Posted by Frank Lowe on Apr 25, 2020 8:37:37 GMT -5
PART 1: Havoc? Meet Lowe Hanger
Frank Lowe sat in his lounger chair in the living room of the Lowe Family’s Detroit, MI home. Frank’s wife, Lacey, was scurrying about the room picking up any and everything Frank had strewn about the room. Frank is watching tape of his recent EPIC pay per view win over Terra Mason on the television. “Well, Lace, that’s one big damn win for the ol’ Lowe Hanger.”
Lacey looked in his direction momentarily as she continued scurrying about the room tidying up to Frank’s liking.
“Yes, Frank. Big win.”
Frank wore a beaming, proud smile on his face as he watched his match back.
“Lace, come‘ere. Sit. Right here.”
Frank kicked the foot rest on his lounger down and patted his thigh. Lacey sighed quietly to herself before dropping the pile of clutter she had picked up already and approached her demanding husband. She protested weakly as she approached.
“Frank, I need to get this place organized.”
Frank quietly exploded.
“No, you don’t. You need to do what I’m fucking telling you to do. Now... Come. Sit. On. My. Lap.”
Lacey rushed toward Frank with urgency. She really hated it when he got so angry that he spoke to her through gritted teeth like that, but it had been happening so much of late. She just wasn’t sure what to expect from him at any given moment. The recent feud Frank had had with Terra took a toll on her. He had become so emotionally cold. And mean. Frank wasn’t usually mean to her. He was rough on her, sure, but lately? Lacey wondered to herself if Frank was falling out of love with her. She cautiously eased her way into his lap.
“There. That’s better, damnnit.”
Frank smiled again, the quiet raged washed by the soft touch of his petite wife. Frank was a man’s man. Some folks would say Frank was a real asshole, but those people were spineless, dumbfucks whose opinions just didn’t matter. At least that’s what Frank had angrily shouted to Lacey when Frank had heard a passionate opinion with which he’d disagreed expressed in his presence.
The pair sat in silence, Frank’s hand exploring Lacey’s backside as they sat. Frank failed to notice Lacey’s increasing discomfort, but Frank tended to be someone who either failed to notice the feelings of others or who simply didn’t care about them. He was gruff. He was abrasive. Most of all, he was emotionally retarded.
Frank broke the silence.
“Lace…”
She snapped out of a thousand-yard stare.
“Yes, Frank?”
Frank’s brow furrowed in thought as he carefully selected his words.
“I, uh, think I’m going to do something… crazy.”
Lacey’s face grew concerned.
“Wh-what do you mean?”
“Well, we’ve been in EPIC for a while now. I’ve been keeping an eye on some of the other guys. Where they wrestle. What they do beyond EPIC.”
“Ok…?”
“Baker and Keeton wrestle in AW, too. And there’s a huge rumble match coming up there. Well, you remember how damn well I did in that battle royal in Trinity, right? Well, when Trinity closed, AW bought it. I think it’s the right time for The Lowe Hanger to show his face in AW, win their fucking Rumble, take their fucking title.”
“Why didn’t you go to Action when Trinity closed?”
“If I would have gone then? It wouldn’t have been because I chose to go; it would have been because they bought my contract. I will fucking retire before I do anything just because somebody writing paychecks says so.”
Lacey was uncertain that Frank’s seemingly flippant decision was the right one. Frank, on the other hand, sat confident and secure in the same way that men who make their decisions with bravado and hubris always do. Lacey hesitantly and softly moused out a question.
“Are you leaving EPIC, Frank?”
Frank’s incredulous face reflected annoyance with the idea.
“I’m about the be the #1 contender, and you’re asking me if I’m leaving EPIC?”
“Well, I just…”
Frank cut her off.
“That’s a stupid fucking question, Lacey.”
Lacey sheepishly apologized.
“I’m sorry, Frank.”
Frank waved her off.
“Just stop asking stupid questions.”
Frank paused for a long beat, allowing his tone to reset back to a more neutral and almost friendly one.
“I’m not going to jeopardize a good job with solid pay, Lace. What kind of provider would I be if I did something that stupid?”
