"Well! Can you believe it? Bo Dreamwolf, after all this time, back inside of an SCW ring. A few people were surprised when my name was announced as being one of the participants in this tournament to crown a number one challenger to SCW's World Heavyweight Champion, and you want to be let in on a little secret?"
"I was probably the most surprised out of anyone."
"Not that I wasn't aware that I was going to be doing it, god no! It was the fact that I was surprised that I had agreed to it in the first place! The last time I set foot in the ring was at the final Climax Control show of 2017, at the time their final Climax Control -- period. Granted my performance in that Survivor Series match was less than stellar, and nothing to be personally proud of. Which begs the question why am I back in the ring after swearing that one time was the last time?"
"Funny you should ask that. My family was wondering the same thing."
"Bo, you told us that the last match you were in was actually going to be the last match you'd be in!"
You remember my sister, Abigail, don't you? It's hard to forget such a fetching person, especially when she has both a point and a voice that can stress said point. I had told both her as well as our Grandmother, who was seated at the head of the dining room table as was our usual custom, while Abigail took her own seat to our Grandmother's left while I served the Shepard's pie that Abigail had meticulously prepared. Since my sister went to such lengths to prepare such amazing meals every day, the least I could do as thanks was to serve it. And she had made it just the way I loved it; with extra ground beef and extra extra cheese.
Hey, you only live once, am I right? And if I choose not to ever get blood to my feet again then so be it. There was a time our Grandmother would probably have objected to those additions but now she has taken my mindset as her own. I'm such a rotten influence!
"You're right." I conceded as I took our Grandma's plate and served up a healthy portion of the dish and with a look, inquired if she wanted some of the broccoli Abbey had prepared as a side dish. I suppose a healthy alternative was her way of making up for the little additions she had provided. Dishing some of that out as well, I set the plate before this wondrous woman before I took Abigail's plate to repeat the process. I said, "Believe me when I say I was as surprised as you when I told Mister Ward I'd do it."
"Then why?" Grandma Eileen asked. She was not judging, unlike Abigail. She might be concerned, just like Abbey, but she was sincerely curious. She knew how much it hurt me when I was practically forced into retirement because of my back. To an extent, Abigail was aware as well, even if she didn't understand my love for a sport she viewed as barbaric.
"Because they asked me to." I finally relented. I handed Abigail her plate and then moved over to Grandma's right and took my own seat, conspicuous that I had yet to serve myself. Somehow I felt my appetite would be nil until this discussion had concluded. I went on, "When Mister Ward contacted me earlier this year about their promotion reopening, they did ask me to return for that and have a new run. I turned them down. I was sorry to do so but I just couldn't risk it after the surgery I had. Mister Ward understood. And it about gutted me to do so."
"You really miss it, don't you?" Abigail asked with a frown, once again unable to relate while our Grandmother looked thoughtful as she processed this little chat.
"I do, Abbey." I replied, all but ignoring the look she gave me for the use of her despised nickname. "I can't help it. I loved doing it. I loved the travel and the physical competition. And it hurts, I mean really hurts knowing I had to give it up before I was ready."
"But it was for your own good." Abigail said. "I mean, had you not retired, you never would have gotten the surgery."
"Not necessarily." Our Grandma surprised us both by interjecting so she could voice her own viewpoint. "Perhaps Bo could have had his surgery and once sufficiently recovered, could have then went back to competing?"
I smiled despite myself, grateful for not just Grams defending me, but also for her effectively thinking the same way that I had -- at the time. But that was a long time ago, over two years to be exact, and I shook my head and said, "I don't think so. It was one reason why the decision to have the surgery came so easily. I went as far as I could in wrestling. I ... I guess I hit the proverbial wall. I just couldn't go any further than I already had."
"Bo..." Abigail started to speak, forgetting her meal and placing a reassuring hand on her dear brother's forearm. She may have hated the business but she understood what it meant to me, and how much it hurt not making it to the level so many had expected of me.
"It's okay Abbey... Abigail." I corrected myself. "It's true. I can't deny I didn't go as far as people like Mister Parker and Mister Ward expected of me. I got a couple of titles to be proud of, but when standing beside someone like J2H?" I shook my head. "There's no comparison."
"Is that why you're doing it?" Abigail asked. "To try and get out of that kid's shadow?"
"No." I chuckled, smiling. "No, I think it'll be a very long time before anyone gets out of that young man's shadow. He proved himself a prodigy and more. No, it's like I said. I agreed because Mister Ward was patient and understanding, and he asked me to."
"He asked you to return before and you said no." Grams pointed out, and I conceded the point.
I said, "True, but that was when he wanted me back regularly. This is just a special tournament. I know who my first opponent is. I haven't stopped working out and I'm taking a few days to go to Atlanta and work off whatever vast amounts of ring rust I have with Mister Parker."
"I can't help but blame him for your agreeing to do this." Abigail pointed out, popping a forkful of her meal into her mouth.
