◄HE DOES THIS | HE DOES THAT | HE'S BIG AS A BULL AND QUICK AS A CAT ►

◄ RP.01 - 'What You're In For' ►

◄ v 'the Nature Boy' RIC FLAIR ►

◄ WRESTLING GOLD '88 ►

◄ for the Golden Championship of the Americas ►

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A quick crackle of static before your screen settles on a slightly desaturated image of a gentleman in black trunks with black boots exiting through a curtain before transitioning to one of a few excited fans before finally landing on our first firm shot – one of a relatively unassuming middle-aged man in a brown suit, standing with a thin microphone before a plain blue backdrop in a busy studio.

 

Knowledgeable fans know this man is Lance Russell, longtime Memphis Wrestling play-by-play announcer and know this arena is the jam-packed Memphis Wrestling studio. The Bluff City’s finest are piled into the building and are still riveted from what seems to have been a fine contest as Russell speaks softly into his microphone.

 

[ LANCE RUSSELL ] Ladies and gentlemen, we thank you again for tuning in and taking time to watch our program this afternoon and we want to get you right back to all of the hard-hitting action in the wrestlin’ ring…

 

The restless fans would like nothing more than to get some more action and are quick to confirm Lance’s words as he carries on.

 

[ LANCE RUSSELL ] …but we’ve got a young man backstage who we’re going to get a brief word with. We think you’ll be more than happy to hear from him, as his enthusiasm and skill have made him a household name across these United States…

 

While the people may want to see another match, the promise of one of their favorites appearing to speak would be satisfactory, for sure.

 

[ LANCE RUSSELL ] We’ve just been informed that on the super-card coming to the Mid-South Coliseum on Tuesday, March 8, he will challenge the Golden Champion of the Americas, “the Nature Boy” Ric Flair for his championship title!

 

Uh-oh, now! That’s major news dropping, and the Memphis fans are more-than-excited to hear this development – but who’s getting the shot at the Ten Pounds of Gold?

 

[ LANCE RUSSELL ] Ladies and gentlemen, your championship challenger for Wrestling Gold ’88, STING!

 

The studio is roaring like the Tigers just ran onto the floor at the Coliseum as the Stinger emerges through the curtain, eyes wide and beaming at the packed house.

 

His tall, broad frame is tanned immaculately, and he appears to be in phenomenal shape, practically stuffed into his bright blue Memphis State University tank top.

 

Nothing like playing up to the home crowd, right?

 

A young man sitting front row is pulsating with sheer nervous energy as the Stinger walks by him, grinning. Stinger stops and notices the lad, kneeling down to admire his painted face, no doubt his father’s best efforts to replicate the genuine article, which is now reflected back at him. Similarly, the young man’s brown hair is cut into a flat-top and his rat tail is absolutely glorious, hanging well past the collar of his Ultimate Warrior T-Shirt, another loving replication of his hero before him.

 

The child’s entire being is overcome with joy as his hero crouches before him, grinning, and turns to the camera, speaking with a smile on his face.

 

[ STING ] Well, would ‘ya look at that! Handsome dude! Let’s see those muscles!

 

Sting flexes mightily and the little boy, timid at first, looks at his father beside him and around the studio for approval – the people are all about this and shout for him to flex with the Stinger – and the boy does! Sting laughs and rustles the young man’s flat top before continuing down the path to Lance Russell, who begins the conversation with the oncoming challenger to the Golden Championship of the Americas as he approaches.

 

[ LANCE RUSSELL ] What a reception for you, Sting! These fans here in Memphis are certainly excited to see you here today.

 

Sting, nodding feverishly, is still looking around the room with wide eyes as Russell brings the mic closer to his mouth.

 

[ STING ] OOOWWWWWWWWWWWW!

 

The studio comes unglued again, shouting out with the Stinger’s battle cry. The Venice Beach native removes his hands from around his mouth and speaks confidently into the mic.

 

[STING ] You’re right, Mr. Lance Russell! And may I just say, Memphis – the feeling is MU-TU-ALLLLL!

 

The Bluff City roar out approvingly again as Russell nods favorably.

