[PH 1.1] Tonight, We Are Notorious.

“-I’ve done my time as a rookie, I’ve done my time as the guy everyone picks on and what have I gotten to prove that I deserve it? Nothing, I have absolutely nothing to show that I deserve it. Right now, I’m looking to break free from this scene and be handed a contract very soon. The more I wait, the more impatient I become and you know that I won’t stop until I get what I am owed. It’s simple. Pay what you owe, it’s not much to ask for but everyone makes it act like it’s a lot to ask for, like come on man. You’re getting the best of the best with me, and you don’t even want to come close to a young prodigy in the making, how bad is your company to not pick me up. You feel me? All I’ve asked for was a simple place on someone’s god forsaken roster and NOBODY in the world wants me.”

“This is why we’ve asked you on here, this is your chance to shine, this is your chance to show everyone who exactly you are. You get the chance to speak and of course, I will ask you some questions-”

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────



A quote from Josiah’s own grandmother before she died of natural causes at the age of seventy-six, and one that Josiah will always remember in his head for the rest of his wrestling career. It has been four years since she uttered those words from her dying breath and Josiah has carried that with him to his new found place of work, a place willing to accept him for the talent he provides and his determined thought to become the best of the best in the sport, that place being Project Honor. The ARIA Suites in Las Vegas quickly became the home of Josiah after he and his parents left Denver in April of 2017, the view of the Vegas strip was beautiful in the nightlife sky and from a higher vantage point and as Josiah watched from the balcony just outside of his bedroom, he heard a voice from behind him call to his name.

“Josiah? Baby, come back to bed.”

That soft-spoken voice came from Hallie-Ann Riker, a long-time love interest and partner to Josiah’s side. A relationship that’s spanned throughout their entire childhood, back when they were in Steele Elementary School in Denver. Josiah looked down to the Las Vegas strip once more, taking a deep breath before turning around and heading back into the bedroom. Hallie-Ann lays in the bed and under the duvet sheets as she watches Josiah walk into the bedroom and close the balcony door behind him.

HALLIE-ANN: What’s wrong? Something on your mind?

JOSIAH: This is my first big hit, this is what I promised my family and what I promised my grandmother. I told her that they’ll know my name. I told them that they’ll remember my name. Now, I feel anxious. I feel something that makes me want to puke, like, this isn’t something I wanted to feel.

HALLIE-ANN: You’re nervous, Josiah.

JOSIAH: Am I really though?

Hallie-Ann chuckled and shakes her head from side to side.

HALLIE-ANN: Yes, that’s exactly it. You just need to relax a bit, you’ve got a journey to go through.

JOSIAH: I’m only going to Paradise, it’s not that far like… New York or Maine.

HALLIE-ANN: Let me ask you this. What are you afraid of, or what are you more anxious about now that you’ve got the platform to show the world what you’re made of?

Josiah sits down on his side of the bed and glances over at Hallie-Ann.

JOSIAH: I guess it’s the fear of failure. I’m not saying I’ve got like… atychiphobia, or something along those lines… but I’m just afraid of making myself look like an absolute clown on National Television. I’m able to do what I could in the independent scene of professional wrestling because there wasn’t countywide coverage of the show, hell, international-wide coverage of the show. I’m not looking to be the fool in all of this.

HALLIE-ANN: ...then you haven’t seen what Elena has said about you then, have you?

Josiah raises an eyebrow.

JOSIAH: What the hell has that funky-looking girl been saying about me?

HALLIE-ANN: To me? I haven’t a slightest clue what she meant by the things she said. But she’s spitting words, hollow words mind you, but there’s something being thrown your way.

Josiah sighed.

JOSIAH: If only this wasn’t a tag team match- god, do I hate them so much- but if that’s what she wants to do then let her be. I got a lot more on my mind than speaking to the next biggest girl in the goth community.

HALLIE-ANN: Damn right, you do.

The night that followed was an outside war beginning, a political standstill that left everyone on their toes for the next twenty-four hours. A sleepless night for The Notorious One, more staring down at the bright lights of Las Vegas’ strip as he began to drink away with a vast amount of bottles labelled Smirnoff Ice. True to his word, he didn’t care for what Elena DeDraca said before about Josiah and his partner- hell, Josiah didn’t care for his partner either- but the thought was still there. He knew he had to do something about it, and he knew he wasn’t going to leave her unanswered.



