Manipulation

It’s a funny thing, growing older. In some ways the adage that with age comes wisdom is completely true. But in others growing old and facing one’s own mortality, coming to terms with the fact you are not indestructible or immortal can break that wisdom and lead to a heightened level of irrational thinking.

And stupidity.

We call this a midlife crisis.

Alex had started going through this months ago. Coming to terms with the fact that no matter what he did his body was going to break down and not allow him to do the one thing on this planet that he wanted to do. So instead he decided to throw himself into everything else. Running the gym, training the next generation as well as training his oldest son while also trying to be there as a father for his two youngest that he had with Sonya.

But throwing yourself into work, especially a job that was running parallel with your dreams was never going to work. And Alex wanted more. That is where we join him. Just after his first appointment flying back in from getting experimental stem cell treatments. He had arrived home. Realizing that Sonya had already left and gone to the gym, he followed. Walking through the front door he looked up, Sonya stared at him and shook her head going into the office.

Alex knew he was in for a fight.

He walked into the office after Sonya and folded his arms over his chest ”Arent you going to ask how it went?” Sonya ground her teeth together and stayed silent. She was angry, her body language showing it clearly. Alex shook his head and sighed ”I see….you really are pissed at me aren’t you? For improving my life.” Alex shook his head and looked away.

Sonya took a deep breath and put her pen down. She sat back and tilted her head to the side staring at her husband with a mixture of anger and disappointment. ”Improving your life….if that’s all it was I would be happy. But you and I both know that’s a lie.” She paused and took a deep breath ”You and I both know that you did this because you want to get back in the ring. You want to go back to wrestling. But for how long? That treatment will make you feel better for a while but in a few months maybe a year your body is going to break down again. And then what Alex? I’m going to be left to pick up the fucking pieces again”

Alex rolled his eyes and shook his head. Now it was his time to be angry. His turn to be disappointed. ”Really? So, I go get this treatment, my body feels better than it has in about a decade, I want to get back in the ring and help train everyone here as well as maybe have a few matches and you’re going to get angry over that? Angry over me trying to live my dream again?”

”You live your dreams! You lived with them for 20 years. And now you can’t let it go. And you’re not the one who suffers. Yes, you get hurt and yes, you have to leave those dreams behind but you lived that life. Me, the kids, everyone here who cares about you? We are the ones who have to suffer through this. You’re being selfish.”

”Selfish?” Alex shook his head, shocked that she would say something like that. He swallowed hard and took a deep breath before throwing his hands in the air. ”Nice, I do something for myself and that makes me selfish. I do something because I’m sick and tired of standing around here acting like everything is fine. That’s what I’ve been doing. I’ve been acting like everything has been fine when it hasn’t been. I’m not happy, and you don’t care.”

Sonya shook her head, getting to her feet she moved past Alex. The two of them stayed silent. As Sonya left Alex shook his head. He grabbed a small coffee cup and tossed it across the room. The anger welled up inside him as he ran his hands through his hair and paced back and forth. The door opened and Aaron stepped in. She took a deep breath and shook her head before falling her arms over her chest. ”I hate that she talks to you like that”

”Yeah, me too.” Alex kept facing away from her, he took a deep breath trying to calm himself down before shaking his head and running a hand through his long hair. He turned and looked at Aaron with a small shrug.”Not much I can really do about it. Was there something you needed?”

Aaron just shook her head. ”I just came in to check on you. That’s all. I heard the argument, hell everyone out there heard the argument. I just want to make sure you are okay.”

”I’m not but I will be…”

”I should go give her a piece of my mind. How dare she talk to you like that. You were doing something for yourself. Doing something to make your body feel better after all the sacrifices you’ve made.” Aaron growled and looked toward the door.

Alex shook his head and stepped toward her. ”No. Don’t do that. Just let it go, please. Why does it matter to you anyway?”

”Because you deserve better! You deserve someone who is going to support you. Someone who isn’t going to make you feel guilty about making choices for yourself. When will you see that? The months any time you have tried to do anything for yourself, she has been right there in your face trying to stop you. I’d never do that.” Aaron shook her head and turned to leave Alex with his thoughts.

Alex shakes his head taking a deep breath as she leaves. She’s right, and part of him knows it. He’s miserable, unhappy, unfulfilled. This isn’t the type of relationship he wants or needs. A decision needs to be made. And time is running out.

Punishment

”Three times. Three times I have become the world champion of this company. After the second time and my body started breaking apart, everyone wrote me off. Everyone. I rode off into the sunset and I went home to just train the next generation. And people forgot about me. This entire company forgot about me. They welcomed others from the past back with open arms. People with the last name of Harris, J2H, Kris Ryan. They all got welcomed back with smiles and happiness.”

Alex chuckles to himself and shakes his head. Holding the SCW world heavyweight championship in his right hand he turns it toward himself and looks at it.

”But I stayed away. I stayed away and watched as Austin pissed his career down the toilet. I stayed away and watched as the young Australian from my gym came in and became a mid-card star. I watched as Alicia Lukas got treated like an afterthought. And I watched as Finn Whelan was able to become the longest-reigning world champion of all time. Over 400 days of him holding this world championship. And none of you being good enough to take it off of him. And in the beginning, I didn’t really care. In the beginning, I smiled as Finn became the world champion. Letting him believe in his little delusion that he was the be-all end-all of the professional wrestling world made me laugh with a certain amusement that I hadn’t felt in years.”

“But, that fire was still there. You know the one don’t you? I’m not arrogant enough to believe that I’m the only one who feels these things. And it’s not just in the professional wrestling world. It’s everywhere everywhere. You see it in the eyes of a retired baseball player who has become a manager on a team. They watch the young men run out onto the field and get ready to play a game that they are no longer physically able to. You see the defeat in their eyes, but there’s always that fire…that spark, that ember.”

“You see it in the eyes of different commentators on Fox Sports or ESPN while they watch an NFL game. Hell, I saw it in Tony Romo’s eyes when he was commenting on a game. He still had that fire burning. But his body could no longer keep up with it. His body had betrayed him.”

“Just like mine.”

“But, a few months ago, I decided to do something about it. I looked into everything. Different rehabilitation programs, regular medicine, and alternative medicine, and eventually I settled on stem cell research. I know stem cells are a dirty word. But they worked. The treatments made me feel 1 million times better. So good that I was able to get back in the ring. So good that I was able to come back. And when I made that decision I made that decision not just for myself but for the entire company.”

Alex loves to himself and shakes his head before getting to his feet. Pacing back and forth taking a deep breath here then continues.

”And now, my first match as the world champion. I’m going to be facing someone who lives perpetually in his brother‘s shadow, and also his girlfriends. My first title defense is going to be against someone who keeps failing to blast through that glass ceiling even though he has an entire fan base of people standing right behind him trying to push him toward it. All of the big stars in this company, all of the big names, and this is what I have to face. I can’t look forward to whoever is going to win the blast from the past because I have this other match in front of me first.”

“I have all of these amazing professional wrestlers scraping and chlorine to win a tournament to face me. Or Carter if he is able to shock the world. Alexander Raven has returned, and we have J2H floating around the company, Finn should still be trying to come for this championship if he’s able to find his balls in Kayla’s handbag. But in the end, I’m stuck facing Carter and his extended family.”

“And I warned you.”

“I warned you to your face Carter what I was going to do to you and your extended family. And the company listened and instead of keeping me away from them, they put me against one of them. Kind of funny isn’t it? I’m laughing about it, but I can promise we won’t be. You Carter, and you LJ, and hell Miles might have some feelings about it. None of them are going to be amusement at what I’m about to do to you.”

Alex slowly smiles and continues taking a deep breath.

”But the question is, should I feel bad about what I’m about to do to LJ? I mean think about it LJ, if it wasn’t for Carter and this situation that he finds himself in would your path have crossed mine? Possibly, but this soon? While I am the world champion? I don’t think so. You have been put in an impossible situation. Facing the New World champion who just beat a guy who many thought was unbeatable. And you haven’t been able to do anything of note the entire time you’ve been here.”

“Carter has been a champion and also just won an elimination chamber to earn a shot at Me. Your brother Miles has been bouncing all over the place winning championships and trying his hardest to break through that same glass ceiling. Carter has. Those two might be failures, but at least they’re failures who have ambition. You on the other hand seem to lack ambition and our content with playing second fiddle to everyone. Whether that is your brother or your girlfriend. And now that I think about it if I wanted a real challenge, the company should have booked Alexandra against me not you.”

“I am going to hurt you. Very very bad.”

“And it isn’t even your fault that this is happening LJ. You are just in the wrong place at the wrong time and you are part of the wrong family. I don’t dislike you and I don’t hate you. I have no personal issue with you whatsoever I don’t even have a professional issue with you. You are a young kid trying to rise up that ladder and become something greater than you are. The only problem is you lack the talent to do it. You lack the killer instinct to do it. You are exactly the same as your brother and your brother-in-law. And now you’re going to have to face a world champion who is very very pissed off. Good luck kid. You are going to need it.”

Heart Shaped Box

There is a stigma that goes with seeking help. If you have any type of depression or anxiety seeking help for that often leads people to believe that you are mentally unstable or something is wrong. But, seeking help is never a negative. In fact, it takes great strength to realise when you need help and even more strength to ask for it. Going to therapy was never something that Alex thought about. It was a new revelation for him, being strong enough to go and talk about how he felt. It was something that his wife had brought up to him on a few different occasions and this time he had completely agreed.

In the beginning, it was hard. Alex struggled to open up. To talk about anything. But as the weeks went on, he slowly started to talk. At first, it was about simple things – the struggles of balancing his work and his personal life with his children. Eventually, it moved on to feeling like he was letting his kids down.

But then there was more. Struggling with the prospect of never being able to do what he loved to do again. Feeling like his body was betraying him. The anger that he felt deep inside himself as he came to the realisation that he was not immortal. That he was not invulnerable. And that is where we were at now. Alex closed his eyes and took a deep breath; he was leaning forward on the small leather couch sitting across from his therapist. A lovely older man with a British accent. His hair was cut short and parted down the left side as it swung over the back of his head covering a small bald spot on the top of his crown.

He wore wire framed glasses and had a five o’clock shadow. He looked like every single stereotypical therapist you have seen in a movie. His office was very bland. A few bookshelves with self-help and psychology books going from left to right alphabetically sat along the far wall, as well as some statues and awards scattered across the place with pictures of the therapist with friends and family.

[color=red“I just… I knew that one day my career would come to an end.”[/color] Alex shook his head again, clasping his hands together and staring ahead as if he was staring into space. “A job like mine, being largely physical…it takes a toll on you. It destroys your body and it destroys your spirit. But it still doesn’t mean that I’m not sad to see it all end. Especially since it wasn’t on my terms. And I don’t think my wife understands that.”

”Empathy isn’t always easy to come by. In fact, some people really struggle with it. But it’s not with everything. Physical pain or a loss in the family with some kind of death or terminal illness, that is something that people can empathise with. The loss of a job or the ability to do that job? It’s not always as simple as that to understand it.” Alex gave a small nod as the therapist closed his notepad and got to his feet.

Alex stood up as well, shaking his therapist's hand knowing that they were out of time. He turned to move towards the door as he left and contemplated the therapist's words. He was right – not everyone can empathise straight away with any given situation. It takes time and understanding.

Alex drove back to the gym. as he pulled into the parking lot and stopped his car. He took a deep breath. His hand started shaking, his heart started racing. This had been happening more and more. This feeling of dread and anxiety that would overcome him before entering the gym.

It was hard, seeing all of their bright young faces. Their careers ahead of them or in some cases they were in the middle of them. Looking at people who had known for years like Austin and Alicia, ones that he had stood beside and helped become stars. They could still do what Alex could not. And it made him physically ill. It filled him with sadness and pain as well as anger that he couldn’t get rid of. An anger that made him surge with heat and fury. Something he never felt before.

With a groan and a grunt, he got out of his car, closing the door and grabbing his small briefcase. He moved up and threw the main door and around to the office. He looked over with a smile giving Austin a small nod as he saw the hulking tattooed former world champion doing drills with the young kids. Getting them to run the ropes, getting them to do front rolls, getting them to do flatpack bumps. All the things that Alex used to show, it was now Austin‘s job. He then looked over to the grappling mats where Alicia was sitting back on her heels on her knees, explaining different submissions and how to get in and out of them with the female talent. Alex took a deep breath and forced a smile. He was happy but at the same time there was something inside him that hated what he saw. It made him feel irrelevant and useless.

He was jealous. Jealous that they were still able to do what they all loved to do and he couldn’t.

Austin called Alex over, and Alex shook his head and gave him a thumbs up before going into the office putting his briefcase down. Sonja looked up from her laptop and smiled with a nod ”Hey, how was it?”

”It was good, talked through a few things, it’s really helping. Talking to someone who is impartial and not swayed either way…” Alex sat down across from Sonja. She smiled and nodded at him and the two sat and went about their work, Alex looking through his emails before seeing one sent from his surgeon. An advertisement for stem cell research. He leaned closer, his eyes moving across the words and all the information. ”Hmmm…”

Sonja slowly looked up from her laptop with an eyebrow raised, ”Something interesting?”

Alex nodded and sat back, twirling a pen in his fingers. ”My orthopedic surgeon sent me some information on stem cells…..he seems to think it might work…”

”Work for?”

”My knee….it could give me…well…everything.”

Sonja took a sharp inhale and got to her feet, pushing out the breath in a way that made her seem even more annoyed than normal. Her nostrils flared and she stepped forward, getting closer to Alex as she leaned down across his desk. She grabbed the top of the laptop and slowly closed it. Alex turned his head, looking up at his wife as she clearly wanted his attention.

”What?”

Sonja shook her head and uttered one simple word. ”No”

”No?” Alex replied and raised an eyebrow.

Sonja shook her head again and leaned closer. ”Alex, please, don’t even think about it. You’re retired. Going through something like this, these treatments, they might work or they might not, but at the end of the day it still means that you’re going to go back to something that you’ve spent a long time trying to get over and end. You should just keep up with your therapy and get back to doing what we have been building. Keeping this gym going.”

He took a deep breath and shook his head, ”But I-”

”But nothing! You’re retired…accept it…please…”

Sonja stormed out of the office leaving Alex sitting at his desk. Alex shook his head and stared out the window, not hearing or seeing Aaron enter and shut the door behind her. ”Hey…you…you ok?”

Alex flipped his laptop open and growled back, ”Yeah…fine…did you need something?”

