[Jet City]

==========================================================
>
===========================================================


Don’t Sweat It
Los Angeles, CA -- Princess Cruise Ship
2 JULY 2023
OFF-Camera


Summer XXXtreme hadn’t gone as I wanted it to. I mean, it was nice being back in the ring again, but I had talked an awful big game just to come up short. It wasn’t the re-debut that I wanted. It hadn’t been the night that I had planned out in my mind all week. At least there was one silver lining: I was back. They couldn’t take that contract away. It was real. This was actually tangible. There was nobody that could show up and tell me that I had to give it up. King and Reg weren’t going to step out of the shadows and try and snatch it all away from me. Those chapters of my life were over, and I could write whatever story I wanted to. All things considered, I couldn’t really be too upset that the first page of that new story was a loss. There was a lot more to write. There were a lot more matches in my future. There were even bigger opportunities coming.

I assumed everyone was going to celebrate their big wins, or drown their sorrows at the bar, so I immediately headed back to the room that Court had won for me earlier in the week. I wasn’t good company after a loss. I had learned that much last year after falling short in Blast from the Past. Levona and I had worked so well together, but I hadn’t spoken to her since my blow up after that loss. Granted, I disappeared shortly after that.

As I walked down the hallway towards the room, I was tapped on the shoulder by someone that had been jogging and winded trying to catch up to me.

COURT: You know, you don’t have to beat yourself up about that. Carter had something to prove out there. Kid has been mad upset about getting left off of the show…

JAYCEE: He wasn’t left off of the show. He failed to get a spot on the show… twice. I was left off of the show.

COURT: ...yet you didn’t let that stop you. Here you are!

JAYCEE: Glad I made you go through all of the effort just to fall on my face out there.

COURT: Oh stop it! You didn’t fall on your face out there. Did you see that Troll guy out there? The guy was good for the fucking laugh of the night. Following that, nobody is going to care about any of the winners and losers of the matches. That guy was a bigger loser than any of us could have hoped to top.

JAYCEE: It is easy to have that outlook when you made the tournament winner tap out…

COURT: Yeah, that was particularly sweet for me. First Roxi, and now Devona. If I keep laying them out like this, they are going to start listing my amongst some of the greats.

JAYCEE: Except that you’re married to a dead weight, and you’re about to have Keira fist deep up your ass about a championship match now that she did you a solid and saved Ruby from getting dismantled.

COURT: I can handle Keira.

JAYCEE: Oh? How do you intend to do that?

COURT: I intend to give her what she actually wants. I’ll bury that shit under a whole lot of feigned mutual respect. I will commend her for what she did for Ruby. I will offer her a shot that she can’t turn down, and then I will burn down the other half of Team Hero.

JAYCEE: Jesus Christ… remind me not to ever get on your bad side.

COURT: It’s not like there’s not something in it for her. They are never going to let her get a shot at me without my say so. I do this for her, and she gives me the moment that I want in exchange.

JAYCEE: ...and that is the freeze frame of you standing over her with your title still in hand?

COURT: ... I taught you so well.

JAYCEE: Apparently not. As good as all of that sounds for you, I still came up short tonight. Maybe I didn’t absorb enough of your lessons.

COURT: ...or maybe there was too much Kris involvement.

JAYCEE: Hey! We have been over this. I don’t want to be in the middle of that shit.

COURT: Sure you do. That is the only position where you can play both sides.

JAYCEE: I am not playing both sides, I am continuing like your little spat with each other doesn’t even register in my mind. Everything is business as usual.

COURT: Sure it is…

She winked at me and patted me on the shoulder as I stopped at my door. I knew that all of this was her way of checking on me to make sure that I wasn’t taking the loss too hard, but she had a way of turning into Kris whether she knew it or not. As I fumbled for my key, she kept her stride, leaving me behind in the process. I opened the door, and went inside to get cleaned up.

JAYCEE: I don’t even know why I bother.



==========================================================
>
===========================================================


Refocused
San Diego, CA -- Jet City South
10 JULY 2023
OFF-Camera


At least now I knew where I was lacking in the ring. Heading into the match with Carter I would have tried to convince anyone and everyone that I was ready. I thought that I had everything polished. I thought that I was still sharp enough. All of that had been exposed as hubris at Summer XXXtreme. Carter picked me apart little by little. He exposed every flaw. It was like he had a blueprint of how to take me apart, and I wasn’t up for the challenge. In a weird way though, I appreciated it. Carter opened my eyes. He showed me what I needed to work on. Instead of sulking about it, the moment that I stepped off of the boat I was back in the gym. I needed to ratchet up my training, and start taking it more seriously.

