Demons
New York, New York
7 Days Ago
It had been a day or two since they had arrived home. Austin deciding not to stay in Vegas now they could travel, having things that needed attending too back home in New York. He had spent the last 3 days at Wolfslair, but now he stood in his garage tinkering with a few things, mindless work, things he didn’t need to do. But it kept him out of the house, away from Lisa. Austin loved his wife, he loved her with all his heart but he needed to get in that mindspace. So he wouldn’t let her down, like he had let his son and daughter down last time. Lisa had smiled and held him, told him that she was still very proud.
But there was this speck in Austins stomach. Doubt and anger. It had stayed there festering since he found out he was facing Vinnie. He had been around the others, Alicia and Alex, Alicia was chasing her title, Alex and Johanna were getting ready to defend their titles. But this affected Austin, this made everything he did seem so small. He had goals, he had ideas, he put his heart into all of it. And even in loss he had a smile on his face. In adversity he also smiled.
Only this time, the smile was fake.
He had plastered it on his face while he clapped along when Vinnie beat him the first time, he had it on when walking up the ramp after being attacked by Vinnie to set this up. It had been there for the world to see. For his family to see, for the fans to see. But beneath it was an anger festering and turning that had broken the last part of him. Maybe Alex had been right this whole time. Maybe talent and size could only get you so far before a selfish killer instinct needed to be brought out and used. Austin growled under his breath as he stood in front of the old wooden workbench on the empty side of his double garage. His car sitting on the other side, shining as the sun came in from the small window to the side.
His hands grasped the wood, tightened on it, he felt the anger build and build, his hand clutching a small piece of wood as he had the urge to throw it.
”Austin?” Lisa, her sweet voice cutting through the anger as he let the wood go, his head turned to find her standing in the doorway, their small daughter in her arms. All the anger faded away as he smiled back at them. His beautiful wife, her long hair dyed a platinum silver, her tattoos up and down her arms that told a story, her bright green eyes then seemed to light up whenever she saw the kids or him. And there, in her arms his daughter. Mia. She had grown so much. Her face starting to resemble her mother. Her hair filled with dirty blond curls. Was that Lisa’s natural hair color?
Austin stepped forward, his eyes meeting Lisas before he leaned down and kissed Mia on the forehead. His daughter letting out a small giggle as Austin put his hand on her head. He looked into Lisa’s eyes again and leaned in kissing her. All the anger he had flooded away. This is what stopped him from becoming like his father, this is what stopped him from going down that road. A road that Alex too had walked but had restrained himself from.
”I love you…”
And that was all that needed to be said, Lisa just smiled and leaned forward putting her head on Austins huge chest, Mia just staring at her parents, their son Markus playing just inside on the floor. He would make them proud again. He would defeat his demons…
New York City, Last Year.
A few days after Summer XXXtreme 2019
”Now, raise your arm and rotate”
He gave a grunt, pushing his left arm in the air, rotating his shoulder up and around and down, before doing it again and going backwards, an older woman with her hair tied in a bun wearing light blue scrubs stands behind him, her hand on his shoulder blade and the other clamped near his collarbone. Austin sighed as she manipulated his arm and studied the way the joints moved, the way the muscles tensed.
He had been away from the ring too long, but it had been a blessing in disguise. While not injured in any significant way the toll of being the champion was obvious on Austin’s body, media commitments,training seminars, the matches themselves. He had taken on anyone who SCW asked, defended the title and fought everyone in his way. And the bruises and nagging pain had needed to be taken care of.
So that is exactly what Austin had done.
He had taken a step back, But Austin hated it. It flared inside, it turned his stomach and even though he needed the time away he wanted competition. He wanted to be back in the ring. ”Arm down please” He stood up, adjusted his shirt and gave a small nod as the doctor moved around and grabbed a pen scribbling around in a file.
”All good?” His voice boomed, he stood over the doctor by at least a foot and a half, she sighed and looked over at him with a small nod.
