The next step
The gym was louder today. Not chaotic. Not out of control. Just alive.
Wolfslair New York never truly rested, but there were certain hours where the building seemed to breathe heavier, where the energy shifted from casual training to something sharper. More deliberate. The air was thick with sweat and effort. Weights clanged in the far corner. Someone was skipping rope near the mirrors. The dull thud of fists meeting heavy bag echoed like a heartbeat. And in the main ring, Dylan was moving like he belonged. Alex stood a few feet back from the apron, arms folded, shoulders relaxed, but his eyes sharp. He wasn’t in gear. No tape, no boots. Just sweatpants and an old hoodie that had seen too many years. He looked like a man trying to convince himself he was only here to observe. But the truth was, he couldn’t look away.
Dylan circled his training partner, hands raised, posture loose. He didn’t bounce around like he was trying to imitate something he’d seen on television. He didn’t overextend or rush. His movements were clean. Controlled. He stepped in, caught the wrist, twisted into a smooth arm wringer, then transitioned into a headlock like it was second nature. The trainee tried to shove him off. Dylan shifted his weight, kept his base low, and pulled him down to the mat. Alex’s eyes narrowed. It wasn’t the move that impressed him. It was what came after. Dylan didn’t celebrate. Didn’t smirk. Didn’t look around for approval. He just adjusted his grip, tightened the hold, and breathed like it was the most natural thing in the world. A trainer leaned in, barking feedback.
Dylan nodded once, listened, and reset. No attitude. No ego. Just work. Alex felt something in his chest loosen. Pride, maybe. Or relief. Or something more dangerous. Because the more comfortable Dylan looked in the ring, the more real all of this became. Alex was still watching when he heard footsteps behind him. Slow, confident, familiar. “You’ve been staring at him like he’s a damn experiment.” Alex didn’t turn immediately. He didn’t have to. He already knew that voice. Austin James Mercer. Alex finally glanced over his shoulder. Austin stood there with a water bottle in one hand, towel draped over the other. He looked like he’d already trained, shirt damp, hair still wet, shoulders loose but heavy. Like his body was tired but his mind was still awake. Austin’s eyes stayed on Dylan. “He’s different,”
Alex turned back toward the ring. “Yeah.”
Austin leaned against the ring post, arms folding. “Not just better. Different.” Alex didn’t answer right away. Dylan took another trainee into the ropes, ducked under a clothesline, rebounded, and hit a crisp dropkick. Not flashy. Not reckless. Just clean. Austin spoke again. “He’s more comfortable.”
Alex nodded once. “That’s what I’ve been noticing.”
Austin’s gaze stayed fixed. “You remember when he first started showing up?”
Alex’s jaw tightened. “Yeah.”
Austin exhaled. “He used to wrestle like he was angry at the world. Like every bump was personal.” Alex watched Dylan now, how calm he looked, how he rolled through a takedown and popped up without wasted movement. Like he’d done it a thousand times. “He’s not fighting ghosts anymore,” Austin said quietly.
Alex’s voice was low. “No. He’s not chasing anything. He’s just… doing it.”
Austin smirked slightly. “That’s when it gets dangerous.”
Alex glanced at him. “Dangerous?”
Austin shrugged. “The moment a wrestler stops doubting, they start believing they’re built for it. That’s when they stop holding back.” Alex didn’t respond, because Austin wasn’t wrong. Dylan moved into chain wrestling now. Wristlock. Counter. Arm drag. Back to the feet. Headlock takeover. Smooth transition into a hammerlock. He wasn’t rushing to get to the big moves. He was working through the fundamentals like he understood their importance. Alex stared at him, and for a moment he saw something he didn’t expect. He didn’t just see his son. He saw a wrestler. Austin’s voice pulled him back. “You should be proud.”
Alex didn’t hesitate. “I am.”
Austin’s expression softened, but only slightly. “That’s good.” They watched Dylan reset again, breathing hard but steady. Sweat soaked into his hair, but his eyes stayed sharp. Austin took a sip of water, then spoke again, quieter now. “You ever think about how the business treats people?”
Alex’s mouth twitched. “Every day.”
Austin chuckled. “Yeah. I figured.”
Alex didn’t move. His gaze stayed locked on the ring. “It doesn’t care how hard you work.”
Austin nodded. “It cares if you draw.”
Alex’s voice was flat. “And if you don’t, it forgets you existed.”
Austin’s smile faded. “Exactly.” They stood in silence for a moment, the sounds of training filling the space between them. The ropes creaked as Dylan leaned into a corner. The canvas thudded as another trainee hit the mat. Austin’s tone shifted again. More serious. “It waits,” Alex glanced at him. Austin continued. “This business waits until you’re confident. Until you think you’re ready. Then it humbles you. Hard.”
