THEN
Barbados, a little under two weeks ago.
It was back to winning ways for J2H as he, along with Devona had defeated Eiley and Kain, a woman of great potential and a man past his peak in the mind of J2H. He might have been past his peak but J2H proved to himself something that he had been haunted by for a while, he proved that a guy with an MMA style and hard hitting as Kain was, he was able to somehow overcome that.
He sat in the ring for a few seconds after the match, just listening for his name to be announced as winner, it was a familiar sound that he had became accustomed to over the years, but a sound he never got sick of hearing. It was justification for hard work, it was justification that no matter who the opponent was, he had given it his all. Of course, after hearing his name announced, he didn't want to stick around, he had the winning feeling but this time felt different, this time there was another feeling swimming through his veins as he left the ring and walked up the ramp, just drowning out the sound of the fans, he felt something that had never really washed over him before.
Relief.
He marched through the curtains, feeling eyes burning in to him from every single angle possible, everyone from fellow wrestlers, some used to the style of J2H and who he was, and some new faces who were just trying to see if the tales of J2H had been true. In his mind, he couldn't give a shit about what people thought about him at that moment in time and congratulation words fell of deaf ears as he hurried through the people backstage, not taking a single thing in front them. He had one goal, get the hell out of that building as fast as he could.
He was never known to be the most sociable type when he didn't have to be, sure, he'd do all the things a champion would do when he was a champion, he'd do all the press things but he'd be out of there and back home as quickly as he could. He knew he couldn't just get back home, he was on an Island thousands of miles from home, but he could sure as shit get out of the building.
It didn't take him long to get back to his dressing room and sitting down on a bench under his locker and that's when it hit him stronger, the relief of getting through another match, beating the mental block put in his head by the whole Fenris situation. He cupped his intertwined fingers around his head and let out the strongest sigh of relief as his body folded over. He had done it and got through it and now it was time to get out of the building.
It took him a few minutes in the shower to wash the sweat from his body before he stepped out, taking no interest in watching the other matches left on the card, and to get dressed before he picked up his bag and pulled his phone from his pocket. He looked through the messages on his phone, filled with congratulatory and well wishes and smiled as he saw a picture of his son celebrating his win. He rolled his thumb to the next message from Austin Parker.
"If you couldn't beat that old bastard, I would have disowned you."
That brought a smirk to J2H's face as he rose to his feet, throwing his bag over his shoulder and heading out of the door, only to run in to Christian Underwood.
Christian: Nice work out there.
Instantly, the arrogance in J2H kicked in as he looked at Christian.
J2H: Yeah I know.
A wave of his hand showed Christian he wanted him to move out of his way, but Christian just rolled his eyes at the egotistical man.
Christian: That's one thing I admire about you James, your modesty.
He wasn't impressed with Christian's attempt at humor, he as more focused on getting the hell out of the building, but something had struck him during the match, and he wasn't thinking about Kain's fists or feet.
J2H: Good, and I hope you'll appreciate my honesty.
This caused Christian to raise an eyebrow, his interested dialled up to eleven.
Christian: Oh?
J2H: Sign Eiley, seriously, sign Eiley, she has it all.
Christian: Duly noted.
His tone was blank but J2H knew that if he thought there was something about an opponent, then Christian should too. Christian knew that J2H was drilled in every aspect of the wrestling business during his training with Austin Parker, including spotting good talent.
J2H: And another thing Christian.
Another rolled set of eyes greeted J2H as he looked up at his boss.
Christian: What would that be? A brass band to follow you around for your next match? Maybe a couple of people holding giant leafs to keep you cool?
J2H: I've seen where this tour is going and the last thing I need is to be kept cool.
Christian: Then what? Cheerleaders?
J2H couldn't help but shake his head disappointedly at Christian.
J2H: You know, I thought your jokes were shit on Twitter, especially your April Fools joke, but man, you must have a birthday coming up because you're about to hit the age where your jokes are only funny to yourself.
Patience had finally run out from Christian as he looked at J2H with judgemental eyes.