”Your shoulder is stable and strong, you needed the physical therapy, keep going your stretches and you won’t have any problems.” He smirked and gave a small nod turning and grabbing his jacket moving out into the hallway.He moved out to the door feeling his phone vibrate, Austin sighed and pulled his phone out reading the message, his eyes widened and he let out a small sigh. His eyes moved across the words reading them under his breath with a shake of the head. It was from his sister Amy.
Aus, we need to talk. Back in New York. I love you
He hadn’t seen her in years. Amy went off to find herself. She hadn’t even come back for their father’s funeral. He stood outside the doctors office, his hand gripping his phone as he stared off for what seemed to be an eternity before snapping out of it. He typed a message back as fast as he could before sending. His mind moving a million miles an hour. A buzz again, this time from SCW HR
A smirk flashed across his lips, he replied with a smile.
It was time to go back to work…..
History repeats...sometimes
The screen flickered, the stream buffered. It seemed like not even Austins internet connection wanted to replay it. But there on the screen was Summer XXXtreme 2019. The world heavyweight title match. Austin and Vinnie going toe to toe. Two large men throwing bombs at one another. This was the first time Austin had watched the match. The first time he could bring himself to see his lose, his greatest failure. And the night where the World title slipped from his grasp.
”Eleven months ago, Vinnie and I stepped into the ring on the sun princess cruise. In the main event of Summer XXXtreme and I put my world title on the line. I was arrogant, I was so sure that Vinnie would fail that I went in with a clouded mind. See, I had been at the top of my game. I had turned a corner and I was living up to that potential that everyone said I had. And maybe the rise was too fast. I had always found myself rising through the ranks in companies. I did it at Honor the first time, WWH, Shoot Society, XHF, Honor again. I had always been able to scratch and claw my way to the top.”
“But this was different. This was a massive achievement. I had stood tall as the Sin City Wrestling world champion. I had beaten a man who many considered to be the best pure athlete and most natural warrior in SCW. Someone Vinnie failed to beat, someone Ty West and Alex failed to beat. I beat Fenris and took a title many thought was going to stay around his waist for years. Maybe even decades. But, I had done it, I had ended his reign and become the champion.”
“I was ready and willing to face anyone and everyone to defend it. And for five months, 154 days I was the top dog in SCW and I represented this company to the best of my ability.”
“But, Summer XXXtreme last year. All of that came crashing down around me. And I was left with this black hole, and an angry, empty feeling. For months afterwards I was just not myself. I wasn’t the usual smiling, happy, honorable Austin. I wasn’t the guy who beat Fenris, I wasn’t the guy who defended the title against tree of the best wrestlers on this planet. I wasn’t the guy people had come to respect. In fact I started becoming the guy Jake told everyone I was. And I wasn’t proud of that fact. See, I let the loss affect me in ways that broke me. Instead of taking the loss and using it as fuel to get better, I let it make me into something, someone I hated.”
The stream continues, Vinnie holds up the SCW title, the camera goes in on Austin sitting in the corner staring at Vinnie, he slowly claps, Vinnie’s music plays. The fans were into it. Austin now smiles sitting in his chair with a shake of his head. His hands slowly coming together after pausing the stream right on a picture of Vinnie getting the title put around his waist. Austin clears his throat sitting forward staring closely for a few moments in silence.
”I don’t blame Vinnie. See, It was all on me. It was my decision and my inability to deal with the loss. When I lost the WWH Hellsgate title I shrugged it off, I knew I was leaving that company anyway. When I lost the Honor title it was more anger than sadness. I felt wronged because I lost the title without even being pinned. But this. This was a sadness I had never felt before. And it took me a long time to not only get over it but understand why it affected me so much. It’s because unlike other losses where I have been beaten by shenanigans, which made me angry, or ones where I have been beaten fair and square by the better man, which I accepted, the loss to you Vinnie...was a match I SHOULD have won.”
Austin pushes off the arms of the black leather chair to his feet, he moves across the floor of his office, he flicks the light on to reveal the large TV sitting up high in front of the chair, but around it was magazines, contracts and assorted merch from Wolfslair. Up on his wall was a trophy case with replicas of all his wrestling titles. He smiled and looked through the plexiglass at them, his eyes centering on the SCW world and internet titles sitting side by side.