The person that I really trusted to help that along had been banished from Jet City South. These days we weren’t even allowed to utter the Bombshell World Champion’s name out loud inside the building. Unfortunately, that left me with the one person that I could trust to actually help me. As brilliant as he was in the ring, there was always the chance that he was setting me up for failure as a gag. It was valid for me to be concerned for my safety around him, because several people in the gym had learned that lesson the hard way. He would push people out of their comfort zones. He would goad people into being overly aggressive. He has ended a handful of careers before they ever got a chance to start, and I have never seen him look like he felt bad about it. He saw it as weeding out the weak, and this week he was totally focused on me. Kris and Mikah had been so busy ushering Oz and Eiley along that I had kind of flown under the radar for a while. My loss at Summer XXXtreme changed that. It inspired Kris to take more of a hands on approach to make sure that I wasn’t ever going to fall short like that ever again. The problem with that was, Court’s words about Kris’ influence being the problem kept ringing in my ears.

KRIS: You know you have to get better at all this if you don’t want Jack to rip you apart.

JAYCEE: Yeah? What makes you so fucking sure about that, huh? I have been busting my ass to get ready for this match since it was announced. I have watched everything this guy has done in Sin City. I know what I am stepping into the ring with.

KRIS: Do you though? I mean really. I have been in the ring with him before--

JAYCEE: You mean, you have lost a championship to him before…

KRIS: I lost a championship because sorry ass O’Malley was in the match. Don’t try to skip over the fact that I beat Jack for that championship one-on-one. If anyone knows what you are setting yourself up for, it is me. But I had it easy.

JAYCEE: ...because you’re just so much fucking better than everyone else, right?

KRIS: No. Because when I fought him he was a champion already. Look how that worked out against Calvin. Jack Washington is much better during the chase than he ever was as a champion. I mean, if you watched all of his stuff, you should have picked up on the pattern. He goes on an amazing run, wins a championship, but then kind of fizzles out until he loses it.

JAYCEE: Your point?

KRIS: My point is that I beat him to win the championship. I had the luxury of doing so while he was running out of steam. However, I took his meal ticket away from him. Look what happened. He came storming back, won the championship again, and the cycle repeated itself all over again.

JAYCEE: Well back then it was all about the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. This was the Internet Championship. Clearly the guy has taken a step down in the world since you two were locking up in the middle of the ring. If after a couple of years, he is already on the backslide, maybe you are giving him a little too much credit.

KRIS: ...you realize I won the Mixed Tag Team Championships last right? I was already a Triple Crown Champion. I had already broken records. I was already well on my way to the Hall of Fame. A championship is a championship though.

JAYCEE: No it’s not. Everyone knows that there is only one prize. Everyone in this business is competing to be the top guy.

KRIS: False. Some people, like Jack Washington, are just competing for the gold. All he gives a shit about is the money. That money comes regardless of which belt is on his shoulder. The only thing that matters is that he has his hands on at least one of them, and now you are standing between him and the shortest route to getting one of those championships back.

JAYCEE: ...after he rediscovered his hunger, no less.

KRIS: ...and now you see why I said that I had it a little easier than you did. Think back to when you were in Blast from the Past last year. You wanted so badly for the world to recognize you. That is what made you and Levana so deadly to all of those other teams. Jack has that kind of motivation now. If you are going to beat him, you are going to need to find the same kind of thing. Just being on top of your game isn’t going to be enough.

JAYCEE: I need to want it more than a man that is obsessed with it.

KRIS: Now you’re getting it.

JAYCEE: That sounds impossible.

KRIS: Now you know why I said you needed to get to work. You’re running out of days, kid.

JAYCEE: ...at least I know what I am actually up against now…

He gave me the little push that I needed. Despite their issues, he and Court were really the perfect duo for this. Court had given me the boost that I needed after the loss at Summer XXXtreme, and Kris made sure that I was focused on what was really important at Climax Control. They might think that the other’s influence over me is negative, but their combined efforts have always been what made me a better competitor. The longer than I can remain neutral in their war, the better it would be for me.



==========================================================
>Time to Shine

==========================================================


”Jack Washington…”

”It’s hard to get angry with the guy. It’s hard to find something to nitpick about him.”