Lacey feigned a smile, and Frank, being too dense to see through the facade, barreled on as if he’d assuaged her concerns.
“Now, what do you think about grabbing me a beer? I’m going to watch this match again. I can’t get enough of seeing that bitch Terra get hers.”
Internally, Lacey screamed to herself: It was a roll up, Frank! That’s hardly a decisive win! Externally though, Lacey was sure to keep up appearances despite Frank’s constant badgering wearing at her like crashing waves do to rocky shore lines over time.
“Sure thing, honey. Coming right up.”
PART 2: ROADTRIP!
Frank drove with a grimace on his face that peered out from behind his sunglasses. The windows were down, and the wind ripped through the car, sending Lacey’s usually well kept hair wildly whipping about her face. She was clearly frustrated about it, but Frank stayed focused on the road.
“Frank, can we just close the windows and turn on the air? Please?!”
Lacey pleaded with Frank in desperation, but Frank’s face contorted into a frown and shook his head ‘no.’ Frank changed the subject, nearly yelling - just as Lacey had been forced to do - so that his voice would be audible over the howling wind.
“Can you grab the print outs?”
“The what?”
Frank’s face went blank and then shifted to annoyed consternation.
“Yes, Lacey. The FUCKING PRINT OUTS. I SPECIFICALLY told you to go to the AW website and print out the list of participants for Havoc and all of their bios. PLEASE TELL ME that you didn’t forget…?”
“Oh. No, Frank, I have them. But the windows…”
“FORGET ABOUT THE FUCKING WINDOWS, LACEY!”
Lacey did as she was instructed and reached into the bag at her feet. She pulled out a stack of loose papers. On top of the stack, Lacey had the comprehensive list of announced superstars who would be participating in Havoc. She’d organized it all very intentionally beforehand knowing both that Frank would have certain questions and how he’d liked to have his information presented. Frank was a creature of habit, and Lacey’s extensive knowledge of Frank’s preferences and needs meant she knew what to expect from him in times like this.
This Havoc match was a game changer for Frank, pure and simple. Being the first at something wasn’t new to Frank. Afterall, he was the first ever Pure Champion back in Trinity Wrestling, and he was the longest reigning champion as well. These days, Frank aimed to be the first dual champion shared by EPIC and Action Wrestling. Frank saw dollar signs in a match for the AW World Championship in the main event of Evolution 3. While he didn’t know a lot about the roster overall, Frank had heard through the grapevine that in recent months the AW World Title was getting passed around like a bong at a high school party, and Frank figured it might as well be time for him to hit that, too.
“Just fuckin’ read it to me, Lacey. I want to know who’s who in this damn thing. You know I hate flying blind.”
Lacey lifted the stack up toward her face, consistently using one hand to push her hair back out of her eyes as the wind continued weaponizing her long hair against her face.
“Who’s first?”
“Um, I started with the people who you know from Trinity.”
“Good. Good. So who’s up?”
“First on the stack is Adelaide Ainsworth.”
“I completely forgot that Addy Fucking A made the jump to AW. Jesus. God, she could be accomplishing nothing over in AW and it would be a step up from what she was doing in Trinity.”
“Well, she was the #1 contender to the AW World Title recently.”
“Lemme guess: she lost.”
“Well, yes, but she has really shown herself to be a livewire in the company.”
“But she’s just a foul mouthed little girl.”
Lacey shrugged.
“Who’s next?”
Lacey shifted the papers, but while doing so, her grip loosened and the wind ripped them from her hands a significant portion blew around the car, with most of them working their way out the window of the car and onto the interstate. Frank exploded.
“GODDAMN IT, LACEY! WHY THE FUCK DO YOU HAVE THE WINDOW OPEN WHILE YOU’RE FUCKING WITH MY IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS?! THEY’RE LOOSE PAPERS FOR CHRIST’S SAKE!”
“I’m… I’m sorry. I asked to put the windows up, but you wouldn’t…”
“OH SO THIS IS MY FAULT?! You can’t keep your hands on some fucking paper and somehow that’s on me?!”
Lacey was panicked.
“I’ll fix it, Frank.”
Lacey returned the few papers which remained in her hand to her bag to protect them from the wind as she rolled up the windows.
