Post by Madman on Dec 1, 2013 18:29:15 GMT -5
Monday.November 25th.2013
Key Arena.Seattle.Washington
11:00 PM PST
I was basking in my second straight victory as I sat down on a steel folding chair that was positioned in front of my locker. Another rendition of PURE Wrestling has come and gone, but this one just left a better taste in my mouth. The taste of sweet, sweet victory, as I solidified a position the fatal four way for the Heavyweight Championship at Crisis. Before that I still had a few weeks to spare.
I began disrobing, one article at a time, dropping them into a blue gym bag that I had placed on the floor in front of me. Gloves, boots, knee pads, shorts, all fell into the bag. While sitting in nothing but boxer briefs I heard the vibrations of my cell phone rubbing against my gear. I sifted through my bag in search of my phone. I finally found my phone and pulled it out, looking at the caller ID on the screen. Seeing that it was my baby brother Nick, I slide the green bar that said answer and quickly put the phone on speakerphone.
"Hey boss, what's going on?"
His muffled voice blared through the speaker, "Not much man. Big win tonight, congrats!"
"Thanks man..." There was a short moment of silence that I was contributing to shitty reception. "You there Nick?"
"Yeah, I'm here. Listen, I was just wondering..." I knew instantly that the end of this conversation was going to be a question or a favor that I really had no interest in taking part in. Nick had a knack for grabbing me by the ankles and pulling me off cloud nine. "...are you coming home this week? Mom and Dad have been on my case with Thanksgiving and then your birthday. I don't know why they just won't pick up the phone and call you."
My natural assumption was right. I got sucked right through that fluffy white cloud and right back to reality. "Yeah I'll be home. I'm flying in tomorrow and then leaving on Sunday."
"Alright, cool...do you wanna call mom and dad or do you want me to let them know?"
As much as I wanted to avoid any conversation possible with my parents it wouldn't be right to dump that on my brother. "I'll call 'em. I'm pretty sure Maria is looking to do thanksgiving at my place."
"Sounds good...and again, big win...you looked good out there. That championship is within reach!"
The phone went silent as my brother hung up the other end. His word resonated with me while I sat alone. The Heavyweight Championship was definitely within reach, all I had to do was bide my time!
Thursday.November 28th.2013
Long Island.New York
1:00 PM EST
The mouth-watering aroma of a thanksgiving feast being cooked filtered it's way through the first floor of my colonial Long Island home. Turkey day football created some background noise which could be heard from the living room. I crept my way around and stood in the entrance way to the kitchen, watching unsuspected as Maria bounces around frantically trying to prepare the holiday feast.
I stalked her every movement. She bent over while wearing a skin tight halter dress underneath an apron. Her exposed arms were covered in tattoos and her fiery red hair was primped to perfection. She had a classic housewife look with an modern day alternative twist. I looked her over from head to toe and was thoroughly impressed with what I had seen. It had been almost three weeks since I got to spent time with her. I don't know how she continues to put up with my schedule. After tip-toeing behind her I placed my two hands on her hips, making her nearly jump out of her red pumps that matched the unnatural color of her hair.
"Holy shit! You nearly scared me half to death…" She placed her hand over her chest tattoo and took a couple of labored breaths. "How long were you standing there?"
"Not too long…"
She had recollected herself and looked over the kitchen counters which were covered with usual suspects: mashed potatoes, corn, cranberry sauce, turkey gravy, green bean casserole, and cut up squash. "Everything seems to be coming together!" She glowed, proud of the meal she was putting forth.
"It looks good babe…"
She could sense the dread in my voice. "What's wrong", she asked while beginning to untie her apron.
"Just looking for this day to be over."
She looked bewildered by my response. "How can you say that? It's Thanksgiving…You're not allowed to be grumpy today. There are millions of people who far worse off. You've got so much to be thankful for."
"Yeah I know, I just don't really want to deal with my family. I would have been much happier doing something low key…you know…just you and me."
She shook her head at me in disgust. She had no family and here I was complaining about having to see mine. Pretty pathetic of me, but I wasn't thinking when it slipped out of my mouth. "You know not everyone is as lucky as you to have family. You should cherish moments like this. You never know when it can be taken away from you."
Well, now I felt like shit. Here I am complaining because I have to spend an afternoon with my family while she's got nobody to turn to. "Hey..." I put my hand around her head, cupping my hand around her neck. "I didn't mean anything by it. I feel like a dick, I never meant anything by it. It's just that I know how the conversation is going to go tonight. Dad will try to weasel his way into training my somehow while Mom is going to beg me to give up wrestling."
"Well you can handle it for one day. Before you know it you'll be flying back to Seattle." The condescending tone in her voice was strong enough to crush a man. They always say there's no wrath like a woman's scorn, and I think I'm on the cusp of being able to prove that theory.
So I did what any man would do... "You're right babe, I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking." I could see a glimpse of a rebound here but she her eyebrows were still scrunched and bridge of her nose was wrinkled as she looked through me. "Man everything smells great!"
My hailmary attempt to change the subject seemed to be working as she once again surveyed all the work she was putting into the feast. "It does doesn't it?" She cracked a smile and turned back towards the over. I pumped my fist behind her back; crisis averted! "What time did you tell your parents to come by?"
"I told everyone around two thirty. My parents will be here at two thirty on the dot. Nick will probably stumble his way in any minute. Free beer, free food, and football? Yeah he's not passing that up!" Almost on cue the doorbell rang.
I moved my way out of the kitchen and rushed to the door. I pulled the door open to see Nick standing there with two six packs of beer in hand. "I wasn't sure what you wanted so I brought two over..."
I reached out and grabbed the beer from his hands and embraced with a hug. "Thanks for coming a bit early, you don't know how much you just saved my ass!"