”I don’t mean to shit on your title win Vinnie. You did beat me fair and square. You walked into Summer XXXtreme with a plan and you executed it. You deserved to be the champion. I won’t take that away from you. But it was a match that I should have won, a match I should have walked out of still champion. But because I let myself get so arrogant, because I looked passed you I let myself become comfortable. And that was my mistake. That was my own doing. So instead of feeling screwed over or angry. Instead of being beaten and accepting it, I let it fester deep inside.”
“I took the frustration and hatred home to my family. I withdrew from them. I stopped helping my friends at wolfslair. I became a horrible person. Shit I even started fucking drinking again. And again Vinnie, none of this is your fault. Because all you did was turn up that night and do your best. All you did was live your dream. And become champion. But, part of being a champion isn’t just how you win a title or how you defend it, it’s how you deal with losing it. And I was a great champion when I won it, I was a great champion as I defended it. But being a champion in loss? Well, for the first few months I failed miserably.”
“Then something happened.”
“I stopped feeling sorry for myself, I stopped being angry and I dragged myself back up kicking and screaming. I started winning matches again and before I knew it I was in a match for the reinstated Internet title. And that was my chance Vinnie. See I wanted to show the world I was still a champion. I wanted to take a title that was being brought back into the fold and make it worth something. And I knew that someone like Teddy Warren wasn’t going to do it. So I did. I won it and I have defended it against anyone SCW has asked me to, just like I did with the world title and at Summer XXXtreme I will have held it for 168 days. Eclipsing my world title reign….but...that reign is in danger of ending.”
Austin sighs heavily and closes his eyes, his fingertips touching the plexiglass case where his titles sit. His heart sinking as his mind flashes to the world title match and his loss. Each time he closes his eyes a different angle of the loss, a different feeling.
” I’m under no illusions here Vinnie. I know how good you are and I know that you’re coming for this championship because you are looking to do the same thing that I did. But for you it’s even worse. See, before you and I went toe to toe for the world title one of my talking points was that I didn’t want the world title to fall into mediocrity. Which I felt was going to happen with you as the champion. And low and behold that is exactly what happened. You weren’t a bad champion Vinnie, you just had trouble living up to the expectations that were put onto you.”
“You look at the last four world champions. Fenris, myself, you and Ben Jordan. I started off my reign by beating someone who was looked at as unbeatable, I then defended the title against all comers in all sorts of matches including ones where I was clearly at a disadvantage, you beat me for the title and then instantly the championship fell out of the main event, it was looked at as just another championship instead of THE championship. All until Ben Jordan took that title off of you after just over 100 days.”
“And now it’s in danger of happening again, another reign where I have done my best to make a championship matter and I have been a top name in the company in danger of being ended by someone who, to be honest is only ever interesting when he is trying to act like a bad ass. instead of actually being one.The thing is Vinnie you didn’t even come at me the right way. You didn’t come to me and say that you wanted the title shot, you didn’t ask for one, you didn’t challenge me, you attacked me from behind and you knew that I would not stand for it, you knew that I would come for you and you knew that I wouldn’t care if the title was on the line.“
“You are a great professional wrestler, you’re a big strong human being and you know that you can impose your will most people, but as far as actual skill goes you are not on my level, you’re not on Ben’s level, you weren’t on Fenris’ level, you weren’t on Alex’s level you’re not on Griffin Hawkins level the truth is that you’re a side character with stupid personality just like Bill Barnhardt. But at least Barnhardts dog is cute where as your cactus is just a fucking cactus.”
“This may seem harsh Vinnie, you may even think that I’m being a bit of a prick. But look at it from my perspective I have clawed my way back up to being a champion, I have done everything possible to rebuild my image and become the champion that I knew I could be and here you come stomping back in to try take it all away from me again because you failed at being a better world champion than me. And now you have to ask yourself is Austin really going to let that happen again? Is Austin really going to let the Internet title become nothing because lil Vinnie wants a title because he couldn’t cut it as world champion?
“No, at Summer XXXtreme history will not repeat itself. I am coming to defend my championship and you are gonna have to pry it out of my cold dead hands.”