Aaron swallowed hard and looked down, she seemed sheepish and almost hurt that Alex snapped at her. She shook her head and turned grabbing the door ,”No…sorry…I…nevermind”

Alex sighed heavily and stood up. ”Wait…” Aaron turned and Alex folded his arms over his chest. ”I’m sorry, I was being rude…I’m not okay, but there’s nothing that can be done…I guess I’m going a little crazy with the whole retirement thing….that’s all.”

Aaron nodded slowly and sighed stepping forward closing the distance. ”Yeah, stepping away feels…wrong. Like a part of you is missing…and it’s a part you always want back, one you’ll do almost anything to get back. I get it…If you need to talk, ever…I’m here.” Alex gave a small nod and a smile, it was nice, knowing that someone understood, Aaron went to leave and Alex cleared his throat.

”Hey…thanks….I appreciate it…” Aaron shot him a small smile and closed the door, leaving Alex in the office alone as he opened the laptop to read more information about the Stem cells

The Answer

San Francisco, California. The opposite side of the country from where Alex Jones currently calls home. The opposite side of the country from where his gym and home are located. He takes a deep breath, slowly walking along the walkway where he can look across the bay and see the Golden Gate Bridge. He stops taking a deep breath.

”Well, that wasn’t what everyone expected was it? The main event of Inception, ending in a disqualification. I get it, people don’t understand why it happened. Honestly? Frustration is something that can get into anyone’s mind. It can eat away at you and it can cause you to lose part of yourself. And, I did. Finn and I went at it and at the end of the day, I could have thrown that chair down, and he and I could have continued the match. I could be standing here as the new Sin City Wrestling World Heavyweight Champion.”

“I want to be really clear on this since a lot of you don’t understand, or don’t seem to care. But no, I didn’t ask Aaron as a fixer to come down to the ring and get involved in my World Championship match. I didn’t ask her to go after anyone or throw a chair into the ring or anything. Why would I do that? Why would I destroy my own shot at being the World Champion?”

“Do I look like an idiot? With how long I’ve been in this, with how long I have been winning world championships and being a part of all of these different companies, you really believe I wouldn’t be smart enough to know what was about to happen?”

“This issue between myself and Finn is not over. Because coming up at Blaze of Glory I get another opportunity at Finn. And there’s a lot of people who are complaining about this. You see Andrea Hernandez has to defend her championship inside an Elimination Chamber. Meanwhile, on the men’s side the elimination chamber is for a shot at Finn. Or, a shot at Me when I become the world champion. And I keep hearing the little whispers, the little complaints, everyone wondering why I’m getting another shot at Finn and why I don’t have to be in the chamber.”

Alex rolls his eyes and throws his arms in the air. He has black bandanna tied around his long hair that flows down his shoulders and his back. A black and red Wolfslair shirt over the top of a pair of baggy blue jeans.

”it’s simple. We don’t have to be. Finn has been the champion long enough that beating everyone in a chamber like that wouldn’t do anyone any favours whatsoever. And at this point in my career, with everything I’ve done, I’ve earned the right to call my own goddamn shots. So, while the rest of you are all scrambling over each other to get a shot at myself or Finn, I’m going to be doing everything I can to beat the shit out of that arrogant little pissant and take the SCW World Heavyweight Championship. And I’m going to do it at the biggest show of the year. I’m going to become a three time World Champion in this company.”

“Yes, three times. And that would be just in this company. I have won so many championships that my trophy room needed to be expanded. And coming up at Blaze of Glory, I have a chance to add to it. Meanwhile, there are a list of hopefuls, stepping into the chamber, all getting ready to beat the living hell out of each other to earn the right to face the World Champion. And that is how it should be. The SCW World Championship should be looked at as a – surprise – something to be earned. Something to be fought for. People like me have earned the right to come back and say that we want a shot at that title. We don’t take back doors into it.”

“And that is what everyone will be fighting for in that chamber, including my opponent this week.”

“And trust me Carter, this match is more exciting to me than you realise. See, I’m not gonna sit here and bullshit my way through this. I’ve never been one to do that. I’m not going to Big Brother/Little Brother you. I’m not going to go down that same road that others do and start spouting off some nonsense about how you haven’t done anything in this business. I’ve seen plenty of what you’ve been able to accomplish in your time under the SCW banner. You started off in SCU, and you grew from there. You’ve done everything you can to get your name out there and be viewed as a star and the truth is, you are one. People love you, Carter.”

“You come out to the ring and people applaud and cheer. They get on their feet and they clap their hands and they stomp their feet and they do everything they possibly can to show their appreciation and love for you. Getting the fans behind you in a way that you have? It's not easy. In fact, it’s one of the hardest things that you can possibly do in your life. But you’ve been able to do it. You’ve been able to do it and when you won the Internet Championship off of Peter Vaughn. I sat at home watching that show and I saw the entire crowd explode.”

“It was amazing.”

Alex nods slowly and gives a small round of applause before taking a deep breath and continuing.

”I’m not someone who is delusional enough to say that you can’t beat me. Anyone can beat anyone else on any given night. But against me, you are definitely Ice skating uphill. You might think that my focus is going to be just on Finn and getting that World Championship. But what if I told you there is a motivation for me to face you and to beat you that goes well beyond that World Championship? Intriguing right? You see Carter, I’m very happy that Miles was able to find you. I’m happy that you two are in love. And you are, we all can see it. The way he looks at you, the way you look at him, you have a storybook romance and a storybook love that most people should envy.”

“But, there is a small problem with it. You see Carter, Miles was a member of my family. He was someone who I affectionately called one of my kids. Miles, along with Lachlan Kane, Sierra Williams, Aiden Reynolds, Johanna Kreiger, Kallie Reznik… they are all my kids. Ones that I have had a hand in training and trying to build up as champions. And there was a time where Miles simply disappeared. We all know this story.”

“He took off without saying a word to any of us. Took off to see you. Now, I’ve never been in the way of anyone finding true love, but the fact he just walked away without saying anything to any of us was a bullshit move. And nobody, nobody took that harder than me. Finn might like to play the victim like he was so hurt by the fact Miles walked away, but we all know that self-centred piece of shit only used it as an excuse. But me, Carter? I was hurt by it. He was a member of my family, a member of my gym. I gave all of my attention and all of my knowledge to that kid and he spat in my goddamn face. And that happened when he started seeing you.”

“Now, it might not be any of your problem. I’m very very aware that this whole thing was probably due to Miles being an immature little dickhead. But at the end of the day, we let him back in and he spat in our faces again when he attacked Finn. Now, I stabbed Finn in the front. I told him I wanted a championship match and went after him. Miles, on the other hand, stabbed him in the back. A big no no. And you, instead of helping to guide him toward a better outcome, instead you blindly followed him.”

Alex rolls his eyes and shakes his head before leaning close

””Carter, let me tell you a little something. Something that you might not get. You are here in your little fantasy land where you believe that love between you and Miles is both of you just blindly agreeing with the other person following them around like a little lost puppy dog. Avoiding conflict wherever you can and just smiling for the cameras and smiling for your family and never having an argument between yourself and your significant other. But real love? Real love is pain. Real love is walking through that pain and telling your partner and the person that you love when they are being a complete raging arsehole. That is something that you as a human being failed at.”

“You failed to call Miles out on his bullshit. You failed to be the partner that he needed instead of being the partner that you thought he wanted. Now, I don’t think you’re a bad person, Carter. I think you are a good human being. You have an amazing heart, and you show it every single time you get in the ring. Even if you are outmatched physically, which you are most of the time. Even if you are outmatched by someone with more experience, like you are most of the time. You still put everything on the line. And that’s what you’ll have to do against me.”

“But, you and Miles have a lot of things in common. One of which being that you are constantly banging your heads against a glass ceiling. Everyone talks about his potential but I want to talk about yours. Your potential. The potential that you refuse to acknowledge except and push push. And hell, the truth is that if you and Miles had gone about things differently, you could’ve come to Wolfslair…”

“You could have trained with the champions. But instead, all you are is a former Internet Champion who has had many many other chances to step up and become the main event star that a lot of us saw you as. But exactly like Miles you just squander opportunity after opportunity and end up being a nobody. And it breaks my heart. It really does, Carter. I know that you should be better than this. I know that you should be more than this. But the fact that you’re facing me this week, well, I have a lot of issues I need to work out with you. And it isn’t just the Miles stuff.”

Alex closes his eyes and instantly his demeanour changes. As his eyes open up again, he looks cruel, cold, like something is wrong.

”Right now. you are standing in the way of me getting to that World Championship. Momentum is everything in this business, Carter. I’ve been around long enough to know what happens when someone breaks that momentum. And facing you? If I beat you and steamroll over you like I know I can, then that will give me momentum going against Finn. If I lose to you? I break that momentum. So what do you think is going to happen, Carter? You know how much I have left in the tank. You know how angry and how frustrated someone can get when they think that their championship aspirations are being taken for granted.”

“So, I have to ask, what do you think is going to happen? What do you think is going to be the line that I will cross? Because when it comes to that championship there isn’t a line that I won’t cross. And you are standing in my way. You might not think it, but you being booked in this match against me is you being an obstacle. And I have made a career out of removing obstacles. I have made a career out of doing everything that I possibly can to get world championships and this is going to be no different. If I have to destroy you to get that momentum to go and beat Finn and take that championship at Blaze of Glory, I will do it. And I’ll do it without an inch of remorse.”

“I am not like you.”

“You are a good person. A kindhearted person. Someone who is filled with respect and love who will do everything they can the right way. I’m not like that, Carter. I am not a good man. I’m not a good person. I have done a lot of things in this business and my personal life that I should be ashamed of that I’m simply not. It is all a means to an end and I will destroy you to get to Finn. And if you somehow drag your broken carcass to the elimination chamber and win it? Then you’ll be facing me again. But this time I will be a World Champion. Because unlike you and unlike Miles? I know how to actually reach my potential.”

Gone away

It was 5 am. Alex Jones had arrived at the gym, turning on the lights, cleaning the mats, and getting all of the computers turned on and ready to go. Going through paperwork, making sure everything was in its place. He closed his eyes and shook his head, his heart sinking as he looked over at one of the rings inside the main room. His fingertips stand still on the canvas, His other hand moved up and slides across the bottom rope.

He pulled himself up onto the apron, stepping into the ring. He leaned on the ropes, he had an urgent inside himself to start running across the ring, to run the ropes, to hit them like he used to, but as he took a step he felt his knee click. His body popped a few times in different places. He shook his head sliding from the ring to the floor and walking over to the large metal roller door, leaning down to unlock it he slid it straight up in the air waiting for everyone else to arrive. He moved back to the office. Sitting down with the pile of paperwork in front of him, he went about his day.

As everyone arrived, he looked up through the window, giving them a small nod of acknowledgment. From students, to professionals, to members of the gym who were in his inner circle. They all received the same greeting. From Finn Whelan to Austin James Mercer and Alicia Lukas, they all got the same small head knot. Even his wife Sonja.

Alex just went about doing paperwork sitting at his desk sipping a coffee and showing no emotion even as he heard the sounds that always emanated from the gym. The sound of talking, laughter, weights hitting each other and being lifted as well as small competitions being run on the grappling mats and in the ring. It was a sound that Alex loved, a sound that used to fill him with so much happiness and something he would usually partake in. But right now? He couldn’t bring himself to even look outside, he couldn’t bring himself to look at any of the wrestling rings that he had set up all the grappling mats. He couldn’t even bring himself to talk to anyone.

And there were only two people who knew about his injuries. Two people who knew that it was the end. Finn and Sonja.

But, it wouldn’t be long before everyone else realized the truth. It wouldn’t be long till the whispers started and the rumors filled the gym. Things like this do not go unnoticed. People would see that Alex was not out there, that he was not getting in the ring, that he was not being physical and active. Even though he would work out while no one else was around, it was all cardio and weight work. He hadn’t stepped inside a professional wrestling ring in weeks.

He signed a piece of paper moving it across his desk before hearing the click of the door and locking up. Sonja stepped in slowly smiling and moving across to her desk. She looked down realising that all the paperwork that had been sitting on her side of the office was now on his side and was done. She shook her head and folded her arms over her chest. Her long blonde hair tied back in a bun. ”I appreciate that you have done so much paperwork and made my life easier. But, isn’t there anything else better that you could do with your time?”

”Like what?” his answer back was short and sharp. There was almost no emotion in it.

Sonja sighed and shook her head stepping to his desk, she placed her hands flat on the top of it and leaned forward ”Oh, I don’t know, maybe go out there and help some of these talented youngsters that we have under our roof? Give them some of that knowledge that you’ve accumulated over the last 20 years?” Her voice oozed with authority and a hint of sarcasm. Alex shook his head continuing to sign more papers and read through them. Sonja, clearly frustrated, slammed her hands on the desk a little harder trying to get his attention.

Alex took a deep breath and sat back ”What?….” his voice was still flat and emotionless. Almost cold in its delivery matching Alex‘s demeanour

Sonja shook her head and folded her arms over her chest ”Really? We’re going through this again?” This isn’t the first time you’ve been told that you can’t wrestle and every single other time you’ve gotten up got in the ring and at least helped these kids. You even returned last time.”

Alex took a deep breath and sat back ”It’s not the same. Every single other time it’s been an advisement that I should retire. But at the end of the day, I’ve had a medical release and I’ve been able to go back to work. Every other time it has been a suggestion. But not this time. My doctor wouldn’t even entertain the thought of signing a medical release to allow me to go back to work. It’s over Sonja. I’m done.” Alex got to his feet, moving to the filing cabinet to put away some of the papers. Standing and turning his back on his wife.

Sonja ground her teeth together and took a long deep breath. ”Yeah. I get it. Every other time you’ve been told you shouldn’t be doing something. It was just a suggestion. This time, there’s a finality to it. Being told you shouldn’t do something and being told you can’t do something are two completely different things. But does that mean that you’re going to hide in here for the rest of your life? That you’re not going to go out there and actually help these kids?”

Alex’s breath hitched in his throat, his life and problems being laid out like that right in front of him by the woman who was supposed to love him and support him hit him in the chest. He slammed the filing cabinet door shut and turned. ”Help them? How? By sitting on the ring apron or on the top rope and telling them all these different stories about the good old days when I could do what I’m trying to teach them to do? They need to be shown, physically shown. And it’s way better if someone like Austin or Finn does that. Or Alicia. Help look at what Finn has been able to do with Miles. What Austin has been doing with Aiden. Or Alicia and Aaron have with Kallie….” Alex trailed off and took a breath calming himself down

Sonja stepped closest reaching out and taking Alex’s hands in hers ”And you can’t contribute? You can’t go out there and tell them anything about your career or what you’ve accomplished?”

