private airfield, right next to a much larger cargo plane which is currently being unloaded, its contents, a lot of crates, being loaded into a couple of mid-size moving black trucks which are heavily guarded by men in military uniforms though they don’t look to be part of the official Mexican army. The door to the jet opens and airport technicians come over with the moving step ladder so Cholo and his uncle along with the crew can disembark. Right next to the landing strip are a couple of Lincoln Navigators, all black with tinted windows and likely bulletproof as we see more arm guards, looking ready for war, armed to the teeth. Paco gets out first and is taken back not only by the small army waiting for them but also by the location. He looks around confused and then once Cholo joins him, he confronts him.
Paco: Where in the hell are we?!
Cholo: Mexico!
Paco: This is not Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juarez!
Cholo: Oh, yeah, of course not, we were never going there. I needed a private airfield as there is some things I need to take care of before heading to “El DF” and start doing promotional work for the Rumble.
Paco: What kind of things? What have you gotten yourself into Gio?
Cholo: Nothing, why?!
Paco: Why? Look around pendejo! We’re surrounded by the military, and this doesn’t look like la fuerza armada de Mexico, and what about that plane right there and all that stuff being unloaded? Is that your stuff too?
Cholo: OK first of all jefe, we are not surrounded, second of all, this is my hired security detail because yes that is all my stuff and well it needs protecting.
Paco: From who? Ese are you in cahoots with the carteles de Mexico?
Cholo: What no, you are-
Paco: Beltrán-Leyva? Gulf Cartel?
Cholo: Who?
Paco: ¿Cartel de Sinaloa? ¿La Familia Michoacana?
Cholo: I don’t even-
Paco: ¿Juárez Cartel? ¿Cartel de Tijuana? ¿Los Zetas?
Cholo: Please stop-
Paco: Knights Templar Cartel?
Cholo: What the fuck, is that one even real?
Paco: Simon que si!
Cholo: You need to take a step or two back. Look, I was going to have one of my guys take you to the hotel in the DF, but since you think I’m into some shady stuff, why don’t you come along so you can see for yourself.
Paco: What?! I don’t want to be caught up with Chapo’s people!
Cholo: I’m not dealing with Chapo’s people!
Paco: A-ja! But you are dealing puto!
Cholo: Yes and no, it’s complicated.
Paco: Pendejo! I didn’t raise you this way! Is this what you are doing with your dinero?
Cholo: I mean, some of it, not all of it.
Paco: ¡Hay dios mio!
A worker comes over from the loading area carrying a clipboard, he hands it to Cholo along with a pen as he welcomes him.
Worker: Bienvenido a Mexico Señor Santana, aquí tiene, todo está listo para ser movido, solo necesito su firma.
Cholo: ¡Hola! Muchas gracias Raul.
Paco: Everything? What’s everything? What’s in the crates Cholo?
Cholo: You’ll see. OK vamonos!
Paco: Where are we going?!
Cholo hands the clipboard back to the worker who quickly rushes over to one of the trucks while signaling to everyone to round up and go. Cholo puts his arms around his uncle and walks him over to one of the SUVs; one of the guards opens the door and they get inside. The small army, about twenty or so in total all break into groups, getting into different vehicles, some on the SUVs, others in the trucks and some in some jeeps we had not seen until now. The caravan departs the small airstrip, heading down a single lane, double traffic paved road. After travelling down this road for about 40 minutes, it turns into a one-way dirt road in the middle of a forest and it is here where the fun begins because as soon as they do, the sounds of gunfire are heard though we can’t really tell if it’s coming from the front vehicles, which are the jeeps, or from the back where the trucks with the ‘merchandise’ is. All vehicles pick up speed though, trying to clear the forest as fast as possible and the sound of gunfire intensifies. Once they reach a clearing, we start to see the vehicles emerge, one jeep has survived, both SUVs are still rolling along though there are a lot of bullet holes on both sides. All trucks survive the ambush it seems, and the rest of the jeeps join from behind, though a lot of the guards/soldiers on them are still firing back at the unseen enemy. After a while the gunfire cease and the caravan are in the clear the rest of the way, until reaching a small town called “Valle del Bravo”, loosely translated to Valley of the Angry. The caravan pulls up to town’s square, and the trucks go into a construction site where a building is starting to get erected. The jeeps drive around the square and find a place to park, then quickly walk into the park in the middle of the town square to secure it. The SUVs park right outside of the construction site and then the doors quickly open, Paco jumping out and ripping Cholo a new one.