Alex let out a slow breath. “That’s wrestling.”
Austin nodded. “That’s life.” Dylan took a bump then, clean back bump, chin tucked, arms out. He rolled through it and was back on his feet almost instantly. Austin pointed subtly toward him. “Look at him. He’s not reckless. He’s not trying to kill himself for a pop. He’s learning.”
Alex’s jaw tightened. “He’s still young.”
Austin shrugged. “So were we.”
Alex muttered, “And look how that turned out.”
Austin smirked. “Still standing.”
Alex didn’t smile back. “Barely.”
Austin’s eyes stayed on Dylan. “He’s ready.”
Alex turned his head sharply. “Ready for what?”
Austin didn’t flinch. “The next step.”
Alex’s arms tightened across his chest. “He’s not ready for that. He’s still green.”
Austin scoffed. “Everybody’s green. Even the ones on TV. They’re just green with a production crew.”
Alex almost laughed, but it didn’t come. “Indies aren’t the same as bigger companies.”
Austin nodded. “No, they’re not.”
Alex’s voice lowered. “On the indies, you mess up? You learn. You get embarrassed. You get bruised. But you go home.”
Austin’s expression hardened. “And in bigger companies, you mess up and you get replaced.”
Alex nodded once. “Exactly.”
Austin stepped away from the post, voice firm now. “That’s why he needs to go now.”
Alex stared at him. “Now?”
Austin’s eyes narrowed. “How many guys do you know who wasted five, ten years on the independents because they were afraid to take the leap?”
Alex’s jaw flexed. “The leap can kill you.”
Austin didn’t hesitate. “Or it can make you.”
Alex wanted to argue. Wanted to shut it down. Wanted to say Austin didn’t understand what it felt like to watch your own blood walk into a business that didn’t care whether he survived. But Austin wasn’t speaking like a fan. Austin was speaking like a man who’d been eaten by the same machine. Alex’s voice came out quieter. “I don’t know if he’s ready.”
Austin’s expression softened. “That’s honest.”
Alex’s hands loosened slightly at his sides. He stared at Dylan, who was now helping one of the trainees adjust positioning, guiding him through a sequence with patience. Alex swallowed. “It’s not him I don’t trust him,” Alex admitted.
Austin tilted his head. “Then what is it?”
Alex’s voice was rough. “It’s the world.”
Austin didn’t laugh. Didn’t mock him. He just nodded slowly, like he understood completely. “Yeah. That’s fair.”
Alex stared at Dylan again. “He looks… happy.”
Austin’s eyes narrowed slightly. “That scares you.”
Alex nodded. “It means the ring is becoming his home.”
Austin’s jaw clenched. “And if the ring becomes his home, then the business owns him.”
Alex’s voice was almost a whisper. “Exactly.”
Austin let the silence sit for a moment, then stepped closer, voice lower. “You don’t protect him by keeping him small.” Alex glanced at him. Austin continued. “If you want him to survive, you push him toward the right opportunities. The right direction. Not just the safest one.”
Alex shook his head. “There is no safe direction.”
Austin smirked. “True. But there are smarter ones.”
Alex exhaled, humorless. “That’s wrestling.”
Austin nodded. “That’s wrestling.” Dylan finished the drill, and the trainer clapped his hands, calling for a break. Dylan stepped through the ropes, breathing hard, towel around his neck, sweat dripping down his face. He looked exhausted, but not drained. He looked alive. Austin spoke quietly. “He doesn’t need the indies anymore.”
Alex’s jaw tightened. “He still needs experience.”
Austin shook his head. “No. He needs exposure. He needs direction.” Alex stared at Dylan as he laughed with one of the trainees, then took a long drink of water. Dylan wasn’t just training. He was thriving. Austin’s voice remained steady. “If he keeps grinding these little shows for gas money and handshake payoffs, he’s going to burn out before he ever gets a real shot.”
Alex’s hands flexed. “And if he gets his shot too early?”
Austin shrugged. “Then he learns fast.”
Alex stared at him. “And if it breaks him?”
Austin’s eyes didn’t move. “Then he wasn’t built for it.”
Alex’s expression hardened. “That’s a hell of a thing to say.”
Austin didn’t back down. “It’s the truth. You know it. I know it.”
Alex looked away again, back to Dylan. His son was wiping sweat off his face now, his posture relaxed. Not tense. Not angry. Just focused. Alex swallowed hard. “I don’t want him to hate it,”
Austin’s voice softened. “He won’t hate it.”
Alex looked at him. “How do you know?”