“Well, most of the goddamn information we had on the AW roster is on the fucking highway in the middle of Ohio! How are you going to fix that? Do you even know who we lost out the window?!”
Lacey grabbed the papers again and began to frantically thumb through the remaining papers. Lacey only had 5 left.
“We’re down to 5 of them, Frank.”
“You’re shitting me! You’ve got to be shitting me!”
“I’m not. I’m sorry. Most of what we had is gone.”
“FUCK! Lacey, who the fuck IS still here?!”
“Uh...It’s most of the people who were in Trinity, too. They were on the top of the stack.”
“WHO, LACEY?! BE FUCKING SPECIFIC!”
Lacey recoiled from Frank’s growing anger. When everything had flown out of the car, she immediately knew Frank would lose it. He had been losing his cool over much less serious offenses than this, and losing such important documents before what amounted to the biggest match of Frank’s career to date? It was certainly going to be something that lit Frank’s fuse. She did her best to power through despite the berating Frank would surely give her for the next several hundred miles of Interstate 80.
“The first one is Rain, but you may remember her as Pandora.”
“That’s the fuckin’ weirdo who talks about herself by saying her own name, right?”
“Yes, Frank.”
“And THAT’S one of the few that you didn’t lose? Jesus H., Lacey. I wish it was Rain herself that blew out the fucking window and not just some piece of paper.”
Frank was quiet as the continuing wave of anger washed over him. He reached up and stroked his mustache as he silently thought about how he’d recover from this monumental set back. Lacey looked at one of the last pieces of paper in her hand. She immediately knew what Frank was going to say, but she had to charge head first into the powder keg anyway.
“Frank, here’s one you’re not going to like.”
“Oh, great. Who?”
“Raging. Dead.”
“OH! FUCK! THAT! GUY!”
“I had a feeling you’d say something like that.”
“That’s that same asshole who took my Pure Title back in Trinity? Not some other fuckin’ guy parading about with the same name as that fucking zombie?”
“Same one.”
“Oh, for the love of god. You know what though? I’m actually glad to hear he’s there.”
“Why?”
“I have my chance to right a fucking wrong, Lace. That piece of shit snuck one by me in Trinity. A fucking MAIN EVENT! I was the greatest thing going in that shithole company! And then that fucking zombie pulls the fucking rug out from under me and those fucking shit heels refused to book me again?! Oh hell no. I’m not about to let that throbbing prick off the hook when I have my shot at revenge! If I do nothing but throw him out of the ring? That’ll be enough to make me happy.”
“If you’re willing to do this match knowing full well you’re going to be happy even if you lose, why even do it?”
“Is that what you think I mean?”
“That’s how it sounded, Frank.”
“Well, it’s not at all what I mean.”
“What do you mean then?”
“Lacey, I never step in the ring if I don’t know I have the ability required to win the damn match. NEVER. I look at this Rumble and I see a path to victory.”
Frank paused and then added a barb.
“Even if you ditched all my opposition research out the fucking window.”
Lacey winced. Frank took a deep breath and calmed himself as he spoke. It was as if an epiphany washed over him as he talked himself through his anger over the lost bios.
“It’s an over the top rope battle royal. The strategy is fundamentally the same regardless of who’s in it. It’s not a normal match. I don’t need to know the ways someone like the lesser Frank, FPV, makes himself vulnerable to a pinfall or a submission. It doesn’t matter.”
Frank had a silent moment of reflection.
“I’m sorry I blew up about those fucking papers.”
Lacey was dumbfounded. Frank never apologized. She wasn’t even sure the phrase I’m sorry was a part of Frank’s lexicon until that very moment. The astonished look on her face reflected her internal feelings as she stammered out a response.
“Uh...it’s...it’s ok, Frank.”
“I was wrong.”
Lacey’s brain was screaming: HOLY SHIT! She wondered if Frank had been body snatched in the last few miles or if there was something in the air in this part of Ohio that made him spout an empathetic bone. Surely, this wasn’t just Frank’s natural being shining through!