”And what would that accomplish?” He raised his voice and stepped closer ”Forcing me to be around all of them, around a ring and around the business. What would it accomplish aside from making me miserable?” He looks to the window and places his hands on his hips ”What do you want me to say? What do you want to hear? That I’m scared? That I’m depressed?….well….I am…ok?…I am… and I have no idea what to do about it”

Sonja, caught off guard by Alex and his passionate confession took a deep breath, stepped forward, and just wrapped her arms around him. The two of them stand in silence unsure of what to say to each other.

Pitiful.

”Well, what a return that was. One filled with a chance to win and go after whoever the winner was going to be in the world championship match. I said "whoever" the winner was going to be, but I called it then and I knew I was going to be right. There was no way in hell Miles was going to be able to beat them. Meanwhile, I had to come back after a lengthy layoff and get thrown right into an over-the-top-rope battle royale to try and earn a shot at whatever championship I wanted”

Alex can’t help it chuckle, his long dark hair tied back in a bun as his trimmed beard sits close to his skin only showing a few glimpses of the small streaks of silver that had formed since we last saw him.

”And, I wanted a shot at the world championship. A shot at Finn. See, other people have issues with him but he and I have our own history. Something that I’m sure a lot of you are going to end up hearing about about. But the fact remains that my first match back was that Battle Royale. I had the same chance that everyone else did going into that match to win and earn my shot. But I failed. I got my arse dumped out onto the floor and I watched as the chance flew out the window. But, something that you all have to remember is that one on one I’m still the baddest motherfucker on the planet”

“We saw the return of Connor Murphy, we’ve seen the rise of Miles‘s little brother. And we’ve seen as Finn stays on top of the pile and everyone else is too scared to challenge him directly.”

“Let may be very clear here. I’m not here to just have some kind of nostalgia run where everyone gets to see me a few times, applaud me, and watch as I ride off into the sunset. This isn’t a situation where I want to come back and go out in front of a live crowd wave my hand in the air thank everyone for their time and effort in watching Me and then leave. It’s not what I want. It’s not what anyone wants. I’m back and I’m back to take heads and championships. I’m back to have one more run as a world champion in a main event star. A chance to prove why I was put in the Hall of Fame.”

“And a chance to prove that I’m better than Finn. That I’m better than all the other names that have been floating around this company while I’ve been sitting at home.”

“How quickly people forget. But the truth is, I don’t blame people for it. I don’t blame most of you for forgetting the kind of man I am. I don’t blame you for forgetting that I came into this company and led a young Austin James Mercer to the world championship. I don’t even blame people for forgetting that I stepped forward and became a double champion when I beat Mac Bane for the world championship while I was the roulette champion. And while we sit back and see that he along with recent Hall of Famer Mark Cross and a whole host of others never returned to the company or gave a shit about SCW. I’m still here, and I’ve always been here.”

Alex growls and sits forward. He wears a red and black Wolfslair t-shirt and black jeans with black boots. A leather jacket sits on the back of the chair as he sits down and stares forward.

”I love this company. And I have noticed that while a whole bunch of stars have left no one has really stepped up to become the next big name. Finn returned and has done an excellent job as the world champion but where is everyone else? Why hasn’t Fenris come back? Why is J2H happy being Kevin Carter‘s bitch? Why has Alexander Raven disappeared? Why is Ben Jordan only floating around instead of being one of the baddest people on the planet like we all know he can be?”

“And why are we pretending that Miles Kasey is a main event star?”

Alex shakes his head, pushing off the table. He gets to his feet and steps sideways, grabbing a beer and popping it open before taking a sip and placing it back on the kitchen counter in front of him.

”Look, Miles, kid, I have watched you try everything in your power to break through that glass ceiling that seems to be above you. Everything. You came to ask and you wanted to get better. But while everyone else was committed to getting better, you have been committed to doing nothing. Your entire career became an afterthought after you met Carter. Now, I’m not one to speak ill of someone’s love life. And I’m glad you have found someone who loves you. I’m glad you have that relationship. Everyone deserves to have that one person in their life that feels like they complete them.”

“However, when that relationship almost completely derails everything you’ve done all because you couldn’t be bothered to talk to the people around you there is a problem. And you sat there and acted like you were a victim. You walked back into the gym and we all welcomed you with open arms because of thin. Because he went to bat for you because he told us that you deserved another chance because you were just a young dumb kid in love and you wanted to come home.”

“And like a pack of blazing dip shits, we believed him. And we believed you.”

“And then what happened? Just as you were getting accepted back into the fold, just as we looked at you as one of us again and you started to get that Park mentality what did you do? You walked out there you attacked Finn from behind numerous times all to get a shot at his world championship. now, while I admire your determination to become a world champion and while I admire the steps that you were taking the fact that you did it to Finn is the problem.”

Alex shakes his head, clearly disappointed in the steps that Miles took in getting to Finn and trying to become the world champion.

”The worst part about all this is that you just didn’t get it. Finn and myself and everyone else in that gym weren’t pissed off at you because you wanted a world championship match. We all want to be the champion that is why we do this. We were pissed off because you decided to go about it in a way that dishonored him and dishonored you. And when confronted with this fact, when presented with the idea that you were wrong instead of realizing it and apologizing you double down and then try to act like the victim.”

“The victim…”

“Acting like we all didn’t have your back from day one”

“Acting like none of us would have been there for you if you had asked. Acting like Finn would have said no if you asked for a shot. You stopped around like a child talking about how everyone thought you were a joke and how you needed to prove us all wrong. Miles, I never thought you were a joke. The years every single one of us has been talking about your potential. Talking about how you could rise up and be a world champion. Talking about how all you needed to do was believe in yourself.”

“Attacking someone from behind isn’t believing in yourself. Especially when that person is someone who let you into his home, who did everything he could to help you, that isn’t an act of someone living up to their potential that is an act of somebody trying to take a shortcut. And we have never been about taking shortcuts. You come into this company, you come into this business and you earn everything that you get. Earned his shots at that world championship, and I earned my world championships. Hell, even Kayla Richards who you seem so happy with throwing under the bus because she doesn’t like you earned everything that she has. And that’s coming from me and I hate the bitch”

“But you? You whine and cry and act like everything should be handed to you on a silver platter because you have skills. Yes Miles you are an incredible professional wrestler but it means nothing, and I mean nothing, if you can’t string it together and get your head out of your ass. Even Carter, Carter has his head on straight. Carter is someone who could be a world champion just like you but he has way more of an upside because unlike you he doesn’t play the victim card.”

Alex can’t help but laugh to himself as he folds his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall.

”Look at everything you’ve done. Attacking him from behind, deliberately distracting him so he would lose matches. Costing him the mixed tag team championships. And what was it all for? What did it accomplish miles? You got that main event and you had a chance at the world championship but in the end, you failed. You failed. I’ll say it again again just in case it hasn’t drilled into that ignorant skull of yours.”

“You. Failed.”

“And it cost you almost everything. Friends, family, respect. You have Carter, and he loves you, and that’s great. In your mind, you’re probably thinking you don’t need anyone else. And maybe that’s true. But you had brothers and sisters, members of a pack, all of us ready to cheer you on and be behind you.”

“Now, I haven’t kicked you out of the gym and I allow you to train there because part of Me still believes you can be redeemed. Part of Me still believes that you can wake up to yourself and stop being such an arrogant dickhead. And yes, a small part of it is that Finn and others like to see you suffer because you come into the gym and no one wants anything to do with you.”

“And since I know you’re going to bring it up, that’s super kick was for your own good.”

“I wasn’t going to sit back and allow you to constantly get involved in Finn‘s shit and think that you can get away with it. So I kicked you in the head. I didn’t apologize and I don’t plan to. Just like I won’t apologize for giving you the tough love that you sorely need. I’m gonna get in the ring with you Miles and I’m going to beat the hell out of you. And maybe, just maybe you’ll learn something.”

History is a flat circle

”Move, now. Get up, hit the ropes and drop down. No Slackers.”

Alex stands on the ring apron, his arms folded over his chest. A black and red wolfslair shirt on and a pair of training shorts. Inside the ring some of the newer trainees where rotating with each other, hitting the ropes, dropping down and leapfrogging and switching.it up. Since his loss to Mac Bane he had been a domineering and almost dictator like personality. Working his trainees and team mates to the bone.

He sneers and shakes his head jumping down from the apron. Charlie Jones, his younger sister, manager of Wolfslair Orlando and now the General Manager of upstart promotion Pro Wrestling Excellence steps next to him as Alex looks over at Johanna Krieger and Aiden Reynolds, two international stars signed to PWS Apex and SCW respectively. ”Get in and show them.” Johanna and Aiden look at each other and get up and they start to roll with the trainees who are out of their depth, one by one Johanna takes their back sinking in a choke and Aiden locks in a variety of limb locks. Cries of pain ring out and Alex shakes his head.

”Going a little hard on them aren’t we?” Alex raises an eyebrow as Charlie turns her back and leans on the ring apron. Alex scoffs and lays his hands flat on the mat, his eyes tracing back and forth as Johanna and Aiden step down from the ring and go back to working out with Austin and Alicia. ”They aren’t going to get any better just being beaten down and then beaten up by your more..elite names.Alex groans and rolls his eyes pushing off the ring

”That’s it for the day, hit the showers. Use some ice” The trainees all groan in pain and gingerly move from the ring as Alex lets out a sigh looking at his sister. ”Steel sharpens steel Charlie. I need to get these kids ready, they need to know that they aren’t going to break like glass” He moves away leaning down grabbing some of the workout gear packing it up as various other workout sessions go on without him, Alicia and Johanna rolling on the mats trading submissions, Austin and Aiden having a contest involving cardio.

Numerous others, names we have not seen or know who work in the independants also train and seem to be working hard. Alex smiles slowly as Charlie’s next words ring out in his ears. ”But they aren’t steel yet, you can break them and not in the good way.”

Dallas Texas, 12 Years Ago

22 year old Alex Jones stood in the ring, there were other young men around him, Alex had two years of training and in ring experience behind him, he wasn’t sure about the others. Outside the ring, an aging Texan legend “Wild” Bill Harrison stood with his arms crossed. His long black hair that used to be a thick mane connecting with his handlebar mustache was now thinning on top and tied back.

Even in his 60’s he was a commanding presence. A mountain of a man at six foot five and still in the high two hundred pounds. He let out a grunt, one that seemed to be annoyed and angry.

”Pathetic.”

With that one word the other trainees all seemed to look defeated, all but Alex who raised an eyebrow and pushed his chest forward. Bill circled the ring, his footsteps very heavy. ”You all have no heart at all. I don’t even know why you’re in my ring. Some of you have experience in companies but it just shows how soft your generation is.” The air was thick with tension, Alex breathed deep as Bill growled locking eyes with the young grappler. ”Indian squats….go till you can’t stand...you pussies.” Bill blew his whistle. Alex sneered and started doing squats, the others growl and already look defeated. But Alex didn’t care, he was driven and ready…

Pain was only temporary….

”Alex?....are you fucking listening to me?”


He snapped out of it, turning back to Charlie who raised her eyebrows, her long black hair was tied back away from her face, her eyes raising as she tilted her head waiting for her older brother to acknowledge her. Alex just slowly smiled and gave her a nod. ”I hear you….Charlie, you remember what we went through…” He stared right into her eyes, he could see a switch get flipped, her eyes darted to the side, the memories seemed painful for her.

He stepped forward putting his hand on her shoulder, Charlie flinched and pulled away. ”Yeah, I remember. I also remember it was hard on Dylan, I remember I quit wrestling for six years because of it…” Her voice trailed off, this was one of the first times she had brought up Dylan, one of the first times his name had been uttered inside the halls of Wolfslair New York. ”Dylan didn’t….he didn’t do what he did because of the training, it was because of things outside wrestling, outside the life…you know that…”

There was an awkward silence, Charlie swallowed and snapped out of it looking over at all the trainees, laughing and mingling. Alex wasn’t yelling at them, cursing at them or trying to belittle them, he just smiled. That was the difference. Context. He knew when to be hard on everyone, when to be soft, when to listen and when to talk. Charlie gave a small nod and looked over at them to. ”Yeah, I guess you’re right, besides you’re not like the guy who trained us. You actually care….I wish Dylan was alive to see it”

Alex swallowed, he tried to hide it all, the emotional impact of thinking about their deceased younger brother. The feeling of coming home to find him on the floor, Charlie kneeling next to him, cradling his head in her lap, tears streaming down her face and screaming for help. A chill went up his spine, but he shook his head before offering a smile to his sister. ”I think he…would have loved it here…” Charlie let out a sigh and folded her arms over her chest, silence was all that was between them now. But, they both knew….Alex was right.

Deja Vu

”I could have sworn I have done this song and dance before. Recently in fact…”

Alex Jones, the (now) former SCW Heavyweight champion, sits in front of a chessboard. Not a traditional one, no. The pieces are modeled after various figures in greek mythology, his left hand moving over to the knight, modeled to look like Area, the god of war. He slides it up and to the side, in the L motion, dropping it in the middle of the board.

”This is the first match of the new year. New year new me right? That’s how the saying goes. New year's resolutions and all that jazz?. The truth is, I don’t need to change. I’m fucking incredible the way I am. I am now a two time SCW World champion. An eleven time world champion. And I get it, I do, So many of you can claim to be a forty seven time world champion in a whole host of different companies that no one gives a shit about and haven’t been active in decades. I’m looking at you Matt Knox. But me? Look at my history. Look at the companies that I have been the champion of, that I have risen to the goddamn top of. Aside from SCW…”

“There’s Honor wrestling, twice I became the champion there. I was the first Honor wrestling champion, the first one to hold that belt high in the air. Oh, by the way, completely unrelated but, welcome Finn Whelan to SCW everyone….”

Alex winks and moves a pawn forward before clearing his throat.

”The fact remains I held that title twice, once as it’s first champion and then again as the most important to bring that company back from the brink oif death, buying it some extra time to get the SCW merger done. But, then there’s WWH. Everyone knows that company, for better or worse. Myself, Austin, Kat Jones, Mercedes Vargas, Alicie, Sierra, Finn, we have all been in that company over the years. And in my case, in Kats case, in Finns case, we all held the WWH world title. There is IWF, the company everyone sees finally popping up all over twitter? Yeah I was the Imperial champion there too, not that anyone would knows….”