Christian: What is it James?
His blunt tone whistled through the air as J2H looked at him with calmness.
J2H: Never, EVER bring that joker Kain back again. He is not the guy he used to be, hell, I had to carry his old ass through that thing. It was ridiculous. I know Blast From The Past is to bring back older guys too but fuck, he sucks.
J2H didn't wait for a response as he walked past Christian and towards an exit door, walking past other wrestlers watching the end of the show. He stopped short of the exit by a few feet, reaching in to his bag and pulling out a baseball cap and placing it on his head. He knew the fans would gather outside as they often did, waiting to catch a glimpse of their favorite wrestlers and try and take pictures. He waited by the door, gathering his thoughts before making his way through the door. He kept his head down but glanced up under the peak of his cap, looking at the gathered fans, but sharply turned left, keeping himself in the shadow of the building and hoped that no one had seen his quick escape.
He heard whispers from the crowd, pretty sure he heard his own name mentioned but he kept walking and acting like he was invisible. He quickly made his way to the lively area of Barbados, thankfully just a few minutes away from the arena, where the night sky was lit up with bright signs of bars and restaurants on the sea front, it was Barbados after all, pretty much everything is on the sea front, but he felt he could blend in a little better. He didn't think that the people at these places were wrestling fans, at least not yet while the show was still going on, he figured they'll be mostly tourists being waited on by the locals.
He quickly slipped across the road nearby and towards the beach, his head hanging low and avoiding eye contact with party goers and locals alike before finding a few steps leading down on to the golden Barbadian sands with the tide just slowly drifting in. Raising his head for just a few seconds, his eyes scanned the beach for a quiet spot. The feeling of surprise ran over his body as he looked around, seeing more people on the beach then he expected at night, but his surprise soon faded as he realised there were more couples then anything else.
The sand crunched under his feet as he moved to a quiet spot, underneath the shadow of a large rock and sat down on a smaller rock in front, taking a moment to take in the breathtaking scene around him. The moon shining down on the sea was enough to make anyone, including J2H, appreciate life a little more then usual.
J2H: Well, you did it James.
He wanted a moment to talk to himself, maybe for some intelligent conversation but he needed some time alone.
J2H: That monkey is off your back and you're free again. No more doubt, no more worry, no more bullshit weighing you down. It might have only been Kain, a man who was not even in good shape but it wasn't about that, was it, it was about the self doubt caused by bullshit, now disappearing.
High Stakes had absolutely rattled him, his confidence was gone, regardless of how he made it seem, he had doubted so much of his life because of that night, he felt sick at the thought of even getting back in to a wrestling ring again, but tonight had taken a lot of that self doubt away, it had free his mind, body and soul from being weighed down with what felt like an anchor around his next.
J2H: Now we move on to whoever is next and we do it again, then again, then we get the World champion and we do it again.
He didn't know at this point on who his next opponent would be but he could feel the confidence running through him, he was oddly happy, he was content, he feared absolutely no opponent, hell, he didn't even know who the fuck was left in the tournament but he was still confident that he could take on any man. It was a feeling that he had missed for months.
J2H: There is no fucking way I'm gonna slow down, it's mine for the taking and I'm going to take it. I am the Michael Jordan, I am the Pele, I am the Muhammad Ali of Sin City Wrestling, I am the greatest that has ever laced up a pair of boots.
He smiled confidently as his eyes looked out to sea and that feeling rushed over his body once more.
Relief.
J2H: It could have been worse, least the weathers been good.
Some would call those famous last words when you fast forward a couple of weeks to the next time J2H competes, with the location, pretty much the opposite of his time in Barbados.
*****
NOW
Grantown-on-Spey, Scottish Highlands, Scotland.