“-I know this is your first time being with us, and you know that this is the one chance you get to put yourself out there in the world but the question I have for you is this, Josiah. You’ve been a man who’s been looking for the validation from those watching, you’ve been seeking their attention because you know that you need something to build your hopes up, and when that goes down the drain, you lose your train of thoughts and go blank. My question to you is why do you need this validation from others when you can simply give yourself that validation by putting yourself out there?”

“I’ve never thought thoroughly about an answer for this, and I’ve been asked that so many times now that it’s jarring. I don’t think I can give you a definitive answer right now-”

“The thing is, Josiah, I need that answer now. I’ve seen all of the times it’s been brought up, I’ve seen every time you’ve been confronted with that question and you know what the recurring pattern seemed to have been? You’ve always dodged the question or you’ve ignored it like you never heard it. Seeing that you’ve just said you’ve never thought about it right now gives me hope that you can finally answer that for us right now.”

“But I’ve given you my answer and that’s no answer because I don’t have a true answer for you. I could tell you a tall tale and say I just want to soak into that reaction, I want to soak into the spotlight but you know and I know there’s more to it. You’ve gotten further than anyone ever could asking me that question and that’s by even acknowledging the question in general.”

“There’s so many questions to this one thing and no answers at all from you? I mean… What are you trying to hide from everyone? What past did you have where you need the validation from others to see if you’re good enough to be in that spotlight? There’s so much thought put into this that many here have tried their hand at debunking it and have yet to get a simple answer from you, that is why I’m smiling from ear to ear in my mind when you even put thought to an excuse for the question!”

“I can see this is something you’ve been waiting for… but I’ve got no answers for anything regarding that question in particular. End of discussion, next question, please.”



The question leading into Project Honor’s first Proving Ground after Bloodbath was how the new hopefuls would perform on the new stage, a much bigger and brighter stage than any they’ve ever been on, and that question has been repeating in the head of Josiah Andrew Scott. He sat in his mancave and sat at his desk, fitted with RGB lighting going around the desk with an icy blue tint to the lighting, along with the other RGB lighting within his large tower computer with integrated icy blue lighting and his keyboard with that same color scheme as the rest of his setup. As he scrolled through Twitter, he realised a pattern of tweets that involved his match with all of them looking to predict the outcome of what’s to come at Proving Ground. Sadly enough for Josiah, they were all one sided, and none of those were aiming for his side...

Jimmy Comet #VoteTrump (@IWCGoon):
@_ladyDEDRACA seems to be facing a couple of nobodies in her new home, a shame when she’s the top dog of the yard. #PG7

...the more he scrolled, the more he saw the love for just one person…

WhoCulture Wrestling (@WhoCulture):
I hope Rocky Johnson can see the problem with this match, I really hope he does. #DeDracaDeservesBetter #PG7

...and just when he thought there was enough, more just added on and the damage continued to hit it’s target...

Pack A Holic (@PackAHolic):
Let me guess, a one sided match where @_ladyDEDRACA is brutally murdering her opponents, right? Classic move for a first match in. #PG7

...and one post too far was enough for Josiah to close down Twitter for the night, hell, he barely used the website unless it was to check what was happening in Project Honor and he had gotten sick of tweets about the Tag Team tournament thing happening. Josiah simply opened up OBS and set up his DSLR Camera to record him, it was the first time in a long time he had to speak into the camera about his profession, and the last time he did was when he told everyone he was going to bring hope to himself as he prepared for the next step in his career. That step being to stand on a big stage in front of thousands, no matter where that being for him

“Welcome everyone, you are very much welcomed to my humbled home. Though, right now you’re just being shown the place where I come to relax and chill or even game when the time is around. Now, I know why a lot of you are here right now, and why you’ve been waiting patiently for something like this. I’m the guy who’s been hyping himself since Bloodbath and yet we’ve not heard a word from this man and well, I’ve been extremely busy with myself. I’ve been just heavily preparing myself for a tough night and a tough match, I guess. It’s hard to tell if this is a tough match because everyone’s been more excited about this one person that it makes it hard to see where the hype comes from.”