 

[ LANCE RUSSELL ] Sting, just before we went on the air this afternoon, we were treated to a piece of information regarding Wrestling Gold Nineteen-and-Eighty-Eight. Of course, fans, we don’t have to tell you all that this event has been shaping up for weeks now to be the largest, most extravagant event in all of professional wrestling history and just today, we’ve learned that not only will the Golden Champion of the Americas Ric Flair be competing on Tuesday evening, March the Eighth, but he will be defending his championship against you, Sting!

 

Sting claps his hands together and pumps his fists excitedly before him as Russell asks his question and points the microphone towards his guest.

 

[ LANCE RUSSELL ] Sting, our question to you is a simple one – just how in the Sam Hill do you plan to defeat ‘the Nature Boy’ Ric Flair here in Memphis? Is there any chance we could see a brand-new Golden Champion crowned?

 

[ STING ] I’m wiggin’ out that so many of you are excited to see me here today and I hope all of you will be buyin’ a ticket to see Wrestling Gold ’88 on March Eighth – but I realize some of you here or maybe some of you at home may not know me!

 

The Memphis fans’ rabid reception should deter this thought, but Sting carries on.

 

[ STING ] How d’ya do? My name…is STING! I’m a professional wrestler and I love being out here in front of all of you people!

 

Lance cannot help but grin as the magnetic Stinger draws another massive cheer.

 

[ STING ] My friends call me Stinger and so I can’t wait to get to meet some more friends! Some more of you after the show today, come meet the Stinger! Now – I believe your question was, ‘how do I plan to defeat Ric Flair?’

 

[ LANCE RUSSELL ] That’s correct, Sting!

 

[ STING ] Lance Russell, all my life I’ve been staring down the fear before me! You can call it guts! You can call it nerve! My mother liked to call it ‘a little too much of my daddy in the mix!’ But no matter what you call it, Lance, there’s always been something deep inside me that pushed me to look the thing I’m facing – the thing that should scare me! – right in the eyes and walk up to it to face it!

 

Sting holds up his hand, palm to the bright lights above him.

 

[ STING ] It was the tall slide on the playground that none of the other kids would climb up to play on! It was the bully picking on all of the other boys and girls in the lunchroom!

 

Our camera cuts quickly to the young man we met earlier on, who is watching Sting intently; his eyes tell the entire story, he’s seen the tall slide and he’s seen the bully…he knows the very fear his hero is discussing. We cut back to Sting, who is getting more and more energized as he answers.

 

[ STING ] It was the big wave, brother! The great big wave with the huge, sweet tunnel on the horizon – and each and every time I should have probably been a little more careful, each time I should have taken another second to think about what could have been or might be if something went wrong – but I faced that fear! I faced the mountain before me and climbed it!

 

Memphis understands the analogy perfectly. The camera again cuts to the young man in the front row, who is grinning ear-to-ear and is filled to the brim with courage bestowed upon him from the Stinger.

 

[ STING ] Hey, I’ll be the first to admit it, guys. I may be a bit silly from time to time – but I’m no doofus! I know beyond a shadow of a doubt how talented and respected Ric Flair is inside those ropes.

 

Sting points off to the center of the studio at the empty ring, energy still emanating from its four sides from the match a few moments ago.

 

[ STING ] And it’s because he is everything he says he is! Ric Flair has a great big mouth! He’s all the time telling us how good he is and ‘ya know what? I know he says a whole WHOLE LOT…

 

Memphis laughs as Sting twirls a single finger in a circle a few times, pantomiming Flair’s verbose speaking style.

 

[ STING ] BUT! But! More often than not, he’s telling you the truth! ‘The Nature Boy!’ He can out-wrestle any man on the planet and two men on Sunday! He has more women watchin’ his every move than you can shake a stick at! He can wrestle in that ring for sixty minutes! He’s the Sixty Minute Man, he says! That’s quite a mountain! That’s quite a wave!

 

Russell closes his eyes, nodding again as Sting pauses.

 

[ STING ] BUT JUST! LIKE! I ALWAYS DO! I’ll face down the Nature Boy! With no fear! With no hesitation! With heart! With passion! With all of you behind me!

 

Memphis is certainly behind him right now, cheering again as he clenches his fists before him again.

 

[ STING ] I’ve seen the card! I know there are some incredible professional wrestlers scheduled to be in Memphis for Wrestling Gold! There are dozens of men and women that I respect very much who will be wrestling that evening and to even be selected to get this opportunity to wrestle for the Golden Championship of the Americas is an honor – so trust me, I’ll be giving my all! I’ll be staring down Ric Flair and plan to run right through him!