Never had be been in a town like Grantown-on-Spey in the Scottish Highlands, most wrestling shows, or concerts, or anything designed to draw a crowd, tend to find themselves in the denser city areas, but SCW are unique in their tours and picking places off the beaten track, in hope to draw people to these new locations. Historically it had worked for SCW every time they went to Europe or the UK, attracting fans from different countries trying to get a look at their, in most people's terms, guilty pleasure. Grantown-on-Spey had a new life to it all of a sudden thanks to the arrival of SCW, they town seemed happy and so did the people, well, except for one person.
J2H: What the fuck is this shit?
The cold air had gotten to the man used to the California sun as he found himself standing in the hotel lobby, looking through the glass door leading to the streets of Grantown-on-Spey. He had been in the hotel room since his arrival in Scotland, not venturing out in to the streets for a chance meeting with people. He'd even gone as far as to dodge Devona, his own tag team partner since he arrived, not once replying to her messages or requests to meet to work on a few things. He had cut himself off from the SCW roster as he usually does.
He looked through the glass, debating on if he should venture out in to streets, running possibilities through his head but cabin fever had got to him over the last couple of days to the point where he felt the craziness might start creeping in to him. He pulled up the hood of his thick back coat, pulling the hood over his baseball cap as far as it could go before pulling down on the strings to tighten them up, trying to hide as much of his face as he possible could.
J2H: Well, here goes nothing.
He made his way to the door, his hands pushing on the cold glass to open it and shuffled in to the street, looking around to get a sense of location. He had arrived at night and not taken much notice of the town before, so this to him was seeing the surprising quaint and pretty town for the first time. People moved past him, his oversized hood doing it's job well as no one seemed to take any notice of him, except one older lady, of traditional grandmother age, stared at him from across the road, just looking towards him as if no other person moved through the street.
J2H: Yeah, that's not fucking weird at all. I guess every town has a crazy cat lady and that must be her.
For just a second, he considered turning tail and moving back in to the safety of the hotel, but he opted to turn left, away from the woman and her stare. He shuffled slightly down the street, and for the first time, lifted his head and looked around at what stood before him. Just for a second or two, he was slightly in awe of the older style buildings, something you would only see in a television adaptation of something that might have been set in the eighteen hundreds. Growing up in Beverly Hills, these types of building were only really seen on television and to see it for the first time with his own eyes, left him surprised.
He gathered his thoughts pretty quickly and decided to move on, feeling that he would be more anonymous if he continued to walk. He didn't exactly know what he was looking for, maybe just a story to relay to Melody and James Jr about the tour and what it was like to be in these obscure places. Maybe he'd see something that he never expected to see that he could mention, but the town was almost normal, albeit slightly busier then normal due to SCW being around.
J2H: What am I even doing?
He was set to turn around and walk back, but he looked towards a crowd, pointing towards his direction. Feeling he'd been spotted, be quickly moved in the direction he was going, hoping to avoid people and quickly turned the corner in to a familiar face.
J2H: Fuck!
Devona stood before him, her light up the room smile on her face as she looked towards her Blast From The Past Tag Team partner.
J2H: Like seriously, fuck my life right now.
Devona just flashed her smile to the now grimacing J2H, not returning her smile or enthusiasm at the situation.
Devona: And hello to you too partner.
He signed as the word partner left her lips and looked at her with a flash of anger in his eyes.
J2H: Are you stalking me or something? I have avoided every little wrestler, crew member and boss for days and you just pop up out of nowhere?
Devona: It's easy to avoid people when you don't leave your room.
The statement took him back slightly, catching him off guard. There was very few people who knew what he had been doing in Scotland since he arrived.
J2H: How did you... Wait, so you was stalking me?
His paranoia shot through the roof as he looked at her, waiting for answers. Since he became a husband and father, he had avoided being constantly in the publics eye. It helped to add to his mystique when he did appear on SCW shows.
Devona: It's not like I wire tapped your phone or anything. It doesn't take a lot to find out about you. You know it's not healthy to lock yourself up.
J2H: What are you? A doctor now?
Devona waved her finger towards J2H in a playful manner.
Devona: Technically, yes.
He wasn't in the mood for Devona and her quick wit.