Austin’s answer came without hesitation. “Because he already loves it enough to suffer for it.” Alex didn’t respond. Because that line hit too close to home.
It was the same reason Alex had lasted as long as he did. It was the same reason men destroyed themselves for this business. Because when you loved it, it wasn’t sacrifice. It was devotion. Alex exhaled slowly, like he was letting go of something he’d been holding onto for years. He looked older in that moment, not weak, not broken. Just human. Then he nodded once. “Alright,”
Austin’s eyebrows lifted. “Alright?”
Alex’s voice was firmer now. Resolved. “Alright. We’ll talk to him. We’ll start putting together footage. We’ll send out interest. Bigger companies. Bigger opportunities.”
Austin’s smile widened slightly. “Good.”
Alex’s eyes stayed locked on Dylan. “But if this goes wrong—”
Austin cut him off. “It’s going to go wrong at some point. That’s part of it.” Alex clenched his jaw. Austin stepped closer, voice low, serious. “The question isn’t whether he gets hurt. He will. The question is whether he gets hurt chasing something real… or chasing scraps.”
Alex didn’t answer. Because Austin had already won. Not by being loud. By being right. Dylan approached them a moment later, towel around his neck, water bottle in hand. Sweat still rolled down his temples, but his eyes were calm and clear. He looked at Alex. “You watching the whole time?”
Alex nodded. “Yeah.”
Dylan raised an eyebrow. “And?”
Alex paused. Then, bluntly, honestly, he said, “You’re getting good.”
Dylan blinked, caught off guard. Not because he didn’t believe it, but because Alex didn’t hand out praise easily. Then Dylan nodded slowly. “Thanks,”
Austin smirked. “He’s not just getting good. He’s getting ready.”
Dylan looked between them. “Ready for what?” Alex and Austin exchanged a look. Alex felt his chest tighten, the weight of what he was about to say. Because saying it out loud meant it was real. It meant there was no pretending Dylan was still just training for fun. It meant this was becoming a path. A career.
A life. Alex finally spoke. “Ready to stop treating this like a hobby.” Dylan’s expression shifted. Not fear. Not doubt. Hunger. Like the words lit something inside him. Alex watched his son’s face, watched that spark, and felt the knot in his chest tighten again. Because pride and fear were cousins, and they lived in the same house. This was happening. Dylan didn’t speak immediately. He just stared at Alex for a moment, like he was searching for the catch. For the warning. For the hesitation. But Alex didn’t give him one. Instead, Alex nodded once more, slow and deliberate. “You want this?”
Dylan’s voice was quiet, but firm. “Yeah.”
Austin smiled faintly. “Then let’s do it right.” Alex stared at Dylan, seeing the man he was becoming, and realizing something he hadn’t fully accepted until now. He couldn’t keep his son safe. Not from the business. Not from the world. Not from pain. All he could do was help him walk into it prepared. Alex exhaled, the sound heavy, like surrender. Or maybe acceptance.
Then he said the words that mattered most. “Alright,” Alex repeated. “We’ll start making calls.” Dylan’s mouth curled into a small grin. Not cocky. Not arrogant. Just sure. And Alex felt something settle deep in his bones. This wasn’t the end of his story. It was the beginning of Dylan’s. And that truth scared him. But it also made him proud in a way he didn’t know how to explain. Wolfslair hummed around them, ropes creaking, weights clanging, bodies hitting canvas. And for the first time in a long time… Alex didn’t feel like he was watching the clock run out. He felt like he was watching something new take shape. Something he couldn’t control. Something he couldn’t stop. Something he could only choose to stand beside. Right or wrong…Alex was finally ready to let Dylan go forward.
The next generation
”What a joke…”
The voice of Alex Jones cuts through the darkness. He turns his nose up and shakes his head, his long dark hair tied back and away from his face in a bun.
”This is what happens when you have to team with someone who is a perennial choker. And this is our number one contender for the world championship? In his entire career, Alexander Raven has always been the bridesmaid and never the bride. I gave him the benefit of the doubt when he and I teamed together. I honestly thought that he was going to rise up and finally live up to the potential that all of us had seen in him. Because as a professional wrestler, he has talent. He has drive. He is someone who, in other companies, has had success. A lot of success.”
“And I was behind him. Looking at how Carter was talking to him and completely dismissing his accomplishments in other companies, I wanted to see Alexander Raven take all of those comments and shove them right down Carter’s throat and expose him as the horrible piece of crap that we all know Carter is deep down. This projection of being a good human being and the mask that he put in front of himself were starting to fall. And I thought Alexander was going to be able to step up and help me beat Miles and Carter. After all, lately Climate Control has become the Carter and Miles show.”
“They have preferential booking, they get to be all over the show, they have merchandise and promotional material everywhere.”