“Record deletion is kinda lame…”

“But I was at the top there, and the XHF network? That giant conglomerate of companies? Guess what? The original XHF? I was the world champion there to. That is just a small sample of the world titles that I have held, the companies I have represented and been at the top of. This is what I have done my entire career. And while some of you are so narrow minded you don’t see the scope of the wrestling world and are happily sitting there thinking SCW is the only wrestling company that matters, people like myself have been on top everywhere we have gone..”

“So, while some of you want to act like the new year is some kind of magical reset button, I’m here to tell you that it’s bullshuit and you’re just as untalented as you were last year…”

He smirks and shakes his head, moving another Ares knight before turning and getting up from the table, a walk off checkmate that he didn’t even need to exclaim as we hear a groan from the other side of the table, a decidedly feminine one as a few choice German expletives are heard moments later.

”And I have to be honest, most of you have to know by now that Mac Bane is counting his lucky stars, he’s keeping four leaf clovers, he’s looking for Rabbits to steal their feet, cause he knows how lucky he is to not only get out of that fourway with the title but to also have not only won it off me but also do it in a match where I don’t even get my rematch. I want you all to think about that for a moment. I beat Mac Bane, I beat him a second time in a rematch that HE wanted. Then, when he is able to get handed another opportunity this match conveniently has a stipulation that stops me from getting another shot…”

“How is that fair? How is that right?”

“It isn’t”

“See, I carried this company on my back and I defended it against Mac and his cronies yet Mark and Christian seem to be blowing Mac Bane. Wolfslair has been successful as a unit but we have never EVER talking about SCW like it has needed saving. So, I’m locked out. Truth is, that little stipulation would have been fine if it was just on Mac, since he had opportunity after opportunity but in the end it screwed ME over. It made ME get shoved down to the bottom of the ladder. And I have never left the company or taken a break after losing a title.,..I have never walked off like a child…”

He smirks and sneers shaking his head.

”Which brings me to Jack Washington. I have so much history with Jack, I have seen his face across the ring from me just as much as I have Mac. See, I beat Griffin Hawkins for that title, I faced Jack and he was able to beat me. I didn’t take the rematch against Jack for a few reasons. One was that I didn’t believe I deserved it. I held the title for two weeks, The other was, at the time I wanted to see sopme new blood as a world champion, that was you Jackie boy. You deserved that time in the sun and I sat back and watched, I went back to the bottom of the ladder and prepared to work my way up expecting you to be there when I worked and earned my way back to you…”

“Unfortunately it didn;’t work out that way. You traded that title back and forth between yourself and Kris Ryans before losing it to Mark Cross. You and I never got to face each other while you were the champion. However, we did face while I was the champion. You got your shot against me, you got a chance to prove the first time wasn’t a fluke and we went at it and as expected you were a goddamn challenge Jack, I will never sit here and say you weren’t a challenge or you’re not a threat Cause I know damn well you are. But while I have always acknowledged you as part of the main event scene of SCW you have never afforded me the respect I deserve.”

“That’s why you’ll never reach my heights Jack.”

“That’s why you will never be a respected part of the company. You make excuses, you make childish comments that make zero sense. Shit, I watched and listened to you against Supreme Machine. You sat there and rattled on about the guys name. His name Jack. The guy could have been named “Fluffy McNuggets” and it wouldn’t have mattered. What mattered was that you were teamed with Krystal Wolfe who has been one of the most dominant bombshells over the last few months and you weren’t able to get the job done. You had a shot to go through and win the blast from the past, to get a match against Mac Bane and end his reign of terror. Something I can’t do..something I’m not allowed to do…”

“But, you failed, you failed and now for some reason, my first match  back, from time off that I never asked for….is against you…”

“And I have a need to prove myself again Jack, a need to get in the ring and get back on that horse. And the only way I can make sure Christian and Mark wake up and see what they’re doing and where they went wrong is to make sure they know I am un-fucking-deniable. So get in the ring with me Jack, get in the ring and lets burn the goddamn house down again, and lets show Mac and his cronies that SCW doesn’t need saving…”

Conflict of interest

He was hiding.

Not intentionally. It was a subliminal. Since the match was announced he had trained in secret, not taking his time out on the main floor with the others, waiting instead till the end of the day before locking up, or getting there early. It was a hard thing. Being a leader. And, for better or worse, that’s what Alex was. A leader. Not just because he was now the reigning, defending word champion of sin city wrestling, but also the founder and lead trainer of wolfslair. The new York gym, but also Orlando, his sister still holding a higher position but scaling back her duties as she became General Manager of up and coming company Pro Wrestling Excellence.

So it all fell on Alex. It was on him to make sure both gyms ran smoothly, to help push the members to reach their goals as well as his own. It was alot of pressure, and it was pressure that Alex thrived in.

However, there wa sa nagging thought in the back of his head, how long was this going to last? The success, the growth. It was different and new. All the members in their own way were improving, becoming what they were supposed to. It filled him with pride and happiness. But there was the problem. He didn’t feel like he should. These were adults. Grown human beings capable of their own careers and destiny.

So, after his victory, his redemption and his defence, a match was announced that shook who he was to the core. But, Alex would never admit it.

He watched them, they finished their training for the day, the entire gym. The New York contingent, the Orlando group, all under one roof for the first time in what felt like years. In reality it had only been a few months. But, Alex still watched them, all of them. Sierra, Lachlan, Miles, Johanna, Alicia, Dickie, Aiden. The rest of them all laughing and moving around the gym and out the door. Alex smiled, knowing how far they had all come since coming to Wolfslair, and there it was again. The feeling of pride.

They say Pride comes before the fall. And maybe that was his curse. Pride. For years Alex had felt it, pride in his accomplishments, from title wins to names he had collected. Touting them in promo after promo and interview after interview. At nauseum in some points. It made people angry, jealous and in some cases sick. But therein lied the beauty of what Alex was capable of. Using it all to make those around him feel insecure.But this was different.

”Not going to say goodbye?” Austins voice boomed through the small office area. The doors were shut, the windows too, just the blinds pulled open so Alex could see out onto the floor. His wife Sonya gave his sister Charlie a hug, Alex just slowly shook his head, he looked back down at his paperwork, shuffling them before signing the bottom of one of the contracts with a grunt. Austin rolled his eyes, moving his hands to Alex and pushing the papers down onto the desk and away from Alex. ”Not even to your sister huh?....come on..” Alexs’ nostrils flared. He knew Austin was right.

He was trying to put him in a better mindset, it was what Austin always tried to do. Maybe he was the real leader. ”You’re acting like I’ll never see them all again Aus..”

Alex chuckled, Austin didn’t. It was almost like he knew what was on Alexs’ mind before Alex did. The last few months had been hard, Alex questioned everything about himself, why he was getting opportunities, if he could take advantage of them and of course, was he the same competitor he always was? But this was different. Some of the members of wolfslair had come from somewhere else, trained somewhere else. And maybe, just maybe they didn’t quite trust him, maybe they were there for other reasons.

”Besides, I have bigger things to worry about.” He heard Austin scoff, he could feel the attitude change and Austin moved towards the door opening it before leaning against the wall folding his arms. Austin didn’t have to say anything, he never had to say anything. He looked out towards the group, all of them still laughing and smiling He looked back at Alex, nodding in their direction. He sighed moving up to Austin with a shake of his head ”You’re persistent you know that?” He just smiled, Alex sighed and walked through the door.

The mats beneath his feet squeaked as he kept moving toward the group. There was high fives, laughter, quick hugs and like that it was done. The Orlando crew left, there was sadness and the sound faded and disappeared. Alex moved back into the gym as the others left, his hands felt heavy, they weighed down his shoulders. There was work to do, he knew it, they knew it and now Alex had to start it.

Choices

”Did you all believe that this was going to be the end of me?”

Alex sat on the end of an old wooden chair, his head hanging down with his hair flowing. He stared at the ground, he should be happy, celebrating. But for whatever reason, he wasn’t.

”So many thought Jack Washington was going to beat me, take the Sin City Wrestling world title from me and send me back down to the Internet or Roulette divisions or maybe, just maybe kick my ass out of this company and get rid of me for good. Truth be told. He was close. Closer than most. See, Jack is what you would call a prodigious talent. He doesn’t have to work as hard as some because everything comes natural. And kickin my ass came very very natural. But even after he did that, even after he came into the biggest match of the year at the biggest even of the year he still couldn’t stop my redemption. He was it, the final piece of the puzzle, the final little missing passage in that chapter.”

“But now, that piece is in place and that chapter is finished and you’d think I’d be happy. Right?. That I can leave the past behind me now and look toward the future. But what is that future? Where do I go from here? I mean, the number one contender has been decided. And it’s Mac Bane, the former champion, the goddamn bulldozer who I escaped twice now. And I suppose that is something to look forward to.”

“But, I can’t just focus on that.”

“See, being a champion, the champion, means that everyone is gunning for you. Everyone. Not just the number one contender. But everyone else who thinks they’re owed a title shot or they have somehow earned one by simply existing. I have a target on my back and everyone has a goddamn gun. And the sad part about all this is before the match with Jck, my biggest fear was losing to him again, but before that it was getting beaten without successfully defending this….”

Alex pulls the SCW title up, looking at it before lowering it back down and holding it between his knees.

”But now, I don’t know what to be afraid of, I don’t know what I should be desperate to protect or fight for. See, a year ago when I did lose this title, the fight was obvious, the need was obvious. I needed to start from the bottom and fight my way back to the top. I did it by facing the best like Fenris, Ben Jordan and Vinnie, and sometimes I stumbled, I failed and other times I succeeded. It took me to the roulette title and then when I had to put that on the line to face Mac, the fear was failing again, after I won the fear was losing it right away and then the final hurdle was Jack and now I have no idea what I should fight for.”

“Do I fight to simply keep the title? To prove I’m the best? Nah, that time has come and gone. Now the best thing I can think of is to fight for those around me. To give my friends and family a sense of pride.”

“And that is where Levi Russow comes in.”

“Levi fucking Russow. As far as the pecking order in ACW goes, it’s not like I could find someone lower right now could I? Now, for the uninitiated, or for the people who don’t care, Levi is a star in other promotions, a man who for years considered himself to be a veteran wrestling god among men. A guy who in the places where he worked and stayed was indeed important. But when he spreads his wings and tries to fly often comes crashing down to earth in a realisation that he really isn’t as good as he believes. Are you Levi?”

He can’t help but smile and shake his head before standing up, pushing to his feet and stepping forward.

”And you desperately want to recapture that feeling, that feeling of being important.And I get it, I understand it better than most. You watched people you trained with, people you knew surpass you, you watched your own son surpass you. And now here you are, in your early forties and instead of being a beacon for the younger generation or people who you’ve worked with you are nothing but a whiney self absorbed child with dreams of recapturing the self importance you had. And that’s what all this is about isn’t it? This isn’t about you hating me for any substantial reason, this isn’t about you thinking you can slingshot your way up the ladder to face me for the title. No Levi, this is about one thing and one thing alone…”

“Your ego.”

“It’s currently bruised and broken. It’s been destroyed all because people you trusted, people you trained with and helped train decided to walk away from you and train with me. And the sad part, the ultimate tragedy of all of this, your hate, your anger, your ego, it’s all misplaced. It shouldn’t be aimed at me, it shouldn’t be aimed at Lachlan or Miles. It should be aimed at yourself. This has never been about me taking credit for their success or saying I trained them. This whole thing, Wolfslair is a brotherhood.”

“Steel sharpens steel.”

“Yes Lachlan and Miles have become even better athletes and wrestlers working at Wolfslair Orlando and Wolfslair New York, this is true, it’s a fact, a matter of fucking record. But what you are too stubborn to see is that I have numerous times stated how I have improved with them. Seeing their youthful exuberance, seeing how they think of new ways to move and think. Miles and Lachlan have helped me become a world champion again as much as Austin, Alicia, Johanna, my sister and every other member of Wolfslair...this Sin City Wrestling world heavyweight title is not MY championship…”

“It’s OUR championship.”

Alex growls and sneers, his eyes flash and for a moment the respectful leader, the gym head and world champion disappears and instead we see the arrogant one, the guy who did everything he could to become a champion, no matter the cost.

”For months Levi you have thrown cheap shots anyway you can, without ever actually addressing me, running your mouth behind your phone. And myself along with Finn, Charlie and other head trainers ignored it. We went about our business and trained, we became stronger. All the while you threw petty barbs at us, and why? Because people who you considered to be your friends decided to train somewhere else? Or was it because you weren’t invited to be a part of it? Because I didn’t come to your son and ask Jack if he wanted to be a part of it?”

“Or, is it because I didn’t ask the mighty Levi Russow to become a trainer? To help the next generation prepare and become better wrestlers? Is that it Levi? Is it less about Miles and Lachlans decisions and more about mine? And your exclusion? Is that what bruised your ego so easily? Oh Levi, the reason why I didn’t ask Jack to come to Wolfslair is because that would have been disrespect to you. A kick right in the nuts. But, as far as you? The reason why I didn’t ask the great Levi Russow to train others?”

“It’s because you’re not good enough…”

He pauses again, thinking about it for a moment before placing the SCW world title down and folding his arms over his chest, the corner of his mouth twisting up in a small smirk.

”And it’s not because of any lack of skill or foresight when it comes to the ring or the art of professional wrestling, I’m not going to be a stone faced liar here and say you’re not a fucking great wrestler Levi, because you are, your whole family is and Jack could be a legend someday, but you? You are the fuck up that we have all seen. You’re the cautionary tale that we tell the kids to make sure they stay on the straight and narrow. You are the dictionary fucking definition of wasted talent, potential and being your own worst enemy and not being able to get out of your own way.”

“And you want to train with impressionable youth and try and guide them? Mother fucker you couldn’t guide your way out of a walmart with a store map, GPS and a twenty year employee helping you…”

“And instead of improving yourself and being the wise veteran worthy of respect that you see yourself as you’d rather come at me. Attack me, talk shit about me and jump the line for a match with me when, truth be told, in SCW you haven’t earned shit. You faced Alex Rush, good for you, you had a chance to prove your worth against Ken Davidson and instead you shit the bed, went on a tired old rant about it, never taking responsibilities for your failures, and now here you are. After lucking your way into a match, a match that I am sure you thought I would either ignore or simply back out of. Due to some vain belief I’m intimidated by you in some way shape or form.”

“I’m the fucking world champion Levi…”

“I walked through hell twice with Mac Bane.”

“I faced my fears and earned my redemption. What the hell could you possibly do to me that is worse than what I have already been through? So at Climax control, take your veiled threats, bruised ego, childish subtweets and cheap shots, roll them up into a tiny, neat little ball...and shove em right up your Russow…”

Then and Now.

Friendship.