J2H: A human doctor I mean. Not someone who sticks their fingers up a cats ass and calls themselves a doctor, I mean a real doctor, for people.
Devona: Aw, ain't you sweet.
J2H didn't know what to make of that comment, again, Devona had thrown him off guard with a comment he was not expecting or ready for.
Devona: It shows you've done some research on me.
J2H: What can I say? It was a long flight to the ass end of nowhere, where we are right now. I needed something to make me sleep.
Devona: I feel so burned right now.
Her sarcasm wasn't lost on J2H, but he shook his head and tried to walk past her but she blocked his path.
J2H: Excuse me.
Devona just stared at him through narrowed eyes and held up her hand.
Devona: Look, I wanna do some team building here, and guessing that you want to avoid most people.
J2H: All people.
Devona: Yeah, yeah, what if I told you we could do both those things in one go?
J2H: And I don't have to be around people.
Devona: Just me.
He sighed as he looked at Devona, but his interest was higher, not at the thought of spending any kind of time with Devona, but to avoid the majority of people.
J2H: Ok, I'm listening...
Welllll, this is the part of the story where you switch over to Devona's promo to see what Devona's idea was and what they spent the day doing.
Go ahead, I'll wait.
*****
Now I presume you've had a chance to view Devona's promo, you can understand why J2H was limping gingerly towards the sofa in his hotel suite, his feet swollen from the day with Devona that he didn't want. There was a camera set up in front of the sofa.
J2H: Fucking Devona and her stupid team building ideas, who the fuck does that shit anyway?
He slumped down on the sofa, with the camera in front of him.
J2H: And now I gotta talk about this Sunday, build it up for all you skirt wearing weirdos to come and watch us. I gotta sell the show for you to come and see me? Bullshit Scotland, you're gonna come dragging your haggis munching asses to the show anyway and the rest of the world is gonna tune in to see me, we all know it, but fine, let's get this done.
He was aching like hell and this didn't help his mood as he waited for a few seconds.
J2H: I don't have to talk about that Ariana woman and yeah, I ain't gonna waste my time. Devona is going to put you down like a dog, generic but fuck it.
He knew he didn't have to talk about Ariana and that was enough for him, his focus was elsewhere.
J2H: For me, this is the fucking opposite of my last match, you can call it magic of the Blast From The Past, I call it shit, but I've gone from a place like Barbados, against an opponent that I knew, to a miserable, rat infested shit hole of a place in Scotland against someone with zero respect on his name because he hasn't earned a thing. Oliver Zahn? I that his name? I don't know a whole lot about you and I don't really care to learn but here's what I do know Oz. Like many before you, they came here with one thing to give them a head start, one thing to be noticed, to make people sit there and say SCW could have a prospect on their hands and that's the whole Jet City brand and that is all because of one man, the late great Kris Ryans. It was because of Kris, that people came through and could live up to the hype, it was because of Kris could take the average doe eyed wannabe wrestler and turn them in to something good, he could literally polish a turd and turn it in to a diamond, but Kris isn't here anymore.
He always had a lot of respect for Kris Ryans through their epic battles and through his turbulent life, that respect never went away.
J2H: It pains me to say Kris isn't here Oliver, but with him gone, there's no one, not a single person ever coming through Jet City again, will ever instantly get respect on their name, or taken seriously. Not by me, not by the fans, not by anyone. Kris Ryan made stars, with him gone, there are no more stars coming out of that place so I have nothing to fear about you, I have nothing to worry about when it comes to facing you.
He never had much fear for any opponent, but he did always respect the people that came out of Jet City and their speedy rise to the top of the SCW ranks.
J2H: Was I impressed with your first round win? Not really but you got the job done and I went back to see if there was anything remotely interesting about you and there wasn't a damn thing that made me sit up and take notice. There wasn't a single thing that made me think you're worth it here. You're really not worth my time, you're not worth my words, but here we are, having to do this shit.
He was growing bored with having to talk about this match.