“They are the golden couple of SCW. Hell, I remember a few years ago Carter and Miles won Couple of the Year despite the fact that Finn and Kayla spent the entire year as double champions, dominating everyone they faced. As both Mixed Tag Team Champions and as World Champions. Yet somehow Miles and Carter became Couple of the Year. The entire company is behind them like they are some kind of fucking golden goose that keeps laying golden fucking eggs, despite the fact that the entire wrestling world is sick of their picture-perfect relationship bullshit.”
Alex scoffs and rolls his eyes before pausing.
”But Alexander Raven failed and let me down. We ended up losing that tag team match. We ended up looking like a pair of chumps. So now I have to rebuild all of that momentum that I had been building. I’m the Internet Champion. I have been begging and pleading for one of these young bucks to step up and beat me. I keep waiting for Miles to break through that glass ceiling and show me something. And in wanting to try and show me something, he attacked me and came after me. And now, going into my next match, I have to make sure I’m watching my back.”
“But now, well, I have to go into a match with another young star. One with a famous last name. A young Lyon, if you will.”
“Zayvion Lyons.”
“A young man who has come to us from the Lyons Den. Following in the footsteps of his cousins. But more than that, he has to surpass them. So I’ll admit that Victoria, Eddie, and Vincent have done all they can to elevate the name of Lyons to greatness. In their own way. You had Eddie, the honourable warrior ready to fall on his sword instead of take shortcuts. You had Victoria, a woman who dominated through her own level of arrogance as she became a queen. And Vincent, who would do anything in his power to walk away the winner.”
Alex pauses for a moment, cracking his knuckles before laughing under his breath and opening his eyes and staring forward.
”This match is a true contrast. Zayvion is young and at the beginning of his career. A young star who has so much growth ahead of him and someone who has a chance to forge a life and a career in this business that is unrivalled. He is the unknown. And as such, we don’t know what he’s going to accomplish. We don’t know the heights that he will reach. And we don’t know what his ceiling is. And then you have me. The exact opposite. I am closer to the end of my career than the beginning. I don’t think that is a controversial statement. I’m at that point now where the finish line is fast approaching, and even if I stay healthy and keep going the way I have been, I still don’t have that long left until I eventually will be forced to walk away from this business.”
“But you know what I’ve done. We don’t know what this kid is going to do, but we know where I have been and what I have accomplished. SCW World Champion, SCW Roulette Champion, Mixed Tag Team Champion, and now Internet Champion. I have held all of the active championships that I can. A Grand Slam Champion. A member of the Hall of Fame. I have accomplished incredible things in this company, and that is just in this company. That isn’t including every other place I’ve been and the other world championships that I have held in my over two-decade-long career.”
“This is what I do, Zayvion.”
“I am a known quantity. A name that can be in bright lights on a marquee and have people want to see me in the ring. You? While your last name is known, no one else knows anything about your first name. And while your last name will get your foot in the door, your talent and your drive have to keep you there. And I am standing here left to wonder what kind of career you are going to have and if you are going to be the young lion that takes me down.”
He shrugs and then shakes his head, taking a deep breath before continuing.
”I thought it could be one of the Kasey brothers. But both Miles and LJ let me down. I then thought maybe it could be a returning champion in Ryan Keys and he could step up and break through that glass ceiling to remain relevant, and he failed as well. And now I’m in a situation where Miles is right in front of me coming at me, but until I get to him, I have to face you. And you have a hell of a lot to gain by beating me. But what do I have to gain by beating you? As the Internet Champion, going into a match with a former champion who keeps on running his mouth like he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, what is it that I get from beating you?”
“Nothing…”
“I get nothing, Zayvion.”
“You are an unknown. As I said. So I beat you and I’ve just beaten this kid with a famous last name at the beginning of his career. That’s it. It doesn’t get me to where I need to be. It doesn’t allow me to be able to go on to the supercard with any amount of confidence. All it does is waste my time. But what if you win? What if you are able to make me submit or pin me? You get to say you’ve beaten a former world champion — and not just a former world champion, a former SCW World Champion. The current Internet Champion. You get to say that in your rookie year in this company you beat a Hall of Fame name. That’s what you get.”
“Is that enough motivation for you?”
“I hope it is. Because I want to see what the next generation is capable of. I want to see what you can do. And if you’re going to be like LJ or Miles? If you’re going to be like these other young kids who come in with all of this fire only to lose and stumble at the first real challenge that gets thrown your way, then my disappointment is going to be visible and it’s going to be violent. So that’s all I’m asking of you. That’s all I want you to do, Zayvion. You don’t have to beat me, kid. Just don’t disappoint me.”