Something that seems so natural in everyday life. In this business, in professional wrestling,it is very rare to find true friendship. You have so many acquaintances, temporary people who come in and out of your life on a whim, but real friends, people who stay with you who watch your back, and who will always be there whenever you need them are rare. The acquaintances are a dime a dozen, those temporary people who you meet at a show, or a gym, or a company that you are doing a few spots for. They are there, they are trying to get to know you and perhaps use you. That is the other side of this business, the side that so many people refuse to acknowledge and want to ignore exists.

The best part? When you are young it seems like you want to trust everyone. You want to believe that they have your best interests at heart and that no one will take advantage of you. If you come into the professional wrestling business and try and stay innocent? You are not going to be for much longer. It will be taken away from you, you will be used and thrown away. But sometimes you make a mistake. Sometimes you throw real friends away and before you know it you look around and you are alone.

Spike Kane..A man who Alex had known for almost a decade.Since Alex was a fresh-faced 18-year-old rookie straight out of high school who wanted to learn the art of professional wrestling. Spike was a few years older and wiser,  who had been up and down both coasts of the United States, straight through the middle and through the southern states, all around Europe and even to Japan. Spike had seen so much in his time in the business, he befriended Alex at a young age, and after a time they decided to watch each other’s backs. Forming a team, going through other partners, trios stables groups, other members came and went but the one constant was spike and Alex. They became inseparable. Best friends always willing to take a bullet for one another, where one went the other followed, where one succeeded so did the other. If Alex got ahead he would reach down and pull Spike up with him and Spike would do the same thing.

It worked. Both men became world champions. Both men were well on their way to becoming Hall of Fame-level talents.

And they were going to do it as a team. As friends. As brothers.

Or at least that is what Alex believed. He trusted spike. He believed in him. He never thought in a million years that the guy with who he had trained since he was a teenager would look for a nice soft spot to stick the knife and betray him. But it happened.

”It’s just business...brother…” Spike’s words accentuated by his heavy Irish accent rang out through Alex's ears as he took the hard right hand. Alex hit the mat hard, hearing the crowd shocked. The punch itself isn't what hurt. In fact, it was nowhere near the hardest one that Alex had ever taken. What hurt was who did it and why. Alex had been surrounded by members of a group called the young guns. For men who he had been at war with for the better part of three years. For men who had come at Alex and Spike time and time again, they traded wins they traded championships, and they had surrounded the ring and come for him.

There was a roll from the crowd. Applause and happiness as Spike came from the back and ran down the ramp sliding under the bottom rope. A feeling of relief had washed over Alex. It was two against four but at least Alex had his friend who he knew had his back. It gave him a chance, or so he thought. But then, Alex had felted spikes hand wrapped around his elbow spinning him around right into a stiff right hand. It may as well have been a knife being stabbed deep into his back. And to be told it was just business? Alex got it. Business. He would always come first and everyone in professional wrestling was all about themselves, it was all about business. And it was then that Alex vowed he would never let personal issues interfere with business.

It really should not have come as a surprise to Alex. After all, Spike had taught him so many things now he had taught Alex his final lesson. There were no friends in this business, and you should never trust anybody.

For years that had been a mantra to Alex. A lesson that spike had taught him that seemed to influence almost everything he did. Alex went from companies company, using people as a means to an end to get where he wanted to be and to take the championships and accolades that he thought were his. He left a pile of broken and bruised egos and people in his wake. And he never cared. He never let himself feel pity, remorse, or empathy for anyone else in this business. Because after all, it was just business.

And business is exactly what the gym was.

Wolfslair.

In his quieter moments at the gym he would often drift off and stop thinking about his past. He would start thinking about the people who had come across his life and a different moment. People who he had a wrong and hurt. He was older now, his outlook was different. For the last three or four years Alex had been about preserving his legacy and passing on knowledge as Wellers building relationships with people in the business who he could trust and he felt a kinship with.

He had Austin, someone who he had always tried to help and improve from a rookie who had the raw talent and drive, to the seasoned veteran that he had become. The man who had been a world heavyweight champion and who had also ruled the wrestling world with Alex.

But, aside from Austin and the motley crew of personalities that had come and go from not just the New York gym but also the Florida one, there was Alicia Lukas.

She was a young woman who Alex had seen in Japan. A young woman who had the raw talent and ability that he had always looked for. He had helped her, trained her, and given her advice on how to properly use her talents and where to go in her career. It was not until many years later that they paths will cross again and Alex will see the kind of woman she has become. He had heard whispers, seen a few matches now and again while she was still in Japan as well as hearing that she was back in the United States. But it wasn’t until he saw her in action that you realise just how far she had come. And just how high her ceiling was.

He smiled and shook his head as she walked over. Still in her workout gear as she folded her arms over her chest and stood next to him watching the others work out. Austin working with some of the younger members. Alicia laughed under her breath and looked up at Alex. ”Big show coming up.”

It was of course an understatement. It was not just a big show, it was the biggest show. High stakes. The biggest show of the year for sin city wrestling. And Alex was going in as the world heavyweight champion. He was used to high-pressure situations. He was used to carrying companies on his shoulders. But now he was older, while he knew he was still a great talent with a great mind for the business he was not the young man he was before. He was not the young man who was ready to destroy his body just to prove a point. He had a family, a wife who loved him and children. He had a reason to take care of himself. He also had the gym, young talent to look to him for guidance and training. He was not used to it. Even after opening the gym he never really understood what it meant until recently as he embraced the role of mentor.

”Yep”

It was a simple one-word answer. Alex stood quietly, just staring ahead as Alicia gave him a small smile from the side of her face with another shake of her head. She had known Alex long enough to know when he was hiding things. He was hiding the turmoil inside himself. The self-doubt that always came with struggling to reconcile someone’s own past. A past that was filled with just as many failures as there were successes. Just as many losses as there were wins. Alex would always go into matches with the outward facade of confidence. But this was a world championship match, on the biggest stage the mall, against an opponent who had already beaten him and taken the championship off him once. No, Alicia was not falling for that shit.”You know, you don’t have to put the whole “strong silent” think on with me. Or Austin. We know what is going on….”

He closed his eyes and chuckled to himself. He tilted his head to the side and looked down at Alicia. ”Oh? Do you now?”

She moved around in front of him so her back was to the rest of the members of the gym who were training on the mats in front of them. She folded her arms over her chest puffing it out and pulling back her shoulders to show her confidence. Confidence that Alex had always respected, one that he always wanted to bring out of her, a confidence that was hidden behind those bright blue eyes that he remembered seeing in Japan all those years ago. ”It’s ok to fail….rewal champions, we take those failures….we keep them with us, admit to them...and then...we slaughter them...that’s what you’ve done...now you just have to finish it…”

She smiled arrogantly. Alex laughed to himself as he watched her walk away. She was right. He knew she was right. In fact, it was something that Alex had told her many years ago. This was the cycle of life. Lessons that you taught other people would now come back and be taught to you. But now, as Alex stood in the gym that he had created, as a world champion again, the doubt still remained.But all it did was fuel him.

Are we tired of redemption?

”I know what the majority of you are thinking.I, here is another speech from Alex Jones about redemption and everything that he has gone through. And I get it, sometimes you people aren't really into that. But here's the thing. Everything that I've gone through over the last couple of months, everything that I have done and every match I have had and accolade I have collected, every title and title defense that I have gone through, it is all led to this. Every single part of it. It's one of those full-circle things.

He laughed to himself. His arms folding over his chest as he moved to the side and reached down picking up the Sin City wrestling world heavyweight championship. He threw it over his shoulder, his left hand moving across and grasping one of the side plates as his thumb rubbed across the center plate and moved across his name tag.

”The first time that I became a world champion I could hardly believe it was happening to me. Being a world champion is something that everyone should aspire to be in this business. In fact, if you do not get into professional wrestling to try and be a world champion and show that you are the best then you are honestly doing it wrong. Yes I understand that some people just want to be entertaining, some people just want money, some people want fame, and some people just like to cause pain to others and this is one of the few professions that allows you to get away with that without going to jail. However, the world championship is the end result of all of the different roads you can walk down as you come into this profession. But as I said, the first time it happened I could barely believe it.I was just a kid, a few years into the business and I had reached the top of a mountain.There was a small part of me that was scared, fearful that the passion that I had for this business and what we do would now start to fade away because I had already accomplished the goal that I had set out to attain”

“Do you know what I found when I got to the top of that mountain? Higher mountains. More things that I needed to do and that I needed to accomplish. I wanted to defend the championship and make sure that my name became synonymous with it. I wanted to break records. I wanted to go down in history as the greatest person to ever hold that particular championship.Then it hit me that the reason why you see so many people who are clinging and clutching onto their spots, the entire reason why you see all these old are broken down beaten upwrestlers who refuse to quit and refuse to just retire is that they all have that passion and that need to try and get to the top of the next mountain. It’s a sad state of affairs in this business, but it's exactly where we have all been and it is where we are all going. Part of me admires the ones who are strong enough to walk away and say that enough is enough. But that simply isn't me. “

“Trust me, I tried.”

“Something just kept pulling me back in. And this time? It was one word and that one feeling.Redemption.That feeling that you have deep down inside yourself when you have let yourself down. Letting yourself down as well as members of your family and your friends is always painful. Even if your friends and family love you so much that they refuse to tell you that you've let them down. They'll tell you that they are proud of you and they will tell you that they have your back and they understand. But that feeling down in the pit of your stomach that is empty and feels like a black hole just won't go away. It will stay there and it will fester and it will consume you until there is very little of who you are left. That is where I was at in my life, that is the point I was at a year ago.I was arrogant and I was cocky and I almost ruined someone’s career just because I wanted to get my hands on something that at the time if I'm being brutally honest with myself, I didn't deserve.”

Alex turned his head and glanced at the championship dangling over his shoulder, a small smile twisting on his lips before staring ahead yet again to continue.

”I can admit that now and I can be honest with myself. I can look in the mirror and say that I was a horrible person and that I deserved to lose the championship the way I did. And I stood at the base of the mountain staring up and realizing that I had to start from square one at my age. It wasn't exactly something that I wanted to do but it was something that I needed to do. So I started climbing. I threw myself at the best this company had to offer like Ben Jordan, Vinnie, and Fenris. I had some of my greatest losses but also my greatest matches against the best of the best in this company. Legends and world champions. That led me to get my hands on the roulette championship and I was happy enough to defend that title and see where that road was going to take me before refocusing on anything else. I was happy in that division, I was happy there trying to gain that redemption and show the world that it doesn't matter which championship it is that you can make it worth something, and make sure your legacy is cemented. But it seems that fate was always going to intervene on my behalf.”

“MacBane took it upon himself to challenge me and defend his championships to me. A man who had come back to Sin City wrestling and had been one of the most dominant human beings ever to step in between those ropes.In a very short amount of time he won every championship he could win except for the mixed tag team championships. He won the Internet title, he won the roulette title, and then he went on to win this the Sin City Wrestling world heavyweight championship and he did it with ease .He didn't just beat Mark Cross, he embarrassed Mark Cross. He embarrassed Mark Cross so bad it doesn't even look like mark will ever fully recover and bring himself back to being the competitor that he was before Mack beat him.And that is the difference between people like Mark and myself. I got beaten, I started from square one and vowed I would crawland call my way backone match at a time. Mark seems like he just gave up.I made everyone who doubted me eat their words when I beat Mac, and then in the rematch when everyone thought he was going to walk in destroy me and take his championship back I proved them wrong.My road to redemption was almost complete. But there was one last name on that list….”

“Jack Washington.”

“And I cannot express to any of you how incredibly happy I was when Jack was able to win that triple threat match and earn his shot at me going into high stakes.I cannot fully explain how when I watched him get that win how hard it was to jump up out of my chair and then calm myself down. But, before Jack and I were going to get in the ring at high stakes one on one for the world championship, we got put in A tag team match where he had to team up with one of the challenges for Amber Ryan's bombshells championship while she teamed up with me. Now, while Amber and I got the win I can't really sit here and say that it was building any type of real momentum going into this one-on-one match.I will say, however, that it was a pleasure teaming with Amber and I am very glad that she didn't hold it against me that I beat her husband for the world championship.”

Alex smiles warm obviously sincere with his words towards Amber Ryan and the match that they had. He swallows hard and clears his throat getting ready to focus on his opponent and the upcoming championship match. 

”Now, heading into this I’ve always been very big on telling my story and reminding everyone of my own failures. Because I feel like it is important to get over those failures by confronting them and overcoming them. And this is fitting going into the biggest show of the year facing the man who handed me my biggest defeat in this company.I was on top of the world when you and I faced each other Jack,I thought I was going through a renaissance, I had talked my way into a championship match and beat Griffin Hawkins, a guy who I honestly believed at one point I was friends with. But I was willing to betray that friendship just so I could get my hands on the world heavyweight championship. And at the time I didn't care. That loss to you and watching you walk away as the champion was a fitting end to the incredible failure I was as a champion.”

“See, a real champion can look at his failures and pick himself up. And that is what I've tried to do Jack. I didn't go searching for the world championship,I waited, I've learned my lessons and I've come back stronger. I honestly hope that you've learned your lessons and you are coming back stronger as well. You are getting a different Alex Jones this time. You are not getting the same ultra arrogant asshole that stopped caring about the sport of professional wrestling and the honor that we all have to live up to when we get into that ring. Last time you and I faced each other for this championship you walked in With your chest out and your nose up, not giving a shit about my past and who I was and where I've come from. You didn't care about my accolades or who I was. You shit all over me and you shit all over my career and it worked.”

“You got in my head, you put me off my game, and I paid the price for it.It was genius and I didn't give you enough credit at the time. But now I see it.You are wise beyond your years and you are also one of the best in this business and I said when you lost this championship that you would be back to try and claim it and here you are. Here you are getting ready to head into the biggest show that this company puts on into the biggest match that the company will put on.”

“And it isn't lost on me what this match will mean for you too.”


He gives a small shrug and removes the title from his shoulder setting it down with a heavy sigh.

”You have your own demons and your own redemption to think about. If you win this championship you will not just be a three-time world champion but you will also have a chance to defend this championship and break records, you'll have a chance to go on and live on and finally have that championship run that you believed you should have had when you beat me. As good as you are Jack you have never lived up to the hype or the potential that you've shown. You got in my head and beat me and then tried to be the champion that you thought you had to be only to fall in a heap not once but twice you stayed sniffing around this championship because you wanted another shot at it when you lost it the first time and you got it. While I went back and started from square one you made the mistake that so many others do and tried to push your way with blunt force back to the championship only to lose it again almost as fast.”