J2H: This is a much bigger occasion for you then it will ever be for me. You're in the ring with me, J2H and if you have done your homework, you will know all about me, you will know about all the things I've done, all the things I'm more then capable of. You will know I'm not a beat up old man, dining out on past glories, I'm actually in those years that people consider prime for a wrestler. You'll know I'm not the Kain's or Casey Williams of the world, just coming back to get my face on TV to hope it leads to some shit box convention hiring me to sign pictures for drooling, sweaty fans. You'll know that I'm doing this whole thing to win the fucking tournament. This is not me getting on the show to lead to other things, I'm not like you using this place to start a career, I'm here to win. My career has lead me places only people like you can dream of, I've done things that no one else has ever come close to doing Oliver. I'm not here to cruise through or make you look good, I'm here to go through people like you, I'm here to show the new that they're not ready just yet and the old that they're finished.
He was confident in his words, hiding the pain of his swollen feet behind the confident look on his face as he sat in the empty room with just the camera in front of him.
J2H: I'm here to be me, I'm here to go through you Oliver and send you back to the drawing board. Fuck, I don't know if this is gonna be your last match here and I couldn't give a shit cause come Sunday in this backwards shit hole of a place, it doesn't end well for you at all.
His eyes burned a hole down the camera as he looked seriously for a few seconds, just contemplating his next words.
J2H: You've had your moment under the big lights, you can go home and tell your friends and family about the excitement of being in a big company, facing the guy who built this place on his own back, talk about all the people you've met. They will hang on to every single word you say for a while, they will ask you what J2H was really like - FYI, I'm a dick and I know it - and you should enjoy every single moment of the great unwashed asking you these things, because that will become your moment in the sunshine, that will be the only time people will be interested in you, because on Sunday, the sunshine you're getting from being an SCW star, will come to an end. Your glory days will not be in the wrestling ring anymore, they'll be about your month long journey in wrestling before you came to the conclusion that you're not good enough. Just another guy with impossible dreams and no way to ever get to them.
He took a deep breath and a few seconds to think about what comes next.
J2H: The only credit that I'm gonna give you is that you, unlike many who claim to be superstars, actually signed a contract to come and play with the big boys. There's so many on the roster that claim to be big and tough but piss their pants at getting someone shit like Bea Barnhart as a partner.
He almost breaks away from his match hyping, cracking at the forth wall.
J2H: You know it's true, you're a bunch of bitches.
He quickly gets himself back on track.
J2H: They really fucking are, but anyway. You showed that you've got more bulls then the so called tough guys here just by putting your name down and saying to hell with the consequences and let fate decide. Fate has brought you to a strange place Oliver, it's brought you to me. On one hand, you get to share the ring with me, not many SCW new people have had that privilege and trust me, it's a privilege, one of the greatest moments of your life. You could wrestle for another fifty years and you will never have a moment like this in your career again, but you know as well as I know, this is where I put you down like a dog and you go and join the other Jet City rejects that fuck off after a loss and is never seen again.
He cleared his throat as he looked with an intense stare down the camera.
J2H: Truth is, you could be anyone Oliver and it all stays the same. I didn't leave my family, fly half way around the world to this pimple on the world's ass kinda place, just to lose to you. I didn't come to a place to freeze my balls off, not to have my name in the next round. Come on, who at my level would come all this way to lose to someone like you?
He shook his head, slowly but seriously.
J2H: I'm here to win Oliver, I'm here to look good and then I'm gonna get the fuck out of this place and get as far away from here as I possibly can. There's one of my motivations for getting this job done quick cause as soon as it is humanly possible, just to get out of this place and never look back. Seriously, who fucking tours Scotland anyway, let alone a place like this.
His eyes told the story of disappointment.
J2H: So expect me to not fuck around in this one Oliver, expect me to go through this as quick as I can. There's no sick fuck mentality in my head where I will get a kick out of punishing you. This is me getting the fuck in and getting the fuck out of here. Enjoy being in my shadow while you can because this match isn't lasting long. That's real talk bitch...
And with that, he slowly stood up, moving towards the camera before switching it off and the scene fades.
