Interview: Himiri Besi on his career and the professional wrestling industry.
Nannaras X
December 8th YC 120
Auljam Karvose’s progress to gain favor to establish a wrestling brand in the Raata Zaibatsu has been rough. From the moment Auljam revealed the infamous “Main Event” of the first Bejawl on June 1st, there has been nothing but resistance from several members of leadership and a good portion of Hoiyori’s population. With “Blading” being the most controversial detail revealed yet.
Auljam Karvose has dedicated a good portion of his time to training new wrestling talent in Hoiyori, and has neglected his other duties as Head Director of the Collaboration Studio, even to the point of causing the second Bejawl to be pushed back to the 22nd. It is here that Auljam will make a last attempt to impress the people of the Zaibatsu and get them to accept professional wrestling.
For more details on the industry and Karvose’s progress, ZANIE reached out and invited seasoned veteran and instructor for Auljam’s training camp, Himiri Besi for an interview. . Some may know him better by his ring name, Lostar Brali.
[Hoovand]
“Tonight, my guest of honor sitting across from me is a professional wrestler that has put enough years into the industry to be considered a true veteran. He is none other than Himiri Besi, better known as “Lostar Brali” to his fans out there in New Eden. Himiri, how are you feeling?”[Himiri]
“I’m feeling fine, it’s good to be here.”[Hoovand]
“Excellent; now, I want to start off with getting to know you more. Can I ask why you became a professional wrestler?”[Himiri]
“Well, much like anyone else who gets in the business, I was first a spectator before a wrestler. I grew up watching it, growing attached to the characters and storylines, and fantasized about being the one to get the title belt…As I got older and got out of school, I realized I could chase that fantasy if I put my mind to it. Otherwise, I’d have to settle with some mundane job.”[Hoovand]
“So you’re in it for the thrill? The limelight?”[Himiri]
“It was part of the motivation, sure. Ultimately I wanted to be an entertainer. I’m not the funniest guy, so stand-up wasn’t really an option. Then the holo-reel scene was way too crowded with other people trying to make their big break too, so it looked like a dead end to me. The path towards a wrestling career was presenting itself to me like it was destiny, you know?”[Hoovand]
“Well seeing as you’ve been involved with the business for a while now, I’d imagine you were destined for this career. Exactly how many years have you been a professional wrestler for?”[Himiri]
“Seven, give or take.”[Hoovand]
“So,for seven years you’ve gone by the name Lostar Brali. Is this an alter ego of yours?”[Himiri]
“Calling it an alter ego implies to me that you’re saying I have two different personalities in my personal life. Lostar Brali is a finctionalcharacter that I portray as in the confines of wrestling.”[Hoovand]
“But who is Lostar Brali?”[Himiri]
“Lostsr Brali can best be described as a vigilante out for justice. He’s an ex-slave that confronts tyranny and corruption head-on.”[Hoovand]
“A figure of heroism?”[Himiri]
“Well, that’s what a face is supposed to be. When you pitch your character to whatever promo you first work for, they don’t want a ten page backstory explaining his nuanced morality. They want something short and simple that immediately tells you whatever or not the character is a heel or a face.”[Hoovand]
“I’m sorry, heel? Face? What does that mean?”[Himiri]
“Bad guy and good guy, respectively. At the core of storytelling in wrestling, it comes down to who should the audience cheer for and who shouldn’t they cheer for. A face is a wrestler that is honorable, courageous, noble and disciplined, where heels are arrogant, cowardly, and dishonorable, willing to cheat in any match and backstab anyone to achieve their own goals.”[Hoovand]
“So, Lostar was what you would call a face then?”[Himiri]
“Correct, but since he was a vigilante, he didn’t exactly follow due process and took matters into his own hands. Ultimately, though, he stood for justice and did follow a code of honor. He just wanted to hurt some bad guys really badly along the way.”[Hoovand]
“And this motivation of the character is a product of his backstory as a slave… With slavery being a very sensitive subject to the Matari, have you encountered anyone from the tribes who takes offense toan outsider pretending to be an ex-slave?”[Himiri]
“Of course, and just so I can come clean,when I initially made the character Lostar Brali, I was young and ignorant. I was stuck on a single planet, oblivious to the larger galaxy and oblivious to my own Brutor heritage, but in a way that’s why I made Lostar Brali. I wanted to be that Matari superhero, you know? “Grrr, slavery”, and all that… and it’s not like Lostar was portrayed insultingly; he was out there destroying Amarrians. Hell! It was the Amarrians I ended up pissing off the most.”[Hoovand]