“But for me Jackthisis the logical endpoint. My changing attitude, the run that I went on in defending the roulette championship only to get hand-selected by a dominant champion to defend the world title against, to prove everyone wrong and win the championship and also defended against that same dominant champion when everyone said I was going to fail,it's almost poetic that it is now leading me into high stakes to face you.The arrogant upstart who took the championship off me the first time after I had taken so long to win it.I know how bad you want this Jack, I know how bad you wanna get your hands on it, and I know how bad you want to beat me again. To say that you beat me for a world championship once is a hell of a thing to have on your resume despite the fact that you will never admit it. But to beat me twice? For a world championship? That's almost unheard of. Good luck kid, you’re gonna need it.

Changes.

He knew something was wrong. Austin had been incredibly angry for months. Stomping around the gym, throwing things when he thought no one was looking. Things that would normally wash down his back like they were nothing becoming huge arguments and things that would set him off. Different members of the gym would go out of their way to avoid him, acting like they were walking on eggshells around the former world champion. It broke Alex’s heart. Seeing someone who he had cared for like an older brother spiraling down into a dark hole. There was definitely something wrong in Austin‘s personal life, Alex just didn’t know what it was and he didn’t know how to get there. Whenever Alex would try and talk to him Austin would change the subject, he would make everything about work, everything about the gym or the company.

It was maddening, Austin and Alex had started off as two people who didn’t know each other, all Alex knew about Austin was that he hated Austin‘s father. A dark history between the two men, involving a woman of course. But as time went on not only did Alex start to become kinder to Austin, his family, and the past, but Alex also made sure that Austin would be successful, he started to care about him.

He started looking at Austin like a younger brother. Someone who he could be there for not only in a business sense but also in a personal one. They got to know each other’s wives, Austin got to know Alex‘s children, had Alex was there when Austin's first and second children were born. Alex was there when Austin‘s sister came back into his life when Austin found out that he was an uncle when Austin became a world champion. Alex was there every single time, every step of the way, he had Austins back, and now? Now as Austin seemed so down, depressed, and troubled by everything in his life all Alex wanted to do was be there for his friend. To be a brother. Family.

Today was going to be different.

The second that Alex walked into the gym he could feel something was wrong. Everyone else was over one side, using the exercise equipment or the grappling mats. Nobody was in either of the practice rooms towards the far end of the gym. Nobody except for Austin. He stood in the larger of the two rings, his arms leaning on the top rope to either side of him as his back state against the turnbuckle. His eyes trained directly ahead, across the ring to the opposite corner. There was something different about him, a certain ora of anger that seemed to burn and radiate like heat off of his body.

Alex growled under his breath moving towards the ring past everyone else, they all stopped to watch him approach Austin. They tried to act like they were going to go about their business, grappling on the mat and lifting weights but all the while turning their heads and watching the leader of the gym approach his first in command.

Alex jumped up onto the apron, he leaned over the top rope with his hands clasped together. “Hey, got a minute?” Nothing. Not even an acknowledgment of his presence or existence. Austin just stayed staring forward, no emotion on his face but his body language showing what we all knew. He was fuming. Alex sighed heavily and stepped into the ring. “Aus? Gotta talk man.” This time Alex got a reaction. Austin’s had moved up until the side looking at his longtime friend and mentor. A simple shake of his head as he pushed off the ropes standing straight up.

“Sorry Alex. I have somewhere to be.” Alex moved in front of Austin, his hands up in a defensive position as he shook his head back and smiled at his friend. “Alex….move”

He shook his head again. This time moving his arms and folding them over his chest to stand strong in front of the much bigger man. “Aus, I know there is something going on here. Whatever it is, you don’t have to face it alone.” Austin growled, he reached out and shoved Alex to the side going to move past him. Alex reached out grabbing Austin by the shoulder, Austin turned and with his right arm, with very little effort, shoved Alex backward against the ropes.“Hey big guy….we’re all friends here.”

Austin took a deep breath and went to turn, out of the corner of his eye he saw Sonja. Instead of the usual authoritative look that she would have in her eyes, she looked at Austin with sadness and disappointment. This stopped Austin in his tracks, he shook his head and looked over his shoulder at Alex turning back around moving his head in a small note towards the corner of one of the rings to bring him over. “My sister…the scum bag she had a kid with…he’s not dead, he’s a lying piece of trash….I don’t know what to do.”

There was a book in Austin’s eyes. A look that many other people would mistake for anger. And while there was definitely some anger there, it was something else. Something that only someone who had been in the exact same place he was mentally would know and recognize. Alex swallowed hard, he reached out putting his hand on Austin's shoulder to make sure he looked right into Alex’s eyes “Don’t do it.”

“What?” Austin seemed confused, but not confused as to what Alex was talking about, confused as to how Alex knew what he was thinking.

Alex swallowed hard, trying to work up the confidence to share one of the darkest moments of his life with Austin. “When Dylan died, I wanted revenge. I was angry.” His voice started, it mixed with his breathing as his heart seemed to jump out of his chest and up into his throat. Alex had to swallow hard to push it back down again. “I lashed out, I went after his friends. The guys who…”

He swallowed his heart again, Austin raised an eyebrow. His expression changing as he realise just how much pain this caused Alex. “You don’t have t-“

“No. I do.” He closed his eyes getting ready to continue. Alex took a deep breath and moved around leaning against the top rope. “The guys who gave him the shit he took, that killed him. I sat outside, I was ready to go in there and…” He trailed off, his hands closing into fists. “I was going to make them disappear. But, that wouldn’t have helped. It would have hurt the family I had left….”

His eyes filled with tears, Alex pushed everything down again and looked up right into Austin’s eyes. Austin swallowed hard and his body seemed to relax. He exhaled for what seemed to be the first time in minutes. There was silence between them, Austin cracked a small smile before ordering one word. “Thanks”

A few months later….

Alex felt good. The best he had in a very long time. Walking into the gym he felt confident, he was happy. He was ready to train and ready to spend time with all of the people that had come to train with him. Not only the established styles like Austin and Alicia but some of the new kids who had been on fire recently. He wanted to work with them all, speak to them all, give them the knowledge that he had accumulated in almost 20 years of professional wrestling.

He smiled, he gave a note to a group of the younger kids. He gave a wink to his wife who smiled at him and went back to her paperwork.

He moved around to the back of the gym. Finding Austin in the ring with a group of the younger guys. He was working out with them, hitting the ropes, explaining ring awareness and where they should stand, explaining how they should be close enough that they can move a limb to the ropes or under the bottom row as it will cause a break. Austin was working hard to help. Night and day compared to who he was a few months ago.

Austin smiled as he saw Alex jump up onto the apron. “Alright guys take five.” The group dispersed, Alex stepped into the ring and moved over to Austin with a smile. “Good kids…”

“Yeah. It’s good to see.”

“You see everyone looking at you champ?” Austin laughed and tapped Alex on the shoulder Alex simply shook his head and moves towards the ropes.

“You know….I don’t know if I’d have done it without you.” Austin went to protest. Putting his hands up and stepping forward going to open his mouth. Alex shook his head and put his finger up. “Let me finish…” he waited, Austin took a deep breath, and folded his arms over his chest waiting to see exactly what Alex would say. “Sometimes, you need that support. I never thought I needed it. But this gym. All of you. We look out for each other..so..thanks” Alex held out his hand. Austin went to say something, instead, he looked at Alex’s head reaching out to take it shaking it with just a smile and a nod. And understanding between them, that is what family does.

Redemption

He takes a deep breath in. Calming himself down before starting the usual promotional material before a match. But this is not a usual match. Championship matches are never what you would call ordinary.

”Redemption. It is a word that’s thrown around a lot. Especially in this business where everyone wants to write themselves a good story. Revenge, redemption, justification. All of these things are words that were used to describe our motivations in the business that we love. In this competition, you have to be the best. You have to be striving to be the best because the truth is, if you are not trying to be the best and you are not trying to be the top champion in a company that you shouldn’t be in that company or in this business. I always want to prove that I am the best. Whether that is winning a world championship, or stealing the show with a match against another top opponent. That is what you should do as a professional in this business. Always strive to be the best whether that means being a champion or putting your best foot forward.”

“For the longest time, I didn’t put my best foot forward. I have not been able to shake this feeling that I wasn’t the best that I could be. I would sit there and I would look in the mirror, and the man looking back at me was a reflection of a man who was broken and confused about his place in the world and his place in professional wrestling. This is all I have ever wanted to do. From the first time I saw it on television, from the first time I witnessed a professional wrestling match in person I have wanted to do this. However, that does not make me unique.”

“We all want that.”

“Legitimately, we all want to do this if not we wouldn’t be doing it. And so many origin stories have started with that exact visual. A little kid sitting on the floor of his lounge room, eyes glued to the television watching heroes of his time move around a professional wrestling ring and making magic. But very few of us get to climb the top of the mountain and look at themselves in the mirror and say that they are the best. And mean it.”

“But, I get to look in the mirror and say that. And mean it.”

He gives a small smile. And for the first time, we noticed where he is. A place where we have seen his stablemate, Alicia Lukas. Her family’s home. The plantation in Atlanta Georgia. Behind him he’s a long table, a beautiful white tablecloth stretched across the entire thing. A dinner party was planned for the members of Wolfslair. In Alicia’s hometown

“When I lost the world championship, When I felt it slip away and I heard the bell rang and I heard Jack Washington get announced as the new world champion a part of my heart broke. A part of my soul died. And confidence in myself and respect for who I thought I was faded away. I watched disappear, I felt it disappear and I hated that feeling. I went home I looked in the mirror and I saw a man who was a failure and for the first time in my career, for the first time in my life I had no answer.”

“Every other time I had lost a championship, whether or not that was a world championship or some other title every time I lost it I would go home I would look in the mirror and I would have an answer as to why. A mistake that I made, something in my preparation or something in the match that I screwed up with. Whatever it was manufactured or not it was an answer. It was a reason for me to get up the next morning, have my coffee, go for a run and then go to the gym. It was a reason for me to get up and keep going and striving to be the best and climb that mountain again. But when I last lost this world championship? There was no answer which means there was no motivation for me to get up in the morning.”

“Do you understand what that is like?”

“Do you understand what that means?”

“This is all I ever wanted to do and it was what I was made for, and I wake up in the morning after losing a incredible championship that I wanted to hold and after having an accomplishment that I was proud of slipped through my fingers I woke up and didn’t want to do this any more. And it was my own fault. It was my problem, my responsibility, and my motivation. That feeling deep down inside breaks you. And I needed to change it. So, instead of getting angry and coming out and demanding an automatic rematch…I took a step back.”

Alex slides his hands into the front pockets of his tight-fitting black jeans. A button-up white shirt over his upper body with the sleeves rolled up. A smart casual look with his hair tied back away from his face and his beard trimmed.

“I realised I had to fix it. I had to start from square one. I went back to the beginning and I promised I would fight back up from that position and God help me I did. I faced some of the best of the best and I watched as they overcame me and moved on. Some of the best in this business left me in the rearview mirror and went on to become better. And then came the roulette championship. I faced Cassian Reed who by all accounts was going to be the next big thing in this company. But I looked in his eyes and I saw someone who wasn’t ready. He lost. “

“He failed.”

“And I had a championship in my hands that I never wanted, that I never wanted to represent. But, in being a champion I’ve always had a certain sense of pride and I always want to do my best. So I did. And I wanted to go on and be the best roulette champion that this company has ever seen and I believe I made a good case but what would’ve put it over the top would have been me breaking records. I was seven days away from breaking the longest single reign record.”

“But, I had that taken away from me. In a way.”

“Mac Bane challenged me. He challenged me and in the end both championships got put on the line. And I got why. How would it have been fair for Mac to be putting his championship on the line and me have nothing to lose? So I get it. I understand. But in Mac wanting a credible opponent, he robbed me of being able to say I was the longest raining Roulette champion of all time. And it was either because he wanted a name he could put on his resume as someone who he beat while my name still has some relevancy, or it was because he wanted a legitimate challenge and which ever story it is you believe you have to realise that it was his decision.”

“And it was the wrong one.”

Alex shrugs, he moves across the freshly cut green grass. The sun going down and leaving a beautiful purple and orange hue in the sky.

“Just like demanding a rematch against me is the right one. You see the world championship has been treated horribly over the last couple of months. Jack Washington won it, Lost it and walked away, Mark cross want it, lost it and walked away. I will give you all the credit in the world Mac you didn’t leave. And I’m not about to stand here and tell the world that you are not a great champion because the truth is as brief of a run you had with the championship you are still a dominant human being who knows how to get in that ring and beat the hell out of anyone in front of them. You put everything on the line every single time you get in that ring.”

“You are a hell of a competitor. You are someone who many people should be intimidated by to get in the room with.”

“I’m not going to take that away from you. The truth is I couldn’t even if I wanted to. You, I’d like a certain other two people stayed in this company. But it goes further than that. Kris Ryan’s lost and bailed too. So did Griffin and as much as I hate myself, and have a certain amount of regret in that situation, the truth is that so many of the former world champion to help this title over the last year and a half have disappeared after losing it. So the fact you have stuck around makes me smile. But the difference between you and me is that when I lost I went back to square one and I earned my way back up until I was undeniable. Until even you the world champion had to recognise that I was a threat.”

“But you?”

He can’t help but chuckle again, turning to look over at his stablemates who have now all arrived as well as other members of the gym. The food getting ready to be brought out signaling Alex to come over and eat in the gentle Georgia climate.

“Do you remember what you said to me right before our match at violent conduct? You talked about how my group was a shell of its former self. You talked about all the things you have done since you got here and about how you are a triple Crown champion. You ran me down and spat on my legacy while saying that you were dominant, basically repeating what I already said. You then said if I was able to beat you that it was not something your pride would allow.”

“Apparently Mac your pride wasn’t hurt enough that you couldn’t go crawling to Chris and Mark to beg for your rematch, of course that’s after telling Jack and Mark they would have to “earn it” aren’t you lucky I’m a fighting champion?”

“This is, I was happy trying to dominate the roulette division. I was happy trying to break those records and facing the best that division had to offer. The people who you decided to shit on. And it’s funny because I repeatedly called out Caleb storms for somehow getting championship opportunities handed to him time and time again. Now, while you have a right to get an immediate rematch, being the former champion, the fact you decided to throw yourself under the bus with your comments before our championship match at violent conduct really doesn’t help you does it?”

