The Mirror
It was the middle of the day.
Nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary. Alex sat in his office. The sound of training drifted from outside the walls — the thud of footsteps in the ring, weights being moved, people talking strategy: grappling, what you should and shouldn’t do. Another typical day at the gym.
But what had been different was Alex and his attitude. For weeks he had been training his son, showing Dylan the way of the world, professional wrestling was in Alex's blood and it was something Dylan had latched onto. A way to get closer to his father while also forging a path of his own making. Over the last few days Alex had left the majority of the training up to Austin, allowing him to not only train Dylan but also run the day-to-day operations of Wolfslair.
Alex retreated into a world of his own making, a place where he could be alone with his thoughts. These memories. He looked over at his phone, watching it light up with messages from Aaron.
She was out of state taking care of a few personal issues. With her gone, Alex had been alone with thoughts he had tried to bury. No distractions meant his mind was free to wander. He tried to fill those days and those thoughts with training: not only training himself but also training the students and Dylan. But spending time with his son, seeing what Dylan was capable of, brought back memories of Dylan's namesake — Alex's younger brother.
Alex sat back in his office chair, reached under the desk and grabbed a bottle of Jack Daniels. He pulled it up, grabbed a glass, and poured two shots. He took a sip and held the glass in one hand while reaching over and grabbing a photograph with the other. He took a deep breath and studied it. It was him — a much younger Alex — and standing next to him was his sister Charlie, and on the other side his younger brother Dylan. A photo taken a few months before Dylan passed away.
The memories were still there: all the good times, all the bad times, and the worst moment of Alex and his family's life — the day they found Dylan, the day he passed away.
Alex swallowed hard and put his glass down, leaning closer to the picture before looking up as he heard the door click. Austin stepped in, his long hair tied back in a bun; he shook his head and closed the door behind him, moved through the office and pulled a chair out, sitting down across from Alex. His eyes drifted along the table, ignoring the small glass of liquor for a moment. ”Your son is just as stubborn as you.”
Alex stayed silent for a moment before leaning forward. ”Why? What did he do now?”
Alex waited expecting Austin to tell him that Dylan was refusing to do something or doing something completely the wrong way. But Austin's reply left Alex dumbfounded and shocked. ”He took a booking…”
”What?!?”
Alex stood up, pushing to his feet. Austin shrugged and shook his head. ”I told him not to, but he walked in and said he took one, some independent in Texas. Apparently they heard he was training and reached out right away.”
Alex ground his teeth and shook his head. ”He’s not ready…”
”And we all tried telling him that…”
Alex took a deep breath and moved toward the door; Austin followed. Alex moved out through the gym and found Dylan talking to a few of his friends. Alex folded his arms over his chest as the young kids around Dylan looked at him. They all took the hint and moved away from Dylan, who raised an eyebrow at his father, knowing instantly what was about to happen. ”I know what you are about to say.”
”Oh? Do you now?”
Dylan slowly smiled and shook his head with a small laugh under his breath. ”You’re about to tell me that I need more training and time. That I should’ve told you if I wanted to take the booking, that it’s irresponsible of me to make that decision by myself. And that I need to call and cancel right away.”
Alex paused for a moment because that was exactly what he was about to say. He kept his arms folded over his chest, staring ahead at his son. ”Well, if you knew what I was about to say, and you’re smart enough to know how my feelings would be toward this, then why did you go ahead and accept the booking? Because no, Dyla.... you aren’t ready.”
Dylan took a deep breath and closed his eyes before stepping back and exhaling. He looked annoyed. ”Shouldn’t that be my decision?”
[”No, no it shouldn’t. I understand that you want to get your career going already, but when I was your age—”
”When you were my age you took off over to Europe and then to Mexico because you wanted to do this as a career and you were ready to do it by any means necessary.”
”Yeah, I rushed things and I regretted it. Just like you will.”
Dylan threw his hands in the air and rolled his eyes. ”Will I? At least I’m telling you now what I’m doing and I’m not running to another country to do it. And besides, while you have regrets in your life, they were also moments you learned from. Haven’t you always said that people make mistakes and learn from them more than they do anything else in their life? That every mistake and every regret is a growing, learning experience?”
Austin, who was standing behind Alex, chuckled. ”He got you there.”
”Not helping, Aus…” Alex shook his head but then took a deep breath and looked at his son with a small smile. ”Alright. If you are going to do this and we’re going to do it right, you are determined to make your debut and to take this booking, then I’m coming with you. We’ll both go to Texas and I’ll watch your back. But don’t make this a habit.”
Dylan smiled and gave Alex a small nod. Alex turned and brushed past Austin, who looked oddly calm about the entire situation. As he walked back to the office it hit him: Dylan was way too much like Alex, and it was annoying the shit out of him.
The Grind
”I can’t help but feel slighted. This entire situation is nowhere near ideal. I didn’t get an immediate rematch. When I lost the world championship to Carter, I got pushed aside so someone else could get their shot. Even after I had beaten him one on one I still got told I had to wait.”