"Abigail..." Grams said in a soft but warning tone. Mister Parker had met Grams many times, both here in Oklahoma as well as the few times she stayed at the Parkers' ranch in Georgia. As well as many times while I toured more regularly both in SCWS as well as my first foray in the sport in Global Championship Wrestling. Simply put, Grams adored Mister Parker and he respected the hell out of her as a matriarch and his elder.
I spoke up, perhaps in my own attempt at shielding my sister. "He did lend a few words that helped encourage me, but he knew lines that couldn't be crossed. He knows I can't come back regularly. He knows I don't want to."
"Really?" Abigail said with just the faintest trace of skepticism.
"Really." I answered back. "He knows that if I had to choose, and I did, that teaching would win out over wrestling. He knows how much I love it and what those kids mean to me." I reached for the pan that had the Shepard's pie in it but before I could grab the spatula, Abigail stood up and grabbed it first. In a rare show of conceding on her part, she took my plate and started to dish out an extra large portion of my favorite meal.
I went on, accepting the plate gratefully as I spoke, "He also knows I can't afford the physical risks any more. That was actually a point he brought up himself, and Mister Ward agreed. This is just a one-off, this tournament. A special event like that last match."
"You could still get hurt in one match." Grams said, and I answered back with a smile, "I could get hurt just getting out of bed, Grams. I can't hide from life's risks."
Bless her, Grams smiled at my choice of words, while Abigail picked up her glass of milk and muttered, "Brat." Which I took to mean she now understood and would no longer argue my decision.
"So what happens if you win this tournament?" Grams asked. "Is there a prize?"
"You might say that." I answered, unsure how they would react to said "prize." I said, "The winner gets a guaranteed shot at their World Champion."
Grams nodded, although she looked a touch too thoughtful for my personal tastes. Perhaps putting two and two together and coming up with bullshit. I said I wouldn't be able to wrest my way from James' shadow and I meant that, but a chance to fight for the world title? An opportunity that I only had once in my entire career? Grams continued with her meal, while Abigail simply stared at me, the discomfort prompting me to try and shield myself from her attention and focus on my own dinner plate.
I never could put one past my sister.
"Who is the champion?"
"A kid named Fenris." I answered. "He was in Mixed Martial Arts and was trained for wrestling by Gabriel and Odette Stevens. Though I've never seen the kid compete." And I hadn't. Truth was, I haven't watched much wrestling, especially that of SCW, since my own retirement. I know that makes me seem ungrateful but there couldn't be anything further from the truth. The simple fact was, the rare few times I did watch SCW on the laptop, it brought on such a heartache that I could have wept buckets. Seeing what I had lost and could no longer have again. It made me want to forget about the risks and jump back in head-first.
It wasn't a risk I could take, and I didn't believe that I was that strong to withstand it.
I finished saying, "But Mister Ward did send me a couple of his matches to watch if I wanted."
And less than ninety minutes later, as all talk of my decision had faded away, my family and I relaxed in the living room of our house while I used my laptop to stream one of the previously mentioned matches to the large HDTV I had purchased for our Grandmother. And yes, the pangs made me regret turning this on but curiosity simply got the better of me. On the screen, the young World Champion was defending his title against the gargantuan Casey Williams. The giant mountain of a man had controlled the majority of the match, but after the smaller man shocked everyone, Casey most of all, by successfully German suplexing Williams over, the MMA star landed such a kick -- with his bare foot no less! -- that it knocked the giant out cold and left him vulnerable for the count of three!
At the impact of the kick, the very sound, Grams jumped and covered her mouth with her fingers, while Abigail slowly turned her head to address me...
"Your teaching job has medical insurance, right?"
"I couldn't have drawn a better first round opponent in this Gold Rush tournament than a man who is himself a former World Champion. Giani Di Luca held not just the World Championship, but also the Roulette and World Tag Team titles, so he knows very well what it feels like to stand on top of the mountain and look down. And yes, judging by the way the man carries himself with his superior attitude, one can only imagine that he does a lot of 'looking down' on anyone else who isn't him."
"And you know something? That's fine. It's okay, because I always enjoyed competing against men who were full of themselves an allowed their reputations inside of the ring to swell their heads just a bit too much. Trust me, I've seen it before. Remember, I did have a bit of an ongoing relationship in the business with Nick Jones, and there just was no man more in love with himself than that man there! But if I had to go on record, I would dare say Giani could come in a close second, and why not?"
"I can't deny the man has earned his reputation. He has the looks, the talent, and was always able to carry himself with a microphone, and he also worked side-by-side with our own J2H when he was known as James Huntington-Hawkes III. Simply put, the man has a level of success a mile wide, but he also has allowed that success to give him one major case of a superiority complex. He simply refuses to believe that anyone else can be on the same level as he is, and he will go to the greatest of lengths to keep anyone else rising close to him crashing right back down to the bottom of the ladder."
"Reputation aside, those are the types I always enjoyed facing because I loved to see the looks on their faces when they realized that they just weren't as good as they imagined when they find themselves inside of the ring and against someone who was schooled by the very best. It'll be something like ... well like what his face will look like come this Sunday."
"Good luck Giani. The 'Italian Stallion' is about to get gelded."