“How so?”[Himiri]
“Four years back we were doing a pay-per-view event somewhere on the Amarr-Federal border; I forget where exactly, but there tons of Amarrian immigrants here, a super dense area of them… At the time I was locked in a rivalry with Rogbal Titiaster, a posh true Amarrian of noble blood and devoted to what the scriptures teach. For a business-as-usual event, Rogbal was a heel. Here, however, with this crowd it has the reverse effect, where I’m the heel and he’s the face. It was his night in front of the fans: he even opened the show with a prayer session with the entire crowd there. This was his night in front of his fans and I had the honor of being in the main event with him.”[Hoovand]
“So what happened?”[Himiri]
“A stupid plan that backfired in my face. See, our rivalry consisted of beating the piss out of the topic of slavery. We never really touched on the subject of religion as that’s way more accepted in the Federation than slavery, and despite being the audience being Amarrian immigrants, they most likely had more support for their faith than slavery… So, we had to come up with something new, and since I was technically the heel this night, I approached Rogbal and the writing team to tell them this plan of me stealing Rogbal’s personal Scriptures book, which he always took out to the ring, and lighting it on fire in front of the whole audience before our match started. They let me do this.”[Hoovand]
“Oh god…”[Himiri]
“…The network got SO MANY complaints that night that it almost brought down the entire brand I was working for. Now keep in mind this was a fake book: genuine cover, but all the pages were blank. Wrestling is fake after all, right? We sold it to the audience there and everyone watching at home that I burned a legitimate copy of their religious texts right there, live in ultra definition.”[Hoovand]
“Oh, goodness, what were you thinking? I have to be quite honest with you Himiri, I’m personally slightly offended from you just telling me that you did this.”[Himiri]
“Hoovand, I assure you, I do regret doing this.This almost destroyed my career, but before that realization set in, it was one of the greatest moments of my life–because when you play the heel, you have to learn to love the hate. Their booing is the equivalent of the audience cheering for the face, and let me tell you, the entire audience booed in unison. I got a high like no other, no drug in this universe could take me to the level of euphoria I had in that brief moment. I was grinning ear to ear backstage after that match, then someone in a suit tapped me on the shoulder and took me into another to have a talk and explain how my plan had just horrifically ■■■■■■ everything up. Would I ever do this again? Never. I learned a very stiff lesson that night…”[Hoovand]
“I’m gonna leave it at that and steer the topic in a new direction. I wanna talk about where you are now, here in the Zaibatsu. Why did you come here?”[Himiri]
“I wanted a new start with my career. When I left the EWF and turned heel, I was committing to the next stage of evolution as a wrestler. I would go and take it easy in the independent scene where I would have more creative control over my character. I played a face for seven years, and the act got so stale. I wanted to overhaul the character. When I dropped and became a free agent, Auljam contacted me and told me that I’d be perfect to help him build a wrestling brand. He was vague about the Zaibatsu and I was a litte daft not to do some research, but the opportunity got me excited. I could build something and make a difference.”[Hoovand]
“Telling from past quotes ZANIE collected, it sounds like this wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.”[Himiri]
“Damn straight! It’s incredibly difficult and stressful work. I’m currently the only guy that can teach these rookies after my help bailed out…”[Hoovand]
“Your contract with the Studio expires this month. I take it you’re looking forward to getting out of here?”[Himiri]
“…”[Hoovand]
“Himiri?”[Himiri]
"…Don’t get it twisted just yet. I know what I’ve said in my past quotes, and I meant what I said at the time. All of what I’ve said and done is the result of long weeks working to train these prospects. This has been an incredibly stressful endeavor that has taken its toll on me both emotionally and physically. After Auljam stepped in and started buckling down and putting in these late hours, it made me realize how much I’ve just been bitching. Now with my contract ending soon, I have the choice of jumping ship or trucking on. How this Bejawl turns out will help me decide, and the way things are looking? Well… you’ll find out for yourself.”[Hoovand]
“I see… Well Himiri, it was a pleasure to have you down. I fear we’re out of time, however, and I need to wrap this up.[Himiri]
“No problem; thanks for having me here.”