“You said you wanted the Black Dragon. And at violent conduct, you’ve got him. You want to talk about my group like we mean nothing when Austin is dominating the mixed tag team division with Tempest, when Miles Kasey, who is a member of my gym could be the next roulette champion? When Johanna Krieger has still destroyed almost everyone she has face and Alicia is a bonafide legend who is the only person who would actually be a challenge for your wife? You talk about how you have dominated in such a quick fashion. I see someone who can win championships but can’t actually hold onto them. I have too long rains with other championships in this company under my belt as well as one short one with this championship that broke me. And you think for 1 second that I’m going to allow that to happen again? You are a great professional wrestler Mac and you are someone who is a dominant human being, but I already beat you once. And I’m not afraid of you, I’m not intimidated by you, and I am going to do what I did last time and throw everything I have at you because this might be my final shot. And this is my redemption…”

And with that Alex turned, making his way to his friends and family. The people who mattered most.

Opportunities don’t come often enough in life for you to ever look at them and turn them down.

If you want to be successful in life, in whatever profession you choose to be, and try and be the best at then you need to be able to recognize when an opportunity is being given to you, or it’s one that you’ve earned, and not care. It doesn’t matter if you were given something or if you are that in the long run, what matters and what you need to keep in mind is what you do with it.

To dismiss it because of some thought of morality in not earning it, to let it go to waste, that would be a true crime. A true crime that should never be committed by someone who is supposed to be one of the best. As someone who is always trying to improve themselves and the business that they choose to be part of.

That is where Alex Jones found himself.

Two roads sitting in front of him, one where he could accept the championship match that he had been given, all that he had earned according to some people, or, to turn his back on it and spiraled down a hole into self-loathing and anger. Sometimes you start down one path, and you have to turn around and walk yourself back to the beginning to find the right way

And make the right decision


A Regular Match.

Walking into the gym at four like any other day. The warmth hitting him even though summer had just ended. A few hours ago he had unlocked the giant metal shut up, pulling it upwards to let it roll all the way to the top as the shaking metal rumbled and helped to wake him up. He went about his day, rolling out the mat, making sure the ropes were tight, making sure the canvas was clean and straight inside the rain. Turning on all of the lights, unlocking the gym door to get into the weight room. This was everything that Alex did in a normal morning, setting everything up for the senior members as well as the students to come in, and work out, and become the best.

This had been Alex‘s dream, to get like-minded individuals together and build the gym around them to inspire others. And to inspire himself to stay where he needed to be.

As everyone filtered in and started going about their usual business Alex sat down in the office after warming up, all sorts of contracts sitting in front of him, merchandising deals, contracts for his younger rookie members at smaller independent companies for appearances and tryouts, all of this was on top of his job as a professional wrestler, as someone who still loved the business and wanted to be a part of it. His eyes moving from the desk over to the Sin city wrestling Roulette championship sitting on the side of the opposite desk.

He smiled and shook his head stacking the papers up and keeping them all in order before putting them in his out file.

Inside the main floor of the gym, he noticed everyone going about their business but also is starting over towards the office door as if waiting for something. Waiting for him? Alex smiled and shook his head, maybe he was just being paranoid. But, it was time to get out there, it was time to work out and get ready for a match that he never thought he would have, an opportunity he never thought he would have, and something he needed to be in top shape for. Facing one of the most dominant professional wrestlers he has ever seen since watching Austin go on his early run through Sin city tearing through the roster.

Mac Bane.

Alex took a deep breath, opening the door to the office walking out on the gym floor. He looked down at the ground and slipped off his shoes getting ready to warm up, but something stopped him. A feeling that went up and down his spine as he could almost cents every single set of eyes in that gym on him at any given moment. He looked up, everyone had stopped what they were doing and was staring right at him. He blinked a few times waiting for someone, anyone to say something and make sense of this. Then it happened.

A single clap.

Austin’s large hands coming together to create the noise that suddenly filled the entire gym. Every single man and woman in every single corner started it. Alex took a deep breath again not knowing exactly where all of this was coming from. He put his hands on his hips as the clapping reached its crescendo and then slowly stopped. Everyone giving Alex a nod of respect as Austin came over and put his hand on Alex’s shoulder. A smile on his face. Something Alex had not seen in months. Since Austin had been one of the most miserable individuals in the world. ”We all have your back.”

Alex shook his head and laughed under his breath. ”My back? For what?”

Austin raised his eyebrow, unsure of if Alex was serious or if he was just screwing with him. He didn’t know what to say, he didn’t know if he needed to spell it out. After a few awkward moments, he smiled. ”The match, the title match.” Austin slapped his shoulder again. Alex scoffed and backed away tapping Austin on the chest.

”It’s just a regular match brother.”

Alex gave a sarcastic smile, Austin confused, almost hurt. Alex turned away and moved towards the white room, everyone separating away from him to give him room to get in there and work out. His heart sank, he realized what he just said in front of everybody, he realized how it must seem and how it sounded. But how could any of them really understand? How could any of them get the kind of pressure that he was putting himself under and that all of their attention that they were drawing towards the event, and the occasion, was not going to help.

Alex took a sip of water placing his bottle back on the ground before moving over to the dumbbells. He picked them up and started counting as he did reps, feeling the blood starting to flow in between the vessels in his arms. Each rep was partnered with a breath, each breath being pushed out he could feel himself slipping into deep thoughts. Could he do it? Why was he doubting himself? He felt his heart drop again. The weights then seemed to get heavier, his arms ached. He could feel his heart beating faster and the sweat seemed to fall from his body. He put the dumbbells down and shook his head, his hands moving to his hips yet again

”Fuck”

As the word left his lips he didn’t notice the door open. But he heard the footsteps. Turning to face Austin whose large arms were folded over his chest, the smile he had moments ago now faded into what seemed to be an annoyed scowl. He pushed out a breath and shook his head, almost growling at Alex.”Legit, what the hell is up with you?” Alex sighed and turned sitting down on the weight bench, he shook his head and threw his arms in the air. ”You know how many people would kill for this opportunity?”

Alex took a deep breath, he held it in for a moment and closed his eyes before calming himself down and pushing out a breath. He looked over at Austin, swallowing hard, clasping his hands together in his lap.l”I know, but….I just don’t know if it should be me.” He smiled and offered a shrug. ”You clearly wanted the shot...and I got it handed to me.”

”Handed to you? You’ve been scraping and clawing for months, you went back to the drawing board and have worked hard…” Austin paused, he smiled and shook his head thoughtfully before moving around and sitting next to Alex looking out at all of the weights. They both knew that everyone was looking through the window at them, ”You earned this...and now we’re going to make sure everyone knows it...I’m going to help you. So get up...pick up those damn weights...you have chicken arms”

Austin stood up, folding his arms over his chest again. Alex groaned and pushed up to his feet walking over and picking up the dumbbells again. Turning to look at Austin with a wink. He groaned and pulled them upwards faster, harder, with more effort than he had in months. Austin was right. And now he needed to prove it himself. All over again

I’m a cowboy. On a steel horse I ride…

”Well, to say I didn’t expect this is a complete understatement. A few months ago when I received the championship opportunity for the Roulette title, I told everyone that if I was to win it I wouldn’t be doing things half-assed. I told everyone that I was gonna throw myself in headfirst I do everything that I possibly could to make that championship mean something again and to bring it up to a certain level that maybe it had not been before. I meant what I said and have done everything in my power to do it.”

Alex looked down in his hand, his right hand wrapped around the metal strap of the Roulette championship.

”I defended it against everyone that sin city wrestling management wanted me to. I face every single one of them including Caleb storms three separate times, making the Roulette championship mean something should’ve been facing other people not him over and over again but for some reason, it’s still got me noticed. I can admit when I’ve had my shortcomings, I can admit when I haven’t been the best of the best, and about a year ago? Even though I was at the top of my game physically, I was a total prick”.

“Don’t believe me? All you have to do is go back and have a look at what I said about Griffin Hawkins”

“I had an issue with Griffin, which is strange because he and I were friends. He was the champion and I didn’t think he should have been. I didn’t think he deserved it and that he got handed in opportunity and was lucky to come out the other side of the title. I used that to get a shot against him and I used that to get him to put the title on the line. And in the end, I did what I always do, I was able to take advantage of the situation and become the champion. But to be honest with all of you, I didn’t deserve it and I should never have been the sin city wrestling world heavyweight champion at that time.”

“And I paid for it. No sooner had I won that championship then I lost it. I lost it to someone who, to be honest, I don’t like. Jack Washington is an arrogant kid, someone who believes himself to be better than he really is. Someone who is insecure, he carries a chip on his shoulder and thinks the entire world is against him. Someone who believes the entire world is against him and even when he earns anything, believes more should be handed to him. That kid? Like looking into a mirror for me.”

“So, that’s a harsh reality when you see that happen. When you realize what kind of person you are and how you promised to be better and failed miserably”

Alex turns, placing the Roulette title on the table to his left. He slides his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. A pair of tight-fitting black denim, a pair of black and white converse, a red and black wolfslair shirt over his upper body, and a black leather jacket over the top of that. His long black hair was tied back in a bun. His eyes staring forward, honest and deep. Emotions running through them.

”That is why the Roulette championship will forever hold a special place in my heart. It gave me a chance to live up to the promise that I had. I’ve been around the world and I felt all sorts of championships. Ones with certain stipulations and gimmicks, World Championships that allowed me to call myself the best. But the Roulette championship? It was a title that is built on my redemption. And it’s one that I didn’t particularly want to give up. But now it seems like I’m going to be forced to. So, if I lose to our champion, he becomes the Roulette champion and the world champion at the same time and this title no doubt be dropped and put in some kind of tournament or one-off match to crown a new champion.”

Alex looks over and gestures with his left hand to the Roulette championship sitting on the desk next to him

”It’s what happened with the Internet title: Mac going into that match with that championship and coming out with both and having to drop one. And if I beat him? well? What am I supposed to do? Do I turn down the world championship? Come on now. But as much as I respect Mac for what he has done I also can’t help but be a little annoyed. You see he came into this company and won the Roulette championship and a week later dropped it and walked out. Then he Walters back in gets the Internet championship drops that for the world title all because his wife and the women’s Internet champion had both been so dominant they faced each other. Mark Cross was a waste of time world champion and Mac was able to know exactly when and where to strike”

“It was genius. It really was. The only championship that Mac has not held is the mixed tag team championship meanwhile the only one I haven’t held is the Internet so we can both lay claim to being dominant, and meaning something to this company.”

“But while I signed a contract and stayed and have never walked out on the company, Mac cannot say the same. And I get it, man, we all have issues, we all sometimes have to deal with things in our personal lives and sometimes it just doesn’t work with what we need to do in that ring. But here you are walking back into the company, getting that world championship, and calling your shots.”

Alex laughed to himself and shakes his head letting out a large sigh throwing up his hands in exasperation

”Part of me feels honored, honored that you chose me to face, I’ve seen your comments to Mark cross and Jack Washington about me and about the world title. Jack seems to think you are hiding from him, Mark decided to run his mouth and when I called him out on it he shut up very quickly. But I honestly don’t know what to think. I’d like to hope that you aren’t going to go down that path and believe that I’m some kind of freebie. That I’m just someone who has a credible name that you could walk through, that you can add to your list of people that you’ve beaten. I’d like To believe that you honestly see me as a threat and a worthy challenger.”

“Maybe you do, maybe you don’t.”

“The truth is Mac that I have given up trying to find out people‘s motivations and study them and try and figure them out. It doesn’t matter to me whether or not you believe that I am a threat to you. What matters, is that I believe I’m a threat to you. And I know I can beat you. Sure you are big and bad, you are tough, you like to beat the hell out of people and you have a certain, skill when it comes to violence. You and Amber both have that. But trust me when I say this, and I want you to listen to me with open ears and an open mind and to know that I’m telling you the truth.”

“I have had my ass kicked by bigger, badder, and better people than you.”

His top lip curls as his knees at the camera, he tries to keep himself calm, cool, and collected. But he can feel anger and rage rising inside him.

”The thing is, I’m kind of hoping that you are stupid enough to underestimate me. I’m kind of hoping that you honestly believe you can run through me like a fucking truck. See, I already explained earlier that I held that championship when I didn’t deserve it. I ran Griffin Hawkins out of this company and I did it to get my hands on that championship and I ended up paying the price of my own pride my own arrogance and my ego. And because of that, it seems like even the company forgot that I held that championship.”

“A simple tweet, where the company and one of the people running it decided to not even acknowledge that I am a former world champion.”

“You see, I beat you Mac? I can do with the world championship what I have been trying to do with the Roulette championship. I may have had my goals with the Roulette championship to break all the records, the single championship reign length, the number of defenses, I wanted to own all of those. But, to get my hands back on that world championship, to be at the top of the company again, and to be able to show that I do deserve it, that I did earn my way here, and that I can beat someone as dominant as you? To get that chance, it means everything to me.”

“I don’t even care what the Roulette wheel lands on, I don’t care what kind of match we end up getting ourselves into. At violent conduct, you will be getting the fight that you seem to want. Maybe it’s the fight that Jack Washington keeps on saying you have been trying to avoid. I can promise you, I will fight you to the nail, I will scratch and claw and kick and bite and I will do everything in my power to beat you and take that championship. And you? I know you will do everything in your power to stop me. And that’s what I’m looking forward to.”

In the spirit of competition.

The sunbeat down on the deck of the Sun princess after it had disembarked. Alex Jones and his family sat poolside, fans and other members of the roster and come members of the wolfslair gym not even signed to the company moved about as Alex smiled and laid back on a deck chair letting out a deep relaxing breath. All of this had become familiar to him, his mind casting back to the first time he had heard SCW held a show aboard a cruise ship. The fact that fans and competitors alike could relax and mingle.

There were competitions, games, shows and meet and greets. SCW had become masters of entertaining the fans and the wrestlers alike, as well as their families anjd friends. Alex smiled and looked over at his wife Sonja, her toned body shining under the sun as her tan made her impressive physical form look even more powerful. Alex looked over at his daughter Harley and his son Dylan, playing in the smaller kiddy pool as Dylan stomped his feet in the water and giggled like a lunatic. This was the life, and he was getting PAID for this….

Perks of the job…

Sonja smiled and shot up. ”LISA!” She laughed and embraced Lisa Mercer, Austins wife and former professional wrestler herself, until a neck injury ended her dreams prematurely. The two old friends laughed as Lisa waved at Alex who smiled back and gave her a nod. Behind her towered Austin James Mercer. A child in each arm as he held 3 year old Marcus and a year old Lilly.

Austin moved around and sat Marcus in the pool with Dylan and Harley, handing Lilly to Lisa. He sat down next to Alex and clasped his hands together. Alex looked over and looked Austin up and down, he wore a pair of black swim shorts and flip flops, but didn’t look at all relaxed. ”You know...you could look like you’re having fun.” Austin laughed under his breath and shook his head.