”I mean, it’s not that I like the guy. Like everyone else, I find him kind of abrasive. The guy doesn’t know how to hold his tongue, and has never sugar-coated a single thought that has come out of his mouth. He’s harsh. He is hard to throw any kind of support behind. The guy just had a match with Calvin Harris, and people honestly couldn’t decide which one of them they hated more. That says something…”

”...but it is not like the guy lies. He doesn’t even really bend or try to reshape the truth. The guy comes out and speaks his mind, which is kind of hard to find any fault with. Isn’t that the same thing that all of us do in this business? Isn’t that all just part of the job?”

”...and that is what really matters for Jack. He isn’t in it for the admiration. He isn't in it for the love of the game. The guy has been open and honest about the fact that he does this for the paycheck. He wants to rise to the top of the roster, because the bonuses are better when your name is the one on the marquee. That attitude made him a Sin City Wrestling Internet Champion… twice.  For that matter, it made him the World Heavyweight Champion… also twice.”

”...and sure, people are quick to point out that no matter which championship Jack earns, he loses it just a couple months later, but that isn’t the point. He might relax a little, or party a little harder, when times are going great, but after Summer XXXtreme, things aren’t going so great. Jack Washington is not going to walk into Climax Control as the beatable complacent champion that we see a couple of months into each and every one of his reigns. He isn’t going to be the guy that is just going through the motions because he is already carrying around his golden prize.”

”Nah, come time for Climax Control, Jack is going to be at the bottom of the ladder and looking up. He is going to be back on the chase. He is going to be the man that is damned near impossible to keep from ascending the ranks of Sin City. The winner of this match punched their ticket to the King for a Day match, and if they win that, they can book themselves in any championship match that they want to…”

”That is what I am up against. I am standing in between one of the most capable men on the Sin City roster, and his opportunity to regain championship gold in this company. That makes beating Jack Washington on Climax Control a much taller task than it was for Calvin Harris to end his championship reign at Summer XXXtreme. Jack will have found that hunger inside himself before he arrives at The Coliseum. He will have moved on from that traumatic loss at the hands of someone more hated by the fans than he is. He will have already set his sights on the next big paycheck, and that makes me the obstacle that he is going to try and dismantle.”

”...and I am willing to bet that Jack feels inspired by those facts. I bet that when he saw my name opposite his on this card, it hit him like a warm hug. I would be willing to put money on the fact that this match-up brought a smile to Jack’s face, because it should have. I am the guy that couldn’t buy his way into a match on Climax Control for the last two months. I am the guy that was a last-second addition to Summer XXXtreme. I am the guy that the boat left without, and once I caught up to it, I went out in front of the crowd and lost anyway. I could blame the rushed nature of the match. I could blame the ring rust. I could blame the shock of being out in front of a crowd without having to look over my shoulder for the first time in my life. There were numerous obstacles, and distractions, surrounding my match with Carter at Summer XXXtreme, and I could point to any or all of them as an excuse for falling short.”

”...but I am not going to do that, and I haven’t done that. I said that Carter was the better man on social media. I owned up to the fact that maybe I rushed into things without thinking them through. I was desperate to be on the show in any way, shape, or form. I didn’t have my head on straight. I didn’t care who I got as an opponent, because I just wanted to be involved. I just wanted to say that I was officially back. I wanted to cement my place on the roster…”

”None of those reasons are good enough to step inside the ring.”

”I wasn’t focused on the right things, and that is my fault. But that problem has already solved itself....”

”All of those nerves and jitters got sorted out on the Princess Cruise ship. I sat down with Mark and Christian and got all the t’s crossed, and the i’s dotted on my contract. I stepped out into that ring and competed to the best of my ability. Sure, I came up short, but I learned what I needed to work on. I could feel the holes in my game. I could sense that I wasn’t quite as polished as I was last year. That is not something that you can find in a gym. You can do all of the same routines that you did before stepping into the ring before, but there is no substitution for actually competing, and it takes a little time to get the timing back. Like the old saying though, it is like riding a bike. It all started flooding back during my match with Carter, and I am more than ready to give things another shot.”

”You could say that Jack and I are perfect opponents for each other this week. We both just suffered a setback. We are both anxious to get back to the way things are supposed to be, and we could both get much closer to those goals if we are able to enter and win King for a Day.”

”...I have a feeling that this one is going to get bloody before things are said and done, because there is no way that either of us let this opportunity slip through our fingers without having to be carried out of the ring afterwards.”

”...and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”