Of course, he talked about what he saw on Twitter not a moment beforehand but he wasn’t willing to admit to what he saw. Josiah simply brushed past it and allowed himself to ignore it for now.

“For those who aren’t aware of who I am, my name is Josiah Andrew Scott. I guess you can call me the hottest new talent that has touched down in Project Honor just before Bloodbath took place and to be quite honest with you, I’ve been excited for this moment. This is now my time in the spotlight and it’s just… man… it’s perfect for me. I’ve got the world in my hands, I’ve got everything I could ever have wanted in the world. I’ve gotten the things I’ve wanted in this world, I’ve gotten the platform I’ve begged for all year, I’ve gotten this place and I’ve earned this place. A lot of people questioned who I was when they heard my name and some knew who I was because they heard about me beforehand. Whether that being on Twitter, on YouTube, on god damn TikToks. The clips do not lie, they show you something that excites the people.”

Tap. Tap. Tap. Josiah continuously tapped his head with a small smile to his face as if he was that meme.

“Now that I’ve gotten a lot of your attention, the focus is brought back onto me, right? Because that’s where it should be, I’ve been seeing a lot of people overlooking how this match is willing to go and ignoring the in-ring talents of what I can do in the ring. It’s all about how good one person is everywhere else and in places that nobody’s ever heard of before, and not about how good one person is right now, and how they’ve got nothing good to prove themselves with. But you understand it, everyone seems to understand it, everyone seems to see that one person’s past allows someone to be judged but in the now, it doesn’t really matter because your past is your past. There’s times when we’ll forget it and move on from it but people just…”

Josiah sighed and pinched his nose.

“...they just live in the past, and once again I’ll state, we’re in the now. We, as a whole, live in the present time- the now. People think that being good in other places means something when entering new grounds to call home, you have every right to say that the management put you in the wrong places and they did you wrong. In the independent scene, I’ve seen many come and go from the big companies and always asked about why they never got the bigger spotlight when they were bigger stars, or so they thought they were, and always thought that management never did their research into things about who they’re hiring for the night. It’s a pathetic excuse that I see being projected by these random people that think they’re the hot shit of wherever the fuck they come from and then when they actually get in the ring and become embarrassed by one single loss, it raises questions for what they preached beforehand.”

Josiah clasped his hands together and began to rub them against one another.

“Honestly, I wouldn’t know if this applied to you, Elena, but I guess we’ll never know until it happens, right? Think of it this way, Elena, they wouldn’t hire someone to show up onto their show and ask them to sign a contract if they never did their own research on things, that’s just a basic business etiquette to have when you’re the owner of a company. If you understood it, Elena, you wouldn’t have to question it. You wouldn’t have to give in and say that where you are isn’t where you should belong. Take a look at the preview of things to come, the Grand Champion is facing Ace fucking Sky of all people and you’re saying you don’t belong in this match? I’ll say this for you, Elena, that’s an excuse. An excuse for what to be precise? Who knows, but if you were as good as you’re hyped up as, then you’d take this match with some care to the world and give the right people a reason to do more research on you.”

Josiah shook his head.

“This is about you, this is about who you are and what you can bring but for me? This is worth much more because unlike you, I give a fuck. I give a fuck about things that this match brings me, I give a fuck about where I go from here on out, I give a fuck about where I should be going as I look to the future. Elena, this means everything to me and I’m not letting some basic goth girl tell me that I’m just some newbie who knows absolutely nothing. No, I’m someone that cares for what I can do in the ring, you’re not. You don’t care because you’ve got the fourteen years and you’ve got the championship reigns to prove you were worth something but right now, you’re just someone that hangs around for that last grasp of attention that fuels you to do… whatever it is you do, peg your husband for all I know, but that’s none of my business, futanari.”

He began to laugh, he knew some bit of Japanese knowledge from Hallie-Ann and her years of being in Japan and knowing the Japanese culture.