Nick smiled as he peered passed me to see if Maria was within ears reach. "It's going that good huh? You're home for two days and already are starting world war three. Man I can't wait for mom and dad to get here!"
"Shut up!" I jokingly gave him a smack to the back of the head and he walked forward laughing at me. He made it to the living room and plopped down on the couch, immediately becoming glued to the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers game. I watched cautiously, knowing that he had struggled with gambling not too long ago. It was only a couple of months ago that I was paying up his debts and getting leveled out by a slapjack.
Maria had caught me watching Nick. She signaled for me to come back to the kitchen and I dreadfully did. It was as if she could read my mind. "You don't think he's gambling again do you?"
"I don't know, why?"
"He came right in and without even saying hello sat down in front of the television."
"So..."
"Well I don't want him throwing his life away. Go find out", she ordered.
"How do you want me to do that? Just walk in there and ask how much he laid down on this game?" Maria thought for a moment, to her that option was a bit enticing. "No! He's a big boy. If he wants to ruin his life its on him. I'm done bailing him out. Do you at least understand why I find spending time with my family far from desirable?"
The left corner of her mouth twitched before cracking half a smile. "Yeah I guess I could understand where you're coming from. But it's one day, just deal with it. Before you know, it will be all over!"
"Not nearly soon enough babe." I pinched at the bridge of my nose as my sinuses began pounding. "All I want to do is get this week over with, go into Seattle and finish this make believe dream match between Maverick Jones and I so I can focus on AJP and the Heavyweight Championship match..."
_________________________________
"Last week I did exactly as I said I would. I made Dennis Driver tap out and by doing so, guaranteed myself a spot in the Heavyweight Championship match at Crisis and a rematch with Aubrey J. Parker..."
"I also seemed to have sparked a bit of interest in seeing a one on one match between myself and Maverick Jones. People seem to think you had that match all lined up for the taking. Which you did, but I'm the one who took it! I capitalized on the opportunity put forth in front of me. I did what was necessary to pick up the win. It's not always about how dominant you are. You need smarts. You need to be able to grab the bull by the horns and seize the day! Carpe diem! That's exactly what I did and that's exactly why I'm a fixture in the Main Event at Crisis and you're still searching for your path!"
"It must be tough for you to wander the world of PURE wrestling with no purpose, no direction. You try so hard to come off as this imposing figure who is here to destroy everyone in his path, yet the only thing you're destroying is your own credibility! Week by week you're being proven wrong and at some point you won't have a leg to stand on!"
"You can toss around words like path, destiny, and grand design, but in the end it's all one large facade. They're just words that have no bearing in the wrestling ring. Like a crutch, you use them to lean on when you refuse to admit that you're just not good enough. There is no grand design. Destiny is just a name of a stripper that you'd find at a bottom dollar joint. The only path in this industry is the one you make for yourself, not some pre-determined map of your career set up by some higher power!"
"Some would commend you for showing such devotion to this higher power. Not too many people have faith like that anymore. But me, I see you and all I can do is shake my head and wonder how upper management has deemed it safe to have a nutcase running around in the wrestling ring. I mean here is a man who whole heartedly believes that some otherworldly forces are guiding his life and then in turn has full length conversations with his own reflection! Somebody needs a straight jacket!"
"Oh I'm sure it's killing you Maverick. You come to PURE Wrestling, looking for a fresh start. In your past companies I'm sure you were the biggest fish in the pond. But now, in PURE, you're a guppy swimming with sharks! The waters here are just a bit too deep for you. You learned that when Anthony Bailey beat you on the debut broadcast, you learned that last week when I stole a victory from you by putting away Dennis Driver, and you'll be reassured of it when I personally choke you out this coming Monday! I'm not afraid of the dark or anything that goes numb in the night. I don't fear anything! Especially you!"
"You see if it's what the people want to see, then Callahan and Rebel are going to make it happen. You're way down on my list of priorities but I could always use a nice easy match to keep myself finely tuned. I'd much rather be squaring off with AJP or Young Mannie to name a few. This match has no gleam to it. So what, I outsmarted you last week, is that really enough for an instant rematch? That's enough for a huge draw? Mannie and I have been at each other's throats since the beginning and we've still yet to have a match. But here we are, four weeks in, and I get to hand you another disappointing loss. Before last week I wouldn't have been able to pick you out from a hole in the wall and now here we are with what some are considering a huge rematch. I don't see it, to me it's just a waste of time!"
"But don't be mistaken...when I say it's a waste of time, it doesn't mean I'm taking you lightly. The old Chris Madison maybe...but not me. There was once a time where I was young, brash, cocky, and felt I was above shit like this. All I wanted to do was further my brand in the wrestling industry and if I saw no benefit in a match, I wasn't going to take part in it. But six years over seas in Japan can change a man. My time in the land of the rising son made me appreciate the purity of this sport. Day by day passed and all I wanted was another opponent to prove that I am better than, not for monetary gain or notoriety, but for peace of mind. I want to go down as one of the best in the world and the only way you do that is by competing week after week and proving it to the fans!"
"So if this is the matchup this week than so be it! I'll appease upper management and give them want they want, the slaughter of Maverick Jones! It's only fighting that as we celebrate a holiday in the United States that glorifies the mass slaughter of the Native American people, we recreate it with a slaughter of our own. Perhaps it will be for your own good. Maybe I can exercise some of those demons you have bottled up and help get your career back on track! At the rate your going its a long, long road to irrelevancy. But they always say that you need to hit rock bottom before you can start rebuilding yourself. This will be your rock bottom, I'll choke you within an inch of your life and then when you wake up tomorrow it will be a whole new world. The air will seem fresher, food will taste better, and you'll know just how fragile life can be!"
"You can thank me later..."