”Socialising has never been my strong suit.” And he was right, Austin didn’t go to parties, he didn’t spend too much time with people he didn’t know, always found it hard to make friends. Even the people he was close to in Wolfslair had to push him to be outgoing. ”Besides, this whole cruise thing has always felt weird. We’re on a vacation, being relaxed, but still expected to perform...I’m not going to let my guard down like you have.”

Alex raised his sunglasses looking over at Austin. ”Excuse me?”

Austin put his hands up and shook his head. ”Hey, I just mean you look relaxed, I’m ready to get into a fight now, you would need time to warm up first…” Austin looked over at the various competitions and activities on the deck with a smirk. ”Unless you want to prove me wrong?”

Alex let out a long, deep sigh before pulling his sunglasses back down over his eyes and leaning back before grabbing his mojito giving it a sip. ”I’m enjoying myself Aus...maybe later.”

Austin scoffed and nodded his head slowly. ”Yeah, I get it. Finn did say you were looking a little soft..”

Alex’s head snapped sideways. ”He said what?”

Austin stood up and folded his arms over his chest. ”Hey man, it’s cool, I know we all lose that fire sooner or later. It happens as you get older..”

Alex places his mojito down, he slowly stands up and takes off his sunglasses as the two men come face to, well, Austins upper chest. They lock eyes, it feels like an old wild west stand off, Alex narrows his eyes as we hear a hawk caw in the distance. Or, more likely, a seagull. ”Name your game Mercer”

”Deck bowling..”

Alex blinks. ”Skittles?” Austin nods slowly. Alex sneers and shakes his head. ”You’re on.”

Instead of a full blown match between the two, an 80’s style montage plays. Eye of the tiger, thrill of the goddamn fight!. Austin takes an early lead, Alex struggles, Austin gloats, and for some reason has a russian accent. Sonja gives Alex a tearful pep talk. Only for Alex to win at the end, and celebrate. Austin shakes Alexs’ hand showing respect and they smile in a cheesy way.

”So...that was weird.” Alex slowly nods. Austin reaches over and grabs what looks to be a strawberry daiquiri ”Lets never do that again…”

”Yeah….that was awkward as shit….” There was an awkward silence between them, Alex finished his mojito, Austin looked over and Alex smirked. ”...shuffleboard?”

Austin narrowed his eyes. ”You’re going down…”

A casual dip in the pool

”Well, this is relaxing…”

Alex Jones, current SCW Roulette champion and head honcho of Wolfslair moves through the cool waters of the pool, the ultimate X structure already set up around it. Alexs’ title belt up above on the center of the X.

”I figured I’d take a dip in the pool now since it won’t be happening in the match itself. When we are all fighting for a chance to get to the cables above, to get to the roulette championship hanging above me right now. And while Caleb and I have made our thoughts known, both Shane Borderland and Agostino Romano have remained silent. They have not done a damn thing to get anyone interested in this match, or their own one on one encounter earlier in the night. And that? Well that is just lazy.”

“Being a champion or a contender to a title means you have certain responsibilities. You have to defend the title or in a contenders case fight hard for it. But you also need to make sure people understand the weight and gravity of the opportunity you have in front of you. Neither of them have done that, to Caleb's credit, he has.”

“And the saddest part, is that they both have so much to talk about. The fact they have to jump through a hoop to get into the roulette title match to begin with, Caleb having another shot at the title, me as the champion and what it would mean to beat me.”

“So much to say, and so much time to have done it.”

Alex moves across the pool, grabbing the railing and pulling himself out as the water drips from him, he grabs a towel and wrapped it around him before folding his arms over his chest.

”But, there’s been nothing but crickets and tumbleweeds rolling down an empty street from those two. And the truth is, SCW should have just made it a fourway, I wouldn’t have cared. It wouldn’t have mattered. I have never hidden from a challenge, I’ve never denied defending titles against anyone. When I was mixed tag team champion, world heavyweight champion or roulette champion. It never mattered to me, sure I’d get annoyed if I felt like someone got a shot who hadn’t earned it, but that comes with the territory.”

“And I have made my desires for this title known, I want to be the best Roulette champion this company has ever had, I want the most defences, the longest reign, I want to be a fighting champion against anyone and everyone. And then, when I eventually lose the championship I want it to be because someone earned it.”

“Because they were better than me.”

“I want to build a legacy with this championship that will stand in the record books for the rest of SCW’s existence. I want to redeem myself and build myself back up, so one day, I can win the SCW title again and hold it for a respectable reign instead of the piss poor effort I put forward before, that was a disservice to myself and a disservice to the championship. And I refuse to let it happen again, with this championship or any other”

He smirks and shakes his head.

”But, one thing we can never say about Caleb Storms is that he’s ever lacking in confidence. Atleast outwardly.”

Alex shrugs and moves across the outside of the pool.

”It’s always the same with you Caleb, i mentioned it before and you didn’t disappoint. You look at a champion and a championship title and say “oh you’re just holding my championship”, and the sad truth about all of this is if you won even half the championships you have proclaimed as “yours” over the last few years, then you’d be a hall of fame level star a million times over. But, that’s not what happened is it?”

“You have made promises you have never kept, you have made proclamations that have never come true.”

“And instead of changing, instead of accepting it and realising you need to do something, anything different, you have rammed your head against the same brick wall over and over again. Austin realised things were wrong, he changed and became a mixed tag team champion, I realised I was heading down the same path, changed a few things, a new outlook, and became roulette champion.”

“But you?...same song and dance, same tune.”

“The entire lockeroom lost respect for you when you had a title handed to you, then lost it so fast. And now, here you are being handed opportunities again nand using the same tiered excuses. It was a triple threat match, and it was Miles who got submitted. In the end Caleb, YOU still lost. YOU failed to stop me from tapping Miles out, YOU failed to get one of us to submit first. But you will never, ever admit that. Instead you’d prefer to live in this fantasy world where you are a major player and not just someone who Christian and Mark turn to when they get bored…”

“So, when we meet in this match against one of the two silent sisters….well...be prepared to go in the pool Caleb...and be prepared to watch me grab MY title…”

Orlando.

It was all in placer. The new gym, the transfers, the ideas. Alex smiled as he finished filing the paperwork, a sigh escaping his lips. The last few weeks had been hectic but rewarding. New contracts had been signed, new ideas and policies put in place. The Wolfslair twitter accounts had been active and interest had flooded in from new names and talents. There was a part of Alex that felt bad, conflicted. His sister had agreed to take up a head trainer position in Orlando. They wouldn’t see each other as much. And as such, in taking the position, she had resigned her spot in Kingdom Pro, vacated her Atlantic title.

Charlane “Charlie” Jones was a star there, she had returned to the wrestling world after a stint in MMA and also as a bodyguard and personal trainer. She had been successful in everything she did. But now, now she was stepping away from the ring. It was her decision, her idea, but that didn’t make Alex feel any more uneasy.

He swallowed hard and shook his head turning around to sit at his desk, his eyes flashing over to the background. It was a “team” picture. The originals. Charlie, Alex, Sonja, Alicia, Austin. The first ones there. In the beginning it was Alex and Sonja, his wife inspiring him to do it, to open it. Then his sister, then Austin and Alicia. He smiled and shook his head, how far they had come in the last couple of years still astounded him. From a small gym with a small group to the name they had become and the group that had taken over SCW.

The door opened and Charlie poked her head through with a small smile. ”You got a minute?” Alex smiled and gave her a nod, she stepped through the door closing it behind her. It was just Alex and Charlie in there, Sonja having stepped out to go talk about merchandising the new logo. Charlie sighed and sat down across from Alex, her arms folding over her chest as she swallowed hard. Alex raised an eyebrow, her body language showing trepidation and anxiety.

”You ok?” Charlie shrugged and sat forward clasping her hands together on the desk.

She let out a sigh and looked her brother right in the eyes. Her long black hair was braided and tied back, she and Alex looked similar, in everything. Height, build, fac%ial features. You could tell instantly they were related. ”I wanted to talk to you about Orlando…” Alex stayed silent, he gave her a small smile trying to be warm and understanding, he wanted to know what was on his little sisters mind. ”I have no problems moving, I have no problems helping out, but...are you sure I should be head trainer?”

Her voice faltered, she looked away, Alex was confused, Charlie had usually been so confident, in traini9ng and in her career. She had come a long way from the awkward, unsure teenager who questioned her place in the world. ”I can’t think of anyone else that would be better for it, why?” Charlie looked back up and shook her head.

She turned and looked out at the gym through thew window, she watched Alicia Lukas and Johanna Krieger talking, Austin James Mercer and Aiden Reynolds working in the ring and Kallie Reznik chatting toi Lachlan Kane. She let out a sigh and looked back at her brother. ”You’ve been the leader here, the driving force. Wolfslair has become a success because of you. I just don’t want Orlando to fail...and I don’t know if I should be the one leading it, Maybe Austin sh-”

Alex put his hand up and shook his head. ”This place got successful because of all of us. You put in just as much work as me, I couldn’t do this without you…” He sighed and pushed to his feet moving over to the window, he pointed up and out at the wall where replica belts and trophies hung, he turned back to Charlie with a smile. ”You see all that? All those titles our members have held? We have all been a part of that Charlie. You, me and everyone out there.”

Charlie gave a nod and smiled, but there was still doubt, doubt that Alex could see and feel. ”I’m glad you have that confidence in me. But still. I have no idea what to do Alex. I can’t go both….wrestle and train...and I’m hoping I made the right decision.”

His heart dropped, he looked away from Charlie and his eyes moved to trail upwards. The replicas of Charlie’s Portland Pro Rogue title, her TFW MMA womens featherweight title and the Kingdom Pro Atlantic Championships all hung next to each other. ”I’m sorry, I’m sorry I put you in this position.” He turned and Charlie went to talk but Alex kept going. ”You have given up and sacrificed so much for this, and now it’s cost you a championship run you earned and deserved…” He trailed off, Charlie got to her feet moving across the office.

She reached out, her arms wrapping around Alex pulling him into a hug, he squeezed her back, the feeling rushing over them as it was awkward, both siblings never being good at expressing their love for one another. ”It was my decision Alex. Not yours.” She paused and stepped back with a small smile. ”If I didn’t believe in Wolfslair so much then I wouldn’t have done it..”

Alex laughed to himself and smirked. ”And you proved the kind of leader you can be by making that sacrifice. So why are you doubting yourself?” It hit her, the realisation that he was right, she again gave her older brother a nod and smiled.

”Well...I guess I’m moving to Florida.”

The king’s fall.

Alex Jones holds the Sin city wrestling roulette title in his hands, his eyes looking over the ornate design, the clever use of the roulette wheel in the middle, his name at the bottom, his head shakes as he laughs to himself and looks forward.

”And still the champion.”

He scoffs and shakes his head before setting the title down next to him and pushing himself to his feet.

”That’s what I’m supposed to say right? I’m supposed to celebrate the fact I’m still the roulette champion and that I defended my title again. See, that’s what a weak person would do, that’s what someone insecure would do. I defended my championship against Miles Kasey and Caleb Storms, that was a defence, that was something to be proud of. But the match against The Troll? Should I be proud of that? Should I look at the records and smile about having two defences? Or should I move on and be prepared for my next match? The truth is, I’m not sure where to go with my career in SCW. None of us do. Austin is gearing up for a tag title defence, Alicia and Johanna are both wondering where their place in the Bombshells division is, and me? Well, I’m going to do everything I can to keep this SCW Roulette title and to make the title mean something greater.”

“I want it to become a prize jewel in this company. To continue my resurrection.”

“My rebirth.”

“And that is what the last few months have been about. Reinvention, coming to terms with the fact I may no longer be the competitor I once was but accepting the simple fact that even though I’m not the competitor I was I’m still better than most of the roster. I am still a goddamn threat and I am still good enough to not only defend the roulette title but maybe win the Internet title in the future, become a grand slam champion and maybe even become a two time SCW world champion. And, truth be told, even though the grand slam is a goal, if I were to defend the roulette title enough to perhaps elevate my name back to the main event scene, well, I wouldn’t say no…”

“Because I have unfinished business.”

Alex swallows hard and shakes his head slowly.

”My world title run was horrible. It was an utter disaster. I did all I could to win it, I said everything I could to get in the mind of the champion at the time. And once I won it, once I held the Sin city wrestling world title in my hands I felt an urge to defend it, to be the champion the title deserved. Only to be beaten by a kid with a chip on his shoulder. A talented kid, but still a kid. And my title reign was so bad, so shitty, that even the company forgot about it. That is how bad my time as the champion of this place was. So, one day, when I am done defending the roulette title and someone is good enough to take it from me...well...maybe I will pull my socks up and come for the Sin city wrestling world title again…”

“Now, why am I mentioning this dark time in my own history and my career? Why am I bringing up the fact I failed as a world champion? Simple. I’m facing someone who I have that in common with. Senor Vinnie.”

“The six foot eight former world champion from Tijuana. A guy who has been the thorn in the side of Wolfslair for a long time now. A guy who Austin has gone to war with many times and lost not one but two championships too. A guy who teamed with Alicia Lukas in the blast from the past tournament. Someone who she was too nice to say cost them the tournament. It seems like Vinnie has been involved in our business for years. And, hey, I can’t deny he has had success. Vinnie has been at the top of the card and has been a main event player since we came into the company years ago…”

“But, consistency has been an issue. And it’s something I can relate to.”

He shrugs and sighs heavily.

”Vinnie and I are both talented, both former world champions and both have unfinished business in the main event scene. And I like you Vinnie, I do, I like you more than I like alot of others in this company. You put it all on the line every time and you never quit, you stay in SCW and always have a goal in mind and want to be successful. You even admit your faults and admit when you lose and when someone has been your better. It’s something to be admired.and respected.”

“Now, I know you’ve got under Austins skin, I know he hates you with a burning passion and a desire that I honestly think needs to be let go.”

“See, that much anger, that much hatred is never good for people like us. It gets in your head and you have been able to win matches against him before the bell rings.”

“But, I’m not going to fall into that trap. I’m not saying you’re not good enough to beat me Vinnie, truth is you are. You’re good enough to beat me without resorting to the cheap cheating tactics you have been using. But, with that being said, I am on a renaissance in my career. A rebirth leading to my future in this business. And as good as you are, as good as you have been and could be again, consistency has not been your friend. It hasn’t been your friend in or out of the ring and as you walk down that road I want you to know that I understand and get it...and that I will never underestimate you.”