 

Sting narrows his eyes and lowers his chin slightly as the camera zooms closer to him. He points a finger down the barrel and continues.

 

[ STING ] I know, Nature Boy, that you don’t mind being tricky from time to time, either! I know you don’t mind bending the rules if it means keeping your championship! I’ve seen plenty of videotapes to say that you’ve managed to scrape by on the skin of your teeth to walk out of arenas with that championship in the past! But let me assure you of something, Nature Boy! IN MEMPHIS! MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE!

 

Another huge reaction as Sting’s eyes light up like Beale Street.

 

[ STING ] There will be no chances for your tricks! Your treachery will help you none! You, Nature Boy, are facing THE STINGER! One of the youngest, hungriest, strongest, most determined warriors you have ever faced in this ring! I know your reputation precedes you, Ric – but I’m wondering if you know just what you’re in for on March Eighth?! Do ‘ya?!

 

Sting throws his hands up, radiating positive energy as Russell re-configures and speaks once more.

 

[ LANCE RUSSELL ] Very good, Stinger, very good, indeed; but I must ask you, young man – wherever the Nature Boy goes, his Four Horsemen are never far behind!

 

Sting nods, closing his eyes as Russell carries on.

 

[ LANCE RUSSELL ] You not only have, as you very eloquently put it, a huge mountain to climb in the ring with ‘the Nature Boy’ Ric Flair, but his cousins – the rough and tumble Andersons, Ole and Arn, as well as the tremendous Tully Blanchard, and not to mention the manager of the Horsemen, Mister James J. Dillon! Sting, you yourself said you’re no fool, but five-on-one are odds that certainly seem impossible to overcome.

 

Sting laughs and shakes his head ‘no’ as Russell points the microphone back to him.

 

[ STING ] Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that one before, too! It’s a good point you make, Lance, and I’m sure plenty of writers and reporters will make it, too – ‘what about those odds, Stinger?! What about you and your lonesome goin’ up against four men – and five if you wanna’ count James J. Dillon – and ‘ya know what, Ric? You’re right! All of you are right – you five up against me is tough odds!

 

Sting nods, accepting the disproportionate odds, as Memphis reacts negatively to the proposed unfairness of the main event to come on March 8.

 

[ STING ] It’s tough odds, I’ll give you that…BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL OF THEM, HUH?!

 

Sting points his fingers around the studio wildly, his eyes growing wider by the moment as he speaks again.

 

[ STING ] What about each and every one of those kids out in the stands with their faces painted and their hairs cut flat on top like mine, huh, Ric?!

 

The camera shows the young man from before once again – laughing with disbelief through the enormous smile on his face as Sting references him as being a teammate of sorts. We cut back to Sting, who is pointing off at a college-aged boy in face paint further up the stands on the opposite side of the studio.

 

[ STING ] That’s right! I see you! Each and every one of these fans in Memphis, Ric – they’re with me! Look out there! They’re screamin’! They’re wiggin’ out! They’re gettin’ weird in the bleachers while the Stinger is goin’ wild in the ring!

 

A fever pitch threatens to break across the studio as Sting holds up a single finger and looks deep into the camera.

 

[ STING ] The odds don’t matter, Horsemen! You may be five strong, but what about the Stinger and the den full of TIGERS he has behind him on March 8?!

 

A roar befitting the nickname threatens to drown out the Stinger’s final words.

 

[ STING ] Your trickery won’t matter, Nature Boy – because I’m just as tricky as you are! It’s me and you, man – one on one! Mano e mano! And don’t you worry, Ric – because I can get the job done that night! I can become the Golden Champion of the Americas and carry that championship into the new decade! I can get the job done like I always have! I’m going to get wild, Nature Boy! I hope you’re ready to get wild, too!

 

With that, Sting cups his hands together and yells out another mighty “OWWWWWWWWWW!” as he turns from Russell and walks off, back down the path towards the locker room.

 

[ LANCE RUSSELL ] Well, ladies and gentlemen, you heard the young man! He’s certainly confident and doesn’t think any of Ric Flair’s smart stuff will be affecting the plan at hand for one of the most impressive professionals we’ve seen in some time – STING! Now, let’s throw it back to Dave in the booth as we get ready for another exciting match right here in Memphis, Tennessee!