So, as crazy as this sounds I’m going a bit out there with this blog and splitting it up into two separate parts. Part 1, all you fine readers will get to experience today whilst you’ll just have to wait a whole week for Part 2. I know, I know, I am cruel. But….for this to work I feel it will be much better spaced out over that period of time. Call this….an experiment….if you will. Enjoy my broski’s.
There he stood backstage, palms glistening, heart beating as the crowd stared intently on the scene unfolding in front of them. It was the opening night of William Shakespeare’s beloved tale of Romeo and Juliet, the New York crowd were mesmerised, as the entire show had, so far, gone perfectly. All eyes lay upon the beautiful Juliet as the crypt scene unfolded on stage. Romeo stood backstage, preparing for the big finale. He was being prepped by the director, applauded for his already outstanding performance. His heart beat even harder now, not because this was the big finale. No, this was his big moment. Not Romeo’s……but his own. If only the director had known what he planned than surely he would not be let on stage.
Too late.
Romeo was ushered forward onto the stage, the lights were bright, the crowd was hushed. He stared at the still body of Juliet, and he wept. Then he turned before the audience with a smile on his face. Murmured voices ushered around the theatre with the sudden breaking of character as Romeo spoke up. From his back pocket he removed a watergun, painted black, pointed it at the crowd and began to speak. Panic ensnared them but he didn’t skip a beat. “This gun in the hands of any other man is just a gun—in my hands it becomes power; just like this microphone in the hands of anybody in the back is just a microphone. You put it in the hands of a dangerous man like myself and it becomes a pipe bomb.” The crowd didn’t move, too frightened, too stuck, whatever kept them in their seats….they did not move. He continued, “These words that I speak, spoken by anybody else but me, are simply words strung together in lucid form into sentences. When I say, I mean what I mean I say, and they become ANTHEMS.” He sprayed water on the confused bodies in the front row, before dropping the gun and laughing again.
He began again, “You see, if I can be afforded the time to tell all of you here today a little bit of a story. It’s a parable of sorts. There was once an old man walking home from work, and he’s walking in the snow and he stumbled upon a snake frozen in the ice. He took that snake and he brought it home, and he took care of it. And he thawed it out, and he nursed it back to health. And as soon as that snake was well enough, it BIT that old man. And as that old man laid there dying, he asked the snake, “Why? I took care of you. I loved you. I saved your life.” And that snake looked that man right in the eye and said, “You stupid old man. I’m a snake.”
He knew now that he had them where he wanted them, he had caught them, ensnared them. They were directly in the palm of his hand. He walked to the front of the stage, arms outstretched with a cocky, arrogant manner before he uttered passionately “The greatest thing the Devil ever did was make you people believe he didn’t exist—and you’re looking at him right now. I am the devil himself and all of you stupid, mindless people fell for it. You all believed in the same make-believe shit that William Shakespeare wrote. No, you see, you didn’t know anything. You followed me, hook, line and sinker—all of you did and I’m not mad at you. I just feel sorry for you. You were all of you expecting some other lines now but I don’t think I’m gonna say them. This belongs to me. Everything you see here belongs to me. And I did what I had to do to get on this stage so that you could all hear my message. This is my stage. This is my theatre. You are my puppets and I pulled those marionette strings, and I used your emotions and I toyed with them, you see, because honestly, I get off on it. I hate each and every single one of you with a thousand—and I will not stop! I will not stop until I prove once and for all, that I am better than you. You don’t have to love it, but you better learn to accept it, because there isn’t a single person in this room that can stop me.”
Why they had let him go on for so long nobody knew but the crowd were absolutely transfixed on this man.
The voices of the crowd picked up again. A laughter soon emerged from the stage, from the same microphone, same voice which had just spoken…….this was real, this was live, this was the art of theatre.
The lights went out. The curtain dropped……..
– ROH Death Before Dishonour III, CM Punk, 18/6/2005
Handsome Hennessy 