Paco: ¡Como se te ocurre ponerme en peligro de esa manera cabron! We could have been killed! Worst, we could have been abducted! What the hell are you doing?! You are here for a wrestling event, not to have wars with the cartels! What is the matter with you?!
Cholo: Tio, either calm down or I’m going to have one of the guards hit you with a tranquilizer dart. You know, the good ones Peter used to beat a gorilla and Supreme Machine?
Paco: You wouldn’t dare!
Cholo: Look, come with me to the town’s square, it will all make sense to you.
Paco looks over to the town square where we see the town’s people have begun to gather, there are people of all ages, but a good amount are children which have all been lined up in the middle and are being watched by the armed guards.
Paco: Oh God, what is this? A public execution? Those are children Cholo!
Cholo: OH MY DIOS TIO! Do you even know me? You have watched too many shows! Stop watching Ozark, that shit is not real.
Paco: It’s a lot realer than you think!
Cholo: I can’t with ya today, vamos.
Cholo signals to a few of the guards and they walk over with him, being followed by some of the workers now pushing some dollies with crates on them. As they arrive at the town square, all the people, especially the children look at Cholo with concerned looks on their faces. The workers set up the crates around the children, and then stack some in the corners by some trees, a guard standing by each area. Cholo goes to stand in front of the children and looks around with a smile, Paco looks more worried than the children and the people do.
Cholo: ¡¿Hola mi gente, como están?!
Some respond, others don’t, those that do-do it softly.
Paco: Look at them, they are scared for their lives! What have you done Cholo?!
Cholo: I haven’t done anything yet. They are not scared, they are weak.
Paco: Come on sobrino, show some kindness.
Cholo: I’m about to.
Cholo reaches behind him and pulls out a folded piece of paper, he reads it, smiles and then looks up to the children.
Cholo: ¿Quien es Pepe?
Cholo looks at the children, hoping one of them step up. Most look down or away until finally a scrawny little kid, well, they’re all scrawny, but a kid with brownish straight hair raises his hand.
Cholo: Ven a qui por favor.
The kid reluctantly moves to the front and Cholo kneels in front of him, placing his hand on his shoulder.
Cholo: ¿Tu me mandaste esto?
Cholo shows him the letter and the kid is surprised to see the letter, and nods all of the sudden very excitedly.
Cholo: Gracias.
Cholo stands up, patting the kid on his shoulder but not letting him go. Cholo shows Paco the letter which he now reads and his face lights up. Cholo then begins talking to the people, and because this speech is a little long, we’ll go ahead and translate it to English.
Cholo: Mi gente of Valle del Bravo, Little Pepe here wrote me a letter, probably as a last resort. I’m not sure why he chose me, I’m sure that there are many celebrities he could have reached out to here in Mexico, so many legends, especially in wrestling, but nevertheless he picked me and I am glad he did. In his letter he tells me how hungry he is, how thirsty, but not only for food and water but for learning and so is his hometown. He told me he lives in a small town that is terrorized almost daily by a cartel that should go nameless, who blocks the only road in and out of the town and only takes and takes from them. A cartel that killed his parents. Well, I am happy to announce that after today, you will not have deal with that cartel or any cartel any longer. That thanks to Mexico and US special forces you see here around you today, they will no longer stop progress for your little valle. And because Little Pepe was brave enough to write me, I can now bring to you what I have been bringing to many towns in both the USA and my home country of El Salvador, and that is a school for your children and foster homes for orphan children like Pepe, like me. I was once an orphan, and even though it was very brief thanks to my Tio Paco right here, I saw more than enough in that short period of time to see how bad things can be and so I made the promise that if I ever made it, I would try to help as many as I could because orphans are often forgotten, often abused and they really have no one to look after them. So, I ask you to please join me in giving Pepe here a warm round of applause.