“And what about the partner chosen for you, that Contessa Floran girl? Oblivion’s Crush, I think that’s what she calls herself. I’m going to be extremely real with you, Contessa, and I don’t know if you’re going to answer me this but what the hell is an Oblivion's Crush. Is this some cocktail I can find on the streets right now? If so, this shit better taste as good as it might sound. To be fair, you’ve done like what… one good match where it might as well have been too close to call? That title match of yours is actually what attracted me to here, and after a tryout and some negotiations, I’m here. But you, on the other hand, might as well be on the way out the door because all I’ve seen from you is matches where you actually try but your opponents don’t even dare to make an attempt to try.”

Josiah sighed.

“What are you to make of that? I’m sure the fun is there to have, if you’re willing to have that bit of fun but right now, I don’t even think you care enough… I’m sure you’re thinking wherever the fuck you are and saying to yourself that maybe you weren’t cut out to be here. The spotlight wasn’t meant to be yours, sweets. It’s nice for a female to take the part in ‘look at me, I’m crazy and I hear voices in my head’ but realism is off-point altogether and you’re just making yourself look like an absolute clown. But you know what, I do hope you give some effort into this because I know you can. I want that same fight you had against Zane and I’m sure you want to impress Lady DeadDracula over here.”

Josiah leaned back and smiled before adjusting himself in his chair and looking into the camera for one last piece.

“This is my debut, and a chance in the spotlight I never thought I’d get a few months ago, but now that I have the spotlight- All I have to do is to show everyone that where I stand right now is where I belong and the more they realize that, the more they’ll accept it. My goals going into this company are simple. To finesse anyone and everyone that crosses my path and to become the champion I am always destined to be. Soon, I should have my moment. Soon, it'll be my time. Soon, I will become The Greatest of All Time in Project Honor. And that’s not a fantasy I dream of every night, that’s an upcoming reality that’ll be proven to everyone.”

With a simple click of his mouse, he stops the recording session. A sigh of relief came onto Josiah, he felt accomplished with what he could do. A few clicks later and the clip he had just recorded was going to Project Honor’s website and ready to be viewed by the world. Josiah was hesitant at first upon it’s finished upload but soon, he’d realize how quick people were to see it and his Twitter notifications became unglued about the words of the young man from Denver. This was the validation he wanted, he needed and he deserved. The world was finally paying attention to Josiah Andrew Scott, and he was soaking it all in.



“-A lot of people doubted me when it was my turn to share the stage. I don’t blame them for that either, I would have done the same if I saw someone in the same footsteps as me, but there’s one thing I would have loved enjoying in the footsteps of those who are overshadowed and overlooked, and that’s the proof of proving others wrong. Maybe it’s something with me, you know? Maybe it had to do with how I was able to perform in the ring, or something along those lines but every time there was a doubter nearby and they said I didn’t have what it takes, I’d simply show them a little trick and with a click of my fingers, I bring a doubter into a follower. That’s just who I am, I’m an influencer, I’m a frenzy on the mic and a daredevil on Twitter. Social Media loves me for who I am and what I can do, and clips of the things I do every single night is always being shown across the world for everyone to see.

People think I am a man who seeks for the attention, and they’re probably right, I beg for the spotlights to shine down on me because when they do, nobody misses a beat of the things that can be accomplished in that ring. Do you think I want anyone to miss a single clip for them to post on Twitter? I want them to know, I want them to see, I want the whole world to know the three important names in the business. Josiah Andrew Scott. Those three names are going to be everywhere and they will be everywhere because I can make that happen, the people can make that happen and with the right platform, the entire world can see it happening right before their very own eyes.

Because I am Josiah Andrew Scott, I am The Notorious, the Golden Finesser. The hottest young talent within the entire United States of America- hell, the entire North American continent. This isn't me trying to hype myself up, these are well god damn known facts and anyone- I mean ANYONE can back me up on whatever I say right here, right now. Soon, I should have my moment. Soon, it'll be my time. Soon, everyone will pay attention and know that I’ve always been right with what I’ve said and backed the hell up. And to those who firmly believe in what I can do in that ring, there’s only one thing I can tell you all as the hunt for a home continues...

Now, we play.”