“I see it now. I need to have my head on a swivel and be aware of every opportunity to toss some asshole on the floor or knock a dumb bitch over the top rope and I need to stay the fuck out of danger. It’ll be fine. I’m just gettin’ anxious as this damn thing. I don’t have to throw the whole lot of 59 people out of the ring myself. I just have to make sure they get tossed while I don’t. That’s it. I can manage that. I did it in Trinity. I can do it here.”
Frank reached his hand over to Lacey’s side of the car and gently placed it on her thigh. If the moment weren’t so charged just minutes prior, Lacey would have smiled at the pleasant, romantic gesture. Alas, Frank had just showed his ass, verbally ran Lacey down, and eradicated her ability to silence the part of her mind that was in a panic. While Lacey carefully ensured her non-verbal responses were correct, inside, she wanted to retch all over the inside of the car.
Frank, like usual, was blissfully unaware and drove on as if all was right in the world.
PART 3: Lowe Hanger? Meet Havoc
Frank was on a mission as he walked around a corner of the backstage area of Madison Square Garden. In his focused haze, he nearly ran directly into AW GM Camila Gonzalez. Camila looked Frank up and down in a huff.
“You must be Lowe. Y’all don’t watch where you’re going at EPIC, huh?”
Frank scowled at her. He was never fond of women who he felt acted out of turn and didn’t know their place. Lacey rounded the corner just as Camila posed her sarcastic question and immediately took over to defuse tensions.
“Our apologies, Camila! We’re just in a hurry. We have to get this interview done before the rest of the roster starts showing up in the arena for their pre-tapes! Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise, you know?”
Camila looked at Lacey. Camila waved the pair off.
“Just watch where you’re going, Lowe!”
“Sure thing! We’ll look super close next time, Boss Lady. I’ll even yell around the fuckin’ corner next time: LOOK OUT! FRANK LOWE COMING THROUGH! MOVE YOUR ASS!”
Camila gave Frank the stink eye as she dismissively laughed at him and stormed off. Lacey looked at Frank with stern eyes.
“Do you want to get kicked out of here?!”
Frank looked at Lacey dumbfounded. He cocked his head to the side like a dog that had just heard something unidentifiable.
“Are you… No, it’s not possible. It just couldn’t be. You couldn’t POSSIBLY be trying to tell me what to FUCKING do, could you, Lacey?!”
Lacey’s demeanor deflated, and she went from a soft, bubbly sweetness to a distant timidity.
“No, Frank. I just… *sigh* No. I’m sorry.”
“Well, your highness, do I have the madam’s permission to do my pretapes now?”
“Frank, please. Let’s not... I… Just…”
Lacey trailed off in defeat, but Frank was insistent.
“Well…”
Lacey let out a sad sigh. She was starting to acknowledge that Frank had her trapped in an inescapable feedback loop wherein she would do something innocuous and Frank would erupt like an overdue volcano. The relationship dynamic they had fallen into had grown to be something overwhelming to her. It wasn’t always like this, she reasoned. There must be some ember of the Frank that she had fallen for still burning in that gruff husk of the man she knew so well. She conceded to his demands - as she had seemed to be doing more and more in recent years - and answered Frank’s sarcastic prompt meekly.
“Yes, Frank. You can go do your pre-tapes.”
“Why thank you for your graciousness, ma’am!”
“Frank… Please…”
Frank simply couldn’t - or simply refused to - let Lacey’s supposed slight go. By his estimation, she had assaulted his role as the leader of their home and as the man in their marriage. If she wanted to be the man, she could get treated like a man, damnnit!
Frank turned back to Lacey. He smirked as he thought to himself and then he spoke.
“Why don’t you go clean up my locker room? I don’t need you for this promo.”
Lacey was wounded. Frank rarely if ever cut a promo without her standing faithfully and dutifully by his side. He had told her so many times that while the audience ate up what he said, they could take their eyes off of how she looked. Her head dropped, and her eyes locked with the floor.
“Um… ok, Frank. If that’s… If that’s what you want.”
Frank was stern. The playfulness of his sarcasm seemingly evaporated away in an instant.
“I do. Now, go.”