He paused and shook his head, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as he tried to keep himself composed.
”Wait, wait for what? I got thrown into that Internet Championship opportunity — something I didn’t even want — and I had to try and make the best of it. Do you know what it’s like to be thrown into something where you don’t have your heart in it? You are never going to put your best foot forward when you don’t care. And that is the situation I find myself in. I didn’t care about the Internet Championship; I wanted what I deserved. And before anyone decides to try and disagree with what I have to say, I’m going to remind you all again exactly what happened to lead us to this moment.”
“A few months ago the most dominant champion this company had ever seen needed to be beaten. For the sake of this company and for the sake of the world championship, Finn needed to go down. He needed to be taken out and he needed to lose that championship. He is someone who is a great champion and an amazing competitor, but at the same time it went on for too long and was in danger of destroying everything this company stood for. And no one else could do it. Everyone else who tried to face Finn failed. They failed miserably because nobody could solve the Rubik’s Cube that is the Seattle Saint.”
“Until me…”
“No one else did it. No one else was able to do what I accomplished, and what was my thanks for that? I ended up having to go against Carter. And he was able to beat me. He was able to take that championship from me after I had wrestled it out of the grass, but if someone needed to lose. I saved this company and I saved that championship and in the end I lost it to someone who was undeserving. And then what happened? Did I get a rematch? No, of course not, because J2H had to take his shot. That glory-hound piece of shit had to try and get that title back because he couldn’t stand the fact that Finn had broken his record. Because that man had an ego bigger than this company. He never wanted to do what was best for SCW.”
Alex took a deep breath and closed his eyes, his hands balling into fists as he shook his head.
”All I have ever wanted was to make sure this company gets off on the right foot and continues moving forward. It wasn’t moving forward with Finn as champion; it wouldn’t have moved forward with J2H as champion. And I’m exceedingly happy that Carter’s string of luck was able to continue and he was able to beat J2H and keep that championship. J2H winning it would’ve been a step back, just like Finn coming back from his little Alie injury. This company needs a champion. A real champion.”
“And I’m sure that Carter McKinney is going to sit there and pat himself on the back. He’s going to tell you all that he finally gave me what I deserved because I had beaten him. I beat him one on one months ago and he was just now getting around to giving me the title opportunity I had deserved, after I had gone through disappointment after disappointment and had been forced into a situation that I didn’t care about. I had my spirit broken time and time again because I have always believed that in this business and in this company you get things that you earn. And I earned that opportunity against Carter. I earned that opportunity by simply being a champion, I earned that opportunity by simply being me, and I damn sure earned that opportunity by beating him.”
“But it wasn’t until now that he decided to grace me with the opportunity to get my championship back. Not until after I had been beaten down and broken and my spirit destroyed left in a vulnerable state, a state where he’s riding high, able to beat everyone who has come for him, and I’m just old man Alex, pissed off and thrown away like a piece of garbage. Wow Carter, you’re a fucking hero.”
“Face it, as a champion you have let this company down.”
He growls and tries to calm his breathing, feeling his heart race as the anger rises. He closes his eyes again, takes a few more deep breaths before refocusing on the problem at hand.
”I have always been someone who gives respect where it is due. And many probably expected me to show you respect because you’ve been able to face and beat every challenge that has come toward you. But you’re the problem; I don’t respect you, Carter. I don’t respect you because you are not a real champion. You are blind to the responsibilities of being a champion and you have gotten this far on sheer blind luck. I’ve faced people like you before, champions who weren’t ready for it. But most of those challengers who turned into champions proved me wrong.”
“Jack Washington proved me wrong. Mac Bane proved me wrong. But you? You’ve done nothing to show that you’ve learned a goddamn thing. You’re still the same wide-eyed idiot you were before. Running around like a lovesick puppy after your husband. Acting like everything is a big game. Acting like the world owes you and that you are just happy to be here. As a champion you need to be the locker-room leader. You need to be the one to set people right when they fuck up. But you haven’t done that and you won’t do that. You don’t have it in you. And that is where you are failing. You are failing to be the real champion this company deserves. You are failing to be the champion the company needs.”
“And I refuse to sit back and let it happen.”
“I’m going to come after you with everything I am. I have been in this business longer than you have had hair on your nuts. I’ve been in this business longer than your douchebag husband has been shaving, or having that stupid fade through the back of his hair. I have been the best of the best and I have been at the top of the mountain time and time again because I am that fucking good. And everyone seems to forget that; everyone will sweep that under the rug and act like all I am is an arrogant man who runs his mouth. I have earned the right to call myself one of the best in the world and I have earned the right to go after any world championship or any championship period that I choose. You haven’t done anything, Carter. You haven’t earned anything, and people like you need to learn that. So I’m going to beat some respect into you. I’m going to take back my championship and I am going to be the champion this company deserves.”