Cholo lifts Pepe unto his shoulders and begins to clap, Paco joins in, wiping a tear from his eyes and soon the rest of the town joins in as well as the guards and soldiers. A “Pepe! Pepe!” chant breaks out and Cholo puts him down so he can go and get embraced by his gente. Cholo looks at the workers and guards and nods and they all nod back and begin to open the crates; revealing to contain food, clothing and plenty of toys. The guards take charge, asking people to line up so they can all get what they need. Cholo watches briefly with a smile on his face and then walks back towards his SUV. Paco walks by his side, and smacks him upside the head.
Paco: You could have just told me Pendejo!
Cholo: What? And miss that complete meltdown you had? No way! My only regret is that I didn’t record it!
Paco: Man I’m glad you didn’t, I think I caca my pants when we went through them trees.
Cholo: I knew I smell burnt frijoles!
Paco: Callate!
Paco punches Cholo on the arm a couple of times playfully and he jogs away from his uncle, avoiding the attack. They get to the SUVs and are ready to roll out when little Pepe comes running after Cholo.
Pepe: Cholo! Cholo! Espera!
Cholo turns around and smiles. Paco smiles too and then gets inside the SUV. Once Pepe catches up to Cholo, he kneels to talk to him face to face.
Pepe: Yate vas?
Cholo: Si, tengo el Olla Rumble, tengo que ir a prepárame.
Pepe: ¡Pero te vamos a hacer una fiesta para darte gracias!
Cholo: Fiesta?! I’m all about fiestas! Eh, perdon. Te prometon que despues del Rumble you regresare para que celebremos, sale?
Pepe: Sale!
Cholo: Eso! Dame cinco!
Cholo puts up his hand for a high five which Pepe strongly returns, feeling happy Cholo has promised to return to celebrate after the Rumble since he can’t stay now.
Cholo:Bueno hasta que yo regrese, tu eres el jefe. You the boss, puedes decir: “I’m the boss!”
Pepe: I’m da bus!
Cholo: Close enough! Nos vemos.
Pepe smiles and waves before rushing back to the crowd where we can see bicycles are now being passed around to each child. Cholo looks at his work proudly and then gets inside, ready to go to Mexico City and the Olla Rumble.
El Closing Shoot
Surprised to see me show at your promotion? I bet all you putos were, those who took the time anyway (I thank you) after all, you probably saw my name and thought, who the hell is this cabron? Probably just another nobody the company signed to pat the rumble so the real stars can have some easy eliminations.
Who are these so-called “real stars?” Is it the ones who are on the roster? Vincent Black? Chelsea Skye? TJ Alexander? Sapphire Delgado? Am I really about to list all the names on this thing? Maybe… Brenna Gordon? Scott Hampton? Willian Mason? Ellie Quinn? Holly Rhodes? Ace Sky? Ruby Steele alright, alright, I’ll stop, you get the point. Sure, I can see them being considered the stars who should shine the brightest in this rumble since this is their promotion and have to defend not only their turf but their spot. I mean God forbid some of these ‘guest’ wrestlers show them up and take their spotlight, right?
Well, that is exactly what I am here to do, I’m not here to pat your numbers but I am here to show-off and show out and while I may not win this whole thing, I do hope to walk away with one of those four juicy opportunities PWE is offering.
Now don’t get me wrong, when I say I may not win, is not going to be for lack of trying or because I don’t have the tools because damas y caballeros, look at me, I have the tools.
But rumbles are unpredictable, and one little mistake, no matter how small, can cost you this whole thing.
Still, I am coming to do whatever it takes to win, and if I must make some alliances to do so, so be it but if I must go at it all alone against 29 other wrestlers, then I am prepared to do just that too.
This event is called “magnificence’ after all and being magnifico is one of my special traits.
It’s time to dance my gente, I hope you are ready: let’s rumba!
Word count: 5000 via wordcounter.net
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