Lacey timidly followed Frank’s directions and disappeared down the hall. Frank turned his attention back toward the interview area and swiftly made his way there. As he approached the interview area, he saw a familiar face and confusion settled in over him. There stood Jenna Bauer, ready and waiting to interview the newest face in AW - even if he was at Havoc on a deal which secured a set but limited number of appearances.
“Hi, Frank. Are you ready? Do we need to talk about anything before we start?”
“An interview here is an interview anywhere. You ask. I answer. I get it.”
Jenna was taken aback by Frank’s dismissiveness.
“I hope that I do my job a bit better than something you can get anywhere.”
“You can shit in one hand, put your hopes in the other, and see which one fills up first. Can we just do this, Jenna?”
Jenna looked disgusted, but ever the professional she soldiered on and the cameraman counted her off for the interview. She spoke directly to the camera.
“Hi, folks! I’m here with Frank Lowe. Now some of you will recognize Frank here as a former star of AW owned Trinity Wrestling, and others might recognize him as a current star of EPIC Wrestling. Frank has just declared that tonight, he’ll make his AW debut at Havoc.”
Jenna turned her attention toward Frank.
“Now, Frank, why debut now? Why Havoc?”
“Why did Abraham Lincoln decide to run for president when he did? Why did Mother Theresa decide to dedicate her life to the service of others?”
A look of pure befuddlement grew across Jenna’s face.
“Frank, are you saying you competing in the Havoc Rumble is on the level of…”
“Yes.”
Jenna choked out a scoff.
“...HOW?!”
“Jenna, I shouldn’t have to explain to you why one of the biggest matches of YOUR COMPANY’S WHOLE YEAR is an ideal place to debut, but since you’ve so professionally asked, I’ll indulge you. I have been around the block, Jenna. I wrestled on the indies for YEARS. I’ve wrestled in more companies than you’ve ever heard of. I’ve faced almost everyone in the world worth facing in some type of match or another. But I’ve never squared off against this many people in front of this kind of crowd for the prize that’s on the line.”
“The AW zWorld Championship?”
“A shot at it, yeah. A shot at the title in one of the biggest shows in the entire world? A shot at what would CERTAINLY be the largest paycheck I’ve earned in a single show? Yeah. That’s all pretty fucking enticing, Jenna. But I’m not going to stand here and lie to you and tell you how much AW means to me or how it’s an honor to be here. To be honest? I don’t consider being in this match to be much of an honor. It’s 60 fucking people, Jenna. How the fuck can being in a club that doesn’t exclude seemingly anyone be a fucking honor? It’s as much of an honor as being in the Nickelback fan club. I mean, fuck, this thing is so overbooked an outsider won it last year, right? It’s so overbooked they let me just waltz in this year when I have less than zero previous association with this company! It’s not exactly an exclusive opportunity, Jenna.”
Frank smirked and chuckled to himself.
“But it’s not like I’m shitting on the value of the opportunity. I mean, I’m here, right? It clearly meant enough to me professionally that I packed all my shit and my wife into the ol’ shit wagon and drove all the way here to put the hurt on some people.”
“What do you say to those who say you should stay in EPIC and work on winning a title in your own company before you arrogantly invade this one in your quest for gold?”
“Man, it’s pretty funny...no one has attempted to sell that particular brand of bullshit to me face-to-face, Jenna, but my answer is a simple one. I say: FUCK YOU, TRY ME. Quit tucking your man parts back between your legs to see what you’d look like with a gash and say that shit to my face.”
Jenna grimaced but powered through.
“Ok… Well, uh, is there anyone in particular in this match that excites you?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m excited, but there’s at least old friend I’m looking forward to knocking the undead teeth out of.”
“Raging Dead?”
“I’m not dignifying that asshole by saying his name, but I’m going to see how fucking hard you have to hit a zombie to stop it from getting back up.”
“Frank, is there anything else on your mind heading into possibly the biggest match of your career?”
“Sure, there’s one last thing, Jenna... You don’t know shit about my career, but you better do your research because I’m about to win Havoc and then steal this company’s title. And you better believe I’ll hold the fucking thing hostage.”
Frank reached out and lightly patted Jenna’s cheek. As he touched her, she was aghast and recoiled away from him. Frank laughed and walked away as Jenna called for the recording to be cut.
